Broken Desires

A/N: Welcome back to the Crimson Contract series! Let the chaos unfold!

Ch.1 - Reorientation

A name was a powerful thing.

Among ancient cultures, names had weight. They could reflect the circumstances of birth, a hoped-for trait, or to continue the familial line. They were weapons. Knowing a person's name granted knowledge, power. Names often changed. Great acts of power were an opportunity to take a new, stronger name to proclaim one's deeds. Defeating a foe so thoroughly enabled the forced renaming for a final humiliation. A name could mean so much.

Crimson, the former goddess who had defeated the Brothers Grimm, had paid an exorbitant price for the power to do so. She had sacrificed her entire past life, all of her memories, to cross the boundaries of the Multiverse to save Remnant from the Brothers. She did not know why she had agreed to such a bargain, only that she felt it was a justified decision. She had no expectation of ever retrieving her old memories. As far as she knew, her old life was dead and gone, name included.

Yet, there it was in green letters on the small window.

RUBY ROSE THORNE

It was supposed to be impossible. The Contract was clear. That didn't stop someone from finding a loophole.

It was this loophole that was responsible for Crimson's… Ruby's state of appearance. When she had shed her divine form for mortality, she had taken the option to let her human body return to its original state, or as close as she could get to it. Black bangs dangled in front of her eyes as her gloved hands carried a military helmet with faded, weather-beaten crimson paint. A black bodysuit covered most of her, with a layer of crimson armour pieces on top of it, including a tactical belt. A crimson cloak draped off of her shoulders. There were two holsters on her thighs. One was empty, while the other carried a hand scythe with a crescent blade. By far, the most notable accessory was the device around her left wrist.

It was… the word was escaping her. Some form of future technology. More advanced than even… or was it? Her omniscience was bleeding out of her now that she had a mortal mind to contend with reality. Combined with the missing memories of her past life, she struggled to come up with the right word for this device. She used to know it! It started with a 'c'. Or maybe a 'k'.

Well, whatever it was, it was made of some kind of iron. It was green and damaged. It had these… tiny levers? But they weren't levers, more like really small and rounded towers jutting out from the… futuristic abacus. They didn't go up and down but turned in a circle. There were also these glowing windows, lit by not-fire. Argh! The longer she stared at it, the more frustrated she became! She was forgetting words she had known by heart as her mind was filled with knowledge of Ozma and the world for his next seven lifetimes.

And they were going to jump forward past all of that in five days!

If that Command was still operational. Speaking of the other side of the Contract, her head felt funny. Like, like there was this ghostly pressure trying to open up in her mind. Focusing on it caused something to pop. Words from a unisex voice spoke directly to her mind.

We were so close to a different ending with the Contract, too... to see it ripped away from us with the Avatar (all because of this new entity); no time like the present, Crimson; Guten Morgen und versuche nicht zu sterben, gib niemals auf (Von, Yip die Ziegenhirtin).

It was one thing to have a voice talk in your head. It was an added mess that the voice spoke in a language you didn't recognize! The worst part was, it almost felt like she should recognize the language. She did have knowledge of several ancient languages, thanks to knowing about this era. Which meant that a few of the words seemed kind of familiar, but she wasn't sure if they should be. Some words did happen to appear in multiple languages or words that seemed so familiar that most people thought they meant the same thing. Sometimes that was true. Sometimes it was the opposite. So, she really didn't know if recognizing any word from this new, strange language was a good thing or a bad thing.

Of course, she shouldn't be receiving any of these messages! The battle with the Brothers Grimm, the Gods of Remnant, was over. She had won! The Contract was supposed to end with victory. But then it had all gone wrong. A new being, who appeared as a gray female cloaked in heavy robes, had intervened to stop Ruby from completing one of the Commands. She hadn't only sacrificed her memories to cross the dimensional barriers. Her memory was one of two sacrifices to traverse the borders between dimensions. The first were all of her memories of her past life. The second was her free will. She was bound to obey the orders of another group of beings from a third dimension. As long as the Contract was in full effect, she had to do everything they told her. And, given that she had the full power of a goddess at the time, there was a lot she could do.

"Cat?"

Including creating new life.

Ruby turned around, placing the crystal-clear, tropical lake to her back as she regarded her companions, her red cape swishing with the movement. Several of those Commands had demanded that she create others, mostly clones. Like the one she was looking right at.

