Miracles of Ancient Wonder [RWBY/Exalted]

[Graveless]

The demon is talking in Old Realm, which Weiss speaks poorly, since she has only learned it for sorcery rather than for conversation. That part was likely to remind the reader of that fact. And possibly to demonstrate that the demon apparently could speak their language, but insisted on Old Realm anyway.

Click to shrink...

A lot of it was this.

Graveless, thank you very very much for making my last week that much better. I really enjoyed it a lot.

Click to shrink...

Glad to hear it!

One day she will stop using her own name for disguises. Failing to be a soldier just makes it worse.

Click to shrink...

Part of the reason why it failed is that she wasn't wearing a disguise this time, but I may need to edit that in to be a little more obvious.

 

[WanderingAirhead]

Part of the reason why it failed is that she wasn't wearing a disguise this time, but I may need to edit that in to be a little more obvious.

Click to shrink...

You didn't specify anything about the disguise one way or another, but given context, and Ruby's previous behaviour, I natually assumed she tried a disguise and failed. Them assumptions, gonna get them under control.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder Book Two: Remnant

~

Chapter 3.8

~~~​

Ruby bathed the tunnel in red light that only she could see. There were still no bugs. "Follow me. It's straight."

Winter walked behind her, flashlight casting the shadow of Ruby's cloak on the ground in front of them. It shifted back and forth, sometimes covering up one of the holes in the wall and sometimes making the runes on the floor shine with a light that was a little too dull.

"It shouldn't be too far now."

Blake's voice echoed down the tunnel as they continued. "I don't want anything to do with the White Fang."

"But, Lady Belladonna-" Maroon pleaded.

"No, that's that and-" Blake paused. "Ruby?

"Hi, Blake!" Ruby shouted to them as she rounded the corner. "I brought Winter with me."

Blake was sitting at dark iron table with Maroon standing opposite of her. A bunch of empty boxes littered the sides of the room, all snack and survival food. As Winter came around the corner, the runes on the floor lit up with a pulse of light traveling toward an inner door.

"Greetings." Winter stepped beside Ruby, watching Blake. "Is she the other Anathema the townsfolk spoke of?"

Maroon glared at her, speaking through clenched teeth. "I am not, Schnee."

Winter met the glare. "I see."

Ruby groaned. "Anyway. Where's Yang?"

Blake nodded her head toward the hallway leading down to the center of the tower.

"Gotcha. We should let her finish… whatever it is she's doing." Ruby slumped into a chair with a sigh. 'What were you two talking about?'

'She wants me to take over the White Fang.' Blake thought back, rubbing her temples.

'Oh… I, uhh…'

'I'm not going to.'

'That's good.' Ruby looked at Maroon, then Winter. Both were still standing, watching each other.

"You believe that she ought to lead the White Fang?" Winter asked.

Maroon crossed her arms. "She was once one of us. Her ascension is already a sign of our providence. Our leader would step aside if she were only to ask."

Winter glanced at Ruby, meeting her eyes. "Of course. I shouldn't be surprised that the White Fang would betray all of humanity so easily."

"They haven't and I'm not going to do that." Blake grumbled. "There are better ways for me to help."

"What will you do then?"

"I'm-" Blake cut herself off. "Give me a moment."

'Ruby, will telling her about my book end up good or bad?' Blake thought to her.

'Uhh.' Ruby looked at the paths of potential. She flinched at the result. 'It's a bad idea.'

Blake frowned at her. 'I know you're lying.'

Ruby looked away. 'Okay, fine. Yang and I are going to be sad, but you'll be happy if you bring it up.'

'Are you alright?'

'No, I'm not, but that doesn't really-' Ruby checked the future again. It had already changed for the worse. 'Actually, just do it. It doesn't matter any longer.'

'What's going on?'

'Nothing.'

Blake locked eyes with her.

Ruby glanced at Winter, then back to Blake. 'She's a jerk who argues just like Weiss.'

Blake waited for a moment. 'What did she say to you?'

As tempting as it was to say 'nothing' again, Blake would catch it. 'That nothing we're going to do will make things better.'

Blake clenched her fists. 'If we kill the Grimm, then that makes it worse?'

'Yeah, according to her we'd wind up ruling over everything because we saved the world and no one can ever fight back.'

'That doesn't sound like something that'd make you feel bad.' Blake glared at Winter.

'She also… She…' Ruby took a deep breath. 'Blake, am I a bad person?'

'... No.'

Ruby shivered. 'You hesitated.'

'That's not what you think it means.'

"Then what does it mean?!" Ruby stood up, sending her chair flying backward from the force. Her voice echoed around them, repeating again and again.

Maroon stepped forward, hand going for her weapon.

Winter crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow

Ruby pulled her chair back and sat down. 'What did it mean? That you have to figure out if what we're doing is right? I'm stopping them for torturing innocent people to death!'

Blake looked back to her. 'I… I don't think that what you and Yang mean when you call someone a good or bad person is really relevant here.'

Ruby stared at her.

'Okay, so… What would you call someone who killed a man who was threatening to kill a thousand people?'

'A hero.'

'And how about someone who had the power to save a thousand people, but chooses not to?'

Ruby waited for a moment. That was kinda bad, but not super-bad. 'Do they know about this?'

'Yes, they know for sure, but still don't do anything.'

'I… They're being a jerk and really destructive, but… okay, it's bad.' Ruby winced.

'How about someone who kills the second person in order to save the thousand?'

'I…' Ruby looked away from her. 'I don't… That's not good, but... They're still saving a lot of...'

