Interlude 2: Rudest Awakening


Time frame shift: Team VIEW Year 1 - Volume 7

Character Change: Viralious - Ciel Soleil

Location: Atlas Academy: RWBY dorms


Ciel's head felt like it was being split open by large, sharp ice picks. The light from the windows shuffled in directly onto her eyes, rudely waking her from her peaceful slumber. Shifting in the bed, Ciel rolls over and turns away from the window and grumbles, "Daisy, you never open the window, why start now?" She then begins going over her memories and realizes that her recollection stops a few minutes after entering the Lieutenant's office. Slightly alarmed by this revelation, Ciel slowly opens her eyes to figure out from her team what happened.

Ciel suddenly realizes that she's lower to the ground than normal. Looking around, she originally chalks it up to Lazy pulling another prank on her. She then looks to where her normal schedule is and notices that it's missing. She then suddenly realizes that the entire room is mirrored to what it normally is.

Internally screaming, Ciel looks down and thankfully notices that she's still decent. Glancing around the room she immediately tries to figure out which room she's in. Her first hint is a red cloak hung up on the chair across from her, next is a discarded bowl of what she assumes is some sort of snack from a movie night or a date, she couldn't really tell.

Slowly, Ciel edges towards the end of the bed and pressing her feet to the floor she slowly starts to leave the room. Hoping that she can leave without an awkward conversation with the inhabitants.

Her hopes are sadly dashed as her foot finds a stray can of hairspray haphazardly on the ground. Falling backwards in an inelegant manner, Ciel hits the ground further adding to her pounding headache.

Looking up toward the ceiling staring at the fluorescent lights above Ciel sighs as she sees two heads peek out of the sides of their respectful bunks.

"Oh, you're awake." the Schnee heiress says.

"Are you okay? I told Yang she shouldn't leave her hairspray everywhere." The young red girl from Beacon says.

"I'm fine… just confused how I got here." Ciel says slowly getting up. Wincing slightly as she stands up.

"Oh, well I found you sitting in the courtyard and figured you didn't want to get frostbite." Weiss responds curtly.

"What was I doing in the courtyard?" Ciel asks.

"I don't know, but you were drunk… Which I would never have expected from you." Weiss shrugs.

Suddenly the feeling of a hundred bricks strikes Ciel memories of the previous night flooded into her mind, "I… I was drunk?!" she suddenly blurts out.

"Uhh yeah." Ruby timidly responds.

"Do you not remember anything?" Weiss asks, getting slightly alarmed.

"I… I remember bits and pieces of the night." Ciel says shakily.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ruby asks, jumping from her bed and offering a hand for Ciel to get up with.

"Maybe… Though I could probably use a shower and a change of clothes first." Ciel shrugs after taking Ruby's hand.

"Oh okay!" Ruby says quickly rushing over to her dresser and pulling out a spare pair of workout clothes as well as a red and white tracksuit. "I don't know if we're exactly the same size, but it should be close." She states while handing them to Ciel.

Looking down at the pile of clothes then back at Ruby, her mind processing a million miles per minute. Okay this is not how I expected my weekend to start. I don't know what Lieutenant Schnee was thinking! Playing that game… Professor Basil was surprisingly calm with what was happening too… WHY DID I ACCEPT!

"Uhh are you alright?" Ruby asks, looking at Ciel with a puzzled expression.

"Oh… Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, I promise I'll be quick." Ciel says quickly blushing and taking the clothes retreating into the bathroom just as quickly.

Nearly slamming the door and locking it, Ciel sits at the base of the door on the bland tiled floor. Sighing, she looks at herself in the mirror. Her hair is a mess and not in its normal proper appearance. Her clothes are creased and show signs of dried spills, she prays that they are not spit or vomit.

Sighing, Ciel closes her eyes and tries to center herself by focusing on the ticking from her father's stopwatch.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

A light knocking is heard from the door.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

A second knock is heard.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

"Uh… Ciel… I left some acetaminophen outside the door. It might help with the headache." Ruby says timidly.

