Chapter 64
The world was cold and wrapped in fog, but was that real or simply her mind playing tricks on her?
Fria did not know.
A freezing tornado spun around her, turning the room into an ice-covered nightmare. How long had it been since she had used the power gifted to her? Days? Or was it years? It felt like both and neither at the same time.
What am I doing anyway? Why am I here? I had… a job to do, didn't I? A mission… to protect something and then… pass it on? To whom? And who gave it to me? It's… so foggy. So hard… to focus…
The cold winds were comforting. They had been her ally and shield for so long that it was as if she wore a warm blanket like a cacoon. As the icy wind spiralled and spun around her she swore there was a sound of pain or something from above, but it was likely her imagination.
Who would try to get close to her while she was like this?
The answer came soon after as a young woman appeared through the razor-sharp winds and grasped Fria's hand. "It's okay." The ginger girl said, a soft smile on her face. A similar smile formed on Fria's own face as she slowly took her power and pulled it inside, causing the winds to die and her to fall to the floor.
Her body felt heavy. Far too heavy to do anything else. The time has come. She realised. The young woman held her softly, though there was a seemingly unnatural hardness beneath that perplexed the elderly woman. But it didn't matter.
"Are you… the one?" She asked. Her eyes opened wide in surprise and she looked around.
"Well… uh…" She stumbled, seemingly unsure. Fria kept smiling.
A wall shattered inward, spreading ice flying through the room. A young woman in black appeared, fire in her hands. She snarled and began to charge towards them, but stalled when another wall shattered. There was another young woman in black and red, wielding a large scythe.
"CIIINDEEER!" She screamed, launching herself forward.
"Damn you! Interrupting me when I was so close!" Cinder spat.
"To what? Stealing what isn't yours? You make a habit of that!" Ruby snarled back, swinging her scythe around to push her mortal foe back. Distance was created between them and Penny, who still held onto the weak and dying Fria.
"I deserve it! I deserve it all!" Cinder's blades slammed into Crescent Rose and twisted, throwing Ruby's guard open. "I have suffered! I deserve everything!" She thrust her blades down into Ruby's chest, which parted easily around the pair of glass-like swords.
Ruby scoffed, her chest little more than petals thanks to her Semblance, and dropped her scythe, deploying her gauntlets. Cinder's eye was wide in surprise at her attack having failed completely, leaving her open. Ruby's fist smashed into Cinder's face with a mighty crack!
"You deserve nothing!" Crack. "You, who take and take and take!" Crack! "You who steal what others have been gifted!" Crack! "You aren't a real Maiden! You aren't the Fall Maiden!" CRACK! "You're nothing but a fake! A false Maiden! Enshrined in hate and spite!" Ruby kicked Cinder in the stomach, throwing her back against the ice-covered wall. She then grabbed the blades still in her amorphous chest, drew them out and threw them.
Flames exploded forth, consuming the glass swords before they could hit their creator. Ruby didn't let up, however. She kicked up her scythe and charged forward, pulling down the trigger and firing a deluge of rounds at the monster before her.
Cinder snarled and raised her arms, superheating the bullets before they struck as she had oh so long ago near a Dust shop in Vale. As Ruby neared, Cinder thrust her arms out, sending bolts of fire at the speeding girl. But a wall of ice appeared, blocking the attacks. Ilia, now standing in front of Penny and Fria, had used her whip to lay down the wall just in time.
Ruby smiled as her body lost its shape and curled around the melting wall. Cinder looked between the two halves, wondering where she would reform. The answer was both sides as she reformed her arms, one on each side, with Ember Emortus at the ready. The shotgun-gauntlets barked as they unleashed fire and ice upon the false Maiden.
"Graaaah!" Cinder screamed as the opposing elements met over top of her in an explosion of steam that looked to consume her entirely. But Ruby wasn't done. She threw her petals up and combined Burn and Frost Dust into them.
"You say you've suffered!? You, who have dealt so much pain and suffering to others!? You killed my friends! My family! You deserve nothing but justice for your crimes! And I'm here to enact it!" Ruby roared before launching most of her Dust supply at once.
