Ruby Schnee
It had been a long time, yet, once again, a familiar thought came to her mind. "I really do hate getting letters."
"Ruby?" Concern. So prominent in her voice there may as well have been no other emotion in it. That, combined with a tilt of her head as she tried to get a better look into Ruby's eyes to gauge her reaction, and the only response she could find was a deflection.
"O-Oh. Well, I..." Yet she failed to put even that into words. "I didn't expect this." What else could she say? It wasn't her place to cry or weep for the woman, after all, she didn't know Vermilion. Nor had she put in the effort to try to get to know her. "Did she even know it would go to me? Or did she just leave it to whoever was left...?" Gulping in an attempt to simultaneously quell her nerves as well as summon her courage, she spoke once again, this time, with a brighter voice. "Its unfortunate, but... I already knew this wasn't far off. I just-" It was selfish. She knew the woman was too old to have much longer left... Ruby had just hoped that the news of the event would never find its way to her ear. "I guess I didn't think it would be today."
Weiss listened carefully as she spoke, but, being both a genius when it came to reading people, as well as her wife of nearly a decade now, didn't believe Ruby for a second. "If you want to talk, or-"
"N-No. I'm fine, really." Neither of them believed that, and of course, neither did Blake. The Faunas just close enough to still hear their conversation, whether out of curiosity or worry for Ruby, wasn't clear.
While Ruby frantically looked around for any chance to change the topic, Weiss just stared up into her eyes, still in worry. "H-hey, where did Gray go?"
Both Weiss and Blake knew what she was doing, while Velvet - who wasn't privy to the conversation - answered with a smile. "Oh, he went to the bathroom."
"Oh! Well, someone should go check on him!"
"In the bathroom?" For a moment, even Velvet was suspicious, but, shrugged not long after. "I mean, I think he went the wrong way, actually."
"Ruby, don't you dare-"
"I'll go look for him then!" Immediately seizing the opportunity to get out of there, Ruby successfully wiggled out of her wife's arms after interrupting her and moved quickly for the room's exit. Despite her want to talk about it, Weiss let her go without a struggle. They both knew that they would eventually talk about it anyway... But, not here. Not now.
Ruby couldn't handle it, she just needed to be alone with her thoughts for now.
Moving through the winding halls and stepping around the uncountable corners that made up Vales castle, Ruby must have been walking for a few minutes before she was wrestled from her thoughts by a distraction. Glancing up, she watched as Gray came from the direction she was walking in. Stammering to say something, Ruby cut him off as she walked past, too deep into her thoughts to think much of it. "Wow, you really did get lost." The nearest bathroom had been just outside the training room, and Ruby had head directly for her bedroom.
It was less than a minute later when she reached the door, but her hand paused on the handle. "Vermilion's stuff is in the landing bay..." She could bet that the majority of it would be plants, so, the least she could do was take them somewhere a bit safer. It wouldn't do to let her relative's prize possessions die so soon. Stepping in for a minute or two to get changed, she closed the door behind her as she moved into the familiar hallway once again. Now wearing clothes that looked all too casual for a Queen, she turned and began her walk again.
Continuing past her room, Ruby's steps were a little hurried as she moved once more through the ever confusing layout of her home. Upon her arrival, figuring out which ship it was took only a moment, and she had been proven correct as she looked over the many open crates filled with plants. Even from here, she could recognise some of the familiar sights from the shop, and her eyes once again danced across the petals of some of the flowers as Mana flowed through them.
Finding a small group of servants and the odd knight or two, it was a rather quick process to get everything organised and moving through the castle, towards where would hopefully be only their temporary home. Ruby led the front of the pack, holding a crate in each hand as she moved through the castle, leading the trail of people behind her to her workshop. For now, this would be as good a place as any.
"Until I can find out the conditions all these need to stay in, I can't leave them anywhere safely." Hopefully in all these crates there would be a book or two about how all of them needed to be planted. Ruby was praying that a majority would just be able to find a home in the garden, but she was smart enough to understand her lack of knowledge on the subject. The process was long and tedious, so much so that halfway through Ruby was wishing she could have just carried it all on her back as a full Dragon. But, she wouldn't have been able to fit in the halls, let alone walk through it while balancing all those crates.
It took hours, but the job was done. Now, her workshop was a mess thanks to more than just her own work. A good third of the large room was taken up by just the crates, thanks to the stacking being left to a minimum. While Ruby would have loved nothing more than to take a break after all of that work, she begrudgingly began to open up one crate after another, looking for any information she could find on the many plants she now held responsibility over.
On her fifth crate, she found something promising. Ripping open the lid with nothing but her own strength, her eyes lingered at the corner of a book peeking out underneath old pictures and a very itchy-looking blanket. Pulling it out by just what she could see of it, Ruby glanced over the outside. A matt red colour with no title, nor indication of any kind as to what lay written on its pages. She almost smirked as she placed a bet as to what it was, and after flicking open the page, the smirk grew as the first words came into view.
"She kept a journal." It had been selfish of her to not interact with Vermilion while she was alive, and perhaps it would be rude even further if she failed to find out what she could about her after her passing. Alternatively, "Surely, it would be rude of me to read this..." Her mind fought back and forth with itself as she flicked through the book, glancing at the pages but not reading a single word. "Though... Maybe instructions on how to look after the plants is in here..." The logical next step then, would be to look through the other crates first.
Propping herself up on one of the still closed crates and sitting on its edge, Ruby flicked to a random page of the journal. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and perhaps her guilt as well.
"So... Who were you?"
