Oh, wow! Look at all the reviews last chapter got. A record of over 30 reviews, more than twice what any other chapters managed to get. You guys seem to really like it when I kill off Ruby, does that mean you want me to do that more oft- PUT DOWN THE TORCHES! I WAS ONLY JOKING!
Ahem. Anyway, I'm not going to be answering as much review as possible from now on. There are just too much of those now. Instead, I'll start answering most reviews with PM and the AN will be mostly for things most reviews talked about and questions (in case some shadow readers wonder about the same questions.)
Ilia: ''A lot of people are angry and you even got a few death threats. Well deserved death threats.''
Yeah, I really kicked the hornets' nest with last chapter. That's fine, I expected that. The first day the chapter was out, the numbers of favorites and follows even went down. I expected that too, that was why I put that warning at the end of last chapter to at least wait until this chapter to decide whether they wanted to quit or if they wanted to continue.
I warned in previous AN that this fic was gonna get a darker turn at some point, but I knew that when that turn would come, not everyone was going to like it.
At least the numbers went back up again after the first day, so there's that.
Also, the death threats came across as said in jest, and tbh, I'm hoping they are jokes. ^^'
Ilia: ''A lot of reviewers also don't believe this story can end with a happy ending, or just with Ruby staying alive, without you pulling major 'deus ex machina' bs out of your ass.''
Oh, ye of little faith. A shame practically nobody managed to guess how Gemini was going to keep Ruby alive. I had set that up all the way back to chapter 2 (which means the bs isn't pulled out of my ass.) Well, whether you consider her alive in this chapter depends on how much you're willing to stretch you definition of 'alive', but she's still in the story so that counts for me.
As for Salem being defeated and getting a happy ending... I know it looks like there's no hope of victory right now, but I have everything planned. Eh eh eh.
No 'god in the machine' required.
Ilia: ''And how much of that 'everything planned' is just you winging it?''
More than I should, less than you'd expect.
Ilia: ''griefmore pressed F for Onyx, Qrow, Amber, and Gemini's right arm.''
F.
Also, your comment made me realise I messed up last chapter by not specifying which arm Gemini lost and that the text sorta implied it was the right arm. My mistake, it was meant to be the left one.
Ilia: ''Epex8201 ask if there's any reason why Tyrian didn't kill Gemini after Ruby?''
Killing the opponent left would have been the logical, common sense thing to do. This is Tyrian. He's insane enough that I feel like I don't have to make him act with logic or common sense.
In this case, he was fully focused on how he failed his mission and how his 'goddess' wouldn't be pleased with his failure. So he didn't really give a shit about this random kid that happened to be here and, quite frankly, was nowhere near strong enough to make a difference by himself.
Ilia: ''Lambda38 ask if Raven couldn't have opened a portal and bail Qrow out of there before he died. And they also call hacking on Augur being able to get his arm back when Gemini can't.''
Another thing I forgot to put in last chapter… I meant to mention during her segment that Raven was sleeping when the attack on the Fall Maiden happened. The attack happened on Sanus, the Branwen are on Mistral. Different continent, different timezones, so it was night where Raven was when the feeling of her semblance's bond snapping woke her up.
That's not to say she would have intervened if she was awake to do so. She had warned her team about Ozpin's shadow war and they chose to stay involved, so as far as she's concerned, what happened last chapter is on their head. Doesn't mean she's not pissed about what happened, though.
And I feel like being able to respawn following death is a bigger hack than just getting the arm back by itself would be. XD
Ilia: ''Resurrection99 opens with a 'Fuck you!''
Fair.
Ilia: ''And then wonders how much of Remnant and its people will be left by the end.''
Not much. Hey, I promised a happy ending. To me, a 'happy ending' means the characters left at the end have a bright future ahead of them. Doesn't exclude there won't be a lot needing to be rebuilt.
Ilia: ''Snipervtk4 says that the suddenes of the agression will burn the story faster than a matchstick.''
Good thing I brought a lot of matchstick then.
Ilia: ''joecola00 ask a few questions. Does Raven's Maiden powers include healing? If Ruby survives, will she be mute like Neo? Will Beacon still be attacked this time around?''
No, Raven can't heal. As far as I can tell, the Maiden's magic is limited to elemental powers. Basically like dust, but the power output is much higher and the power come from the magic instead the colored rocks. As for Ruby being mute… Well, most people won't be able to hear her talk for a while, does that count? No, Salem technically doesn't need the canon schedule anymore, so the attack on Vytal isn't guaranteed to happen. But there is something else in Beacon that she wants, so even without the canon plan, Cinder is operating in Vale for the time being.
Ilia: ''Cookiesndip points out that Gemini has yet to have a real victory so far, and that even his 'victories' stabs him in the back. They're hoping things will turn around soon.''
Yeah, Gemini's results have been… very mixed so far. And this chapter isn't exactly where things starts getting better for him (if anything, things get worse again at the beginning, before it starts going up.
But yes, from there on, things are going to get uphill. And there's a major victory against Salem coming in the next two chapters. Even if it doesn't look like it's possible at the end of this chapter.
(Also, hat off to you for guessing how Gemini saves Ruby in this chapter. You're the only one who guessed right, or at least guessed right AND put it in their review.)
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to RT. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Shueisha.
In C17's AN, I said that V7 and 8 had several moments where Blake and Yang were OOC.
I'm taking that back.
Blake and Yang tried to convince Robyn because they knew the conflict between her and Ironwood was caused by Tyrian framing Ironwood's side for the assassination attempt. It wasn't stupid or OOC to try and mend things so they'd stop fighting amongst themselves.
Then there's when I accused Yang of gaslighting Ruby in V8.
Yang was angry at the situation in general and lashed out verbally. Not OOC. (Still think Ruby wasn't at fault at all and didn't deserved it, though.)
