Note: Hello, everyone. Sorry for the slightly late chapter. It took us a few rewrites before we got to a place where we were comfortable. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum of the story pushing forward. We have always had this difficulty in writing story sequels where we stall for a bit and then become unable to continue, but we want to try to keep the spirit of LUBYP alive as much as possible. We hope you understand, and we also hope you enjoy.
After dinner.
The first day.
Still.
Ruby sat on the floor in front of her new bed. Weiss sat directly in front of her, her arms crossed over her chest. Yang lounged on her stomach on her mattress; it was rough and unfeeling, terrible for a night's rest. Blake slowly approached the rest of them, having spent the last forty minutes combing over the room for bugs. She knelt beside Ruby and held out her hand. Four small microphones, little buds no bigger than a fingertip, rested in her palm. Ruby silently nodded, and Blake walked to the corner of the dorm room. She buried the microphones between two pillows, snuffing them out.
"They were in the bedframes," Blake said plainly. "Nothing more than these, as far as I can tell."
"Are you going to get in trouble for tampering with those?" Weiss asked worriedly. Blake casually rejoined the others, squatting down and shrugging.
"They're not broken. Whoever is listening will assume we're just asleep."
Sleep. Funny concept. How were they supposed to sleep during a time like this? It wasn't just that the room was as cold and unfeeling as the rest of the Kingdom, stripped of amenities, barely heated properly, and a victim of the Academy's rigid design. No, the rest of the day weighed too heavily on their minds to achieve any peace. The funny part—or at least, darkly funny to Blake and no one else—was that they should have seen it coming. During their first week at Beacon, they were trapped in a torture box, fought a giant dog, punched each other, thrown on a team with a bunch of strangers against their will, and then almost got eaten by a Grimm bear. They shouldn't have been able to top that, yet Atlas did in under an hour.
Penny Polendina. The Living Weapon. Ruby should have researched her more. That was on her. It was stupid not looking up Atlas's top student. She used to love researching Huntresses. She could recite the winner of the Beacon Bullet Festival dating back the last century. But Atlasian Huntresses? Too painful. Tomorrow, she would do a Penny deep dive, but today, all she knew about her is that she threw off the calculus.
"So," Blake asked solemnly. "What do we do now?"
Wasn't that the million-dollar question?
Right now, they were waiting. Despite the constant surveillance and the unspectacular food, Ruby and Weiss were able to make contact with Team JNPR and Team CFVY. They invited them up to their room for a "celebration", as many of the students wanted to reconnect after the break before they began their descent into typical training hell. In reality, Ruby knew she was going to destroy the world of eight innocent people. She felt like she was recruiting them into a war, no better than Ozpin. Only she didn't really have a choice in the matter. If they were going to deal with the Grimm, then they needed to know what Grimm truly were—what they truly were. Ruby wasn't sure if they could handle that. However, on top of considering how to share the horrible truth of Humanity's origins, they had a bigger concern.
Namely, the massive attempt on their life a few hours ago by one smiling, cybernetically enhanced teenager.
Yang held her Scroll in her hand, mindless brushing her thumb up and down the holographic screen.
"I mean, we should tell everyone, right?" Yang asked as if the answer was obvious, though she was surprised when no one gave her a clear response. "Guys, Ironwood just tried to murder us. Let's blow this whole thing open."
"I don't…" Ruby hesitated. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."
"Why not? That was the plan, right?"
"The plan was to be careful," Ruby explained. "We were going to do nothing until we found a way to get the upper hand."
"And our upper hand is that we're famous," Yang argued. "We can tell the whole world about what happened right now and send a media firestorm down on this place. Scorched earth on this motherfucker."
"Scorched earth isn't careful," Weiss reminded her. "Picking public fights with the government isn't careful."
"Having a random lady electrocute me isn't careful," Yang countered. "Maybe I'm stupid, but I don't see how rolling over is going to fix anything. All that would do is prove to Ozpin and Ironwood that they can get away with whatever they want. They got away with this training session now, but tomorrow when actual classes start? If they think they can find an excuse to hurt us, you know they will. What's the point in being careful if it won't actually protect us?"
