Chapter 5: Roses and Arcs.
"Does anyone even remotely care?" Moon muttered
"What's the problem in using our day off to wander the town?" Erick hissed back at him. "We should probably look for stuff that we can utilize. My explosives are limited, so I'd like to try and find a Firework shop or something. Try to use this opportunity to take advantage of her!"
Moon rolled his eyes as he scanned through the town as Ruby hummed to herself. The red leader of Team RWBY was tasked to lead the two of them through town, hopefully to a workshop to help modify Erick's laser gun.
"There's some sort of mystery to this girl." Dark Moon hissed at him. "I can feel your energy bawling at the chance to prowl into her pretty little mind...huh?"
"Is there ever going to be a time you don't try to make my life hell?" Moon asked.
In hindsight, responding was probably the last thing he should ever do. Dark Moon routinely found ways to piss him, and Sarah on occasions, very much off.
Still, his bastard darkside from their father was right. Red Riding Hood would be interesting to talk to at some point. Somehow, the fact that Ozpin managed to find her good enough to use as an underage girl and put into a prestigious school for hunters two years earlier than she otherwise should be, was enough for him to raise an eyebrow at her.
Then again, despite what Dark Moon hissed at him having shared thoughts, he didn't like her giddy and energetic personality, and that didn't sit right with him to have her lead a team of individuals.
"Anyway, here's the place," Ruby said, stopping them in front of a workshop that Moon quickly noted looked an awful lot like a shady airsoft shop.
"Thank you again Ruby," Erick said kindly. "I'll go see what we've got around here, hopefully it won't take too long."
Once the black haired genius had walked into the store, Moon glanced at the sign.
Over thousands of customizable parts for guns of all kinds.
"We're gonna be here for a while, a good four hours at least." He said, noting Ruby's confused stare at him.
"What makes you say that?" The youngest of Beacon questioned.
Moon jabbed his thumb towards the window, where Erick was now scanning his eyes through the entire album almanac of the store.
"Oh…" Red's face looked slightly crestfallen. "Sooo...is there anything you want to do?"
"You got a burger place or something?" Moon asked.
"We've got a Mach Pizza and a Big Bang Burgers."
"Why am I not surprised?" Moon muttered to himself. Shaking his head, he quickly said.
"Yeah, we can get a Big Bang Burger or something?"
"Oh, okay!" Red's eyes brightened up, "IT'S THIS WAY!" Before Moon could blink, the young huntress took off down the street.
Sighing to himself, the boy channeled a bit of PSI through his fingers.
"Speed up α!"
He felt his body lighten as he dashed forward, catching up to the youngest huntress as she skidded to a halt in front of a large burger shaped restaurant.
His memory flashed back again, to the giggles and laughter of Sarah, Erick, and Dyson. Each of them ate with a happy smile as he just sort of sat there in silence.
"You can relax, Friend Moon." Dyson said. "We're in a state of calmness as we continue to search for your sanctuary locations."
He winced a little, shaking his head. "Fucking memory relapses." He hissed. "Could this moment possibly get any wors-"
Dun Dun Dun DUN DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNNN
"Oh you've gotta Fucking with me."
He and Ruby turned around as a man with a tophat and suit crashed into the ground. The man quickly stood up, brushed himself off, and took out a camera.
"Pictures taken instantaneously, I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself."
"Of all the gags we could've recycled," he muttered, facepalming.
"Free photo! YEAH!" Ruby Grabbed his hand and forced him in.
"Okay, get ready for an instant memory, look at the camera. Ready? Say, FUZZY PICKLES!"
Moon shook his head and simply waited for the man to finish his stuff before getting launched into the sky.
"Wasn't that fun?!"
"If you call getting stalked fun, then yes." Moon muttered, thankful that she didn't pick up on the reference.
"Note to self," Moon said. "Kill this fucker if he tries that again."
He walked inside and sat down at a table with her.
"So, what do you like to eat?" Ruby asked, looking up from the menu.
"The same thing I always get." Moon sighed, "Double Cheeseburger with nothing but ketchup, a Chocolate Shake, and a bag of fries."
"Ah...not one for experimentation? Come on, you should try their Saturn Soda! Or maybe their Moon Cheese Fries. Or maybe th-"
"Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?" Moon shot at her. "I'll have you know that I'd sooner drink acid before that happens."