Bolts of fire and shards of ice formed a wave that struck Cinder, who called upon her Maiden powers to push back with gouts of fire. Old magic met new, both were filled with pain and suffering. But only one refused to let that control her.
Ruby launched her attack and then dipped under the vicious blasts of elements filling half of the room. Her petals easily escaped the damaging waves kicked up by the meeting of so much magic and Dust, though using her Semblance so much was speedily draining her Aura reserves. The weight pushing on her mind wasn't helping matters either.
She needed to finish this quickly, before she lost the advantage.
She reformed behind Cinder, with the sound of such being drowned out by the elemental clash. Cinder had a smug look on her face, as if she thought she had already won. Her magic was now overwhelming Ruby's attack, so it made sense. It was still foolish, however.
Crescent Rose slipped down and then slashed to the side, the bladed edge slamming into Cinder's knees. Cinder tripped over, but spun in midair and launched a new blast of fire squarely into Ruby, who barely managed to activate her Semblance in time to avoid the worst of it. As her cloud of petals raced to gain some distance, Cinder poured her all into a pillar of flame that engulfed Ruby's entire cloud.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!" She screamed in pain as her Aura tanked the blow. Ruby fell to the floor, having reverted entirely as her Aura crackled, almost shattered.
"Heh… heh… Hahahahaha!" Cinder began to cackle as she stalked over, a pair of curved blades forming in her hands. "You! You dared to go up against me and now look at you. Broken. Beaten. On the verge of death. I wasn't able to see your team's deaths in person, so I'll have to relish killing you now. You've been a thorn in my side for too-!" She cut herself off as snow drifted between them.
Penny stood over the now-deceased Fria, her eyes shining with green flames as snow was gently created around her, drifting through the room. Winter had appeared at some point to stand beside Ilia, though she panted with exhaustion.
"No! You! You! You bitch! You fake human! You machine! How dare you take what is mine!" Cinder spat flames as she roared with rage. It left her open for just a moment.
Ruby rushed to stand and swung her scythe, tipping over to hit the ground once again.
A shadowy black arm flew through the air, severed just above the elbow. Cinder screamed in shock as her Grimm arm was cut from her. Ilia immediately acted, lashing out with her whip. It struck Cinder several times across her body, sending jolts of lightning coursing through her. Winter then rushed forward, her sabre and dagger flashing as she cut into Cinder's stomach and pushed her back.
Penny's blades deployed behind her. Energy gathered for a moment before she launched a dozen green beams right into Cinder. She fell back, her Aura crackling and shattering as they launched their wave of attacks. A new arm was spawning from her stump, painfully from the look of things.
As Cinder stumbled back, Aura broken and her entire body in pain, Ruby acted.
She poured all her energy together for one last attack. She stood, gripping Crescent Rose tightly and pressed a button that often went unused. The blade turned, transforming from a scythe into more of a spear. With a roar Ruby dashed forward, throwing all of her energy, hate and love into her strike.
Cinder was still reeling from the barrage of strikes and the lightning that had burned through her. She didn't have a chance to dodge or block.
Crescent Rose sank into her gut and came out the other side, moments before Ruby's momentum threw them against the wall. Cinder, now pinned and impaled, reached out to desperately grasp the blade. Ruby snarled and twisted it.
"Cinder Fall… you bitch of a human… you've killed and maimed and tormented enough. With this, I get my revenge. May you rot in hell." Cinder's golden eye widened in shock, horror and fear. It lingered on the scythe, on Ruby's face and then came to rest on the appendage 'gifted' by Salem.
It was dissolving, turning into little more than disparate black particles. Blood leaked from Cinder's mouth as she watched the arm, and her life, fall away.
Soon enough the light left her eye and she flopped, no longer able to hold her body up.
Ruby drew her weapon free, causing Cinder's corpse to collapse to the floor. A soft golden light flowed up from her, escaping through one of the many holes in the room.
"It's done…" Ruby whispered, tears streaming down her face. "It's done!.. Yang! Weiss! Blake! I… I did it! I killed her! I…! I!" She fell to her knees, dropped her scythe and wept. Tears of joy and sadness mixed together and fell, striking the cold, icy floor.