Later… I thought the ''… Right, Ruby.'' was said with indifference, but G119 pointed that it was actually Yang realising how badly she acted toward her sister. Which does match up better with what happens latter, when the first thing Yang does the next time she see Ruby is apologise.
I'm not holding you any longer. Enjoy the chapter.
A sense of calm took over my mind and body, or maybe I had simply lost my nerves and was panicking so hard that I just wasn't feeling it anymore. Either way, my mind was clear enough that an idea came.
It was a crazy idea, which probably wouldn't work, but Ruby was already dying anyway. Even if it only had a 1% percent chance of working, it was still better than the 0% that doing anything else would have.
I took out my scroll, opened it, and laid it on the ground, looking at it to activate my semblance. As soon as the Game appeared, I wasted no time to take out one of my two inventory slots.
Squeak!
Shit, I usually used two hands to make it bigger, and it was way too small as it was for what I needed. I gripped one end of the rugged, oval crystal with my teeth, as best as I could, and used that to replace my missing arm. It didn't enlarge as much as when using both hands, but it was enough for me to push the box of books out using my right hand. I usually pulled the object out, but with only one hand, I couldn't do that, so it was a good thing that it could work this way, too.
Ruby's body was irreparable, but if I put her in my inventory… Then maybe, like that mouse back when I tested my semblance, Ruby's soul would stay in this realm instead of going to the afterlife.
Squeak!
The problem was that the empty crystal wasn't big enough for Ruby's whole body to fit through… But I didn't need her whole body, did I?
… I only needed her head.
Ruby's eyes were starting to become unfocused, the lack of blood and oxygen bringing her closer and closer to her limit. She couldn't afford for me to hesitate.
I grabbed the broken blade of my sword and raised it above her head, before bringing the blade down on her neck and cutting her head off as a bloody scream, filled with pain, grief, rage, and pure hatred, erupted behind me. I quickly grabbed Ruby's head by the hair and unceremoniously shoved it into the crystal. Once decapitated, it could take almost a minute for the head to actually die. She was already running out of time before the decapitation, but hopefully, I had acted fast enough.
Squeak!
Ignoring the squeaking of the mouse, I turned around and saw a red-eyed Yang charging at me, right before her fist met my face. The force of the blow sent me flying.
''YOU FUCKING BASTARD! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?'' Yang yelled, obviously unwilling to give any quarters. She continued her assault, but this time, Gemini broke into glass as he disappeared from the area.
Neo's semblance. Fuck!
''YOU MONSTER! I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!'' Yang bellowed to the sky, hoping that he heard her. She didn't understand how he could do something like this. Couldn't understand. But he was going to pay for this betrayal.
Yang wanted to run after them, to give pursuit and kill Gemini now, but the whirlwind of emotions inside her took all of her strength out of her. Her knees gave out under her, and she fell to the ground.
Looking at the headless corpse of her little sister, her sweet, sweet baby sister, her pride and joy, Yang broke into a mess of tears as she entered a state of shock.
Why? Why did this happen?
/-/
I stumbled on my feet and fell on the ground of the woods. A dark, bitter laugh escape my lips, accompanying tears.
My sister puts her hand on my shoulder, offering me comfort before making words appear. ''What happened?''
I choked back my tears to be able to talk. ''Tyrian Callows. That serial killer from Mistral. He attacked us. Cut my arm off and killed Ruby.'' I rasped out.
She looked confused. ''What was he doing here? Why did he leave without killing you? Why did you take Ruby's head?''
That's… I couldn't tell her the truth. I wasn't in a state where I could handle this discussion.
Neo noticed my body language, though she misunderstood the cause of it, attributing it to shock instead of hesitation. ''I only want to understand what happened. To help.''
''… You remember when we first tested how my semblance worked? When we put a mouse in my inventory? And it was dead when I took it out?'' I said, opting to focus on that istead of explaining Tyrian going after Ruby.
My sister blinked, before raising an interrogative eyebrow. She remembered, but wasn't sure where I was going with this.
''Well… I've been hearing the mouse squeaking from time to time since it was stuck in my inventory. I suspected that the inventory retained its soul and was hoping it'd do the same with Ruby. I… was hoping that as long as her soul was kept in my semblance, that… that there'd be some kind of hope.'' I busted into tears at the end.
Squeak, squeak.
I hadn't closed the Game after taking my scroll and escaping Yang's anger – God, did I worry about Yang's state of mind right now. I hoped nothing more would happen to her. - so I still heard the mouse.
But… I hadn't heard Ruby so far. H-had I failed?
Neo signaled me to get up, looking at me with worry. ''Come on. We need to go.''
I nodded. Whatever action I decided to take from there, I first needed to clean the blood – her blood – off of me.
I didn't hear Ruby, but I did hear something other than the squeaking of a small rodent.
The soft, cackling laughter of a mad god-creature.
Kekekekeke...
/-/
Raven flapped her wings, following the killer.
It was obvious that the situation was related to Salem. Who other than her agents would come in the dead ass end of the woods to attack mini-Summer?
The bird dove toward the ground, toward the assassin. She turned back into a human, swiping her blade toward Tyrian. The man heard the attack coming, of course, and turned around just in time to block with his pincers.
He jumped back, before narrowing his eyes at his opponent. ''My, my. Is this the infamous Raven Branwen in front of me?'' No, really, was it her? His eyesight wasn't exactly the best. He licked his lips in anticipation. ''I was so sad to learn you had run away from my Divine Mistress. But here you are! Let's see if you deserve your epithet, 'Demon of Mistral'.''
He charged her with enthusiasm as Raven caught his pincers with Omen, before her dust blade flashed red and turned into fire, searing into Tyrian's aura as he yelled and leaped away from her. The fire didn't all go on him, though, as the whole blade turned into flames.
Some of those flames lit up the grass and bushes around them.