Ruby busted out a rather irritating giggle and slammed a fist against the table.
"You're so weird you know." She said through fits and giggles. "No wonder my sister Yang wants to punch your head silly. Maybe it'll get you to lighten up."
At this point, he was done listening to her shit. He intensified his gaze on her, concentrating his mind on her thoughts. Despite a clear sign of lack of training against Mind Reading, her brain was wild and crazy. But he was determined to find something to shut her up. However, her wild imagination of sunshine and rainbows was overwhelming to him.
"Nothing but shit," Dark Moon hissed at him. "This girl might as well be a bigger threat to your sanity than I ever will be!"
Taking a hail mary, Moon decided to pop a question that he would've normally avoided.
"So...any particular reason that you and Yang don't share a last name?" he asked.
Her giggles ceased faster than Sonic could come up with a witty comeback.
"Oh...well…" Her face sort of blushed in spite of that. "Yeah...our mother's are different."
"Your dad was a player? Or…"
"No...Yang's mother abandoned my father...so...he married my mother, Summer Rose, and, well, they had me...then...she died when I was young."
"And, your mother and father were both elite hunters?"
"Yeahph, Pretty much." Ruby said through her mouthful of food. "Unfortunately, my mother isn't around anymore. So, I can't exactly say she can watch me become a person who follows in her footsteps."
Moon only nodded his head as he bit down on his own food.
"So, what does your father do nowadays?"
"Not much, really...stuff around here is pretty cheap…" Ruby said. "Also, numerous hunter families are usually given compensation by Kingdoms for killed family members. Though, how good his fighting is kinda...iffy."
Moon frowned, that didn't sit right with him.
"So...how did you learn to fight with a scythe? Comparing it to a rapier and gauntlets, a hammer, and guns...a scythe isn't exactly the easiest thing to use."
The girl's silver eyes narrowed. "Quite the topic jumper?" she asked. "From asking about my dead mother to jumping down my throat to fighting with a weapon?"
"Well, the scythe's are listed in your weapon catalogs as the most dangerous weapons in Remnant." Moon replied, dipping a french fry into his milkshake, narrowing his eyes in response. "After all, you are much younger than your teammates."
"Yes, and that's because Ozpin saw my skills and trusted me the most." Ruby replied. "I mean, I certainly don't understand why though, maybe my uncle put in a good word?"
"Your Uncle?"
"Yeah, my Uncle Qrow."
"Crow?"
"No, Qrow, with a Q."
Moon deadpanned his face. "This place fucking sucks." he muttered to himself.
"So...your uncle taught you how to fight using a Scythe?"
"Yep, he uses one himself, he's super cool, I think he'd like you as well."
"I can already tell that you want your little guardian angel by your side." Dark Moon hissed at him. "Then, you'll both get equally as frustrated with this girl as you are right now. And then MY sweet Sarah and I can give 'em hell."
Moon grunted to himself.
"So...what does your Uncle...do?"
"Oh, I think he does some work for Professor Ozpin. He's quite the skilled hunter. Loves Ozpin to death."
"Fifty bucks says the fucker is a drunkass bitch who thinks Ozpin can do no wrong." Dark Moon sneered. "Reckon he does all Ozpin's dirty work for him, sweeps all the controversy under a rug? Isn't that usually how this works?"
Moon rolled his eyes at his darkside's mockery. "So, your Uncle works for Ozpin? Anything else you can tell me about him?"
"Not really, he's pretty good at video games…" Ruby said. "My family and I are pretty suckers for fighting games."
"Oh?" Moon raised an eyebrow. "Not much of a fighting game person. I've played Smash...but that's it."
"Well, Smash is quite cool, but I'm more of a BlazBlue Cross Tag Kinda gal. Won a local tournament as Yu and Yukiko."
Moon sighed as Ruby continued, at least the girl was...in his own words, brainless enough to not simply piece the puzzles together. Perhaps that was why Sapphire thought she'd be easy to manipulate. Though, prying into her mind was like stepping into the brain of LSD fumes. Made it feel like people in this world were on crack.
"I can feel as though our bond with Ruby has grown."
Confidant Established: Ruby Rose
Rank 1
"Well," Ruby said, making him blink back into reality. "You think your friend is done yet?"
