Author's notes
Rooster Teeth might be dying, but I'm still alive! Caught Pneumonia, had it for a couple weeks, started a new job, adjusted to that, it took time to get my muse back to where I want it to be. Still, I think now I've mostly worked it out. Might still be a bit slow sometimes, but I'm far from dead! Thank you all for your comments so far, I do read all of them!
Essiter: I've been waiting to see your review pop up! You certainly didn't disappoint. I can't say I'd thought about the idea of having some sort of definitive "Toastyverse Ultimate" Story, but it's certainly on my radar now. I'm not sure how it would work, but who knows, maybe some day when I have less on my plate, it'll come around!
What came next was several days of preparation, planning, ensuring that everything was prepared, ensuring that plans had been made…
Basically a lot of the same thing. Most of the girls didn't care for it, but they all put their efforts in for the sake of trying to appear normal and for the sake of making sure the dance was something to remember.
And of course…
"Oh! How about we mix royal purple banners with sky blue draperies?"
"Splendid idea! And how about we make the table cloths ice blue? I think it will really tie everything together."
Weiss and Vesta were having the time of their lives planning all of everything.
Ruby watched this from her place leaning against the wall (a pattern that she had developed, she realized), and huffed lightly. She had to admit that she was more than a little jealous that Vesta and Weiss just seemed to work. They were like two pieces of a puzzle that had been ripped apart and unsolved for thousands of years, only now closer to completion.
And what did she have?
"Ruby, are you sure you don't want Penny to be your maid? I think she would be perfect for the role."
A princess with delusions of grandeur.
Maybe she was being a bit unfair; Persephone was actually good company when she wasn't pushing for her to do things she didn't want to do, but the sheer synergy on display was still enough to make her jealous.
She shook her head and chastised herself silently, glad that Persephone didn't hear every thought she had, just the ones she wanted her to. Why did she give the other girl such a hard time? She was annoying sometimes, but if Weiss was to be believed, so was she, and it's not like she was trying to be. It was most definitely at least in part the continued insistence on doing things her way, the way of royalty.
Still… at least she wasn't…
"Uuugh!" Yang groaned as she rubbed her forehead and stomped over to Ruby. "God, Venus can be okay sometimes, but anytime we're working on this dance she's the absolute worst! She just hid herself away again because I called her ditzy. She is!" Yang crossed her arms and leaned next to her sister.
Yang and Venus.
Ruby wasn't sure what to say in response to this, she just patted Yang on the arm while the taller girl crossed her arms and huffed, her gaze naturally drawn to Weiss, who was currently laying out table cloths over their respective tables while smiling brightly, clearly having some kind of conversation with Vesta. "Gods…" Yang sighed and looked down. "I feel kinda bad about it, but I can't help feeling really jealous about…" she gestured slightly out towards Weiss, glad the girl's back was turned, "that."
"You too, huh…" Ruby muttered. "I know Venus has been getting on your nerves a lot, Persephone and I still don't agree on lifestyles, and Meghara and Blake… well, they're kind of their own thing." There didn't seem to be anger or animosity between Meghara and Blake, rather more anger and animosity towards their enemies, which made them probably the second best off of the group. "Weiss got really lucky…"
Another voice cut into their conversation as Blake approached, sounding very much agitated at their words, "Are you guys really complaining about that?" She placed a hand on her hip as she came for a stop. "Weiss and Vesta might jell well together, but for all we know, that could mean they're going to merge faster." She shook her head. "If anything you guys should be glad that you have such odd matchups; it'll be a lot easier to tell how far along the merge will be for you than it will be for her."
The chastising tone she took was more than enough to make Ruby and Yang look away sheepishly. "Ah, yeah…" Ruby's gaze was no longer filled with jealousy, but embarrassment and worry. "I don't know why I didn't think of that. I guess I kind of wanted to be upset, to justify dealing with…" she gestured up to her head. "This."
"Count your blessings," Blake responded bluntly. "It means that we're on less of a timer with at least three of us. Weiss is the one we need to find a way to prevent merging the fastest."
The other two girls looked at Blake with a mixture of shame and concern. The shame from what they had been saying, and the concern for Blake—she hadn't always been so blunt. Yang blinked a few times and placed a hand on her hip. "And… what about you, Blake? How're you feeling?"
Blake blinked in surprise a few times, shaking her head to shake herself out of whatever headspace she had been in before. "Me? I'm fine." She smiled, just slightly. "Meghara and I are far too incompatible to worry about right now, as I said, our primary concern is Weiss."
Neither Ruby nor Yang entirely believed that but, before anything could be said, Yang grimaced as she rubbed her forehead. "She's out of her cage again, uughh… I'm gonna go see if Weiss needs any help setting this stuff up." Yang marched off, muttering something about how pink wasn't even that cool of a color under her breath.
Ruby was about to say something to Blake, but she turned and walked off too, stalking off to gods know where. Ruby sighed and crossed her arms, thinning her lips as a sense of unease filled her person.
"Your worry would be obvious even if I was not in your head." Ruby glanced to her right and saw Persephone standing there, hands on her cane in a manner not dissimilar to Ozpin as she frowned. Ruby was surprised to actually see her—she didn't exactly have a habit of doing this, appearing as a ghost like that. "I will admit to some concern as well. While I have the utmost faith in my father and his associates, there is still… that chance. That she will simply cease to be one day, and a new woman will stand in place of not only your teammate, but my sister as well."
"Yeah…" Ruby sighed. "I almost let myself forget about that. I guess I'd rather forget, it's all so… so much." She cast her gaze downward. "We're here planning a dance and all that when the clock is ticking until Weiss and Vesta just… aren't there anymore. We can't let that happen." She glanced at Persephone. "And then… us."
"Us." Persephone echoed, closing her eyes and looking down. "We have time—there are enough differences between us that the process isn't going to finish for a long while, barring anything… extreme."