Today it happened! I finally did it! I talked to him! It was nerve-wracking to say the least, but I wasn't going to stop short. Not again.
No. I made up my mind this morning! I woke up with a pep in my step, threw on something my mother wouldn't approve of, marched over there before lunch, and made his day! It was amazing! He couldn't keep his eyes off me! I'm not even sure if he realised what we were talking about, but I wrangled a yes out of him for a date. It's tomorrow, and I can't wait!
Pausing for a moment, Ruby glanced at the length of the book compared to what page she was on. "How old is she here?" Ruby had assumed at first that the Journal would have been more up to date. "She sounds like a teenager here." Then again, what did she know about being a teenager? "Most of my teenage years were spent in the same room..." Flicking through and skipping more than a few pages, Ruby tried to find an entry that would at least talk about the plants.
I'm nearly too tired to write! Something amazing happened today! I was walking to school-
Ruby let out a loud groan. "School!?" She didn't imagine the answers would come this early in Vermilion's life, and it was only curiosity that made her keep reading.
When I saw a new shop! It was beautiful. Not the shop, really, but what it was selling. It was a botanist, they sold all kinds of flowers. Roses, lilies, and a whole bunch more I didn't bother remembering. I barely looked past the roses! There was one in particular. It was sitting in the middle of a bunch, and I could have sworn it was glowing! It was beautiful! More beautiful than I could fathom! I asked about it, but the kind man who sold them told me it was just a rose, the same as the rest. I knew he was wrong. I just knew it! The way the red seemed to run up and down the petals like liquid, the stem that looked like it was pulsing as it drew something from the soil... I sat there for at least an hour, just staring at it. I watched as it followed the sunlight faster than all the other flowers, and after a while I saw how the air warped and bent after the petals. I reached in, and after feeling under them... It was incredible! There was heat! The rose was producing heat!
I was so excited that I bought it right then and there.
Mother was a little angry that I spent so much of my Lien on a single rose, and Rowan was quite worried about me when I never turned up at school... I tried to show them. Tried to make them see what I did. But they couldn't.
Maybe it's just like the clothes father used to make... Mother says she can't read the magic on them like I can, maybe the rose is magic too?
It's in a pot nearby, sitting near my window.
I hope it survives.
Taking her eyes off the book for a moment, Ruby glanced over at some nearby roses sticking up from one of the open crates. After staring at them for a while, she flicked to the next page. She was surprised to see that it was dated a few days later. "So she stopped writing every day...?"
It took root!
Admittedly, I wasn't exactly delicate with the process of checking. But, it's been a few days, and It's still fine!
But, I'm a little worried. The rose is producing less heat than before... Maybe it will be fine...
I wonder if there are books about magic plants.
The entry ended there, but Ruby was frankly exasperated with herself from reading even that much. "Why am I looking through her stuff for books on this!? We have a giant library here!" Letting out a groan of equal parts embarrassment and annoyance, she flicked a few pages further into the journal. After all, she was already reading it. "I'll look for the books after."
The rose is back in action!
I was really scared when it stopped making heat, but I finally figured out how to fix it!
The rose needs proper conditions to survive, but more than that, it needs a Mana supply to make Magic. It's just like actual Magic! The roots can absorb Ambient Mana from the ground, and then the rose turns that into an effect. The problem was that there was no more Mana left in the soil in the pot. It started producing heat again after only an hour of being in the garden.
That was a very difficult situation to explain to Mother... She wasn't too excited to find out that I had added to her garden without permission.
At least I got her to let it stay there.
Now comes the hard part...
"Hard part?" Ruby was confused, so much so that she went back and read through the entries she'd skipped. They didn't offer anything. "Dammit!" She turned the page. "I guess this is what happens when you read someone else's journal..."
Reading through, Ruby found that the next few pages were rather basic. She didn't need to concentrate too much on every detail of Vermilion's life, and she certainly didn't need to memorise her first kiss. It only took four turns of the page to find something relevant.
It finally happened!
The rose took root in the garden ages ago, and it's been flourishing ever since. But what I was hoping for finally happened, it started showing seeds! I've already harvested some that were ready and set them in some pots. I'm a bit worried about the lack of Mana in the soil, though... Maybe if I sprinkle a bit of Dust in the pots, it will help them grow?
"Dust?" Ruby questioned as she turned the page. "That seems kinda expensive..."
It worked. With only a few flakes of Dust, the seeds shot up like they were racing to become flowers. It's only been two days since planting, but they're already nearly fully grown.
Maybe I overdid it with the Dust... I'm not just saying that because of the growth...
Feeling her confidence in her suspicions rising, Ruby turned the page, skipping over the details of her daily life. "I don't need to read her whole morning routine for the fifteenth time."
The next page she opened to didn't have a date, and there were small circles on the page darkened and discoloured. "Water damage?" It didn't take a genius to figure out they were the marks of tears.
It happened.
Mother was more furious than she'd ever been, I didn't even think twice before buying the Dust...
She kicked me out.
I know it was dumb, I know it was a waste of Lien but... I just couldn't help it. When I was younger, she would always be yapping at me to figure out what I wanted to do with my life... Well...
This is it.
I know it is.
I found a place to stay tonight, but, tomorrow I'll try and find somewhere to stay with a roof.
Before she forced me out the door, I only managed to grab one of the Rose's seeds.
I think she probably ripped the original one out of the garden...
Ruby wasn't sure what to think, looking at this from such a one-sided perspective. "It's not like we have to worry about Lien..." Thinking about it, Dust was actually even less of an issue. Once more, she turned the page, to what she could only guess was an entry over a week later.
