Ruby re-reawoke in what some may call 'an even more fucked situation, yikes'. She was restrained again, still on the same wooden post, only now she was supine, her head lolled back uncomfortably. She had a perfect view of the carpeted hall between pews, and she could see every seat behind her was brimming with white and scarlet-robed humans. They all stared forward, their expressions stony, only occasionally shooting glances her way and smirking at the sight.
Ruby looked down at herself, evaluating. There was no longer another person's blood draining into her. She could still feel the stifling collar about her neck. Her shirt and shorts were still on, thankfully, but now she had a white sash around her waist, one trimmed with silvery filigree in the outlines of a sickle, a tome, and… wheat…
Oh.
Ruby thrashed. She tried to cry out. She was gagged.
Oh, fuck.
Behind the increasing panic between her ears, Ruby's brain subconsciously registered a voice in that grand, meaningful tone of so many memories— a sermon— but she remembered one of her own over it, as if her brain were trying to comfort her by overriding the situation with familiarity.
Now turn with me to the next proverb;
Can someone read to me what that says? That right there? That very first sentence, anyone?
Oh-ho-ho. Are we shy this morning, my friends?
Pastor Verron had always been a great guy. A bluejay Faunus mostly like her, with a wrinkled old face and ashy blue feathers that sprouted from his temples to run through the sides of his greying hair.
I'll do it!
Where are you, lemme see you.
I— I'll— Ark! Arkark!
Is that you, Ruby? I can't see ya, munchkin! Summer, pick that baby up, let's see how she's doing!
Arkarkark!
She's a handful!
The congregation had laughed, and they hadn't been laughing at her. They hadn't been laughing at her ticcing out in front of everybody. They'd been looking at her and looking at her mum and they'd all been smiling.
Why wasn't the world really like that?
And we all love her for it— isn't that right!
And they had all clapped, and Ruby had felt loved, and it felt good to be Ruby. They waited patiently for her to finish that old tic. Thinking back, Ruby realized how hard her mum was holding her own in.
Alright, little gemstone, what's it say right there?
For the Second make the earth into fur… furrr…
Furrows. Start over, you've got it sweetie.
The Second made the earth into fur-rows for his people there, and his people filled those… fur-rr-rows… for the Second, because it is what he taught them.
Great job, petal.
Her mother's happy little whisper had been everything to her.
So wonderful, Ruby. We couldn't be luckier to have you. Thank you.
You're welcome!
Everyone had laughed. What an incredible feeling.
And what did the lovely Miss Rose just tell us? What did she say? Why would the Second— a leader by all accounts— get down in that dirt and turn it?
And I'll tell you, folks— well, I don't need to tell you, you all heard me blabber before— but I was raised up on a farm out on the Frontier. And folks, sometimes that Dust don't come in. Sometimes it don't come in and that's just the way of it, and now ya gotta make do.
So me'n my farm, we made do. We got down there and we turned that soil by hand, and oooooh, mama! Anyone else here done that? Tillin' by hand? It ain't too easy, folks!
So why would that Arch the Second, that one we all look up to, why would he get on hand and knee and dirty himself for us? Us?
He'd do it for the same reason we would do it for him!
Pastor V loved those big moments. He'd pound that lectern and he'd pat his chest whenever that bellow got in his voice.
He'd do it because we'd do it! And why'd we sow those fields, folks?
That's right! Because he'd do just the same for us! And sowing ain't much easier than tillin', folks, not back in those days, no!
He'd push off the lectern and wipe his face— that was always the sign that he was going to go from power to emotion. He'd walk a little to one side of the stage, taking big, swinging steps with his long black bird-legs as his expression sobered.
That's called a relationship, folks. That's called love. That's called mutual respect. He'd see us like we saw him— he'd look up to us like we looked up to him, folks, and that brought us all higher.
That's how this world's come to such good, folks. That's how we made it.
Why, god, why was that the moment she heard that shit little kid's voice take over?
Why else do you think we've fallen so far from our ancestors? Why else is this degeneracy celebrated in the open air? Why else would abominations like this be allowed to breed?
Because we failed. I failed. You failed. Failure has become us— that's the simple, hard truth— it's blunt, I can see that in some of your faces, but I need you to listen.
