I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling as I let it all set in. What a trip down memory lane, one I'd never forgotten, but had simply chosen to ignore for all this time.
Angela.
To see her again, it was nice; even though my heart felt torn. Honestly she was the easiest to face, her warmth and kindness provided ample relief to everything I had been faced with so far. No, it was the end of the tale that had my mind whirling.
The black fire.
The memory had been... off, something about it had been different to what I myself recalled. Perhaps it was my own mind waning, but I didn't remember my body taking such a drastic turn in appearance... or had it? I'd not paid attention to myself at the time, choosing instead to focus on the burning woman.
Yet if that was the case... why had I been watching myself from the outside? If it was simply a memory then why had I not seen it from my own eyes? Each and every time I was always on the outside, watching events unfold as if I was a stranger. A passenger in my own tale, unable to interact as I watched the past unfold.
There had to be more right? If so would they all follow that trend? Losing myself in my thoughts left me no closer to an answer, but what was I supposed to do? My original plan of returning home was as good as gone. I was stranded, and the question of what came next was muddled in a myriad of others.
Yet as I lay thinking the ring of my scroll saw fit to interrupt me. I sat up, reaching over and answering it. Maybe the call would take my mind off things.
"V... can you hear me?"
It was Sienna, which was strange considering the fact that I was usually the one to call her.
"Yes." I answered, curious as to the reason of her call.
A moment of silence passed before she spoke. "Are you alone?
"I am."
"But you're not at the base are you?"
"No..." I replied, her question was oddly specific.
"If I were to guess you were at Beacon, would that be true?" She asked as the realization hit me.
By now the White Fang would have spread the word that I was gone, missing perhaps as nobody had been around to witness my leaving. However she guessed I was in Beacon, and that was concerning. Sure it could have been a lucky guess, but why would they assume I was taken by a school in the event I had lost my battle? Wouldn't it be better to assume I was taken by the Vale police instead?
"It would." I answered calmly. Another moment of silence occurred as I sat in wait.
"Word has it that you went rogue. Everybody thinks you're in league with them, but I know you better than the others. You told me you would help stop Adam, to stop his insane plans. Is that desire still there... or did it whittle away?" She asked as I felt myself worried.
Her voice was calm, but her words jittered. It wasn't the sort of hidden anger or irritation that she'd displayed for me back when dealing with her guards, but something new. This new tone sounded... broken, as if trying to imitate emotion while it was lacking. It was the same type most shop keepers had when dealing with a particularly rowdy customer, a mask for the voice.
"I still wish to stop him, however the situation has changed somewhat, it's... complicated." I told, wondering how exactly I was going to proceed.
"Yes... yes it is. I want to hear it from you, are the rumors true, were you in line with Beacon all this time."
I stayed quiet for a moment to gather my thoughts before I spoke. "No, not back with you, I've only found myself in line with them now. As for the reason... things weren't what I thought they were."
"How so?" Sienna asked, a hint of curiosity cracked her vacant tone.
"I can't quite describe it. Have you ever felt that something was off, only to learn that everything you knew was a lie?" I asked as she let out a laugh, almost like a broken cry.
"You have no idea just how hard you hit the nail in the coffin. Recently it seems as though nothing is true."
"What happened?"
"Ah ah ah, you first. I want to know just why you left." She spoke, her voice gaining back some of it's fire.
I let out a silent sigh. "Alright alright, fine. Where to begin... first of all I don't think you'll believe a single word of it, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."
"Try me." She left no room for questioning, a direct order that required a direct response.
I didn't have to answer, I could have just cut the call right there, but I didn't. Adam was still out there, and without anyone to keep watch over him I feared what he might do. This wasn't my kingdom, in fact I'd call a simple school more of a downgrade. However this 'Beacon' was well loved by my lord, even if he was only the headmaster now. As his knight I was required to protect it from any and all threats.
I had no goal, and I had no kingdom, but still... I had my lord and all his people. The students and staff were all under his protection, and by relation mine. I would die before I let any threats do it harm.