Tick

Tock

Slowly opening her eyes Ciel steadies her breathing and curtly responds, "Thank you, Miss Rose."

She then quickly removes her clothes taking special care of her father's watch,

Stepping into the shower she turns on the hot water and begins to try and clean the embarrassment from herself.


Character Change: Ciel Soleil - Ruby Rose

Location: Atlas Academy: RWBY dorms


It had been about three minutes since Ciel quickly retreated to the bathroom. Ruby was sitting on her bed looking at the carefully laid bottle of medicine outside the door. Sighing, she grabs her scroll and checks for any announcements from the others.

7:39 AM

2 C Cloudy

Three messages from Uncle Qrow

Ruby's brow furrowed; it was still early in the morning yet she had already three messages from her uncle. There was no way that this was a simple good morning text. Quickly opening her scroll she opens her messages and sees what her uncle could be telling her.

Ice Queen decided to give you the day off.

I don't know the reason, but it seems too just be you.

If you get the chance, I'd like to chat about yesterday you ran off before I could get to hear what you thought of teaching.

Breathing a quick sigh of relief that the world wasn't ending, Ruby ponders why she's been given the day off. When Weiss gives off an annoyed sigh.

"Winter said she received a message from Sherfira industries, they want me to return and talk more about my mission yesterday. They offered a large donation for the Amity project if I agree… So as much as I'd love to help you with Ciel I have to get ready for that." Weiss states while grabbing a hair a water bottle from the beaten down mini fridge in their room.

"Oh… Well apparently, Winter gave me the day off…" Ruby quickly responds.

Weiss looks at her partner and shrugs, "That's odd… maybe Ironwood had something he wants to talk to you about so needs you free."

"That's probably it." Ruby hastily agrees.

"What would the general want to speak to you about?" Ciel says emerging from the Bathroom wearing Ruby's red track suit. It's a little small but fits decently, but still is enough to get for Weiss to blush and turn away quickly.

"I don't know but Winter gave me the day off." Ruby responds.

"If Lieutenant Schnee wanted you to meet with the general, she would have mentioned." Ciel responds militaristically.

"Alright Ciel then why do you think my sister gave Ruby the day off?" Weiss responds, stepping towards the door to leave.

"Either training or reprimanding her." Ciel spits out.

"I-" Ruby starts before both her and Ciel's scrolls buzz. Quickly looking down she reads the new message.

Ruby Rose, please report to Lieutenant Schnee's office at 800 hours with Trainee Ciel Soleil.

"Miss Rose, we will report to Lieutenant Schnee's office at 800 hours, please be ready." Ciel monotonously responds before doing a double take. "We have to get going now if we are to arrive on time." she panics out before quickly grabbing Ruby's hand and rushing them out the door.


Character Change: Ruby Rose - Ciel Soleil

Location: Atlas Academy


Ciel was not having a good day. First, she wakes up with a massive headache, likely from a hangover. Next, she was wearing Ruby's track suit and it was nowhere near her typical uniform! Lastly, she had to drag Penny's annoying friend that for some reason got her license two years early!

"Uh, Ciel are you ok?" Ruby asks, breaking Ciel from her train of thought.

"Yes Ruby, I'm fine, just thinking of what got me here." Ciel responds in monotone.

Arriving in front of Lieutenant Schnee's office Ciel quickly knocks on the door. After a moment Winter opens the door and steps outside. "Good you're here, follow me." She responds coldly.

Ciel quickly follows in lock step while Ruby is hesitant. "Umm Winter what's this meeting about?" she responds quietly.

"Classified, Miss Rose." Winter responds coldly.

That's not ominous at all Ruby thinks before following.

After a few minutes of walking in silence Ruby, Ciel and Winter enter a messy office. Stepping inside Winter turns on the light a ton of plants around.

