Chapter One: The Evil Spirit

Prologue: Submerged

The sailors all cheered as the long item was hauled up, greed coloring their voices as they pulled it over to the side of the ship. The captain watched his men all greedily clamber around to see the treasure inside that these strange people told them about. If he was being honest, it looked much more like a coffin than a treasure chest, but he wasn't about to question that now. He really didn't want to know how good those two were with their blades.

The sun was getting low in the sky, which only gave him a more ominous feeling as he looked down at the coffin-like chest.

"Man, so much stuff crusted onto this chest," His first mate said as he slammed against it with a crowbar.

"My ancestors raised my family in specific waiting for this treasure," The mint haired woman spoke, clutching the hilt of her blade tightly. "In fact, they were formed around the very contents of this treasure."

"What do you mean?" The captain asked as the last of the locks was broken open.

"My dear captain, have you ever heard of the White Fang?"

Four years later

Maria Calavera Rose walked up to the exit of the airport, waiting around for her. She was late. That always made her antsy. She had dressed more casually, in a dark blue coat and cargo pants. However, a hug from behind her caused her to jump.

"I got you mama!" The high pitched woman's voice caused her to jolt. She turned around to see the one grabbing her.

"Autumn!" Maria grabbed her in a hug. "I've missed you, sweetie!"

"I missed you too, Mama!" Autumn said. "Now, how about we go and get a bite to go and then I'll take you to the police station."

"About that," Maria's voice grew very serious. "You said that she said it was a demon?"

"Yes, mama. Can you help her, please?"

"Tell me exactly what happened as we drive over there."

"You got it, mama."

"Good girl," Maria put an arm around her daughter, gesturing to the raven haired woman near her reading a book. A pair of ears flicked up as the woman stood up to follow.

When they arrived at the police station, Autumn ran ahead, rushing up to the desk. Maria stayed behind and made sure she was prepared.

"Officer, is my Ruby here?!" Autumn asked.

"Ruby Rose?" The desk clerk nearby asked. "Please tell me it's Ruby Rose."

"Yes, that's her!" Autumn exclaimed. "Which way!?"

"I'll take you." The officer gestured, swinging his keys around on one finger. Autumn followed, thinking back on memories of her little Ruby growing up.

Ruby: Age five

"Okay, sweetie, this is the story of the dragon slayer."

"Yeah, I want that one mama!"

"Okay. 'I rode up to the dragon's cave. It was ninety million hundred fifty thousand hundred feet in the air. Till I found the dragon's cave and I fought through his army of awesome Karate bears. The dragon's breath was a blast from hell and we fought so hard I missed a longstanding appointment for brunch. Then I swung my horse like a club and it caused a sonic boom that ruptured space and then exploded the sun."

"I love that one, mama!"

Ruby: Age eight

"Ruby, catch the ball!"

Ruby: Age 12

"Good job making the honor guard, sweetie! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks, mom."

"Now, what would you like for dinner?"

"Your cooking, mom. It's the best."

"Ruby, mommy's coming!" Autumn ran down the hall ahead of the officer. "Ruby! Ruby!"

"Shut the fuck up, you bitch!" The voice stopped her dead in her tracks and even caused the officer near her to stand still, fingers reaching for his weapon. The voice was deep, feminine and absolutely intimidating.

"Okay!" Autumn smiled, giving a victory sign as she looked at her daughter.

Ruby was dressed almost head to toe in dark grey. The only parts that weren't dark grey were her white belt with a red rose emblem on the front, a red hat on her head, nearly covering her piercing silver eyes, and her blood red cloak, which she had torn the sleeves off of to show off her muscular arms. Her boots were actually a lighter grey than the rest, red laces crisscrossing across it like a corset and their soles and lining were a crimson color as well. Laced across her corset top's chest were red laces. Her hair was short, cut so it didn't reach past her shoulders. The roots were black, but the tips were a bloody crimson color, though it was entirely natural. Her eyes were the most striking feature. They were a piercing and fierce color, like Autumn's own, but had a much angrier look to them.