"Not in the slightest." Moon replied, his tone suddenly became much more distressing as he slowly started to realize that he'd have to spend more time with this girl. Quite frankly, apart from Weiss, none of the people in here seemed even the slightest bit bearable. And he had worked with the Super Smash Brothers on LSD.
Suddenly his head flashed an imagery warning the image of a bunch of people with bunny ears holding guns, and, the worst offender, a man in a black fedora with orange hair and big old white suit and a cigar and cane strutted through and shot towards Ruby.
He quickly jumped over the table and tackled the girl to the ground.
"What are yo-"
KA-BOOM
Exactly as his precognition warned, the man and his Faunus cronies came strutting in with their own guns.
"Top of the mornin to ya, Red!" The man in the fedora said. "I've got a little present for you and your…" he took a moment to frown as Moon and Ruby both stood up.
"Um…"
"Care to introduce me to this...charming mafia man?" Moon asked.
"Oh, this is Roman Torchwick. He's a criminal."
"I'm a criminal mastermind I'll have you know!"
"Even the criminals are on crack here." Dark Moon hissed at him. "What the fuck has Salem been up to since I left this shit hole?"
"You'll never take away my chicken nuggets!" Ruby said, pointing a finger at Torchwick.
Moon simply unsheathed his sword, he didn't know what was worse at this point.
"Get Em boys!"
Moon flipped over two tables and ducked behind it as Ruby skidded over to him with her semblance.
"Do you have your weapon on you?" Moon asked. Ruby nodded her head as she reached for the compartment where her red scythe was being held.
"Let's get 'em."
Ruby enveloped herself in her cloak and darted from behind their table shields. She quickly knocked out two Lizard tailed faunus with a speed slash. Giving Moon the signal, the blue boy drew his sword and backflipped behind two cat clawed faunus. He ducked under one quick paw swipe before doing a spinning leg sweep.
He quickly stabbed up and tossed the two aside lazily. Ruby bashed another two henchmen back with her scythe, before twirling it around her back to deflect bullets from opposing guards to Torchwick.
Moon rushed forward and clashed his sword against Torchwick's cane. The Criminal puffed some smoke in his face before punching him backwards. There was something amusing about a Criminal with a supposedly hightech cane weapon, a punch felt almost...amusing.
Ruby twirled around him in her cloak, enveloping Rose petals around him. Before he could make a movement, she quickly darted forward and took out the last two guards. Leaving him and the young huntress face to face with Torchwick.
"Heh, it's been nice seeing you again red," Torchwick said. "I think I'll take my leave-"
Moon's eyes narrowed as he darted forward, he attempted a quick sword strike, however, when the sword made contact, the criminal's body shattered like glass and fell into pieces. Taking a moment to blink in surprise, Moon quickly looked around, the man was nowhere to be found.
Ruby skidded in front of him, once again leaving rose petals in her place. If there was one thing he absolutely hated, it was stuff getting in his way. Sure distracting as it may have been for the enemy it was an absolutely infuriating power. He had to make a mental note to observe the girl's fighting style so he didn't get tripped up by her mildly infuriating power.
"So...that's your criminal mastermind?" Moon asked.
"Well, last time I fought him, he was robbing a Dust Store, must've been that strange lady in the getaway helicopter that fought professor Goodwitch."
"Hmm," Moon hummed in response. "Well, I suppose it'd be best to report this to Professor Ozpin in that case?"
"Yeah, we can do that!"
"So, a criminal mastermind who smokes a cigar and can make a mirror doppelganger attack you and Ruby in a burger shop?" Sapphire asked him later that night. "And Ruby told you that the mirror doppleganger creator was some mysterious woman who helped him escape in a fight before? Sounds like someone worth investigating."
"Pretty much," Moon replied to his blue haired friend. The two of them were returning from the mess hall at a later time, Sarah and Erick had left earlier after Astro had gotten himself into rotten jelly.
"Keeping an eye out for the villain's powers and various other skills will be good to know. Considering he appears to be leading the White Fang, it might help to get familiar with the inner workings of the terrorist organization. Perhaps we should look into you trying to manipulate yourself with your shapeshifting powers to blend in with Faunus around the city?"
