Weiss stalked through her manor. The servants appeared to have been dismissed for the day, much to her annoyance. Mercury had likely dismissed them, a financially sound decision, as the manor was supposed to remain uninhabited until Weiss returned from her trip to the country. She found her office as she had left it, the highly organised and perfectly neat environment filling her with pride, and a small amount of dread as she was reminded of the countless hours spent working. She fell back into her chair, gripping the familiar dark wood of the arm rests in her hands. She got to work quickly, churning out letters with her usual speed, maintaining her perfect script as she did so.
She hadn't yet called on her father's allies in government, and it was not a certainty that they would respond to her. She guessed maybe half would respond, and of those only a third would likely be able to or willing to assist her. Even so, she would do her part, she would help and make certain that at least Ruby was safe. Only then could she think about her place in the order and if she truly wanted to stay, if she even had a place in it anymore.
As she finished her last letter she noticed a disturbance from the corner of her eye. Most people wouldn't notice, or wouldn't care, but Weiss was not most people. She moved from her desk to re-adjust the carpet, trying to get it to sit symmetrically within the centre of the room. Moving to the far left corner she stopped, looking closely at the hardwood flooring beneath the carpet. Grabbing a lamp from the desk behind her she examined the wood. A faint brownish stain, hard to notice against the russet colour of the floor. "Blood?" She muttered to herself, sitting on one knee. "Why-" Her mind raced as she slowly came to a shocking realization. Silver hair.
Weiss threw back the carpet revealing the trapdoor. She raced to the bookshelf and found the switch that unlocked it. Climbing down, awkwardly holding the lamp as she did so, Weiss headed for the lockbox where she hid the more sensitive communications from the order. The lock had been replaced, Weiss guessed Mercury had thought she wouldn't noticed, thankfully her near eidetic memory usual caught people off guard. Inside she found her letters piled neatly, once again though Mercury had just put them back, not noticing her detailed filing within the chest. Her father had been a pain when teaching her simple things like this, order, discipline and attention to detail, yet she had to admit the principles where extremely useful.
Weiss cursed to herself, sitting in the dim light of the lamp. Mercury was the Templar who had gone after Pyrrha. She had allowed them to discover the names of other Assassins, she was the reason that they were under attack.
Ruby knocked enthusiastically on the door of her families new home. She had needed the time away from them, but she couldn't deny that she was always excited to see her sister and father. Her smile widened as the door opened to reveal a mess of blonde hair. "Yang! I'm home!"
"Hiya sis, could you quiten down just a ta-" Yang was interrupted as Ruby sprung onto her, embracing her tightly. Yang smiled at her sisters attempt to mimic one of her own hugs. Yang lifted Ruby up in response, squeezing with all her strength. Ruby's grunt was Yang's sign to let up and the two broke apart. "Didn't think you would be back so soon?"
"I thought you said you would stop drinking?" Ruby putting her hands on her hips as she eyed the clearly hungover Yang. Yang rolled her eyes,
"Thought I was the big sister,"
"I know we have talked about this before, losing Mum was hard," Yang held up a hand to stop her sister.
"Not now Rubes, what brings you back so soon anyway? Thought you had a pretty big trip planned with the Ice queen."
"Well we were supposed to stay longer, and don't call her that she doesn't like it,"
"Well she's not hear is she?" Yang jokingly looking past Ruby. Ruby shook her head,
"You need to get dad, I have to take you guys somewhere safe. The people who killed mum,"
"The Templars?" Yang interjected, Ruby looking at her suspiciously, "I asked dad about it all, he didn't know much but I get the gist of it now." Ruby nodded and continued,
"They have been attacking the other Assassin families, and they might come after you and dad. We have a place that you can lay low for a while."
"Ruby, we can take care of ourselves, we don't really want to spend more time around the Assassins than we need too," Yang looked resolute, her face set with an expression of fierce determination. Ruby crossed her arms, the sisters rarely fought, but when they did there were often high casualties. "Yang you can't fight them off,"
"Maybe I can," Yang's voice dropping into the familiar sibling tone of annoyance, "You know what I was doing all morning? I'm not drunk, I have been practicing."
