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Burning embers flickered as the flames kept on rising consuming the many bodies that had fallen in its path. The sky was dark red and the atmosphere was so twisted one could feel suffocated by intensity. Only the strong could remain alive being scarred for all eternity.
It was also during this moment where a loud scream could be heard.
A blond man was stumbling around staring everywhere, seeing nothing but ruins.
His blue eyes etched in deep toil, his hands desperately lifting off bricks and wood off a badly burned corpse before crying out in despair.
Meanwhile a loud raucous laughter could be heard in the distance.
17 years later,
Two figures stood near a closed gate overlooking a nearly dilapidated church.
A fountain had been placed near, having a statue of the Brother of Light raising one hand as if to bless and beside him stood the Brother of Dark raising a hand in which a miniature looking beowolf was formed.
A nearby statue was placed in the middle of the courtyard just a few distances away from the fountain.
With an inscription that read, ' Ozma the great and mighty champion of GOL', the statue was similar to the one many people envisioned Ozma as, holding a staff with jewel-like stone sculpted with it.
"Umm, Weiss, why are we at a church ?"
Weiss just stared at the church before haughtingly replied, "It's cause the overseer of this year's Grail War lives in there."
Ruby Rose just nodded.
"And we," Weiss sighed, "Are going to meet up with him."
Ruby did not doubt that, as she began to take a step forwards, Weiss called out to her.
"Also a reminder, that servants are not allowed to enter as the church has been marked as a safe zone."
Ruby just nodded, " Yea, Cross just told me. He said he's just gonna stay over here and patrol the area."
Weiss just looked thoughtful before staring at Ruby once more.
"Okay then. Let's go."
The state of the church inside was better than the outside despite it being by a small margin.
Candles were alight giving a dimly bright yellowish look over the hall with paintings of various historical figures nearly wiped out and blurred. The only thing that looked polish and relatively new was the podium that was on the stage, its freshness a bright contrast to the otherwise gloomy atmosphere.
Ruby just looked around, her eyes watching every painting, every chair as she tried to see everything.
Weiss kept her eyes focused on the podium, disdain showing on her face.
As Ruby began to call, a loud clear voice was heard from behind them.
"Welcome, guests to the Church dedicated to the Brother Gods. How may I help you ?" A tall man with a scorpion tail tucked beside him asked aloud, his outfit resembled him as a priest, his hair combed accordingly and his face was clean and utterly spotless, making him appear as a somewhat handsome man.
But his eyes were something else.
Ruby never thought of being afraid of someone before.
Sure there were bullies and nightmares but her parents were there for that.
They taught her how to be strong.
How to take care of herself.
But when Ruby saw him and especially saw his eyes, she found herself not wanting to stay anywhere near him. She got this feeling and glancing to Weiss, she could see that she felt the same.
"Umm, hello I'm Ruby Rose and this is my friend, Weiss Schnee." She stated politely.
The man's eyes did not change.
Though he did take a brief look at Weiss, he still looked at her signaling out as if she was prey.
"I know about Miss Weiss Schnee. In fact allow me to introduce myself. I am Father Tyrian Callows, the caretaker of this church. So what is it you want ?"
Ruby felt herself nearly out of breath as she felt the atmosphere turn against her, choking her, suffocating her.
"Ignore the pleasantries, Fake Priest. Ruby here is one of the chosen grail master. The problem is that she doesn't know everything."
Ruby felt the air returning back towards her as she turned to look at Tyrian. For some reason she could breathe once again.
The man just stared at her, examining everything about her till she found him staring at the top of her face.
"Of course," He began, " The Holy Grail War….
….
" is a war that takes place in a city or area that happens to be producing or containing a large amount of mana. Since there is a large amount, anyone or anything living there would be affected directly or indirectly causing some to mutate and others to, well you know." Yang motioned with her fingers.
Jaune nodded, remembering the chimera beasts.
"Continue."
"So apparently many years ago, don't really know how long but it was around after the time Salem was captured or sealed or defeated somehow and all the relics were combined and Ozma or the guy he was merging with did something, don't really know, three powerful groups of families that had a lot of magic in them found an unknown relic which they call the grail. Apparently the grail drains the high amount of mana in the land and uses the mana to manufacture or create something. Now that makes it sound like some sort of wishes deal, well apparently the amount of magic it drains from the area equals to the magic being produced three times the amount that it absorbs. For some reason, anything it can grant from new life to immortality to even riches and fame.