"I'd much rather my transformation powers be kept a secret, it'll help with spying and following the various members of team RWBY and Ozpin's inner circle. Now that I know Ruby's uncle has loyalty ties to Ozpin, he'll be worth an investigation of his own."
His blue haired friend only nodded in response, then, an awkward silence fell over them.
"Moon…"
"What?"
"Are you and Sarah...are you okay?" he asked. "I would've thought that you'd be...happy to see her. You spent five years without her...and I know you longed to see her again. You told me."
Moon shivered
"What're you gonna tell him?" Dark Moon hissed into his brain. "He didn't see the full story...and you already took it upon yourself to make sure Sarah and Erick even forgot...I'm impressed you managed to realize what Nightmare was about to do right before it happened."
Moon bit down on his lip.
His friend seemed to read his expression. Something that, much to Moon's normal irritation, he appierciated about his friend.
"I know that if you're keeping quiet. There's obviously something you want to push away." Sapphire crossed his arms. "If you want to keep that from me, that's fine. But...shouldn't Sarah know herself?"
"That's not important." Moon quickly shot back. "I need to focus on my other problems."
His friend merely shrugged his shoulders, almost as if to show his tiredness in the argument they were having. However, his expression changed upon seeing Moon's eyebrows raise as his head was directed towards a door heading to the rooftop.
"Wha-" Moon hushed him down as he went up the stairs, Sapphire followed after him, and they pushed open the door to find Pyrrha and Jaune on the top of the roof.
"Everyone needs a push from time to time Jaune." Pyrrha said with concern. "It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it into Beacon, that speaks volumes as to what you're capable of."
"What a bunch of bullshit." Moon said dully, making the two of them jolt around to the two boys with widened eyes. Even Sapphire was startled at his friend's attitude and direction.
"How is this…" Pyrrha began before Moon's cold stare hushed her silent.
"Just because someone makes it into a prestigious school, doesn't always mean they deserve to be here." Moon muttered. "Forged records, bribery, blackmail, being friends with the people who approve, there's a number of reasons why someone unqualified for any sort of prestigious place in life makes it in."
"Are you suggesting that…"
"I'm not suggesting. I'm confirming it for you." Moon snapped back, fixating his glare on Jaune.
"What, no, I didn't!" Jaune protested.
"I don't belong here. She's wrong, I don't deserve to be here, I lied." Moon replied boredly. "Your mind is straightforward Mr. Arc, I couldn't ignore listening to it even if I tried. Quite the feat if you ask me, normally I have to make the choice to read someone's mind. But yours just offered it to me on a silver platter."
Sapphire's eyes narrowed in Jaune's general direction, making the blond leader of Team JNPR flinch as Pyrrha looked between them, mildly confused.
"Alright, fine!" Jaune yelled at Moon. "I lied, I forged my transcript into Beacon. I never went to combat school, never passed any tests, I just faked documents to send in."
"Quite the feat in itself." Sapphire muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "You'd think this school would do background checks or something, I can't imagine this going under Ozpin, or even Glynda's beady little eyes."
"So...what're you going to do?" Jaune asked, a sort of sorrow expression overcoming himself.
"Any rational person would have you thrown out of Beacon at this point." Moon replied. "However, as your mind so clearly tells me, you did this because you always wanted to be a Huntsman. You obviously want to be a huntsman, but you just didn't have the skills to get past the introductory. So you lied, in the hopes that you could join a team and get stronger."
"If that's the case Jaune, then let me help you." Pyrrha pleaded. "I can help train you and make you better."
"No, I don't want to be the damsel in distress of this story. I don't want the one stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives on the ground below. If I can't do that on my own, then what good am I?"
"Well, I suppose if your semblance allows it...you could always be a medic?" Sapphire shrugged. Moon chuckled a little, making Jaune and Pyrrha increasingly frown. At least until Moon turned his glare towards Jaune again.
"If you don't want help getting stronger, you are absolutely a dumbass who doesn't deserve to be a hunter." he said simply. "No one person can do everything by themselves. That's why God's are all phonies."
"What does religion have to do with this?!" Jaune snapped back at Moon's increasing frown.
"Jaune, he's trying to tell you to accept help. I can train you, and we can keep this a secret from everyone else."
