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I sat on one of the brown leather couches by the window. Weiss sat next to me. We were back from Costa Del Sol. Here I was, a married man, but I just couldn't stop certain keys from turning in my head.
"Cloud? I can't feel you…" Ruby trailed. I was guarded and pulling my aura in on myself. I didn't want to be sharing what I was feeling right now. What I was feeling right now was bad. I mean, come on, I just got married. I should be over one of the moons. Instead I was panicked and exhausted and just a little depressed.
"Ruby?" I asked. I didn't get very far past getting her attention. I stopped short with the things I needed to say.
"What's up?" She wondered. She cocked her little head adorably as she tried to piece together what I was feeling without my aura to really taste.
I was silent for a moment as I stared at her.
"What? What is it?" She begged. Like she knew what I was thinking or knew what I was trying to say. "What?"
"I…" I began but failed on my attempt.
"Whatever it is you can tell me. What?" She pleaded. I was lounging on the couch in our living room. Weiss reached out and put a hand on my leg. I shook her off with some frustration and got to my feet. I paced over until I was facing the TV. It was off and blank and empty.
"Cloud?" Weiss asked. "You can tell us whatever it is…"
"Please?" Ruby added.
"I think we should stop trying with you, Ruby." I wasn't looking at her. I was facing the wall hard. "I have to know."
Silence.
I slumped my shoulders down. I turned around and looked at Ruby. She was petrified. Like I robbed something out from under her she'd started to take for granted. I exhaled slowly with my lips in an 'o'.
"But…" she started. "Well…"
Weiss was dead silent.
"Sweetheart…" I fell down to my knees and let out a choking noise. "I'm so sorry. Forgive me please but I have got to know. I have to know if my child will be like me. I have to know if they will be a part of us. Me and my sisters and Mother. I have to know before I condemn a second person to it. If you're already pregnant then fine. But…"
"But you want to stop trying until we know," Weiss finished. She rubbed the space beneath her navel deep in thought.
"Well…" Ruby started and stopped.
"Say something please," I begged from my knees. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I know I'm robbing you. I know how bad you want this. I know I'm not supposed to be negative about our children. Say anything to me. Won't you?"
"Well I can't keep trying without your permission," she rolled her eyes but she was holding back tears. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were wet and red. "When will you know?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know what the brain activity looks like for a fetus. But even before they are born I'll be able to feel it if they join us."
"I'm looking it up…" Weiss murmured and took her scroll out of her pocket.
"I know this is important to you. But sweetheart I have got to know if my children are a part of this thing. I was a part of it before I was 'born.' My children can't be a part of it. They just can't. Before I drag another into this I have got to know."
"You were talking to Penny," Ruby accused.
I nodded. "I did. Yes."
"When will you know if it's safe?" Ruby wondered, on the verge of tears.
"I'll feel it slowly start to join us. I'll feel Salem go after it."
"Twenty five weeks. About after twenty five weeks…" Weiss trailed. "You think you'll be able to sense Salem coming for them?"
"Yes…" I breathed. "And if I feel it, then I'm gone. Those are the rules. You both deserve to know that."
"I don't know about putting that stress on Weiss. She's pregnant. It's not healthy," Ruby croaked around the tears that ran down her cheeks.
"We have to know. He's right. We have to know if our children are a part of it," Weiss murmured.
"And if we get to twenty-four more weeks? And there's nothing?" Ruby asked. "Will you let me start to try again?"
"Yes. Thank you. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive," Ruby waved me off and looked away. "We have to know. You know. We do. And it's just six months you're asking me to wait and… I don't know. I don't know which hurts more. Being me right now or being Weiss for the next six months. You know? She's going to have this in the back of her mind regarding her baby."
"Our baby, Ruby," Weiss said softly. "You're their mother too."
"Oh," Ruby sniffled and tried to stem her crying. I didn't feel right comforting her when I was the one causing this distress. Weiss stood up and put an arm on Ruby's back. Ruby got up and wrapped her arms around her and cried into her chest. "I mean he's right!" Ruby sobbed. "Like what if Salem gets her claws on our babies!? He's right. You know? What am I supposed to say?" She let the tears flow. I stayed where I was and felt like garbage. "And you, Weiss? You must be scared."
"Don't worry about me for just a second. Let yourself have this. We'll have months to be worried about me and our baby. Let yourself have this. Please?"
"Cloud?" Ruby begged. "You're guarded."
I slumped and let my emotions roll out of me and into my aura. I was tired and scared and sad. I let that out and I watched Ruby shudder as it hit her like a wave. I looked away and started to reel myself back in. To bottle that shit back up.
"No…" Ruby whined as I pulled my aura back in and I stopped. "Don't cut yourself off from me please. Please?"
"You want this?" I wondered. "You want to feel this on top of the awful shit you're already feeling?"
"Y-y-yes," she sobbed. "Please. Come hold me. You're feeling it too. You're allowed to feel things too!" She finished almost shouting.