The thought sputtered out as it formed. Anything could be justified with that.

'That is what Adam did... or, at least, this is what he claimed that he was doing.' Blake stood up and walked away from them. 'For a long time I believed him. I did whatever I could to help him, even when the people he wanted to kill didn't deserve it.'

"Why does it have to be like this?" Ruby dropped her head to the table.

'Like what?'

"I just wanted them to stop torturing people! Not put themselves into hospital trying to go after me." She rubbed the sides of her neck with both hands. "I thought that they'd eventually give up on investigating people, or hunting us, and go back to fighting the Grimm."

"Would you have stopped?" Blake met Ruby's eyes when she looked up. "Back when we first met, you were completely against the Anathema. If this happened back then, would you have stopped?"

Ruby shivered. "No. I'd have immediately gone after us if I thought I could…"

"Ruby?"

Ruby sat all of the way up and turned around. "Winter, why is Atlas the only one coming after us?"

"What do you mean?" Winter crossed her arms. "Hunters from across the globe traveled to Beacon to kill you."

"Yeah, individual Hunters did, but only the Atlas military showed up as a group."

Winter shook her head. "Vale only accepted help from Atlas."

"We're not in Vale anymore. We've basically claimed a city as ours and no one else has done anything." Ruby ran through the potential scenarios in her head. Hunters across the world each felt the same, that she was sure of, but that didn't mean their leaders did. "How are the Hunters in Vaccuo organized?"

"They group themselves into bands that patrol and protect specific territories."

"Sort of like Vale?"

"If Vale's Hunters split up into groups of a few hundred, yes."

"And… these bands, they're just Hunters? No other people who might also be part of the group?"

"Yes."

Ruby slowly sucked in a breath. They'd be even easier to stop than Vale had been. "I see."

Blake's eyes went wide.

"I…" Maroon gulped. "I'm afraid I don't understand. How is that relevant?"

"I cursed all of Vale and they can't fight back. Vaccuo isn't sending anyone to help so they don't get hit too." Ruby winced, holding her eyes shut. "They're still running investigations too, aren't there?"

"Not that I know of," Winter said slowly.

"Don't lie to us." Blake looked at her. "I can tell when you do."

"Very well. They are."

"That's also why the other guilds from Mistral haven't done anything…" Ruby punched the table. "And the other guilds are doing investigations, aren't they? Even the ones who shouldn't be."

"Yes. Several have picked up the task now that the primary guild can't."

"Why haven't you cursed Atlas?" Maroon asked after a moment of no one talking.

"They're…" Ruby looked at Winter. She probably already knew, but there was no reason to give her any more information since she was still their enemy. "Different."

"We suspect that the size and structure of the organization may impact how effective the curse is, just like those of the traditional types." Winter confirmed Ruby's suspicion. "She hasn't cursed individuals before and Hunters who have renounced their ties to Vale were freed from it."

"I'm surprised Vale has any Hunters left." Maroon shook her head. "Just say that you're out and do unaligned Hunting."

"It's not that simple." Ruby sighed. "They not only need to say they're out, but also mean it."

"And the council doesn't just change their laws or kick everyone out?"

"They can't because that would be doing work, which they're not allowed to do." Ruby looked to the way this conversation could go. "Blake, what were you going to say about your book earlier?"

"I- uhh…" Blake pulled out her scroll. "I've been working on a book about the history of the Faunus and their abuse."

"And?" Winter turned to her. "There are many like that already, though I suspect yours would be more persuasive."

"I thought that if I published it as Blake Belladonna, the Anathema, then enough people would read it for their opinions to change."

"There are protocols for destroying anything known to be written by Anathema." Winter shook her head. "You would need to publish anonymously and wait for it to propagate naturally."

"I see…" Blake frowned. "Why would you give me advice like that?"

"Because you, unlike either of your companions, seem to be aware of the consequences of your-"

Ruby grit her teeth and growled.

"-actions."

"There's no need to be insulting." Blake narrowed her eyes.

"I disagree."

"Then stop disagreeing before I make you." Blake's eyes flashed with a violet light.

Winter stepped back, inhaling sharply. "Understood."

Blake relaxed. "Why do you feel that strongly?"

"Because you plan before you take action and seem to think about potential consequences."

"I said to stop doing that."

"There are very few ways that I could praise your restraint without it seeming like an insult toward your companions."

Blake sighed, drumming her fingers on the table. "Okay, fine. Let's start over. Do you hate the Anathema?"

"Not in and of themselves, but traits which I could ignore in normal people cannot be allowed with such power."

"And, even though we're trying to help everyone, you're still going to fight us?"

"Correct, in part."

Blake gestured for her to continue.

"The most dangerous aspect of the Anathema is how they can destabilize society and then render it dependant on them. If you were to build a weapon that would kill any Grimm that comes near it, no one else would be able to service or repair it, let alone reproduce the design.

"In Atlas, we have vast stores of Anathema technology. Some of them date from before the Great War and we still don't understand how they work. Even those who had the foresight to make notes on construction cannot design something that can be reproduced."

"That's not true! I bui-" Ruby started speaking.