A pair of arms wrapped around her, followed by another, as Ilia and Penny came in from either side to pull her into a hug. Their warmth, both literal and figurative, struck deep into her. It was as if a glacier she didn't know existed was melting in record time, with all of that freed water rushing up to leave through her eyes. It was a never-ending stream.
I finally… I finally! A complex mix of feelings flooded through her. Joy at victory. Sadness at remembering her fallen friends. Disappointment at herself for having to kill. Satisfaction at having watched the life leave Cinder.
Ruby didn't know what to feel, or what to do with what she did feel.
As she wondered and cried, a heavy blast took down more of one of the walls. Pyrrha and Jaune jumped in, the former crackling with energy.
"Ruby!" They shouted. Jaune rushed over while Pyrrha stayed on guard around Winter, who simply raised her arms in surrender. A revitalising feeling rushed into Ruby as Jaune boosted her recovery rate.
With a sniffle, she wiped her eyes clear and stood up, a little unsteadily. Ilia and Penny took a step back. "We… we should go…" She managed to get out.
"Yeah. Soldiers will be on their way. We've got everyone except Oscar, but he went off to face Ironwood. We can't get to him. Not with you like this." Jaune frowned, obviously angry that they couldn't reach him.
"I… okay… let's go." She turned to Penny. "Come with us. Please…" They were still close enough for Ruby to grab her arm.
"Ruby… of course." Penny's eyes were soft and filled with emotions just as complex as what Ruby was feeling. She had become the Winter Maiden now and was taking all that responsibility onto her shoulders. Ruby smiled sadly and hugged her again.
And then they left, using their arms to support each other.
Winter stayed behind, making no moves to join them. She made her choice, just as they made theirs. The stolen Manta pulled away once everyone was on board, piloted once again by Maria.
As the tension began to slowly drain, Ruby looked to Pyrrha. "You… did you..?"
Pyrrha nodded and looked down at her hands. "I felt a sudden… increase in power I guess. It was like when I first became a Maiden. It feels like there's more… or like it's more complete I guess."
"When I killed Cinder the half she stole must have searched for its other half. That's good." Ruby sighed and collapsed down against the wall of the Manta, Penny at her side. "So… no Oscar… dad and Zwei were probably arrested… what about Qrow?"
Her question was met with silence. She swallowed nervously. Jaune eventually answered her. "We don't know. Last we heard he was with Robyn and Clover. But the arrest warrant went out for all of us, including Qrow. So… if I had to guess he's probably been arrested as well."
"Damn it…" Ruby felt drained. They'd come out with several gains, but lost just as much. They had two full Maiden's on their team now, but their oldest and most trained members were gone. "What are we going to do now…?"
"I don't know…" Jaune whispered back.
The Manta fell into silence. Ruby reached out and clasped Penny's hand, offering support and receiving it at the same time. Pyrrha and Jaune gathered in one corner, with Ren and Nora in another. Ilia joined Maria in the cockpit while Pietro looked on.
Only the soft, distant sound of the engines kept the silence from being too awkward.
"..." Qrow remained silent, even as angry soldiers shoved him into the back of a transport. Robyn was shoved in beside him. She gave him a concerned look and rested her bound hands on his shoulder, offering support.
Qrow said nothing. He simply stared down at the blood-stained charm in his hands. The man who so proudly wore it was dead. Slain by Tyrian with Harbinger. All their work was gone, all because people couldn't just talk.
Clover hadn't wanted to discuss things. Robyn hadn't wanted to let Qrow be arrested for nothing. And I fucked up the most. He remembered it clearly. How many times had he attempted to attack Tyrian once he was free, only for Clover to get in the way? Frustration and anger had boiled over and now…
Now Clover was gone.
The man had been someone that Qrow could see himself working beside. They hadn't been overly close and yet… was it just his Semblance countering mine? Or were we really a good team? I'll never know…
Clover was gone. Tyrian was free. He was arrested.
Ruby. Tai. I hope you guys and everyone else made it out.
It's gone.
It was a simple message. Just two words. That was all it took to send James Ironwood into a rage deep within the vault. After everything he had done, victory was stolen. Taken from his reach.
Damn you! Damn you, Ruby! Rrrrrraaaaaaaaaa!