Ruby raised an eyebrow, her voice was tinged with concern as she asked, "...Extreme?"
"I am not entirely certain on all of the details, but…" Persephone pursed her lips. "The magic we use normally is of no concern to us, we can use it as much as we want, but there are certain spells that require so much power that, barring the intervention of one of the rumored relics father has talked about, we would either draw much closer to fusing, or fuse entirely then and there depending on how far along we are."
That was concerning, to say the very least. Ruby frowned and looked up at the ceiling as she asked, "And… what exactly are those spells? Do you know?" The odds of Persephone knowing for sure were slim, but it was worth asking.
In spite of the grim subject matter, Persephone smirked. She opened her eyes and looked at Ruby, saying, "Oh, worry not, Ruby, while I hope the day never comes that we need such a spell…
"You will know it when you see it."
/-/
The thrumming of music filled Weiss' chest like the pulse of her heartbeat as she overlooked the opening hour of the dance.
People were still filing in, and the music had yet to switch to the first slow song, that wasn't set until they could safely say that everyone who was going to come had made their way into the hall. She stood at the top of the stairs leading to the balcony, leaning on it as she watched and waited. Team JNPR hadn't arrived yet; there was some concern that they wouldn't show up—it was entirely unfounded, but it was still in the back of her mind. How could she talk to Pyrrha if she wasn't there?
"Don't worry so much," Vesta's voice rang out from inside her head before she materialized to Weiss' right. If it weren't for the sky blue hue to her appearance, Weiss could have believed she was there in the flesh. "You know they'll show up, they wouldn't miss this for anything. Besides," Vesta smiled a soft yet slightly coy smile, "worry lines don't suit your lovely countenance."
Weiss blushed and looked away, giggling nervously. "Th-Thanks, and… yeah, I know. It's just… in my nature to worry so much. Things have always had a habit of going wrong just when they seem to be looking up for me, and I don't want something to go wrong tonight. Not after all of the work we've put in."
"Just have faith. No matter what happens tonight, we can still enjoy ourselves." Vesta's smile grew a bit awkward, even a tinge melancholic, as she said, "If I could offer a dance to you, I would, but… I don't think you want people to see you dancing with, well, nothing, as far as they're concerned."
"Yeah…" Weiss trailed off, finding that she would have very much liked to dance with Vesta, but she was right when she said that people would notice that something was weird. "...We could dance later, maybe? When nobody's around." She looked over at Vesta, a small smile on her face. "I think dancing with you would be fun." There was more to it than that, but Weiss wasn't sure how to confront the other thoughts she had, so she simply ignored them. "How about on the roof one of these nights soon, if not tonight?"
Vesta's smile brightened somewhat. "Yes, I think that would be fun… I don't know how it will work out exactly, but I think we can make it so physical contact between us isn't impossible, after all. Just… ephemeral." She cast her gaze out at the crowd, saying nothing more.
For the moment, Weiss had nothing to say either, so they simply watched the dance in a comfortable shared silence.
At the front of the hall taking names and greeting people was Yang. She acted happy enough, not wanting to let anyone know just how annoyed she was at the moment. Venus seemed incredibly excited about this whole event, and while that in and of itself wasn't a bad thing, Yang just really wished she had some peace in her mind for a bit—she had enough going on in there as it was!
Eventually Team JNPR entered, Yang smiled at all of them and said, "Hey guys! 'Bout time you made it. What took you so long?" She had honestly expected them to be some of the first to show up, not straight in the middle of it all.
Jaune chuckled nervously, and Yang had to admit he looked really snazzy in the suit he was wearing. "We just had some complications, Nora decided she wanted to take the perfect team picture before we left."
Nora grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "And it's the best picture I've ever seen! Ren really knows how to make them look good!" Ren just shrugged, clearly rather ambivalent on the picture he took, though he at least seemed glad that Nora was happy. Meanwhile, Jaune just kept smiling awkwardly.
"He looks so hot!" Venus gushed in Yang's mind. "You'd better ask him to dance tonight, it'll be sooo romantic!"
Yang had to stop herself from grimacing. She did think Jaune looked handsome, and she did want to dance with him, but just hearing Venus talk about it kind of made her not want to do it. "Well, you'd better enjoy tonight! We all put a lot of effort into it." She waved them off, and then decided that enough time had passed that they didn't really need a greeter anymore. So, she took this opportunity to look for a place where she could clear her head.
She walked up one of the flights of marble stairs in the building, reaching one of the balconies that it had. There were lots of plants around, making it feel almost like some sort of miniature botanical garden. Yang sighed and flattened out her yellow dress. From behind her, she heard Venus. "You know you should be in there enjoying everything, why're you just sitting up here?"
Yang took a deep breath, trying to control her anger. "Because I need a break." That was true, even if it wasn't the whole truth, but she was still trying to at least attempt to tolerate Venus.
"Your break should be in there!" Venus insisted, gesturing back to the dance hall, though Yang wasn't looking. "Isn't that the whole point of this? Go in there, have fun, dance with the cute boy, it's all perfect! You should just—"
Yang growled and turned towards her, cutting her off by saying, "Why're you so obsessed with my love life anyway?! Ever since we joined together you've been nothing but an annoying pest! 'Love' this 'date' that, you're insufferable! If you're not talking about dating, then you're trying to hound me about some other inane stupid shit!" She was being mean, she knew that, but she was angry, she didn't really care at that point.
Venus went silent, and that in and of itself kind of threw Yang off balance. She had expected her to argue back, as she had done every time so far. Argue, pout, hide in her mind, come back later, repeat. Yet instead her lips drew into a deep frown and her eyes were shadowed by her hair, the pink aura that enveloped her person seemed to grow a bit darker. "You want to know why?" She looked at Yang, and the immense heartbreak she saw within the other girl's eyes reminded her of someone she had never expected to compare Venus to, someone who spent many nights over the years drowning his sorrows over his loss. "Because of… him." The sense of longing in her voice was palpable.