"Practicing what?" Ruby matching the slightly condescending tone of her older sister.
"I might not know how to swing a sword like the Ice queen, but if it comes down to it I can handle myself." Yang's trademark arrogance seeped into her voice, her eyes almost challenging Ruby. As usual Ruby gave up, she hated fighting her sister more than she was annoyed with Yang. "Yang I just want you guys to be safe," she said with a slight tremble in her now quiet voice. Yang softened, and with a sigh pulled her inside.
Yang took Ruby into the small living area of the home. Together they sat down and relaxed for a moment. "Ruby... I… Look I'm sorry about getting annoyed. I want to help too, but I still haven't got over what's happened. You're involved with something that I can't protect you from, and I just can't accept that."
"You can help me, by keeping safe while I deal with this," Ruby looking into Yang's eyes as she spoke, the glistening tears in the corners of her eyes reflecting the low light of the fireplace. Yang looked away quickly, the weakening gaze of her sister was likely her biggest weakness. "I'm not that sort of person, I don't sit back and hope for the best… And, well, I'm not going to be treated like a kid. I lost a mother too, I'm not going to give up a chance to fight back."
"Yang it's not that simple, there's…" Ruby grimaced, searching for an excuse, "politics behind it all."
"Bugger that, I'm not an Assassin, they don't like that I don't care. If I come with you, I'm getting involved." Yang looked back at her sister, prepared to meet the puppy dog glare that she so often crumbled under. Instead Ruby was staring into the fire, eyes absent of the sadness present a few moments ago. "If Weiss had said no when I asked her, I probably wouldn't be here today. I would have given up a long time ago," the sadness returned as she looked back to Yang, "I hope you're ready, I still don't know if I was."
"Geez sis, I'm just asking to help crack a few skulls, I don't need your life story," Yang smirking as she teased. Ruby smiled in return, she had missed Yang's disarming humour. "Go get dad and we can head out,"
"No problem we can swing by his office on our way to your 'secret hideout'" Yang said as she stood, smile plastered on her face. Ruby started to rise when a heavy bang startled both the sisters. Another bang came, this time both looked to the front door, the wood buckling as a third hit struck the door. "Yang, back door, now" Ruby said as she scuttled away from the door. Yang nodded and ran after her sister.
The door gave way and Yang looked back to see a group of red coated soldiers come bursting through, muskets raised to fire. "Over there!" the leading soldier cried out before taking a shot. The bullet going wide of both sisters, instead shattering the window overlooking the small garden out the back of the house. Ruby led the way out the door as more soldiers entered the house, a few more taking aim at the sisters.
Ruby leapt up the wrought iron fence that served as the barrier between the next home. Yang watched as the iron sparked as a shot grazed Ruby's arm and hit the fence. Ruby lost her grip and fell, grasping the slice on her shoulder.
"Ruby!" Yang rushed to her sister's side, Ruby waving her away and rising as the Soldiers surrounded them.
"You are under arrest!" The leader called out as he levelled his pistol at them, his musket having been discarded after shooting. Yang glared at the man, standing protectively in front of Ruby. "What exactly did we do?" Yang said, failing to hide her anger.
"Corruption and murder of government officials and military personnel,"
"Cardin, these must be the wrong people, they're just girls," the blonde solider near the man named Cardin pleaded.
"Shut up Jaune, we are taking these two in, Sky grab the girl's sword," Cardin motioning with his pistol for another soldier to move towards Ruby. Ruby still stood behind Yang, blood still streaming from the gash on her arm. "When I make a move, get out of the way of the guns," Ruby whispered in her sisters ear. Yang nodded as the soldier approached Ruby, pushing the blonde out of the way.
Ruby struck, the blade flicking out from her wrist. Punching the blade through the red vest of the soldier Ruby pulled the now dead soldier in front of her. Yang dropped low and charged one of the soldiers, her shoulder impacting with his stomach. "Fire!" Cardin yelled as he pulled his trigger, the hammer falling and sparks flying as the pistol fired. The few remaining soldiers all shot, Ruby's 'shield' absorbing all the shots and leaving her unharmed. "Kill her!" Cardin's voice filled with annoyance as he pulled his sword from its sheath.
