Miracles of Ancient Wonder
~
Chapter 4.5
~~~
Darkness. Darkness and falling.
She was weightless, in a lightless void of heat and fog, endlessly falling as pictures and sounds flashed by.
The moon appeared, high in the sky and whole. It spun, shattering into pieces that broke into more pieces and then turned to slivers of white light.
"Could you explain what do you mean by 'call a demon'?" A voice, cold and reserved.
"You are a sorceress, are you not?" The words came from her own voice, but wrong. "Summon a demon of knowledge, it would surely know far more of what has occurred than I."
"Why would I want to summon demons?" The first voice paused. "How could I do such a thing?"
"I do not know. Such tasks were assigned to sorcerers in my service, I never learned the art myself."
They were drowned out as slivers rained down upon her. The burning bodies and sharp points pierced into her skin. Her muscles ignited, smoldering with the fragments. But it was a slow burn, the type of burn that left her a bowl of human jelly, ready to be poured away.
"What do you mean you do not offer such service?" Her own voice cried out again, haughty and entitled.
The cold voice groaned as a piercing howl sounded.
The red eyes of a Beowolf bored into her soul. The monster's mask appeared from the fog. It bared its teeth.
Her skin burned. Her lungs did too. She tried to gasp, but her mouth could not open.
"What happened?"
"This girl's body does not respond to breathing via Essence. This will be much more disappointing than I thought."
The beast laughed at her as she flailed. She reached for it, grasping against its steely fur.
Her fingers bled as it pushed her away. Bright red streamed from her hands as she fell, deeper and deeper under.
The light dimmed, the Beowolf laughed. It's deep voice growing higher and higher. The blood twisted and turned. It formed into a dress and a sword.
The monster's face shifted, becoming more human. Blood red eyes and feathered hair stared down at her.
Mother! She tried to call, but the blood rushed into her lungs. She reached up, spreading her fingers wide. The crimson eyes blinked, turning away.
The face faded into the darkness, scattering as a flurry of petals swarmed her. They danced with the giggles of a young girl. Round and round they twirled, pressing into her as if they were a thousand fingers.
They soothed the burning, rubbing it away with countless tiny strokes and caresses. They moved around her, each of the small touches adding to something more. They flowed up and down, still missing some places, but this time pressing very tightly around her chest. They tightened and tightened, and then-
Yang opened her eyes and threw herself forward with a shout. Her chest heaved as she panted in the darkness, heart pounding hard enough that she could feel it in her throat.
Sweat soaked her skin and made the sheets so sticky that she needed to get them off. Yang threw an arm forward, but they were so tangled around her that the silk tumbled down to her waist. She glanced back and forth, but remained blind. To her left, she could hear a shower running, and to the right the sounds of distant cars.
She held her hands ready and waited. The darkness slowly receded as she got used to it. The soft light coming from below the curtains and the door frame let her made some sort of sense of the room. A hotel room, a very fancy hotel room which was full of big pieces of furniture.
Yang leaned onto a throne of pillows, her arms and back sinking deeply into the softness that molded itself to her form. It felt, less bad. Much less bad than she was worried about.
She rolled her neck back and forth, her muscles moved smoothly. Her body felt so nice, even though the pounding right behind her eyes was just as strong as it had been before.
But what had happened? She'd been in the alley, about to hit Weiss again, and now she was here, wherever here was. How had she gotten here? What were those voices she dreamed about?
For that matter, how had she gotten knocked out in the first place? Did Weiss do it? Was that why she was a threat? Did she have some sort of attack that could bypass Yang's Aura?
A shiver ran down her spine. That was a terrifying thought.
Yang reached to her side for her scroll. She only found the waistband of her underwear. Her fingers trailed up until they hit her bra. Goosebumps ran down her neck and she hissed her next breath through her teeth.