"Lieutenant Schnee, why are we in Professor Basil's office?" Ciel asks quizzically.

"I'm simply grabbing something." She responds as she grabs a small device from behind the professor's desk. Afterwards they leave and continue walking.

"Umm Winter… Why did you give me the day off?" Ruby asks annoyingly.

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Winter turns around and looks at the small red girl with an icy glare. "A test from an old friend."

"A test?" ruby asks quizzically.

"Lieutenant Schnee, is this friend Vira-" Ciel starts.

"You were not given permission to speak Ciel." Winter shoots back.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Winter sighs before motioning to an odd wall. "Knock six times and say, 'View the cards hidden in ice.'" she instructs.

Ruby instantly moves and follows the instructions, "View the cards hidden in ice." She responds in a semi joyful tone. After a moment a green light flashes above them. "What's that?"

"You both have five minutes to find the door that opened." Consider this your first test." Winter says before walking away towards the restricted section of the Academy.

Ciel and Ruby stand there for a moment before looking at each other. Ruby's the first to speak, "This is exciting, it's like a spy thriller!" She ecstatically exclaims.

"We need to take this seriously, Miss Rose. A test from Lieutenant Schnee is not so easily passed." Ciel responds.

"Well, do you have any ideas?" Ruby asks.

Ciel thinks for a moment to a … interesting conversation she had with Di and Lazy

They were just walking back from a training session when Di said something strange.

"So, what do you guys think behind the door that won't open on the first floor?" Di quizzically ponders.

Ciel rolls her eyes, "It's probably a broom closet, used for storing cleaning materials."

"Doubt it, I tried picking that lock and it zapped me." Lazy responds by flipping an empty magazine in her hand.

"You did not try picking locks again." Ciel angrily responds.

"So, what if I did, Miss Running away from her team to help a tin can?" Lazy shoots back.

This comment hurt Ciel more than she wanted to admit it… As calculating and punctual as she was… she wanted an actual team.

She remembered that night fourteen years ago when she stupidly went out looking for her father and was rescued by that odd team. How she looked up to them. She remembers getting weapon training from the one who could open portals…

"I have one idea." Ciel says in a sigh.

"Great, where is it?" Ruby asks with a twinkle in her eyes.

"It's on the first floor between rooms 123 and 125. There's a door that no one's ever seen the inside of." Ciel drones out.

"Perfect." Ruby responds by grabbing Ciel's hand and suddenly she's rushed away in a grouping of rose petals.

Ciel doesn't know how to describe it but, it's almost magical…

No wonder Penny fell for her.

Coming to a halt in front of the door Ciel catches her breath. Her heart's racing, head spinning, and she feels like she's going to throw up. Closing her eyes, she focuses on a familiar sound.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

Steadying her breathing, Ciel nods before reaching for the door handle and twists it.

The door suddenly opens, Ruby gives off an excited squeal before quickly rushing past Ciel into the room. Following behind curiosity gets the best of Ciel as she enters.

The room is plain, it's a standard room for the Academy with a large table in the middle. Sitting on top of it seems to be an envelope filled with something and a monitor on the other side of the table with a keyboard in front of it.

Stepping in further, Ciel's senses go to alert when the door suddenly slams behind her. Noticing that there is no handle on this side she starts to feel panicked.

"That can't be good." Ruby states the obvious.

"Astute observation, Miss Rose." Ciel drones out almost ignoring her and walking towards the table.

"You know I have a name. It's-"

"Ruby, I know your name is Ruby. Miss Rose." Ciel deadpans.

"Then just say Ruby, it's honestly weird that you call me that. After all we both would be second years." Ruby pleads.

Ciel blinks before responding "Miss Rose you are my Superior, so you will be-" She's cut off by a chime from her scroll. Quickly reaching into the pockets of Ruby's tracksuit Ciel pulls out her scroll and nearly faints from the popup on the screen.