"Because I know what it's like." Venus added, her voice rising as she lifted her head, her eyes filled with such sadness that it made the tinge of rage easy to miss. "Because I've loved! I've lost! I had a happy ending, damn it! I was a fucking princess!" She was yelling down as she threw a hand out, sparkling light scattered in the wind. Her voice began to break as she said, "I had the sweetest and most loyal man anyone could have ever asked for! Vulcan only ever wanted what was best for me! And I threw it away! I fucked around and betrayed his trust, and the last thing he told me was that he never wanted to speak to me again. I was going to beg for his forgiveness, I was going to do anything and everything to show him how sorry I was!"
Her fists clenched and she gritted her teeth. "And then the castle exploded, and I was never able to apologize! I have had to live with that for thousands of years! I have had to live with my stupid mistake forever, and I'll never not live with it! Because I was a fucking moron!" Her shoulders drooped and she hung her head, the anger in her seemed spent as she spoke in a tone both tired and sad, "He deserved so much better than that, better than me. Instead all he got was burning. And I vowed that I would never make a mistake like that again. I vowed that I would cherish love wherever I saw it, no matter who it was between! I would make sure that it spread, so everyone could be happy, so they could have what I couldn't!" Tears streamed down her ethereal face. "And when I see Jaune… I see him. I see the kindness, the honesty, maybe a bit more social awareness, but… I see… so much… I…"
She seemed to be running out of steam, and she turned away, her voice starting to fade as she said, "Just… don't take it for granted," before vanishing, returning to Yang's mind and locking herself away again.
Normally, Yang would be relieved to have some quiet, but after all of that… she just felt kind of hollow. "Maybe… I was… too hard on you," she muttered, shaking her head before starting to walk into the ballroom.
There was a certain dorky blonde that she needed to talk to.
Elsewhere, Ruby stood near the punch bowl, a small uncertain frown on her lips as she looked around, a cup of punch in her hand. She saw Penny, wearing a cute green dress and looking very excited to be there, but she was flanked by two Atlas security guards, neither of whom seemed very interested in letting people talk to Penny. That, however, wasn't the only thing that demanded attention. Persephone had been oddly silent during all of this, and while normally Ruby would think that a blessing, she couldn't help but feel like Persephone was bothered by something.
While she hesitated to look a gift horse in the mouth—days where Persephone didn't have much to say were rare, after all—her better nature was winning out, while Persephone and her were at odds more often than not, they were in this together, were they not?
Just as she was about to think up a question, she blinked and saw Persephone's shade in the distance, through the crowd and reaching the top of another balcony, one separate from the one she had seen Weiss on. Persephone watched over the whole proceedings with a frown on her face, and Ruby sighed before pushing off the wall and going to follow her.
When she reached the top of the stairs, Persephone turned away from the party and walked to the balcony proper, standing there and looking out at the lights of the academy. She spoke with clear discontent as she said, "This party is so… disappointing." As Ruby approached her, she added, "It's nothing like the parties of my time."
"How so?" Ruby questioned, frowning slightly. "I mean, it's been five thousand years, things are bound to be different. I'm kind of surprised that you even know as much as you do about this time as you do."
"It is so… pointless!" Persephone threw a hand out into the air. "Where are the deals? The alliances being struck? The favors being gained, traded, and lost?! A party such as this one is meant to be a means to an end, not an end in and of itself!"
Ruby deflated slightly and sighed. "I don't like parties either, but… that sounds a bit weird. I've heard Weiss say that Atlesian parties are kind of like that? Except they aren't nobles, they're business people and politicians. Which are really kinda modern nobility, if you think about it."
Persephone huffed and shook her head. "They most certainly are not nobility! They hold no titles, and no acclaim! Owning a corporation is nothing like being a Noble. They have no responsibilities, no obligations. They hold wealth and power but do not sign the social contract that all Nobles hold so dear. All they seek is profit, and nothing more!" She huffed and shook her head. "Even if their parties would have the same basic idea… they wouldn't be the same." Persephone's tone drew quieter and softer as she kept speaking, her head hanging. "Nothing… is… really… the same…"
The sudden shift in body language and tone made Ruby look at Persephone again, though this time with concern rather than exasperation. "Persephone…?" She spoke softly as she stepped a bit closer. "Are you… oka-?"
"Yes." Persephone cut Ruby off with a voice that was clearly trying its hardest to sound even. "I'm… fine… everything's fine…" She said this, yet Ruby noticed that she had contracted her words, something that she didn't do normally. "My sisters are alive, I'm alive, even though we're all dealing with being merged with people, even if those people are undoubtedly suffering in some manner because of this as well—because of us—" She gestured upward at the shattered moon, "we've been given a second chance! How many people can say that?" She lowered her hand, it falling to her side, "We're here for a purpose, that should be enough! But…"
She looked down and muttered, "Is it?" before turning around, and it was then that Ruby could see the clear sadness in her eyes, a sort of distant longing for something that neither could see, that nobody could see. "Ruby, it's this event that's made me realize… we're ghosts." She looked past Ruby, towards the ballroom where the others were. "The times have changed, and… I wonder what place a princess has within it. Are we even still here…? I wonder…"
Ruby was about to speak, to try and console her, but Persephone shook her head and slapped herself, taking a deep breath before declaring, "Nonsense! What am I saying? Bah, this party has left my wires crossed is all! That and a touch of… homesickness? No, more intense… ah, I know the word, but it escapes me at the moment. Anyroad, it matters not. Perhaps I am just tired of this place. I will feel better once these festivities are over."
Once again, Ruby went to talk, because she didn't quite believe that, but before she could, she heard a voice behind her. Penny spoke softly and curiously as she said, "Ruby? Is everything alright?" Ruby blinked and Persephone was gone, before she whirled around and spotted Penny.