She focused her Aura into her hair and glanced around as the glow lit up the room. In one corner, her weapons gleaned alongside her scroll. Her jacket and skirt were there as well. It was all lying out in the open. This might not be as bad as it could have been, but someone had a lot of explaining to do.
The shower stopped. Yang ran her tongue over her lips very slowly.
The bathroom door opened slowly, sending a blinding ray of light into the room. Weiss stepped out of it in a big, fluffy robe with her hair wrapped in towels. She glanced at Yang with an utterly alien look. It was practically demure! "Is there a reason why you haven't dressed?"
"I don't know. You tell me." Yang threw the sheets off the bed and jumped to her feet. She flared her Semblance to warm up.
"Yang?" Weiss' tone shifted as she turned the lights on.
"Who else would I be?" Yang crossed her arms and glared at Weiss.
Weiss's cheeks grew bright red. She turned away and pointed at a pile in the corner. "Please, put something on."
Yang kept the glare for a couple of seconds. If it made Weiss more uncomfortable than Yang felt, then good.
Weiss glanced at her once, then twice, then met her glare. "This is ridiculous."
"What happened? How did you knock me out and why did you take my clothes off?"
Weiss stomped over to a chair, pulled a robe off of it, and threw it at Yang. It flew open and landed on her head.
After a moment of standing still, Weiss shouted. "Just put the robe on!"
Yang pulled it off of her face and slid her arms in. "Weiss. I just woke up, without any clothes, in the middle of some random room. What the hell happened?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Weiss pulled her robe tighter and sat in one of the arm chairs, slowly sinking into it.
"Punching you in the face."
"The first time or the second?"
"I hit you twice?" Yang gaped at her.
"Do you recall coming into the alley?"
"Yeah. I held you against the wall and yelled a lot."
"And after that?"
"Nothing."
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, nothing at all?"
"Okay, not really nothing. I had a really weird dream."
Weiss maintained her expression and gestured to one of the other chairs. It was overstuffed and wide, with cushions that seemed like they would be so nice.
After a moment of considering it, Yang plopped into the chair. "The dream… It started with the moon exploding, then being pierced by the shards, something about demons, then hands almost everywhere. And I was really annoyed about that only being almost, for some reason."
"That would likely be the masseuse."
"We went to a massage place?"
"Yes."
"And the drowning?"
"The bath."
"How?"
"A foolish experiment."
Yang growled. "Are you going to actually explain any of this?"
"After I know what you can recall."
She clenched her fists. She could hit Weiss again, punch that calculating, heartless look right off of her face.
Make her answer.
But, that wouldn't get Yang anywhere. Weiss had her over a barrel. "Fine. How about the next sets of hands?"
"Second masseuse."
"Even on my chest? They went really hard."
"No, that was probably the bra fitting."
"Why?"
"Because I needed some excuse to keep Ruby and Blake from coming back when we missed dinner. Also, for some reason a full corset was tried."
"You joking. You have to be messing with me."
Weiss gave her a perfectly level look.
"There's no way that I would forget that much..." Yang walked over to her scroll and checked the time. It had been hours. "What happened?"
Weiss looked past her, then met Yang's eyes. "Yang. Does the name Tialeth mean anything to you?"
Yang's blood ran cold. "What- what're you talking about?"
"Tialeth, of the Solar Exalted."
"How do you know that name?"
"Because I spent the past three hours making sure that she didn't accidentally reveal your secret."
"What?!" Yang shouted. "How?"
"I don't know. She thought that it was the result of some lazy gods not cleaning her Exaltation properly or the blight upon your soul. Then again, she also believed that Vale was sick and disgusting."
"Uhhh..."
"That is the proper name for the cause of someone being Anathema."
"I know what that word means! I just-" Yang glanced to the pile of clothes with Ember Celila on top. "Why do you sound so okay with this?"
Weiss groaned. "Seriously? If I wanted to do something to you, I could've done it while you were unconscious."