"I told you already I'm not leavin'," Ruby turned around. "You can go back home or whatever."

"Why is my daughter in jail?" Autumn asked the officer. "Oh no, did she kill anyone!?"

"Surprisingly no." The other officer said. "From what those guys were sayin' though, you'd think she was about to. I ain't never seen twenty guys get so horribly beaten, especially since I know several of them were bouncers and professional boxers with weapons."

"She didn't get hurt did she?" Autumn asked.

"No, she's perfectly fine," The first officer waved it off. "I mean, seriously, she took them all down. One even said he shot at her three times and didn't land a scratch on her."

"Get the hell out of my way." Maria's bulky form stormed into the cell unit. "I'm here to get my granddaughter."

"Granddaughter?" Ruby turned to look at the woman coming in. "So you're my gramma. Well, you can fuck off to whatever backwater place thought that fashion was a good idea. I don't need you."

"I know about your demon," Maria's eye twitched as she tried to keep her composure. "Now, tell me about it."

"What can I say that you don't already know?" Ruby just cracked open a Heineken can from the bottom, drinking it that way. Maria made a face at the brand Ruby was drinking.

"Hey, where the hell'd you get that?!" The first officer shouted. "No beer!"

"Please help us!" The other prisoners shouted, grabbing at Maria's clothes. "She's not lying. It's something dangerous and freaky! Please save us!"

"Let go of me." Maria pushed them away. "Ruby, you'll be out of that cell or else!"

"Let me show you how dangerous this is." Ruby stood up, walking over to Maria. The two stared each other down, Maria unflinching as Ruby's fierce gaze met her own. They stood on equal footing, Ruby only slightly taller than her, but just as muscular. She shoved something into Maria's nose. Maria took it out, looking at it.

"Why, this looks like my nose picking—er, my pointer finger," She looked down at her prosthetic hand. "Wh-What the hell!? When did you—"

"Are you convinced?" Ruby glared at her. "No? Well, how about this?"

At that, a ghostly looking hand came out from her back. The officers didn't react as if they could see it, but Maria and Autumn both gasped. The ghostly hand had a yellow band around its arm, shaped like a crown almost, yet like a bracelet. It had what looked like a black fingerless glove around its fingers, its pale white skin lightly transitioned in an almost burgundy sleeve, tight to the skin. It grabbed one of the officer's pistols, holding it up to Ruby's head.

"Wh-What the hell?!" The first officer exclaimed.

"I've already tried to kill myself to rid myself of this thing," Ruby held the pistol to her head. "But, I suppose you don't understand how bad this is."

Before Autumn had the time to scream 'NO!', Ruby had pulled the trigger. The sound echoed through the cell, causing everyone to jump back in shock. Ruby was the only one still standing where she was. Even though she was panting, she was still calm and collected. There, holding the bullet, was a ghostly hand. This hand was a little different than the other, its forearm yellow with a black stripe on the side. But, it held the bullet, which hovered in midair in the eyes of the officers.

"Ruby…" Autumn's hands were covering her mouth as she gasped, having expected to see her daughter's brains splattered against the wall. But, she was fine, even the other prisoners breathing sighs of relief.

"Did you see that?" Maria asked Autumn as the bullet dropped to the ground.

"I-I saw that hand grab the gun and bullet. Or, was it two hands?"

"I believe it was two hands." Maria nodded. "Well, Ruby, I think I can help you out with this 'demon' of yours. What this is called is a Semblance. We call it this because it's a Semblance of the wielder's personality."

"That sounds about as lame as if you wanted to call it a stand because it stands by you," Ruby threw the gun to the side, another bullet shooting from it, which the hand caught.

"Either way, it's interesting that yours manifested so powerfully. But, we don't have time to discuss that here. Come on. We have to go now. We have much to talk about."

"Nah," Ruby said, which stunned Maria. "I told you I'm staying here. I just about killed those idiots that fought with me. It's too savage to keep under control."

"I figured you might still be stubborn," Maria's eye twitched again. "It's that Rose blood in you. But, I prepared for that."

Maria snapped her fingers. The click clacking of heels could be heard as the officers looked down the hall.