'Please, let me handle this.' Blake thought at her before she could finish the sentence.

Ruby slumped, slouching until her shoulders were almost on the seat, and grumbled about the Dust furnace she'd improved on, but Doctor Oobleck definitely knew how to make.

"We're trying to discover how this tower was made and build more so that people're safe from the Grimm. You're worried that this would translate into a dependence on us that no one could break free of."

"Correct."

"I don't see any other way the four of us could stop all of the Grimm. It's not like we could just go around killing them faster than they app…" Ruby mumbled, thinking back to the rivers of energy flowing around them. This town seemed like it never say any Grimm, even without the tower. Then again, it was also wrong on a deep level.

Winter glanced at her before turning back to Blake. "If you discover a means of harnessing this, then you would have complete control over any region a tower is built in."

"That isn't an easy problem to solve." Blake rubbed her temples.

For a while they all waited, listening to footsteps growing ever louder.

Yang popped through the door, a pair of cross swords glowing brightly on her forehead. "Okay, so I could feel all of that. What the hell is going on?"

Petra peaked in from the doorframe, smiling slightly at Ruby. She didn't have the energy to smile back.

"We're discussing our plans with Winter." Blake sighed, "and getting nowhere."

"Okay," Yang drew the word out. "Umm, I didn't know she was on board with team Anathema, but I guess it makes sense."

"I'm not." Winter bowed slightly. "Lady Xiao-long."

Yang flinched. "No. Don't call me that."

"It's the only proper way to greet you. I wouldn't want to accidentally offend nd have my throat explode. Is there anything else that you would prefer?"

Yang groaned through clenched teeth. "Just call me Yang."

"This is what we've been dealing with." Ruby said with a huff, "All she does is insult us and tell us that everything we want to do'll just make things worse."

"Kay." Yang nodded. "I was happy that you're not hurt anymore, but if you're going to be like that, I don't know if I still am."

"I have said nothing except for the truth. Every idea proposed has horrendous consequences, with the exception of the book that would stop discrimination against the Faunus. Even that could backfire, but it doesn't have to, unlike building more of these towers."

"So why don't you help us?" Ruby snapped. "If all of our plans are so bad, what would you do in our shoes?"

Winter looked at her. "No. I'm not going to help you. If you can't realize what might be wrong without my advice then you shouldn't-"

"Shut up." Ruby slammed her hand into the table, warping the metal. "Just shut up."

"Ruby," Yang reached for her.

"You too!" She snapped. "I'm going to say stuff and all of you, just, actually listen to me, for once."

Blake nodded.

"Nobody actually listens." Ruby paced around the room. "When Weiss was almost murdered, Professor Goodwitch didn't. She said that it was the lesser evil, that it was better to do that than let a single Anathema run free. Considering what I've done so far, maybe she was right.

"When I finally talked to Professor Ozpin, after we fought that Anathema at the docks, do you know what he did?" Ruby didn't give them any time to respond. "He ignored me. He knew what I was saying was correct, that what had happened was wrong, and he ignored me. All because I didn't have a solution to his problem. All because I didn't have any idea what could be better than what already existed. He refused to even let me try fixing it, let alone think of something himself."

Yang cringed.

Ruby laughed. "Actually, you know what, I do have a better idea now. I can tell who an Anathema is just by listening to their Aura… If either of you or Weiss had trusted me, then maybe I could've told him that. If you trusted me at all, maybe we wouldn't be here right now because I would've been able to come up with a plan that didn't involve pushing Yang to the point where she revealed herself."

She sucked in a breath, shuddering from her chest to her stomach. "But, no. You didn't trust me. You still don't trust me even though I can literally see the future and tell you what the best choice is. I told you that letting the Atlas caravan through would be bad… and here we are."

"And you." Ruby turned to Winter. "You also refuse to help, even though you could. Even though I asked for your advice, you refused. Why? Because 'I'm dangerous' and don't 'think about things'. What about all of the people who are dying right now, not because of my curse, but because we have to spend so much time running that we can't help? Do you ever think about them?"

Winter shivered ever so slightly.

Ruby turned on her heel, sending a wave of rose petals flying into the room. "I hate this. I hate it so much. All I ever wanted to do was become a Huntress and save people.

"You want to talk about the greater good? Right before I attacked Beacon I spoke to the goddess of war, Mars. I asked her for help." Ruby turned back to Winter. "Do you want to know what she said? She said that the gods didn't care about us, that we weren't worth helping... She also said that if I reunited my team, I could end the threat of the Grimm… forever."

"She also said that I could stay with her, in the city of the gods, and never have to worry about any of this again." Ruby leaned back, opening her ears to the sick decay encircling them. "It was a paradise so much better than even Beacon that I don't know how to describe the difference. But, I still came back. Because if I didn't then I'd be abandoning Blake, and Yang, and Weiss, and Pyrrha, and everyone else that would ever be at risk from the Grimm. I could've left everyone behind and ignored all of the stupid… arguing and fighting and never actually getting anything done."