"But I'm-"
"Anathema. One of the ultimate enemies of mankind. A vile demon possessing the body of a young girl. A pox caused by our abuses of the land. An irredeemable monster who has sold their soul to the Grimm. An ancient Grimm in human form. A creature who has stolen the power of the Sun or the Moon. " Weiss held up a finger with each statement. "Am I missing anything?"
"A blasphemer who sacrifices people to demons in exchange for fell powers. A witch whose presence can drive a person mad. The child of someone who screwed a Grimm..." Yang continued the list of the Anathema legends from Port's class.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's beside the point."
"It's entirely the point. Some of them are obviously ridiculous, but… But…" Yang squeezed her eyes shut. "Why didn't you kill me?"
"Why would I?"
Yang blinked a couple of times. She opened her mouth, but couldn't figure out what to say.
"What have you done that would make me want to kill you?"
"I'm Anathema. Isn't that enough?"
"No, I don't think so." Weiss crossed her arms.
"What? You… But, I'm-"
Weiss shook her head. "How would you describe Tialeth's memories?"
"Horrible. She was a monster who did everything she could to increase her own power. She all but enslaved people, made them fight to the death, and forced them to obey her orders. No matter what."
"Yang, do you want to know what I saw when I spoke to her?"
Yang hesitantly nodded.
"I saw someone who was more moral and ethical than my father would have been in her place."
"What do you mean?"
"The Schnee Dust Company could be said to do many of the things that you just described. They keep the miners on almost subsistence wages; carefully calculate the safety procedures so that maximum profit is extracted, even considering worker replacement or PR issues as variables; and if he were able to control people's minds, I'm sure all of this would get worse."
"Didn't you argue directly against that with Blake?"
"Yes, but that doesn't make it a bad argument."
"It makes it a lie!"
"Not this again." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just because I don't believe something, doesn't make it a invalid argument. The points that it made still stand. I would trust any of the members of team RWBY, and also the memory of the ancient Empress in your head, with the powers of the Anathema before I would trust my own father. Or many other members of my family for that matter."
"But the Anathema are evil! I'm evil." Yang thumped her fist to her chest. "Just by existing, I'm putting everyone at risk."
"And yet, you're still here."
Yang clenched her teeth.
"Haven't you had these abilities for what, a few months now?" Weiss asked, continuing without giving Yang a chance to respond, "What have you done with them that's so evil?"
"Nothing."
"Exactly. Despite all of the temptations you've suffered, you haven't done anything wrong."
"I've barely managed to control myself."
"Oh?"
"I always know, in the back of my mind, just how much I would do if I slipped even a little bit."
"What do you want to do then? "
"What?"
"Yang, you can't maintain this. You hit me, twice, and came closer to revealing yourself than I ever would have thought possible outside of a formal investigation. If Tialeth didn't take your body over, I'm not sure you would have stopped."
"That's not…" Yang clenched her fist so hard it hurt.
"Responses like that are what I'm talking about. You want to attack me again, fine, I've done more than enough to antagonize you." Weiss leaned back. "What I want to know is why? What do you want to do so badly that you put this much effort into fighting it?"
"Fine." Yang slammed her hand into the armrest. "You want it, here it is. I want to tear open the gates of heaven, punch every god I can find in the most sensitive bits they have, then put someone else in charge. Probably Ruby if I had any say in the matter, but even if it had to be me, there's no way I can make a worse mess."
"That's oddly specific, rather unexpected, and also not terribly practical to begin working towards."
"It's a long term plan." Yang snapped. "Right now it's more like, smash the system and break whoever's in charge… Including Ruby whenever she tries to make me tell her things that I can't or won't explain."
"But, you don't want to do that…"
"Of course I don't! Ruby's my sister and the entire world depends on Hunters. But, I've got this little voice in the back of my head constantly poking and pestering me to take the first step, like an evil conscience." She growled and clenched her fists. "Take control, use your power, do whatever you want to do. Grab her neck and force her to-"
"Do they actually work in offices?" Weiss asked very quickly.
