Ch 16 - The Ashes Settle
A/N: Okay, after two chapters of combat, I'm gonna get back to some dialogue, and advance the plot a bit more, while covering the immediate aftermath of that invasion. The original plan was to leave you all in the lurch and go to Mantle for the next two chapters, but I decided that I wanted to get this done first.
Once again, fuck FFN for eating my formatting and making me have to go through thousands, if not tens of thousands on the longer chapters, of words each upload. Just infuriating.
Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Souls or RWBY. Dark Souls belongs to From Software and RWBY belonged to RoosterTeeth. I only own my OCs.
Trigger warnings: Flashback to being raped, and a panic attack. You've been warned.
(Blake)
Silence reigned for exactly ten seconds after Qrow's remark, before it was usurped and beaten to death by Yang Xiao Long.
"WHAT?!" the blonde brawler shouted, her hair briefly lighting up from her anger. "Did you know this?!"
The girl's uncle looked her dead in the eyes, and replied with complete sincerity in his tone. "First time I've heard this, firecracker. How long Rae's been a Maiden, and how long she's kept it a secret from me, I have no idea." He sighed, before uncapping his flask once again and draining the rest of it in one go.
Blake half turned her body towards them, wanting to offer some kind of comfort to Yang, but decided that it would be better to do so in private later, and to let the family issue be dealt with by the family being affected for the time being. Instead, she'd deal with the proverbial goliath in the room. Ilia Amitola hissed in pain as one of the Menagerie guard present poured some disinfectant into her shoulder wound, and then asked for a White Fang member to pass him the materials from a first aid kit so he could assemble a cast. The injury would likely heal within a day or two once her aura came back up, and that would only take a few hours at the maximum.
"Ilia?" Blake asked once more, and the chameleon faunus looked up at her, her eyes shifting from gray to red in what Blake knew to be anger. "I-"
"Why are you so surprised?" she bit out. "What, did you think that after you just left us, that I stopped existing?"
Blake swallowed, and her own gaze narrowed. "I couldn't support what we were doing anymore-"
"So you could have talked! To Adam. To Sienna. To me! You could have argued for a change in tactics, to target civilians less, but you just left! You didn't even say goodbye, or left a note. You just abandoned us in the middle of a mission, and then I had to find that out when Adam came back. You left us, for some humans, and a Schnee!" she spat. "Who you had the gall to bring here! The only reason that half the island isn't trying to kill her right now is because your father is housing her!"
Dirt crunched, and multiple faces turned to glare at the Schnee in question, who was looking down at the floor, and had her fists clenched and shaking, Myrtenaster currently holstered on a hip. "I had nightmares," Weiss began in a small voice, "where I woke up screaming, for two weeks after the attack on Beacon. An attack partly orchestrated by your organization, who not only killed dozens of civilians, humans and faunus both, but also released Grimm to do the same. But that wasn't why I had those nightmares. I had them, because the day after the attack, the woman who just saved your life came up to me and told me about how Adam Taurus, a man who personally killed several people I knew growing up, had my company's initials branded over his eye. I… words cannot describe how disgusted I am with my father, with myself. That I'm related to someone who would allow that kind of barbarity to occur to a person." She looked up from the ground to meet Ilia's stare with her own, and Blake saw that there were tears falling from her pale blue eyes. "The only reason I haven't gone to Atlas to try and throw that man into a cell where he wouldn't see the light of day for the rest of his miserable life is because the legal system of the entire kingdom was put into his pockets by his own blood-money. I… I can't even begin to apologize for what my family has done to your people. I won't ask for your forgiveness, because I don't deserve it, but I'm here because I intend to do everything in my power to undo the crimes my father is responsible for."
Ilia blinked a few times, her skin shifting to a curious mix of red and green, while her hair fought over being yellow or blue. "My parents died in one of your dust mines."
"I'm sorry," Weiss said, still crying. "I'm sorry."
Ilia got her colors back under control over the next few seconds, though when she looked over to Blake, her eyes were blue. The Menagerie guard and White Fang grunt had finished setting her cast up. "Am I okay to walk?" she asked the medic.
"Yes, but-"
"I'll seek further treatment with the Fang then," she said, standing up. "But, thank you," she addressed the medic. She paused, taking another look at Weiss, and then over to Blake, and without a word to either, with a bitter expression on her face, she turned and began to walk away, the Fang grunt who had been helping to treat her moving to follow. Blake couldn't find it in herself to say anything. The chameleon faunus got roughly a dozen steps away before another voice stopped her.
"Ilia!" Ruby had stood up from by her uncle, who two Menagerie guards were helping into a stretcher, and had jogged a few yards towards them. "I just wanted to say thanks, for helping us stop those people, and that darkwraith. And I'm sorry that we couldn't save that shop owner, and that I couldn't prevent you from getting hurt."
Ilia stared at Blake's team leader for a few seconds, before her expression softened slightly and she offered a single nod. "Yeah… you helped," she said, before turning and continuing to walk.
A sniffle went off to Blake's side, and she wrapped an arm around Weiss, who continued to cry, Ruby running over to wrap her own arms around her partner, Yang following suit when Qrow waved her away from hovering by him.