"It started out simple, I was at the docks overseeing the theft of dust. However we were interrupted by the arrival of a student, that student being Blake."
"Blake? As in the Blake that went out alongside Adam?"
"Yes."
"That would explain why nobody could get into contact with her... alright, continue." She told as I did so.
"Earlier on I was given the order to kill anybody that tried to intervene. I tried telling Blake that but she wouldn't listen and we ended up fighting."
"Tell me you didn't kill her?" Sienna was quick with her request.
"No, at first I tried stalling for time. But Torchwick wasn't having it-"
"Wait wait wait! Torchwick? The Roman Torchwick? As in the 'Gentlemen Thief' of Vale... who is undeniably Human?"
"The same. I take it you didn't know?"
"No... but that's an issue for later."
"Right, so we were fighting when two others showed up, they were also students. I fought them off for the others to escape, yet I came to a problem. From what I've seen so far Adam admires power, if I were to escape the three would still be alive and pursue me. However, if I were to kill them then I would be seen as valuable in his eyes. Given enough time I'm sure I would have gotten him to trust me. So, I broke the aura of one and went for the final blow."
"Did you kill them?" Sienna's voice was grim.
"No."
She let out a breath. "Good. Look, I know I said to get close to him, but killing hunters is out of the question. The academies are the only places that globally allow Faunus, if we killed any of their students it would rile them up. There are still problems, but hunters are seen as heroes to both Humans and Faunus, we can't afford to start things with them."
"Understood. I never got the chance anyway as I was interrupted by the arrival of...someone."
"Someone?"
"Yes, they brought me to Beacon where they explained what really happened to me."
"Alright, what are you saying?" She questioned as I thought up a way to tell without telling.
"I was confronted by the headmaster, who proceeded to question me. I spoke of when I woke up and when I attempted to stop Adam, all paraphrased to keep you out of it. After which he... well... he gave me some heavy information." It was a half-truth as I'd detailed all the events to him, but Sienna was already at her wits end so I doubted she could handle any more to worry about.
"How heavy?"
"Heavy enough to render my previous plan of returning home dead."
"I don't get what you're going at." Sienna said as I straightened myself.
"Returning home would be impossible, my kingdom died over a thousand years ago."
"... What?" Her word was quick, almost like a crack.
"I sai-"
"I know what you said... just, just give me a moment. So what you're getting at... is that you're kingdom died... fuck. Ok, right, before diving into that I'll get the obvious question out of the way: how does he even know about you?" She rambled, her tone shifting constantly as she tried to understand what was said.
"From what he told me he's a descendant of the kingdom. His family supposedly keeps records of their history dating back three or so thousand years. Most of that being unreadable, but he said that the 'Grimm kingdom' as they call it was kept as a secret to avoid potential panic and outcry." I explained, carefully wording it to sound as genuine as I could.
"Fine, okay, so what about you?"
"Apparently I was in their records, recorded to have disappeared at some point, the cause remaining unknown even after it's eventual fall." Now that hurt to say, but it was true. My kingdom, my home was gone, and nothing would change that.
"Right, dust, so essentially you've been gone for years. Any idea how?"
"Not one."
"Shit, so we're in the dark here. Can't anything go right?" Sienna lamented as a thought came to mind.
"I do have news of a more positive sort however, I've found another obelisk."
"Really, any new powers then?"
"Well, not yet, I've only just got back." I said as her tone rose.
"Back? He sent you out to do something?"
"When I told him of the obelisks he showed me a picture of another he found in some ruins. He sent me off to read it and I just woke up recently."
"Okay, so what did it say?"
"Give me a moment... walkers in... within the years of their mirror shall... have their souls embrace, else the body is free to... wander? I think that's how it went."
"Still the same cryptic bullshit. Disregarding that, what do you plan to do? Adam's got the White Fang entirely under his control now as far as I can tell. They're keeping secrets from me and I don't know how long before they stop following my orders entirely."