Yang paused and stared at Weiss. What was she talking about? Where would office come into- The smell of smoke made her glance back. The chair had been scorched, probably by her hair.
"The gods you're talking about. Do they actually work in offices in some sort of heavenly bureaucracy?"
Yang nodded. Weiss completely broke her train of thought, but that was probably a good thing considering where it was going. "Yes? I don't try to think about the memories, but
she's seen the gods' city and the buildings."
"I had assumed that was an embellishment of some sort." Weiss squeezed her lips together for a moment. "Moving on, this desire of yours is obviously causing you a large amount of stress and does not seem like it can practically be worked on. What else do you want to do that you haven't been acting on?"
"What do you mean?"
"Something, anything that you want to do which would make controlling yourself easier for you? A de-stressor that you haven't had the chance to partake in because it would be wrong to do so."
"Nothing good."
"We've already established that you're a terrible, man-eating demon who will destroy the world if let off her leash. What do you have to lose by telling me exactly what your evil conscience wants?"
Yang leaned forward and clasped her hands. There were some things that she could do which she was pretty sure would help. The only question was how to explain them without seeming completely insane.
"Well…" She started slowly. "The first thing that comes to mind is telling off all of the professors. Let them know just what I think about them and tell them where to shove their stupid assignments."
"Assignments? You're annoyed about having to do homework." Weiss drew the word out, squinting at her.
"Yeah, like all of those dumb essays that Oobleck gives us. They take hours to write and I'd rather be doing almost anything else."
"That may be possible to do, provided you aren't too rude."
"Nope, being rude is the point. They need to hurt and try to fight back."
Weiss gave her a withering glare. "We can cross that one off of the list then. Antagonizing the professors would be a terrible idea."
"Yep."
"Anything else?"
Yang licked her lips. Getting really drunk then going on a rampage through downtown Vale would feel really good. Fighting without any care about who she hurt or what damage she inflicted, really cutting loose and unleashing her full strength. "I could beat someone bad within an inch of their life, burn them a little, and then leave them alone to suffer in their miserable failure."
"I think that one's obviously out."
"Duh."
"Is there anything that isn't both stupid and evil?"
"Well, there is one thing… It wouldn't be as easy though."
"Go on."
"Someone I can compete with, really seriously."
"You have plenty of competition at Beacon."
"No, I don't. I goof off in fights because it's the only way to keep them interesting. People also love it. And because of that, I could be with anyone I wanted to... With a few exceptions. Each of whom is the only type of person who feels right for this."
Weiss gave her a look of disbelief.
"I need someone I can go all out against and they can take it. That leaves Blake, Pyrrha, a few of the professors, and now you." Yang checked again. Weiss was still a threat. "I don't know what you did, but you're suddenly much more dangerous than you were a week ago."
"How can you tell that?"
Yang shrugged. "I just can. I look at you and get a sense of it."
"The memories you have suit you." Weiss shook her head. "Tialeth was only slightly more helpful than you when explaining how she learned or accomplished anything with her abilities."
"Sorry?"
Weiss sighed. "Regardless, you want a rival, someone you can fight against."
"No, more than that. A true enemy, and maybe a best friend too. We'd have the type of battles that bands would sing about or that you hear about on the news. Constantly fighting and trying to beat the other to whatever the big prize is."
"A serious and powerful rival."
Yang growled and shook her head. This was so simple. Why didn't Weiss get it? "It's about constantly working to draw the other person in, no matter the field or what has to be done. Ruining their plans and taking what you want from them in the process."
She cleared her throat, then said in a deeper, announcer voice, "'Trio rampages through downtown Vale, embroiled in a masterful three-way debate, after the duos' date was interrupted by a romantic challenger. Eyewitnesses report an arousal of their faculties and an expansion of their minds.' Or 'spurned lover kidnaps her rival's sister and ties her to the top of the CCT demanding just one more night.'"
