RWBY: Bonds Between Hearts
Chapter 42: To be or not to be
WARNING: I own none of these characters sides from my OC(s). All rights go to their respective owners and properties.
This is nothing more than, well a fanfic, a story made up by a fan for entertainment and knowledge.
Everything in this fic is not canon and is only meant to give the audience a new idea of the works of each of the franchises in this story.
So please support me, my work and have some fun. Now enjoy the story. ^w^
The trip to Argus was to say the least astonishing. Maria Calavera had explained to them of her past, adding to the revelation she had silver eyes. To add to it? Her combat was deadly in the past. They (minus Lily) were amazed by her tale. "Wooow…" Cody was amazed.
"I never thought you had Silver Eyes…" Qrow uttered. "But it would explain so much."
"Well, those who had them were basically kept secret. Somehow, Salem fears us for some reason. Thus she did her best to hunt us down." Maria informed with a sigh. "Sadly I'm nothing but a disappointment."
"How can you say that?" Blake rebuked.
"Child, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end. But after I lost my eyes, I only ever looked after myself. Even after my surgery, I was too afraid to fight. Afraid someone would find me again, finish what others started." The elderly woman stated. "You shouldn't aspire to be like me, especially when some of you are clearly stronger already." Upon hearing this, Yang looked down. "And yet, it's… comforting, seeing that your generation seems to have the task of inheriting this world. I'm just sorry I didn't do more to leave it in better shape. Especially in this age no thanks to that snake."
Seeing the tale, the snake had done far more damage than Salem ever could. Implanting spies, instigating war, even nearly consuming the world not too long ago. Who is to say it was Evol who ignited the Great War 81 years ago?
"Heroes can only exist if you forge their existence." They heard Lily murmur her own quote when she fought Evol.
"But what happens, when the said hero… loses what makes them one…?" Maria questioned, touching her cybernetic eyes.
"Maybe you can do something now! To…" Ruby's voice died down and sent a brief nervous glance at Lily who was not looking at them then at Maria. "To teach me to use my powers the way you did?"
"I… don't know kiddo… I've basically lost any will to fight…" Maria frowned softly.
"To give up means you give up on life. Mother never gave up on her will to fight. She pressed on despite all odds against her." Lily frowned. "As will I. Just because you lost those eyes, you can share your wisdom to the next generation. You may not be able to fight but wisdom is also a weapon."
The former silver eye huntress' prosthetics shifted slightly. That girl really thinks like that saint. "You may have raised a valid point…"
A Scroll rang, earning their undivided attention. Ruby patted her pocket before reaching for her device. Seeing the called ID, she gasped. "It's Jaune!"
Yang stopped her bike, looking back in surprise. The others all held the same reactions.
"How?" The heiress asked in disbelief.
Ruby answers her Scroll, "Uh, hello?"
"Ruby! Oh, thank you! I've been checking my Scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!" Jaune's voice was heard from her mobile device.
"The city? Wait..." Ruby looked at her Scroll. She looked at the little signal symbol under Jaune's portrait, watching it get better as she pointed her Scroll toward the road ahead.
"You don't think...?" If there was a signal, then there was only one reason why there was a signal for the Scroll.
Yang proceeds forward to drive up the hill. Once they were at the top of the hill, the group saw a walled city in the distance along with the ocean. The view itself was amazing, straight out of a painting.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived in Argus." Yang announced.
XXX
The orbs Lily sent out had scoured through all of Mistral after information of their creator had told them the mother had last left her weapon somewhere here as it was her home. Shape. Size. Length. Description. Everything needed to scan all weapons the shops have. People who may have stolen it after the Saint's previous life perished before possessing their creator. Registering the inventory from the Saint of Haven's obituary, the corpse was buried in a cemetery for the fallen.
It, of course, was the first place to check but there was no claymore per the X-ray scans. Which meant it was placed somewhere that honored the late Huntress. Three orbs rolled past the crowd who walked.
A few bounced upon the ground but one slowed down. It rolled backwards and approached the statue. It scanned it with its round optic. Name, matched. Embedded in the metal statue was a sword.