What the families found was a something akin to a god, or in this case a god that isn't sentient but has extreme power and magic. However the problem was how to extract said power.
They made a certain set of rules and again I don't know how, manage to summon servants or beings made of magic yet are people from history. These servants are basically important people from history, their called heroic servants and due to their deeds are said to stay in a realm known as the Throne of Heroes.
Anyway the Grail has made some sort of connection with that dimension so around 7 heroes are summoned for a brief period of time when the grail starts absorbing mana. During this period of time, when a servant perishes it increases the amount of mana the Grail receives by double the amount. So imagine 7 servants being perished, the Grail gets supercharged with mana. At that moment, the first person to reach the place where the Grail is being kept, is able to make a wish by proxy of the final servant. Their wish could be anything, reality be damned."
Yang watched in amusement as Jaune's face begin to transform into various expressions within seconds.
"There's a lot of I don't knows."
"Hush-Push. Figured it out yet ?"
"….."
Jaune sat across the small table from Yang. They were currently sitting in Yang's tent and only Yang had a cup of tea which she drank. Her eyes just focused on Jaune as he processed the information given to him.
He was also clad in a new outfit since his old one was torn and dirty.
With cyan colored jeans fitted with a black undershirt wearing an old gold jacket fitted with pockets. His red belt also had pouches fitted onto it.
In short, these were the only clothes they could find that fit his size.
"So, basically, New-Vale is now hosting a Holy Grail War. I know that you know that apart from people who know about magic and high society, everyone else is just living their life not knowing a war is about to come."
Jaune stayed quiet as he listened to all that.
"This war," he finally spoke, "the reason why it's happening is because mages are fighting using their servants, just for a wish to get what they want, despite not caring how other people will be affected."
Yang just nodded.
"And Ruby is involved, how ?"
Yang just chuckled a bit.
"That, is a rather long story."
"I've got time." He stressed.
She huffed.
"Basically, a few years before the Collapse of New-Vale, remember the news about a disturbance somewhere along the eastern parts of Sanus."
Jaune eyes shone in understanding.
"The Blackout."
"Yea, but what they didn't tell the public was that it was no ordinary blackout. The disturbance was so great that basically many coastal towns and a section of Sanus had to be kept cleared off. This event was known to those of the high society as the '20 year war'. Apparently it involved a lot of people and was the reason why hundreds of thousands of people are missing. Mages, Magic Users and even the awakened were involved as well as tons of other super powered people. To the point that nearing the end, three important people who are vital to Ruby's involvement, have made their names known. They were Raven Branwen, a fierce warrior and dedicated leader of the Branwen Tribe, The Crow and…."
As Yang continued, she unconsciously extended and closed her hands which Jaune noticed.
" The Executioner. It was at the end that The Crow who happened to be the twin brother of the then leader of the Branwen Tribe had left it behind and The Executioner instead stayed back with her. They were comrades during the war and maybe more but anyway the point is, they ended up having a child. But then the Holy Grail War happened.
And the Branwen Tribe participated. They sent out The Executioner in the hopes of getting the Grail and getting a wish for the Tribe and Raven Branwen joined him. They even summoned one of the strongest servants of all time. I'm pretty sure you can guess who ?"
Jaune's eyes widened.
"Ozma."
She shrugged.
"Maybe, who knows. Any who it turns out the place where a lot of mana was being stored was New-Vale then. So that's where the Holy Grail War happened.
In the beginning, it was all standard stuff. 7 masters. 7 servants. At the start, nothing dangerous happened. A few accidents maybe but the guys who were in charge were able to relocate people from damaged areas and places which were likely to be destroyed. That all changed near the end though.
You see, something happened and I don't know what, What I do know is…."
Flashes of memory flickered through Yang's mind as she kept on talking.
A woman with long black hair and dark red eyes, looking over her before covering her mouth and coughing.
The handkerchief she was holding was covered in a red liquid.
The same women knelt beside another kid, who looked familiar to Vernal but was way younger.
She could not hear the words spoken as she felt her head slowly tilting towards the ground.
The woman then came towards her, her arms open and yet her eyes hesitant, struggling with an emotion that Yang could never understand.
She never saw that woman again.