It's been ages since I've written! It feels great!
What's happened since the last time I wrote. Well, I didn't actually find somewhere to sleep with a roof on night two. But, somewhere to sleep found me.
I was settled in an alleyway, prepared to try and sleep again... When he found me. Somehow, Rowan looked even worse and smelled even worse than I did.
I'm pretty sure he hadn't stopped looking for me for even a second after he found out...
I couldn't help it. The second I was in his arms again, I blurted out that I loved him.
I only started crying when he said it back.
She couldn't fight off a small smile that curled her lips as she glanced over the rest of the page, reading about how Rowan had invited her into his home without a second thought. Much to the chagrin of his parents. Still, they were nice enough to not turn her away, but they were strict enough to argue with their son once she had left the room. Ruby's smile fully formed when she read about Rowan's proclamation to his parents.
"I'll quit school then. I already know I want to be a blacksmith anyway, and Cambridge has already offered to take me on as an apprentice." That's what he said! I heard it through the wall! I was as stunned as his parents, but, they didn't argue.
I was gonna stop listening in then... But, I heard something else.
They asked him why he was going so far for me... And almost immediately, he told them that he wanted to marry me.
Being honest, Journal... If he had asked that tonight...
I would have said Yes.
Not stopping with her smile, nor her reading, Ruby continued through the Journal. Each new page seemed to grow happier and happier, Vermilion truly loved Rowan, and from what was written, he seemed to love her just as much. Their lives were filled with joy, it seemed. Vermilion had a new garden behind the house, one filled with those roses she loved. Rowan was doing well with his new job, and was actually already earning quite a fair amount when compared to his parents.
Life seemed good for them, and Ruby was so invested in their story, she had forgotten about why she was reading it in the first place.
Until a certain entry.
Something amazing happened today!
I was working away at my garden this afternoon, happy as could be, when Rowan came home early! I was so excited to see him that I raced over to him, but he didn't accept my hug. Instead, he showed me a flower.
It was magnificent. The only thing I could compare it to was the first time I had ever seen that Rose.
He asked me if it was special like my Roses, that blue Lily he was holding onto like he was embarrassed. I kissed him so hard that he nearly dropped it, then practically chewed his ear off with my descriptions of the Mana flowing through it!
He was smiling the whole time. It always feels so good when he listens to me like that.
Ruby's expression softened further. "That reminds me of someone I know."
The Lily, I planted it, but it was a bit difficult to figure out what it did... It wasn't until I went to check on it after dinner that I saw.
It glows! It was a beautiful sapphire light, and it lit up that whole small strip of the garden.
I'm a little worried, though. I wonder how the Roses will react to it?
Looking around momentarily, Ruby caught sight of the blue lilies that she wrote about. The workshop had a rather stale and clean white light in the centre of its roofing which did an excellent job of illuminating it, but, that also meant that she wasn't able to appreciate the glow.
Turning the page, she scanned through a few, only to notice that a year had passed in the dates.
Once again, it's been quite a while, huh, Journal?
This time, more than some of the others, I think it was for a good reason.
So many times I had plans to sit down and write, but I was so distracted by life. In a good way, though.
Nearly a year ago now, Rowan asked me to marry him.
He was so nervous! It was adorable, and I wanted to just kiss him right then and there. But, my Love is a bit of a fool, and was desperate for my answer.
I only call him a fool, because I had made known my answer long before that night.
Looking at my ring now, I worry about how much it must have cost him...
For a moment, Ruby felt a tinge of uncertainty within her. Not for the future, rather, for the past. "I wish Weiss and I could have had moments like these..." Ruby had never really gotten to ask Weiss to marry her, nor had they gotten the chance to really date beforehand. Despite that, and despite the regrets she harboured, Ruby would never say she outright regretted her life with Weiss up until now. "It may have been messy, but I wonder if without all of that, if we would still have Argus?"
Once more, the page turned, and once more did she read on. The pages disappeared before her, one entry after another she read about Vermilion's life, and compared it to her own. She would never even consider trading her life for Vermilion's own, but there was a quaint beauty to be found in the fantasy she formed of a simpler life with Weiss and Argus.
"I wonder if Weiss would enjoy that... Or if Argus would..." For once, she found herself unsure as to how her wife thought, or how she would act. On the one hand, she knew that Weiss had plans for after Argus took the throne... But, what about if he had kids? Would he remain King forever? Would he even want the throne in the first place? There was so much that Ruby could think about, and the thoughts came at her as a barrage akin to a tidal wave. One after another, she was faced with question upon question of her life and the lives of those she cared about. None of which - of course - would matter unless this war could be ended with their lives safe and secure.
Now seeking a respite in that simpler fantasy her mind had cooked up, she flicked to a further page in the journal and scanned the entry.
Her stomach turned as she was faced with a pain all too familiar.
I can't believe she's actually gone...
We hadn't spoken in years, not since she kicked me out.
Apparently, she was sick... And probably was for quite a while. Mother knew it was coming, yet she didn't reach out. Maybe... She wanted to spare me that pain?
I invited her to our wedding three years ago, but, she didn't show. Didn't respond at all, actually.
I... I was resentful towards her. I was for years, it only grew after the wedding, and even when I heard the news, I couldn't find the emotion to even summon the tears I should have shed.
It wasn't until Rowan and I went to my old home... Mother's home, to clear it out. Furniture had to be sorted, possessions moved... And, I can't even remember for what reason... But I went out to check the garden.