It's not wrong to fail.
It's good to fail.
Where have we all failed? Anyone? Can one of you muster the humility to stand tall and speak your shortcomings? I can.
I failed to keep some of you safe. I'll admit it, I failed to select people who were truly prepared to lay their lives down for you, and they ended up doing that in vain. That's my fault.
Kathrin, I see you there. You look like you've got something to get off your chest. Tell us, Kathrin, nobody here has room to judge.
I… I've… I've spent time with another man… not my husband or my brother… I've cheated, Director.
That's brave, Kathrin.
Why did Ruby hear fingers snapping?
Incredible. That's truth and bravery right there. Kathrin, thank you.
That's failure. I've done it. Kathrin's done it. Anyone else?
No one?
Well, let's ask our guest. Miss Penny?
Ruby craned her neck to watch the front, her spine smarting at the strain. Solid, leaden dread fell in her gut.
Penny, with impossible strength for her size, hefted another crossed post, standing it up behind Director Ironwood's lectern. Sun was splayed out across it, shackled and gagged. Ironwood strolled over to him, revolver visible in his waistband as he turned, reached up, and removed the gag.
"Lemme out," Sun mumbled. "Get away."
We're confessing our failures. Have any to add? Any at all?
"Failing… to kill you…"
Ironwood laughed.
Let's be serious. Something personal, not something from tonight. Anything.
Sun visibly prepared another insult. Ironwood's hand slowly drifted to his revolver.
O-okay, okay, I'll… think of something.
What was your name? For the congregation?
Sun.
Thank you, Sun. Whatever you have to say, none of us will judge.
Sun looked away, hissing, "Bullshit."
Come, Sun. Confess, we've all failed somewhere.
I… steal. Regularly. Things I can't afford.
It can't be helped, especially not with the instincts of your spawnsake.
"That's not—"
Ironwood shoved the gag back in his mouth.
There's the difference, you know. Sweet Kathrin, what was her confession? Temptation. She fell to a swaying heart and an addled mind— a mistake, truly, but one she'd repeat? Certainly not.
But this one? Theft? Regular theft, not a hint of remorse, actions driven by a body made to sin, rather than a person made to learn from failure.
For some, it's in their blood. For us, it's in our minds. We can change our minds. Spawn like him? They can't change their blood.
That's our failure. Ours, together. We let others decide how that affects us, we let others give these animal-minded individuals that freedom, when they just can't handle it. It's not their fault, they're not wrong for being that way. We are the ones who have failed by allowing them into a world where that can affect real people.
Miss Penny, the other one please.
Ruby felt the shock of reality surge back into her. Ironwood had a voice like a melody, easy to float atop without diving in, and her head felt like it was swimming— drugs, probably the aftereffects of what'd put her to sleep.
She tried to thrash, which worked as well as it did last time. Penny sauntered to her with a smile, pushed up her post, and carried her to the stage with ease. She was stood up to face the congregation by Sun's side. Ruby mumbled in her gag. She hoped it sounded like 'I'm sorry'.
Ironwood strode to Ruby with perfect control.
Florabel, do you have things you regret?
Ruby nodded her head fervently, her eyes wild and desperate.
Florabel, have you failed?
Ruby kept nodding. She mumbled something like begging pleas into her gag. Ironwood turned away from her and held his arms high, his pose the same reverent one as the speaker in Sun's picture.
This is our burden, my people! This is our responsibility! Is it the fault of these animals that they would act in a way befitting their nature?
The congregation rang out as a chorus.
No!
Is it the fault of these animals that they would take their freedom for what it's worth?
No!
Is it the fault of these beasts, these mutants, these poor genetic mishaps? Is it their fault their mothers and fathers have lain with beasts?
No!
No it is not! It is our fault! It is our failure!
Hear my confession!
I have failed to guide the blind.
I have failed to guide the blind!
I have failed to move the herd.
I have failed to move the herd!
I have failed to be the master.
I have failed to be the master!
I have failed to make a crown.
I have failed to make a crown!
But hear me, my people! Hear me! Hear my atonement! Hear my confession! Hear my action!
I failed to guide you! I failed to protect you! I failed to place that crown upon my head and I failed to make the world as one where my people can be saved! I failed! I failed!
