Here we are at Chapter 66. We're almost done with volume 4 in this story. Soon, the next volume will come. I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 66. Enjoy.


Chapter 66: Past of Sorrow

In Anima, Velvet, Ruby, and the others continue their journey to Mistral. They've faced a few Grimm along the way, but nothing they couldn't handle. There is one thing though that has been starting to annoy Velvet a bit though…

"Oh, he really is cute. Almost like Zwei," Ruby coos as she hugs Bienfu and snuggles up to him a bit.

"Come on Ruby, I want a turn!" Nora whines.

Ruby has been a little goo-goo-ga-ga on Bienfu since Magilou revealed him to the others, along with Nora since they've never seen a Normin before. Honestly, it is starting to make her a little jealous…and making her think of ways to torture the little malak in ways words haven't been invented for yet.

"Ah, this is the life," Bienfu notes as he's being held by Ruby.

"Um, Ruby, I think it's time you let him go and give him to either me or Nora," Magilou asks, a little sweat rolling down her forehead.

"Huh, why?" Ruby asks.

"Because I need him alive, and well…" Magilou trails off and points up to Velvet…who's glancing back at Bienfu with a sinister, dark look in her eye. "Any longer now, and I think Velvet will eat him," she whispers into Ruby's ear.

"Bien! I don't want to become Velvet's next meal!" Bienfu yells and flies out of Ruby's arms and retreats back into Magilou's body.

Ruby rubs her head, "Uh, right, good point," she says and walks up next to Velvet. "Don't worry Velvet. You're still number one to me," she says.

"I wasn't worried," Velvet says as she glances away. "I was only thinking of how many ways I could rip Bienfu apart with just my demon claw's index finger before I bake him into a special dish and then fry his purple butt until it's nice and crispy…and then I'll devour him with my claw."

Ruby leans up and kisses Velvet on the cheek, startling her a bit and making her blush, "Don't worry. At the end of the day, you're my girlfriend, and that's not gonna change. I'll still focus on you more than any little malak like Bienfu," she says to make Velvet feel better.

Velvet smiles a bit, "Thanks Ruby," she says. Suddenly, a tree branch they're walking under breaks off from the tree and falls towards them. Velvet notices and slashes it in half with her blade, spooking Ruby a bit. Velvet deactivates her blade and looks back to Qrow. "You weren't kidding when you said your semblance basically makes you a bad luck charm wherever you go," she says.

"I warned you. My semblance brings misfortune, and I can't control it. That's why I was keeping my distance from you guys. It was for your protection. Though you don't seem too bothered by that fact," Qrow notes.

"And as I told you, I had a friend back home who basically had the same ability. Eizen and his Reaper's Curse…Almost makes me wonder what would happen if the two of you ever met up. How bad would our luck be then?" Velvet wonders.

"Hey, you know what they say, times a negative by another negative and you get a positive. It could happen," Qrow says.

"I doubt it, and this isn't about math. It's about life or death," Velvet deadpans.

Meanwhile in Salem's domain, four arching slashes of fire are seen as Cinder Fall kills another Grimm, panting as she trains to control her Maiden powers. See is in a large empty room, with a darkened arched hallway behind her, with several candles positioned around the edges of the room. Four Beowolves slowly approach her, and she attacks by swinging her left arm, creating another arching fire slash that cuts through all four of them. Cinder pants again, but then hears heavy footsteps coming from her left. She gasps and looks up as a Beringel jumps into the air, preparing to attack her. Cinder counters by pulling back her right hand and pushing forward, sending a ball of flames at it, killing it. As its body disintegrates, Cinder falls onto her knees, breathing heavily.

"Enough," Salem says as she approaches her from behind. "I thought you were the girl who wanted power. Did you lie to me?" Salem asks harshly. Cinder winces from the question before she looks up at her and shakes her head. "Then stop holding back. If you wish to master your new powers, you must-," she begins until the sound of heavy doors opening from the hallway stop her.

They both look back as a sobbing Tyrian slowly walks into the room, falling onto his hands and knees as he bows his head.

"I'm sorry," he says softly before raising a hand to his chin. "She'll forgive me. Pleeease," he whines as he bows his head again. "Forgive me," he says.

"Tyrian!" Salem says, making him wince as she walks to stand in front of him and he looks up. "Your task – were you successful?" she asks, holding out her right arm.

"…N-no," he says as he bows his head again. Cinder's eyes widen as Salem looks surprised before narrowing her eyes and walking away, while Cinder watches her. "But, wait, you must know. I found her, the one called Velvet Crowe. And she has a piece of the Fall Maiden's power!" Tyrian yells.

This actually gets Salem's attention, as well as Cinder's, and she walks back to stand in front of Tyrian, though her expression still remains dark.

"Tell me everything, Tyrian. And I mean EVERYTHING," Salem mutters darkly.