So that's what was going on. Adam already had the Fang under his thumb, and I was left with the problem that had bugged me since my arrival. What was I going to do? At the moment the headmaster never mentioned anything about the subject. Was I free to pursue it on my own, or did I have something to hold me back? Ultimately I was unsure, perhaps a walk around the school would spark some ideas.
"I don't quite know yet, but I'll figure something out."
"Right, you do that. Actually, before that can you tell Blake to call her mother? Kali's been asking recently and with you already there it shouldn't be an issue. Of course that's probably going to be a challenge in and of itself, considering she never called since."
You can say that again.
Considering the fact that I tried to kill her, she'll probably be... less than receptive.
"I'll try."
"Thanks, I've got to go now before the others start wondering where I am. I'll call you from now on."
"Got it." And with that she was gone.
As for myself, I decided to take a look around the school.
.
.
"I'm telling you, we've got the whole plan up and ready." Sun spoke as they walked along.
"Uhuh." His blue haired companion gave.
"We just need an extra hand you know? Backup for when things get dicey." Sun continued as they passed along some of the other students.
"Right."
"Trust me, there's nothing like it. They're so cool, rushing head first into trouble."
"You sure that's not too much?"
Sun shook his head. "Nah man, we handled ourselves pretty... kind of well... mostly." His voice got a bit lower.
His friend gave him a look. "You okay? You've been moody since you got back."
"No, no I'm cool, just a few scraps." Sun shook himself as his companion took a step back. "No point focusing on the what if, we've gotta focus on the now!"
"Right..."
The two walked along until Sun found his mood lifting. "Hey it's them! Hey girls, over here!"
Just ahead of them - having come out of what looked to be the mess hall - were team RWBY, as well as what appeared to be another team. They all seemed to stop for the moment, and Weiss was the first to turn and spot the duo. She seemed happy at the sight of them as she strode over, her team and the others tagging along.
"Sun, good to see you again." She sounded much better this time in Sun's opinion, none of the pain from last time, nor the worry from after. "How are you finding Beacon so far?"
"Pretty cool, and a lot more colorful than Shade... well, primary colors anyway. Most of ours are washed or dusted, but what are you gonna do? Deserts am I right?" He shrugged as she had a small giggle.
Good, she's doing better at least.
He had naturally been worried Weiss and Blake would still be reeling from the violent encounter, and maybe they still were somewhat. But to see them so active, so able to let go of the fear to fight for what's right. It left him feeling inspired, they were so cool! Everyone at Beacon seemed cool now that he looked around, maybe it was just a hunter thing? He was cool, his buddy Neptune was cool, and the student's all seemed cool.
"That's nice, I'll admit I've never seen how the other schools handle things. However, it is good to know Beacon can bring pleasant surprises to the visiting students." Weiss said as he gave a smile.
"Well then, whenever Vacuo gets to host the Vytal Festival I'll be sure to show your whole team around. We've got some cool sights of our own you know?"
"We'll be happy to take you up on the offer."
"Ahem!"
The two looked over as the others behind them just stared.
"What?" Both Sun and Weiss asked, looking back at each other and back to the teams.
"Nothing nothing. So, who's your blue haired friend?" Yang asked as Sun stepped over.
"Introducing... Neptune!" He waved his hands over, Neptune gave a charming smile.
"Neat, so he one of your team?" Yang continued as Sun smirked.
"Yup, thought we could use some extra back-up, and Neptune here has a killer aim." He spoke as the group of girls looked uncomfortable.
They were all looking to the young Ruby Rose who shrugged. "Sure, we needed the help anyway I guess. We already got team JNPR to keep an eye on things here while we go after the Fang, so why not?"
The four friends of theirs gave their own unanimous waves.
"We're holding down fort while you guys go kick some terrorist backside! Right Ren?" The ginger one cheered as the black haired boy - now dubbed 'Ren' - sighed.
"Yes Nora, not so loud please." Ren told as the girl looked to shake less, her excitement still there, but lowered.
"We hope to get along well with you." The red haired girl said, her blond friend nodded.
