Spiritual Journey
Riga Station, the Metro
After spending a night in the station, Team SRWBY went towards the bar that they visited yesterday. During the walk, Ruby noticed that her mother was looking at the strange bullet. When Summer started to play with it, the young girl found out that the bullet was actually a lighter.
Ruby was wondering what made her mother so…focused on the lighter. She had saw her staring at it when the latter was about to sleep and recently when she woke up. What made the lighter so special to Summer?
When they reached the bar, Summer saw that Khan was already there and drinking a cup of mushroom tea. She walked towards her colleague with the huntresses-in-training following her.
"Ah, Summer. It's good to see that you've arrive." Greeted Khan.
"Nice to see you too, Khan." Replied Summer as she took a seat.
"Mom, who is this old man?" Asked Ruby.
"Girls, let me introduce you to an…acquittance of mine, Khan." Summer gestured at the old man. "Khan, you know Ruby and Yang. The other two girls are Weiss and Blake."
"Pleasure to meet you." Khan made a small smile.
"Wait, how does he know about us?" Asked Yang.
"From this." Summer took out something from her pocket.
When the huntresses-in-training looked at what Summer just took out, they saw that it was a family photo of Ruby, Yang, Taiyang, and Summer. Its condition was not good; the corners were torn, the texture was no longer smooth with many creases, and it was yellowing.
"One of few reminders that I have about my home, my family…" Summer looked at the photo with a feeling of nostalgic.
As the huntress-turned-Ranger looked at the photo, Khan decided to tell something to her daughters.
"So, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long?"
"Y-Yes. What is it, Mr. Khan?" Asked Ruby nervously.
"Please, just call me Khan." Khan took a sip of his tea. "Summer told a lot about her family. How she's proud of her daughters and…significant other. And in return, how proud you're with your mother. I remember that she once told me that she was called 'Super-Mom.'"
"Y…Yeah…she's…awesome…" Ruby started to blush and scratched her head. Though she was wondering who was the "significant other" that Khan mentioned.
"Yep. Super-Mom. Slayer of Monsters. Baker of Cookies." Stated Yang with a proud tone. "The best mother that people can hope for."
"Huh, I see. You know, all those admiration that you have for your mother…" Khan's smile turned into a frown. "…discard it."
"W-What?!" Ruby and Yang were shocked by what they've just heard. Even Weiss and Blake were reacting as well with their widened eyes.
"Discard it. Don't look your mother as a 'Super-Mom' that you've admired for years. Look at her as who she is; as a person." Explained Khan before he finished his tea.
Ruby and Yang were confused by what they've just heard. Summer had done a lot of things that made her worthy of the title "Super-Mom," at least for her daughters. They already saw her as who she was. So, why Khan asked them to do that?
Before they could have asked the reason, Khan tapped Summer's shoulder. It was by then the girls realized that Summer was not listening to the conversation between her daughters and her colleague. She was so focused on her photo.
"Are you ready?" Asked Khan.
"O-Of course, yeah." Replied Summer who immediately stood up.
The others soon followed and they began to walk towards the gate that lead to the surface. With the huntresses-in-training behind Khan and Summer, Blake decided to start a conversation.
"Hey, Ruby, Yang." Said Blake, catching the attention of said girls. "Don't you think there's something…not right with your mother?"
"What?! What makes you said that?!" Asked Ruby back.
"Notice how often she's in a pensive mood? I have seen the same expression on some White Fang vets. That expression is because of a deep scar. And I am not talking in a physical sense."
Ruby became nervous when she heard that and had no idea how to respond. She looked at Summer and found out that she was looking at that lighter again. Ruby couldn't see her expression, but she could guess the expression that her mother made.
"Well, it's not surprising if you think about it." Stated Weiss.
"What do you mean?" Asked Yang.
"I mean, I am sure we all can agree just how goddamn awful the Metro is compared to Remnant. I'll take any settlement outside of the wall compared to any station here."
"And it's not even an entire week we're here. Summer has to spend more than a decade in this place." Added Blake. "It won't surprise me if she has collection of memory that she would rather forget."
Ruby and Yang listened to the explanation. They saw their mother was playing with the lighter for a bit before putting it back in her pocket. Both sisters looked at each other before nodding their heads.
"Well, I admit, Mom might have some…screw loose thanks to having to live in here. But she's still our Mom." Said Yang.