(Vyliria)
Awareness crept back rather quickly. One second, her view of Menagerie faded, and the next, she was undergoing the disorientation of having her consciousness returned to her physical body, drawing breath in with a groan, quite a few muscles protesting the movement after having been made stiff by the passage of time combined with a lack of movement. She sat up, trying to shake off the lethargy in her mind and regain her bearings, but as she went to open her eyes, her ears were assaulted instead.
"Vyliria!" a voice shouted out, and she was knocked to the ground as she felt arms wrapped about her, pinning her limbs to her torso as she couldn't move, and-
The smell of the alcohol in his breath stank as she was practically forced to inhale it, tears running down her face as she whimpered, knowing that if she cried out from the burning pain between her legs as he kept driving himself into her, that he'd only beat her further. One of his hands moved to her chest, clawing and bringing a new source of agony, and she silently begged to whatever could possibly be listening that the man who had sired her would finish so she could be left as she was on the bed, and be allowed to cry herself into an uneasy sleep in order to get away from the pain, and then the hand on her chest shot up to her throat and squeezed, and she couldn't breathe, oh Gwyn, she couldn't breathe, and please, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop make it stop please please stop-
-her mind snapped back to the present, and Penny was hugging her, but completely oblivious to her distress, and she couldn't move, she couldn't make him stop, and her breathing was out of control, and her muscles her seizing against her will, and she couldn't move-
She forced air into her lungs and kept it there for a fraction of a second, before barely managing to whimper, "Penny, get off." She felt the girl pull back slightly, confused, but she was still pinning her arms, and she couldn't move, and she was hyperventilating again, her limbs snapping taunt and her muscles twitching.
"Penny!" Pyrrha's voice shouted from somewhere nearby, and the gynoid yelped as she was suddenly pulled off the Irithyllian, Vyliria barely managing to make out a black field wrapping about her body as it happened.
"Ren, Ren!" Jaune's voice was shouting, "Wake up, Vyliria's having a panic attack!"
Footsteps rushed towards her, and a hand went to her shoulder, and then- nothing… the terror was gone, and she blinked, her vision focusing and making out Ren leaning above her, Tranquility active. Vyliria began to fight to even her breathing, slowing her respiration by force as iron discipline crashed back down onto her mind, and her limbs stopped twitching, the muscles relaxing, and after a few more seconds she found she could start to move them under her own power once again. Whereupon she immediately elected to pitch herself forwards, going on her hands and knees, and felt the contents of her stomach run up her throat as she yanked her hood off and the burning sensation and stench of bile accompanied the vomit that sprayed from her lips onto the ground beneath her. She heaved two more times before nothing else would come up.
She slumped back to a sitting position, and took a few seconds to do nothing more than breathe, before looking over to meet Ren's gaze and offer a single, exhausted nod. The man merely smiled and offered a nod of his own in return. She fished a hand around, fumbling for and finding her blue-eye-orb, storing it away, and then began to survey her surroundings, noting Nora in her sleeping bag, groggy, but sitting up with concern plastered on her face, Jaune a few steps away and standing up, seemingly unsure of what to do now that he had directed his teammate to use his semblance to negate her panic attack. She turned her eyes a bit more to see a shocked Pyrrha gently holding Penny in her arms, the synthetic girl with her hands clasped to her mouth and a horrified expression on her face.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know!" The Irithyllian raised a hand, and Penny quieted instantly.
"I-" Vyliria swallowed, pausing before clearing her throat, and then settling for hacking up a glob of acidic phlegm and spitting it to the side. "It's… not your fault… I didn't have time… to warn you before I left. You tend to be very… disoriented when you come back from being summoned. It wears off in just a few seconds but… just don't… accost me when I come back from being summoned again."
Penny couldn't meet her eyes. "I'm sorry," she repeated.
"It's not your fault, Penny. It was just… poor circumstances."
"What… what even happened?" Nora spoke up.
The unkindled took a breath, mulling over an answer for a few moments. Whilst she did so, Ren passed her a flask, and she rinsed her mouth out before spitting the water on the floor. She took a few more seconds to scour the puddle of vomit she made with black fire, the stench briefly tripling in intensity before it began to die down. "A flashback. You all know that… I don't particularly handle extensive physical contact or hugs that well. I do my best to make an exception for Penny because she's my best friend, and I know how much she likes to hug, but I also know she notices when I flinch or stiffen almost every time she does." The girl in question drew her legs up, wrapping her hands about her knees and putting her head down. "My… birth father would pin me beneath him when he… forced himself upon me during his drunken fits. When someone pins my arms by trying to hold me down themselves…"
"It's… the same feeling of helplessness?" Ren hesitantly asked. Vyliria gave a sad nod in response, glancing over to her despondent friend, before getting to her feet and taking a few steps over.
The gynoid looked up as Vyliria put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Penny. Don't blame yourself for me being fucked up in the head."
"I… I should have known," the copper-haired girl said. "I was just so happy that you were back because I was sure that whatever had happened, that you'd made sure Ruby was safe, and…"
"Penny…" Vyliria sighed. "Let's just change the subject."
"So, about that," Pyrrha began, "Nora woke Jaune and I up, claiming that you had used some strange artifact and passed out after telling them that Ruby's life was in danger. We only convinced them to finally go to sleep a few minutes ago… Azul is watching the camp right now."