Jaune hesitated, his gun still unfired. Around him everyone exploded into motion, Yang started beating on the soldier she had charged. Ruby had her sword in hand and was fending off the aggressive strikes of the much stronger Cardin. Jaune froze, gun slowly lowering, they are just girls this isn't right. Yang tossed the next soldier into the garden, her opponents head shattering a potted plant, knocking him unconscious. She turned to Jaune, preparing to throw a punch. Jaune held up a hand in defence and Yang stopped, noting that he hadn't taken part in the fight. "You gonna stand there or fight?"
"U-uh I…" Jaune mumbled, Yang simply sighed and moved to help her sister. Ruby was still locked in her duel with Cardin. The wound on her arm didn't hurt anymore, her mind focused on dodging the brute's heavy strikes. In theory his wild, formless strikes should be easy to counter, his ferocity however made up for any lack in proper training. Cardin brought his sword down in a repetitive hacking motion, sparks erupting from Ruby's blade as she was beaten down, forced onto her knees under his furious assault. Consumed by his lust for blood he took no notice of the blonde walking up and slogging him hard across the face. Stumbling back he desperately raised his sword to defend himself, only to have it kicked aside by Yang as she went in for another punch. The second hit was enough to knock Cardin to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
With a swift kick Cardin lay unconscious. "You alright?" Yang kneeling to help Ruby up, Ruby nodded as she sheathed her blade. The two turned to Jaune, the lone soldier standing. "If you didn't like what was going on you could have lent a hand," Yang said with arms crossed, clearly not seeing the scrawny soldier as a threat.
"Well, it was, you know, against orders to help you?" Jaune argued unconvincingly. Ruby ignored him and started climbing up the fence, wincing as she put weight on her injury. She would need a few stitches, but it probably wouldn't impede her further.
Yang shrugged, "next time you see something bad happening, maybe do something to fix it," she said offhandedly before following Ruby over the fence. Jaune was left standing alone in the garden, his 'allies' unconscious or dead around him.
"His name is Mercury Black, the one who hosted the party we all met at," Weiss addressed Pyrrha and Ren. Neither of them made eye contact with Weiss, both preferring to stare off into the distance as another piece of the puzzle painfully fell before them. "He offered to help me with my family's estates while I took some time away from London. He… seemed trustworthy, like he understood a little of what was going on,"
"It appears he knew quite a lot of what was going on," Ren muttering in contemplation. Weiss nodded,
"Yes, well, it appears he found the letters and other documents pertaining to the Assassins that I had kept," Weiss paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "The Templars knew about us because of those letters, it's my fault that Velvet and her family, that Pyrrha's father, are dead."
The room fell silent, as the three all contemplated what to say next. "It's no one's fault but theirs," Blake said from the doorway, no-one having noticed her enter. "Now we have a target, let's do what we were trained too," Blake's voice laced with venom.
"No we need time to plan, we need to find out more about this group," Ren said firmly as he stroked his chin.
"We don't have time to sit around and wait, they are out there and they are hurting people." Blake's voice was raised, her words filled with reckless contempt. "This Mercury guy has to know who is in charge," Blake's voice darkened, "and we can make him talk."
"I'm sorry Blake, but we need to be careful, we are tired and we need to prepare," Ren raising his voice to match Blake's.
"Ren they have soldiers looking for all of you, it's only a matter of time before they come crashing through that door!" Blake now gritting her teeth in frustration,
"Will killing Mercury change that? Or will it only cause more soldiers to come!" Ren finally losing his temper. "I'm tired! I am not about to go rushing off just to get even, it's too risky!" The room fell back into silence, the tension palpable to all. It wasn't long before the others came in to see what the commotion was about. Very quickly sides were taken, Sun and Neptune moving over to Blake, while Nora immediately rushed to Ren's side as he rubbed at his tired eyes. "What about you Pyrrha? Are you going to let Mercury get away with killing your father?" Blake pointedly asking the quiet Pyrrha. Silently, anger held back only by a thin veil of sadness, Pyrrha crossed the room to stand beside Blake. Weiss stood in between them all, torn as what to do. She had to support Ren's leadership, they needed someone to follow now more than ever, but Mercury had betrayed her trust and had put Ruby in great danger.