I got up and I took them both in my arms. I squeezed them tight against me. I let all of our auras mix and intertwine in a sweet mess. It was a sad and scared huddle we shared as Ruby cried and Weiss stroked her hair.
"Your baby… our baby…" Ruby babbled a little. "We can't let her touch them. I get it."
"I'm so scared she'll hurt them. And snatch them right from under our noses," I murmured. I let my golden aura out and shed light like the sun. I let my terror shake Weiss and Ruby in my arms as they fed off of me. Weiss shuddered a little and her hand dropped to her belly.
"You'll be able to feel it? You're sure?" Weiss wondered.
"I'm sure. We flow together. Like tributaries of the same river. I'll feel it as a trickle if it's there and I'd probably feel it first since I'm the closest. There's definitely something to be said of proximity to our psychic connection."
"Okay. Whew. Okay," Weiss breathed. "I'm freaking out a little. I know it's not healthy and bad for the baby but I can't stop and I'm freaking out a little. And… that's sort of why. Why I can't stop freaking out. Because I know it's bad for them."
"Breath, Weiss," I ordered. "I've got you."
"It'll be okay. You'll see. Cloud will make sure it's okay," Ruby vowed. "We both will."
"I really don't want Salem to touch my baby. I didn't think this through. Let me go. I need some air."
I released her. I started to draw my aura back in since it seemed to be only making things worse but Ruby smacked me fairly hard.
"Okay. Okay," I managed.
"I hate it when you pull in on yourself. I hate it," Ruby spat with some vitriol.
"Okay! Okay." I raised my palms in surrender. "Weiss, you breathing?"
"Yeah. I'm just... I'm so scared. I saw Salem take you in Atlas. I don't want that for them. My baby. Ever. Would it be like that?"
"It would probably be worse," I admitted. "It would be like how she has control over my sisters. Much more thorough. Less like a puppet."
"Cloud!" Ruby protested.
"I won't lie! It could be very bad. I turned out this way because of my father's program mixed with what my Mom was doing to me. Our baby won't have that extra twist. It will just be Salem. It could be absolutely terrible. We have to hope that being off by a quarter is enough to reduce her influence to nonexistence. But I'll feel it if they are a part of us. I'll feel it first because I'm closest genetically and through space.
"You will? How sure are you?" Weiss demanded. She was clutching herself below the ribs like that would keep the baby growing there safe from Salem.
"Weiss, you need to relax. Right now," I ordered. "I'll feel it. Salem won't even know to be looking for it and it will start small. I know to be looking for a growing trickle. She doesn't. And as soon as I feel something I'm moving."
"We might lose you too!" Ruby moaned.
"I can't get any air," Weiss confessed.
"Breath Weiss. With me. Seven seconds out, three seconds in. With me." I inhaled through my nose and out through my mouth nice and slow. Weiss mimicked me. She breathed deeply in then exhaled hard out. "That's it. There's nothing we can do but wait."
"You'll tell us? You won't just take off?" Ruby demanded.
"I'll tell you. But time will be of the essence. I'll notice first. But my Mother will notice second and fast. I won't have much time to act if it comes down to it. I'll wake one day and say 'huh, there's a tenth branch to this river I'm on.' And she will notice just after that. An infant won't stand a chance. A fetus even less. I'll have to destroy my-Salem then. And if I fail my child will be doomed in all probability. I have to shoot my shot though. I'll be on the clock as soon as I feel it. You should still be breathing, Weiss."
"Okay. I'm alright," she exhaled in a hard 'o' and I could feel her panic in her chill aura. I swept her back into my arms and pulled her into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist and gave her a thorough squeeze. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm losing my cool a little. I just… there's nothing I can do. Nothing but wait for my husband to maybe die and my baby to probably be taken. What will she do once the baby is born? If you fail? You know? What's the worst case scenario?" The worst case scenario… It was also probably the most likely scenario.
"She'll probably send my sisters to collect the new asset," I said slowly. I let the words drip from me like torn droplets. If I failed, and I probably would, my child would be taken from my wives. The fear shook Weiss. She trembled in my arms. Weiss and Ruby and Yang and Blake were good. But my sisters would be better and more numerous. They'd get crushed. Saphron would destroy Weiss and Ruby. They'd take the infant to Ayan and my Mother. The kingdomless continent.
"This is what you've been so scared of," Weiss murmured. "Not just being a good father. But all this."
"Yes. If it is possible for her to do something, then my Mother will. She won't just 'do nothing' if my child is on the table. It will be a feeding frenzy. If I'm a demigod, my child might have that too. Some magic. Salem won't let the chance slip through her fingers if she can help it."
I felt Weiss's small form shake. We were all so small. So tiny. Little lights huddling in the dark. It was bad. Things could get really bad. Yeah I knew it would be like this but I'm not sure Weiss and Ruby really did. I don't know that they would have asked me if they really grasped what the full attention of my Mother would mean.