Ruby found the point, unfortunately, compelling. The original plan was to steal Ozpin's secrets and blackmail him into immunity, using the cover of their celebrity status to shield them from serious consequences beforehand. But now, Ruby didn't know what to do. Ironwood tried to have them killed within minutes. He didn't care that they were famous or that it could ruin Atlas's reputation attacking such world-renowned heroes. He just attacked them, using one of his own students for cover. He said they weren't going to die, but she didn't buy that for a second. He was pushing them, trying to see how close to the edge they would be willing to go. If they didn't start fighting back now, how would they ever stop themselves from falling off?
Surprisingly though, it was Blake who responded to Yang's lack of temperament. "I don't think going to the press is such a good idea right now."
Yang was taken aback. "Blake, Atlas just tried to murder you. Out of all of us, you should want to fight back."
"I do, I do," Blake insisted, sighing heavily. "Just… okay, look, I've been introspecting a lot recently. I keep thinking about that conversation I had with Sienna Khan. One of the things I remember her saying was that Adam and I never had a plan when we doing our… things."
"When you were murdering people," Weiss reminded her. Blake scowled.
"Yes, Weiss. When I was murdering people. Thank you for clearing that up. My point is she said something like, they will use your fighting to justify their actions and everything we fought for will be wiped out. Her whole thing was optics. Like, that's fucking bullshit when people are dying, but she did have a point. We didn't have a plan, and I don't know what we would have done if we actually got far enough. Right now, we are playing a war of attrition against Atlas, and like… do we really want to change that to something else?"
"What do you mean?" asked Ruby curiously. Blake sighed and worked through her thoughts aloud.
"Well, let's just run through the options. Yang sends out a KnightsPage post describing how we almost got murdered. Then what? Well, either there will be a giant media controversy or there won't be. If there isn't, well, that's bad. We do nothing but piss off the people with guns to our heads. So we need there to be one. How do we get one? We need to prove that it was really bad. Atlas and Beacon would immediately go into misinformation overdrive, and I don't know how much us being famous would be able to blunt that. I mean, Humans are fucking stupid. We'd need something inscrutable. The other students took videos, but no one posted it. If Atlas hasn't gotten to them already and forced them to delete the footage, then we'd have nothing but our word against theirs. And that would be really bad, because despite how famous we are, I don't think we're famous enough to fight the concept of nationalism."
"Okay," Yang stated. "Then we get more students like we wanted to anyway."
"Great," Blake reasoned. "We could rally the other students to our cause, because over one hundred students claiming that Atlas immediately tried to murder us would probably draw a lot of controversy. Of course, we'd have to get the other students to actually go and admit this happen, and given none of them have, they are probably too shocked or scared or accepting to speak up. And even then, nothing is stopping Ironwood from giving the same excuse he gave in the theater. It was a training exercise. No students were seriously hurt except for his own. Huntsmen need to be prepared to fight in all circumstances, and actually, Beacon Academy used to fling its own students into the forest on their first day of school so you don't get to complain. That's twice as good, because the media loves one: sympathizing with authoritarian viewpoints over their own, and two: loves downplaying the absolute bullshit that Huntsmen training is."
"Or," Yang suggested, "maybe people will believe us because Atlas is shit, and people already kind of know it? You do assume the worst in people."
"It's a well-developed skill," Blake said snidely. "But fine, let's assume you're right then. We post about Atlas being dicks, get everyone riled up, and then what?"
"I don't know," Yang said. "They are forced to make a public apology. We get to leave."
"We are not going to leave," Blake said sternly. "There is no fucking way they are letting us off this flying nightmare."
"How do you know?"
"I don't know, maybe the prison colony I grew up in gave me a hint. I'm saying what if Ironwood decides to just shoot us all."
"He can't kill us," Weiss noted.
"No, he can't kill you," Blake claimed. "He can definitely kill me."
"But he still doesn't want to," Weiss said. "Ozpin let you stay with us. Would he flip so easily?"