But today I will atone! Today I will learn! For it is the mind of the Third that we have made! It is the body of the Second that we once claimed! And it is through violence of the First that we have remained!
My kin! My blood! My love! My soul!
The crowd became rapturous, shouting in ecstasy and throwing themselves down before the Director. Penny threw something and Ironwood caught it.
He raised the golden crown.
Today I reclaim the Second! Reclaim!
Reclaim! Reclaim! Reclaim! Reclaim!
He came to Ruby.
This Second I name Florabel! This Second I name Eidolon! This Second I name martyr! Thank you, Florabel! Thank you, Eidolon! Thank you, martyr!
The congregation burst out into wailing, gracious cries, some weeping, some laughing.
Confess for us, Florabel! Confess for us and be unburdened of failure!
Ruby nodded desperately, the words already bubbling in her throat. He removed the gag.
I didn't kill enough of you! That's my failure! Fuck you, you racist cunts!
And the Fourth did strike the Second.
The crown cut her cheekbone as he dashed it across her face, opening the skin and painting the gold with red. He and Penny undid her bindings, probably expecting her to collapse forward after the blow (she nearly did, to be fair) but Ruby caught herself on her second step and launched at the Director, her black talons flashing.
She expected an Aura. He did not have one.
Ruby's claws raked deep across his face, carving his left eye from his skull with a sickening squelch. She visibly split open the cartilage structure of his nose. Her third claw hooked through his lips and nearly pulled them from his face.
He screamed, staggering back, nearly falling off the stage before his congregation rushed to push him back up like a rejected crowd-surf. He bled profusely from the sickening trio of gashes. Blood splattered from his lips as he spoke, his voice thin and hitching with pain, his congregation following again.
And… for that failure, Florabel, you can… be forgiven. Thank you.
Thank you, Florabel!
Ruby lunged for him again, but arms like girders wrapped under her arms as one leg swept out both of hers, bringing her down backwards atop (who she assumed to be) Penny. Penny wrapped Ruby's legs up in her own, pinning her completely. Ironwood stood over them both. She got the perfect angle of him raising the crown.
He turned suddenly, drawing his revolver and letting off three hefty rounds, only for the shoulder of his shooting arm to be fully run through by a sword. A purple sword with a bright magenta pommel.
Oh god, Weiss was gonna see her in her shirt.
The sword pulled back on its own, no hand on its handle, but Ironwood didn't go after it. He turned to Penny.
"Get me to Roman!" he commanded. "Now!"
Penny threw Ruby far off the stage, into the pews, into the clamoring hands and under the stampeding feet of the congregation. Her face and stomach were kicked relentlessly, people clawed and punched at her face, people tried repeatedly to throttle her before someone else took their place and tried it themselves.
For all of five or six seconds, the congregation ripped her apart. That was how it felt, at least, with dozens of hands on her, clawing, striking, grabbing. She lashed out with her claws and felt warm blood, but people grabbed her legs and held them down. She didn't even try to punch, knowing her arms were too shitty and hollow-boned to hurt, she just held them close to herself and tried to keep them from getting broken.
But then the people scattered, and Weiss was there. Standing over her protectively in her white uniform shirt, her sword now drenched in flame. She looked down at Ruby.
The sneer that crossed her lips… it was like she'd seen a dog run over on the street. Or a rotting corpse. Or she'd smelled a nearby patch of rotten watermelons, turned to investigate, and someone had promptly chucked one of the pulpy, wet things in her face. It was a sneer of ultimate disgust. Supreme revulsion. Absolute and utter abhorrence.
Ruby's heart skipped a beat.
"H-hey, you ugly… s-slut," she slurred. "Y'come here ta… k-kiss me… or somethin'?"
Weiss' sneer might have evened out. Ruby might have seen the corner of her lip quirk up. Stars might have exploded in Ruby's chest. She might also have had a concussion, so who could really say?
"Rise, Florabel,"
God it felt good to hear that sound again.
"You look pathetic. Get up."
"Est, eth, eth," Ruby added for her, because apparently she'd forgotten how to speak her way.
Weiss rolled her disgusting, horrible, evil eye, but reluctantly extended a hand towards her nemesis. Ruby took the help, though was surprised to find a glove meeting her own palm. She stared at the leather-covered hand curiously.