"Yeah. Sure, there are some change, like how she's sterner. However, she's still the same person that I admire. Still the same person that inspired me to become a huntress." Added Ruby.
As the huntresses-in-training conversating with each other, Khan looked at Summer, who for some reason didn't show any reaction about it, despite being the subject of the conversation.
And he knew why.
He let out a sigh and shook his head.
Half an hour later…
Unknown Location
The journey at the surface had been quite uneventful. So much that they didn't even encountered a surface mutant. To be fair, that journey was much shorter compared to the surface journey to reach Riga Station.
At the moment, Khan was currently unlocking a door with many locks. When they saw how many locks were used for the door, the huntresses-in-training wondered what caused it to have such an excessive amount of locks.
When he unlocked the last lock and opened the door, Khan activated his flashlight. Seeing this, others started to do the same. As they walked through a corridor, Summer had something to said.
"Girls, listen. The tunnel that we're about to enter is one of the safest route that I know…if you follow the instructions. Not doing that makes this tunnel the most dangerous one."
"Isn't that like…something that always happen?" Said Blake, rather confused.
"Oh, trust me. You follow the instructions and who knows, maybe it's a good day and we won't encounter even a rat. Don't follow them and… Anyway, just keep the lights on."
Summer looked rather uncomfortable, and actually quite scared, when she started to talk about the consequence. This made the huntresses-in-training curious; it was quite a feat to make a huntsman or huntress scared. Especially since this was Summer Rose, the former leader of Team STRQ. Ruby and Yang remembered how their father Taiyang and Uncle Qrow told them the story of their old team. Saying that they were one of the best.
So, what was it in the tunnel that could make Summer scared of it just by talking about it?
At the end of the corridor, Team SRWBY and Khan reached a steel door. When he unlocked the door, Blake started to shiver and let out a hiss.
"Something's wrong, Blake?" Asked Ruby.
"Do…do we really need to…walk through this tunnel…?" Asked Blake while she kept shivering.
"Huh, your senses are more acute than most." Commented Khan.
"T…Thanks." Silence fell for a moment before Blake spoke again. "So…"
Summer simply shook her head and followed Khan into the tunnel. Ruby stared at Blake before shrugging and followed the two adults. As much as she sympathized with whatever happened to Blake, her mother and Khan were the people that knew the Metro better than any of them. Soon, others were following them.
When they entered the tunnel, they noticed how dark it was. There was barely any source of light. Then, out of nowhere, Khan planted his ear on a pipe.
"They know we are here." Stated Khan before he moved away from the tunnel. "Come closer to the tube and listen. Just don't stay for too long."
The girls walked closer to the pipe and put their ears on it. They were surprised when they could hear the voices of children laughing. Then, the laugh became a scream, causing them to immediately moved away from the pipe.
Just in time to avoid shadow hands trying to grab them.
"What…What the HELL is that?!" Exclaimed Yang.
"Some say it's the voice of the tunnels." Explained Summer. "Others consider it to be a form of psychic influence."
"Well…that's…really…creepy…" Commented Ruby.
"Oh, but that's only the topping, sweetheart. You haven't even see the cake yet."
The huntresses-in-training shivered when they heard that. There was still something more terrifying in this tunnel?
As they were trying to comprehend what they've just saw, Khan approached a door and unlocked it.
"I know this tunnel…and it knows me…" Said Khan as he opened the door and walked through it. "Let's move."
The group walked through the door. In the tunnel, they saw several corpses of people unfortunate enough to end up in this tunnel without the proper knowledge. By this point, the girls realized that they've seen enough corpses that it didn't bother them as much as when they saw one for the first time.
That was actually quite…disturbing, to say the least.
As they kept moving, they also noticed that the railroad in here was broken. From the looks of it, the caused seem to be some kind of an accident rather than sabotage.
"Freeze!" Stated Khan suddenly, causing others to immediately stop. "Look forward!"
Suddenly, bright light obscured their visions for a second, as if someone decided to take a photo. When they looked at the direction that Khan pointed, they saw a shadow of someone…but there wasn't anyone near the shadow.
"W-Who is…that?" Asked Blake as she shivered.
"I don't think the word 'who' is applicable here." Stated Khan.
"Then…what is that?"
Before anyone could answer the question, there was suddenly a scream of a woman. Then, the bright light obscured their visions again and the shadow disappeared. Seeing that it disappeared, the group continued their walk.