Walking into the room with the lithe grace of a cat, despite her frame, was a woman who looked to be in her twenties. Thigh high midnight purple, inch and a half heeled boots were responsible for the click clacking sound, black stockings emerging past that. They were held with a garter belt to the black, lacy corset she wore. A tight pair of black shorts went into the socks, bridging the space between them and the corset. Under the corset was a black lacy top that covered her cleavage. All of this was under a white jacket with flowing coattails, belts around the wrists and waist of the jacket. Black lacy sleeves that reached past her elbows under the jacket. In her hair were two black bows on the sides, the left side saying Gambol in gold lettering, the other saying Shroud. On top of her head was another black bow, but this one seemed to twitch with movement. Her skin was a pale tan, almost as if she liked to laze in the sun. Her eyes were golden, their shape slitted like a feline's. Said eyes locked on Ruby, then on Maria.

"This is her?" Her voice was a bored silky, like she was lazy and unmotivated.

"Yes, that's my granddaughter," Maria nodded. "Ruby, this is Blake Belladonna. A hundred years ago, my grandmother, Summer Rose made it a personal quest to find the descendants of the queen of one of the tribes within Menagerie, land of the Faunus. This is the last of her descendants."

"I'll have her out quickly," Blake cracked her knuckles. "Now, Ruby, will this be the easy way of the hard way?"

"Please," Ruby growled. "Whenever someone tries to tell me what to do, I just stick my heels in and tell 'em to fuck off. So, kindly fuck off."

"Do you mind if she goes to the hospital?" Blake asked Maria.

"Do what you have to."

"Very well," Blake's eyes glowed once as a black cat emerged from her shadow. The cat grew in size, its body taking the hourglass shape of a woman. The woman had cat's ears and golden eyes, a similar muscular frame to Blake's. However, she never lost the shadowy wispiness of her body, even when she opened her mouth to reveal rows of jagged teeth like a shark's and claws like a lion's.

"This is Gambol Shroud, my Semblance and representative of the Rogue Card of the Role Cards," Blake pointed to Ruby. "It represents stealth and hidden things in its meaning. Now, she's going to make you get out of there or else you'll be hospitalized. I gave you a chance, now, you're going to suffer for it."

With that, the room seemed to grow darker, almost suffocatingly so. Gambol Shroud disappeared, reappearing behind Ruby and pinning her arms behind her back. Ruby struggled, but was unable to harm the Semblance. Gambol Shroud dragged her claws across Ruby's back, choking her.

"What's with Rose?!" The first officer exclaimed. "She's on the ground. And, why are the emergency lights on? It's bright as day in that cell."

"I told you I wasn't leaving," Ruby growled, the hand from earlier grabbing Blake around her own throat as her Semblance made itself manifest. Attached to the hands was a woman, powerfully built and strong. The burgundy sleeve stretched across her body like a jacket and stopped under her cleavage, the Semblance having quite the voluptuous form along with its massive bulk. Long blonde hair flowed behind it like a cape, reaching her waist. It looked as if it would be silky smooth to the touch. Her skin was the same shade as Ruby, but with a bit of a yellowish tint to it. Her eyes were purple, a lilac shade, staring into Gambol Shroud's golden ones.

"S-Such a powerful Semblance," Blake choked out, struggling to stay on her feet as Ruby's Semblance threw hers across the room, which threw her as well. "I didn't think it would manifest so powerfully. I must go all out or I'll be killed."

Ruby stood to her feet, straining to rein in the powerful Semblance. The Semblance, on the other hand seemed to be even more ferocious. Her eyes had turned a blazing red and her hair looked as if it was on fire, ripping the iron bars from the prison and preparing to throw them at Blake.

"You'd better stop," Ruby's voice was strained. "I can't stop it for much longer and it won't go easy on you. I can tell you don't intend to do anything too dangerous."

Blake's eyes widened slightly, the woman panting slightly as she stood up, clutching her neck, which had a handprint where Ruby's Semblance had grabbed it. "Very well, I am done. But, it looks like you have lost anyway."

"The hell does that mean?"