He screamed, letting his rage fill the air.
A low, echoing whine filled the air. It was like a whale calling to its siblings. It was apt, for it was Monstra calling to the flock that surrounded her.
Salem smiled upon her throne, watching as around her was shown the sky and far in the distance was Atlas and Mantle.
"Ah, finally. The game can begin." She smirked. But then she felt it, a change. Her smile dropped, replaced by a sneer of disdain. "So, you've finally failed for the last time? I'm disappointed in you, Cinder. After all the effort I put into you, this is how you repay me? If it wasn't for the girl you left with me, I would certainly fly into a rage. But with her here…"
She trailed off. Cinder was gone. Salem knew thanks to her connection to what she had gifted Cinder, both the arm and the magic the girl had once used on Amber. She was a fine Maiden. A fine tool. Without her, I will need Emerald to become the Maiden and open the Vaults. Hmmm. How to use her?
A smile returned to her face. Emerald was obsessed with Cinder. With the woman who 'saved' her. All I need to do is galvanize that. Push her to aid me to get back at Cinder's killers. Simple. A chuckle left her mouth. Cinder's failures hadn't stolen away the easier path to victory. Not yet, at least.
Well played Little Rose. Well played…
The orphanage was a brutal place. There was no order, no care for any of the kids trapped there. The adults cared not for them, just how much money they could make selling them as slaves. Kids ruled the orphanage.
And Cinder, despite her talent for fighting, was at the bottom of the hierarchy.
She was a monster to them. A hateful gremlin to be despised. She hadn't done anything to deserve it. Just existed. But every hierarchy needs a boogie man. Cinder was just unlucky enough to be one of those chosen.
But eventually, she was finally 'adopted'.
A woman from Atlas bought her as a slave. Cinder hoped it was a true adoption, but it wasn't. She went from the lowest at the orphanage, to the lowest in Atlas. Beaten, shocked and forced to eat scraps her life was perhaps even more miserable.
What had she done to deserve all this suffering?
Was it any wonder she latched onto Rhodes and his training?
Was it any wonder she aspired to be a Huntress and escape this life?
Was it any wonder that when the Madam tried to stop her, Cinder killed her and her 'sisters'?
Was it any wonder that she left Atlas and its horrid elitism behind?
The wastes were nothing compared to what she had gone through before, especially as her Semblance made it easier to keep warm. Mistral called to her and she followed. Years living and fighting there bettered herself.
And then she met Salem.
She learned of Gods and Magic and a power that would be all for her. She trained and trained and trained, and then burned down her old orphanage as proof of her hate. But despite all of that…
She failed. She couldn't kill Amber. She couldn't kill Pyrrha or Ruby or any of them. She couldn't kill Raven. And now she couldn't even manage an elderly woman.
As the scythe blade pierced her gut and claimed her life, Cinder had a realization.
This world wasn't just unfair. It was a monstrous world that beat down a select few. To her, at that moment, it was as if she was some dying protagonist who had tried to overturn a corrupt world.
The truth, that she was the real monster, never crossed her mind.
The last thing Cinder Fall ever thought was "I deserved more…"
A/N: I return! Woot woot. I had a good time off, though lockdown ruined some plans. Oh well. This chapter though. Ahhh. I've been looking forward to this moment for so damn long. Cinder's death and Ruby's revenge. It's a complicated moment for Ruby. Feeling joy at getting revenge while also feeling bad that it had to come to it. It's all mixed up and she isn't sure how it's supposed to be. Poor girl. She threw everything she had at Cinder and did manage to be in control for most of the fight. Cinder did just come directly off of a fight after all, whereas Ruby has just been running for a bit. Well and the fighting in Mantle but she's had a bit of time to chill on the ride back up. But yeah, Penny is the Winter Maiden, Pyrrha is the full Fall Maiden now, Cinder is dead, Salem is disappointed, Ironwood is angry, Qrow and Tai are in jail and Ruby is feeling things. What a time.
I did like what I did after Adam's death so I did a similar thing here for Cinder. A bit of a retrospective from their perspective. Almost like their life flashing before their eyes. And Cinder thinks she's basically the protag. She's that arrogant, at least in my view.
I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!