" The Collapse of New-Vale happened. It was so big that the guys who were like the caretakers of the Grail Wars, the overseers, they all died, like around 99% died there that day. Same with the people living there. Around 99% of people living there gone. If it wasn't because of Ozpin that day, I'm pretty sure everyone would have died and basically the whole continent would have been destroyed.
Raven Branwen returned back to the tribe and well a few days after that, she died and her body was burned to ash to keep whatever she caught during the War from spreading.
As for the Executioner, he apparently saved someone and ended up marrying her and boom, Ruby Rose, your best pal was born."
Yang just finished it with a clap, smiling though Jaune knew she wasn't inside.
He however could not believe his ears.
All this time, one of the greatest disasters to ever hit mankind especially in recent history was caused by magical war, especially one for petty reasons.
All that death, all that suffering and pain for a wish, was that how life was supposed to be.
He remembered when he was a kid, his mother would tell him stories of his dad saved people from the outskirts of New-Vale.
Though he was a fire-fighter and not a huntsmen like the Arcs of old, he still saved people.
And these people were grateful to him.
His father even once showed his many scars and wounds when he asked him about the disaster.
He always wanted to know how it was to be a hero and the scars and wounds he saw always answered him.
Despite hearing stories of his heroic ancestors and the things they did, heck even his father was a great hero and he was going to be like him.
But this ?
This was nothing but evil.
The Holy Grail War was nothing but suffering.
Many people died.
Ozpin the greatest hero of the century, died .
Heck, what sort of wish was the kind that brought this kind of pain and hell into this world.
If he could find the person who did this.
Wait a minute.
Jaune stared at Yang a minute before pointing at her outloud.
"You're Ruby's sister. Well half-sister, aren't you ?"
"Wow. Pointing seriously ? But yeah, I'm kinda surprised you figured it out yourself. No offense, but you didn't seem kinda bright."
The offense didn't even bother Jaune a bit. In fact the revelation had him reeling in for a moment.
"Wait, so Ruby's involved because of her dad ? "
"Not exactly."
"Here." Vernal muttered as she brought a tray of food towards them and placed it on the table.
She then took the tray and kept it aside.
"Umm… thanks."
"Don't thank me. I did this cause I was ordered too." She answered somewhat harshly.
As Jaune stared at the food present, his stomach grumbled.
He remembered that he didn't have dinner last night and that he didn't even eat the entire day.
As he took the chopsticks and began to dig in, Yang just watched him in curiosity.
"You know how to use chopsticks ?"
'Yea. A pen pal of mine uses chopsticks to eat all the time so I had to learn how to so I could eat just like him."
"Huh. Anyway, now that you know all this, what are you going to do ?"
He chewed before he swallowed and stared at Yang.
"You still haven't told me how Ruby was involved."
"It's simple really, every grail war needs 7 masters. It could either be a Magus, a Magic User or an Awakened. I have a feeling that your friend is an awakened. Besides it only works if these people are present in the area. If not, then the grail randomly chooses a person whether they know about magic or not."
"That's …."
"Yea but that's magic. It doesn't make sense. The thing is the Grail needs 7 people. I know that there are now 7 people chosen, which is why Ruby Rose must be chosen. Question is, what are you going to do about ?"
Jaune stayed quiet while Yang got up and put her gauntlets back on, her face impassive as she didn't want to wait any longer.
As she finished, she went towards the exit when she froze for a minute.
"I'm gonna join. I can't just leave Ruby while she's being forced into this death game and maybe being hunted right now. Besides I also can't just stop thinking about the people living here. The people that are going to suffer just cause of some magic war. I can't let that happen. So I'm going to stop it."
Both Vernal and Yang were quiet.
Then Vernal scoffed.
"As weak as you are and not even having your aura awakened not to mention not even knowing any of this, how are you going to stop the grail war. You barely survived with those chimeras."
"Then I'll get stronger. I'll train hard so I can save anyone I can. I'll try hard to become a hero !"
With that proclamation came an uneasy silence.
Then Vernal scoffed once more.
"Of course, being a hero. That's a stupid dream and it's impossible too."
She then left the tent.
Silence ensued once more. And no one spoke.
….
Weiss had accompanied Ruby Rose to her house. The sun had set a couple of hours ago but neither felt the passage of time.
Weiss stared in sympathy for the young girl.
Having learned that the world was nothing but evil.