Another withering look hit Yang.
"I know what I said."
"You couldn't sate yourself through normal debate or intellectual competition? You really need to be so cartoonishly jealous?"
"Normal and intellectual aren't really my, or the voices', idea of fun. There's not... strong enough. I doesn't give me the fight feelings, the right burning desire." Yang slammed her fists together. "So that leaves competing with someone in an incredibly over the top manner as the best option because the other thoughts surrounding it all involve doing things to people that are really bad."
"It's certainly the least bad one that you've mentioned so far. Did you have to describe it like that though?"
"You're the one who asked."
"Fair enough. Are there any others."
"Yes, but they all involve seriously hurting or killing someone."
Weiss took a deep breath. "Very well. We have our answer then."
Yang glanced back and forth once. "You can't be serious."
"I said what I said."
"You'd actually do something like that? Go after someone I'm also interested in?"
"I'm working off of the assumption that you are both correct about what would help and being honest. I had already been thinking about what I wanted and who might be interesting." Weiss smirked.
"Why would you spend so much time thinking about it instead of just going for it?"
"There are important considerations to make before acting."
"Like what?"
"Whether or not they would be receptive. If it would cause too much stress on other parties."
"Why does what other people think matter?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Ruby."
Yang bit her lip. The thought of Weiss, tricky and manipulative Weiss, doing anything with her little sister made her blood boil. "That's a good point."
"You don't need anything else to worry about. At the rate you're going, you'll expose yourself within the month if we can't find a solution."
"I'm not that bad."
"You are, in fact, that bad. If anyone else had been with you tonight, I'm fairly certain you would be running for your life."
"Blake would've been fine."
"Blake practically wears her feelings on her sleeve and she would not have reacted well to some of the topics that were brought up."
"And you did?"
"I'm better at hiding my reactions and know how to interact with such people. I don't think any of you would have been able to play at being less experienced and deferential high-nobility."
"You're right, you are better at hiding that." Yang closed her eyes briefly and and tapped her fingers. "What do you get out of this?"
Weiss didn't respond.
"Why do you want to help me so badly? I'd get caught if you left me alone. Trying to help me paints a huge target on you."
"Because I care." Weiss sat up and leaned forward. "I care about you. I care about Blake. I care about Ruby. I care about how you being revealed would affect everyone else connected to you. And thanks to tonight, I care about all of the possibilities that the future may hold."
"The future?"
"Think about where you are now, how many people you can effortlessly defeat. Where could you be in a year or even ten?" Weiss eyes held a spark of danger that Yang had never seen in her before. "If Tialeth's information is right, and we can keep you and Blake from being found out, then we might be able to do what no one else has ever thought possible."
"Weiss…"
"We may be able to beat the Grimm." The a glimmer of madness danced in Weiss' eyes as a vicious grin spread on her face.
Yang nodded. "That's… that's crazy."
"Is it? Many Anathema report thinking that they'll be able to do it. Everyone discounts these thoughts for obvious reasons."
Yang gulped.
"What if they can remember what you can and know how far they can grow? What if they were right?"
If they were right, then they could never be stopped once they won.
"That's why we need to make sure that you and Blake don't have any other problems."
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"Don't you have to worry about being found out yourself? Or are you not also Anathema?"
"Yang." Weiss' voice was sickeningly sweet. "Doesn't anticipation make the prize that much more enticing? What sort of devious rival would I be if I just told you my plans and how I could accomplish them?"
Lightning ran down Yang's spine. This could be very fun.
~~~
One informative conversation, awkward dinner, half-formed idea for how to save people, and book later; they finally made it to the White Panther. Ruby didn't know what she was really expecting a club Yang thought she would enjoy to be like, but this wasn't it.
The actual place was a subdued building with solid white walls and no windows. The only entrance was a stairwell down with a beefy guy leaning on the railing. He nodded to Yang and Weiss immediately. Considering they went with tank top and mini-skirt or tight dress and jacket combos respectively, they probably fit in perfectly. Blake's half unbuttoned shirt and leather pants also got a pass.