"I must sound crazy right now." Sobs wracked her breath, but Ruby pushed the tears down. "I'm not like Weiss; I don't know what to say to actually convince people of anything or the things I'd need to do to make them realize that what they're doing is wrong. The only way I can make anyone listen to me is to hold a gun to their head… Just like..."

She turned back to Yang. "Just like you keep telling me not to. I know it's wrong, I shouldn't make decisions for people. But… I don't have any other way to actually convince them. What am I supposed to do? Just watch them make bad choice after bad choice without stepping in?"

Something scuffed the stone behind her.

Ruby whirled around, one hand on Crescent Rose.

Maroon stepped back hands up and palms open. "I- I-"

"Go ahead. I'm not mad at you."

"What you said about no one listening." She said so softly it was almost a whisper, eyes flickering from Blake oto Ruby and back. "That's something that we knew a long time ago and had to relearn."

"Who?"

"T-the White Fa-"

"Don't listen to her!" Blake shouted.

Ruby looked back to her. "Blake, back when you were arguing with Weiss, you always defended what the White Fang did. Has that changed?"

"I… I don't think they were wrong, but they went too far... Adam went too far."

"I'm not Adam."

"You're acting a lot like him right now."

Ruby took a deep breath. "Okay… That's… that's probably fair… Umm… From your book, how much do you go into the Faunus Rights Revolution?"

"I…" Blake hesitated, her aura blazing with power. "Ruby, this is nothing like that."

"I disagree." Ruby locked eyes with Winter. "The Kingdoms are refusing to listen to reason and stop doing terrible things, even after so many of Vale's Hunters have been disabled that they needed to call on Atlas for help."

"You... " Blake gulped. "You might…"

"Maroon." Ruby turned to her. "You wanted Blake to take control of the White Fang, right?"

She nodded.

"And, Winter, you said that Vale's throne is empty, waiting for me to claim it, right?"

"I did." Winter's face was cold, just like Weiss when she was mad.

"Then fine. If being hospitalized for months won't change their minds, then I need to push them further, but also in a different direction." Ruby watched the paths before her branch into neight infinite possibilities, then collapse into a pair of choices.

"Uhh, Ruby?" Yang awkwardly smiled at her. "What does that mean?"

Winter spoke before Ruby could. "You'll remove even more of their choice? Actually take control of a Kingdom and declare war on the whole world?"

"No, that's a line I'm not going to cross. I'm not going to make the same mistake the White Fang did." Ruby grabbed ahold of the threads of Fate she had bound to the Titan's Fist. "But, them ignoring me means that I haven't used a big enough gun."

She shattered the bindings and with them the curse. "The leaders of Vale aren't really afraid of what could happen. The other kingdoms seem to think that it's okay to continue being terrible just because I haven't cursed them yet."

Yang shuddered. "Ruby, this doesn't sound good."

"That's because it isn't good, it isn't fair, and it isn't what I want to do. But, it looks like asking nicely and hoping people understand isn't an option." Ruby's felt her blood chill as she thought of a map of civilization and all of its weak points, all of the avenues of attack to cause the most destruction. "Winter, how many international shipping companies are there?"

Winter glared at her. "You wouldn't."

"No, but they don't need to know that." Ruby turned back to Blake. "Blake, can you write something for me? I'm pretty sure that if I did, they'd just laugh it off as an empty threat."

Blake nodded. "What is it?"

"A letter to the leaders of the world declaring that Lushezen and the surrounding towns are ours. If any of the Kingdoms or Hunter organization act against us or continue the investigations, then I curse all shipping. No more trade, for anyone, if anyone goes against this."

Blake and Yang looked at each other, Blake's Aura flaring from the mental communication power,

"You'll take up the crown then?" Winter raised an eyebrow.

"Nope." Ruby shook her head. "I'd be terrible at it. I don't have the right words and am going to need to spend all of my time building things in order to actually help people. Besides, all of the people worshiping Yang are still there and she's inspiring."

"I'- I'm not..." Yang sputtered. "Ruby, I can't-"

"Yes, you can. We're going to need to do it at some point if we want to actually build more of these towers and save people from the Grimm." Ruby shrugged. "Might as well be now."

Winter shook her head, "It's impossible. You'll have an army of Hunters at your doorstep within weeks and all trade would cease before then."

"That." Yang pointed to her.

"That's fine. Cities out here need to be self sufficient and the three of us can send any small groups packing." Ruby tugged at several of the other strings that made up the energy of Fate. "Besides, we have options. If we have problems with food, I'll bless the farmers. If we need materials, we can lead a mining expedition. If the Grimm break something, I can just fix it."

Winter stepped toward her. "It won't be a small group, it will be an army. An army comprised of the best that every Kingdom has."

"You think they'd risk everything to stop us? Leave their people defenseless and allow other Anathema to grow in power?"

"To do anything else would mean the end the world as we know it."

"Well… If they decide to do that, then we vanish. We leave in disguise and… I don't know, re-apply to Beacon, take over another city, whatever." Ruby threw her hands into the air. "I already beat one of Vale's best Huntresses one on one, then two on one with one of Atlas'. No one has been able to pin us down and now that we're together, they never will."

"You'd never abandon those people once you started protecting them."

"No, but it's a good lie, isn't it? This is why I'm not the one writing it."

"I think…" Blake paused. "I think it might work."