"Thou'rt smarter than that," Weiss scolded, her 'thou' coming to Ruby's ears like water in a desert. "Thinkest I would siphon thee at this moment?"
Ruby, who was pretty fucked up and just stood up way too quickly for coherent thought, said blinkingly: "Sh-shit, I wouldn'mind a pickmeup."
Weiss rolled her eyes again and started to hoist Ruby's arm over her shoulder, using the action to subtly press her lips—
"Off, Fourth," a familiar voice commanded as Pyrrha strongly wedged herself between Ruby and her desperately-needed soul-vacuum.
Ruby looked up at Pyrrha and blinked. "P—Pyr…rha?"
The moment those insanely attractive eyes landed on Ruby, Pyrrha's stern look melted into a smile. "Hello, Ruby. I noticed your… partner," she said with a venomous affect, throwing a warding glare at Weiss. "Going off in the middle of the night alone and decided to follow her. I thought she'd be doing something as evil as her sect prescribes, but she told me she was looking for you." Her eyes, though still warm, took an interrogative edge that would have Ruby spilling all her secrets if asked. "Is that true? Did you really send Weiss Schnee, who is a Fourth-Archivist, to save you, rather than someone like me? Or anyone else, even? I know you have my phone number."
She did have her number. Pyrrha had texted her first, which was an earth-shattering event that gave Ruby heart palpitations all night.
Weiss spoke up before Ruby could, hissing, "If thou'st not been made privy, then thou'rt undeserving! Now leave us be and pursue yon perpetrators!"
Pyrrha tucked Ruby closer to— no, wait, no, she was pulling Ruby closer so she could get an arm under her knees and pick her up bridal style. The arm holding Ruby's back shifted until Pyrrha's fingers could crook around and touch her neck, somehow getting the collar to open with a metal creak, though Ruby also felt the tips of those strong, perfect fingers drift on her neck for just a moment longer than necessary. Ruby's face went aflame. Weiss visibly fumed.
"No. You cannot be trusted, Fourth. I will take the Second. You may go after…" Pyrrha scoffed at Weiss. "Your people."
Weiss turned red with rage rather than the girl-crush redness of her nemesis. "Florabel is no Second and I am not one of these freaks!"
Pyrrha turned up her nose. "Yeah. You're some other kind of freak. Get out of here. I will be taking Ruby," she looked down at the girl in her arms. Ruby could only meet Pyrrha's incredible gaze with awe. "Won't I, little gem?"
Ruby melted into her cuirass. "Y-yeah, yeah you've got me. I'll be fine, Weiss, I really…"
She looked at Weiss, only to find her blazing blue eye tamed, shimmering, its glow reduced like it was shining through water. Weiss clenched her jaw and ripped her gaze away. "Fine. Go. I'll see if I can catch up to him."
Ruby nodded, her brain processing as Pyrrha turned and started carrying her away, thoughts clicking together so slow until— "W-wait, Weiss! Don't! You're gonna get hurt!"
She had surged over Pyrrha's shoulder to shout that. Weiss was gone.
"P-Pyrrha, wait, go back," Ruby begged, pawing the back of the Honored Martial. "Go back, she's gonna get hurt! She can't!"
"Ruby," Pyrrha cooed. "You shouldn't worry about her."
Ruby wiggled out of Pyrrha's arms, then blinked back when the First tried to catch up. "I— I have to," Ruby panted, her Aura and Semblance doing something strange that made her feel suddenly sick. "I need to, I— I— I— I'm sorry, Pyrhha, I—" she looked around, her eyes darting almost instinctively to where she'd last been: the stage. "H-him," Ruby said quickly, pointing at Sun. "Get him out of here, it's my fault he's in trouble."
Pyrrha stepped towards her, hands raised like she'd bolt at a moment's notice. "Ruby, Weiss is going to be okay. You don't need to go after her, you'll just be putting both of you at risk."
Ruby shook her head. "I'm sorry. I have to go. But…" she blinked stupidly, her face heating. "Uh… I, uh… l-like… uh… you."