But, he was looking at Ruby, she'd gone with the rose dress, very suspiciously. Thankfully, she could feel the pressure build and only needed to lightly tap on it for the world to move.
He shrugged and let her past immediately afterward.
"Whew, I was a worried for a moment." Yang gave her a thumbs up and led the way in.
The inside was very different from the exterior. The club had a central dance floor with two tiers of floors above it. All of the couches and chairs were black leather or dark wood. The music was pretty good too. It had a nice bass beat that she could feel in the floor. Maybe it was a place she'd enjoy after all.
"We're pretty early so getting a table should be a piece of-"
"If it isn't the burning bimbo." A snooty girl in a very nice white dress, with bladed heels on her boots, interrupted them.
Yang clenched her fists and stepped towards her.
The girl, who had way too much makeup on for Ruby's tastes, sneered at them. "Are you here to destroy another bar?"
"Don't give her the satisfaction." Weiss whispered as she looped her arm into Yang's. She tried to walk away, but Yang refused to move.
"What do you want?" Yang asked through clenched teeth.
"You gone." The girl stood up and stepped towards them. "I like the White Panther and you're a danger to everyone around you."
Ruby pulsed her Semblance and dashed between them. "Stop being mean."
"Who are you?" The girl stepped to the side, but Ruby met her movement. "Get lost. This is between me and her."
"Ruby, stay out of this." Yang tried to push past her.
Weiss pulled Blake in as well, but even both combined were only able to stop Yang's advance, not pull her away.
"Yang, she isn't worth it. Ahh!" Blake shouted as Yang shook her off.
The girl and Yang were so close, glaring at each other over Ruby's shoulder. She could feel how hot both of their breaths were.
"What're you going to do?" The girl dragged her heel across the tiles.
"I'm going to get us a table." Yang stepped back and tossed Weiss off as well. She spun on one heel want walked away.
"What are you, scared?" The girl shouted and tried to push past Ruby again. "We're not done here!"
"Yes, we are." Yang glanced over her shoulder. "You, your sister, and Junior couldn't beat me three on one. How could you possibly stop me now?"
The girl grit her teeth loudly enough that Ruby could hear it. She stomped on the ground, crossed her arms, and stalked back to the bar. "Hmph, fine. Be that way."
A moment later, Ruby was right next to her sister. "Who was that?"
"Someone I fought because her boss was a jerk." Yang stomped up the stairs.
"Yang…"
"I'm fine, Ruby. She's just… Very annoying and really wanted me to hit her."
Ruby sighed. If Yang had fought that girl before, then she probably had a decent Aura. But why she'd want to get hit was a mystery. "If you say so."
They took over a small table in the corner of the top floor. It was mostly empty, with a couple of other groups who stayed far away from each other as well. Blake and Yang put their backs to the wall, with Ruby sitting opposite Yang.
"I assume that each of you has a number of questions about how the investigation are run." Weiss said just loud enough for each of them to hear.
All three nodded.
"Bear in mind that any of the information which I reveal about the procedures will make them that much harder on you in the future." Weiss paused, looking at each of them in turn. "Do you still wish to proceed?"
Another series of nods.
"Very well." She leaned back and look at Ruby.
"First question." Ruby held up a finger. "Why are you ok with what happened to you? It was terrible and isn't something any Hunter should ever do."
"Because it was within the scope of a stage two investigation." Weiss held up a hand when Ruby opened her mouth. "It calls for putting the target in what they believe to be a life or death scenario. This is normally done by having a Hunter, that they don't know, pose as a criminal attacking the target, but only inflicting superficial injury."
Ruby felt her heart rate rise with every word Weiss said. "Then why didn't they do that?"