"Blake?" Yang gasped. "I… I can't be a god-queen-thing! That would mean letting the demon win!"

Ruby looked to the future again. "It's not going to be painless, but I don't think we have any choice. Not if we want to make a real difference."

Winter's eyes flickered toward Blake, but came back to Ruby. "And what of the meantime? Will you simply allow those currently cursed to waste away?"

"I've already released one of the curses and I'll release the other in…" Ruby paused. "Give me a minute."

'Hey, Yang?' She closed her eyes and thought to her sister.

After a moment, Yang responded, 'Yes?'

'How long do you think it'll be before you figure this tower out?'

Umm… Hard to say, but I figure two or three weeks.'

'Got it, thanks!' Ruby reopened her eyes. "Winter, if Atlas went after us now, how long would it take for the army to arrive?"

Winter looked at Blake. "Rapid response would be here within three days. The main forces would take two weeks."

Blake nodded.

"Alright, then you'll bring our message to them in three weeks and I'll remove the curse on Vale in a month."

"You'll keep me and my men captive for that long?"

"No, it'll just take you that long to drill into the tower and drive us away from it."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we vanish early and I don't release the curse."

Winter narrowed her eyes. "No."

Ruby gaped at her. "What? What do you mean no?"

"I mean no. I'm calling your bluff. You wouldn't go through all of this trouble if keeping them cursed didn't offend your own morals." She stepped forward, towering over Ruby. "Now that you know how bad the results are, I expect you'll release it within the month anyway."

"I- I- You-" Ruby raised her hands toward Winter's throat, fingers grasping like they were claws. "I hate you so much."

"If such little barbs are all it takes to get under your skin and ruin any of your lies, then they never had the chance to succeed in the-"

Yang's fist slammed into the side of Winter's face, launching her into the wall.

"Yeah, no. No more of that." Yang held a hand out, pulling the woman back to her. She grabbed the neck of the medical dress, hauling Winter off of her feat. "If you don't believe her, then how about this.

"I'm not a good person. When a demon came up to me and offered me power, I didn't even think about what it might mean before I said yes. I've already sold my soul to hell, so I really have nothing to goddamn lose."

She tossed Winter to the ground again. "Do you wanna know what the little voice in the back of me head is telling me to do right now? Hmm?

"Well, too bad. I don't care if you want to. It's telling me that I could take you and claim you as my own, right now. I'm not going to because… well, a lot of reasons, but that voice is always with me. It's always telling me that I'm not doing anything right. I should kill more people when they offend me. I should seduce people just because I can. I should… storm the gates of heaven and burn it down… That one, usually less relevant, but let's pretend heaven is Atlas."

She lifted her heel up and slammed it to the ground. The iron table exploded into shards of molten metal. "There go the gates. I'm in and I'm going to give every single politician or general or CEO the exact same scar I gave you. The one that if you ever attack me will explode and tear your throat out. It won't disrupt trade, it won't directly cause everyone to die, but I'm damn certain that no one will ever dare attack us again."

"You would die if you attacked any city."

"So what?" Yang shrugged. "It's not like we have great lives right now, always on the run. Besides… if you kill me, then this power is just going to go to someone else."

"Yang?" Ruby squeaked. "What do you mean?"

"I… I know a lot more about the Anathema than I probably should. The power comes from some sort of extra soul we're given and when we die, this soul seeks out a new person to give power to." Yang said, voice going back to normal. "So, there's your choice. You can either work with us and try to make Ruby's plan work, or I can go on a rampage and either terrify the entire world or die… giving the power to someone who might actually listen to that little voice every time it speaks to her."

Winter put a hand on the ground, pushing herself up. "Very well. I'll make sure to let my sister know that I have you trapped within this tower, along with what will happen in a month's time."

Ruby looked at Blake. "Is she lying?"

"No…" Blake continued in thoughts. 'I think she might respect both of you a lot more now. Though, she also still thinks you're too dangerous to let live.'

Ruby looked at Yang, then shrugged. "Good enough… umm… Also, Blake, please tell me you're okay with this. If you're not, I don't think it'll work at all."

She sighed. "I'll get to work on the letter."

A/N: I'm... apprehensive about this one for a bunch of reasons. Please let me know what worked and didn't because I sort of word-sploded on the scene and there probably need to be more edits to pare it down. So, feedback is very welcome in this case.

 

[Impstar]

Uh... wow. That's a lot of escalation in one chapter.

 

[DBDrake]

There is much muchness with the talking, but it's good talking so thats k.

The bit with Yang at the end lacked the emotional impact you'd expect, winter just Kinda goes "ok" after being threatened with horrific large scale violence and then a dramatic revelation, I would expect something more.

The main bit that is good here is Ruby reaching sidereal stage 2 and going FUCK and doing something, instead of being paralyzed by indecision.

Her logic from her own viewpoint is satisfactory, and her rant has strong emotional resonance.

Winter's reaction to Blake's book thing didn't trip my bullshit alarm, but wasn't 100% "YEA THAT MAKES SENSE"

If you are concerned with too much talky talk issues, don't be, I feel like I've been readyfor a solid 4k of talking.

 

[Chloe Sullivan]

Oh dear. Ruby is PLANNING. this can only end well.

 