Ruby and Velvet's group move through the forest, but begin to notice how the calming green scenery began to change, seeing more dead trees around and feeling more dread in the air.

"You guys feel that. I don't like it," Magilou notes as she looks around.

"Yeah, I don't like it here either. We'd better keep moving. The sooner we get to Mistral, the better," Jaune adds.

They move a little faster, only to eventually stop at a fork in the road. At the center is what appears to be a damaged sign with a couple of arrows pointing in different directions on it. On sign has the name Higanbana on it, while another has the name Kuroyuri, though it's crossed out in red. A third sign has the name Kuchinashi.

"What do you think?" Velvet asks.

"We already passed Higanbana, so that's out. The way to this Kuchinashi place takes us away from the direction to Mistral. That just seems to leave this Kuroyuri place," Jaune says.

"We can't go that way," Ren quickly interjects.

"What do you mean? It's another village we can stop and rest at along the way to Mistral," Ruby asks.

"That village was destroyed years ago. We'll just have to go another way," Ren retorts.

"Alright, what's going on with you Ren? First you're all ready to go to Mistral with Ruby and the others, and now all of a sudden, you're chickening out. What' so bad about this village, because it's not the first destroyed village you've walked through," Velvet asks, getting irritated.

"That's personal," Ren retorts, getting more defensive.

"And I really don't give a damn. Ruby has been through a lot of danger lately, and I won't allow anyone to put her in more unnecessary danger. Let's not forget, I told all of you my whole life's story. Everything about me and my past. I think it's only fair that if this is something you had to deal with when you were younger, then you'd better start talking," Velvet demands.

"Okay enough with the serious talk. It's obvious that Ren, and possibly Nora, are quite familiar with that village, aren't they?" Magilou suspects. Nora puts a supportive hand on Ren's shoulder. "Look, we need to know what we could be walking into, and we also need to get to Haven as soon as possible. We don't exactly have time for more secrets right now," she says.

Ren eventually sighs, "Before I talk, I think you should see the village first," he says and starts walking ahead of them.

The others follow him…with none of them noticing that behind a bush next to the sign post is a fallen arrow with Mistral written on it, pointing towards the mountains. A few minutes later, they enter the dead village, seeing all the destroyed buildings, the trees devoid of leaves and burnt black from possible fires, waterways lacking any water whatsoever.

"I don't like it here," Jaune notes.

"Unfortunately, you see this kind of thing more often than you'd like. Trust me, I know. Villages fall as quickly as they rise when they don't have ample protection against the Grimm," Qrow notes as he looks around from behind the group.

"It wasn't always like this…" Ren says before they come across a large dead tree in the center of the village. "Years ago, this village used to be so alive, so happy, so peaceful. And I was happy too, living with my parents…My father would go out and hunt game for food while my mother and I took care of other tasks inside the village. One day while I was out with my mother, I met Nora…who was being bullied by some of the other kids in the village," Ren begins, looking to Nora who returns a sad expression. "You know that Nora and I are orphans. Well, Nora was already an orphan when we were kids. I was lucky to still have my parents, at least for a time. My father found us and everyone ran off. Later that night, my mother came into my room while I was sleeping, frantic. Grimm were attacking the village. My father came, injured and told us we had to leave. It was then that the roof to our home collapsed…and my mother was killed. My father tried to carry me out of the city, but we couldn't get far before he sent me to run away with his knife. It was then that the one leading the Grimm attack showed up; a monstrous Grimm I had never seen before. I ran away while my father tried to fend it off, only to die by its hands as well. During the melee, I spotted Nora and it was then that my aura and my semblance activated due to the stress of the situation. My semblance masks emotions, adds a calming effect as well, and helps to basically make us invisible to Grimm. It was thanks to that that we were able to survive until the Grimm left…We were the only survivors. After that, we looked out for each other and honed our skills until we came to Beacon. And you know the rest," Ren tells his and Nora's story.

After that Velvet softens up a bit, "I'm sorry about that. Believe me, I know what it feels like to lose your home, your family, and your friends, all in one night," she says as she thinks about her old home. Ruby holds her right hand in support, making her smile a bit. "Well, it would probably be best if we keep going. No use sticking around here," she says.

"I agree. Let's get…" Jaune says until they hear a loud, monstrous roar from outside the village, and it sounded close. "…going…" Jaune says more fearfully.

Meanwhile, it is late at night in Menagerie. At the Belladonna household, Ilia remains a prisoner in one of the rooms of the house, though no longer in bindings. She looks out the window, only to see metal bars on the outside of the glass. She is also well aware of the guards standing outside her room.

Ilia grits her teeth, "I need to get out of here and get back to the others. I need to try to get my scroll back as well, or else they'll know what Adam and the others are planning," she thinks.

Just then she hears the lock on her door click and the door opens to reveal Blake, carrying a tray of food and water in her hands.