"Girls, when seeing that kind of silhouette, move around it. Don't even think of touching it." Warned Summer.
"So…what is that?" Asked Blake again.
"Ghost."
"Ghost? As in, the soul of the dead or…"
"Yes."
Upon hearing that, Blake realized that she should have just keep her mouth shut.
"You guys can't be serious, right? There's no thing such as ghost!" Stated Weiss, though her shivering legs said otherwise.
"You see…"
"Look out!" Warned Khan suddenly.
Upon hearing Khan's warning, others looked forward and saw a silhouette – a ghost – was running towards them. They immediately stepped aside and then there was that light again. And just like before, after the light the ghost disappeared.
"Continuing…" Stated Summer. "…whether those silhouettes are really ghosts or not is actually quite irrelevant. The point is, touching them is a death sentence. Am I clear?"
"Yes… Yes, you are." Replied Weiss who kept looking at the last position of the ghost.
The group continued their journey. When they found a broken carriage, they walked inside it. Inside, they encountered a bunch of spider webs. Summer let out a sigh and burned them with her lighter.
"Mom? Where are you?"
Upon hearing that, Summer and Khan immediately moved aside. However, there wasn't enough room for the huntresses-in-training to do the same. Ruby saw a ghost was jumping towards her and she immediately fell upon the floor.
"Ruby!" Exclaimed Summer as she moved towards her daughter. "You're OK?!"
"Y-Yeah." Replied Ruby as she let out a moan. "It feels as if…someone just walk through me and almost dragged me."
"Sorry about that. It's been years since I am in here and I forgot about that one." Said Summer as she helped Ruby standing up.
"Don't worry, it's…fine, Mom." Ruby tried to assure her mother.
While Summer kept looking at Ruby to make sure that the latter was fine, she finally let out a sigh of relief. The group continued their journey, but this time a lot more careful.
When they reached the end of the carriage and seeing that the way to continue to another was blocked, the group exited the carriage and continued the walk on the railroad. During that, they saw that in the end, they would use the same route since after the carriage that they couldn't enter, there wasn't another one.
Suddenly, they heard a sound of train coming towards their location. The girls were confused – and quite anxious – on why and how there was still a train operating in this tunnel. Then, they saw Summer and Khan moved aside from the railroad, something that they immediately did before any warning could be made.
When they saw the train coming, they could feel their hearts dropped; the "train" was actually a silhouette of one, meaning that it was also a ghost. They saw as the "train" kept moving as if the broken railroad wasn't there. Then again, it was a ghost. So, that fact meant nothing.
Then, there was the sound of the "train" hitting its break. It was then followed by the sounds of crashes. The bright light occurred and the "train" disappeared alongside the sounds.
"OK…" Said Yang with wide eyes. "What…was…THAT?!"
"It's a reenactment of when the accident happened." Explained Summer.
"What?" Asked Ruby.
"This tunnel has to relieve its past over and over again." Explained Khan.
"And if we're at the track when that happen, we will join that past." Added Summer.
The girls looked at the adults in the tunnel. Then, they slowly looked at the place where the accident happened. Ruby turned her head so fast that she could accidentally broke her neck.
"Can we turn around, Mom? Everything in here is not right!" Begged Ruby.
"Rubes, listen. We already went this far. Like I told you, just follow our instructions and everything is going to be alright." Summer tried to convince her daughter in a motherly tone. "Besides, you girls manage to handle the Creatures of Grimm. This is nothing."
"Mom, with Grimm at least we can punch them! Just touching the ghosts is a death sentence as you put it!" Exclaimed Yang.
"There's no evil in the ghosts." Said Khan. "Leave them alone and they will leave you alone."
The huntresses-in-training looked at each other and seemed to have non-verbal conversation with each other. It was true what Khan had just said; so far, none of them were wounded except Ruby. Even then, she wasn't killed and seemed to be merely shocked to near death.
The girls looked at Summer and Khan and nodded their heads.
"We…don't exactly like the situation. But…we admit it could be worse." Stated Weiss.
"Good." Replied Khan before he started to walk. "Let's move."
The group continued their journey. When they reached the part where the railroad was still in a quite prime condition, they speeded up and were now jogging. After a while, the light occurred and they immediately stopped. In front of them stood several ghosts, blocking their way.