Vyliria paused for a few moments. "I… I don't think I ever really explained phantoms, invasions, or summoning to any of you, did I?"
"I've heard you toss those terms around a couple times, but you never elaborated on them," Jaune replied.
"Right…" The Irithyllian willed forth a white, opaque, oblong crystal. "This is a white soapstone. It was one of a number of artifacts from my time that could help bridge the gaps caused by time itself fragmenting as the First Flame faded, and it could still be used even when it wasn't. A white soapstone would let you place a summon sign, essentially etching your name into reality via a set of runes supposedly invented by Seath during the war with the Everlasting Dragons. Someone else who found that sign could use it to summon you as a white-tinged, phantasmal projection of yourself, in order to aid them in whatever quest they were undergoing. Many enterprising undead would often summon others to aid them against particularly strong foes. Those in the Warriors of Sunlight would be summoned as a yellow-tinted phantom, and their signs would shine the same color, letting all know that a warrior of virtue was offering their arms in the name of Jolly Cooperation," she finished with a light smile. "The advantage towards offering aid as a phantom was that you could still benefit from the rewards of victory, without having to risk your own life and humanity, or embers in the case of unkindled, in the process."
"How does that relate to now, though, with Ruby and whatever you just did?" Jaune asked.
"There… aren't only friendly phantoms. Those who have obtained a foul artifact known as a red-eye-orb, which looks as it sounds, can use it to project a red phantom of themselves; an invader, coming in unbidden with the express intent of murdering those they've invaded in order to pilfer their hard earned souls, humanity, or embers, without having to directly risk themselves in doing so. The first wielders of red-eye-orbs were beings known as darkwraiths… foul abominations that were once human, given the ability to drain the very humanity from their victims and driven only by a lust to consume more, as they grow in strength with each person they drain. The Blades of the Darkmoon were founded with the express intent to counter darkwraiths and those who would commit the heinous sin of invading. Gwyndolin fashioned a similar artifact, rather unoriginally named a blue-eye-orb because it looked as such. Whenever a Blade would use theirs, it would take them to a random invasion in progress as a blue phantom, so we could drive off the invader by banishing them at the point of a blade. Before we had left Vale, my paranoia had demanded I give Ruby an artifact crafted much later, a sheepskin parchment enchanted by followers of a sister covenant founded long after the Blades, known as the Way of the Blue. The parchment is enchanted to inform Blades that there is an invasion occurring against whoever bears the parchment."
"So Ruby was invaded?" Pyrrha asked, worry plastered on her face.
"Yes, and I was rather distressed when my amulet began to glow, because it informed me of just that." Vyliria grimaced. "You can imagine how I felt when I arrived in Kuo Kuanna to find her uncle unconscious and appearing to have nearly been drained by a darkwraith, whilst Ruby and Neo were facing off against an actual invading darkwraith, that Ruby decided to pick a fight with despite being told not to by Patches, and that she would have went to fight alone if Neo hadn't caught her leaving and decided to follow." Jaune facepalmed, Ren sighed, Pyrrha put a hand to her face (without the audible whap Jaune's more rapid motion produced), and even Nora winced, though Penny just kept a worried look on her face.
"She's, she's fine though, right?" the gynoid asked.
"Yes. I barely arrived in time, but between the three of us and a White Fang member of all people, we bested the darkwraith… unfortunately, it would turn out that it wasn't the only invader, because two other invaders, both individuals from the Age of Fire that I bear a great deal of animosity towards, not only somehow managed to survive to the present day, but were also present and attacked us. The faunus girl with us received a rather nasty, though not life-threatening, wound to the shoulder, but other than that we banished the both of them with minimal injury, and I managed to impart some basic warnings before the completion of my covenant's duties forced me back to my physical body. Only problem with the situation is that they were invaders, and two of them were undead to boot, so while violently banishing them will keep them from invading again for a short time, they will be back."
"And you're the only one of us who can help them the next time it happens?" Jaune went to clarify.
The unkindled rolled her eyes. "Am I the only person that can be summoned over to help them? Yes, but give them some credit. The whole of team RWBY is there now, and they sure as Izalith aren't letting their leader run off again… and Ruby is probably mortified by the experience, so I doubt she'll try again. Neo's also quite skilled, apparently Sun Wukong is there, and Patches knows that if he lets anything happen to them that I'd skin him alive, and then kill him so I could do it again when he comes back." A beat, and then when she realized that she said that with a completely straight face and that sometimes her mortal friends still occasionally had trouble picking her morbid humor from actual declarations of violent intent, she hastily added, "That last part was a joke."
Penny shifting from where she was sitting with Pyrrha caused Vyliria to turn her gaze to the gynoid. The synthetic girl looked like she'd just come to a resolution, and her previous guilt and nerves appeared to be pushed to the side. "Vyliria?" At the Irithyllian's nod, she continued with, "Only a Blade of the Darkmoon is able to reach our friends to help them in Kuo Kuanna?"
"That is correct," Vyliria replied.
"Then I want to be a Blade of the Darkmoon," she said, with conviction in her voice.