"Tom" was a mirror image of her. Same height, same weight, and she assumed all of his features were hers because that's what he had chosen. Both of them had done their best to capture their original appearance. He didn't wear the same outfit she did. Instead, he wore a set of crimson robes and sandals that seemed far more suited to this hot weather than her warrior's garb. Although she was far more eager to confirm they did share the rest of the features she couldn't see without a mirror. Did she have the same steel-gray eyes with the long, thin scar over the left eye?

They both did have cat ears and tails. Their ears were a more rounded tip, like a lion's, with black fur and a dab of red on the tip. Their tails were black fur, through and through, with a tuft of black hair on the end. Both of their tails were active. His slowly moved from side-to-side as his eyes focused on her, while her tail stood straight up with the tip of her tail twitching back-and-forth. She still wasn't used to it, and mostly let it act on its own.

"Did something happen?" Tom asked as his eyes glued themselves to her.

Oh, oh, this is, I hope, um. Well… She considered not telling him for a second. She was still reeling from the revelation. How would he handle it? Yet, she found she couldn't really not tell him. Of the three clones she had created, he was the most like her. Her true twin. If she had wanted nothing more to know this information, even as she struggled to digest it, she knew Tom would hunger for it too. She stretched out her arm, pointing the abacus' window toward him before tapping a finger in the corner of it. "I found out my… our old name."

The four of them weren't exactly standing next to each other, but Tom zipped across the distance to read the green text. He breathed deep, and his tail and his cat ears stood straight up, except for the tip of his tail which swished violently. She couldn't sense his emotions, but, if they were anything like hers, he was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the news.

"So… you, uh, um, we? We were a woman before?"

And that was why she hadn't wanted to tell him. Although she thought of herself as the Goddess Crimson, in truth, when she had crossed the Multiverse and started her fight with the Brothers Grimm, she had been sexless, a crimson griffin. When she had traded her old life away, that meant everything. Her memories and her body, allowing the Beings of the Third Dimension a chance to choose them for her. She had known and accepted this sacrifice to protect this planet. So, when a couple of the Commanders insisted she become a catgirl, it was to be expected.

What hadn't been expected was getting even a shadow of her memories back. Memories she couldn't consciously remember, but could subconsciously feel. When she had the chance to select a mortal form, she had chosen what she had been before by not picking something new. That included this outfit she wore, and the abacus.

Which is why this information was so hefty to the two of them. It was an aspect of the past they had thought lost. Not only was it found, but what did it mean for Tom? She had gone from a woman to a griffin and back to a woman. Tom had been cloned from her as a catgirl goddess and now knew that he was cloned from a woman originally. What did that make him? How would he handle it? How was she supposed to handle this?

An unexpected outcome, but an idea has arose; once you've obtained the power to do so, I recommend the creation of mortal being using the details for the Will, Mondlicht (Once and if you are able to do so, then I will make an addendum to the Companion Command to allow some leeway—of which being that both you and the mortal Will, Mondlicht Schröder, will have shared custody of the Wildling's protection—in terms of her protection; From Yip the Goatherd)

The Commanders are still trying to get me to create life!?

There was no compulsion, at least. It was a conditional Command, er, Suggestion. Her power was almost nothing compared to what she was. There had been a possibility, of course. She could have won the battle against the Brothers in a way that left her as a minor goddess, along with a whole host of possible powers and abilities and blessings. Except the final part of the Contract had been ruined. A being, someone, something, far more powerful than any god or goddess had attacked her right after she had won. It had destroyed most of those possibilities and blessings. That's why, right now, she was nothing more than a mortal woman.

On the plus side, that meant she didn't have to worry about creating this new "Will". She didn't just didn't have that power anymore. Could she ever? Well…

"So." Ruby's train of thought was interrupted as her twin spoke, eyes slowly lifting from the abacus. "You're Ruby Rose Thorne. …what does that mean for me?"

How should I know!? Even if she had access to all knowledge, she wasn't sure she could find the right answer to this question! She wasn't sure anything like this had happened in this dimension or her old one. Did this mean Tom was really a woman? But the Command that had created him was for him to be male, through and through. So, did it not matter? Except he was copied with her subconscious memories. So, which won out? His male body or her old memories? "I… I don't know," she confessed as she deflated.

"Perhaps we should worry about this later?" Chimed in the third member of their party.