Raven sheathed Omen's hilt, taking a new dust blade to replace the used one, as Tyrian aimed his guns at her and fired. She turned into a bird and slipped through the bullets, moving to Tyrian's flank before turning back into a human and slashing at his side. The madman twisted himself out of the way just in time to barely avoid the sword, but the blade crackled with electricity as an arc was left behind in its trail to expand outward.
It was too late to dodge, and the electric arc hit him before Raven followed-up with three sword strikes, the first two hitting her target in the chest before he caught the third with his pincer and he kicked her leg before attempting to stab her in the guts, against which she leaped backward just in time to avoid his attack doing more than grazing her stomach and leaving a shallow scratch on it, his eyes had flashed purple during his attack.
''My aura didn't protect me!?'' Raven thought. Was that the man's semblance? This just got a lot riskier than she expected. Normally, she would avoid such a fight, too dangerous without anything to gain, but right now she was fucking pissed. N-not that she was angry because of what just happened to Summer's brat, she just… needed to vent off some frustration! Yes, that was it. Completely unrelated to what just happened to Ruby.
Around them, the fire continued to spread around the forest, engulfing the area in flames. Usually, fall was quite a wet season, but there hadn't been rain for a few days for once, so the woods on Patch were left covered in dry, crunchy leaves that burnt easily.
Red flames appeared around Raven's eyes. If this man could bypass aura somehow, ultimately didn't matter if it was a semblance or something else, then she couldn't afford to hold back. She conjured ice spikes in the air, a lot of them, and flung them toward Tyrian. Despite his best effort, he couldn't dodge them all and took a few hits on him.
Right, his Goddess' prophets had said and confirmed that Raven was the Spring Maiden. If he could slay her there, then the next Spring Maiden would be an easier target for Cinder. As much as he would find it hilarious if the girl got herself killed in her secular pursuit of power for power's sake, - the foolish girl didn't even understand that power was nothing but a tool, she thought it was a goal. Ah! - it was his Goddess' will that Cinder became the Maiden of Four Seasons. And his Goddess' will will be accomplished.
Tyrian turned around, feigning to escape through the growing flames to force Raven to give pursuit.
And give pursuit she did. The bandit queen flew after him, using her magic to propel herself instead of turning into a bird, forced to fly closer to the ground so that the smoke of the forest fire wouldn't cut her vision. But Salem's assassin had already slipped through the flames, and before she could track him down, ambushed her. She reacted in time to avoid being skewered by his pincers, but it still cut into her side, right under her sword arm, before she unleashed spikes of ice erupting from the ground before her toward Tyrian, and strucked him in several places as the frozen lances pushed him back.
Raven then sent fireballs at him, which he easily dodged as he shot at her in return, forcing her to block his bullets and allowing him the breathing room to get closer. She blocked and parried the series of blows with her blade, not allowing him to get a hit on her. The strain of the exchange was painful on the injury under her arm, and he managed to nick her other arm with his pincers, but thankfully only managed to inflict a minor scratch. Fighting someone that could bypass aura sucked.
With a flick of her blade on Tyrian's weapon, Raven forcefully opened his guard, allowing her to land a heavy blow on his chest before high-kicking him in the chest and sending his back crash into a burning tree. The fire hurts him, as did the column of magical fire Raven sent his way.
Screaming in pain as he jumped out of the fire, Tyrian then leaped toward Raven, who slipped under his arm and slashed at his opened side. He fell to the ground and Raven raised her blade, ready to let it fall on him, when she was interrupted by a pain in her right leg.
Looking at the source of the pain, Raven saw a huge scorpion tail coming out from under the man's coat, the stinger piercing her thigh. The man started a psychotic laughter.
Fuck! Raven slashed at the tail, Omen's blade not only breaking his aura, but cutting through his tail as well as his laugh, replacing it by a cry of pain.
Her blade went for his head next, but he rolled away just in time to keep it on his shoulders.
''I was only trying to kill you, and you cut my tail off!? You ungrateful bitch!'' Tyrian screamed in rage, before whimpering and running away.
Raven took a step forward, intending to pursue him and finish him off, but her injured leg screamed at her to stop. Tch!
Her opponent had already slipped away, the flames making it impossible to see where he went. There was no point in trying to run after him.
Taking her powers, Raven gathered black clouds in the sky, bringing down a heavy rain to smother the flames. It wouldn't stop the fire in time for her to catch the murderer, but it would at least stop it from consuming Ruby's body. Tai should at least be able to recognise the daughter he was burying.
… Normally she'd try to come up with an excuse to deny that she cared, but… She just wasn't feeling the energy to do so right now, and there was nobody else here anyway.
/-/
Once the downpour brought the fire down, Raven opened a portal back to Vernal, at the tribe.
''Whoa! What the fuck happened?'' Vernal asked, shocked at the injuries her chieftain sported.
''Eh, if you think I look bad, then you should see the other guy.'' Raven smirked. ''Seriously, though, do we have any antitoxin? Specifically for scorpions?''
''Uh… I think we got some left?'' Vernal said. They did rob a caravan transporting medical supplies a while back. ''Dunno if we have any for scorpions, though. Not much of those on Anima.'' Not that she would be able to tell which antivenom would be for which species. Being a bandit without any formal education tended to do that.
''Ugh… Forget I asked. I'll go take a look at what we have myself.'' If there wasn't anything of use in the tribe, then she'll just go to the closest town (or Mistral itself, whatever) and see what they have.
Oh, and of course some in the tribe turned out to be dumb enough to think they could challenge her for the leadership of the tribe. They quickly got reminded that Raven could flash freeze them even if she was injured.
At least Vernal was smart enough to know in advance that challenging Raven, even if injured, was still suicidal.
/-/
Ruby groaned as she regained consciousness, feeling like she was floating on a cloud. She slowly opened her eyes and got up, pushing the thick, luxurious white sheets off of her. The frame and head and foot post of the bed were made of super detailed carved wood. High quality wood. And the canopy of the bed harbored cloths of a rich, bloody red around the bed.