The whiplash going from one conversation to the next was a lot—Ruby was still very concerned for Persephone, she wanted to talk about what she had said, to try and wrestle out some more details from the girl, but that wasn't going to be possible right now. Instead, she tried her best to put on a smile and said, "Yep!" with a poppin' P. "We-I've just been… enjoying the quiet? The party's really busy, I'm… not super big on that. I don't like big groups." They were hasty reasons, but she hoped that Penny would buy them.
Luckily, it seemed like Penny believed her without any question or doubt—which just made Ruby feel guilty, but that was besides the point—and she smiled and placed her hands behind her back as she stepped forward with a bit of a spring in her step. "I see! That is understandable, the party is wonderful, I would have no complaints, but…" she deflated and glanced backward. "The guards, they are really nice people! But they don't want me to interact too much with other people… I understand their desire to keep me safe, but I really wanted to talk to you, Ruby!"
"Ah…" Ruby blushed and rubbed the back of her neck, smiling awkwardly. "I guess we do have a lot of stuff to talk about, like… you know…" She took a deep breath before saying, "Penny, I've been thinking about how to say this, and… I want you to know just how human you really are!" She stepped closer to Penny. "I mean, look at you!" She patted her arm. "You feel like a person, look like a person, you are a person. The fact that you're going through all of this, being thrown out into the world and told to participate in a tournament while under watch, and you're still like you are…" She shook her head. "I'd've lost my mind already!"
Penny seemed shocked at first, but eventually the shock faded into a smile. "Oh, Ruby…" She looked down, a small blush on her face. "It means a lot to hear you say that… I've never had a friend before, but I'm confident in saying that I will never have a friend like you no matter how many other friends I make." She looked at Ruby, the smile never fading as she said, "You are… special, Ruby."
Ruby blushed and averted her gaze for a moment, but she knew that there was more she had to say. "Penny… I know your deepest secret, and… I think it's only fair if I tell you mine." If anyone deserved to know, it was her.
"Are you sure about this, Ruby?"
'As sure as I can be about anything these days.'
Ruby swallowed a lump in her throat and said, "I… have a whole other person living in my head."
Ruby wasn't exactly sure what to expect when she uttered that sentence, that revelation, but it certainly wasn't what Penny said next as she tilted her head, "Dissociative Identity Disorder is a serious mental condition, but it is not something to be feared! I'm certain that you will be able to learn to live with it in time, and I think no less of you! A fractured mind is nothing to be—"
"I am not the product of a fractured mind!" Ruby started as she looked to her right with wide-eyes, seeing the area next to her shift and change, the colors of the cosmos shifted as if the stars themselves had come to earth and given form. Persephone looked very, very upset as she put one foot forward and declared, "I am Persephone Kadmon, Princess of the Astral Sea, one of the last of the Kingdom of Everday! Do not mistake me for anything else, especially not a result of some…" She paused, whispering to Ruby, "What did she say you had?"
"Dissociative Identity Disorder."
Persephone turned her attention back to Penny, "That! I'm not the product of that!"
Penny, now 100% assured that Ruby did not have DID and instead had some weird star princess in her head, found it difficult to process words or form coherent sentences for a minute, which definitely had to be a fault of her programming. She had never encountered anything like this before (removing the fact that she'd never experienced most anything before, at least there were rules of logic with everything else) and thus struggled to try and make it make sense. "I, uh… what?" Penny finally managed, a look of genuine confusion on her face.
Persephone facepalmed, while Ruby smiled awkwardly yet amusedly at Penny's confusion. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain, but—-"
Suddenly, Penny got a ping on her Scroll. She gasped, "Oh! It seems they've finally realized I'm gone. I'm sorry, Ruby, I have to go… but…" she approached her and hugged Ruby, causing the girl to tense up in surprise, "The things you've said to me, the points you've made… they'll stay with me, Ruby. I'll… I'll keep what you've told me a secret. I still don't understand it, but maybe in time my understanding will grow." She pulled away slowly, hesitantly, and, while looking in Ruby's eyes, softly and nervously said, "And I hope that we will be able to share a dance some other time, when I am not under such close surveillance."
Ruby found it hard to pull her gaze away from Penny's emerald eyes, the normal directionless brightness that seemed to occupy all of her being was briefly more focused, more intently focused—focused on her, and it was a warmth that she didn't want to fade. She felt as if there were cotton balls in her mouth, but she still managed to say, "S-Same here, Penny!"
The other girl grinned at her and hurried off, towards the ballroom, while Ruby sighed, meandering her way back into the Dance Hall absently, her mind occupied, fogged with thoughts. Tonight had been good so far, Ruby thought with a small smile. Still, there was a bit of a paranoid thought in the back of her head…
'Hopefully it'll keep being just a fun night...'
/-/
Weiss had been struggling to gather the strength to talk to Pyrrha all night, but she finally found the strength she needed to approach her after Vesta gave her a small pep talk.
The Invincible Girl had been standing off to the side, clearly looking for someone—probably Jaune, Weiss figured with a small frown, but that was fine, she could use his current absence to get a chance to talk to her! Pyrrha was clearly at least somewhat taken with Jaune, but it was clear to everyone that Jaune didn't seem to share those feelings, so it wasn't like she was causing any real issue here.
"You're getting distracted again; focus," Vesta advised her, causing Weiss to gulp and nod before walking over to Pyrrha.
As she approached, Pyrrha caught sight of her and smiled slightly, though the look on her face was tense: she was wary of the other girl. "Hello again, Weiss. I hope the dance has been enjoyable so far."