"I don't know, but that's the problem," Blake said with a dejected groan. "Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe they will release us from Atlas. Maybe they'll treat us better. Maybe Ironwood will walk up to me and shoot me in the head. Look, I… I might just be paranoid. I get that. But I have seen Atlas…" Blake paused again, glancing away from the group. She seemed more uncomfortable than ever. Her breaths were unsteady, and she had to stop herself from choking up, though her acts of self-control were so subtle that no one other than them would have ever noticed. "I thought my dad was untouchable, too. They got away with that. I don't… I don't want to be the deciding vote here. If the three of you are comfortable going public with what happened today, I'll support that. But I'm just saying that if we are going to be dropping bombs on Atlas, then I want to make sure we don't misfire… and I sure as hell want to get out of the blast radius before I do."
Weiss and Ruby kept their feelings to themselves, but they understood her pain. Ruby had spent a few nights lying alone, thinking of the gruesome details that Blake shared with her in that one fateful phone call. Their family pain was the most kinship they ever shared. Weiss had done her best to never bring it up—probably for the best given her and the Faunus's sorted past—but Blake had seen her staring at her on certain days, no doubt her mind wracked with guilt over everything to which she and her family contributed. Blake checked to see Yang's reaction, but the dragon was just looking at her Scroll somewhat shamefully. She wasn't there that day. Blake had tried her best to fill her in on the details but…
Blake didn't want to think about that. One communication problem at a time.
Ruby took in a deep breath. "Okay… okay… let's think this through. We have plenty of time to think this over."
That was a lie, but Weiss accepted it. "I'm good with that."
"Same," said Yang quietly.
Blake breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I appreciate it."
"We're a team. We all make decisions together," Ruby reinforced. "That being said… we do have to do something. It's possible that Penny attacking us was a one-time event to scare us, but they are probably going to keep doing things to intimidate us. The good news—I think—is that Ozpin still doesn't want to kill us. He did tell Goodwitch not to physically harm Blake and Penny… I think if she wanted to really hurt us, she could have. But she didn't."
"Hey, speak for yourself," Yang said, stroking her jaw. It was no longer sore, but her muscles were still unusually tense after Penny's brutal electrocution to her senses.
"Sorry," Ruby said quickly. "My point is, they want to intimidate us more than damage us. That's what Goodwitch's weird obsession with Blake is about. If they are going to attack us, they will either do it under the pretense of 'training', or they will make the students do it. Goodwitch did explicitly say she was told not to physically harm us, and I guess it makes sense to use students as a buffer to hurt us. That way, they have some degree of deniability if anyone comes forward. Students hazed by Students is a better headline than Students Abused by Professors."
"Okay, but how does that help us?" Weiss asked worriedly. "If we aren't going to go public with this, then we still need a way to defend ourselves."
"Can I raise an important question?" Blake said. "What do we even think CFVY and JNPR are going to do? They didn't do shit to stop Penny, and it's not like they're immune to Atlas being dicks."
"Hanging around the most popular girl in school is a good shield from bullying," Yang explained. "Especially if other students want to start shit, having Pyrrha around to kick their asses for us would be helpful. Ozpin doesn't want to hurt his biggest star."
"Fair," Blake stated. "But that's still only temporary. They're just students. It's not that much better than us being on our own. An actual, helpful ally would be someone outside Ironwood's grasp, like someone he couldn't fuck with at all."
"Like other celebrities?" Yang scoffed. "I don't think more of us would help."
"Not famous people. People with political power," Blake clarified. "Someone Ironwood would be afraid to challenge. But the only people like that are other Huntsmen Academy leaders, or presidents, or I guess Sienna Khan, but I don't think Ironwood would give a shit about a Faunus."
"Would Sienna Khan even agree to help you?" Weiss asked.
Blake thought about that for a moment. "If she knew who I actually was? No. I don't think she'd be comfortable making those allies."
Ruby concurred. They had come into contact with plenty of famous people in recent weeks, but celebrity culture and legitimate power were worlds apart. What they needed was someone—ironically—like Weiss. Wealthy, influential, and preferably Atlasian. A Faunus civil rights leader wasn't going to cut it. Unfortunately, aside from Weiss, Ruby didn't know anyone who fits the bill. Unless she could find someone to rise to Ozpin's level, they were looking at an entire semester under the thumb of a brutal authoritarian, constantly looking over their shoulder and wondering what new tool of harassment would be unleashed on them.
Wait a moment…
Someone like Weiss…
A thought was entering her mind…
There was a sharp knock on the door, and whatever idea Ruby had developed quickly vanished. Their guests had arrived. It was time to focus. Time to break the ice. Fortunately, their guests had plenty of experience as ice-breakers.