… This wasn't her bed. Or her room. Where was she? Where was Gem? He was still by her side when-
Ruby gasped, and her hand shot up to her throat as the memory of what happened cleared up.
That's right! Tyrian's attack, Gem's arm, her throat. Gem… she had a vague, fuzzy memory of him raising his broken sword above her and… Uh, trying to remember what happened next just hurts her head.
Either way, Gem was the only one alongside her when she was… when she was dying, so however she was still alive had to be something he did. Or was he the only one? Did she hear Yang scream, or was it just her imagination?
For now, she needed to know where she was. Ruby pushed the curtains aside and stepped off the bed, noticing that she was still dressed in her usual black and red huntress outfit, although with no trace of the fight.
The room was… like a castle? With walls of stone and a stone-flagged floor, that would likely have been cold to her feet without her combat boots. There was a window, but one with wooden pane instead of a glass window, like it was right out of Vale's monarchic era. The corner of the spacious room, the one to the right of the bed, had a desk with an old computer. A pale, square box for a monitor attached to a big, rectangular tower sitting next to it, a keyboard and a mouse. A far cry from the modern, holographic screen computers, or just the less modern, but not-quite-as-old flat screens.
To the other side of the room were two chests, both rather large, made of red painted metal and with gold-plated outlines.
Ruby took a step toward the window and opened it. Immediately, the huge winds of the tempest outside slammed the panes open as it flowed inside, sending everything in the room on the floor, like the bedding, and pushing her off her feet.
Ruby quickly got up and immediately closed the panes, which took more strength than she expected due to the wind pushing back against it. Once closed, Ruby turned around to look at the room, dreading the mess. She didn't know where she was, or to who this place belonged to, but she doubted the owner would appreciate the state the room was now in.
… The room was… intact?
Everything had returned to their original place when she closed the window, as if the wind had never entered the room.
Now that she noticed, even the rain that spilled around the window and a little on her clothes had completely disappeared, as if it had never happened, and everything was dry again.
That was… weird.
What was up with this place?
Either way, this castle was way too weird for her to stay here… She needed to leave this room and explore the rest of it.
Wait, no. She needed to find Gem first. She could explore the cool, maybe-haunted castle later.
Let's start with seeing what was in those chests. There could be something that would help her.
She opened the one on the left and… Okay? Who kept a suitcase in a chest? Wasn't that a little redundant?
She recognised that suitcase, though. It was the same one Gem kept in his Inventory, using it to bring a huge bunch of Lien with him wherever he went. She didn't know why he took it out, especially to put it in a chest, but that must mean this place belonged to him, right?
She didn't know he had bought himself a castle, why didn't he tell her? Maybe it was very recent, and he was going to?
He had the Lien for it, though, and that did sound like something he would do. Hiring a ghost for cleaning was also something she could imagine him doing, if ghosts were real. Which they seemed to be, because she had no other explanation for how weird this place was.
Still, she thought she figured out some of what happened. Gemini somehow managed to pull off a miracle and saved her life, and then brought her here to recover. He probably meant for this place to be keeping her safe until she woke up, although she wondered why he didn't bring her to a hospital instead. Wouldn't she have recovered better there? That was what hospitals were made for, after all.
Oh well, she could always ask him when she saw him. Didn't matter much anyway, did it? She healed better than any hospital could have helped her to.
Whatever he did worked, because she was still alive. She'd have to find something nice to do for him, because her boyfriend was totally awesome, and she was lucky to have him. How did he even pull this off?
With a smile, and a slight blush on her cheeks, Ruby opened the second chest.
She lost that smile real quick as she stared at the content of the second chest.
Her decapitated head stared back, unmoving, with empty silver eyes that had lost their spark.
''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!'' Ruby screamed, recoiling away from her head as she fell backward.
''Squeak!'' The scream scared off a small rodent, who ran out from the small space between the chest and the wall, scurrying away from the only being it had seen in years.
Kekekekekeke
''My, my, I can't say this is a development I saw coming.'' A strange, inhuman voice said behind her.
Ruby turned around to stare in horror at an absolute abomination, a being she couldn't understand the appearance of. Grins, smiles, smirks and mad laughters of various kinds, shapes and size suddenly taking all the space in front of her.
''It is a pleasure to make your unexpected acquaintance, Daughter of Light.'' The monster said amidst a mind-scarring cacophony of laughing insanities. ''Most mortals call me 'The Cackler', but my friends simply call me 'Cackler'.''
''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!'' Ruby screamed harder.
''Yes, lots of people call me that, too. How did you know?''
Kekekekekekeke
/-/
Scrub scrub scrub! Scrub harder!
I'd been scrubbing myself in the shower for a good thirty minutes already. God, the blood. The blood!
I could see it all over me. It covered me everywhere. I needed to get it off me.
Scrub scrub scrub!
I continued scrubbing my already cleaned skin, as inconvenient as it was, with only one arm.
Scrub scrub scrub!
I could feel it all over me. It covered me everywhere. I needed to get it off me.
Scrub scrub scrub!
God, how much did I need to scrub to start feeling clean?
/-/
Stepping out of the shower after a total of an hour, I dried myself with a towel, before letting it hang round my neck.
I took a look into the bathroom's mirror, staring at the muscles that grew along with my stats, at the emotionally exhausted look on my face, the orange hair, slightly wild and reaching down to my shoulders due to not having been cut in a while, the missing left arm..
I rubbed my eyes with my hand. This was the worst day ever.
When I opened them, my semblance had actived in the mirror.
You killed Ruby Rose. 65 xp.
The blade held by my hand, slicing through the flesh and bones of Ruby's neck.
I shook my head, trying to shake off the flashback. Then my eyes moistened, before I gave up on holding my tears down and busted into tears again.