Black as night with silver edges. Tall enough to be taller than most humans. A lion's head near the hilt. Fingerprints match Blanc Verdant who was Vernage.
Confirmation has been made. It was the Lionheart.
It elicited an alarm, forcing all orbs to converge. They stared longingly and elicited a series of beeps. They crawled like a swarm of insects, burning the spot it was implanted in. A few people nearly backed away in surprise upon the sudden swarming of the sword in the statue.
As per their creator's command - the Virtuous Steel that belonged to Vernage will never be alone for the Lionheart will be back in the grasp of the Saint.
It finally popped off and they wobbled upon its weight. Of course it was a struggle at first but they lifted it like ants carrying a rock.
[Sending Message to creator's Scroll]
XXX
Arriving in Argus, we all felt relieved but also taking in the scenery of the place. They finally made it after a bunch of troubles.
"We're finally here…" Ruby said with relief.
"Finally!" Weiss raised her arms in relief.
"It has been a rough time." Blake noted.
"I feel like I could sleep for a month…" Cody chimed in with a heavy sigh of exhaustion.
"Tell me about it…" Yang nodded in agreement.
"Guys!" They noticed Nora waving her arm at them. With her was Jaune and Ren. "You made it!" She paused upon seeing Maria. "Who's the old lady?"
"Old lady? Why I oughta…" Maria growled, raising her cane, attempting to swat at Nora.
"Was everyone okay when you arrived?" Blake asked.
"A little shakened but thankful." Jaune answered. His blue eyes noticed the air around Ruby being different and the way she occasionally looked at Lily who looked to have seen something most wouldn't. In fact… they all shared the same shade but Ruby's was worse. "Er… What about you guys?"
"Just answers that were… unsettling." Cody winced when she saw Lily look at him for a second.
"Speak for yourself…" Lily huffed as she walked away from everyone, making Jaune more confused.
"It's… a long story to talk about…" Yang chimed in.
"Well you can tell us when we get to Jaune's sister's place!" Upon the hammer wielder mentioning it, Jaune deflated slightly with embarrassment.
"Sister?" Cody repeated.
"Seven sisters… one of them lives here." The fellow blonde grumbled.
"… Only boy amongst them?"
Jaune whined at the Rider's deduction. "Yup."
"Yikes." Cody joked. "Glad I'm not you."
"Oh, I gotta see the embarrassing baby photos." Yang grinned. "Lead the way!"
"50 Lien says his sister will."
"Make it 100."
"You're on." Cody grinned, fist bumping his girlfriend.
"Why does this happen to me?" Jaune groaned out. He (begrudgingly) led them to his sister's place. All the while it gave Team RWBY plus Maria and Qrow a view of the city the second they used the cable car. The city and with the ocean and Atlas base not too far.
"So what exactly happened? Lily just… walked off on her own."
"It's… ugh… we used the Relic." Ruby sighed heavily, earning a shocked look from Jaune.
"Wait, you did?!"
"And got more than we bargained for… about the blood between Evol… and Vernage."
"It was that bad?"
"Lily practically almost strangled Ruby because of an argument they had…" Yang grimaced earning another shocked look from the blonde knight.
"Lily is now obsessed with finding the last treasure of Vernage to end Evol with it… It's becoming more distraught over her choice to do that than to be alongside us." Blake frowned, rubbing her arm in discomfort.
"Last treasure?"
"Arthur." Blake looked at the ocean. "He was… well, Vernage's bodyguard but they never knew they were in love because… he and other guards were murdered by Evol, right in front of her."
"She herself was the reason she was able to live and die so long. She put a spell on herself to go after Evol and… we saw how many times and… the various ages she was."
"Good lord…" Jaune was stunned alongside his team from hearing this information. "Then why is Lily-"
"Jaune, remember what Vernage told her?" The knight nodded slowly. "She gave her everything and now we realized what she meant by everything. Not just her soul to live, her battle experience and magic to excel in fights but it also meant her memories."