When Weiss opened the door, she came face-to-face with Team CFVY, their leader Coco leaning confidently and casually in the doorway. The stylish brunette tipped down her sunglasses, looking Weiss up and down before flipping her a smirk.
"Yo, Ice Queen. Long time, no see."
"Coco," Weiss said, holding back a subtle sneer. "Come in. All of you."
Weiss stepped aside, allowing Coco to stroll inside the dorm room. The sophomore student looked up and around at the empty room, the cold bunk beds, the rusty metal frames holding them aloft, and she dug her hands into her pockets.
"Damn, is this what our rooms look like? This sucks." Ruby hadn't noticed the extra shock to the system Coco must have felt. In Beacon, the high-level teams were rewarded with extra-sized dorm rooms and special perks. In Atlas, they were all equally worthless. Coco was probably wondering where she would fit all of her clothes as if that was the biggest problem she was going to have. Coco gave a flashy nod to Blake and Yang before strutting over to Ruby and holding out her fist. "Nice moves earlier, girl. Show 'em who's the boss."
"Thanks. "Ruby gave a limp-wristed response, but Coco brushed that off as nerves. Another student walked up behind Coco, one Ruby barely recognized. He was a brazen-looking boy, with bright orange hair and scarred-up flesh and eyes that were cloudy and pale and seemed to miss her by a mile. Coco wrapped her arm around her and gestured to the other team leader.
"Oh, you two never met properly," Coco stated. "Ruby, this is my pal, Fox. Fox, Ruby. She's chill."
"I've heard," Fox said with a shrug. "Coco won't shut up about you. I think she's totally in love. Sorry."
"Oh, yeah," Coco remembered. "Fox is a huge piece of shit."
"A huge single piece of shit," Fox joked, finger pointing to the other RWBY members. "Ladies."
Blake huffed. "Yeah, not my type."
"Pass," said Yang.
"T-Taken," Ruby stuttered.
Weiss said nothing. Something else was distracting her.
"Don't worry, I was kidding," Fox joked. "You're all way too famous and popular for my taste. I prefer women with no standards whatsoever."
He calmly walked to the corner of the room, finding himself a nice little look to lay back in while his teammates filled in the space. Ruby didn't know what else to think of him, but he seemed relaxed. He and Coco and Velvet's other teammate never really approached them during their first semester, and maybe some part of her assumed it was out of active malice. She should have assumed general social awkwardness. That could be helpful to have it in common.
Coco moved to introduce the others, only she noticed that they had just walked through the door and were barely paying attention. Her face turned slightly sour, and the girls quickly detected why. Velvet entered the room, still wearing those awfully-in-poor-taste bunny ears—only she was not alone. She was walking arm-in-arm with a giant, a lumbering yet warm man who held her close to his side. Their fingers were laced together, and their eyes did not leave each other's even as the tall man slipped into the room, bending beneath the tiny doorframe. Blake and Yang didn't think too much of it, and Ruby was uncomfortable from the overt acts of romantic intent—but Weiss saw the misery clearly on Coco's face. She was the only one who knew exactly what she was thinking.
"And this is Yatsu," Coco said. "You remember Velvet."
Velvet pulled her eyes away from Yatsuhashi for only a moment, giving Team RWBY a polite wave. Yatsuhashi gave them all a subtle bow, smiling with a puckish nervousness that seemed unbefitting of a member of Coco's team.
"Hi, everyone," Velvet said.
"Nice to officially meet all of you," Yatsu said kindly. "Thank you all very much for saving my life many months ago."
"Don't mention it," Blake said passively. Her eyes drifted to the top of Velvet's head, where those floppy bunny ears seemed to mockingly bow at her. It took every ounce of self-restraint not to immediately curse the Faunus-imitator out. Wait until after she agrees to help us, Ruby had told her. Then let her have it. "Find a spot anywhere you can… I guess."
"Thank you, but we probably won't stay very long," Yatsu explained. "Velvet and I wanted to see more of the campus before classes tomorrow."
"We read there were some lovely vistas," Velvet explained, squeezing Yatsu's hand tightly. "You can see all of Atlas from up in the Hydra. We already missed the sunset, but Atlas nightlife should be gorgeous."