Fuck.
Fuck!
She was gone.
I was supposed to help. I was supposed to make things better than in canon. And now Ruby was fucking dead. I couldn't have fucked up harder than this.
I was an absolute fool to think that just because I knew things most didn't, I could beat Salem and make things better.
What I wouldn't give to hear her voice again. Just one more time. I couldn't help but wonder what she would tell me right now. I wish I didn't have to wonder.
''Hi Gem! I'm here, can you hear- Ohgodsyou'renakedI'msosorryIdidn'tmeantolook!'' I suddenly heard Ruby's voice coming from inside my head.
''AH!'' I screamed in surprised, losing my balance as I slipped and fell.
/-/
''AH!'' Neo heard her little brother yell, before hearing him fall and bump himself.
She frowned, and quickly texted him to ask if he was alright.
''Yeah, I am! Just not used to having only one arm. Oh boy, I can't wait to get my cool cyborg arm and kick butts with it!'' She heard Gemini yell from the bathroom.
Okay…?
/-/
''Ruby? The towel is around my waist now.'' I said. ''I-is that really you? I wasn't hallucinating?''
''Yep!'' Her voice, a blessing from the divine that lightened my heart, resonated in my head. ''I'm not sure what you did, but it worked. I'm still here.''
''I put you in my Inventory.'' I admitted.
''… Really?''
''Yep. Well, I put your head in it, the rest didn't fit. I guess that makes you a quest item?'' I wondered aloud.
''And what's the quest, exactly? I doubt it's putting me back in my body.'' Ruby asked, guessing correctly that this one wasn't possible.
I winced at the memory of her body.
I shook my head. It worked. There was hope. I shouldn't stop here.
''We find you a new body. There's a scientist, Dr Polendina, in Atlas who developed an AI named Penny. Made her a whole robot body that easily passes for human, outside of the AI's personality making you look socially suave.''
''Yikes. That bad?'' Ruby said. ''Also, robot person? That's so cool!''
''It is. You'll like Penny. She was one of your friends in the future.'' I smiled. Penny was precious. ''I was thinking we could ask him to make you a robotic body to transfer your soul in. Think of it like a full body prosthetic.''
''Right… I guess it's better than staying a ghost in your head. I'm guessing Dr Polendina is someone else you know about from what you learned in your past life?'' Ruby said.
Sort of. Never seen the character on screen, but Penny mentioned her father during the Beacon part of the show. ''It is.'' I nodded, before freezing. ''Wait, what did you just say?''
Kekekekekeke
''Hello, it has been a while, hasn't it?'' The voice of the Cackler joined the conversation.''You'll forgive me, I hope. The poor girl had… understandable questions.''
Kekekekekeke
My whole body tensed. ''You…''
''Me.''
''What exactly are you?''
''Just your friendly neighborhood eldritch horror. Transporting souls from one world to another for my own amusement. Y'now? Just trying to kill time without being noticed by party poopers like the Two Brothers. Stuff like that.'' The Cackler answered, with little care to elaborate. ''But enough about me, don't you have answers of your own to give?''
I winced. ''Ah, uh… Ruby, I can explain?''
Kekekeke
''Cool. You don't have to sound so distressed, though. I'm not angry.'' Ruby said.
''… You're not?''
''I mean, being reincarnated, being an alien, me being the protagonist of an animated show, all that stuff. I can see why it's not easy to talk about, I know I wouldn't know how to start a conversation like that. So no, not angry. And I won't be… depending on your reasons for not telling me anything.'' Ruby said.
That was… fair. ''You put the finger on it when you said I didn't know how to approach the subject. How am I supposed to explain something like this without sounding like a complete nut job? I swear it wasn't that I don't trust you. In fact, when I told you that I knew things about the future, I… I lied about how I knew, but by telling you at all, and by telling you about Salem, Cinder, and my activities to stop them, I trusted you with more than I trusted anyone else. More than my own family.'' I told her.
''… Alright. And I guess it's not fair to just expect someone to share all of their deep, dark secrets. It'd be like someone getting angry at Yang for her not telling them everything about her birth mother. That stuff is personal. You're the only one with the right to decide what you want to share, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!'' Ruby said. ''I- I was just afraid you didn't tell me because you didn't trust me enough to.''
''It wasn't that… I'm sorry you felt that way. And the maturity is very appreciated, you truly are best girl.''
''Eh eh, I am? Sure, of course I am! Apology accepted. But you owe me a big hug once I'll be back.'' Ruby said. ''Just make sure you don't hide any critical information, though, like really important stuff other people should know.''
''Like about the Maidens, Ozpin being a wizard, Salem's immortality, the Relics? Things like that?'' I was fine with that. It's really the unverifiable stuff you could only take my word for it and that nobody on Remnant could second that I didn't know how to handle the reveal.
''Yep, exactly! Stuff like- Hang on, what did you say?'' Ruby suddenly asked, the shock obvious in her voice. ''Salem is immortal!?''
''Uh, yeah? Why do you think Ozpin hasn't managed to get rid of her yet? And I told you she was immortal.''
''No you didn't!''
I blinked. ''I didn't?''
''You didn't!'' Ruby confirmed.
Kekekekeke
''Oops?''
'''Oops' doesn't really cut it. Isn't that super important? I thought we were supposed to use my eyes to kill her? What are we gonna do now?''
''No, the eyes were for regular Grimm and Cinder.'' I corrected. ''For Salem, I was thinking of making space travel tech actually work and use it to throw Salem into the Sun. Or if it can't be done, just make space colonies and let everyone on Remnant slowly emigrate on them, leaving Salem alone on Remnant forever.''
''… Uh, I guess that'll work? Her being immortal is really something you should have shared back when you first told me about her, though.''
''I'm sorry, I thought I did.'' I meekly apologised. ''To be fair, we talked about a lot of heavy stuff. Something was bound to be left out on accident.''