Ruby's eyes shifted to him. Griff was the first of the created clones, and, ironically, the least like her. He had been made before she had become a catgirl. Before her memories had been partially unlocked. Back when she had been a griffin. Unlike her and Tom, Griff had long, silver hair reaching past the back of his neck. He had piercing, yellow eyes that looked down on the rest of them past a sharp nose. He was easily the tallest person here, his build split evenly between slender and bulk. What he did share with Tom were the same crimson, travel robes. What he shared with both of them was the same age. All three of them appeared as young men and women, in their early twenties. Griff watched the two of them with a curious serenity. "A lot has happened, but we still need to take care of the basics of survival. Not to mention, I am curious about this fourth member here. For now," he said directly to Tom. "I think you should pick a name for us to address you." He paused for a second. "As should I."

That was a good point. Tom and Griff were the names she had picked out for them. Not that imaginative. Griff because he had been a griffin, and Tom because he was a tomcat. Hey, she had been in the middle of a divine battle! Names had been a side concern until now, and she picked the first things that came to mind. It was all she had time for. Oh wait, that applied to her too, didn't it? Tom knew the old name, but that didn't mean she'd pick it.

…though why wouldn't she?

Tom considered them all, glanced at her, glanced at the abacus, and frowned. "For now, call me… Red."

He was just picking a male version of her name. That… it was all so complicated. "I'm… Ruby."

Griff considered them both before nodding, causing several strands of his hair to swing forward. "Well, since colors seem to be our theme, then I don't see why I should break the trend. "I'll be Silver.

It all seemed so simplistic to her. Yet, she didn't really have any complaints. At least, a complaint she could easily voice. Instead, she opted to be as courteous. "Nice to meet you both, Red, Silver."

Their replies were lost to her as the next Suggestion arrived.

This should be fun.

Fun? Fun! How was this fun!?

Her victory had been wrecked by Gray, who was somehow more powerful than Ruby had been at her apex (where she was ten times more powerful than the Brothers)! And now she was juggling identity crises with herself and her twin clone.

And the Contract was supposed to be over!

It had all been going so well too. The first part of the fight had been scary since she couldn't tell if she was going to win or not, but halfway through victory seemed guaranteed. She had started to imagine what her new life on Remnant would be like. All those brief dreams dashed thanks to a gray lady who used threads like a weapon.

"So, now that we've all picked new names about ourselves, how about we introduce ourselves to our late arrival?" Silver turned to the fourth member of their little group. "I believe you said your name was Yip?"

As exotic as Ruby and Red were with their animal features, they were outmatched by Yip. For one thing, she had horns. Two little curves of bone jutting out from the top of her head, ending in two points. Below them were two goat ears sweeping out to the sides. She was covered in fur instead of hair. There was a poofy batch of white fur wrapped around her shoulders, but most of it was brown. The most animalistic part of her were her feet, or lack of feet. She had hooves instead. The strangest part of her were the claws. All of her animal parts were goatlike, except for the claws. Ruby still didn't know why that was a thing.

Compared to all of that, her red eyes and short height were positively normal. Ruby was taller than she was, meaning Yip was the shortest member of their little band. The clothes and weapons were likewise a bit unexpected but not that unusual. She wore a dark bodice and a green, tropical skirt. The skirt hung to one side, exposing her legs and hooves for all to see. At least her clothes fit the local environment okay, although the fur was going to be murder on her soon enough.

Her weapons were going to be of no help to her on that front. In her right hand was a polearm that was a couple of feet taller than she was. Rings sported the length of the spear's shaft—four in total and evenly spread—with a blueish cloth tied to its haft. A single teal, four-point star decorated both ends of the cloth. The blade of the lance started as a bladed oval before widening to create a U- shape toward the bottom. Still, the fact that more than one person was armed would be helpful for hunting and defense.

One disadvantage Yip brought: she was not a Faunus as Remnant knew them. They only had one to three animal parts. Yip had four. How much of that was going to be a problem for them? Worse, almost each animal part was a highly visible one. If they had a good hat, the horns might not be a problem, but the ears, the claws, would be harder to hide. Maybe some really thick robes to hide her legs? But what about the problem of sweating in tropical heat?

Yip still had that meek, little smile as she gave another little wave. "Hello, yes, I'm Yip."

Yet another thing Ruby had to juggle. She hadn't noticed earlier, but with most of her focus on Yip, Ruby noticed that she could sense Yip's physical location. Like a ghostly string tied between them. It didn't pull, just let her know where Yip was. Because that involves another Command. One that had forced Ruby to make this person and bind their souls together, along with defending Yip's life.

Oh, that earlier Suggestion was trying to bribe her, wasn't it?

Threda is the one who attacked the avatar; she supposedly can hear all incoming suggestions, so: Fuck you Threda!

Just like that, Ruby's heart froze over.