Mother's garden... The first one I touched.
It was still there.
The garden, sure... But, so was the Rose. The Rose. My first one, still alive, still producing heat, still sitting in the dead centre of the garden.
It was strange at first... After all, the rest of the garden had looked withered, neglected... But, my Rose was still there.
Rowan came to find me after a few minutes when I hadn't returned...
Even given the strength of my emotions in that moment, I was actually a bit glad that I could finally cry for her.
I'll miss you, Mother.
I already do.
It was unfair, Ruby thought. How cruel it was, for this journal to assault her with a story that hit her in an all too weak point of her very Soul. She had to turn the book away for a moment in order to not damage this page with more tears.
She allowed herself a few minutes to let the emotion out, even feeling half tempted to find Weiss and weep into her arms for as long as she could...
But, it was an old wound. A deep one, but old nonetheless. Once she had her few minutes, her tears stopped, her mind cleared... And she found herself agreeing with Vermilion. "I miss you... Mum..."
Steeling herself for what came next, she read on.
Pages on pages disappeared as time flowed by. She felt herself absorbed by Vermilion's life, the stories of this woman she hadn't known, the experiences she shared with the man she loved, the joy and sadness she had felt. The search for information about the plants became a secondary goal as she found herself fulling giving in to her wishes and reading every single page. Not allowing herself to skip anything anymore.
Ruby read about the garden's growth, the selling of her mother's house, the success of Rowan's work. She found herself absorbed by the tales spun in this Journal, drawn in by someone she could relate to for their feelings towards Magic. For once, Ruby looked in from an outsider's perspective at someone with a Silver Affinity. It was an illuminating experience, and it made her feel special, more so than she already did.
One particularly interesting thing she read about, was how Vermilion had procured the funds to construct her shop.
It was a lost cause, I thought. As much as it would be a dream come true, I couldn't see it becoming a reality.
But, even though I had given up on it, my Love hadn't. Every night, after work, I would find him reading before bed. I asked, and asked, and all he could tell me was that he was studying Magic. Seeing the books, I figured he must be telling the truth eventually... Though, I never suspected the reasoning behind it.
As it turns out, dear Journal, by a strange technicality, I can be considered a Wizard by the legal system on the Island of Vytal. Not a very good one, but a Wizard nonetheless.
Annnd, as my Love discovered, since my area of expertise is a dying subject, I am entitled to funding so long as I spend it on my 'research'.
Once again, my Love proved to me why he will always be the one for me.
Thanks to him, I have a home.
Thanks to him, I'll be able to devote my life to my dream.
All he wanted in return was my love. But, I know something else he wants as well, a wish of his that I will see fulfilled.
My Love has given me so much, and I am determined to give him the family he wants in return.
"So that's how she could keep the shop open..." Ruby didn't think that Vermilion would get many customers, but it made sense now. It wasn't exactly a shop anyway, technically, it could be considered a workshop like Ruby's own. "Well... Not quite like mine," She thought with a chuckle.
Reading on once more, she found detailed notes about the plants. What she had first started reading for now seemed like nothing but a distraction as she flicked past the detailed descriptions of the plants. She only paused on them upon the realisation that she had so many more than what Ruby had read about. Taking another look, Ruby realised that the plants had bred, creating strange fusions and evolutions rapidly as they crossed and swapped genes. Some of the results she could see now as her eyes glanced up at some of the open crates, others were hidden behind the rest of the boxes.
Finding pages filled with proper entries once more, Ruby saw a slow but constant decline in the spark of passion that had previously been there. Slowly but surely, she found that Vermilion seemed to be less and less happy as the pages went on.
Finally, dated a year after the entry about her being a Wizard, Ruby found an entry explaining Vermilion's woes.
I can't do it...
We had been trying for so long... Finally, I could stand it no more. Rowan told me to be calm and not overreact, but I could take it no more. I went to the doctor, I got the tests...
I cannot bare children.
Why does it have to be so...?
Why could I not grant my Love the one thing he wanted...? When he has given me so much...
I feel less than useless. Rowan tells me it is not my fault. He speaks of adoption, he says everything will be fine... He promises me that this doesn't change anything.
I couldn't disagree more.
Journal... Why couldn't I have the power to give him just this one thing...?
A frown formed over her lips as she tuned the page. "Don't you get it, Vermilion? He loves you... Why can't you see that you're more important to him than the possibility of kids...?" Ruby was sure that Rowan had been telling her the same thing... Which made the next entry so much more heartbreaking. It was dated two months later.
Hello, Journal.
It has been a while, I'm sorry about that, It's just taken quite a while to finalise some things. I've been incredibly busy.
Allow me to fill in the gaps. It took some time, but finally, I was able to show Rowan how I felt. I'm not sure if he believed me or not in the end, but, no matter the reasoning, he agreed.
I just want him to be happy, Journal. I hope you understand that. He wants a family, and he holds so much love in his heart, I know that he will find someone who can give him what he needs. I just know it.
The divorce was difficult, yet easy. Difficult because of what it was, but easy because... We never came to hate each other, nor even dislike each other.
I cannot give him what he dreams for, not in this life. Perhaps in the next, we will be reunited... Perhaps then, I will be able to give him his dream.
I hope so, Journal.
Because without my Love with me, I find my heart broken. The only reason I can continue on, is because of my hope that the next life will come...
That so long as I am patient... The World will let me and my Love dream together.
One day... One day.