I heard Ruby sigh. ''You're right. So… What now? Are you going to probe me?''
What? ''Excuse me?''
''You're an alien, so me being stuck in your Inventory kinda counts like an alien abduction, right? Isn't the whole probing stuff something aliens do?'' Ruby asked, referencing Remnant's science-fiction. After failing to reach space, Remnant's entertainment industry pumped out a bunch of aliens and space shows. For some reasons, these shows ended up making similar pop culture alien stereotype than there were on Earth.
''… I'm not going to probe you.'' How did this girl's brain even worked? One moment, she was saying intelligent and mature stuff, and then the next she said something like that.
''Are you sure? Aren't you going to be in trouble with your alien commanders if you don't respect the traditional methods of interacting with the locals?''
''I won't. I don't have an alien commander'' I repeated. What else was I supposed to say there?
''… Okay, cool. Because being probed doesn't sounds like it'd be fun.'' Ruby said. I was going to say something, but she talked again first. ''Why though? Am I not good enough to be included in your otherworldly customs?''
''Oh my God, Ruby…'' I tried to make it sounds like a complaint, but couldn't help my lips curling upward.
''Stop excluding me. Just probe me already!'' Ruby continued, sounding like she was holding back from laughing at her dumb joke.
''No! I'M NOT GOING TO PROBE YOU!'' I said again, before clamping my hand on my mouth. Shit, did Neo hear that? ''Sorry, that was louder than I meant to say.''
/-/
''I'M NOT GOING TO PROBE YOU!''
Neo threw a suspicious look toward the bathroom, before slowly backing away from it.
Whatever was happening in there, if it involved her little brother and probing, then she wanted no part in it.
/-/
Kekekeke
''Sorry, it was a dumb joke. Are you feeling better?'' Ruby said. ''I… I just thought, after what happened…''
''I get it, thanks, Ruby.'' Sheesh, I needed to get a grip. Ruby was the one who just died, yet she was the one trying to comfort me?
''So, Earth, was it? An actual, alien world? How different from Remnant is it?'' Ruby asked.
I couldn't but groan.
''Eh? What did I say?''
''Nothing wrong per se. I just really don't want to talk about Earth.'' I answered. ''It's a dumb planet.''
''That bad?''
I sighed. ''Cackler?''
''Eh? What?''The monster squatting in my head said, surprised at being adressed so suddenly.
''Anything new happened on Earth after I was gone?'' I asked, preparing for the feeling of my brain melting between my ears due to the incoming idiocy.
''Mmh. Well, there's a rock that was cancelled for being racist.''
''Whut?'' Ruby said in utter confusion.
I was with her on that one. I was expecting something dumb, but honestly? This was a notch above. Which is pretty much in line with the direction Earth was going toward when the Cackler gave me its offer. Things had been getting stupider and stupider as the years passed. Who the hell said humans were the smartest animal species on Earth?
''Why not torture myself some more. Anything else?'' I must secretly be a masochist for asking for more. Or I just wanted to drive the point home and make sure I wouldn't have to talk about Earth.
''A woman married the color pink.''
''But… that doesn't make any sense? You can't marry a color.'' Poor Ruby couldn't comprehend how dumb people could get without the Grimm keeping us on our toes.
''Did the color pink consent to the marriage?'' I asked the Cackler.
''It's a color. What do you think?''
''So that woman is raping the color pink. What a terrible person. I can't believe society would let something like this happen.'' I said in mockery. Was this the infamous 'rape culture' I kept hearing about?
''Wha- How is that your reaction to this nonsense?'' Ruby asked me, having trouble to keep up. Or would it be 'keep down'?
''Experience.'' I replied simply.
Kekekekekeke
''That's kind of a scary answer…Ugh, aliens were supposed to be about space saucers, teleporters and laser guns. Not… not whatever that is.'' Ruby said after letting out a groan, through which I could feel the headache she got from trying to understand what she just heard. ''Are the people on this 'Earth' okay?''
''No, they aren't. But it's all self-inflicted, and we have our own world to focus on.'' That didn't come anywhere close to the insanity that Earth's modern society had turned into, either. We could probably continue like that for hours, after hours, after hours. There was a reason I didn't want to talk about it.
Also, bless Ruby's heart for being worried for the people on Earth. God knew it wasn't deserved.
''Alright then, let's dealwith our own problems. What do we do, now?''
''Now I go dress myself up, and then we're going to Altas without waste.''
''Eh? Wait, shouldn't you get yourself a replacement for your arm?'' Ruby said, worried. ''I won't have you neglecting yourself.''
''Normally, I would take a few days to have a prosthetic made for me, yes.'' I admitted. ''But time is of the essence. Because of what happened with Yang…'' How did I tell Ruby this?
''What? Wait, what happened with Yang? Don't tell me Tyrian got her as well?'' Ruby asked in a panic, horrified at the thought of her sister being injured by Salem's fanatic. Or worse.
''No! No, Yang is alive and healthy.'' I said.
''Oh, good. Enough bad stuff happened today.'' Ruby said. I winced, which escaped her notice, I didn't know what exactly she saw from her point of view, but it seemed she couldn't see my face.
''… Yang. She ran into the scene of your death. Right at the moment I took your head. And since Tyrian had already fled before she could see him…''
''Oh no… Gem, please tell me this isn't going where I think this is going.'' Ruby begged.
''She thinks I was the one who murdered you. I managed to escape thanks to Neo, but I can't make any promises about Yang's current mental state, beyond that she's likely out for my blood. I'm sorry.'' I said. ''But right now, the problem is that she's going to tell everyone who care to hear it that I am your murderer, so if I want to get you a robotic body, then I better hurry and reach Dr Polendina before the news spread and I find myself a wanted man. Which means I must go today.''