"Alright. Now the…ghosts are blocking our way." Asked Blake, still rather unused with the idea of the existence of ghosts.
"A battle ragged here long ago. The defenders still man their stations." Stated Khan.
"So, even beyond death, they still do their duties." Said Ruby. "That's…quite…awesome…for the lack of better word."
"So, how do we…pass through this, then?" Asked Weiss.
"Khan." Summer looked at Khan, who nodded. "Everyone, follow Khan and remain at his back!"
Upon receiving the order, the girls followed Khan in a single line. Summer put herself at the rear of the line. Soon, Khan began to walk towards the ghosts while reciting some sort of prayer. None of them understood what Khan was saying.
The girls saw the ghosts letting them pass through their stations. As Khan kept reciting the prayer, the girls made sure that they didn't touch the ghosts. Panic started to buildup in their hearts. Then, when they finally passed through the ghosts, the light occurred and the girls let out a sigh.
"I'd rather that remain a secret. This is personal, girls." Demanded Khan.
"Sure, Khan." Replied Ruby immediately before she mumbled. "Not that we want to remember anything that happen here."
"Same as me." Khan apparently heard the mumble. "I was with them when they died… Only I survived."
"Oh. I am sorry for your losses."
"By the way, there's something that makes me wondering." Said Blake. "Those ghosts, what caused them to appear? Summer said that they are the souls of the dead. Shouldn't they be, I don't know, in the…afterlife?"
"They're results of the complete devastation that we brought upon ourselves." Explained Khan. "Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory were atomized as well. You know them as the realms of the afterlife."
Upon hearing that, the huntresses-in-training stopped moving and their eyes became as wide as saucer. The afterlife was destroyed? The very idea itself was…ridiculous beyond believe. But, that could explain…
"So, the afterlife being…atomized, huh?" Said Ruby with fear in her voice.
Amongst Team RWBY, Ruby was the only one who can be described as being religious. The reason was because the idea of afterlife appealed her quite a lot because that means she could reunite with her mother when she thought that she has died. Even then, Ruby was not what people often described as "church-going" type.
Then, they heard that the afterlife actually existed but had been atomized.
"Indeed. So, when a soul leaves the body, it has nowhere to go and must remain here in the Metro." Stated Khan. "A harsh, but not undeserved atonement for our sins, wouldn't you agree?"
The group reached the end of the railroad and went towards a door at the left side of the tunnel. They went through it and walked through the corridors with Khan as the guide.
"No, it isn't."
Khan glanced at the people behind him and noticed that it was Ruby who talked.
"It isn't fair." Ruby spoke again. "They shouldn't have to pay for events they had no control over. You shouldn't have to pay for the crimes of others."
"Unfortunately, it's always the sons who have to pay for the sins of their fathers." Replied Khan. "When a father dies, his debt goes to his son rather than disappear. When a father is a criminal, his son will be treated as one."
Ruby tried to make a reply but found herself unable to let out a word. Khan's words reminded her about the history lesson by Doctor Oobleck. How he often said that the repercussions of the events in the past affected today's society. Wasn't that merely a form of children paying the sins of their parents?
When Khan was about to open a door, he stopped and listened closely to what happened at the other side. He took a step back and pulled out his rifle. This caused others to do the same. Yang approached Khan and gave him a sign to let her open the door. Khan took several steps back as he nodded. Yang aimed the Uboinik at the door as she slowly opened the door.
When she opened the door, a corpse fell upon the floor. This surprised the group and diverted them from what was inside. A nosalis managed to pound Yang and made her fell. She let it bite her aura-protected left hand as she prepared her right hand. When she was ready, Yang immediately punched the nosalis into the ceiling before shooting it with her shotgun. As this happened, others were shooting at the two incoming nosalises.
When the threat was neutralized, Summer and Khan inspected the corpse that fell earlier. Then, they noticed several more bodies in the room and diverted their attention towards them.
"These unfortunates came from the Reich." Stated Khan after he finished the inspection.
"Looks like the Nazis are trying to flank the Reds if they're here." Added Summer.
"Umm, excuse me?" Said Blake, causing Summer to look at her. "I remember you've once mentioned about the Nazis. But who are they exactly?"
"Nazis, huh?" Summer put her hand on her chin. "To make the long story short, they make people that're racist towards faunus look like advocates for equality between humans and faunus in comparison."