It had left a bad taste in her mouth, perhaps even a bad taste in her Soul. Ruby could understand Vermilion's actions, but she could never agree with them. "Maybe I'm just not strong enough to leave the ones I love, even if it's for their sakes..." Once more, she turned the page.
But it wasn't another entry she found.
Instead, it was pages upon pages of information. Like before, when Vermilion had written all she could about certain plants... Only, it was now taken to a whole new level.
Each plant had at least three pages dedicated to it, with one of them being a beautifully sketched drawing of the plant in question. Ruby skimmed over all of them, glancing at some of their names, expected seed yield, Magical effects, everything. She found so much information here, even without reading the words properly.
Taken aback by the pages, she found herself rapidly flicking through them, searching for something, anything... Searching for Vermilion, not her plants.
And, finally, after all of her plants, only a few pages from the end of the Journal... Did she find one last entry.
Dated fifty years after her last.
I find my hand trembling as I write.
How strange.
In all this time, I haven't stopped writing. There are more books than just this one filled with information about my plants... And yet, today, I felt myself drawn to this book... to my Journal.
I was so happy today. I couldn't help but write about it.
I had customers, for the first time in such a long while.
Two women, beautiful with youth and surging with Mana, especially the younger one. They were kind, asking about information at first and leaving me disappointed for a moment... Before one of them bought something...!
I nearly cried Journal, truly, I mean it.
Those eyes... They weren't like mine, they didn't share my colour... And yet, I could see in them a sparkle so familiar to me.
I could see the recognition. I just know that girl could see the plants like I do!
And... Seeing that... Seeing the sparkle in her eye and the youth in her skin... I found myself coming back to this Journal tonight.
I found myself reading all of my entries, looking through them, remembering the moments I spent writing them...
To my Mother. I hope she found peace, I hope she is with Father, and I hope she knows that I forgave her for casting me out a long time ago.
To that Young woman. I hope she lives a good life. I hope she too can see the beauty in my plants, or, at least, the one she bought. And... I hope she knows how happy she made this old woman.
And... Of course, to my Love.
I know not where you are, I know not what you have been doing, I know not if you found someone else.
I love you, I always will, and tonight I pray, like every night in these last fifty years... That one day, we will be together again.
For this Rose, Vermilion Rose, will only ever be yours.
Slowly turning the page, she found the rest to be blank. After a slight pause, she closed the Journal and put it aside. It rested carefully on a closed crate, Ruby watched it momentarily before she felt tears falling down her face once again.
"Ruby?" Which is how Weiss found her.
She practically jumped, her head whipping around as her eyes focused on the Queen. "H-Hey, Weiss." She spoke with a voice that was anything but smooth, her hands reaching up to wipe away her tears all too late.
Seeing this, Weiss let out a gentle sigh as she stepped further into the room, leaving the doorway behind and finding her way through all the crates still left on the floor. "Hello, Darling." Her voice was smooth like silk, instilled with as much affection and comfort as she could. The smile on her face was the same, soft, gentle, practically a beacon that forced Ruby's eyes on her and promised nothing but safety.
Stopping in front of her, Weiss continued, "How are you feeling?" While she spoke, her hands moved up to caress Ruby's cheeks and wipe away what tears she had missed with her own attempts.
"I'm... Um..." The word 'great' almost left her lips, but a quick tightening of Weiss' gaze left her without a lie to fall back on. So, begrudgingly, she spoke the truth. "I don't know how to feel."
"Of course." Sitting next to her on the crate with much too little room, one of Weiss' hands remained on Ruby's cheek to keep up the comforting action. "But, there isn't any way you have to feel. Whatever you feel right now, that's what I want to know." Ruby went to speak, but it was cut off as nothing but a slight grunt when Weiss kissed her gently. "I wish to comfort you if you feel down, praise you if you feel warm, protect you if you feel vulnerable, and hold you no matter what." Her head tilted slightly after she was finished, and it took a moment for Ruby to realise that now it was her turn to speak.
Gathering her courage, she went to speak before her eyes met Weiss' own gaze once more. The feeling that flushed through her as their eyes met made her feel equally safe, as well as stupid. "Why am I preparing myself to talk to Weiss...?" They weren't strangers, they weren't just friends or lovers, Weiss was the one person she could always confide in. The woman she loved. Her lips curled into a small smile, and she spoke, now giving Weiss what she wanted. "I regret not getting to know her... But, I'm also frustrated with her. As much as I wish I could go back and talk to her, I can't stop myself from feeling how... Unfair this all is."
"Unfair?" There was no judgement, no criticisms, just a gentle question for elaboration.
With a nod, her head hung slightly as her eyes met the floor. "Yeah... It's unfair that she's gone, it's unfair that her life was as it was... And..." Clenching her eyes now, she blurted out the next words like they were bile. "It's unfair that I have to go through this." Weiss waited a moment after that to speak, but as her mouth opened, Ruby continued. "I didn't want to know her. I didn't want to lose someone else... I didn't want to feel this pain again... But... Why do I feel pain...? I didn't know her! I shouldn't care, I'm not allowed to care, and I don't want to! So why!? Why do I feel like this!?"
Feeling Weiss guiding her head again, Ruby followed the pull of her hand and their eyes met. Silver eyes met Light Blue, but of the two, it was Ruby's that were flooding with tears. "Your right, Ruby. It is unfair. Life is unfair, The World is unfair. But... There's nothing we can do to change that." Reaching her other hand up, she held both of Ruby's cheeks and drew her in to rest their foreheads together. "Let it all out, Ruby. Let me hear everything, let me see everything. This pain is confusing to you, I know it is... But you don't have to feel it alone. I'll be here with you, Darling. Like always."