"Maybe we can arrange some training sessions of our own. I think we could make some shit work." Moon replied. "I guess Sapphire could help you, he was the one who took me under his wing when I needed to focus on my sword instead of my Psychic Powers."
Sapphire shrugged. "I suppose I can," he said. "However, I'm going to need you to take it seriously. Because I'm not going to put up with everything else."
Jaune smiled uncomfortably at Sapphire's response. "Well, I guess it could help. Thanks...Sapphire."
"Don't mention it. You and I can work properly.
"I can feel as though our Bonds with Pyrrha and Jaune have grown."
"What...I feel like this was integral to the other side of the plot though…"
Confidant Established: Jaune Arc
Rank 1
Confidant Established: Pyrrha Nickos
Rank 1
Jaune sheepishly left, followed quickly by Pyrrha. Sapphire looked at Moon after they had left, and crossed his arms.
"You could have approached that situation nicer, you know," he said.
"Doesn't matter, apart from Ruby's LSD infused nightmare and Ozpin's void of brain, none of them will be able to retract their own thoughts to not speak to me."
"You've changed Moon…" Sapphire replied calmly. "I don't know what has changed, but you have. There's something going on."
"There are some things in life that everyone wishes to forget." Dark Sarah cackled evilly as Sarah attempted to strike her in the voided hellish landscape of nightmares.
The Darkside flipped herself upside down, twirling around Sarah with a simple chuckle.
"H̷̡̨̛̝̟̟̭̞̋̄̏̔̀́̐̕͝ͅơ̷̥̙̗͇̙̟̙͉͔̣̏̎͆͆̋̇̂̚͝ͅẃ̵͉̪͖͓̠̠̲̭̣̣̽̃̽̈͑̀̚̚ͅ ̶̨͇̫̈́͐̈́́͌͜l̶̛͍͙̟͚͉̱͈̽̉́͑̅̀̐̏̈́͜ö̴̦̬̥̳̫́́̈́̅̈̌̌̊̉̈́͂͝n̶̨̛͙̯̗̩̦̫͂͛̏̂̀͂̀͑ģ̵͍̭̯͇̇̈̄̐̓̂ ̵̢̥̠̣̳̮̃̔͗̾̊̍̈́̚͝á̸̡̻̬̜̮̦͕̘͓̖͙͙͔̫̒̇̄͒͐̅̾̓̈́̄̽̕͘ͅŗ̸̧̢͍̰̯̖͖̳̞̲̠̐̈̂͝͝͝e̷̝̒̾͝ ̶͇̪̣̹̏y̵̛̝̤̦̎̄̀͌̉̒̽̀̿͋̈́̾̚ớ̵̢̨̯̺͚̫̩̹̖͎̺̏͊̂̅̑͊͗ư̷̙͔̈͐͋̎̎̉̄̅̍͌̎͘͠ ̸̛͎̭̩̟̹̿̆̊͐́͌̈́̇̋̚͝ģ̴̠̫̙̠͈͕̟̤̳̤̈́̿̽̌̉͐͂̓̏̚ͅo̸̡̱̦̼̫̼͚̜̮͉̫͙͈̭̽́i̶̤̪͈̔̃̎̓̎̽̑̊̉̈́͊̅͝ņ̴̡̹̠̖̝̺̬̺̠̞̤̝̍̿͋̏͆͌͂̕͝g̸̢̛̣̱͈̗̩͖͙̝̈̊̔̏̀͆̽̍͌̇̿͘ ̸̛͎̿̓̂̅́̾̏̓̔̉ţ̸͚̙̺̥͉͑͛͜o̵̧̹̞̖̦͓̜̯̖̭̱̍̊͐̂ ̵̳̓̿͑̎̄̊̽̂͝͝s̶̯̣̗̜͚̻̼͇̳̠͗̌͒̉̚t̵̬͉͔̲̤͔͍̩̺̯̫̘̱̽̋̍͆̂̏̂̑̒́́͝͠͠ͅr̷̛̲̦̲͔̦̼̗̘͇̥̲̃̑̃́̔̂͆̃͂̕͜͜ȕ̴̯̬͎̺̲͈̜̈̃̌͋̄̽̾̽̌͘͜͠g̷̜̹̯͆͆̓̀͜ģ̸̛̻̰̜̜̜͔̾͋̒́̆̄͋͗͝l̷̡̡̹̪̮̯͕̱̩̘͉̆͊̍̌̓͒́͑͂̾̈̿͝e̸̢̛̦̘̯̩̻͚̾̓̓̈́͌̾͐̚?̸̠̻͕̳̿̽̌̃̀̈̿̋͘͠""
Sarah hissed as she struck the darkside in the face with Freya. Instantly a flash memory of herself staring into Nightmare Moon's dead silver eyes as she struggled to move overrode her. It felt like her entire body was ripped in two as she screamed silently.
