Prim had - not quite to Ruby's surprise - remained silent throughout the entire trip back to base, and the cold empty cave which was once so filled with apparent life now sat silent, with nothing but the Ize covered roof to provide any sort of life to it. This lack of people hit Prim even worse, as while she stayed silent the woman was unable to keep the soft glaze of moisture from her eyes.

Ruby felt for the woman as she knew losing family was always hard, no matter who or what they were; they were real to Prim, and that was all there was to it.

Pushing through to the inner halls Ruby saw just how big they actually were without any occupants, and the various doors and lights shown how it was more well kept than it first appeared. Regardless of the dull silence the duo continued on for several dreary minutes, finally landing in the main room they first made their plan in. Prim took her usual spot, although without the others the table felt much more intimidating.

After a scant few moments of silence Ruby spoke. "This was your kingdom."

With tired eyes Prim responded. "It was."

"All this time you've wanted to take it back." Ruby continued, and Prim gave off a single click of her tongue.

"Once upon a time. Although... at some point I just forgot it all. The anger, the hatred, all of it just vanished somewhere over the winds of time." The corners of her cheeks looked to droop. "I... well, I suppose you could say I found some sense of joy along the way; a small satisfaction to keep my mind away from the bad thoughts."

"Everyone needs something." Ruby offered as she relaxed back into the chair. Those three words were an attempt to help cheer Prim up enough to move the conversation along to what Ruby hoped would be their next coarse of action, but the small statement itself wasn't a lie. Even with her devotion to changing the future Ruby still held onto old habits of relief, although she never got to employ them frequently.

"Maybe, but I think years of play is a little excessive, don't you?"

"But you weren't only playing." Ruby saw how her form flinched as renewed interest slithered across her face. "Playing pirate is one thing, but amassing enough force to operate successfully and remain hidden at the same time is something else."

"That was with the others, they helped me with it all."

"They were you." Ruby stated, although the soft sigh she received in response didn't bode well.

"Yes, they were, but that doesn't change the fact that we were many." Prim outstretched her arms. "But look at me now. I'm the only one left." Both arms dropped as her shoulders slumped. "They're gone."

"Why not bring them back?" Ruby asked as she focused on the small twitch to Prim's form. "You made them once, so why not make them again?"

"No."

The voice lowered.

"I won't"

Ruby could swear she heard the grinding of teeth.

"I refuse."

Prim tore at her hair.

"They were special."

Ruby couldn't breath.

"They mattered to me!"

The Chair's arms wrapped around her throat.

"I WON'T REPLACE THEM!"

Ruby tried to choke something out, but the lack of oxygen already made breathing itself difficult. Prim looked up, and the splash of anger carved into her features chiselled away. The arms that held her left instantly, and Ruby was appreciative to be gifted air one again, however Prim didn't look so happy.

"I... sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine." It probably wasn't, but Ruby didn't feel any ire towards the distressed woman as a quick look towards a panicked Pebble showed that the previous act of rage was directed solely towards her; it was calculated and controlled with a set target.

This will be useful. Ruby smiled at Prim. "I'm not upset."

"Still I-"

Ruby shushed her, waving her off with one hand. "I get it. You're angry, you want the others back, but you know that's not going to happen. Even if you made more it's like you said: they won't be the same." Ruby noticed how this effected Prim, yet she continued with another spark of thought, drawing back the lost point of interest as the woman locked eyes with her. "But that doesn't make this hopeless. You want to take back your kingdom right, your home?"

"I do... more than anything." Prim's voice sunk to whispers. "It's all I have left now."

"You're semblance made them, but were they all you made?"

"Yes." Prim answered instantly. "I'd never tried to make anything else. The whole gang, it was like... they had always been there. I never had to struggle or anything like that, they just showed up over the years and I never questioned who they were; only knowing they were allies and friends."

"That's a powerful ability, especially considering how lively they were." Ruby admitted as Prim began to rest. "Their own names, personalities, wants and actions; they were alive, real. Have you ever thought about trying to create something that wasn't, like a tool or object of some sort?"

"I didn't even know I had this power." Prim spoke as she sighed. "I thought Gasket and Duster were real. They were with me my whole childhood, and I never questioned why nobody saw or heard them. It was only when I grew older and started listening in on the rumors of others did I realise nobody else saw them, that was until I was chased from home."

This caught Ruby's attention. "They remembered you as their princess?"

"Kind of, but not quite. They knew there was a princess, but they couldn't recall her face, only that ex-servants spoke of how she would talk to herself, and play on her lonesome." Prim let out a low chuckle. "I heard more and more speak, and then one day I actually thought back on those times, back before I was chased from home. They would never touch or hold anything, and when they held my hand or hugged me my clothes would never rustle. Eventually my mind settled back on the day I made my vow of revenge. On that day I felt something change, and afterwards Gasket and Duster were physically helping me with things; something they never did before."