[kinigget]

That was...wow

I think that's the most frank and straightforward any of them have ever been

I both love and hate Winter right now because while she is not wrong, she's approaching the entire situation from the wrong direction

"It will end the world as we know it". Yes, exactly. The world needs to change

Rejecting the possibilities because they haven't been thought through all the way is the height of blindness

 

[Random832]

"And you." Ruby turned to Winter. "You also refuse to help, even though you could. Even though I asked for your advice, you refused. Why? Because 'I'm dangerous' and don't 'think about things'. What about all of the people who are dying right now, not because of my curse, but because we have to spend so much time running that we can't help? Do you ever think about them?"

Click to shrink...

I half expected Ruby to press further with this line of argument - letting things continue as they always were (and, especially, fighting against people trying to change it) is an action too, and that action also has consequences. Has Winter ever considered those consequences?

 

[Spectrum]

"It will end the world as we know it". Yes, exactly. The world needs to change

Rejecting the possibilities because they haven't been thought through all the way is the height of blindness

Click to shrink...

The world needs to change but it also needs to not get kicked over the precipice into the abyss. The world's barely hanging on or maybe in a ever so slow decline. Is this a good state of affairs? No. Is there hope that the situation can still turn around through conventional means? Maybe, if you believe Atlas's recent robotics advances or anything else that other countries could be hiding.

Winter, for completely rational reasons, is in the camp who are more willing to bet that keeping things as stable as possible may eventually lead to a reversal of the situation through their own collective efforts and is less risky than flipping the board right now.

Sure, things might get better, if you listen to the potentially crazy people who seemingly can't be trusted with the enormous power and responsibilities they've suddenly been thrust into and who are supernaturally charismatic and can convince you of anything anyway. Or they may only be trading one slow decline for a different eternal tyranny. Or they somehow may even fail and break everything in the process, leading to a final rapid end to the world.

 

[Impstar]

I like this chapter partially because everyone has a point. Ruby's right in how the world kind of sucks in a lot of ways and needs to change. Winter and the Ozpin Alliance feel that it's better to maintain what they have and work together to fix their problems over time. Ruby's plan has the potential to crash hard and ruin everything, or it could succeed and change the world for the better, or possibly something in between. The current status quo is declining and not good, but it's not like there's no hope for improvement in the future.

No one is completely wrong, they just have very different ideas of what's most important.

 

[FullNothingness]

If Ruby wants to convince people she really should consider working on getting better at that ability... I mean she constantly runs into it being a problem, notes multiple times that other characters are better at it than her and it would really help her goals. But it seems like she would rather be indignant when her somewhat incoherent rants fail to persuade people. I mean it isn't like she doesn't know Anathema can get good at things exceptionally fast.

 

[Impstar]

If Ruby wants to convince people she really should consider working on getting better at that ability... I mean she constantly runs into it being a problem, notes multiple times that other characters are better at it than her and it would really help her goals. But it seems like she would rather be indignant when her somewhat incoherent rants fail to persuade people. I mean it isn't like she doesn't know Anathema can get good at things exceptionally fast.

Click to shrink...

I think that's being uncharitable. Being Exalted does not necessarily make you great at everything, and she's not a Solar. Sidereals aren't really specialized for persuasion outside of UMI. It's extremely clear that she's specialized into combat, and it's not like she's had a huge amount of free time since becoming more charismatic became a larger issue. She's been running from one crisis to another in a way. She can't put exp points from killing grim into charisma either, because that's not how it works outside of a game.

Also, at the very least I can follow her "somewhat incoherent rants." Her rants are necessarily persuasive, but they are easy to follow.

 

[FullNothingness]

I think that's being uncharitable. Being Exalted does not necessarily make you great at everything, and she's not a Solar. Sidereals aren't really specialized for persuasion outside of UMI. It's extremely clear that she's specialized into combat, and it's not like she's had a huge amount of free time since becoming more charismatic became a larger issue. She's been running from one crisis to another in a way. She can't put exp points from killing grim into charisma either, because that's not how it works outside of a game.

Also, at the very least I can follow her "somewhat incoherent rants." Her rants are necessarily persuasive, but they are easy to follow.

Click to shrink...

She should be able to become relatively competent (for a mortal) at it fairly fast though I think. She won't be as good as a solar or anything but better than she is now.

And with incoherent I meant more that she doesn't build a proper argument for her position not that she is incomprehensible.

 

[Impstar]

She should be able to become relatively competent (for a mortal) at it fairly fast though I think. She won't be as good as a solar or anything but better than she is now.