Pulling her in properly now, Ruby practically crashed against Weiss as she let herself be held. Her tears remained stagnant for a moment, stubbornly refusing to leave her eyes... Until the dam broke. As her arms came around Weiss' frame, Ruby began to weep. It wasn't a pretty cry, nor was it a simple one. Ruby didn't know why she was crying, she didn't even know if she was allowed to. The only thing she knew, was that Weiss was letting her... And that was all she needed to let it all out.
It felt like hours, the time they spent just sitting in each other's arms as Ruby cried, and as Weiss gently soothed her. Time passed all too fast, and when Weiss drew away, Ruby felt that it had been too long, and also not long enough. Contrary to what she had thought, though, Weiss had no intentions of letting it end there.
"Ruby," She whispered, her voice gentle and sweet, close enough that she could feel Weiss' breath against her ear. "Come on." Entwining her hand with Ruby's own, Weiss slowly rose from the crate, dragging Ruby with her slowly but surely.
They walked slowly, almost seeming to pass no one, as their careful steps led them through the winding and twisting halls. Usually, whenever Ruby found herself walking anywhere in the castle, her eyes would flick about and admire her surroundings. But, the sometimes green, sometimes light blue, and sometimes white halls, held no interest to her at the moment. Instead, her eyes were set on Weiss. Watching the Queen as she led Ruby to somewhere familiar. Pulling Ruby into their bedroom, the Queen Consort glanced at the windows and was surprised momentarily to see that it was night.
"I wonder how long I was reading for..." Her mind wandered momentarily before she found herself pulled into the bed. Weiss left her side for only a moment, seemingly making herself busy as she dipped in and out of their walk-in-wardrobe a few times. When she returned to the bed, she laid down some clothes that Ruby recognised, being a pair of pyjamas for each of them. For a moment, Ruby wondered if Weiss planned to skip her nightly preparations for bed, but those thoughts stopped as Weiss began to undress her.
It wasn't meant to be a sexual act, Ruby was clearly aware of that as her wife pulled her top off and moved to grab something more comfortable to help Ruby into. But, as she turned, Ruby pulled her closer, practically pulling the smaller woman onto her lap as her lips met the soft skin of Weiss' neck.
"Ruby?" Her voice came out as a gentle breath, a mixture of surprise with a hint of arousal. "I wasn't going to-"
"I know... I just..." Ruby could barely find her words as she pulled Weiss even closer. "I just want to forget for a little while..."
Light Blue eyes darted left and right for a moment, like Weiss was weighing the pros and cons, before she let out a gentle sigh, and Ruby felt her soft arms wrap around her as they laid back onto the bed. Ever one to indulge her wife, Weiss did as she wished, and did her best to fill her thoughts with more passionate emotions.
When her eyes flickered open, she found herself realising a few things within her first conscious moments.
First of all, she thought as she sat up. It was still night. Her eyes turned to the windows by the balcony, gazing over the twilight sky past it, which hovered over Vale. It had at least been a few hours, that much she was sure of. Slowly untangling her limbs from Weiss' own, Ruby sat on the side of the bed, her feet dangling down to the floor and touching the edges of the fertility ritual still below their bed. She smiled gently as she looked at it, the Magic circle was strangely beautiful to look at.
Her mind wandered to when they had been attempting to have a child, long before Argus had been born. It was only a night before they found out Weiss was pregnant that Ruby had worked on the ritual, upgrading it and hopefully boosting its effectiveness. Though, that had been a long time ago, and she wasn't confident that her previous work was actually functional. Taking the time to scan it with her eyes, she was pleasantly surprised by her attempt.
"Yeah, it would work." It wasn't quite as effective as the normal ritual was at guaranteeing conception between a man and a woman, but with this ritual, there was at least a seventy percent chance of conception each time her and Weiss lay together. "If it was turned on." Even though it took such a small amount of Mana that Ruby doubted she would even feel the ritual, she knew it was turned off. After all, her and Weiss hadn't been trying.
Glancing back at the sleeping Queen, she smiled gently as she looked at the dishevelled state the usually prim and proper Weiss Schnee slept in. Those thoughts, however, occupied her for only a moment. Instead, her mind wandered back to where it had been before her wife's attempts to make her feel better. Standing, Ruby grabbed her cloak and the pyjamas Weiss had laid out for her, putting it both on before quietly leaving the room.
Her only stop on the way to her workshop was a quick gaze into Argus' room, checking that the young Prince was in bed. Ruby couldn't help but smile gently as she watched him sleep for a moment, happy to know that Weiss or Blake had put him to bed. "Or maybe he just went to bed himself." A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she closed the door, and continued on her way.
Finding her way to the workshop once more, her eyes wandered over the plants radiating with Magic before she took a deep breath, gathered her self, and went to work.
First, she searched the closed crates and found the other books Vermilion's Journal had mentioned. Scanning through them, she identified all of the plants that she could, and checked for one thing in particular. As luck would have it, she found that the plants would all be fine in here for a decent while. Normally, in standard environments, Magical plants took in sunlight, water, and nutrients from their surroundings to survive like normal plants, with the Mana they took in only supplying the energy for their Magical effects. However, when they couldn't gather what was needed to survive from their environment, they were capable of supplementing that with Mana.
"They'll be fine in the workshop for a few days, then..." You would be hard-pressed to find an area in all of Vale with a denser Ambient Mana. Of course, she spent some time sprinkling a bit of Dust into all the pots of the plants, just to be safe.