Vyliria froze. There was… there was weight behind that request. She was well aware that she was the last of her order, and that her covenant would end when she did. She was a knightess in a company that had no captain, who's founding deity had been reduced to a small flame flickering in the depths of her soul. Then there was also the logistical problem. She'd accrued an abundance of Sunlight Medallions in Lothric, with the express intent to invite any phantoms she encountered into the Warriors of Sunlight, and so she'd had plenty of them to offer to comrades in this age, but every Blade of the Darkmoon required an amulet and a blue-eye-orb, and those were not handed out at all, except once to each member upon their induction into the order. Granted, she did happen to have one spare amulet and blue-eye-orb, but it had belonged to…
Sirris' expression bore intense unease as they crept through one of the upper halls of the Great Cathedral. "We aren't allowed to be here, Vyliria," she hissed.
"Come now Sirris, I've traipsed here a multitude of times and haven't been caught," the Irithyllian replied to the other girl, meeting her blue eyes with her own mismatched pair.
The cream colored skin on the girl's face crinkled along with her expression, and her pale brown hair shook along with her head. "That fails to inspire confidence."
"Well, I promised my friend that I wouldst bring thee to meet her."
"Forgive me if I still find it strange that thou wouldst find a friend besides mineself, nevermind that this other girl hath been thine friend for longer than I have."
"Tis no problem, Sirris. Yorshka is… different. Like us…" And that was the truth. There was a host of issues the Irithyllian girl bore, or Yorshka's own draconic nature and her seclusion from the world, that she only managed to meet Vyliria when they snuck onto the roof at night, when neither of them were supposed to be there in the first place. But Sirris' past was also far from what could be described as normal. Officially, the girl was a Ward of the Sunless Realms, a title given to any orphans of foreign heritage that were cared for by the crown. Her parents had been merchants traveling from Lothric to sell their wares in Irithyll, only to have been accosted by a murderer on the run from the Blades of the Darkmoon. The bastard had slain Sirris' mother and father, but before he could turn to her, the Blades that had been pursuing the man finally caught up and dispensed the Dark Sun's justice upon the cretin. The traumatized child had been taken in by the kingdom, and had expressed a desire to join the Blades, so that she could prevent other children from losing their parents as she had. And so she'd become an initiate, only to be snubbed by the other initiates, most of whom were from noble houses, and those from more common walks of life did the same because she was a foreigner. Vyliria, already ostracized by her peers (but not those properly inducted in the order, because by the time they swore their oaths, such petty things had long been beaten from them if not already forced out through the words of instructors) due to the intimidation brought by the fact that she would receive personal instruction from Gwyndolin in addition to everything else she was being taught, had been the first other knightess (or knight) in training to approach her, and the two outcasts had immediately become lifelong friends, soon almost as inseparable as siblings. Sirris was also the only person besides Yorshka that Vyliria had found herself able to even remotely comfortably speak to about what she'd been through before she'd been taken under the care of the Blades.
And so they came up onto the roof, and a nervous crossbreed turned at the sound of their entrance, eyes lighting up as they saw Vyliria, the two walking towards one another and giving a light embrace, though Yorshka made a conscious effort to make sure that Vyliria's arms were on the outside of the hug. "Hello Vyliria," the girl greeted.
"Hello Yorshka," she responded in kind, before adding, "I brought Sirris, like I promised I would!"
The girl who claimed to be the sister of Gwyndolin leaned to the side, tail flicking in the opposite direction to help her balance, eyes widening as she looked at the other knightess in training. "She appears different," she practically blurted out.
Evidently Sirris was so gobsmacked that she didn't register the words, even as Vyliria cringed, this encounter not nearly going how she had thought it would. "Thou art… thou art a crossbreed!" the orphan quietly exclaimed.
Yorshka took a step back, worry crossing her face, and tail flicking in agitation. "Is… is that an issue?"
"No!" Sirris exclaimed, wincing as she realized she shouted. "Tis not a problem. I twas merely… surprised. I did not anticipate that Vyliria's other friend would have… draconic ancestry."
"Then… couldst we be friends as well?" Yorshka hesitantly inquired.
Sirris blinked, before her face broke into a smile as she gave a nod. "Yes! I would very much like it to be so!"
"Wonderful! I have two friends now!" the crossbreed exclaimed, and Vyliria couldn't contain her own excitement anymore.
"And both mine friends are now friends as well!" she exclaimed, and Sirris walked over to the other two, the trio embracing with grins only children could bear on their faces, even as the other two took deliberate efforts to make sure that the most mentally vulnerable of them would not feel restrained by the others.
"Yorshka," an assertive voice that two of the three girls recognized cut into the moment, and the three stepped away from each other as they turned to gaze at the the towering form of the Dark Sun Gwyndolin, flanked by a quartet of Silver Knights, evidently having just arrived onto the roof themselves. "Why art the three of thee here? Thoust all know thou art not allowed on this roof. Thou should know especially, Yorshka."
The crossbreed stepped forwards, tail limp behind her even as the two human girls cowered behind her. "Brother! The fault is not theirs to bear. I wanted to gaze at the stars with Vyliria, and she wished to bring another friend to meet me."