"In a sense, Lily is now Vernage too…" Cody finished. "And…"
"She called me naive…" Ruby murmured. "… and she was right."
Yang comforted her sister, hugging her gently as she was simply wanting to be there for her sister and support her. Jaune however frowned. Lily sounded harsh towards Ruby from their explanation. He would have done something to make some sense but his gut told him it was a bad idea after what she tried to do to Ruby.
One thing is for certain, everyone had bitter feelings after witnessing how cruel the world can be to anyone.
XXX
After arriving at the home that belonged to Jaune's sister, it turned out she was also married and had a child that Yang and Weiss adored immensely. They were given a chance to relax while they decided to familiarize with Jaune's eldest sister.
A glance at the photo on the shelf showed a younger Jaune and his seven sisters. Those who saw it suppressed the laughter they wanted to let out. He had a sign that humorously said 'HELP' while the sisters looked to be doing various things in the photo. "This was you Jaune? You sure didn't like standing out."
"She just had to show them my kid pictures…" Jaune grimaced in defeat as he was slumping against his seat.
"So, Saffron, you're the only Arc living here?" Blake inquired.
"Yep! Moved the second I could. Jaune and I are the only two living away from home." Her tone turned into a teasing one. "I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis."
"I, uh…" Jaune groaned in dismay.
"Aw, you didn't deny it~!"
They heard the door open. Peering over to the entrance, they noticed someone entering the household. A dark-haired woman wearing a dark navy collar shirt with a light-blue cardigan, dark-gray jeans and red sneakers. She also wore red glasses and a wedding ring on her ring finger.
"Oh, everyone, this is my wife, Terra Cotta." Saffron introduced.
"Heya," Yang waved.
"The now named Terra chuckled. "Why hello there! Wow, quite a party, you weren't kidding. Hun, can I get some help please?" Saffron quickly helped her wife as her answer.
"So… how exactly are we going to get to Atlas?" Ruby asked.
"Uh…" Now that Ruby brought it up, they needed a method to get there. "We… could ask the people at the Atlas base that's not too far for permission?"
"We tried but they kinda… closed us out when we tried to ask." Jaune explained.
"What about Lily? Her Technomancy can create anything technological correct?" Ren pointed out.
"Yeah but we don't know where she went after we arrived."
The blonde rider pondered before looking at Saffron's wife.
"Terra right?" Cody inquired. "I hate to interrupt but by any chance did you spot a girl with white hair? Not like Weiss' here but in a moonlight color and emerald eyes that mistaken to be glowing? Dressed in a gray blazer jacket and matching skirt?"
Terra pondered before her brows knit. "I actually did as a matter of fact. During my walk here, she was staring at the sky. Like in a trance after she was looking at her Scroll. Could have sworn she looked surprised about something." She answered.
"Any idea where she went to?" Cody asked of her.
"I'm sorry but I don't."
"Darn."
"Well, at least we have an easier place for her to find us?" Nora shrugged.
"We never told her where we would be."
"…Oh."
"Guess we can go out and find her. We have enough people to look for her." Jaune suggested.
"You all can go. I'll… stay here…" Ruby spoke up, rubbing her arm. She was still not in the best mindset to deal with Lily at the moment. Unlike the others, she and Lily don't see eye-to-eye as tension between the two has yet to wane. Lily doesn't accept her apology and Ruby herself felt the lingering frustration.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Yang asked, worried for her sister.
"I'm fine."
"Okay… Just.. know that I love you sis…" Ruby watched them leave before she laxed against the seat cushion.
XXX
Searching for Lily would have been easy as it sounds but it wasn't. Despite the size of the town, Lily had been known to avoid the eyes of the crowd from her experience in Faust. Cody had to send Cross to spot the former Faust agent. Asking people didn't give much progress which concerned them.
"Liiilly!" Cody called.
"Lillly!" Blake chimed in to try and call out for her girlfriend, feeling more worried than ever. "Where could she have gone?"
"Terra did say Lily looked surprised when she checked her Scroll and muttered to herself."
"Do… you think Evol is here?" Weiss asked, hugging herself.