"Because of what I know." Weiss lowered her eyes. "I knew that it called for a fake scenario and they knew that I knew. As such, I was placed a real crisis where my survival was in question."
"That's horrible." Ruby barely resisted shouting.
"It's one of the only ways to be sure." Weiss looked back up, meeting Ruby's eyes with ice. "If you were Anathema, do you think you'd be able to take an injury like that? Even knowing not only that it could kill you, but also that calling on whatever powers you possessed would save your life?"
"I…" Ruby cut herself off with a gulp. Yang and Blake were both staring at the table. "I don't know."
"Exactly, most people would instinctively react and try to save themselves. That's why the investigation works."
"That… That still shouldn't... There has to be a better way than torturing innocent people!"
"If you loosen the severity then Anathema can slip through."
"That…" Ruby wasn't sure what to say there. The Anathema were dangerous and needed to be stopped, but torturing or killing innocent people just because they were suspected was so wrong she could barely imagine that anyone would be willing to let it happen. "I can't accept that. There has to be a better way."
"It was more compassionate, and failure prone, in the past. But everything got tightened up after it failed completely."
"What happened?"
"Johnathan Argint, the name given to the most successful Anathema since the end of the Grey Period."
"Argint… I've heard that name before." Ruby whispered. "That was going to be another question I had actually."
"Where did you hear it?"
"I listened in on Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck talking. They said that they thought you could be… Whatever Argint Scenario meant."
"The Argint Scenario occurred shortly after the founding of Atlas, when the kingdom was still in flux. One of the silver Anathema passed all three investigation stages by using his powers to shapeshift himself and his servants into people who could sign off on his trials. After he passed, he pushed to make the investigations safer and less likely to harm someone."
"I had no idea they could do that, change other people as well as themselves." Blake said softly.
"Neither did anyone else, until it happened."
"How did he get caught?" Yang asked.
"One of his conspirators accidentally revealed information that the form they were wearing had no reason to know. He was investigated and cracked, telling all of his Master's secrets that he was aware of."
"That's why they're this bad?" Ruby squeezed her hands together.
"No, they were worse in the past. What do you think the Colorless Empire did to catch Anathema?"
The thought of that made Ruby shudder.
"That event is why they added more chaos to the investigations and started using the Grimm again. It's the only way to be sure." Weiss left a question unspoken. Another question that Ruby didn't have an answer for.
Which are worse: the Anathema or the Grimm?
They sat in silence, listening to the thumping of the music. Ruby turned the question around in her mind, again and again. Some theories said that the Anathema were Grimm. If that was the case, then they're both equally bad. But, what if one of the others was true? What if there were demons that wanted to destroy the world behind the Anathema? Or if they were people who were so bad that they'd have been monsters without their powers?
If they were, would leaving them to the Grimm not be bad? It could never be good, that much she was sure of. But it wasn't bad to let monsters hurt other monsters like that, was it?
The more she thought about it, the more firm her 'no' was. Even terrible, horrible people shouldn't be tortured. If the Grimm could feel pain, then they should be killed as quickly as possible as well. Though, that was something she didn't need to worry too much about. The Grimm continued to move and fight even if they had limbs cut off.
Yang slid her chair back. "I need a drink. Any of you want anything?"
Ruby shook her head.
"Water," Weiss said.
"Blake?" Yang prodded her partner.
"Something sweet."
"I've only got two hands, come help me." Yang pulled Blake to her feet before she could respond. Ruby caught her eyes and Yang dragged her away.
Ruby glanced over at Weiss and held the thumbs up under the table. Then she changed it to a thumbs down. Blake held her lips together tightly, then nodded.
As soon as they were gone, Ruby turned to Weiss.
"So, what would you say if I told you that Blake and I stumbled on something that we might be able to help a lot of people by stopping, but was really dangerous."
Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"You see, there's something about the guy who's been stealing all of the Dust in Vale and where we think he might be getting his..." Ruby paused, trying to find the right word to use. "Goons from…"
"
.