As she did that, her hand brushed past one of those beautiful red roses, the ones that produced heat. For a moment, she saw a strange blur of a different shade of red pass over the petals, and her hand shot back in momentary fear. Watching it with focused eyes, Ruby waited, but nothing happened. With her hand, she gently reached out to touch the rose... But pulled back before she did.
Stepping away for a moment, her Mana surged as her body pulsed. With a crackling of energy, her body warped, and blood-red scales formed over her skin and clothes. The scales naturally formed into what resembled man-made armour, but every inch of her under her chin was covered by the dense and powerful defences of a Dragon. Her cloak - now looking to be made of a thick dark-crimson membrane - split down the middle and flashed with a red light for a moment, both sides of the split forming into large wings with powerful claws at their apex's.
One of the wings reached towards the rose, the claw having the grace and dexterity equal to a normal hand as it easily and gently grabbed the pot, pulling it away from the others and setting it down on one of her many benches before letting it go. Spreading her wings out behind her, she approached the pot... Slowly, gently, her right arm reached out. Her fingers ended in black claws, but her hands were still almost the exact same size as usual.
As she delicately touched one of the petals, she watched with awe as the rose reacted. Her slitted Silver eyes opened wide as every part of the rose, visible or not, formed red scales. The dense and powerful defences now covering the plant were incredibly familiar as she looked down at her arm, seeing the exact same scales, if a little bigger. With intrigue, she reached out with her other hand to touch it.
Almost jumping from surprise, her eyes widened further as the rose turned in place, looking directly towards the hand she had reached out towards it. Freezing for a moment, Ruby focused her eyes as she tried to will the rose to turn again.
She almost jumped with joy as it did. The entire plant rotated in place, it moved about dozens of times faster than what any normal plant was capable of. She experimented for a while, making it flail all over the place, and even accidentally making it slam into the edge of the pot once by accident. She was pleasantly surprised to find the pot cracked now, and the rose undamaged. "The scales make it just as tough as me..."
Trying to make it move once more, she nearly let out a shriek as it moved. Not just rotating or turning, the rose actually moved from its spot in the centre of the soil. Taking a moment, Ruby willed it to move again. It travelled strangely, never leaving the touch of her right hand as it moved like a snake, leaving the soil and traversing up her arm before it ended up wrapped around her bicep. She examined it with curiosity, looking closer to find that the rose looked to be completely a part of her now, blending into her scales perfectly with only the flower head still visible pointing away from her. Of course, it was still completely made out of her scales.
With curiosity that only grew and grew, Ruby willed the rose to move in an even stranger way. Her body shivered as it did as she commanded, the faint bump in her scales that was the stem of the flower disappearing completely as it moved deeper into her flesh.
Strangely, she felt nothing. It was completely normal to her. There was quite literally a plant made of Dragon scales inside of her arm, yet, unless she had seen it happen, it would have been impossible to tell.
Taking a few moments to test this further, Ruby made the rose travel all over her body. It practically swam under her scales and through her flesh, she was aware of where it was at all times, yet she couldn't feel it anymore than she could feel the rest of her insides. It was a part of her now... The only thing she could equate it to was, "My Magic items..."
Looking at her wings, she thought for a moment about her cloak. "Magic items work by attaching themselves to your Soul and feeding off of your Mana... But... Plants basically do the same thing, just with the ground..." Willing the rose to move again, she watched it sprout completely from the palm of her right wings 'hand'. Looking at it closer as she brought it down to sit just in front of her, Ruby's mind wandered to something else.
"Is this what the Rose Dragon is meant to do...? Are... Are the Magic items just an unintentional side effect...?" She was confident that Rory had never encountered any Magical plants, so she didn't think he would have been aware. "I guess that explains why it's called the 'Rose Dragon'..." That name had never made sense to her before now.
She went to reach out for the rose with her left hand, but paused as she watched something drip from her arm. Looking closer with her telescopic vision, she watched curiously as sweat formed from between her scales, forming into droplets before falling from her body. She hadn't noticed it until now, but, "It's... Really hot in here..." Turning to look at the rest of the room, she noticed the temperature drop significantly to a comfortable chill as her wings outstretched.
Puzzled for a moment, Ruby turned to her right wing as realisation struck her. "The rose!" It was producing heat, but, much greater than normal. "I mean, I guess that makes sense... The Mana in my body is way more potent than the Ambient Mana it can usually draw on." Still, that gave her an idea. Stretching her wing out, she pushed the rose as far away as she could from her body before focusing her Mana, attempting to focus some of it directly into the rose.
She grinned as the temperature across her face immediately rose to an uncomfortable degree.
Cutting off her Mana supply, Ruby brought the rose as close to her face as she could, still keeping it on the palm of her wing. Actively now trying to keep her Mana away from the flower, she was happy when she felt the temperature remain a comfortable cool. It was quite intuitive to learn, though, she was sure that years prior she would have been unable to pick it up as quickly.
Moving her wing's palm over to the pot, she willed the rose to worm its way back into the soil, spreading out its roots before she let it go, and it became as normal. Looking at it, her eyes sparkled as she turned to the rest of the crates, Silver eyes glancing over each and every plant as she slowly grinned.
"I have some experimenting to do."
Weiss Schnee
The ever dignified Queen of Vale let out a groan as she stirred from her rest. Her hands flailed about and reached out for her favourite pillow as her eyes refused to open.