And with incoherent I meant more that she doesn't build a proper argument for her position not that she is incomprehensible.

Click to shrink...

Fair enough. I think we might see her put some effort into her speech skills in the future, but for the moment you do have a point.

 

[bigreader]

The world is called remnant for a reason. If thing continue as they have eventually there wont be anyone left.

 

[WanderingAirhead]

I will say just one thing.

Yay, escalation!

I'm lovin' it.

 

[Parabola]

Just caught up with the latest chapter, gotta say I love how Ruby's finally gotten tired of how things have been proceeding.

This is what would happen if a PC got tired of the pacing of the campaign and brute-forced everyone in the room to follow her crazy plan, drastically altering everyone's plots, while making it perfectly in-character and consistent with everything thus far. A rare thing, but one that does happen in campaigns.

 

[Graveless]

You didn't specify anything about the disguise one way or another, but given context, and Ruby's previous behaviour, I natually assumed she tried a disguise and failed. Them assumptions, gonna get them under control.

Click to shrink...

That's a good point and would make that bit better, so I'm going to reverse my silly idea and edit it in after I get through this one.

The bit with Yang at the end lacked the emotional impact you'd expect, winter just Kinda goes "ok" after being threatened with horrific large scale violence and then a dramatic revelation, I would expect something more.

Click to shrink...

Also a very good point. Hmm, I'm thinking a brief snap and then suddenly realizing that if she continues then Yang's threat will immediately trigger on her right now.

I mean it isn't like she doesn't know Anathema can get good at things exceptionally fast.

Click to shrink...

One big complication is that while being Exalted does make you supernaturally good at learn things you're good at/interested it, it doesn't help very much with anything else.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang have all pulled new, powerful combat techniques from nowhere when they needed them. Weiss hasn't. She's had to spend a lot of time training to catch up and she started out much better at combat than Ruby is at anything social beyond being a leader, frightening, or inspiring(only for people who already agree with her).

 

[Spectrum]

One big complication is that while being Exalted does make you supernaturally good at learn things you're good at/interested it, it doesn't help very much with anything else.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang have all pulled new, powerful combat techniques from nowhere when they needed them. Weiss hasn't. She's had to spend a lot of time training to catch up and she started out much better at combat than Ruby is at anything social beyond being a leader, frightening, or inspiring(only for people who already agree with her).

Click to shrink...

Everyone, don't forget to point and laugh at the Exalt who apparently didn't select at least some type of Combat as her favored. And then also laugh at the Exalt who thought she was being clever about selecting one Social ability but keeps getting put into situations where it doesn't apply.

 

[Impstar]

Everyone, don't forget to point and laugh at the Exalt who apparently didn't select at least some type of Combat as her favored. And then also laugh at the Exalt who thought she was being clever about selecting one Social ability but keeps getting put into situations where it doesn't apply.

Click to shrink...

If this was an Exalted rpg game, I would. Because it's not, I'm sure I don't need to point out that it's not quite that simple.

 

[Spectrum]

If this was an Exalted rpg game, I would. Because it's not, I'm sure I don't need to point out that it's not quite that simple.

Click to shrink...

Pfft, don't tell me that the last chapter wasn't Ruby's player's frustration bleeding through.

 

[WanderingAirhead]

I admit that parts of this story truly do read as if it was a prose recounting of an actual rpg campaign. I think that's what Graveless is aiming for (and doing it very well). Unless...

<suspicious glance>

Fess up, Graveless, and Introduce us to the players

 

[LordsFire]

Everyone, don't forget to point and laugh at the Exalt who apparently didn't select at least some type of Combat as her favored. And then also laugh at the Exalt who thought she was being clever about selecting one Social ability but keeps getting put into situations where it doesn't apply.

Click to shrink...

I dunno how it works in 3e, but in 2e, Lunar combat charms are based off of attributes, not abilities, Dex being paramount. And I'd say it's pretty clear Weiss has Dex favored.

 

[Graveless]

Everyone, don't forget to point and laugh at the Exalt who apparently didn't select at least some type of Combat as her favored. And then also laugh at the Exalt who thought she was being clever about selecting one Social ability but keeps getting put into situations where it doesn't apply.

Click to shrink...

If this was an Exalted rpg game, I would. Because it's not, I'm sure I don't need to point out that it's not quite that simple.

Click to shrink...

The funny thing is, I just ran session 0 and 1 of an Exalted 3e game on Saturday.

I required that every character be able to meaningfully interact with combat scenes, social scenes, and strategic scenes.

This resulted in both Dawns and the Night trying to figure out what social skills their characters might have; along with the Zenith asking the same question about combat. The Twilight and Eclipse were both fine.

Fess up, Graveless, and Introduce us to the players

Click to shrink...

Well, my beta is one of my players in my past three campaigns and he does post on occasion.

We've also been debating doing a 2e Exalted game on stream which might wind up being set on Remnant for reasons.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder Book Two: Remnant

~

Chapter 3.i