Pyrrha smiled sweetly. "I like you too, Ruby, that's why I want you with me. I can take him, too, just leave Weiss—"
"No!" Ruby yelled, wincing at her own voice. "N-no, I'm not… I need to do this. She's my partner."
"You can get another one," Pyrrha promised. "It's still early, there are plenty of people."
Ruby just shook her head. Pyrrha wasn't going to get it anytime soon, and Ruby knew she was right. It would be rational to just leave Weiss; she'd probably be fine, and if she wasn't, well… one Fourth fewer, one slaver Fourth fewer. That was right. That was the correct, good, logical thing that Ruby should do.
She wasn't doing it, though. She was already running, and she was fast enough that Pyrrha couldn't ever hope to catch up.
Ruby had bolted behind the stage, past the curtain where she'd seen Sun stumble in. There was a very convenient trail of blood and red-stained footsteps for her to follow.
Ironwood was, by her estimate, hemorrhaging blood. The amount splattered on the walls and floor was crazy, but that was probably pretty reasonable for the massive gouges she'd made in his mug plus being run through to the hilt by Weiss' arming sword. Every step must be viciously painful for him. That made Ruby satisfied.
She passed a corpse— a Fourth in scarlet robes, his wide brown eyes glazed over and pointed at the ceiling. His torso was rent in slashes, then blown open around the right side of the chest— probably made mincemeat by Weiss, then used as a human shield from either Ironwood's revolver or Penny's… whatever she had. Ruby moved on.
There were three more bodies in a group, this time containing the first woman Ruby had seen among them— scarlet-robed all the same, not cut up like the last one or the other two with her, just dead. Her eyes were fully white. Ruby went a little further and found three more, though this time with a lot more blood— on the walls, on the ceiling, everywhere, and two of the bodies were white-eyed in death.
Ruby took a second glance around. It wasn't hard to make an educated guess: Weiss had been wounded severely here, and the white eyes were probably what happened at the final culmination of her soul-sucking. She'd been pretty close to this herself.
There was a super fucked-up thought in Ruby's head, but she locked it deep. Some things weren't worth thinking.
Ruby heard a gunshot down the hall.
She ran at her fullest, ignoring the rest of the bodies, sprinting her way through the rest of the carnage without a moment's thought. She didn't give her wires or her sword, nor even her gun, but that didn't matter. What mattered was getting there.
Ruby ran face-first into a heavy metal door, saved from breaking her nose only by the grace of her Aura, and she had to calmly, painstakingly push the thing open before she could burst outside and continue chasing the action— which she didn't need to do for long. Weiss was there some yards away, hunched over, visibly panting. Her clothes were riddled with red spots, riven with cuts, and the whole right side of her shirt was burned away from under-arm to hip; the exposed skin beneath was curled in sickening red twists like an ancient, gnarled tree trunk.
Penny stood between her and Ironwood, her face beaming with a huge, cocky grin. Ironwood looked to have nine toes in the grave the way he stumbled, but Ruby got to watch gormlessly as Roman Torchwick shoved the asshole head-first into the back of a car.
It was raining, and it was night. The raindrops turned to steam on Weiss' sword.
"Weiss!"
Why the fuck did she call out? Why the fuck did she say anything? Why didn't she just, like, go? She could've got in there and popped her Semblance, but no! She just had to stumble forward, reaching out, crying Weiss' name like it was some stupid romance! Useless idiot!
Weiss turned, and it was at least a little satisfying to see her whole face morph into shock. Unfortunately, this meant she wasn't facing the way she was supposed to, so she didn't notice Ironwood's gun shaking out past the open car-door. It roared to life with a huge blast, the shot's recoil rocking the gun fully out of Ironwood's hand.
"Come on, Penny," the boy commanded from inside the car, prompting to Penny throw a peace-sign at Ruby before skipping in with him. Roman gave her a surprised look, then a polite wave goodbye as he got in the driver's seat, ashed his cigar out the window, and pulled off with a stuttering roar of his engine.
Ruby knelt before her partner. The concrete was wet with rain, diluting the puddle of gore.
Yeah, Weiss' head had exploded. Most of it. The top half, at least, and Ruby had to pick a few pieces of brain matter off the ground to lay them closer to the lasagna-like mess that used to be her skull. Ruby sighed. She looked around, finding no one, but she knew Pyrrha was probably coming, so she leaned down and kissed the corpse of her nemesis.