"Yeah, it-it has, but…" Weiss shifted in place awkwardly. "I wanted to properly apologize." She bowed her head slightly forward. "For acting the way I did when we first met, trying to poach you… it was stupid, a-and inconsiderate!" She seemed to finally find her grounding after a bit of otherwise uncharacteristic nervousness. "I mean, I'm the heir to the Schnee Dust Company, I know what you go through. People trying to poach for skill, or just to have someone of 'high status' around, the kind of people that don't treat us like… people."
Pyrrha's tension seemed to soften as her smile growed slightly. "I'll admit that our first meeting didn't leave me feeling the greatest about you, but… if you mean what you say, then I'll forgive you. I've never been one to hold a grudge…"
Weiss relaxed as well, smiling. "Thank you, Pyrrha. Now, would you care to dance? I know that you're probably going to want to dance with… other people, but I'd very much like to share one with you before that." Quickly, nervously, she added, "I-If that's okay with you."
Pyrrha gained an expression of surprise briefly, but after a second her smile brightened. "Well, I don't see why not, that sounds fun."
"Hold out your hand for her." Vesta advised, and Weiss did so, smiling brighter than normal as the two of them moved to the dance floor. To say they were awkward as they started dancing would be an understatement; while Weiss had danced formally before, she had never danced with… someone like Pyrrha.
The red haired warrior had taken her heart, she knew this now. Weiss could only compare the elation she felt with her to… well, the feelings she felt whenever Vesta complimented her, or even appeared next to her suddenly, as she had done only a (disappointingly) few number of times up to this point.
"You know, I could make it more of a habit if you wanted." Vesta amusedly stated, causing Weiss' eyes to widen in shock—had she broadcasted that thought to Vesta? Such a thing didn't happen very often, because she had to deliberately want Vesta to hear what she was thinking for her to actually hear it.
She had already been trying to fight a rising blush due to her proximity to Pyrrha, but between that and Vesta? Her face was practically volcanic! She was just lucky her gaze had been firmly pointed on the ground. Though thoughts of keeping it this way fell through when Vesta advised, "Talk to her. This is the best chance you'll get to get to know her more, and to make a good impression. Use your charm!"
Weiss grimaced and thought, 'I forgot how to!' Still, she knew that she had to try and say something. So, clearing her throat and schooling her expression as best she could, she looked up, catching Pyrrha's gaze. While she had some vague idea of what to say to her just a few seconds before, all thought left her mind once again, and she was only just barely able to string together something in an attempt to start a conversation, saying, "How have you enjoyed the dance so far?"
"Oh, I think it's absolutely amazing so far," Pyrrha responded, her tone even, though some slight amount of nervousness could be heard. "You and your team clearly put a lot of effort into it, and everyone I've seen is obviously enjoying it." Perhaps realizing that the ball was in her court, Pyrrha asked, "Have you planned for these kinds of functions often? I would assume so, given your background, but…"
"Not that often," Weiss answered, "normally father would just pay people to organize the event, but every so often he would have me join them. According to him, a Schnee heiress needs to know how to handle things like that. At least it paid off! Unlike… a lot of things to do with him." Weiss averted her gaze briefly. "But I'm sure you've seen the news enough to know that my father is not a very kind man."
"I have," Pyrrha responded, a small frown crossing her face, "nothing I've seen about him has ever inspired any confidence in the direction he takes the SDC. That's why I never sponsored any of their products, because I didn't want to feel complicit in that." The frown turned into a comforting smile as Weiss shifted uneasily. "But don't worry, it'd be hypocritical of me to judge you for the actions of your family when I have such a problem with people assuming things about me."
Weiss felt a smile crossing her face, and she felt that talking to Pyrrha was getting easier over time, at least, for now. "Thank you, I really do hate people like that… I hated Blake at first because of that, but we've mended our troubles, even if she is a bit… intense at times."
She looked at Pyrrha again, feeling this was a good opening to throw a compliment at her. "Pyrrha, uhm…" Her voice caught in her throat, and suddenly she wasn't sure what to say—how do you compliment someone like Pyrrha, who has undoubtedly heard every compliment under the sky?
Suddenly, she heard, "Let me take over for a few moments, I can handle this part. If there's no trouble with that?"
'No, none.' Weiss was relieved, if anything. Her thoughts were too much of a jumbled mess to be able to string anything coherent together anymore, and Vesta's unbridled confidence meant that this was a perfect moment for a tag in.
As Vesta took control and Weiss' eye color gained specks of Vesta's, she stood up a little straighter, her smile growing more confident. "Sorry, I just got lost in your eyes, they're… very beautiful, like two shining emeralds."
"D-Don't you think that was a bit forward?!"
'Not at all.'
Pyrrha's eyes widened in surprise and a blush spread across her face like wildfire, but beneath that there was also something else—shock and confusion. How did Weiss' demeanor change so quickly? Why'd her eyes change like that? And why, now that her eyes were returning to normal, was she returning the nervous and awkward heiress Pyrrha had first started dancing with?
She could hardly get the jumbled mess in her brain straight long enough to realize that the song had ended, as had the dance. As the two of them separated, Weiss smiled awkwardly before saying, "Thank you for the d-dance, Pyrrha. I'll see you around!" She then quickly hurried off, leaving Pyrrha perplexed.
'Hmm…' The Invincible Girl thought, rubbing her chin. 'Something about Weiss just then felt…
"Off."
/-/
Blake had been enjoying her dance with Sun, a fact which kind of surprised both her and Meg, but for as great as Sun could be, she was still far too distracted by everything else going on to fully enjoy it.
When their dance had ended, she excused herself so she could get some air. Instead of going to a balcony like most people might have, she decided to cut out the risk of social interaction as much as possible by just performing what was colloquially called a "Vacuan Goodbye' and just left.
The chill of the wind on her skin did little to ease the embers in her stomach, but it at least reminded her of where she was, kept her from getting too lost in her own head as she walked. She didn't go far, wanting to stay within the vicinity of the dance hall so she could go back if Sun started looking for her; tonight wasn't a night she was looking to run away from—she merely needed a break.