"And how long have thou been meeting on this roof?" the god asked. Vyliria's breathing was starting to speed up, and she was shaking as she stepped further into Yorshka's shadow, only slightly calming when Siris grabbed one of her hands. Gwyndolin's expression softened. "None of thee will face punishment for this," he said, and the three girls began to relax, Vyliria more slowly than the other two. "But, thoust will be following me, because we will be discussing this shortly. I… see that forbidding Yorshka from wandering or speaking to others has caused this, and so I wouldst rather speak with you two to establish how you will be able to meet under supervision in the future."
Yorhska blinked. "Thoust… will not prevent me from meeting them again, brother?"
"I shan't. But only if the three of thee follow me now," he answered, and Vyliria was surprised to find herself already stepping forwards to obey the god's command.
Vyliria shook her head, blinking the memories away, concerned that she had another flashback tonight, though at least this one was benign.
"Vyliria?" Penny asked, her expression shifting once more to one of nervousness.
The unkindled rose to her feet. "I… I need to sort through my thoughts right now. Alone." And despite any protests her friends could offer, she began to place one foot in front of the next as she walked out into the forest they were camped in.
(Qrow)
What do you know, almost getting your soul sucked out by some abomination that was ancient before the Brothers existed fucking sucked. Right now, Qrow was alone in a spare bed in the Belladonna Manor, thankfully allowed to rest for the night, though he was sure an uncomfortable conversation (and a hangover) was waiting for him in the morning, and not just with his newfound hosts. For now, though, he merely focused on trying to keep Misfortune in check, and maybe actually getting some shuteye in an actual bed.
Of course, with his semblance-induced luck, that exact moment was when a red portal opened itself in the room. "Damnit," he sighed, right before the absolute last person he wanted to see right now stepped through said portal, and briefly surveyed the room.
"Qrow?" Raven asked, what almost sounded like concern leaking into her voice. "You look like shit."
He let out a solitary cough. "Eh, that tends to happen when you nearly get your soul sucked out while trying to save Summer's kid." Rae flinched, and Qrow took a second to enjoy his petty victory.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Well," he drawled. "An eon-old abomination has been murdering people for the past couple months, and Ruby decided to pick a fight with it. I decided to step in, but it turns out that fighting something that was ancient before Salem was a thing is a bad idea when you don't have any magic attacks you can throw at it. Got my ass saved by an animate corpse that can pull off some kinda astral projection crap."
Raven looked genuinely confused by that last statement. "About that, because that's actually one of the reasons I came here."
Qrow, despite the effort it took, pushed himself into a sitting position with a grunt, and looked his sister in the eyes. "Of course that's why you showed up. Not like you care that I almost died or anything like that, not after I used my one save… So when were you gonna tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
Qrow's expression shifted to a snarl. "That you're a fucking Maiden!" he hissed.
"How-"
"Because the person who saved my life is the same person you tried to kill! What season are you? Who did you fucking murder to steal it from?!" and holy shit, it was taking a lot of effort not to shout and bring half the manor into the room.
Raven glared right back. "The weak die, the strong live. The Spring Maiden was weak. I did what I had to do to protect our family."
"You have a very skewed definition of that word," Qrow spat. Rae's glare intensified, and Qrow saw hints of red fire leaking from her eyes as one hand moved towards Omen's hilt. "Go ahead. Fucking leave, like you did to your own damn daughter, who I know you aren't going to bother to go see despite the fact that she's just down the damned hall!"
"If you have nothing to say about the Beacon relic or that woman, then we have nothing to talk about."
The Branwen twins glared at each other for a few seconds, before Qrow begrudgingly began to speak. "Her name is Vyliria Avalon. She's literally undead, from a time before Ozpin even existed. You might kill her, but she already put one Maiden in the ground, and even if you did, she'd come back. Kinda like Oz, but rather than coming back as someone else and having to merge, she comes back in her own body, good as new. She's literally unstoppable when you think about it, because it doesn't matter how many times you kill her, she'll just keep coming back and learn from her mistakes until she comes out on top. Everything I've seen and heard about her paints her as the most stubborn bitch I've ever met. And considering I know you, that's saying something."
Rae didn't rise to the insult. "And does Salem have it?"
Qrow snorted. "I only told you about Avalon so you don't go picking a fight to try and get revenge on someone who's impossible to beat. You left, so that's none of your concern."
"I'm trying to protect our family," Raven said.
"Which one?"
Qrow counted six seconds of rage-filled silence before his twin sister turned around and slashed open a portal with Omen. He watched her leave in silence, disgust written across his face. When the portal closed, he slumped back into the bed. "Damnit, Rae…" Because whether she knew it or not, as long as the vault at Haven remained shut, the second someone found out that there was a Maiden in the Branwen tribe, Raven would have Remant's largest target painted right on her back. And even after all this time, he still had a pretty good idea how his sister thought. And with his luck, he was not willing to bet on whether or not Yang would be in her last thoughts if she kicked the bucket.
Sleep was not going to come easy tonight, if it even happened to begin with.
(Yang)
"Neo," Yang called out, catching the girl's attention just as she was about to duck into her own room to try and catch up on sleep. The heterochromatic girl turned her head around, and raised an eyebrow. Yang sighed, because this wasn't easy, but went through with it nonetheless. "I just wanted to say thanks, for watching out for my sister." The mute girl smugly smirked, and offered a thumbs-up, before turning around and shutting her door behind her. Yang stared after her for another few seconds, before taking a breath, and turned around, heading into her own room, which was also currently housing the rest of her team.