"Well, it looks like you're outside the cell," Blake smirked, pointing to Ruby's feet, which were outside the cell a little. Ruby looked down, looking back at Blake.

"Well, I suppose you did win," Ruby said. "But, what if my Semblance as you call it threw these bars at you?"

"Gambol Shroud could easily deflect those pitiful iron weapons." Blake waved her away.

"Sheesh, that was close," The raven haired woman thought as an afterthought. "I could have held her off, but if it was a battle of power, she'd have destroyed me."

"Now that you're out, we need to discuss a few things," Maria said to Ruby, helping Blake up. "This involves both of you."

About thirty minutes later, the four of them were seated at a café, eating their food.

"So, what the hell did you have to talk to us about?" Ruby asked, eating her plate of eggs.

"Have you ever noticed how we have silver eyes?" Maria pointed at Ruby's eye.

"Yeah, so?" Ruby asked.

"Silver eyes are a trait passed down only by the Rose family. It is a trait that has been with us since the beginning," Maria spoke, pulling her finger away before Ruby would break that one. "My mother told me that my father had them as well."

"What's the point of all this?" Ruby demanded.

"Have you ever heard of the White Fang?" Maria held up a finger to stall any questions.

"I've heard some things about them in my history class," Autumn looked to the side. "But, I can't remember much. Do you remember, my little Ruby Roo?"

"Shut your damn mouth," Ruby pushed her off of her, Autumn having grabbed Ruby's arm and started nuzzling it. "And stop hugging me like that."

"Hey, don't you talk to your mother that way!" Maria exclaimed, pointing at her again.

"You wanna go, old lady," Ruby stood up, as did Maria.

"M-Ma'ams, may I help you?" A busboy walked over to see what was going on.

"Get the fuck out of here," Maria and Ruby both turned to him, the busboy scampering off back to the kitchen.

"Enough, you two," Blake rolled her eyes. "We've more pressing matters, remember Mrs. Calavera?"

"Right, right," Maria sat down, as did Ruby, at the mention of what Blake called her. As Blake came from Menagerie, typically the name they most preferred was used. For her, that was Calavera. "Now, back to talking about the White Fang. They were originally a cult started about a hundred and twenty years ago by a man named Corsac. Real nasty, that one. Liked to butcher and eat women. However, this cult disappeared around a hundred years ago."

"That I remember," Autumn nodded. "No one knows why they disappeared or how, especially since no more killings of that manner were committed."

"Correct, that's my girl," Maria pet her, getting a giggle from Autumn. "Now, what actually happened was this; my grandmother, Summer Rose stopped them. She destroyed the group."

"Why the hell is this important?" Ruby asked. "They're gone, so what?"

"About four years ago, on a ship near Old Vale, there was reported an expedition of a captain and his crew. They were conscripted by, according to the records, an odd group, mostly wearing robes except for two of them. They were also carrying this."

Maria pulled out a Polaroid photo, showing a wicked blade in the hands of a dark skinned woman. The rest of the woman couldn't be seen, but she wasn't wearing gloves, so her complexion could be seen, as well as her gender.

"I once saw this blade on a mural depicting an ancient race of monsters that once roamed the Remnant," Maria pointed at it. "We've got no idea what it is or what it does. But, we suspect it may have to do with the Semblances of a person, as it seemed the murals depicted it."

"How'd you determine that?" Ruby asked.

"There was something else they noted on that boat," Maria continued, pointing to another picture she pulled out. In this picture was a large chest, longer than a person, and with the bottom removed. "This was the strange chest they drug up from the bottom of the ocean. This is what that group, the White Fang, was after. There was speculation about what was in it, but I know who resided there for a century."

"Wait, did you say 'who'?" Ruby's eyes opened a little wider in surprise. "What the hell was in that chest, old lady?"

"A hundred years ago, my grandmother was killed by a creature we call a Grimm," Maria's voice became somber and very grave. "That demon's name was Cinder Fall."

With that, Maria held up a camera, crushing it in her hand. Around her hand, a swirling pattern of vines emerged from her hand, wrapping around the camera and terminating in a point that resembled an eye, two blades encircling the eye.