Coco pulled her lips into a thin line. Weiss suspiciously crossed her arms.
"So," asked the ex-heiress, gesturing up and down the couple, "when did this become a thing?"
"Over the break," Coco said before either of the others could explain. Realizing the words came out too quickly, she cleared her throat and glanced away toward the floor. "I mean, you two could explain it."
"Oh, it's so romantic," Velvet said sweetly. She looked up at her new boyfriend, somehow missing the piercing gaze coming from her team leader. "You want to tell them?"
"No, you should."
"No, you should."
"No… you should."
"No—"
"You know what? Maybe it's not appropriate to do any telling at all," Coco suddenly said. The uncharacteristic burst of aggression was capped off by a forced smile, her reaction so quick that Velvet and Yatsuhashi didn't have time to notice. Of course, Team RWBY noticed. They all super noticed. Even Fox noticed, probably. But Coco just sat on the edge of one of the beds and acted like she had said nothing at all. "I mean… let's listen to what Team RWBY wants first. Cool?"
Velvet, maybe blinded by romance and maybe actively choosing to ignore the signs, just nodded and tucked herself into Yastu's arm. She and Yatsuhashi entered deeper into the room, and Weiss moved to close the door behind them—only to immediately get interrupted by an arm jutting in through the entranceway. Weiss was forced to take a step back as the door was forced inward, and bursting in was Nora Valkyrie, who dashed in and scooped her former teammate up in her arms.
"Team RWBY!" Nora gasped. "Are you all right? That was crazy! We are so sorry we didn't help you. We had no idea what was going on."
Weiss squirmed in Nora's tenacious grip, more harmed by the care from her former team than any sword that tried to strike her earlier.
"We're… good… Nora…"
It took Ren's calm but steely grip to release Nora, but the hammer-wielding Huntress remained concerned as she went around to each member of Team RWBY, checking on them, inspecting them, bombarding them with every question imaginable.
"Why did Penny fight you? Do you know her? What is Ironwood thinking? Is he crazy? He's totally crazy right. I can't believe they would just attack their own students like that. Atlas is nuts. Ren, isn't Atlas nuts? Are they going to attack us now? Is this all just one giant test?"
Ruby was unsure how to respond to Nora's ramblings, but eventually, Ren led her to another part of the room, where she could be momentarily distracted by the sweetened sight of Velvet and Yastuhashi's romance. Jaune and Pyrrha entered the room after them, having waited for the storm to die down. Jaune planted himself by Ruby, checking on her more gingerly. She told him she was feeling fine, but she honestly didn't know. Maybe she'd feel much sorer in the morning. Pyrrha… she didn't say anything. After quietly shutting the door behind her, she stood in the corner and simply watched.
Weiss was amazed by her poker face, though she couldn't help but notice something dark hiding behind her eyes.
"You're going sightseeing. Awe, that's s romantic," Nora said warmly. No one had any idea how she had jumped to the topic of love so quickly, but she was soon pestering Ren by poking him in the arm. "Ren, we should go sightseeing too before classes start."
Ren, noticeably uncomfortable to everyone except his partner, cleared his throat. "Maybe we should focus on what Team RWBY has to say first."
Ruby nodded, standing up to draw everyone's attention. "R-Right. Everyone is here now. I think we should get started." The chatter grew to a standstill, and Ruby felt the extra weight of all the eyes on her. It didn't break her like it would have done in the past, but the pressure combined with the rumbling thoughts under her mind caused her to stumble slightly. "So, you're probably wondering why we called you all here today."
"No shit," Coco said plainly. "I mean, do you have any ideas how many rumors there are about you? There's the Grimm stuff, and the stories of you fighting dragons and getting in car crashes and whatnot… and also, we just saw a lady try to slice you into ribbons. That's a lot of stuff."
Ruby took a deep breath. "Right. Exactly. That's kind of the reason why we wanted to talk to you. I'm sure you've heard all sorts of weird things, but we're not… we're not, like, weird ourselves or anything. We're still us. There's just been… there has been a ton happening that we're trying to handle, and… we feel like we could really use your help."
"Help with what?" Jaune asked worriedly. "Are you in trouble?"
"No. I mean, yes. It's complicated."