Her sister was sat on her bed, her posture looking like when she was younger and had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar (which happened a lot). She took a breath, and decided to get this over with.
"Ruby, do you have any idea-"
"I know I messed up Yang," the girl dejectedly said while staring at her lap.
"Do you?" Blake asked, "Because what you did-"
Ruby snapped her head up to look at her team, and her eyes were watering. "That was I did was stupid, irresponsible, dangerous, and outright suicidal? Yes, because that's what Vyliria shouted and slapped into my face after saving both my and Uncle Qrow's lives from my stupid mistake, so yes, I know I screwed up, and nearly got four people killed!"
"Then why did you-" it was Weiss' turn to be cut off by Ruby.
"Because that's what mom would have done!" she bit out, "Because she wouldn't have waited while innocent people were getting their souls sucked out when she could do something to stop it!" And now not only had Ruby played the Summer card, but she was also openly crying.
"You're wrong," Yang said, looking Ruby in the eyes but continuing before her sister could do anything more than narrow them in anger. "Mom would have gone after it, but she would have done it with her team. That's why we're mad at you, Ruby. Not because you went off, but because you did so by yourself, and Neo deciding to tag along after catching you doesn't count."
Ruby lacked a response to that, and elected to continue quietly crying. Yang sighed, and walked across the room, plopping herself next to her sister and wrapping her arms around her. Ruby hugged her right back, and started sobbing into her shoulder, while Yang gently traced circles on her back, waiting for her to burn herself out and calm down. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into Yang's shoulder.
Blake spoke up after a few more seconds. "We can't change the past, Ruby. But we can change the future. So next time, just make sure that you don't go alone, okay?"
"Or," Weiss interjected, "we could actually listen to the person who's tens of thousands of years old and not go after the ancient abomination." Yang looked over to the Schnee. "Yes, I know that it's probably gonna go looking for us if we don't go looking for it, but if I'm not the voice of reason on this team, no one would be."
Ruby let out a snicker as her sobs finished themselves off. "Thanks for watching out for us, Weiss. I don't know what we'd do without you."
Weiss smiled. "Perish the thought."
"Alright, Vyliria said we have at least a couple days until they come back," Yang began, "So starting tomorrow, we can all start training; with magic too, since we aren't on the ship anymore. This way we'll be ready for when they do."
"That's an excellent idea Yang," Weiss remarked. "We'll get up and set up a training regimen first thing in the morning."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that, Weiss. It's three a.m., and I for one won't be getting out of bed before noon."
"Yeah Weiss, you're not my mom," Yang snarked when she saw the blanchette's indignant expression.
Weiss narrowed her eyes, before her lips curved into a devilish grin. "Exactly; I'm actually here."
Dead silence. Yang felt her jaw drop, and saw the movement mirrored by Blake and Ruby.
Weiss' eyes widened as she gasped. "I'm sorry! Was that too soon? I didn't mean to-"
Yang snickered. It evolved into a chuckle, and very quickly completed its evolutionary progress by reaching the stage of full-blown laughter. "Oh my gods, Ice Queen, that burn was cold!" And then she was back to cracking up, Ruby, then Blake, and finally Weiss herself joining in. When they finally managed to reign themselves in again, Yang waved a hand. "Look, Maiden or not, Raven is only my mom in the sense that she was my egg-donor. Do I want to track her down and ask her why she left? Yes, but that doesn't mean you girls can't crack jokes about it. I won't get mad."
"Soooo," her sister began, with hope in her voice. "Are we good?"
"Yeah Rubes," Yang replied, "As long as you don't do it again. And the first thing we'll do after getting up this afternoon," she emphasized, while looking at Weiss, who responded with a pout, "is start training to make sure that when those bastards come back, that we'll be ready for them."
"As a team," Blake added.
"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed, "As a team! And as team-leader, I order you two to get over here and initiate a group hug!"
And as team RWBY embraced, Yang reflected that despite the circumstances, things might be looking up after all.
(Penny)
Penny Polendina waited exactly one hour before she elected to go after Vyliria. It took her approximately another 3.6 minutes of walking to reach the Irithyllian, who had seated herself on a fallen tree in the forest. Her hood was down, and clutched in her hands was the silver crescent moon and sword medallion of her covenant, which she absent-mindedly rubbed a thumb across as she stared at something only she could see. Penny came to a stop about a dozen feet away, not really sure what to say. A few more seconds passed, and Vyliria took a long breath, letting it out just as slowly, before raising her amulet to eye level and gazing at it, then placing it back around her neck, taking care to tuck it beneath her armor.
"I don't want to talk right now, Penny," she said in a weary voice.
"Was it something I said?" the gynoid asked, "I'm sorry if I made you have another flashback. I've been a terrible fri-" she stopped when Vyliria raised her hand.