"Like Pyrrha said, we're here to help!" Said blond gave his take as Ruby piped up.
"With Jaune and the others keeping watch we won't have to worry about any spies."
"Spies?" Neptune asked as they all focused in on Ruby.
Sun jumped in. "Right! Last night Blake mentioned they might try sending in spies!"
Blake nodded. "True, if Vermillion was as important as we believe he was then he may have important information. The kind that's too important to just leave alone."
"They might come after him." Sun finished for her as Neptune raised an eyebrow.
"I have no idea who we're talking about here." He stated as Sun nearly tripped, chuckling slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Right, I haven't told you anything about what happened yet. The short of it is that Vermillion was the guy we fought at the docks." He answered as Neptune still looked confused.
"Okay, so what you're getting at is that Vermillion is here. As in, here in Beacon." He spoke as Sun gave a thumbs up.
"Yup, right here for... some reason. So any of you find out why yet?" He asked as team RWBY shared some looks between each other.
Blake spoke up. "We can't exactly say why, but we do know that he isn't a threat anymore... or so the headmaster said."
"Oh... well, I guess it's not a problem anymore then?" Sun proposed, more of a question than a statement. Weiss threw in her words to cut the awkward silence.
"For now we know he's not going to hurt us. Actually we were just looking for him, Ruby thinks it might be a good idea to ask him some questions."
Ruby gave a proud look. "Yep, he worked with the White Fang right? So if anyone knows where they are or what they're doing it's him!"
"Problem is we're having a hard time trying to find him." Blake stated as Sun gave a weird look.
"Really? Because he just walked into the building over there a few seconds ago." He told as he pointed across the distance.
"WHAT!" They all practically screamed, making a short scene as they rushed away. Sun and Neptune gave chase.
.
.
Ruby was the first to burst through the door, noticing that the hallways were packed with students who all turned to look at her. She rushed up to one of them.
"Have you seen somebody come through here? Pale, veiny and generally creepy looking?" Her words were quick as the student looked dazed.
"D-down there, he asked about the library I think." He let out as she heard the others burst through the door behind her."
"To the library!" She called as she rushed away again.
"Ruby!"
The voices faded as she moved through the various others who filled the halls, each backing away as to not get knocked over by the speedy girl. Her friends would catch up, but she needed to corner her target if she was to begin the interrogation. If she could just stop him for a moment she'd be able to stall until the others arrived.
There he was, just stepping into the library! She raced forward as he disappeared. It took just a moment to get there as she stopped outside the door. Wasting no time Ruby carefully entered the library, more mindful than moments before. She didn't want to scare him off, so she would keep calm as she went after him.
Just inside she was able to see him sitting at one of the tables, no real books in hand. He must have taken a moment to rest, a moment she would capitalize on as she paced over to him.
It was so... weird, just looking at him gave her a sort of... feeling. The others said he was scary, but he seemed calm. Actually she began to notice that she felt a sort of pull as she gazed at him, almost like she wanted to be near him. She never felt any sort of fear as she took a seat at the table he was resting at.
Vermillion looked up, glancing her way with a raised eyebrow, clearly wondering why she sat across from him. Ruby herself felt a little awkward; how was she supposed to start an interrogation?
I should have waited for the others.
"Do you need something?" He asked as she stilled.
"N-nothing... I just had some questions. I'm Ruby by the way."
"Vermillion. What questions do you have?"
Great, what was she supposed to say now?
Think Ruby think!
"I wanted to... ask you about... last night!" The last words came out in a rush.
It was perfect! Last night had been horrifying for her when she learned what happened, but it was a great topic to keep him here. Plus she might be able to get his take on the matter, maybe even learn why he tried to do something so drastic. She trusted the headmaster, but like other adults he seemed to be keeping the bigger details from her. Maybe Vermillion would tell her all of what happened.
"Oh, so what do you want to know?" His tone sounded curious, like he didn't expect her to ask that. He probably thought she would be angry like the others - and she was- but she wanted to hear his side of the story first, to let him speak for himself.