"I brought you some food. I'm sure you're hungry," Blake says and walks inside while the guards stand watch, placing it on a desk near Ilia's bed.

"Giving me food isn't going to change my mind, Blake. I'm still not talking," Ilia defiantly says.

"It's not meant too," Blake says before she grabs a chair and sits across from Ilia. "Ilia, I know you're angry at me for leaving," Blake begins.

"You think? You left the White Fang when we were finally starting to make progress, and then you go and fight against your own brothers and sister, your people for the humans you have tormented us for so long. So, yeah, you're damn right I'm angry," Ilia retorts.

"You call that progress? Beacon is in shambles, and innocent people are dead. And not just humans, but Faunus as well. How does killing your own kind help your cause? I told you why I left; I didn't want my skills to be used in such senseless bloodshed. I wanted to use them for good, for a just cause," Blake counters.

"We will not be walked all over anymore, and any Faunus that stands against us is an enemy to our entire race. We did what we had to do," Ilia argues.

"How? By becoming the monsters that humans make us out to be. That only proves them right. And not all humans hate the Faunus. I would know, met humans at Beacon who respect the Faunus, and even treat them as friends, including myself," Blake argues back.

"Then you are a traitor to your own kind," Ilia spitefully retorts.

"I am NO traitor to the Faunus…What happened to you Ilia? I know you, you're a good person, but you're letting your hatred control you so much now. It won't help anything. With the Fall of Beacon, more people are angry at the White Fang, and Faunus in general. This doesn't help your cause at all," Blake says.

"Well, when your family was in charge, not much progress was getting done either. It was only when people like Sienna Khan and Adam Taurus took control that we could finally get things done," Ilia says.

"…The only thing you've gotten done…is prove you're no different than the Grimm," Blake retorts and stands up. "We'll talk again tomorrow. I'll give you some time to think," she says and goes to walk away.

Ilia narrows her eyes, "No…we won't," she says.

Blake looks back, just in time to see Ilia jump at her, landing her feet on her back and sending her crashing into one of the guards standing watch. The second guard tries to sop her, but Ilia kicks him in the face and takes away his glaive. She then takes off running to find her weapon and her scroll.

Blake gets up and looks at the guards, "Alert the others. Don't let her escape!" Blake says before she takes off after Ilia.

Ilia runs through the hallways of the household, thinking that her scroll and weapon will be in Ghira's study. As she runs, two more guards stand in her way and fire off their pistols at her. Ilia jumps off the walls and uses her glaive to deflect the bullets. Once she gets close, she swings her weapon at the head of one guard, and then ducks low to swings it at the second guard's legs, making him buckle before she kick him in the face. Continuing her escape, Ilia eventually finds the doors to Ghira's study and crashes through the doors. She finds her weapon on Ghira's desk and retrieves it, but can't seem to find her scroll.

"Looking for your scroll," she hears and looks behind her to find Sun standing at the door way. "Hate to break it to you, but you won't find it here. That would be too obvious," he says, and then creates two clones with his semblance to attack her.

Ilia swings her whip around at them, taking them out with an electric shock, and making Sun duck low to avoid getting hit himself. He tries again with three more this time, but Ilia jumps across the furniture, stabbing one, and then swinging her whip to take out the second one, followed by a few kicks to the third. Ilia then swings her whip again, forcing Sun outside onto the balcony with Ilia in pursuit. Sun takes out his gun-chucks and swings them around, firing off some shots at her. Ilia swings her whip around to deflect them, but finds herself getting forced onto the defensive.

"Sun!" they hear and look to see Blake reach them from the walkway on the side of the building.

"Stay back, Blake. I got this!" Sun yells, but gets distracted.

With that distraction, Ilia swings her whip again, hitting Sun on the left side of his chest with an electric shock, making him fall to the ground against the balcony railing, barely conscious.

"SUN!" Blake yells.

Just then, Rokurou joins the fray by falling from out of nowhere and landing in front of Blake.

"Who started the party and forgot to invite me?" Rokurou asks, smirking.

Ilia growls and swings her whip at the balcony railing near Sun, causing it to break apart and Sun starting to fall backwards. Blake and Rokurou react fast and catch him before he falls over. Rokurou looks over to where Ilia was standing, only to find her long gone.

"Damn," Rokurou mutters.

However, Blake is only focused on Sun, "Sun! No, no, no, no, not again! Not again! Please!" Blake cries as she puts pressure on his wound.

"I'll go get help," Rokurou says and runs off to get aid.

Blake turns back to Sun, "Just hold on Sun. Just stay with me," she pleads into the night.


And that's the chapter. Velvet and Ruby's group are about to meet their next challenge, while Blake and Rokurou have to deal with Ilia escaping and an injured Sun. Only two chapters left until we're done with Volume 4. What will happen next for the members of Team RVWBY? Until then, please Read and Review.