"I told you, it's not your fault. You shouldn't have to traipse around looking for pressure plates that will trigger traps on the floor just because my existence has been miserable and traumatic." She turned around, and a world-weary gaze met Penny's own. She looked down briefly, mulling something over, before sighing and taking in a breath. "Did you know that when I was fighting Cinder, there was a point where she asked what I was, because it had finally dawned on her that I was barely able to be called human? I ended up giving an… admittedly badarse speech listing off quite a few of my greatest accomplishments whilst simultaneously beating her like a living training dummy. One of the things I had told her was that I was the last Blade of the Darkmoon. And… that only really sank in when you told me that you wished to be one as well."
Penny didn't know how to respond to that, and although she wanted to say something, she kept silent.
"I'm the last Blade of the Darkmoon. A covenant older than this age's gods, older than I am, will end when I do…"
Penny walked forwards, and sat herself down next to Vyliria. "I'm not going to let you hollow while I can do anything about it," she said in a firm voice. "So just like you, the Blades of the Darkmoon won't be going anywhere for a long time."
Vyliria sucked in a sharp breath. "Thank you, Penny."
"You're welcome." A few minutes passed as the two sat next to each other, which Penny spent running several hundred hypothetical conversations through her processors so she could be sure she'd say the right words going forwards. When she finally felt like she had a plan for this conversation, she took a breath. "May I ask why my desire to become a Blade caused you distress?"
Vyliria sighed, turning her head away, taking a dozen seconds to answer. "Being a Blade of the Darkmoon is significantly different from being a Warrior of Sunlight. While it is true that despite what the names would imply, that one could be both without any conflict of interest, there is… a much larger weight to taking on the mandate of the Dark Sun. At the end of the day, all being a Warrior of Sunlight requires is to go out of your way to aid others in making this bleak world a brighter place. There are no other obligations, and as a huntress or huntsman, you don't even need to change your lifestyle to follow its tenants. As a Blade, you make oaths. An oath to slay the guilty. To take the ears from their corpses as a Souvenir of Reprisal, both as a warning to others, and as proof of the fulfillment of your duties. You are no longer a defender of the populace, and you are not just someone who aids others in their own quests to better the world. You take an oath to become a hunter of men, to find unrepentant sinners wherever they may run or hide, and to cull the guilty so that the innocent may rest without fear each night. It is only the worst people you will kill… but you will still become a murderer regardless." Vyliria grimaced, and finished with, "And I don't want to make you a murderer, Penny."
Penny froze. Ever since Vyliria had told her of what the Blades did, she had been aware of what Vyliria's covenant mandated. But now those macabre obligations were proverbially shoved in her face. Taking a few seconds to make it seem like she was in thought, she picked out a reply out of the many she'd already prepared.
"I was made to save the world," she began. "I was made as a weapon, and even though you and my other friends help me feel real, that doesn't change the fact that my purpose," and she used that word deliberately, to foster a connection with Vyliria and her state of undeath, "is to safeguard the innocent. By any means necessary. And… I need to acknowledge that someday, that means I'll have to kill bad people in order to protect good people."
Vyliria let out a ragged breath. She was shaking, and Penny quickly realized that there were silent tears dripping down her face. "If you make those vows," she said in a weak voice, "you can't take them back, Penny. This is something that you'll always be committed to."
"I know."
Vyliria buried her face in her hands. "You're… making this so much harder then it needs to be," she said in a whisper so low that even her own audio sensors could barely pick it up. Penny had a feeling she wasn't supposed to hear that. The Irithyllian continued at that same nigh-inaudible volume, and now Penny was sure she was talking to herself, and that those words were only meant for the ears of the person uttering them. "Why do you have to be so similar to her? Why… why do I see you when I look at her, Yorshka?"
Penny froze completely, every servo in her body coming to a halt. I… I remind her of her dead sister? In the physical world, she counted out six seconds, before asking, "Vyl, may I give you a hug?"
Vyliria stiffened, and made a visible effort to relax her shoulders. "S-slowly. And don't pin my arms."
Penny complied, and to her surprise felt the unkindled wrap her own arms around her, as she continued to quietly weep. "I'm sorry," she said in a soft voice. "I'm sorry that I remind you of your sister." Vyliria gave a sharp inhale through her nose, and then began to openly, yet still quietly sob. "I wish I could have met her."
Her best friend heaved in a breath. "S-she should be the one… making you take your oaths… She should b-be the one… giving you… your own… amulet and orb, not… not me giving you… the ones that belonged…" Penny saw that she had to fight to get the words out. "The ones that belonged to Sirris…" she whispered.
"I didn't know," the gynoid hastily said.
"Y-you couldn't have… And if you're earnest in your desire to… take the oaths of a Blade… then they both would have wanted me to give them to you." Vyliria took in a breath, shifting in her seated position and letting go of Penny. The carrot-haired girl let go herself, and the Irithyllian stood up. "I still remember when I took my vows. From Gwyndolin himself. And I'll be damned if that isn't one of the last memories I'll lose." She walked a few steps away. "Penny Polendina. Kneel on your left leg before me, and hold your right arm above your right knee."
Penny blinked, shock evident in her expression, but she recovered quickly enough, and complied even faster. "This is the gesture of loyalty among the Blades of the Darkmoon, the equivalent of a formal salute, though just the right fist to the breastplate will suffice if time is of the essence." She took a breath, and continued in a firm tone. "Doth thou swear thyself to our Covenant?"
"I do," Penny said.