Dark Sarah's face started to stretch out as her blood soaked eyes leaked out black ooze. "Now Darling, what's wrong? There's so much you miss. Don't you miss this feeling?"
Her memory came flashing forward again. This time, she found herself face to face with Salem.
""̵̜̗̜̋̓͊̓̚Ī̵͙͝s̴̭̀̈̈́̐n̸̝̉̌̈́̚'̶͕̞͕̫̽̀t̵̤̐̀̈́͝ ̷͈̞̳̱̍͐͘͠͠t̴͖͖̖͒̓ẖ̵̛̬̲͙̗į̶̰͖̑̈́̃s̵̔̏͜ ̸̖̙͈͖̬̒̈́̿̉ẁ̸̲̰̱̙͛ò̷͇͎̣̺̎͋̑̈́ņ̴͚̻̂͂̕d̵̨͎͖̥̫̿͗̑̚͝ë̸̙͐̾̒r̴͍̽͆̍̍̐f̷͔̥̻́̄̏̀ǔ̶͍̦̋̔͝l̶͓̪̈́͜ ̴̳͎͂Ś̵͎̦̟̜̎a̴̗̅̒͆r̵̦̽̈á̷̹̟̳͙h̵̳̖̞͊͌͝?̸̪̰̣̇͐̀͛̉"̴̠͖͍͛͆
Her face flashed again, this time, showing Moon's distorted Hegemon face, two black arms grabbing onto her sides as his blue and silver eyes leaked out ooze.
"̸̮̤́͗̍̈́W̷̻͗̀̅e̵̡̤͍̗͠ ̸͍̻̎͊̐̕c̵̢̦̬̝̏͠a̷̿̈́́̔ͅn̴̛͙͔̮̾̈́͝ ̵̙͈͐͆̕b̴̡̛͈͋̇e̴̫͈͒ ̶̺͘s̴̮͈̺̺̅ó̸͎͍̺̞̔̍ ̴̟͌̔h̶͍̓̆ả̷̫̙̰̳̭͠p̴̧̯̯̺̘̅́̈́͝͝p̸̤͙͉͆̑͛͐ý̶̖͈̤̚͝.̸̡͉̠̭̪̈̈́͠.̷̢̤͕͂̉͝.̵̨̫͎͙̙̓͌̀̚ț̵̖̟̅͒͒ö̷̭̌ḡ̶̡̧̣̻̩̄̀̆ẽ̴̮̙̣͔t̶͇̩̝̲̮̊́̎͝h̵͔̗͒ë̶̱̤̘̗̹́̍̃r̴̲̿̕̕͘͝.̸̱͂̉̚"̷̬͖͑͂͑͠͝ ̴͎̜͆̐̿
The pain of her core as she felt her body being torn in two again as Dark Sarah's upside down face twirled around, cackling insanely. Sarah only screamed as the distorted face of Hegemon Moon inched ever so closer to her.