"Does this have anything to do with that weird hallucination thing we all experienced?" asked Nora.
"The God's Arm?" Weiss answered. "That wasn't… well, yes and no—"
"Is this Grimm related?"
"Kind of."
"Are we all going to get eaten by a giant monster?"
"No."
"Are we going to get eaten by a bunch of little monsters?"
"If you stop asking questions, we'll tell you," Weiss said with irritation.
"Sorry. I'm just curious," Nora wheezed. "One day, you were just our classmates, and then the next, we saw you on the news fighting giant monsters. That's pretty frickin' wild. I want to know what's up."
Ruby sighed. "I understand that. Just, give us a moment. Please." Nora crossed her arms, her patience never being her greatest weapon. Yet, she stayed like an obedient pup waiting for its treats. With her mind now rattled, she took another long moment to clear her head, and then she opened her mouth. "Okay. Here's the deal—"
"Wait," Blake suddenly interrupted, and Ruby physically winced from her frustration.
"Blake, come on…"
"No, hold on. This is important." Blake stood up straight, making sure everyone could understand her as clearly as possible. "Listen, everyone… we need to be honest with you. We called you here because we need your help. But, to tell you why we need your help, we would have to explain some things. A lot of things. And those things might be unbelievable, and they might sound really, really strange, and you'd probably end up thinking we're fucking crazy if we told you. I would think we were crazy if I didn't see it myself. But I don't want to drag anyone else into harm's way. So, here's the deal: If we tell you, you need to do two things for us. One… you have to promise to never, ever—I mean fucking every —tell anyone what we have to say. Like, I am dead serious. What we talk about cannot leave this room. Okay?"
"Oh, that's a bit much, isn't it?" Velvet said innocuously. "I mean, it can't be that serious."
The words came out of Blake's mouth so fast she didn't even process them. "Bitch, did I fucking ask for your opinion?"
Someone, no one knew who, gave an audible gasp, and Velvet entered a small state of shock. "I'm… I'm sorry?"
"Look, I just had this whole conversation with Yang. I didn't want to tell any of you either," Blake said as blunt as possible. "I don't fucking trust anyone right now, and that includes you. I don't even know any of you, really. I'm doing this because Ruby and Weiss trust you. If you want to help, you can't tell anyone. I will make you give over your Scrolls and I will lock you in this room until I can get a promise out of you that you will keep your mouths shut."
Coco frowned, slowly standing up from the bed. "Or I can make you apologize for calling Velvet a bitch."
Blake sneered. "I don't have time for petty shit."
"And neither do I. You're the one who asked for help, and now you're insulting my teammate. If we aren't worth your time—"
"Oh, I'm glad now you're pretending to have morals—"
Before anything worse could occur, however, before a blade was drawn, Yang jumped up to her feet and put herself between Blake and Coco, holding back her teammate to create space. She tried smiling her way through it as she had through every rough encounter in her childhood.
"Whoa, whoa, everyone take it easy," she begged. She leaned into Blake's ear. "Seriously, Belle. Cool it. She's not worth it." Blake clenched her fist by her side but otherwise said nothing at all. Yang gently pushed Blake a few feet back and turned to Coco with a sincerely apologetic smile. "I apologize for Blake's attitude. I promise, she's trying to be a lot better. She is just very reasonably paranoid and mistrusting of people, which I swear is understandable if you were in her shoes. So, like… forgive the bitchiness, if you could. Please, just hear us out."
Coco's grimace did not vanish, but instead of fighting back, she turned to Velvet, who did not seem as angry as she was bewildered.
"Up to you, V," she said. "Do you want to hear them out?"
Velvet studied Blake's face. The woman was furious at her, that much was clear. Whatever she did to deserve such fury was a mystery to her. But of course, she wasn't here for Blake. She never had a conversation with Blake as far as she could tell. She was here strictly for Ruby and Weiss, and they were as nice to her as ever. Plus, considering the events earlier in the day, it would be rude to leave them behind just because their teammate was unpleasant.
"I want to know what they have to say," Velvet decided, and that was enough for Coco to sit back down on the bed, allowing her bitterness to subside.
"Okay then. You don't want us to tell anyone. What's the second thing?"