However, it seems the Brothers themselves were interested in keeping her from getting what she desired, because she saw something strange when she cast her gaze to the rooftops of Beacon. Her night vision let her see it easier, a moving figure clumsily making their way across the rooftops and making their way towards… Beacon Tower?
'Let's move!' Meg urged, 'Nobody trying that hard to parkour across Beacon's roofs on a night like this is up to anything good. Besides, I've been itching for a fight.'
"When aren't you…?" Blake pondered tiredly before sighing and running off, hoping to catch the wannabe parkourist before she could get up to anything. In spite of her evaluation, they were still fairly fast, disappearing from sight not too long after Blake turned a corner.
By the time she reached Beacon Tower, the doors had already been opened and the sound of gunfire reached her ears. She grimaced and hurried forward as fast as she could, reaching the main entrance just in time to see the doors to the elevator slide closed. Several guards lay on the ground, thankfully none of them seemed dead, but that was the furthest thing from Blake's mind right now.
Rather than struggling with the elevator, Blake looked towards the stairwell that ascended dozens of flights and narrowed her gaze. Smoldering flame dancing off of her skin, but she felt no pain, the burning merely urged her to surge forward at incredible, magically enhanced speed. In the blink of an eye, she'd made it to the top of the steps, running forward and stopping in the middle of the room.
"Hold out your hand."
Blake did as Meg asked, and within her hand appeared a concentration of fire magic which slowly solidified into a facsimile of her weapon, which she switched to its pistol form first, Meghara saying, "It'll shoot magic rounds, but they shouldn't look any different than Dust rounds. It's got a hell of a kick, be careful."
She prepared herself, the elevator ticking slowly but steadily up the floors. Her gaze narrowed again and she raised her weapon—no matter who this was, they'd assaulted innocent people, and Blake doubted they'd make an exception for her.
Finally, the door opened, and the person inside, a woman Blake was certain she'd seen around the academy before, was immediately greeted with a sudden hail of rounds heading right for her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she leapt forward, rolling and avoiding the bullets just as they collided with the elevator and sent it plummeting all the way back to the bottom. As she popped up onto her feet, she created a pair of swords in her hands in a way that reminded Blake of what Meghara had just done, but she didn't have time to do anything else just yet, as Blake was upon her in a split second, her weapon changed to a cleaver.
Immediately, Blake slammed her weapon into the woman's side, sending her rocketing towards the wall. Rather than slamming into it, the woman corrected herself, the wind coming to her beck and call, and it was then that Blake knew that she had some form of magic. However, it was clearly much, much weaker than what she herself had. "What the hell is this?! What are you?" The woman shouted in frustration, some small hint of fear clear in her voice, yet she still raised her weapons anyway.
Blake grunted, her eyes speckled with turquoise as she gave control to Meghara. "It's simple," she responded, the way their voices layered over one another just seeming to startle the woman more. As she created several glass shards in front of her, preparing to fire them out, a massive gout of fire shot out of the wall and sent her rolling on the ground. "I'm what you get when the stars align."
The woman stood up again and was able to dodge, just barely, as Meghara-Blake closed the gap and swung her cleaver again, ducking under it. She struck out with her swords, connecting with Blake's side and causing Meghara to grimace, yet the pain just drove her forward more, feinting a strike on the woman's right before kicking out and connecting with her stomach, sending her back against the wall.
Meghara relinquished control and Blake charged forward again. The woman oriented herself and was able to roll out of the way just as Blake's cleaver connected with the wall. Taking advantage of the situation, she attempted to bring her swords down on Blake's head, only for the girl to vanish from sight and reappear behind her, smashing into her back and causing the woman to gasp in pain before she staggered forward.
As she did, a black chess piece fell to the ground, clattering and rolling away from its owner. Her eyes widened and she tried to reach for it, but for her efforts she was given a swift kick in the back, sending her forward again, stopping just sort of the windows giving a view of Beacon itself.
The woman growled and seemed ready to turn around and race to retrieve her fallen piece, but then the sound of heavy footsteps racing up the stairs reached her ears. She swore under her breath and said, "This. Isn't. Over." Before promptly jumping out the window, surprising Blake and Meghara both.
They raced over to try and catch up, but it was already too late: as quickly as she'd appeared, she was gone.
While the fight had been brief, the 'arena' was covered in flames, and the chess piece rolled across the ground, stopping in the middle of the room. Blake walked over and picked it up, standing and squinting at it. Just in time, Ironwood, Ozpin, and several Atlesian troops burst through the door. The soldiers scanned the room, their guns waiting for any unexpected threat, while Ironwood asked, "What happened here?" to Blake, making his way over to her.
"I saw a woman running on the rooftops, I figured I should check it out. She attacked your troops, and she had… this." Blake held up the chess piece. "I don't know what she was going to do with it, but she seemed like she really wanted to keep it."
Ironwood held out his hand and Blake handed it over, watching as he inspected it carefully before handing it off to Ozpin as he approached and saying, "We'll need to get some research done on this. It looks like a normal chess piece, but it's clearly got some other purpose. I can only imagine what would have happened if she had gotten to do what she wanted with it."
Ozpin's slight frown betrayed his own thoughts—he knew that, whatever it was, it would have been horrible if it had happened. "Well, Blake, you've done exceptionally well today. If it weren't for you, I could only imagine what that intruder would have done. Still, it's clear that we're going to need some exceptionally talented individuals to piece together what this was for. Given where she was going, I can only assume it carries some kind of virus, but to decode it…"
Ironwood grimaced. "We would need to send it back to Atlas. Pietro could figure out what it does, I know he could, but it would still take some time before we could get anything back, time that might give our enemies time to figure out a plan B for this… thing."
Blake crossed her arms. "We don't have time for that. This has to be connected to everything else that's been going on lately, and that woman must be working with Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. We need to be quick."