My Mother's tentacles were not still. Ever. They were always prying and prowling and looking for openings and an edge over Ozma, myself, and the light. Always. Even if my child didn't share the psychic connection, she would still do something if she thought she could. My children had bullseyes on their heads. They were potentially precious and valuable to more than my growing family. They mattered to my Mother too.
"But nothing could happen, right? It could be fine," Ruby murmured. It was a possibility. Our children could be totally fine and free of Salem's influence. It could happen.
"It could," I agreed.
"You don't think so," Weiss accused accurately."You think you have a life or death battle with your family six months from now."
I nodded slowly. I thought so. The chances of my baby not being twisted up in this seemed low. But I had to admit that it could happen that way. Our baby could be born healthy and happy and free of my Mother's reach.
"I'm not lucky. I'm not allowed to have nice things. Well, except in regards to you two. So who knows where our kids will land on that. I really don't know. We just have to see. And there's no way to ask the relic of knowledge because this is about things yet to pass. 'Will my children be born free of Salem's psychic influence?' That's a question about the future."
And it was true. I had Weiss and Ruby and they were in my camp. But I really didn't have much else. And that was my Mother's fault. Grandma Salem? Didn't really like the sound of that. She would not be getting invited over to spend time with the grandkids. Grandad Taiyang? Sure. Fuck it. But no way to my side of the family. My Mother might even make direct action. She might get her hands dirty herself over this. I know that wasn't normally how she liked to operate but she might make an exception to her rule.
And even one of the relics couldn't save us from this dread.
"She might do it herself," I murmured. "She might come for her grandchildren herself if she has to. She may show up personally. I can't really afford any mistakes. Not with this. I have to destroy her on the first try. And it's not like that will be easy. She's immortal and almost invulnerable. I really have to do it right when I do it. I… I need… I need to be better. Be godlike. I have to just be godlike."
"Can you really do it?" Ruby asked. "Can you really beat her?"
"I have no choice now. Do I? Gods, you both ask so much from me."
"Asshole," Weiss hit me.
"You butt."
"Can we operate under the assumption that the baby will be fine?" Weiss asked. "I think it will be more healthy for me that way."
"Just so long as Ruby is back on the pill for the next six months, we're square," I leveled.
"Fine. It's just six months," Ruby agreed. She cooed down at Weiss's belly. She rubbed her tummy with one hand. "Who's gonna be the oldest? And by a bit!?" She murmured to Weiss's belly.
"Right. Right," I breathed. "Just the oldest. This is just a precaution. It will be fine. It's fine."
"Thank you, Cloud," Weiss murmured. "For looking after us."
"Anything," I whispered slowly.
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I went after my father. Vacuo was a big country but not big enough for the scum to hide in. I found him. I found one of his bunkers with Junior's and the Malachites' help. I descended into the bunker. I found the blast doors of the entrance. I pried them open. There was an alarm but I ignored it. I crept into the facility. I made my way to a corridor where there were three paths. I chose the right most one at random. When I got to the end of it, I discovered a woman who looked eerily familiar hanging suspended in blue fluid in a tank.
She looked just like Ruby and I froze. Then I swept forward and cut her loose from the equipment.
She spoke with rasping breath. "I have… a responsibility…" she murmured. "Who are you?"
"I'm Cloud Strife," I answered as I held the small huntress in my arms. She shut her eyes.
"I'm Summer. Summer Rose," she smiled at me gently.
I nodded at her. "I know your daughters. I know them well."
"Yang and Ruby?" She pressed.
"Yes. Let's get you out of here."
"I won't make it." She confessed with a heavy heart. "I have to pick one. The maiden's power has to go somewhere."
"You're the summer maiden," I realized.
"Yes," she answered with a frown.
"Think of Yang. She is strong. She has a good team. She isn't alone."
"Good, that's very, very good…" she whispered. And with that she died. Her emaciated form was on the hard hexagonal floor. I left her there and pressed further into the maze of my father. I came across a wide arena. Above me my father loomed in a small box. Across from me was-
"Jaune," I greeted the young man. He looked identical to me. He frowned and raised his sword. It looked almost identical to the way crocea mors looked two modifications ago. I stepped in on him and crushed him. I swung upwards and launched him with my blade. He ate the strike and tried to retaliate in mid air but I was too fast. I left an after image behind as I appeared above him and spiked him into the ground. My father watched with folded arms as we struggled.
He came at me with his blade but it was painfully slow. I blocked a riposted with a body check that slammed him into the dirt of the arena. When he got up I frowned.
"We don't have to do this. I have no quarrel with you. The only problem is you stand between me and my father. Step aside and I'll let you live."
"Never," he growled. "For my father."
"Very well," I sighed. I stepped in with a massive thrust and speared him through the chest and out the other side. I crushed his body like a tin can.
"Disappointing," my father observed. "But then you always were."
"Fuck you," I breathed. I crushed the glass of the small operating box he was in. I grabbed him by the throat.
He gasped and choked for air. I held him aloft and savored my victory. I felt nothing. I crushed his windpipe. He died there in his lab.
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-WG