Yang, satisfied, clasped her hands together. "Great. The second thing… wait, what was the second thing?"
This time, Ruby took over again. "The second thing, I think, is that you have to understand what you are getting into. You all came to Beacon because you wanted to be Huntresses, and this can distract you from all that. Once you hear what we have to say, it'll be impossible for you to go back to training like usual. You probably could already tell just by looking at us, but… what we are dealing with is bigger and crazier than you could ever think of. If you don't think you can handle something like that, or you just don't want the burden, then you should honestly leave."
Jaune, naturally, was the first to voice his concerns. "I mean, how bad are we talking about, exactly?"
Ruby thought of a good way to explain, but Weiss stepped in with the simplest explanation she could.
"Think of the God's Arm," she suggested, "but worse."
God's Arm but worse? For most of Team CFVY, Ruby's point seemed unclear. They weren't there. Hell, for most of JNPR, it seemed overly dramatic. They knew the incident they were referring to. How could they not when it stuck out like a sore thumb? Nora, Ren, Jaune, and Velvet were all there, and fine, it was crazy at the time, but it all made sense afterward. The God's Arm: a bunch of wild hallucinogenic nonsense. Goodwitch had explained to them. Some special religious ceremony happened with Weiss's sister, and her hallucination Semblance got out of control. They all remembered seeing some weird things that day, but it was all ultimately in their minds, frogs and gods and knights in all. It was surreal and damning and horrifying, but at the end of the day, it was all just make-believe. There was nothing magical about mind-altering Semblances in the world, and at the end of the day, it got them out of taking their finals, so what true harm was really done by it? Maybe they just meant in severity, or in passing similarity. Honestly, it cleared up nothing.
But Pyrrha remembered that day, too. She remembered jumping out of a window to save Blake's life. She remembered failing to catch Yang, and the incessant torment she inflicted on herself for that failure. She remembered fighting giant toads over and over and over again, every putrid beast slain imprinting permanently on her mind and in her flesh.
She remembered it was real. It didn't matter what Goodwitch told them. It didn't matter she woke up from that day clear of any injuries or strain. Something had told her for months that on that day, she encountered something she was never meant to see. She had stared into an abyss, and even if her teammates wanted to put it behind her, she needed to know what was staring back.
For the first time, she spoke.
"No." Pyrrha's words were so direct that they cut all other thoughts in two, drawing the attention of the room toward her. "Something's wrong with the four of you. Very, very wrong. You are going to tell us what that is."
Ruby swallowed. She didn't realize it until just then, but she was afraid Pyrrha would say that.
"Are… are you all sure?"
Silence, even from her teammates. Eventually, Ruby started seeing some nodding heads and quiet murmurs of approval. She supposed it was good enough.
"Weiss… lock the door. I don't want anyone barging in. Everyone, hand over your Scrolls. I want to know nothing is getting recorded.
Were there any objections to that? Ruby could not sense any. The moment of truth was upon them, and though the demand was intense, the curiosity of the other teams was getting the best of them. Handing over their Scrolls was suspicious as all hell, but it was only temporary. Pyrrha was the first to follow the instruction, then Jaune and Coco, and slowly everyone else until all the Scrolls were sitting in a big pile. Blake took them all and systemically shut them off while Weiss stood guard by the entryway. Ruby said to lock the door to keep others out, yet it was obvious the lack of trust was a two-way street. Ruby watched the Scrolls silenced like dying flames until there was nothing left in her way, she steadied herself one final time. The teams waited for their explanations. There really wasn't any way to avoid this. If Ruby wanted to get help—and they all knew they needed the help—she would have to tell them the whole truth. The best question was simply where to start.
Ozpin and Ironwood being evil and manipulative?
Weiss inheriting the power of the literal gods?
Them knowing about the Grimm attack in advance?
Ozpin sending them all to Atlas as a direct attack?
Ruby's mom?
Yang's illness?
All of Humanity stemming from a race of Fables and being hunted down generations later by an Anti-Fable, something they literally had no idea what it was?
"So… where to start?"
Fortunately, Blake knew the perfect starting point. "Don't worry. I got this. You all know how Beacon exploded?"
Velvet answered first. "Y-Yes?"
"Yeah," Blake said, flashing a sarcastic grin. "I did that."