"Indeed." Ozpin agreed, slipping his Scroll out of his pocket. "With our limited options, I'm afraid there's only one person I know to reach out to." He walked past them, towards the broken window. He looked out of it after entering a number into the scroll, with Ironwood and Blake both following him to look over his shoulder.
A tired looking man with blonde hair, strong features, and blue eyes greeted them, apparently having just been roused from sleep. Blake couldn't help but think about how much he reminded her of Jaune. "Oz…? I hope you didn't just call me in the dead of night for a social call…"
"Lux, I apologize, but no, this is very much not a social call, and I know that your daughter prefers to be awake at this hour."
"You mean…?" Lux blinked a few times, seeming to wake up more. "Oz, I really don't think—" He started to protest, but seeing the serious look in Oz's eyes, along with the serious look on the two standing behind him, seemed to make him reconsider. "...Just be careful." He sighed, laying back down on his pillow.
Blake wasn't sure exactly why Ozpin felt the need to go to one of this man's daughters for help, just how smart was she? And how did Oz know to ask after her? Would she really be able to figure all of this out? There was simply no telling.
"Rest assured, if I had another option I would go for it, but everyone else that could handle this is indisposed. So…" Just as he was about to keep explaining more, the screen seemed to glitch, the call ending and another seemingly starting entirely without input from Ozpin. In spite of this, a small smile played on his lips. "Ah."
"It seems she heard me."
/-/
The next day, news of the attack on the tower remained subdued and secretive, Blake was allowed to tell her team, but no one else, as Oz felt it would be better to wait to announce that it happened until after the festival was over and the situation was resolved.
It had unsettled them all, but none of them had any clue what could be done about it. Meghara wanted very much to finish what she had started, but they didn't even know the name of the mysterious woman, and the fact that she clearly had magic was alarming, to say the least. Could it be the person that had left Amber in a coma and stolen her power? Probably, and that was worrying.
Still, there was nothing that could be done about it yet. They had to see off their friends as they went on their missions, and then once they were alone, they were left with little and less to do with themselves.
Venus wanted them to go into town, but given the events of the night before, there was a lot that they needed to think about, things that they weren't sure could wait. Training their magic with Ozpin, for example, allowed them to get a better grasp on what they were good at and what they were bad at.
As expected, they each aligned with their respective sister's specialty, or lack thereof in Vesta's case; though none of them were incapable of doing the things the others could, they just had their own preferred abilities. Casting magic could be exhausting, if it was done too much it would tax one's body to the point where it felt like you'd just run a marathon twice, but they had some leeway before that happened.
The next day, Ozpin advised them to spend the day relaxing. Too much work could drain one's resolve, and with his order, their hands were kind of tied. They ended up hitting the town and deciding to watch a movie before simply strolling around. They had nothing to do, and though Blake clearly wanted to be continuing to hunt for clues on the White Fang, the other three were firm on following Ozpin's order to relax, for once at least.
However, it seemed that fate had other plans for them. Maybe they should have known that the world just wouldn't give Team RWBY and their headmates a break, but they had at least hoped for things to be a bit different.
It was not to be. As they were walking down the street they heard a distant sound of rumbling, like the noise of thunder. They all looked at each other shocked, before the sound of distant screams and the sound of gunfire and sirens reached their ears. Their eyes widening at the same time, Ruby said, "We need to get over there! It could be a White Fang attack!"
Each one produced their scrolls and quickly punched in the number to their locker, resulting in it flying out of the school and to their location in no time at all. They grabbed their weapons and then took off, Ruby using her semblance to race ahead while Blake merely ran with augmented speed.
Venus spoke in Yang's mind. "There isn't any time to waste. You need to do that thing I was telling you about before! You know it's the only way."
Again, Yang had to admit that she could tolerate Venus a whole lot more when she was being serious. Still, she grimaced at the thought and said, "Fine…" under her breath, nodding at Weiss and saying, "Go on, I've got my own way!" She then ran into an alleyway and vanished from the sight of her teammate.
The next thing Weiss saw was a golden-feathered dove taking off into the sky and racing towards the source of the sounds. She looked forward and started running, feeling the wind at her back carrying her forward faster, ice forming under her and allowing her to skate across the ground with her usual practiced grace.
The sounds only grew louder as Weiss drew closer, except now it was joined by the battle cries of various people, and not just her own team either! She rounded the corner and saw what could only be described as utter pandemonium. A large hole had been blown into the plaza, and Grimm were crawling out of the pit like they came from some damnable underworld.
They weren't the only ones fighting, however: it seemed that a couple Huntsmen and some teachers were there, but they were hard pressed fighting against what seemed to be more hijacked Atlesian Paladins.
"We can't afford to hold back," Vesta stated firmly, though some trepidation in her voice was clear. "Peoples' lives are in danger. While we shouldn't be too brazen, I think we're going to need to do more than we did before."
'What do you suggest?' Weiss thought as she sidestepped an oncoming Beowolf, stabbing it in the neck and watching as it fell before turning her attention back to the fight as a whole.
"An old favorite of mine, for starters," Vesta responded, and Weiss felt the urge to hand Vesta control. She did just that, and as her eyes muddled brown, Vesta smirked confidently, tightening her grasp on Weiss' rapier as she raised it up so the flat was parallel to her face before lifting it higher as it glowed a mixture of burning orange and snowy white.
She swiped down, and the skies themselves seemed to open up and what appeared to be small stars fell, beckoned by Vesta's spell. They crashed into several hordes of Grimm, decimating many with each landing. A few of them connected with the Atlesian Paladins, causing them to stagger.