She tried to ignore the weird slopping sounds of Weiss' brain pulling itself back together, re-fusing the fragments of her skull, and (hopefully) creating new tissue where it was missing, which was easy to do with how hard the pull came. The feeling feasted on Ruby, more physical than ever, not just a sapping of her being but something invading her, eating her soul from the inside-out, and it…
It felt like someone was touching the inside of her skin. It felt like someone was sifting their fingers between her muscle fibers. Like someone was running their nails along every rib in her chest. Like someone was breathing right out of her lungs. Like someone was drinking straight from her vena cava.
Then Weiss grabbed her shirt and pushed her back, separating them with a harrowing nose that they were both embarrassed to make. She braced Ruby back at arm's length, which was probably for the best since Ruby immediately tried to dive back in, unable to help herself, her brain stuck on how it must feel in that last second before her eyes go white.
"F-Florabel, you came…" Weiss looked down at Ruby's shirt. "That is mine. Whyfor wearest my shirt?"
Ruby blinked, huffing hot breaths. "Why do you use my conditioner?"
Weiss met her eyes, so Ruby kissed her again, letting herself drain blissfully into Weiss until she had to be pushed back again.
Weiss' face, just as red and flushed as Ruby's was, creased seriously. "Thou wilt never make leave of our missions again."
Ruby nodded. "You'll never go on a mission without me again."
Weiss scoffed. "Thou canst not punish me for thy mistakes."
"I am."
Weiss opened her mouth. Ruby closed it with her own.
There wasn't much of a pull at all this time. Just… lips, warm and soft, pressing and moving against Ruby's own, wet from the rain. Weiss touched her sides. Ruby touched Weiss' own side, meeting skin directly through the burn-hole of her shirt. Weiss pressed herself upwards, them pulled herself back.
"R-Ruby," she said, breathy, needy.
"Don't—"
"N-nay, I must, Ruby, I…" she bit her lip (which was supposed to be Ruby's job),her voice gradually building with courage as she said: "I lay a claim on thee, Ruby Florabel Branwen Rose."
Ruby stared on dumbly. "Huh?"
Weiss pursed her lips tight, seemingly having a minor internal panic that quickly turned major, building up before it had to burst out: "IdonotlikethyclosenesswithyonFirst!"
Ruby reeled, the words like a slap or a flashbang. "What? Pyrrha? You—" she pushed herself off Weiss, her brows knit tight. "You don't— what, you don't approve?"
Weiss sat up, her gaze… weird. Stubborn? Angry? Hurt? Or confused? "N-nay, of course I do not! Thou'rt my nemesis!" She seemed to be fumbling for her own words and realizing they were bad as soon as they came out, looking down towards her mouth as if it were actively betraying her, but she continued: "I— Thou— Needest focus on me, Ruby! Thou'rt my nemesis! I am above… I am… I—"
Ruby scoffed. "You what? I—" She shook her head and shot to her feet. "Weiss, I— gah! I thought you— no! You can't just control who I'm friends with!"
"Yon First seeketh not to be thy friend!"
"Good!" Ruby shouted, throwing up her hands. "Great! Because I want her to be my girl-friend, which you freaking aren't! So stop acting like it! You'd be a shitty girlfriend anyways! Do you have any idea how controlling you sound?"
"W-well, thou…" Weiss' face scrunched up. "T-thou needest be controlled! Knowest what effect thou hast? Thou'rt— thou'rt—"
"You really are a slaver, aren't you!"
Weiss' words choked inside her throat, little more than creaking noises.
Ruby kicked rainwater at her, shouting over the weather. "You want to decide what I do for you, what I am to you, when I'm the leader, here! I'm not gonna be your fucking battery anymore!"
Weiss recoiled like she'd been shot again. "R-Ruby—"
"Stop calling me that!" Ruby demanded, rearing up her talons to—
Weiss flinched.
Would she carve Weiss' eye from her skull? Would she cleave the cartilage of her nose? Would she tear her lip nearly off her face?
Ruby put her foot down. Her claws went krrrk-krrrk against the pavement as she took dragging steps back, turned, and ran away.