Honestly it was as if humanity had never changed after all.
They were the same before and after Salem's time.
As she was about to leave, Ruby's question stopped her.
"Yes, I figured it out." She answered calmly.
"…ok. Well Weiss, let's meet tomorrow and discuss strategy. Goodbye Weiss." Ruby then immediately opened her door and closed it.
Thoughts were running into her head.
Thoughts of the rules of the war, the costs, the benefits.
Realistically she can understand why people would join these wars.
She knows the feeling of wanting something even if it could never be.
But she doesn't want to sacrifice people to get that.
Ruby Rose entered her room and immediately took out her notepad from her bag.
As she began to sketch out the things she had learned, she could not believe that people would use magic for killing others.
Her father was not one of them.
She knew that he was a hero.
She knew that despite everything, her father Taiyang Xiao Long was no monster. He was a man who tried to make the world a better place like her mother before he retired. He was tired and ashamed of everything he had ever done but whenever he saw her or her mom, he would smile and calm down.
He looked at her as his hero. He saw her mother as his salvation.
He told of his various exploits and even taught her about semblances and aura.
He was even there when it first manifested. He was happy when she told him that she would be a hero like the huntresses of old.
So that's why, on his dying breath, he gave a smile.
The most brightest one she had ever seen, not even the ones he gave when he was alive were so full of life and happiness.
She shuddered as she thought back to the way things were now.
How can she keep the promise she made….
A couple of knocks came from her door.
"Cross ?!" she called out.
The door opened and Cross entered the room with a plate of cookies.
Ruby widened her eyes as she realized that she hadn't even had lunch yet.
"Thank you so much, Cross." She said as she immediately put her notebook and immediately gobbled up the cookies.
Cross just stared at her in amusement.
"Hmm…?" Ruby raised her eyebrow at his amusement.
Cross just gave a smile as Ruby blushed.
"Please calm down, Ruby. It's better to work when you've been well fed and rested."
Ruby nodded.
"You're right. I –'gulp- acka kakkaka" she began to choke.
Cross immediately went behind her and squeezed out the piece that got stuck in her throat.
"Thanks again Cross, Sorry that I keep on making you do so much for me."
"No problem, Ruby. It is my honor to serve you."
Ruby nodded questioningly.
"Ok then. Hey Cross, how strong are you ?"
It was then his turn to look at Ruby with a questioning glance.
"I would like to say compared to some of the servants I have already encountered, I can beat them. In fact, I would consider myself to be one of the strongest, not because of my physical skill but also because of my legend and the advantages the battlefield can bring."
"Wow. So you must be like super strong right ?"
"It also depends on my class. I am of the Rider class, so I have certain advantages over others. So yes, Ruby even though I am weak, I am strong."
"Huh ?"
"Sorry ignore that. It's somewhat of a quote I say at certain times."
Ruby finished her plate of cookies and she watched as Cross took it and went to her door.
"Ruby, Don't give up."
She watched him as he stood there.
"No matter what happens, you must go forward if you truly wish to fight for what you believe in. That was what you were going to do before the war even began. Never forget the people who believe in you even if you forget yourself."
And with that, he strode off.
She laid on her bed.
And closed her eyes.
Cross was willing to risk his life fighting for her.
He was prepared to die too just to save her.
She knows it herself.
And she also knows that she doesn't want it. She doesn't want anyone to die.
All she had were temporary allies and basically her skill in shooting and running. And somewhat fighting with a mecha-shift scythe.
What was the point though ?
A wish. A wish that can do anything. A wish to save the world or a wish to end all wars.
A lot of good things can happen if she won.
She would wish that the grail wars would never happen.
That way, no one would have to suffer.
But for that she needs to be stronger.
Thankfully Cross would train her to make her more quicker and Weiss would help her with magic. Her servant Caster is probably a genius with magic.
That way, they can fight off the enemies and overpower them.
She glanced at her clock.
It was now 8:57 pm.
"Tommorrow will be a better day. Tommorrow is the start of Team RWCR."
Team Racer. Yea though it wasn't a color like the huntsmen of old were, it sounded cool enough.
…
Cross was busy cooking as he glanced at the watch continuously.
He was glad and happy that he got to meet them again.
Even if it was a different world or even a separate timeline, it did not matter.
People won't die this time.
She won't suffer anymore.
'I will forever be by your side.'