"Can't be." The former experiment murmured. "Something had her attention so greatly she ignored everything around her."
Yang stopped the second she took the next step. Her mind turned gears for a moment as she thought about it, "Could… it be that she found Arthur's weapon?" She suggested it to the others. "Look, it just may be me spitballing here to make that assumption but she did send countless of those little things. One is bound to find something. They were fast when they kept returning to her simultaneously after all."
"But to bring it all the way from Mistral? That's got to be two days worth!" Weiss exclaimed. "We are talking little orbs that have to travel miles from Mistral, through the snowy terrain and into Argus itself!"
"Any form of advanced technology can be mistaken as magic." Cody stated. "This is Lily we are talking about. She can make anything with technology to make it fast."
"Well tell me, where can we even find her?"
Cody opened his mouth but his eyes spotted something odd. He leaned over from Weiss's left to notice a rolling silver orb as Weiss continued to rant at him.
"And-why are you not listening?!"
"Uh that." Weiss turned to see another orb that was waving to its fellow two orbs that followed after it.
"G-Get those things!" Weiss shouted as she pointed at the orb, to which they heard her cry and began to scurry away from the group.
Yang leapt and skidded across the ground. She opened her hands but only grasped the air.
"Dang it!" The brawler hissed with annoyance.
"I got it!" Cody cried out, using his magic to force the orbs to halt as he then leapt towards to grab one of them before the spell ended. Just as he grabbed it, its top opened like a cap and a small nozzle pointed at him. "Eh?"
A tar substance spit at him, covering Cody's eyes. "Gah! My eyes!" He planted his hands on it but yelped. "My hands! They're stuck!"
"Here!" Yang helped but her gloved hand found it stuck. "The hell?! Is this tar?!"
"Stop! Stop!" Weiss halted the tug of war. "You will only rip his skin if you pull any harder! You need to-"
"Right! I need to burn it off!" He proclaimed as his hands were then set on fire. "IT DIDN'T HELP AT ALL!"
"We need a dissolving agent to get rid of it!"
"Or I can just smack it off!" Nora grinned, though Ren was holding her back from doing anything.
"Just go after those things!" Cody grunted. "Yang you are going to guide me!"
"Oh you think?" Yang drawled.
"Enough sass and move!" Cody had to stumble amidst the follow as they slowly stopped the second they saw dozens more orbs gathering. They watched as Lily stared down at them. From it they parted to allow a train of the little machines carrying a claymore.
"Is that… what I think it is?" Blake gawked.
Lily kneeled, her fingers shakingly reached and brushed across the black steel of the weapon. Her emerald eyes glittered with tears and plucked the large weapon. She saw the lion's head on the curved tip of the sword. She laughed softly and hugged it. "She won't be alone… mother won't be alone again."
Blake then took a few steps forward towards Lily, hoping with her finding this that the woman can relax and calm down. "L-Lily?" The faunus called out as she reached out and touched the saint's shoulder.
The optics of the orbs immediately looked at the Faunus. Her ears straightened to the tension in the air from it. The Saint's mind flickered before an indescribable headache erupted. Lily dropped the weapon and grasped her head, "L-Lily? My name is Vernage… it's Lily…" she collapsed, her nails digging into her scalp. Memories of her mother were digging into her mind, feeling like they were her own. "I died… I died so many times…" Her eyes began to swell with tears.
"No, you're Lily! You're our friend. You may have been part of Faust once, but you've changed! You helped save us from Evol and now have the only power to fend him off. You're the sister to Cody and…. And my girlfriend…" Blake responded, grasping Lily's shoulders as she didn't want her to lose herself to the Vernage side of the new saint.
She was suddenly launched away, the group witnessing wind swirling around the girl. Lily-Vernage felt so many memories rush into her head like a play-by-play photo gallery. The number of times 'she' died. The emotions year after year through the eons. Saving so many people… but also murdering so many as Lily who was with Faust. And… and…
…Working for the snake who murdered Arthur. 'Her' precious Arthur.