Huntress License Atlas

Name: Soleil, Ciel

LN: 63600-35862-16823

Place of Issue: Atlas

Authority: G3i57

Restrictions: G3i57

It made no sense why she would get that. She was starting her third year at Atlas; she still had another year AT LEAST until she should be getting this. Looking at the License Ciel doesn't even notice that she's losing balance.

Before she's able to stumble and fall Ruby catches her wrist. "Are you alright?" the red hooded girl asks in concern.

Ciel's mind is racing a million miles per minute when she goes to focus on her watch.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

"Ciel"

Tick

Tock

"Ciel"

Tock

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

"CIEL"

Tick

Tock

Ti-

Silence… Why is there silence? Ciel thinks before realizing Ruby's clutching her wrist.

Instantly becoming alarmed, Ciel quickly drags her arm away from Ruby and moves to the table. Taking off her precious wristwatch, she places it on the table carefully examining for any damage. Finding none she taps the glass twice and a reassuring sound plays again.

Tick

Tock

"That watch must mean a lot to you." Ruby says.

Ciel sighs "Yes, it belonged to my father."

"Oh, I understand… this cloak is a gift from my mother as well…" Ruby says producing the red piece of fabric from around her neck.

Ciel looks at the red cape adorning ruby's back then to her eyes. In that strange silver she sees something she never noticed before, a memory she never forgot but was fuzzy.

Suddenly she's a little kid again, being saved from those Meteion goons, A young Lieutenant Schnee is comforting her while a dark haired man with a streak of purple says her name reminds him of his little sister. Then a short while later he's unlocking her aura, starting her on the path she's walking now.

It can't be.

"Ruby… do you have an older sibling?" Ciel shakily asks.

Ruby smiles, "yeah, Yang's my older sister… well stepsister I guess… but she's my sister and she helped take care of me after my Mother died."

"No other siblings?" Ciel questions.

Ruby looks at Ciel in confusion, "No sorry, no others. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Ciel quickly deflects.

An awkward pause stands between the two of them. Before Ciel sighs and motions a hand to the envelope on the table. "I think we should take a look at what's in here, might give us a clue on how to get out."

"Do you think this is another test?" Ruby questions.

"I don't know, but probably." Ciel says while picking up the envelope. Flipping it over to examine it shows that it's a bit old but well taken care of. Sighing, Ciel uses her thumb to quickly open the envelope.

Inside is half of a torn photo, a second photo and a piece of paper. Placing the Contents on the table Ciel's able to get a good look at them.

The torn picture shows two siblings, one boy and one girl. Both are wearing simple training clothes and the boy's hand is cut off by the tear. They seem to be a little bit younger than Ciel currently, but she can tell the picture is old. The second picture is a woman that looks extremely like her current red robed companion holding two young kids wrapped in blue and purple cloth.

Lastly the piece of paper has a handwritten note, she recognizes the handwriting as Professor Basil's, reading the neat cursive her eyes go wide.

The room you're in will only open if you can type the answer to the following questions on the screen on the other side of this table.

What is the name of the three people in these photos? (First names only)

Who controls the Grimm?

Why is this test being administered?

You have 20 minutes before vaporized lavender dremaors (or Sleep herb as no one pays attention to Lute's lectures.) is sent through the vents into this room.

There are two hidden gas masks in this room, if you want more time, find them and good luck.

Ruby's too focused on the pictures to notice Ciel's surprise at her reaction. Before Ciel instantly looks around the room and notices that there are small vents throughout the room.

"What's the letter say?" Ruby asks, putting the torn picture down. Visibly confused by it.

Instead of wasting time saying it, Ciel hands it to her and immediately moves to the keyboard and begins searching for clues of previous keystrokes. However, she's able to quickly tell that it's a brand new keyboard as they were too lazy to remove the plastic wrap around the damn thing.

"WHAT!" Ruby quickly yells before grabbing the pictures and rushing to Ciel's side. "Do you have any ideas?"