"̴̛̖̖̦̱̗͚́̂̽̒S̸̨̙͖̹͇̳̱̗̱̮̈́̓̓̀ͅt̸̡̙̬̼̖̗͖̗̯̰͍̫͝a̶͓̬̝̍́́̀y̷̮̫̏̀́͐͌̉̂̑̎̾̂̄ ̸̨̨͙̻͕̖͔͉̑̋̾̽̈́̆͊̾̎̈̑͠w̸̳̫͚͎̯̼͎̩͈̗͒̑̄͋̔ị̶̧̧̳̼͙̥̤̤͛t̴̗̱̓́̚h̶̡̙̖̥̝͖̪͚̺̻͈̃ͅ ̶̡̩̖̻̥̞͊̐́̕m̷̰̥͔̣̯̍̄̎̉̐͋ē̸̢̜͈̝̦͎͙̥̿͂͑̊̈́̽ ̷̬̦͉̺̭̰̹̈́̑͋̉̒͑̄̏̔̅̈S̶̺̫͐͛̌͑̍a̷̧̤̠̤͔͗͋̓͠r̵̢̧̳̝̞̤̹̰̖̬̙͙̽̌̏̈͗͊̃à̸̢̟̰͎̱̫̪̮̭̯̄̈́ͅh̷͚̻̗̮̻͕̙̺͂̀̒.̴̯̜̳̠̲̺̻̩̟̄̍̒̈́̊̌̚͝͠ ̶͔̦̯͚́͋̂͘͜͠L̷̳͋͑e̵͍̘͖̣̺͚̠̺͇͙̽̃̀t̴̗̼͛ ̷̻͔̩̱͑̓̓͘͘ṃ̷̧̤͚̱͔̞̳͎͍̄̌̇̅e̸̙͗̈́̈̆̈́͛̕ ̶̡̩̻͈̿̎̿͐͒̾̐͂̂̾͐̽m̶̮̽̀̀̈́̅͂̓̄̕a̴̛͓̟̪̘͙̗̺̒k̸͓̭̜͎̥̩̼̓̒̑̋́ę̴̨̦͉͈̳̲͉̊̆̋͗͒́́͋̆͘͝ ̷̧̭̖̪̯̼͔͕̓͐͛̊͌̑̈́ļ̶̱̥̿͑̔̆͆̓͘͝o̶͖͈̾͋̀͗̏v̷̄͒͌͠͝ͅe̷̪̲̜̓̀͊̿͗̕͘ ̷̙̠̩͈̑̐̊͂̌̏̎̂̉t̶̮̆̇̽͘o̵̢͇͚͓͔͗̈́̾̄̑͗͋̈́̀̄͘ ̴̦̲͇͍͎̏̋̑̀̉̓̇̄̄́͆̐y̴̨̘͇̤͉͈͇̞̥͇͐̒͂͆̂̓ͅo̷̢̹̹͚͙̘̭̮͈̍ư̷̦͘
"NO NO NO NO!" Sarah screamed as she shook herself awake. Breathing rapidly, and her head sweating profusely, she shakily turned over in her bed.
Moon, as per the normal, seemed to have picked up that something was wrong as he had already turned over on his side to see her heavy breathing, and sweat covered forehead.
"Are you okay?" He asked. He knew what was wrong, it was the Nightmares from her darkside. He had no doubt about it. The thoughts of losing each other, or Erick, it was always the same. Dyson's death hadn't made things any better, as his body was now just a useful toy to keep torture coming.
"M-Moon?" she started to whimper in his arms as she flung her own arms around him. Instantly, his own head flashed back to him towering over her, her entire body bound to the ground, her screaming, Erick and Dyson's shouting. Nightmare's cold, shadow black hands violating her.
He had tried to push this memory away, kept it sealed up and locked away, never to be touched again. Even his own Darkside would never show him this. Dark Moon and Giygas were evil, but they weren't this evil. Though he'd claim it through his massive evil ego. He knew damn well that Dark Moon had no access to this memory. But still, every time Sarah was touching him, this memory came flooding back. There was something bigger going on here.
Thankfully for him. He had forced his friends into agreement and erased their minds of this moment. None of them wanted to remember the horrors of Nightmare. Not now...not ever again.