As helpful as it was to have a name for the gray lady, knowing that she heard every single one of these messages made one thing clear: Threda knew where they were. Ruby's head swiveled back-and-forth as her cat ears did the same, while her tail poofed.

The rest of them caught onto her sudden fear. "What's wrong?" Tom, er, Red asked, eyes glancing around.

"I received a message from the Commanders. One of them told me that the person who attacked us, her name is Threda, and she is listening in on the Suggestions. If she can hear them, then she knows who is hearing them. She has to be able to track them, which means-"

"Our location is compromised," Red finished, now as agitated as she was.

"Probably." Silver glanced over his shoulder, though he was far more calm. "However, it may not be necessarily because of the dimensional messages. She did declare this reality "hers". She may possess perfect awareness of what happens in this universe."

"That doesn't make me feel better!" Ruby couldn't help but remember the infinite amount of threads at Threda's control. Or the one time a thread had affected her while being in a tomb buried in a mountain! "She could have complete control over this reality," she muttered.

"That's probably not true," Silver reasoned. "If she possessed that level of control, then there wouldn't have been a fight at all. Also, I can't help but notice we aren't being attacked right now."

That's true. No matter which way she looked, Ruby, she couldn't spot or sense any attack incoming. But is that because there is nothing coming or because I can't perceive it?

The next few moments passed in tense silence.

You can view the Contract by verbally or mentally asking to see it, I believe; I think it's the same for talking to the avatar, Sim.

I can talk to the Avatar? He has a name?

She still wasn't sure what to make of him. The Avatar, Sim, he had protected them from Threda, but she wasn't sure he was on their side. After all, he was part of the Contract, and she ultimately wanted to be free of it. Why does the Contract even have an Avatar in the first place?

…

Wait, is that something I can ask Sim about? The Suggestion said I could just mentally ask. So…

It was the weirdest thing to try to talk to a guy she'd only met once, saw him get sliced to pieces, all the while on edge that Threda was going to attack them at any moment. All just thinking it.

Ummm, Sim?

The Contract's unisex voice replied, "Avatar has suffered extermination. Please begin inquiries with designation: Contract."

Oh.

So, he was actually dead? She had just tried talking to a dead guy. Well, now she felt weird and guilty. And chagrined. She knew the Contract was a thing and not a person, but she still felt like she was being chastised.

"Nothing's happening," Silver observed.

"Maybe she isn't aware of us?" Red guessed.

"Doubtful, but I don't know why she isn't interfering with us. Perhaps she was too wounded?"

Hm, I see my power is waning slightly, Well, one for the road! My final command is for YOU! to have total tongue awareness for the the next five commands.

Whhhyyyyyy…

It was the weirdest compulsion Ruby endured. Why was her first day on Remnant, her first day of her new life, being so weird!? The Suggestion couldn't force her to to obey, since it wasn't a Command. But, it was trying to make her do it. And, just the act of resisting the Suggestion made her aware of her tongue's position anyway! She couldn't stop thinking about it, which distracted her for the compulsion to take root. But I don't want to be aware of my tongue for five more Suggestions! How long is that going to be, anyway!?

Then the compulsion spent itself. Although the Suggestion wasn't even past step two, the compulsions didn't seem to last that long. She breathed a sigh of relief and did her best to not think about her tongue.

Instead, she lunged back into the conversation. "How do we figure out we're safe?"

There was a lot of glancing around, followed by a round of shrugs. It was not very reassuring…

"Well, until Threda attacks us, the best we can do is be on our guard." Silver turned his attention to the environment around them. "For now, let's take stock and start working on shelter."

It was without a doubt the prettiest oasis Ruby had ever seen. …which didn't mean much when she only had memories of this one. But still, that had to count for something. A beautiful, crystalline lake lounged in the center of the oasis as they stood next to the shoreline. Fruit trees, berry-filled bushes, and carefree game was all around them. Even if they had been weaponless, it would have been impossible for them to not get food.

Knowledge came to her as she thought about the oasis. Soon, this week, a nomadic clan would stumble upon this place before choosing to surrender their wandering days to settle in. They would lay the foundation for a city. Humble but filled with content people. Names would be plentiful over the next couple of centuries. Paradise, The Hidden Jewel, the Lost City of Opes.

None of that history that was soon to begin had anything to do with a Multiverse-traveling, former goddess. Let alone her and two clones and whatever Yip was. What did that mean? Did they need to leave before the family arrived to not 'ruin' history? Was history already ruined by her battle with the Brothers?

How had things gone so wrong?