Ruby finally understood. "So you eventually pieced it together."

"Yeah." Her face soured. "Although at that point all I knew was that semblances required aura to function, and while I figured out how to feel my aura I was also afraid to drop it."

"You knew they would die."

Rather than respond Prim merely nodded. Ruby on the other hand knew that some semblances didn't actually require aura, but those ones were more reserved and usually only physical abilities. As semblances evolved and grew even those ones would see an increase in power, but at the cost of ultimately requiring the use of aura. Prim's semblance gave off a swell of limitless potential in merely the concept alone, and as such pushed Ruby to question it's usability.

"Alright, so as it stands we have no real allies, and currently no political sway. On top of all this our enemy has access to a potential weapon of mass destruction." Ruby crossed her arms in thought. "You want your kingdom back, but that man stands in your way. So why not try creating something new; a weapon of our own even?"

"That's the thing though, I have tried that before. I had all of us gather as much weaponry and inventory as we could muster, and then we launched an attack." Prim spoke as her face settled into a more dower form. "But even with the whole crew at hand his army is just too strong. I lost our original base once before, and only escaped because he let me." Her eyes hardened. "He could have chased us as we ran, but the way he looked at me with such pity..." She sighed. "He still never considered me a threat.

"Yes, but that was a weapon created by your crew. What I'm suggesting is building a weapon with your semblance."

"It wouldn't work." Prim stated. "With my crew it felt as though we all shared a connection, a lifeline even. When I was small I ignored it, but as an adult I could feel them as though we shared a single soul." She leaned back. "At least... that's how I felt with Gasket and Duster; our connection was the deepest. I never felt much from the others, only a small tingle in the back of my head, which I always ignored; until now anyway." The woman shook her head. "The point is my semblance felt like it connected us as living beings. I don't believe I'd be able to create anything 'non-living' with it."

That certainly made things harder, and for an instant Ruby froze in her thoughts. There were plenty of weapons available in this time period, and if Prim had tried nearly everything then the use of other weapons alone would not be enough. Ruby however wasn't fazed all too much, as another idea cheekily tip-toed it's way into her mind.

"Then let's focus on getting to him when he'd isolated then."

Prim held an odd gaze. "Get him when he's alone?"

"Precisely." Ruby leaned in. "He may have an army of soldiers at his beck and call, but even someone like him must take the time to relax and think every once in a while."

"That might give us an advantage, but he still has mother's crown." Prim's eyes hardened. "He's anything but defenceless."

The thought of the queen soured Ruby's mood a tad, but she hid it as she spoke. "Maybe so, but if he truly had so much power he would have wiped out any and all threats immediately, yourself included. If I were to make a guess I'd say he doesn't quite know how to properly control the power of the crown." It was a convenient excuse using the man's lack of any real effort in killing Prim, but it was still only an excuse; Ruby couldn't well go telling she knew how to truly use the crown.

"He might not, or maybe he was intentionally holding back." Prim's who body looked to quiver. "He let me go before."

"Then he might continue to do it." Ruby deflected as she shut her eyes and leaned back. "It might be that he want's you to surpass him... and maybe even take his place. It's a small possibility, but a possibility nonetheless."

"I know that." Prim covered her head as she rested it on the table. "But I don't know why. Why take the throne and kill my mother, but let me escape anyway?"

Ruby had a few ideas, but kept them to herself. She needed Prim to be at the ready, and to do that she needed to let go of her fear and re-embrace her wrath. "Does it even matter. He still killed your mother; he took away everything you'd ever known and loved; are you just going to let him get away with that?"

"I know." Prim pulled at her hair. "I want to make him pay, I want to make him suffer like I did, but..." her hold weakened as her arms fell to the sides. "I'm alone."

"I'm here." Ruby told, and she watched as Prim rose herself up with a look of regret in her eyes.

"But this isn't your fight."

"I need to get to the capital. I need to meet with the royalty. However despite this it seems as though I already have." Ruby hardened her own eyes this time. "But once again some lousy slop has taken away my chance at reaching my goal. I don't have any real political motives for my goals, they're as single-minded and selfish as could be, so when some bastard gets in the way of that I very well take it as my business." Ruby smirked, and watched as Prim's eyes lit up. "I hate him, you hate him, why don't we deal with him together, and show him just how hateful we can be?"

With a small sigh Prim locked eyes with Ruby; that look of doubt and regret gone. "Fine, I suppose we don't have a choice."

"Wonderful." Ruby's smirk drew devious. "Now if you don't mind, I believe I have a few ideas for your semblance."

.

.

"You guys alright." Oscar tried as the others rested on the ground.

After filling Ozpin in on what he awoke to and combined with the man's own account the the two quickly discovered what had happened to them.

"Give them some time Oscar, encounters with Dread Weepers are almost certainly fatal to begin with. We were lucky you came to."

"I'm not sure I understand quite yet. I thought you of all people could handle anything."

"Usually that's the case, but even I need to prepare when dealing with this particular Grimm. It's a master of illusion, and if one doesn't know or recognise quick enough then the chances of breaking free from that illusion are nearly zero."

"Yikes, scary."

"Very."

"Just... just give us a minute." Yang spat out as she held her head. "I'm still remembering shit I shouldn't."

Ren at that moment threw his own two lien in. "It is... an odd experience, to say the least."

Oscar cringed as he saw them all attempting to recover, however turned his sights to Ruby as she looked the most stable of the group. "You feeling better Ruby?"

"Kind of." Her eyelids drooped. "I just feel a little sick in the tummy."

Oscar smiled lightly. "Then try not to push yourself." He looked out towards their surroundings. "Besides, we still have to find a way out of here."

"I... might have an idea." He looked back to Ruby, and she gripped at her head for a second. "These... these memories aren't my own, but in them I can remember the entrance of the tunnels, and... and what he had planned for the two."

Oscar cringed at that. From what he gathered Ruby had been playing the part of the man who captured Oobleck's students, and from how Ozpin worded it moments ago it wasn't exactly for nice reasons.

"Try to focus on the exit." Oscar felt bad she had to witness the mind of such an evil man, especially considering how Ozpin had told him on their travels that Ruby and the others had a strong sense of justice; despite being reckless.

"Y-yeah... It's..." Ruby looked ahead to what Oscar assumed was the correct direction. The cave only had two directions at their current position, so even if it was wrong all they had to do was turn around. "Over there... I think."

Oscar nodded and waited for a bit. When everybody appeared to be in a slightly better state they started off slowly. Soon enough, and after around ten minutes of walking the others looked to be mostly recovered, that was until they came across something which made Ozpin in his head sigh.

"Hold up." Yang pointed to the opening. "Didn't we come from there?"

Ren walked over towards it. "Unlikely. This cave is probably large enough for multiple similar looking walkways." He took a peak inside. "Never mind, it's the same as where we woke up."

Yang looked distraught, but before she could say anything Ruby spoke up.

"Okay, let's just take a moment to breath here. So we've looped around, meaning we probably just missed an exit along the way."

Jaune however threw in his own thoughts. "But what of we didn't? What if there is no exit?"

Ruby's face twisted a bit, only this time Ren spoke up. "There has to be a way out, otherwise how did we get here."

Jaune looked to him. "They might have sealed the way behind them when they left." It wasn't a pleasant thought, but it did sound the most plausible at the moment. They had been walking for at least half an hour at this point, which meant that either the cave was massively expansive, or they were walking circles.

Ren grit his teeth. "We can't entirely rule it out."

Yang grumbled as she crossed her arms. "So what do we do now, just beat against every wall until one gives?"

"I like that idea." Nora chimed in before anyone could respond; a little too happy for Oscar's liking.

"I didn't mean-" Yang bit her cheek and sighed. "Okay, even if we tried it we would be working for hours, and there's no guarantee we'll even find the exit."

"What about our scrolls?" Jaune asked, albeit to some flat looks.

"If we had them maybe, but I'm almost certain they were taken away." Yang gave, only for Jaune to hold up his.

"I still got mine."

"Bullshit!" Yang shot her hand into her pocket, and after a brief moment pulled out her own. "No way..." She looked around. "Do you guys-"

"Yep." Ruby said.

"Got mine." Nora displayed it proudly.

"Unusual." Ren held his. "Why weren't they taken away?"

Pyrrha was the only one who didn't look shocked, in fact from what Oscar could see she looked more disappointed. "I think I know why." She held it up. "The signal is going wild, and as far as I can tell I can't maintain a connection to anything, not even the local network."

While the others quickly shared Pyrrha's look of ire Ruby instead posed a question. "What about the Fang's network they said was set up?"

Yang's eyes perked. "Hey, that's right." She fumbled with her scroll. "Let's see... Yes!" The blond pumped her fist. "Got one! The signal is low, but I still have a clear display." She worked at the thing a bit more, only for her face to fall. "But it's not letting me send anything."

Ruby however held her cheery look. "That's fine, we can use it like a navigator. As we get closer to the exit the connection should grow right?"

"She's smarter than most give her credit for."

"Should we say anything?"

"No, it appears they're already set on the idea. However keep your guard up. Merlot is anything but reckless; he left everyone with their scrolls for a reason, and knowing him like I do I can assure you it's far from a kind reason."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The group set off with Yang focused on her scroll. They moved with purpose, and as Ruby said the signal grew and shrank as they moved around. With spirits restored they followed Yang for several more minutes, that was until they stopped. Yang approached a wall and stared at it for a moment.

"It's strongest here. I think this is it." The brawler told as she pocketed the makeshift tracker and turned back. "Alright Nora, it's all yours."

"Finally!" The perky ginger skipped up with her massive war-hammer at the ready. She pulled back with a smirk. "All walls will submit to the queen!"

With all her might she swung, and just as their luck would have it the hammer passed through the wall. Nora having expected some resistance had leaned all of her weight into the swing, and now appeared to fall through the stone she so desperately wanted to smash.

"Uh." Yang blinked. "What just happened."

Ren shrugged and walked forwards, passing through the wall like Nora had. He popped his head back through with a semi-smirk. "It's fake, most likely a projection of some kind, like the holograms back at Beacon."

Nora's distraught voice echoed out. "But I wanted to smash it." Ren rolled his eyes and vanished again. With a quick look between themselves they pushed through, wandering through a short metallic hallway before coming out into a larger room. It was mostly empty, with smooth white walls that were void of any unique characteristics or flaws. Even the floor shared in a lack of anything, looking exactly the same as the walls.

"This is new." Ruby spoke. "But at least we're out."

"Oh you most certainly are." Everyone was at the ready as the voice taunted, followed by a massive crash behind them. Looking back they could see the way they came was gone, as if the hallway just vanished.

They were trapped in the pale room.

"Good to see you found your way out. I intended to shut down the illusion in a few hours to make it easier for you, but you solved my little puzzle splendidly." A slow clapping echoed throughout the bleached chamber. "Well done, now we can move onto the true test."

"Test?" Pyrrha had been the one to mumble it, but even so the ensuing chuckle confirmed that Merlot had indeed heard it.

"Yes my dear, test." He hummed in such a tone that sent shivers down everyone's spines. "I must say I'm a bit surprised. This whole set up was made specifically for the young man who was locked away by Atlas, but to see that he wasn't the only one of his kind is... pleasing."

Oscar was a bit lost, but the look on Pyrrha's face told him just how furious she was, and he assumed the worst as she growled.

"You set all of this up for V..." Her breathing steadied. "What did you want with him?"

"Want?" Merlot cackled. "Oh my dear, the better question is what didn't I want with him. He is the pinnacle of evolution." His voice took on a manic feel as it rose. "Living perfection!" Oscar felt sick at the way his tone swirled and shifted. "He is proof that Humanity as a whole is incomplete, that there is still another step of evolution beyond Human and Faunus, another step on the path to godhood!"

"You're insane!" Jaune yelled out, and yet he was answered with a jolly giggle.

"Ambitious is more the term I would use, but then again what is ambition and insanity other than contextual terms for desire. An endlessly needy man such as I cannot care less what you call it, so long as I breath I will always search for more; until the day my dreams are realized."

"Dreams huh?" Yang cracked her knuckles. "Guess we'll just need to beat you down so bad you can't ever dream again."

Merlot chuckled. "If you believe you are beyond perfection then show it to me." The wall ahead opened up as Merlot's laughing continued. "Witness it children, the physical manifestation of perfection!"

A loud roar echoed out, and yet the thing before them was anything but large.

It was a single man with skin black as tar, covered in boney plates and spikes. Oscar realized how similar he looked to Pyrrha, and yet he appeared more Grimm than man. One could easily mistake it for a simple Grimm, and yet the tatters of the classic White Fang uniform so often shown on news reports told the boy that the creature was one a living breathing person.

Merlot laughed as he spoke. "Say hello to my newest child."

He roared his rage, and Pyrrha heard his anger, but it didn't swell out the raw emotion she felt in the call. He didn't merely voice a yell of rage, it was something else... something primal. She knew exactly what it was.

A scream of agony.

Author's note

...

Here we go, a faster paced chapter this time, but a much heavier one too.

Sure this isn't super extreme as many other points before, but it serves as setup for what is to come. Future Ruby has a plan at the ready, and as you know this usually ends with varied results.

We also got to see Oscar and Ozpin interacting once again, even if it involves a small cave adventure. Ruby shows her smarts, and with a small bit of thinking the crew has wandered into a brand new trap.

The group is trapped in a cage with a monster, but is it as simple as that? Pyrrha meets and learns what Merlot had planned for V, all the while he obsesses over perfection seemingly spurred on by V's very existence, but is that the only thing he has up his sleeve?

All these questions and more will be answered next time... probably, or at some point at least.

That's it this time. See you later.