Her emerald eyes dilated in terror before she screamed, her magic now out of control upon the burst.
"Lily!" Blake cried out to her.
Cody, deciding that was enough, pulled with all of his might, ripping his hands off of his face. He didn't care how painful it was from a few strands of hair being tangled up from Yang, he wasn't going to waste any more time with his sister in need. The injured rider stepped forward, grimacing to the blazing cyclone of elements.
He reached but his feet and legs felt pain, making him look at the orbs whose optics now glowing yellow instead of blue. They jabbed him, making him kick one away but more began to swarm him as if Lily's Semblance was going haywire upon her identity crisis. He melted one but gasped when the melted metal melded back together and made two more.
"Oh shit." The orbs now swarmed like they had disturbed an ant hill. A very volatile ant hill. Cody kicked and punched but the machines were erratic. No control of their program. No control of who was the ally and who was the enemy.
"They keep multiplying like rabbits!" Yang punched a few but winced, yanking one off her arm but noticed it took her prosthetic. "Hey!" She gasped when they shrouded it and left nothing but pieces and the two Bottles.
"We need to stop them in one go!"
"How?!"
Cody gritted his teeth before his eyes widened. He remembered watching the tournament. He darted his head to Nora. "Nora! Your Discharge Semblance!"
"I would need to be shocked like alot for it to work!"
"I have magic, remember!?" He cried out comically.
"Oh." Nora then grinned. "Then give me the biggest bolt you can muster!"
"One Kaminari Strike, coming up!" Cody said, his eyes glowing as he was filled with magic as above Nora a very powerful cloud appears and charges up with electrons, ready to send out to the closest piece of metal.
The hammer wielder readied herself. "I'm ready to feel the thunder!" She grinned before she was struck as red lightning came down, charging the girl up with the powerful thunder. Her body glowed pink and elicited a giddy laugh. She leapt, twirling her hammer and brought it down, creating a shockwave of electricity. Each crawler convulsed before collapsing.
"F-Finally… It's over…" Weiss panted, groaning from the annoyances of the bots.
"Speak for yourself! My arm…" Yang weeped as she looked at the torn up remains of her arm. "Those things tore it apart like a sick experiment…"
Looking at the blaze they saw the shockwave had done it well. Cody jogged to Lily and cradled her. "Sis, wake up! Lily!"
There was no response. Cody quickly checked her pulse and felt it yet she wasn't waking up. This made Blake jog over as she kneeled down, cupping Lily's cheek.
"Lily please, wake up…" Blake pleaded with tears in her eyes.
There was no response at all. The turmoil of emotions has rendered Lily in a coma-like state.
"I think we should head back for now… We can at least get a doctor to check her out." Jaune placed his hand on Blake for support. "It's all we can do right now…"
XXX
Taking Lily to the Argus hospital has been uncomfortable. There was nothing at first but when the doctor who responded to their plea for help checked on Lily, what they were given was bad news.
Lily was in a coma. That was the bad news. They weren't sure when she will wake up or how long it will remain this way.
"What are we going to do now?" Weiss spoke up as now without Lily's help. They could be attacked by Evol easily and this time defenseless against him.
"We can only just hope she'll be okay and luck is on our side… Otherwise yeah, you're right and we'll be screwed…" Cody grimaced. "I should've done something…"
"We all could have but look what happened." Yang rubbed her neck at the reminder.
"We can only let her rest and hope for the best. We did everything we could at the time." Ren spoke up, showing that they shouldn't be punching themselves down.
"So we just… leave her here?" Blake asked softly.
"We can't look after her at my sister's place. Who knows if she'll… you know…" Jaune grimaced as he knew well about coma's and how most times people don't make out of it, especially without the proper equipment.
Cody lowered his head. He understood Vernage wanted to save Lily by giving her soul to her to live, but they never thought it would cause a serious identity crisis for Lily. The way she acted at times was just like Vernage but other times she acted like his bonded sister Lily. She had been internally and mentally struggling with her own mental state. They never saw her express it but after the story was shown to them, it revealed Lily's withering state.
To be Vernage or not to be Vernage.