Blake, seeing this opportunity, lunged at one of the ones that staggered, tackling it with magically enhanced force, sending it over and onto the ground. Growling and eyes burning with rage, Blake raced up the side of the mech, cleaver held at the ready. As she reached the cockpit, shielded by glass, she raised her cleaver and allowed it to cover with the power of gravity itself, increasing its weight. She brought it down and, in a feat she wished she'd done back when she was fighting Torchwick, shattered the glass. She reached in and grabbed the White Fang operative that had been piloting the machine and yanked him out, throwing him into a wall hard enough to knock him out cold on impact.
Ruby ran past her as she was doing that while calling out, "Weiss!" grabbing the other girl's attention. "Glyph!"
Weiss, remembering what they'd done last time, nodded and created a glyph on the ground, where not long after a large dire wolf appeared, and just the same as before, it could have easily been mistaken for a Glyph summon. It howled and Ruby jumped onto its back, declaring, "We ride, Wolfie!" before they took off together. Ruby raised her scythe and started to bring it down on swathes of Grimm as she went. Meanwhile, before the Glyph disappeared, two more wolves appeared, Spot and Growl, each one howling and then charging after Ruby, attacking Grimm and White Fang both as they did.
Yang waded her way through Grimm, vines appearing and dragging down any Paladin that drew too close to her. The ground itself would open up and swallow the Grimm whole, and it seemed as if the elements themselves had been turned on the creatures of darkness.
In the skies above, the Atlesian capital ship arrived with a horde of drop ships, some carrying troops, one carrying Team CFVY and Professor Port, and one carrying an unexpected combatant.
Yang smashed in the skull of a Beowolf and turned around just in time to see a King Taijitsu preparing to attack! She braced herself, but the blow never came. Instead, when she opened her eyes, she saw an emerald green bubble around her, gasping in shock as she exclaimed, "Professor Ozpin?!"
The barrier expanded outwards and exploded, sending the King Taijitsu reeling back. Ozpin stood up and nodded. "When I saw how bad it was, I couldn't simply watch from the sidelines." He raised his cane, whacking an oncoming Boarbatusk with it and sending it back. "Let's clean things up, shall we?"
Yang grinned and gave a determined nod before hurrying off to fight more Grimm, all the while Weiss, now back in control, at least pretended to be using Dust, miming covering Myrtenaster in Lightning Dust as she had done before and then swiping at a Beowolf as it and its pack came towards her, the lightning shooting through the first one and arcing through the rest.
The fighting continued, as much as they wished it could have been quick, until Glynda was able to close the hole in the ground. The Grimm just seemed to keep coming! They were joined by yet more fighters, and Yang caught sight of a familiar face as he delivered a kick to a Beringel's leg and broke it, sending it tumbling down. "Ven?" she called out. "Holy shit, good timing!"
Ven was Yang's age, her friend from Signal, with messy blue hair and bangs that fell to his forehead, fair skin, azure blue eyes, and a very relaxed outfit, a black jacket over a gray shirt, a pair of jeans and his black boots, a badge labeled 'Private Investigator' seemed attached to his chest almost as a joke, given his lack of real authority. He looked at her and shot her a smile before mouthing 'talk later' and racing off.
"Ooh, he's cute!" Venus exclaimed.
'Don't even, he's like my bro!' Yang rolled her eyes and then hurried off. The fight was starting to wind down, but some few stragglers remained.
Ruby sighed as she sat against a wall, resting her eyes. Summoning all three of those wolves had been more taxing than she had thought. 'We're going to have to stick with just one or two until I can get used to that… I could barely lift my scythe by the end and had to let them do all the work!'
"It is to be expected," Persephone responded. "Your body is still not particularly used to casting magic, and we don't summon frequently enough for you to be completely able to manage your magic flow correctly. It's something we'll have to work on."
'Yeah…' Ruby thought, not being against an excuse to do physical training instead of reading books constantly like Persephone wanted. She needed to adjust, and fast, if things were going to keep ramping up as they had been, and she had no reason to believe they wouldn't.
Yang watched as Ozpin guided Blake away. She had been using magic more than anyone else, due to how all of her signature spells were only augmentations and nothing particularly visible. She had almost passed out in the chaos, only having been saved by the timely intervention of Coco and her team. Yang really needed to rest as well, but she could at least stay standing, while Ven had left to interview some civilians, leaving a promise that they'd talk later.
"You know," Venus thought, "I can understand having a bro, but that doesn't mean you can't ask him some questions that can help your love quest! He's bound to know how to win Jaune's heart, guys know about guys, right?" She knew that guys thought in ways that girls often didn't understand without careful study, at least, that's what she felt was about right. Thus, it seemed entirely logical to go and ask a guy about dating a guy! Maybe she could have asked Ren, but there was the risk he'd rat!
Yang hated that that wasn't a horrible idea, but she still didn't particularly want to think about it right now. Instead, she just dryly remarked, "You just called it a 'love quest', I think I just lost what little respect I had for you."
"Awwh, come on!"
Weiss, meanwhile, sighed as she put down one final Beowolf and rested her back on a wall, observing the damage. Several shops were damaged (although one weaponsmith seemed perfectly unharmed), but mercifully the civilian casualties seemed to be minimal. It was a tragedy that even one person died, but, Weiss thought with a grimace, that was just reality. She cast her gaze to the sky, and saw a raven perched on a streetlight.
It was a curious sight, she felt, but as it flew away, she figured it was probably nothing.
/-/
The day had been an utter disaster.
Ozpin had been doing as much damage control as he could, but even with all of his knowledge and connections, the council still felt it necessary to grant command of security to Ironwood. Sitting at his desk, he grimaced as he sipped from his mug.
The… specialist he had called on wouldn't be arriving for another day, and with all of the initial panic and consequences over, he had a few hours to reflect.
Thud!
Thud!
He had hoped to do this in peace and quiet, but…
CRASH!
Some things weren't meant to be.
He turned to look at the source of the sound, and saw standing there the absolute last person he had expected to see. Still, he cleared his throat and steeled his gaze, already having an idea of what this was about. "It's been a long time…
"Raven."