~~~
​

Would eyeshadow be appropriate? She wondered, staring in the bathroom mirror. She wasn't that good at putting it on and her teammates worse than useless… Especially her partner. If he ever saw her like this, urgh.

The brush felt heavy between her fingers. She could match her hair and dress, or her eyes.

She looked at the greens she had. She had one that went with the dress, but clashed with her hair. She could try to lighten it up, but… no, that was a bad idea.

Then again, would the restaurant care? Would she care?

Probably…

It would at least be noticed.

She sighed and went back to the closet. There was only one good dress. It was not the most useful gift she'd ever been given, but it was probably the most expensive. A shiver ran down her back as she ran her fingers over the silk. Maybe… after this date… she'd be able to wear it again with...

No, that was hoping for too much. Besides, this one needed to go well first.

She had a couple of accessories that could work, a pair of earrings and a bracelet, but they were so much cheaper. The most expensive and impressive things she owned were... Her eyes drifted over to the dual sheaths on her dresser. How would she have her weapons while wearing it?

She could strap them to her thighs, but the skirt would be too short. The ends would fall to almost to her knees and ruin the flare at her waist. Her blades weren't elegant, so she couldn't just wear them openly, unlike, say, a masterfully crafted rapier or a dust summoned weapon.

With a sigh, she turned back. Either of them would have a much easier time with this. They were beautiful, elegant, able to command a room without saying a single word. If they were challenged, the fool would be left sputtering. She'd have to force whoever it was to not notice with her Semblance and that would give her such a headache if she had to keep it up all night.

If she didn't want to look like some sort of thug, she'd have to leave her weapons.

The knob rattled in the door behind her. She spun around, stepping next to her dresser. Her teammates were supposed to be on a mission all weekend. Had someone caught them?

The steel handles were cold under her fingers.

If it was Hunters, would she be able to get away? If it was, had they already caught…

The door opened.

"Cinder?" Emerald gasped, putting her weapons down. "You're already done?"

Cinder stepped into the room, brow furrowed. "Yes."

Emerald flinched back. "I- Are our…"

A blush crept to her cheeks as she realized that she was standing in front of Cinder… in her sexier underwear… with just the two of them in the room.

"Are our 'friends' doing well?" Emerald smiled, forcing herself to sound normal.

"No. They're still fighting over who's side to be on after the breakup." Cinder met her eyes, glance not flickering down for a moment. That was their code for the White Fang still being caught between maintaining Adam Taurus' methods or breaking away.

"Great." Emerald didn't need to keep the annoyance from her voice. "Do you think they'll still want to talk to us?"

"They don't have enough people to really throw parties anymore."

Emerald nodded. That meant that she really needed to get Weiss to gi… to… join them. That was it, she had to bring Weiss on board with the plan and then they could still be… something… together… or at least, something, hopefully.

"Has she spoken about the end of last semester yet?"

"No, whenever I brought it up, she just went quiet."

"You've had weeks."

Emerald shuddered. "I can try again tonight."

"Do so." