Chapter 56: A Crown for a Queen

In which Ren does his good deed for the day, and Emerald does her bad deed for the day.

Ren trailed behind Pyrrha at just enough distance to keep out of her sight. She may have been a world-renowned tournament fighter, but ninja was Ren's middle name. Night had just fallen, and he was in his element.

Nikos was headed towards the CCT when something caught her eye. Yang Xiao-Long was running towards the dormitories at a breakneck pace with a shiny metal object in her hands. Pyrrha seemed to be quite interested and changed course. Thus, so did Ren.

Pyrrha was so oblivious to Ren following her as she herself followed Yang that Ren actually felt paranoid enough to check and make sure no one was following him. Yang must have noticed Pyrrha (red hair like that tended to not blend in to one's surroundings), but she did not seem to care. Why would she? Pyrrha was just another student wandering across campus some distance away. Nothing suspicious about that.

The three of them travelled across the campus, Yang at the front, Pyrrha in the middle, and Ren hidden completely out of sight to the side.

My semblance may give me the ability to hide myself from the Grimm, but they still have ears and eyes. Sorry, ladies, but you'll never see me unless I will it.

Eventually, they arrived at the dorm room of Team Rainbow. Yang rushed into the room with the unknown piece of metal. Her voice carried through the door, unaware though she was of those listening in from the outside.

"Ruff! Ruff!"

"Sorry I forgot to feed you earlier, Zwei. I was so caught up with Ruby's birthday that I–"

"BORK!"

"I know, it's no excuse. I apologize. But here…one can of delicious doggie chow. Bon Appetit!"

"Ruruh! Ruh."

"Glad to hear it. Well, I gotta split. Ruby's match against Team Caiman is starting in just a few minutes, and I don't want to miss it. I'll pass on your message."

Yang exited the room and rushed back to the Amity Colosseum. Pyrrha emerged from her hiding spot behind an armchair in the common area and snuck into the room not a moment later. When the coast was clear, Ren dropped down from the ceiling and followed her in.

Nikos was rummaging around in the girls' desks. Ruby and Yang's desks looked like hurricanes had passed by, while Blake and Weiss' were incredibly neat and tidy. The contrast was so striking that it hurt Ren's eyes.

"Pyrrha?"

"Huh? Oh, it's you, Ren. Come help me look."

Ren joined her and began searching through the desks. Until he had a better understanding of the situation, it would be best to play along. "What are we looking for?"

"I just saw Raven pop in here. No idea why she'd use Team Blueberry's dorm as a hiding spot, but I'm sure this is where she hid it."

Ren inclined his head slightly. "Hid what?"

"When Raven ran by me, I saw the streetlight glinting off of something metallic in her hands. She must be trying to hide it from me. Ray and I used to play keep-away all the time in our first year. We'd steal each other's stuff and see how long it took the other to find it."

"Raven?"

"Yeah. She had something metal in her hand when she ran in here, and I'm looking for metal. I remember, the plan was to use my semblance to lift up all of the metal and find it."

Ren looked down at the floor. A salt and pepper corgi was eating chunky beef plops out of a bowl labelled 'Zwei.' Next to it was an empty metal can.

Ren pointed it out to Pyrrha. "Is that it?"

"Nah. What I'm looking for was…a relic. Not a can."

Relics? Like the chess pieces from initiation?

"I'm pretty sure the can is what Yang was holding in her hand."

"Yang? Ren, I told you I'm looking for the relic. Why would Yang have something like that?"

She was sick. Cardin was right – there was something wrong with her, and she needed professional help. There was no doubt about that now. Ren pulled out his scroll and began to dial the emergency hotline for Beacon's medical services.

"Argh, this is taking too long. I'm going to speed this up a little bit. Hold still."

Ren's scroll flew out of his hand, along with every metal object or object containing metal in the room. They all crashed together in a huge floating ball, then fell to the floor. Bullets, paperclips, scrolls, spoons, weapon parts, even the metal buttons from Yang's coat in the closet – it was like Pyrrha had combed the room for anything with metal in it. Ren hadn't even known she could do that.

Pyrrha groaned. "Oh, I overdid it."

"I'd imagine. That much use of your semblance must have taken at least half of your aura."

"My aura…"

Pyrrha's eyes widened.

"Oh, Dust. Oh, I was supposed to wait for the transfer before I started searching. Ren, did I say anything weird just now?"

"You…You followed Yang in here. You were calling her Raven, and you thought she had some metal object that belonged to you. A…relic?"

"Oof." Pyrrha put a hand on her forehead. "That was worse than usual. I could barely tell myself apart from the memories. The transfer must be about to happen soon."

"Transfer?"

"Penny said that it would only get worse as we got closer to the transfer. Ripples are strongest close to where you throw the rock into the…I'm probably not making much sense now, am I?"

Ren placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "No. Pyrrha, I think you should see a doctor."

"It's too late for that, Ren. The transfer will happen. It's fated to happen. It's my destiny."

"Pyrrha?" someone said.

Ren turned to see Sky and Nora appearing in the doorway.

"What were you saying just now?" asked Sky. "Something about destiny?"

Pyrrha sat down in Ruby's bunk bed and buried her face into her hands. "I thought I wanted to do it. I thought it was my duty. But now, I'm just so scared. Who will I be? Will I remember who I am?"

Nora sat down next to her and put her arm around Pyrrha.

"I don't want to do it. I changed my mind. I know it's my destiny, and it's inescapable no matter what I want, but I just don't want to do it now. Does that make me a coward?"

"No, Pyrrha. You're the bravest girl we know."

"I always thought that when I eventually died, it would be okay because I'd go to the afterlife. But if I die as Raven, where will Pyrrha go? Will she just disappear? Oh, Dust. I'm so terrified."

Nora motioned to Ren and Sky. Ren sat on the other side of Pyrrha and patted her back sympathetically. Sky turned away from them and got out his scroll to contact a hospital.

"Would you like me to take away some of your fear?" offered Ren. "My semblance could calm you down."

"No," declined Pyrrha. "If this is to be the end of my time as me, I want to experience every minute of it, fear and all. If you could just do me one favor, though."

"Anything."

"I'm a little dizzy. Do you think you could walk me to the bathroom? I…I might be sick."

Nora and Ren helped her stand and led her by the arm out the door. Sky trailed after them, still on his scroll.

"Oh, wait. Ruby! I suppose I must have ruined her dorm! Ren, would you be able to put some of her stuff back where it was? I know I'm asking a lot, but–"

"Think nothing of it."

Ren went back to the dorms and sorted through the pile of metal objects. Bullets for Ruby, fine silverware for Weiss, one scroll for each girl…it was tough to tell where it went, but Ren did his best. The only things he couldn't figure out were a few unmarked lien and some kind of crown. In the end, he took it with him. He would just ask Ruby whose it was when next he saw her.

When he'd finished the task, Ren exited the room after a few minutes and made his way to the girl's lavatory. Knocking once, he waited for a response.

Nothing.

Ren knocked again, this time twice. "Nora? Pyrrha?"

Again, nothing.

Fear was unpleasant. Ren was unaccustomed to the emotion, and he decided that he did not like it one bit. Ren knocked three times. No answer. Ren knocked three more times. No answer.

Wait, where is Sky? Shouldn't he be waiting outside of the women's…?

Oh no. Oh fuck.

Ren opened the door to find Nora and Sky on the floor. Thick metal water pipes had been twisted around their arms and legs. Both were making noises in muffled tones, gagged with strips of fabric torn from Pyrrha's red waist sash.

Ren bent down and cut Nora's gag with StormFlower 2. "Where is she?"

"I don't know! She said that she was sorry to do this, but she couldn't risk us trying to stop some transfer or something."

Ren cut the electrical wire powering a nearby lamp and pressed it to Nora's skin. With the boost, she unwound the metal pipes around her and Sky's legs with brute strength. When they were both freed, Team Astle ran out the door – and straight into Professor Branwen.

"Sir! It's you! Oh, thank the Brothers! You have to help us! Pyrrha's–"

"Sick in the head. I know. I just ran into her a moment ago."

"Where–"

"Jaune was with me. He's takin' her to the Headmaster. Oz has a little experience with the mental afflictions that hunters can get. I'd guess it was PTSD from the recent fights she's been in combined with high stress from all of the fans hating on 'er. Classic recipe for some brain garbling."

"Will she be okay?"

His immediate smile reassured Ren greatly. "It's a little early to say, but I'd guess it's likely she'll make a full recovery. Don't worry; Beacon's got people for this sorta thing."

Ren breathed a sigh of relief.

"You kids go and head back to Amity." Qrow pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the door of the dormitory hallway. "I believe Nora's got a tournament to win."

"Has Ruby fought Cinder yet?"

"From what I hear, their match is just about to start. If you kids hustle, you might be able to catch the tail end of it."

Nora grabbed Ren and Sky and pulled them both in for a hug. "Oh, you guys! Great job, Renny and Malarky! Pyrrha's going to be okay, and it's all thanks to you."

When the embrace ended, Ren saw that Professor Branwen was staring at him. Rather, at the object in his hands.

"W-Where did you get that?"

"This?" He held out the crown. "Pyrrha misplaced all of the metal objects in the Rainbows' dorm during one of her episodes. I couldn't figure out whose it was, so I figure I'd just give it to them in person."

It was a simple piece, the kind that looked more like a modest princely headpiece rather than a head regent or monarch's ostentatious crown. The thing was an off-copper luster, though it felt nothing like copper. Opaque cyan stones were embossed sporadically around the middle, and a few spikes protruded uncomfortably from the top.

"I'll take it!" Professor Branwen coughed. "Er, it's my niece's. I can return it to Rubes."

Ren held out the crown. Professor Branwen almost snatched it up but paused at the last second. Ren waited for him to take it, but then, contrary to his prior request, he pushed it back towards his pupil.

"Wait. Actually, could you do me a favor and hold onto it for me?"

"You don't want to return it to Ruby?" Ren raised an eyebrow. "I could leave it in her room, if you'd prefer."

"No. No, it was actually a gift. For Nora."

Nora was ecstatic as Ren handed her the crown. "Ooh ooh! A crown for a queen!"

"Exactly."

Ren doubted that, given how jittery the man seemed to see it, but Nora seemed most pleased with her new jewelry, so he let it slide. Come to think of it, is a crown jewelry? I've no idea.

"I'll treasure it will all my heart, Professor!"

"Just take good care of it," said the teacher. "It's very precious. A Rose family heirloom."

"If it's a family heirloom, I shouldn't–"

"Well, Ruby figured you should have it. You're more likely to have…uh, heirs to the throne or something. Ya know, the next generation that you can pass it on to, since Rubes is not really interested in boys, whereas you've got the big lug."

Ren looked at the professor curiously. "But Ruby has a boyfriend."

"What?!"

"Yeah," answered Nora. "She calls him her 'Lovey Dovey.' It's kinda gross."

Ren and Sky nodded in agreement.

"Lovey-Dovey…Dove? Dove Bronzewing? Jaune's one?"

"That's the one."

Qrow blew a worried breath out of his lungs with puffed cheeks. "I'll have to have a little chat with him later. But that's a me thing. Now, off you kids go."

Ren followed his partner and his boyfriend back to the airship, watching as Nora twirled her shiny reward a few times before placing it on her head. Up and down, it rose and came back as she tried it on it repeatedly. Ren tried to hold in his laughter. The giddy feeling in his chest was an unfamiliar one, but not difficult to identify.

Pyrrha was safe. They'd done a good thing tonight.

The little tyke didn't stand a chance. Cinder would carve her into tiny little pieces and barbecue them. Still, Emerald kept a close eye on the two of them, if only to check out Cinder in her Dust woven dress that left most of her legs visible. Emerald might feel jealous that the entire audience got to see it if not for the fact that she was a part of the entire audience and was thus equally blessed with the view.

Emerald had made sure to lock eyes with Ruby and activate her semblance before the match started. This was her big moment. This was why she'd been chosen.

They'd taken a risk with the Valkyrie girl. People weren't just going to accept a random lightning strike, but the masses wouldn't suspect that it had been caused by a person, so there was no reason to investigate. Emerald was still nursing a headache from the split tenth of a second she'd had to make about four illusions to prevent people from seeing the maiden eye flames when the lightning had struck. It was pushing their luck, but the robot girl might have been trouble. Valkyrie, with her shit semblance, would be a far easier opponent for the finals. Still, there weren't going to be any maiden-induced lightning bolts for the rest of the night. The little tramp's 'sportsmanship' may have nearly thrown a wrench in their plans, but it had all worked out in the end.

Two more matches, and Cinder would have her moment.

T̶w̶o̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶c̶e̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶o̶ ̶w̶r̶o̶n̶g̶.̶

Cinder was polite with Ruby, even going as far as to shake her hand. Ruby, stupid hick that she was, probably thought that Cinder was her…her new bestest friend, durr hurr hurr.

Idiot. I'm Cinder's bestest friend. Idiot.

This time, it was Goodwitch who announced that the match had begun, and begin it did. The words had barely passed miss teacher's lips when Cinder split Midnight at the center into twin swords and slashed at Ruby Rose from both sides. She hit nothing but air; Ruby had used that little petal power of hers to sprint backwards at the last second. Switching into a bird (Emerald and Cinder still weren't sure what allowed her to do that), she tried to put some distance between them, likely to use her sniper rifle from afar.

Cinder loosed three arrows at the bird with a single pull of her bowstring before Ruby could switch back. Each one of them could have ended the match, but the stupid raven apparently could also move at Mach 5. All three arrows missed their mark and collided with the force fields around the stage.

Cinder wasn't out of tricks yet. As the bird ascended higher into the sky, Cinder moved her arms rhythmically, and her dress began to glow. She looked upwards and drew an imaginary circle with both hands above her head. Spinning rings made out of orange runes materialized in the air, and a yellow symbol of an eye appeared in the center. Golden flames poured out and engulfed the bird. The dumbass cawed for dear life as Cinder turned her into rotisserie.

A gleaming ray of silver light burst out of the fireball and shone over Cinder. The light didn't seem to have any effect on her aura, but it did manage to blind her with how bright and unexpected it was. Cinder fell backwards, covering her eyes and grunting. Both blades of Midnight fell to the floor. With her concentration broken, the flames ceased.

Urgh, how many tricks did this stupid annoying little idiot have? Emerald calmed herself by remembering that everyone Ruby Rose loved was going to die tonight.

The roasted fowl became a rapidly running human as soon as it hit the ground. Cinder, still half-blinded by the silver light, produced streams of fire from her fingertips and tried to aim them at Ruby, but her target was just too fast.

This wasn't like the doubles, where Ruby had used up all of her aura by leaving her semblance running at all times. Here, she would move out of the way to dodge, then immediately slow down to normal. She'd clearly learned to minimize the use of her powers and conserve energy for when she needed it.

Cinder screamed in rage and stomped her foot down. Fire flowed out in all directions, but it was just as soon sucked back in. Ruby, now going for the finishing blow, was zooming in circles around Cinder, trapping her in the resulting cyclone. Cinder tried to use her semblance, but the flames were immediately extinguished by the strong winds.

It wasn't over for the leader of Team Caiman just yet. Glass shards began to materialize from the dust (dusty dust, not Dusty Dust) in the air.

This was the moment. Despite conserving her aura, Ruby was getting dangerously low. If Emerald waited any longer, she was probably going to be eliminated. And Ruby knew it too – that was why she was trying to end this already short fight with such a ballsy move.

Emerald pushed through her headache and conjured up one last illusion – the final one she'd have to make for this damnable circus act of a…ugh. Forget it.

It's important. Repeat after me: it's important.

Ruby Rose saw a fireball come out of nowhere and head straight towards her. Diving out of the way in frantic panic, she tripped and rolled on the ground, shattering her aura from the high velocity fall. Her momentum from the high speeds carried her straight off the edge of the levitating octagonal arena. It was only a short fall, probably about 30 feet. A hunter-grade competitor with aura could have taken it, no problem at all.

Ruby landed on her legs. Both of them broke upon impact, snapping at dangerously different angles. Blood seeped out of the bruised areas where friction burns had punctured her skin. Her nose bent out of place when her face made contact with the ground. Her shredded red hood and cape had torn off when she was rolling and slowly floated down to cover her body. The only saving grace was that she'd likely been unconscious before the fall, so she hadn't felt any of the pain.

It was gruesome.

It was grisly.

It was the most satisfying sight Emerald had ever seen.

Cinder looked around her as the dust cleared until her eyes settled on Ruby's broken, tattered body. Leaping out of the arena, she knelt before her opponent and cradled her.

"Help! Somebody get a doctor! We need help!"

"Cut the feeds! Cut the–"

The judges went silent, and everyone in the audience was on their feet. Emerald could barely see Ruby's teammates as they ran towards her.

The blonde bimbo was all over Ruby in a flash. "Ruby! Let me through, I'm her sister! Ruby!"

"Oh, Dust! She's still bleeding!" The Schnee princess tore her priceless combat skirt and tried to apply pressure to the wounds. It must've been the most expensive bandage that the world had ever seen, Emerald thought.

"Call an medevac airship!" said Cinder. "She needs to get to a hospital!"

"It's too far!" cried the Faunus. "We've got to take her to Beacon's medical wing!"

"We're her teammates," said the Schnee. "We'll go with her!"

The three of them lifted their fallen leader off the ground and carried her out of the arena. Their concern might have been touching if Emerald didn't know that it was only going to get so much worse.

Neopolitan had her hands over her mouth and was shaking her head violently forward and backward. Emerald assumed that it was her mute way of screaming.

Time to kill two birds with one stone.

Hey, that kinda worked! Cuz, you know…Ruby was a bird, and Neo was about to die.

"Real shame," Emerald said to Mercury, reclining back in her seat with all the casualness of a frat boy cracking open a cold one.

"Oh shit!" Mercury's hands went to his head. His wheelchair nearly tipped over. "We needed her unharmed, right? Weren't they crucial to the Boss' plan?"

"Not quite. We were keeping them alive so they could die at just the right time. That's tonight."

Neo looked at her, mouth wide open with horror.

Emerald laid it on even thicker. "You must be glad, Neo. I know you had it out for Little Red ever since she caught Torchwick. When they get to Beacon's medical ward, Team Rainbow will finally die."

Fear filled Neo's eyes. The mute dashed off after the four girls, racing down staircases at breakneck speeds.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Emerald called to Neo's empty seat, but only when she was out of earshot. "The team dies, but Ruby Rose will be the only survivor."

Mercury crossed his arms. "You know, Emerald, you're a different breed of bitch."

Emerald sneered as Neo ducked under an 'Employees Only' sign and ran into a maintenance tunnel.

If you care about them so much, go die with those stupid kids. This is what you get for all the trouble you caused Cinder. Good riddance.

"Please, calm down folks. We've decided to hold the next match with a slight delay. Miss Rose is being taken to Beacon for treatment. What just took place was terrible, but the judges have conferred and reached the conclusion that Miss Fall was not to blame for it. Miss Rose's injury was caused by a horrible accident!"

No. No, it was not!

Bronzewing rose from his seat in a frenzy.

Omake

Qrow: Just take good care of the crown. It's very precious.

Nora: I know the perfect place to hide it!

Qrow: Where?

Nora: So I was digging out a moat around the CCT, and I found this super cool secret room beneath the CCT.

Qrow: Wait, you found the–

Nora: It even has a vault. The door was a bit sticky, but I was able to pry it open with Magnhild. I'll hide the crown in there. No one would ever suspect it!

Next Chapter: For Ruby – In which Bronzewing rallies the forces of good, things start to look up for Pyrrha, and Weiss prepares for the last stand.

Author's Notes

Ren's just like 'yeah, this is fine. Imma write myself out of the story after that ludicrous display of the shit of the bull without questioning anything.' To be fair, Pyrrha is secretly a yandere for Jaune, so it's unsurprising nobody bats an eye when she goes crazy. But hey, at least Nora got a sick hat.

RIP Ruby's everything. Her body was not ready.

Forgot to say it for the past few chapters, but happy rats, and don't do crime!