The robot body for Ruby wouldn't be completed before Ironwood heard the news, but as long as Dr Polendina accepted to make it, then I could work with that. If nothing else, that the first thing I did after Ruby's death was to approach him to save her would give some credibility to my word. Hopefully, I could at least obtain the benefit of the doubt. I was fine with staying closely monitored until Ruby was back if that was what it took.
''But… How are you going to deal with Yang? You two can't kill each other!'' Ruby said, her voice getting shaky. Each other? We both knew that if Yang got her hands on me, I was the one who was dead.
''… Once you'll be back, we'll be able to prove that I was saving your life, despite what it looked like.'' I said. ''I promise you that both Yang and I will be in your future. I'll do everything in my power to make it happen.''
''…''
''Ruby?''
''I… Yes, I'll hold you to that, I guess.'' Ruby said. ''Just… I just don't want to see you two fight. Not outside a spar. Not- not to death…''
''I don't want that either. I'll be staying far away from Yang until I get you back amongst the living.''
''I mean, I am technically still here.''
''Amongst the living as a living.'' I corrected myself. ''Once you're not a ghost in my head anymore.''
/-/
Neo's scroll pinged. Taking it to see the text she received to see it was Gemini telling her he had to go now.
''Absolutely not. You're not going anywhere.'' She texted back.
''But it worked! Ruby's soul is in my Inventory. I just need to go see someone in Atlas.'' He texted back.
She blinked. What? It did? There were several things walking around with someone else's soul could entail, and most of those were probably in the 'worrying' category. What the fuck kind of day were they having?
''The first person you're going to go see is Dr Grey.'' She insisted.
''But there's no time!'' He whined through text.
''And you're lacking an arm. You're going to go get yourself checked by a professional. This ISN'T negotiable.''
''… Fine. I'll just go on my own, then.''
Neo snorted. As if she was going to let him.
Then she heard the window of the bathroom slam open.
… He wasn't doing what she thought he was doing, was he?
Neo walked to the front of the bathroom and knocked lightly with her knuckles. No answers. She knocked harder. Still nothing.
Annoyed, Neo took a deep breath before taking a lock pick from her pockets, quickly unlocking the door.
The bathroom was empty, undisturbed except for the wind blowing inside through the window.
… Don't get her wrong, Neo loved her little brother. But sometimes, he was such a little shit.
Neo ran to the window to look through it, throwing a look around and failing to see where Gemini went. Crap, he already took off running, did he?
She ran out of the house, toward Patch's bullhead's pads. Gemini would have to take the time to find some clothes along the way, as he couldn't take a flight to Atlas with only a towel, so she should be able to reach the pads first and intercept him there.
/-/
Once Neo was gone, Gemini's head poked from the side of the house.
''Looks like we're clear.'' He said, before walking up into the house, holding the towel around his waist, the only protection he had against committing public indecency, with his hand. ''Hey, uh, Ruby? How does it work for you to see what's going on around me?''
''Mmh? Oh, there's this computer in the room whose screen shows what you see through your eyes.'' She said.
''Alright. Can you please not look at the screen while I dress myself?'' I asked her.
''Sure, just tell me when you're decent.''
With that, I put on my clothes, another copy of my green tailcoat outfit, one that wasn't drenched in Ruby's blood, as quickly as I could with an arm missing. Let me tell you, the buttons were much easier to deal with when I had two hands.
It took me a bit more time than I'd have liked, but I did with what I had.
''It's fine, now.'' I said, as I put on Vale's knightly cape, which hid the lack of an arm by covering the left side of my body.
''Cool. So, what ship are we taking?'' Ruby asked.
''My own. I have a private airship. Not the prettiest ride, but it's fast and solid, so it'll take us to Atlas.'' I really needed to hurry before Yang told Mr Xiao-Long, Mr Xiao-Long told Ozpin, and then Ozpin told Ironwood, or else it will become almost impossible to reach Dr Polendina.
I took Gambol Shroud from the decorative sword stand I kept it on, on display like a trophy. I couldn't use the ribbon and gun part, but I could use the sword part and that was good enough for me.
''You should take your Duel Disk and Deck, too.'' Ruby said.
''What? Why? I'm not going there to play.''
''I mean, you might as well. It's not like my new body is going to be built in 5 minutes. Might as well pass the time while it's made by kicking a few Atlesian duelists' butt.'' Ruby said. ''I'm going to get bored in there, and you said a few days ago that you modified your Deck and that there was a card you were eager to show off. Then go show it off.''
… I supposed there was no harm. ''Alright then, I guess we could use the opportunity to take our minds off of things.'' I'd need to get a new arm before I could play, though.
I put my Duel Disk and my Deck in a backpack, and with Blake's sword in tow, I set out to my private airship.
I'd have taken my knives too, but given that they were still in the clothes ruined by Ruby's blood, I… I just couldn't. I couldn't bear the sight or smell of it. I'd just buy new knives in Atlas.
/-/
As we flew toward Atlas, we passed by the sight of the island of Vytal… and the atlesian military base stationed on it. Even though Vytal was Vale's territory.
Supposedly, it was there for Atlas to be able to 'help its ally' in case of trouble. More like it was a foot in the door to better invade in case of war.
As soon as I gained the power and influence to do so, I was kicking any foreign troops out of the kingdom. Being allies and helping each other was one thing, but wilfully defanging yourself and becoming dependent on another for your protection? When you did have the means to protect yourself and should have kept it? It was nothing short of abhorrent. Disgusting and spineless submission where one should be able to stand on their own.
''Say, Gem…'' Ruby said, drawing my thoughts away from geopolitic. ''I've been meaning to ask, but… How am I supposed to deal with the whole 'the world I know is a fictional show'?''