"Doth thou swear thyself to become a shadow of the Dark Sun Gwyndolin?"
"I do."
"Doth thou swear thyself to become a Blade, that shall hunt those who would prey upon the innocent, and to wet thine blades with the blood of the guilty?"
Penny took a breath. "I do."
Vyliria closed her eyes, pausing for a handful of seconds, before a small mass of embers trailed down her right arm, condensing into a Darkmoon amulet identical to her own, yet Penny knew that it once belonged to a woman that Vyliria had seen as her own blood. Both hands gripped the silver chain, and though they slightly shook, Penny felt the amulet be lowered around her neck, before the Irithyllian let go of it. She glanced down at the piece of metal resting over her chest, and she knew that she'd just done something that would impact her for the rest of her life.
"Then I place thee under the aegis, and the power, of the Darkmoon. Thou'rt now… a Blade of the Darkmoon. One of two knights in a captainless company. Swear these oaths, and face thy solemn duty." Another burst of burning ash coalesced into a blue-eye-orb, also identical to the one Vyliria had used earlier that night, though the side with the pupil was opposite to the side facing Penny. "Welcome, sister-in-arms."
The gynoid rose to her feet, reverently taking the artifact. "Thank you," she said.
Vyliria nodded, taking a few moments before continuing. "Right. I have some lessons to impart to you now, on knightly etiquette that I sincerely doubt you'll ever use, because I never used them myself, a few more detailed explanations on how the tools of your covenant work… and I will need to teach you Darkmoon Blade… the miracle, I mean. And considering that neither of us sleep, we may as well start tonight." Vyliria called forth Yorshka's chime, gazing at it forlornly for a second, before placing it upon her hip. "Are you ready?"
Penny grinned. "Do you even need to ask?"
Vyliria's laughter brought a smile to her own face, one that didn't go away until well into morning that day.
()
A/N: Honestly, it took me four hours to get that first bit involving Blake, Ilia, and Weiss to a point where I liked what I was writing. Weiss definitely didn't handle learning about Adam's brand that well, and really doesn't like her old man. And it's even made her hate herself.
So… yeah. That happened. I feel like I don't really need to reiterate Vyliria's explanation. So I'll just try to move on. While the events that happened at the start of Vyl's POV are unfortunate and has greatly distressed Penny, we finally get some exposition into how summons and invasions work in this universe. I'm totally making up Seath inventing the runes used for summon signs btw. The resultant conversation is a relatively concrete explanation for how summons and invasions work in this universe.
And then Penny asks another question, and Vyliria has a not traumatic flashback to Sirris. It isn't canon, but I came up with an explanation behind her title "of the Sunless Realms," that not only sounded cool, but also gave her a backstory that doesn't conflict with the fact that we know that the Shrine Handmaid is her grandmother and that Hodrick is her grandfather. Additionally, said backstory helps her fit in as a "weird kid," along with Vyliria and Yorshka, and feeds into the fact that Vyliria eventually came to feel that Sirris was a second sister to her.
You thought that since Qrow wasn't in Mistral, he wouldn't have a conversation with Raven? You thought wrong! And oh boy, that conversation was fun to write. Honestly felt like it came out perfect, capturing both their characters well, and blending the canon conversation in that tavern with different events while also weaving it into the vastly different context the talk is occurring in.
Ruby certainly had the lesson to be learned hammered into her head by Vyliria last chapter, so she didn't really need to get dressed down again. Regardless, her team made their displeasure known, and though they've made up, they've also resolved to get ready for the next invasion. But this time, when it happens, they'll be facing it as a team.
Vyliria is understandably shaken by the fact that Penny not only wants to become a Blade, which is a much heavier commitment than being a Warrior of Sunlight (which is really, at its core, just taking the medallion and engaging in Jolly Cooperation, which is part of why people adore the Sunbros so much, because it's literally just offering a hand, no strings attached, to anyone who needs help… and Praise the Sun and Solaire. People also love Sunbros because of those.), but also causes her a lot of distress because she's now simultaneously confronted by the fact that the Blades of the Darkmoon live and die with her, and that the only way that she can continue their legacy past herself is by parting with two very personal affects she took when she found Sirris' corpse near the Pit of Hollows. And she's already given the Sunless talisman to Ruby, so besides a blessed mail-breaker, they're kinda the last things she has from Sirris.
I will be completely honest, writing that scene legit made me cry. Talk about Prepare to Cry.
But at the same time, Penny eventually gets through to her, and now everyone's favorite gynoid (and anyone claiming otherwise is a filthy heretic) has taken on the mantle of being a knightess of the Blades of the Darkmoon.
Rather notably, and deliberately, I broke from directly quoting Yorshka's lines in-game for the vows. Vyliria has very much lost faith in Gwyn, and to a lesser but still great degree, Gwynevere, who fled from Anor Londo at the very first opportunity and forsook the duties to Lordran that she had been given. It also makes these lines hit that much harder.
Full disclosure, there is absolutely a future chapter in this book that is titled "Darkmoon Ready."
Lastly, here's a little not-so-fun-fact: You know that grab that the Evangelists in DS3 have, where they light themselves on fire and then hug you? Yeah, Vyliria really didn't like those, for obvious reasons.