Blake looked to Weiss, the question clearly written on her face. Ren appeared to resign, leaning against the wall hands massaging his temple. "I need to talk to make sure Ruby's okay," Weiss storming out of the room quickly, her mind a mess of conflicting thoughts.
She found Ruby in the next room over. She smiled as she watched Ruby carefully apply the last bandage to her arm. Even now she found herself caught off-guard by how much she cared for Ruby. Even bloodied and beaten she was beautiful. Yang raised an eyebrow in question as she watched Weiss admire Ruby, noticing this Weiss quickly looked away, her smile replaced with her usual disapproving pout.
"Oh hey Weiss, what's with all the shouting?" Ruby looking up with a smile as she finished her bandaging. Weiss moved over to sit opposite the two sisters,
"We know the identity of one of the Templars, Mercury Black, the host of the part where we," Weiss' eyes darted to Yang, "… Where we met with the other Assassins."
"Oh, yeah, that party," Ruby said awkwardly as she too remembered 'that' party. Yang studied both of them,
"Am I missing something?"
"No! No, it was just, a rather awkward party. I put myself forward as leader of the order and was, uh, rejected," Weiss quickly constructing an answer, it wasn't a lie of course, just a good diversion for the real source of the awkwardness. Yang laughed, "I wish I had been there, watching the Ice Queen get knocked down a peg is one of life's little treasures," Yang chided. Ruby playfully punched Yang's arm, causing her older sister to laugh. Weiss rolled her eyes,
"Anyway, Blake wants to go after him and get some more answers, Ren however thinks it's best to lay low and construct a proper plan."
"I'm with Blake, those soldier guys got me in the mood for a proper fight," Yang beamed with eagerness as she cracked her knuckles.
"Of course the brute would love a brawl," Weiss teased, before Yang could respond Ruby spoke up,
"What about you Weiss? What do you think we should do?" Ruby stared into Weiss' blue eyes, waiting for a response. Weiss sighed, sinking slightly in her chair,
"I want to go back to the vineyard and forget about all of this," Ruby frowned opening her mouth to protest before Weiss cut her off, "But they are our friends and we need to end this."
"Sounds like someone is avoiding the question," Yang muttered accusingly. Weiss ignored her, forcing herself not to fall into Ruby's comforting arms. Ruby quickly noticed Weiss' longing look, "Yang can I talk to Weiss privately please,"
"Huh? You have something to say to Ice Queen that you can't say in front of me, I don't think s-"
"Yang please," Ruby pleaded, Yang sighing as she succumbed to Ruby's puppy like stare.
"Whatever," Yang grumbled as she left the room. Ruby closed the door behind her and sat down next to Weiss, draping an arm over her shoulders.
"I'm going to help Blake, we don't have the luxury of time," Weiss said with resignation.
"If that's what you are doing then so am I," Ruby rested her head against Weiss, the two simply resting in each other's arms. Weiss leant in and kissed Ruby softly,
"I strictly prohibit you from getting hurt," Weiss said lovingly.
"If only the soldiers this afternoon knew you so disapproved of me getting hurt," Ruby laughed softly. Weiss smiled, Ruby's laugh, her smile, were perfect. Yet on the edge of another precipice of danger, she cast back to the moment a few months ago, where she held a dead Ruby in her arms. "If I lose you Ruby…"
"I'm going to be fine, I have Yang and you protecting me. We will deal with all this and then we have the rest of our lives to look forward too." Above all, Weiss loved Ruby's optimism, her indomitable spirit. She nodded, "The rest of our lives." Rising slowly the two shared another quick kiss, a final indulgence before they returned to the chaotic world around them.
They had a target, they had a team, they had a grim determination, and they had each other.
Authors Note: Wisdom teeth removed, wounds healed. Back to writing, and I have to say I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Although the next few chapters will likely be even more fun to write: Final showdowns! Revelations! Life altering choices! Wonderful, wonderful drama. So stay tuned because we are coming to the end of this tale, and hopefully it ends with a rather spectacular bang. So until next time, keep being amazing.
P.S the story passed 100 follows, thank you all so very much, your support is truly amazing.