"Surely it's not that bad." Stated Weiss, finding it hard to believe the explanation.
"They once tried to execute me for having silver eyes. Saying that my genes are impure." It was clear that Summer had bad memory with the Nazis. "What do you think they would do with faunus?"
Blake tried to answer that question but found herself unable to. She was shocked to hear that the Nazis wanted to execute Summer for having silver eyes of all things. She remembered how foolish she thought of people that discriminate the Faunus with the justification of them having animal traits. The Nazis basically made those people sensible!
Alright, maybe not that much. But the point still stood.
"So, what would the Nazis do to us if they find us?" Asked Yang, trying to hold her anger when she heard those people plan for her mother.
"Well, all four of you will be considered impure and executed if captured by the Nazis. So, when you're fighting them…" As if to emphasizing the point, Summer cocked her rifle. "…don't hold back."
"Oh, I know I won't." Yang punched her fists together.
The group continued their journey. This time, they have their weapons in their hands, in case of meeting more nosalis or Nazi. However, they encountered nothing except some spider webs which Summer burned with her lighter.
After a while, they reached another railroad. There were several debris in the way though they could easily bypass them. Then, they heard the sound of electricity. Several moments later, they saw a ball of electricity coming towards their direction.
"Freeze! Don't move! It electrified anything that move!" Warned Khan.
Others immediately stopped moving. As the ball moved closer and closer, the huntresses-in-training tried their best to not panicked and made a move. It became harder when the ball was practically right beside them. In the end, they managed to remain still as the ball moved further away from the group.
"Why's there a ball of electricity in here?" Asked Weiss.
"We call that an anomaly. A new phenomenon in a new world." Answered Summer.
Then, they heard the sounds of nosalises. They readied their weapons but found out that it wasn't necessary; the sounds were silenced by the sound of electricity. They could hear the sounds of flesh being electrified and the roars of pain that the mutants made.
"Well, it's kind of unfortunate that you girls won't get a live demonstration." Stated Summer as they moved on.
"Well, we don't exactly look forward for one." Said Blake.
"Wicked phenomenon, yes?" Said Khan. "But, you know, it's not anymore 'evil' than, say…fire. It all depends on your point of view. Try to get a better understanding of things before you make your judgement. Unpleasant things tend to happen when not doing so."
When he said the last sentence, Khan looked at Summer. The latter became uncomfortable and diverted her sight from him. This didn't go unnoticed by Ruby and Yang. Remembering what Khan said about their mother at Riga Station, they wondered if it was related to whatever Summer did during her 13 years in the Metro.
After walking for few minutes, the group encountered a door at the right side of the tunnel, which they entered. They then walked through the corridors that the room offered. After a while, they reached a room with a large ventilation. Khan approached the ventilation and knelt near it.
"Anyone want to go first?" Asked Khan.
"Oh, oh! Me, me!" Said Ruby as she raised her hand.
"You sure, Little Gem?" Asked Summer worriedly.
"Of course, Mom. Don't worry, I can handle any mutant that dare to come to me." Ruby then let out a rather nervous laugh. "Besides, if there's a ghost or anomaly there, I can just use my semblance to back off quickly."
Summer rolled her eyes though she was amused by what Ruby had just said. The latter went towards Khan, who helped her in reaching the ventilation.
"Careful. It's quite slippery in there." Warned Khan.
When Ruby entered the ventilation, there was the sound of something – or rather someone – slipping on a metal surface. They let out a chuckle upon hearing that. However, the chuckles were silenced when they heard a sound of something breaking and someone fell from above. Then, it was followed by yells and gunfire.
"What the hell?!"
"What the…shoot, shoot her!"
"She's getting away!"
"Fuck! What the hell are you idiots waiting for?! Get her!"
"Are these rose petals? I haven't seen them since…"
"Hey, I said move, idiot!"
As they heard the commotion that happened on the other side, they couldn't help but felt horrified by how fast the situation turned south. The only one who could be described as calm was Khan, who merely let out a sigh.
Answers to some reviews:
Golden Nova: Aura is working on Earth.
Mecharic: Many members of the Rangers were former personnel of the Russian Army. Most soldiers relatively don't like mercenaries, which huntsmen and huntresses can be considered as ones.
I can tell you this; there's no love between Summer and the father of her son.
And the chapter is complete.
If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.
Review please!