''What are you talking about? Remnant is real, you're real. Just because another universe has a show that happens to match your reality doesn't mean anything strange. In the infinity of the multiverse, there are no fictional stories. Only real stories told in an universe where it never happened. There's probably a world out there where Yu-Gi-Oh, the cartoon, is real life.'' It hurts to refer to Yu-Gi-Oh as a cartoon instead of anime, but in the context of Remnant, it was made in Vale, not Mistral. So it was officially a cartoon. Ugh.
''Can confirm. There are universes that are exact or close copies of Yu-Gi-Oh.'' The Cackler piped up.
And yet it chose to reincarnate me into the death world full of monsters led by an immortal final boss instead of a world where everything was solved by card games. Dick.
''… Really? Any chance we might visit someday? Sounds like it'd be fun.'' Ruby asked, more talking for fun than anything else. She didn't have much else to do.
''I don't know how to travel between worlds. But let me tell you what, once you have your new body, I'll be organising a whole tournament.'' I grinned.
''You will? That'd be so cool to take part in one.'' Ruby said. She was always too busy between her studies and her training to participate in the locals at Signal. They just always took place when she didn't have the time.
''Sure, I'll even rent the whole Amity Arena to have it on it. It'd be epic.'' I promised.
''You can do that?'' Ruby asked, incredulous.
''If I have enough Lien. I'm pretty sure I do have enough Lien.''
''Awesome!'' Ruby exclaimed. ''I'm going to kick butt and win!''
''You'll have to get a better Deck for that.'' I pointed out.
''… Can't you just make stronger monsters that have a scythe?'' Ruby asked.
''Nah. Nobody's being given an unfair advantage. Get good.''
''Mou…'' The cutest ghost ever pouted.
I shook my head. ''The game is the game. I'm not going to make major changes to it, not even for you.''
I said 'major changes', because there were a few things there and there that I did change. Flame Swordsman was a normal monster now, instead of a fusion one. It was a normal monster in the anime to begin with, and I never understood why Konami made it a fusion monster in the real life game. I get they wanted to promote the fusion mechanic, but it didn't exactly do anything to succeed in that. All it did was make the card unusable because of how not worth it it was to play a fusion monster that could be run over by an easily normal summoned monster.
''But you're to one who made- Oh! Wait, you didn't create Yu-Gi-Oh, did you? It comes from Earth!''
''Yep. All I did was introduce it to Remnant, as was hydroelectricity and dustless bullets.'' I admitted.
''Yes! This is what aliens should be about! Technology so advanced it's basically magic. And -OhmygoshI'veshotalienbulletsthat'ssocool!''
Well, she sounded like she loved the techs I brought on Remnant even more than she did before. That was great? But… ''What do you mean by 'it's basically magic'?''
''Gem…'' Ruby started, her voice sounding like she thought what I said was really dumb. ''How is making electricity out of water anything but alien magic?''
''That's not alien magic! It's just an exploit of the physic engine.'' I said, defending the totally-not-magic Earth tech. ''How can you call that magic when Remnant's tech relies on dust? Literal magic rocks?''
''What are you on about? Dust isn't magic, it's just a natural resource we studied and learned how to use. It's actual science that makes sense.''
Yeah. Uh, uh. Sure it was.
/-/
A couple of hours later, Atlas came into view.
And with the floating city, an army of Grimm assaulting it, bullets and missiles flying all around as the Grimm basically ignored Mantle and focused on the city of Atlas itself.
Uh oh.
Kekekekeke
''Time for things to get interesting.'' The Cackler's voice resonated in my head.
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Name: Gemini Alexandrite Torchwick
Level: 40
Exp: 241 /4 000
Age: 14
Sex: Male
Aura: 6 000 / 6 000 (60%)
Stamina: 620 / 620
Strength: 43(63)
Constitution: 32(52)
Dexterity: 65(85)
Agility: 60
Intelligence: 128
Skill Points: 8
And that's a wrap!
Now that this chapter is out, I can finally talk about the significance of Gemini's name in full without spoiling.
Alexandrite as Gem's middle name has always been to foreshadow Ruby's soul being in Gemini's head. Gemini's aura is green, like the gemstone during the day, and Ruby's aura is red, like the gemstone during the night.
Meanwhile, Gemini is the constellation of the twins, again foreshadowing Ruby and Gemini being two souls in the same body. Now, I know Gemini and Ruby aren't twins (or even related.) But the Nasa called a space capsule 'Project Gemini' because it can hold two person, who I doubt are twins anyway. If that's good enough for Nasa, that's good enough for me.
'Gemini' in Greek mythology is also associated with the myth of Castor and Pollux. When Castor died, Pollux begged his father, Zeus, to give Castor immortality. Which Zeus did by uniting them in the heavens.
Pollux refused to accept Castor's death. Kinda like Gemini refused to let Ruby die.
In Babylonian astronomy, however, the two stars that forms the constellation are named after two titles of Nergal, a major Babylonian god and king of the underworld.
Someone going into the underworld following the death of someone they cared about, in hopes of coming back into the world of the living with them, is a story older than history. One that appeared independently in almost all cultures and predates the invention of writing. Now, Gem doesn't literally go through the underworld, but there, his quest to bring Ruby back has some similarities.
Note, to clarify, the end of Gemini's symbolic trip in the 'underworld' doesn't mark the end of the fic, only the end of the 'Withered Rose' arc. Ruby won't spend the whole story in Gemini's head, only an arc.
That flower will bloom again before that.
See you all in next chapter: 'Atlas: Become Robot'
Now you can decide whether you want to continue the fic or whether you're not interessed.
This chapter's name is obviously inspired by backseat gaming, referring to how Ruby can't do anything but talk with the player, Gemini, who is basically streaming his life to 'chat' (Ruby, and the Cackler too, I guess.) And yes, the title of next chapter is a play on 'Detroit: Become Human' and refers to Gemini's objective in going there.
Hey, Gemini's the one who asked Salem for a 'cute robot waifu'. It wasn't intentional on her part, but he can't complain when she obliges, right?