A growl of frustration and childish annoyance left her throat as she failed to find said pillow, and her eyes darted open as she glanced around. Finding an empty side of the bed instead of her wife. "Dammit..." Sitting up with a frown, Weiss glanced about to try and piece together what happened. "It's still night... Probably early morning... Ruby's cloak and pyjamas are gone... She's probably back at the workshop."
Moving to the edge of the bed, she was quick to get dressed into her own pyjamas before heading to the bedroom door. Only stopping on the way as she glanced at her dressers mirror and quickly had to stop to fix her hair. Satisfied, after a moment when her locks were flowing and straight, she quickly made her exit from the room, heading towards Ruby's workshop.
As she moved, her mind replayed the earlier events. In her own defence, she argued that she had handled the beginning quite well. As for the ending...
Another growl left her lips. "It's not my fault that I can't resist my wife." Doing such things at such a time was probably a bad idea, for more reasons that could be listed... But first and foremost was the vulnerability Ruby probably felt right now. Weiss considered her wife to be more delicate than herself when it came to emotions and general maturity, she didn't want to hurt her.
Finding her way to the familiar workshop, Weiss had prepared many different ideas and variations of the same speech, believing that she would have to explain herself to Ruby.
What she found, however, she had prepared nothing for.
"Oh, hey Weiss!" First of all, Ruby was smiling. Normally Weiss would take that as a compliment and chose to believe that was because she was so amazing in bed, however, to do so now would be to ignore the obvious. "Check these out!" The things she were referring to were the incredibly tall spires of flame and frost respectively that shot out from the palms of her wings hands. Thankfully, they were pointed straight up, but Weiss was still wondering if the ceiling would be alright.
"This one is a Fire Tulip," The flame coming from her right wing flared for a moment. "And this one is a Frost Tulip!" This time, the towering icy cold mist that flew from her left wing flared, increasing in power momentarily. Each blast looked more like a Dragon's breath weapon than anything else, despite how focused the beams were, easily reaching the ceiling.
"Um... Ruby-" The jets of fire and frost stopped at her words, and only then did Weiss see the strange protrusions coming from the centre of each of the wings palms. Stepping over, Ruby helpfully brought her left wing down for Weiss to get a better look at it. The bump she had seen was odd, it looked like the flower of a tulip, though it lacked a stem. More importantly though, it was made up of Ruby's scales, and seemed to be a part of her.
"Ruby-" Weiss was cut off yet again as the tulip rose from the palm, the stem seeming to slide out of Ruby's flesh under it as it moved straight up before it stood as a normal flower. "What... Is going on?"
"Honestly? I have no clue." Weiss didn't exactly find relief in that. "But... My theory is that this is the Rose Dragon's power." The wing moved over and hovered over a pot, Weiss was fascinated as she watched the tulip slither from the limb and assume its normal place in the soil, disconnecting from the wing and losing its scales after a moment. "My guess is that the reaction to Magic items is just a side effect from this, since they operate so similarly."
Weiss nodded along, understanding, but still feeling a bit unsure. "Can it really be that simple?"
"Well, it's not like Rory ever experimented much with his abilities..." She paused for a moment. "I think."
"No, I mean... How can your power mistake Magic items for plants?" Stepping over, she took a closer look at some of the crates.
"Thanks to the Great Erasure, no one knows who first made Magic items... For all we know, the system was designed based off of Magic plants." Ruby deposited the other tulip into another empty pot as she spoke. "I'm not too sure on the details, but I know that it works, at least."
Thinking for a moment as Ruby turned and began to look at some of the other plants, Weiss' face scrunched as if she was questioning something. "Maybe it's just something Dragons can do? Rather than just a Rose Dragon power?"
"Maybe...?" Ruby didn't seem to have too much confidence in that idea, but then again, neither did Weiss. Reaching a hand out, Weiss gently touched the edge of the Frost tulip, tilting her head as nothing happened. The flower's petals were cold to the touch, and it almost seemed to glow from the centre with a faint Light Blue light. "I was transformed when I did it." Ruby commented as she turned and began fiddling with a strange plant that resembled vines.
Weiss couldn't help but smile. Even though Ruby didn't think she was right - of course, neither did she - she was still offering help and ideas. Turning to the plant again as Ruby played with the vine that was now covered in red scales, Weiss was momentarily distracted as she saw the vine rapidly extend and flail about as Ruby willed it too. It was quite an entertaining sight, even when it almost broke some things.
Trying to concentrate now, she touched the flower again. Frowning as nothing happened... Then, her eyes glanced to her hand, still seeing her delicate skin. "... What?" She could have sworn she had transformed. Perhaps she had just been tired. Flaring her Mana again and pushing it through her Soul, she watched confused as her skin remained as it was.
One minute of attempts turned into two, and as her worry grew, Ruby noticed her fearful expression. "Weiss?" Stepping over, Ruby leaned down to look into her eyes as Weiss stared at her hand still gently grasping the tulip's petals. "What's wrong?"
"I... I can't transform...?" Ruby's expression matched her own as they both became worried. Weiss found herself breathing heavier as she continued to try and fail at her transformation.
"I don't understand! I've always been able to transform when I want to! The only time I haven't was when-" Her brain practically stopped working for a few seconds. "Was when I was pregnant..."
11th Day, Twelfth Strike, 2116 PE
Abaddon's Curse is back! And with its longest chapter yet as a special bonus.
10k words of my rambling, lol.
I will be doing my best to keep my pace steady with this story, and will continue writing my other fic alongside it.
I also now have a Discord! If you're interested, please check it out on my profile on Ao3. :D