Ruby held her hands in her lap. "Well... last night you almost took one of my teammates from me. I wanted to ask why?"
His face settled. "That? Weren't you talking with the headmaster earlier? I thought he would have talked to you about it?"
"He did, but I want to hear your reason for doing it. The headmaster said you were his agent, but he never said what you were trying to do specifically." Ruby clarified as the boy shut his eyes.
"So that's what this is... alright. I was trying to work my way into a certain person's 'good book' I guess you could say. I was hoping to get close to them so I could stop them. That the answer you were looking for?" He asked as she struggled with the response he gave.
It sounded true - she'd give him the benefit of the doubt for now - but it was just so... stale. The whole thing was vague and emotionless, he'd never told her how he felt about it himself.
"I guess... can I ask you another question?"
"Alright."
"Did you like it?"
His brows furled. "What?"
"Did you like what you did, you know... working for the White Fang and stuff?"
"Did I... like it?"
"Mhm." Ruby let out as he tilted his head.
"I... well... hmm. It wasn't too bad, the missions weren't too hard for me, and rescuing slaves felt pretty good."
"Slaves?"
"Yeah, we set some free a while ago."
That's right! A massive group of Faunus were found outside of the city!
That... was bad. Slavery was illegal and all that, but if he did save them did that make them heroes? No, no they still did bad things... what did that make them? Ruby let the thought go, she could figure it out later.
"Okay, but I wanted to know how you felt back when fighting my friends." That caught his attention as his eyes widened, settling into a drawn look.
"Right, you wanted to know how I felt when I tried to kill them huh?"
Ruby nodded, feeling herself flinch at the wording. It still hurt a little knowing she almost lost half her team. Vermillion let out a sigh as he sat up straight, a stark contrast to his relaxed posture moments ago.
"Honestly... not good, but I didn't have much of a choice at the time. There were two options, and no matter what I chose I'd still have blood on my hands."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well... the man I worked under, let's just say he's got some... darker aspirations. I had reason to believe that if he wasn't stopped he would cause a tragedy. Actually, 'tragedy' seems too light of a word."
"What did you think he was planning?" Ruby didn't quite notice she asked the question until it was out, but Vermillion answered it anyway.
"I have reason to believe he's trying to start a war with humanity."
"What!?" It wasn't a shout, but her words were still loud.
Vermillion nodded. "It would end badly for everyone involved, both Humans and Faunus. So I was tasked with getting close to deal with him, and that's where the problem presented itself."
Ruby leaned closer as he continued. "When your friends showed up I was left with two choices, two paths. On one path I kill your friends and the man I'm after lets me get close, I kill him and stop his plans but I still have the death of your friends on my hands. If I take the other path I let them live but I lose respect with the man and he sets his plan off before I can stop him, the world suffers and thousands die in the chaos. Either way somebody dies and I'm responsible. What was I supposed to do?"
Ruby wanted to open her mouth, but she couldn't. She didn't have an answer, and it scared her. Vermillion just sighed.
"Sometimes we don't get to make a right choice, sometimes we're forced to choose from two wrongs. The lives of the many or the lives of the few. If I was given the chance to go through with one of these choices, I would still choose to kill your friends... I'm sorry."
Ruby rose, standing so quickly her chair nearly tumbled. She had nothing to counter it, no words came to mind yet her lips moved and her voice spoke of it's own accord.
"What if you didn't have to pick!? What if nobody had to die!?" Vermillion flinched somewhat, holding a confused look.
Ruby didn't know what came over her, the words were so sudden. She just threw out the question before she was even fully able to think of it. It wasn't even a question for her, it was her dream for the world, a world where nobody had to die. It was childish and she knew that, but why not strive to find a way for everybody to be okay, a world where nobody else had to lose those they loved. A world where no other girl had to lose her mother.
Ruby calmed herself as she spoke again. "You're here right? You never killed them and you're here."
"Yes, but the White Fang is still out there. The chance for everybody to die is still out there." He told as Ruby sat down and continued.