"Lily…" Blake said sadly and with tears as she held the saint's hand gently.
They heard the door open and saw Qrow, Ruby, and Oscar but the latter seemed to have a change of outfit.
"What's with the outfit change?" Yang questioned.
"I-I thought it would be better since…" the former farmboy shifted his grip on Ozma's cane.
"Hmm… well… At least you look more ready for anything than before." Cody nodded, understanding and approving the change.
"Any luck?"
Cody gestured to the comatose saint. Oscar approached, his eyes shifting to Ozma who grimaced. "Poor Lily…" he murmured.
"Ozma… has this ever happened to you before?"
The man took a deep breath. "With my incarnations, yes… but not to this great extent. Lily is under an extreme stress due to her soul." He raised a hand. "You said so before, she was supposed to die which meant her soul was a hair away from death but Vernage saved her once by passing her life to her. They shared one body but upon Lily's actual death after her initial sacrifice, her soul should have perished but instead."
"Instead Vernage gave her everything so she can live."
"Our Auras are the extension of our soul. Her Aura wasn't exactly hers to begin with."
"It was Vernage's Aura, not Lily's." It would explain why Lily's body stitched up years ago.
"Yes." Ozma stared at the comatose girl. "Hosting solely Vernage's soul but within Lily's body. Two different things that are no longer shared but merging to make it whole. Vernage never predicted this result."
"Can… can you help her?" Blake turned to Ozma for any assistance. "There must be something."
"I'm afraid… it is beyond my comprehension, Blake. Only an act of a god can do this aside from Vernage. But she is gone now…" He gave one last look at Lily. "What you can only hope is if she remains as the Lily you know or being Vernage's new incarnation who holds the Saint's memories and Lily's."
Blake closed her eyes as the tears ran down her face, as she felt so helpless to Lily. Yang comforted the girl with a hug as she understood how this felt.
Ozma sighed heavily. He rolled his neck slightly to ease the strain in his neck. "I know it is not what you all wish to hear but time is of the essence. Is there any way we can get to Atlas?"
Jaune pursed his lip. Aside from being denied initially before Team RWBY and two riders arrived, asking again will be another rejection. He rubbed his neck. "There is… one idea I have in mind."
"And that is?"
"What if… we steal an Atlas Ship?"
"Who are you and what did you do with Jaune?" Nora questioned the boy as she was surprised and yet proud of his idea.
"H-Hear me out you guys!"
"Oh sure, how exactly can we when you just brought up the idea of stealing a military vehicle?!" Weiss exclaimed.
"We have to get to Atlas somehow. We won't have access like we tried, Lily can't make a ship because she is here, and like you all said we have to get the Relic to Atlas somehow."
A lingering silence washed over before a voice reached their ears. "He's right." Ruby agreed. "Time is of the essence and we can't waste it any more than we already are."
"But Lily-"
"Lily can't do anything right now, Blake," Ruby hissed in frustration. "You need to accept the facts. She said so herself to us that we have our results in whatever we do. We face the consequences and accept it. I know I can't earn her forgiveness and probably never will but we have to move. The faster we move the further Evol will be while we go to a military continent to ensure Salem doesn't get this Relic."
Everyone remained silent at this, as while they didn't want to leave Lily, this could also be their only chance to get to Atlas as well. This was the time they needed to act before they lost it again.
"Well… then what's the plan coach?" Cody spoke up, looking to Ruby and Jaune for the plan.
A/N: Hello minna! Welp, we're reaching the endpoint for Vol 6 here, huh? This was cut short to build things up along with the big battles for the next chapter. But this was something that needed to be brought up as well because we have technically seen it before.
That being, Lily's soul merging due to the life/aura that Vernage gave her as its basically merging and causing these problems. We saw this in a sense with Ozma and his reincarnations. But unlike with him who had not only the blessings of the Brother of Light to do this, but most of the time Vernage was in torment from Evol, thus making her reincarnations much different. Thus, the problems we saw here.
But don't worry, all of this will be answered in the next chapter.
Until then, later minna!