"This is my Semblence, the Beholder of Life and Death," Maria stood, slamming her hand on the table. "It symbolizes Clarity and Protection! And, with this, the Clarity aspect reveals the truth of what was in that coffin."

Revealed in the photo that emerged from the camera was a muscular woman, wreathed in shadow. Naked from the waist up with her chest wrapped in bandages, her back was nearly turned to the camera, a single glowing point where her eye was. Long black hair flowed around her, obscuring her. Dark aquamarine pants could just barely be seen in the bottom corner of the frame.

"Do you see that single point of light there and the wound around her neck?" Maria pointed at her eye. "That point of light is a silver eye. From the neck down, that body belongs to my grandmother, Summer Rose. This bitch stole my grandmother's body, soul, and eye!"

Far away, in a place cloaked in shadows, no light from the sun able to enter, she walked through the hall. The candles glowed softly, illuminating, yet not revealing her face. But, her eyes seemed to glow in the light. One silver and one orange, a burning conflict a century in the making. She stood in front of the mirror, turning to the side.

"Someone is looking at me again," She spoke to no one in particular. "It would seem as if it's the descendants of Summer Rose once again. Did you get a good look, Maria? Are you satisfied yet?"

"Can you feel it, Summer?" She licked her lips. "Our destiny is soon approaching. We shall meet in conflict with your… or, should I say our descendants. I can feel the anticipation running up and down the spine that was once yours. I must say I am glad you were dead when I took your body and eye. Thank you, by the way, for giving those to me. I'm once again whole."

No one answered her question, the corner of her lip tugging upward as if she had heard a response. "Yes, I feel that. Your body and eye have rejected me thus far, but soon, it shall be mine, truly mine."

She placed a hand on the mirror, looking behind her at the books spread out behind her, books she had obtained to help her in her ultimate goal. She turned, standing in front of a table, a pile of corpses next to her, dry, shriveled husks of men and women who had pledged their bodies to her. She sat down, picking up a feather pen and ink.

"My dearest friend in Mantle,

I have written you this letter to ask how you are doing and to quell any worries you may have on me here. I have decided to stay here. My fate is calling me to be here and we both know that fate cannot be ignored, only acknowledged. I do hope that you are faring well. I believe that I am coming close to truly possessing this body. I hope that your inquiries into the matter we discussed are going along well. I will visit you when I have dispelled my century long foes, the Roses. Worry not. I have someone especially for this duty.

How is your looking into that prison going? You had said that it could be a suitable place. Hopefully, you will not get into any sort of issues there. About your… relative. I have discovered her and sent her on her way as well. She knows nothing of us, or that I am aware of anything involving that incident. But, do be cautious.

With regards, Cinder Fall"

Her letter drafted, she blew on the ink to dry it a bit faster. Unfortunately, her Grimm abilities were sealed away upon taking of Summer's body. She would have to fully claim her body to deal with that. Another matter for another day. She glanced over to the door, where a dark skinned woman with green hair walked up to her.

"How have you been healing, my mistress?"

"My neck and eye socket are healing slowly, Emerald. Now, be a dear and mail this letter to our dear friend. She'll be looking forward to it. I must say, you do know how to pick allies."

"I only aim to serve you, my mistress," Emerald bowed low. "What are your plans with the accursed Roses?"

"As I dictated in my letter, I've sent someone to take care of it," A smirk from the Grimm. "What better way to break her in than to test her mettle against my enemies?"

"What of the fact that Ruby has gained a Semblance?"

"A matter for my little spy to take care of. Now, come. We have much to discuss."

"As you wish, my mistress." Emerald followed Cinder, the dim lighting illuminating the Grimm like a ghost as she moved through the dimly lit halls.


And, so Fate has come to collect, finishing what it started over a century ago with Cinder and Summer. Whose side is Fate on? Which way do the gears turn? We shall see.

And, here it is, chapter one! I hope you enjoy this! I've even got cover art done! It's a parody of an iconic Stardust Crusaders scene, so I hope it fits here.