""̸͔̈́̎͂̉̈̓̿̇I̷̢̪͉͔̳͙͔̠̲̻̔̋̍̄͌͂͒̏̽̓͝ ̶̯̉̆̄̆̐̉͌̚̚͠m̵̼̫͉͙̔̀̅̍͛̈́̋̂u̸̡͍̯̦̟̿̈́̕s̶̨̛̺̖̟̅̓̓̋̈́͆̑̆͘t̴̢̢͉̲̅̈ ̶̨̩̖̭̰̺̫̻̲̠̣̽͂̿͂̂̎̀͆͊̔̕͝d̵̢̙̳̣̳͍̞͂e̸̹̣͍̎̓͐̏̾̃̃͠s̵̡̺̳̻̼̗̺̆́̓̃̋̃̇t̵͍̜̞̘̣̪̱̒̉̀̿ȓ̷̨̢͙͍̱͎͍̘̼͜ǫ̴̡̢̖̜͍̜̯̝̟͌̓̒̂͋ͅy̸̨̹͔̯͕̫̆̐̓̋̆̂,̶̺̈̂͝ ̶̢̨̤̝̹̮͇͔͉͇̹͑̐͛͜ṭ̴̢͖̘͇̲̺̇͐̃̉̄̓͋̾̑̄͜h̵̜̭̝̤́̓̄̔̏͊̅̚é̷͎̹͌͝ ̶̲͕͕̱͕̰̼͋̈́́̉̌̋̀͒ͅṕ̵̢͉̖̠̲͐͛ǫ̵̺̟͖̙̘̹̮͖̬͇̜̍͂͂͒̊͌͗w̴̡̢͓̹̞̺͗̍͋̐͐̇e̴̢͓̣̥̼͙͓̭̦̤̍̊̆̚͜r̷̢̧̘͎̟̹͖̺̍͌̅̋̒̌̎̃̀̉̀́ ̶͈̯͕̜͂̎́̀̆̈́̽į̶̡̰͙̟̱̺̘̟̤͓̒͑̃̌ͅş̸̘͈̰͙͍̦̽ ̴̝̳̦̫̰̠̋̑i̶̢͂̅͂͗͆̒̎̔͆̈́̎n̵̨̧̥̳̗̖̠͑́̏̊̄̏͆͘̚͝ ̸͕̭͑m̵̗̙̦̆̂̋͝͝y̷̛̜̦̍̿̈́̒͆̌̎̄̐̕ ̶̳͚̱̪̰̈́͛͐̽̿̽̍͜͝p̶̤̫̭̓̅͊͐̂̒͝ͅȁ̶̛̛̛͎̻̜̭̤͈͔͆̈́̆̔͑͝ͅl̷̡̤͕̽̑̄͆̀̾̾͂͒̈̉̑m̵̛̯̺̽͋͑̿̄̾̾͆̂ṣ̶̨̢̩̦̣̱̪̅͒̋̇"
Hegemon's desires still spoke to him as well. He had some control over the form, and Sapphire knew that he kept the form deep in his mind. But Sarah and Erick did not. Because he didn't want to touch this form ever again until he had too.
He slowly rocked Sarah back and forth as Erick's snores and Astro's Honks quietly pushed his wife back into a slumber. From what he had observed the last three nights, Sarah never got nightmares after she went to sleep in his arms. So for now, he had to bite the bullet, he never wanted her to experience that again.
He layed back down on his side, facing her quiet, but pretty face in the moonlight, wrapped his arm around her, pulled her in close, and fell asleep. Ready to endure the same repeated nightmare, over, and over, and over again.
Tears fell from his eyes as they splashed against the bed, going unnoticed by the rest of his team as they all snoozed through the night. He was never happy, no matter how hard he tried, nothing ever made things work, nothing ever made things right for him. Salem was the last obstacle in his way (At least he hoped). Even if this was the end. He knew that this memory would always haunt him, as long as he lived. In this situation, he truly was...all alone.
There's a lot of stuff I have to work with. RWBY and EarthBound, as well as my already established lore that I need to continue. Of course, with Salem never revealing herself until Volume 3's end, I have time to give Moon and Co an established relationship with the cast of RWBY. This in addition to the overarching problems stemmed by the Super Smash Brothers on Moon's butt.
Either way, there still were problems that I never solved from the last installment, because frankly, Moon is just a problem machine at this point, doomed to bring disaster wherever he goes, just like Qrow...hmm?
Frankly I do love Old RWBY's sense of random humor, and I do somewhat miss that style, especially because it's hard to take the show seriously sometimes. Haha. And it's about time I return Moon and Friends to their roots of EarthBound's lighthearted humor and sense of perfect charm while I have the opportunity. Especially because I'll eventually have to double back to dark and depressing.
With that being said, Nightmare and the Hegemon still haunt my characters. Some stories just never finish themselves I suppose? I do have plans to at some point bring in certain Smash Characters, maybe more so for Moon. Either way, I hope you all are continuing to enjoy this story. I'm certainly having fun writing it.
See you all, next month.