Ciel breathes in, not allowing panic to set in… "These people have to be close to one of us… that would be my guess, but I don't recognize any of them." She quietly lies.

"I recognize only one person… My mother is in the second picture." Ruby sighs. "But I'm not sure about the other two."

Ciel rubs the bridge of her nose and sighs, "Alright, we've got one out of three… What about the other two questions?"

Ruby pauses and sighs "I think I know the second."

Ciel pauses for a moment before sighing "I'll ask after we're out of here."

"What about the last question?" Ruby says, "I don't even know where to start."

Ciel sighs "I… I may have the answer."

Ruby smiles… "alright we're almost there, just need to figure out the two other names.

Ruby flips the torn photo over and finds a simple scratched out name.

Vir—-us

Sighing she flips it back over and stares at the torn photo for a minute. Before suddenly her eyes went wide. "Zeliska!"

"Uhh, bless you?" Ciel says confused

"No, the second name is Zeliska!" Ruby says "The Professor Basil gave me the other half yesterday! On the back the name was Zeliska!"

Ciel narrows her eyes for a minute before nodding "Alright what about the other half?"

Ruby passes the picture to Ciel who flips it over. Nods then begins typing on the computer.

Q1: Summer, Zeliska, Viralious.

Lieutenant Schnee's old partner… wonder where he plays into this. She thinks before pressing enter and the screen accepting the input

"Ruby, could you please type the answer to the second question." Ciel says, passing the keyboard towards her.

The red hooded ruby types a simple five letter word before passing the keyboard back to Ciel.

Q2: Salem.

Sighing, Ciel finishes the last question:

Q3: Because I'm a Geist.

The screen goes blank and the lights in the room suddenly turn off.

"Did we do something wrong?" Ruby says quickly, turning on the flashlight of her scroll.

Ciel shakes her head "No… This is the third test. Pointing toward an opening in the wall leading to an elevator."

Hearing a ding the doors of the Elevator open revealing a simple small mouse faunus standing there. "Congrats, on to phase three." Basil says pointing for them to enter the elevator.

Ciel and Ruby looked at each other before quickly entering the elevator with the mouse professor.

After an awkward short elevator ride, the door opens to the hangar and Basil passes Ruby an envelope. "This is your stop. Please take this envelope and it should help you figure out more with what I told you yesterday." Basil says tiredly.

Ruby takes the envelope then looks to the mouse professor. She tries to speak, but Basil just shoves her out of the elevator and it quickly closes the door.

Ciel looks at her professor for a moment and asks the obvious question, "Why?"

"She's not a Geist, yet… she doesn't have clearance to enter the next step… Now Ciel… what are your thoughts on Ironwood?"

A/N

First off, I'm sorry that this took too long and quite frankly I'll admit I wrote this chapter quickly to get something out to you guys as I feel bad.

Truth is I'm still busy as all hell, and sadly that's not going to change. So this chapter is a bit of building for the Interlude part of the story, the truth is that this chapter is simply to give Ruby a bit more hints in her mystery and give Ciel a bit more .

So I want to once again apologize for how long this hiatus is becoming, but being a Senior in engineering-physics applying for means I have zero time. I have at least one exam every week until the finals at least, so sadly I can't say that there will probably be a chapter until May 15th at the earliest. Sorry again for this long hiatus.

Not a ton to talk about so I'll leave it here, next chapter should hopefully be longer as I know this chapter was also a bit shorter than the last few but that was honestly by design since it's an interlude.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or send me a DM.

This is where I would like to thank my editor AmoebaHewdraw for coming back and reviewing the spelling on this story. I honestly owe him a bottle of Maker's Mark for coming back after yet another month-long break.

AmoebaHewdraw's Note: Do a bottle of Viking Blod and you have a deal. NOTE: Viking Blod is a brand of mead. I don't actually want the blood of a viking.

Until next time Xcom Out.