"Yeah, but you never got to make your choice. The headmaster stopped you."
"Yes, he did." Vermillion told, sounding... confused, like he couldn't tell what she was implying.
"You never thought he would arrive though right? You didn't know that the headmaster would find you."
"And?" He asked as Ruby raised her head.
"It was a path you didn't know was there. You thought you had to choose one or the other, but a third path showed up! Maybe we have to make bad choices, but what if there are more than we thought?" Ruby stood once again.
"What if we could make our own path."
.
.
Our own path?
Even as she stood there I was still trying to wrap my head around it. She spoke of it like the headmaster's intervention somehow stopped Adam. But she didn't know what was going on, she was ignorant to what was really happening. Even with her friends alive I still had no way to stop him.
"But nothing has changed, everybody's still in danger with the Fang out there? Even if there are more paths we've still got the same problem."
"Then help us!"
Her words caught me off guard. "What do you mean?"
"Help us stop the White Fang."
They were going after the Fang!? No, no no no no no it was too dangerous. I myself had almost killed them, even if by surprise. What hope did they have against Adam, the man who - in my experience - kicked my ass in simple training? But the headmaster cared for them, they were his students. Did they have even the slightest clue at how dangerous it was. The rest wouldn't be like me, they wouldn't stall. It would be a fight to the death!
But as I looked into her eyes, I saw a burning passion roaring with the courage to see the idea through. Even if I denied her request she would still go out on her own. It left me stuck, to help or not to help.
"If they're planning something big we have to stop them! Any information on them would work, anything you might have!"
The sensible man would have shut her down, but as I stared at her I felt this sense of... comfort. The same comfort I had felt around the queen back in Mobius, warm and pure. It was almost addicting, and left me with the urge to help her, to aid in what she believed in. Why did I feel this way? I did not know, but I made my decision.
"Fine, I'll help you. But on the condition that you allow me to come with you. The headmaster has tasked me with keeping you all safe, and if you're running off into danger I need to be there." I stood reaching out my hand.
Our own path huh... but will it be the right one?
I could only hope, but seeing the smile on her face I was left with an odd sense of ease, whatever happened... I'd not regret it. She gave a smile of her own as she took my hand, cementing our agreement just as the doors to the library burst open.
"Ruby! There you ar-" The blond woman stopped, simply staring our way much like the rest behind her.
Ruby seemed to still for a moment, looking to our joined hands before pulling away and stumbling on the spot.
"H-hey guys... I-I got him to help us!" She was stuttering, much to my confusion.
The blond woman sighed as she came forward, followed by her companions. They sent me sour looks, all aside from Weiss who was more fearful. I felt a sting at that, knowing it was my own doing that hurt her so. They sat in the chairs across from me as Ruby and I returned to our own.
"Fine, if he's going to help we need all the information he has. Hear that 'Grimm boy', tell us what you know." The blond woman commanded, Ruby gave an apologetic look.
It was alright, they had every right to hate me. Even so I still felt worry for them, their looks of anger held a sense of curiosity and drive. They reminded me of the knights of old, the ones who were ready and willing to lay down their lives for the kingdom. Yet the White Fang was dangerous, Adam doubly so. I would aid them, so they might have a better chance at victory.
Maybe this path would prevent the death of all.
A better path.
Author's note
...
Back again, with a noticeably lighter end this time.
Ruby's childish innocence and positive outlook felt like it would clash well with Vermillion's darker understanding and experience of the world.
Yet it seems like they've struck a middle ground, as well as got a peek at each others views.
They paradoxically have both more and less choice than they know. It makes for a fun idea to explore. Ruby always was the listener of the group, even when making choices she always seemed to let others explain themselves.
Even in the newer volumes she still lets others speak. I'll be honest I'm not a fan of the newer volumes, but at least they kept that part of her (Even if they skip out on most meaningful development). Her desire to help is here in full force. Will this end well? Who knows.
Let me know your thoughts, and see you later.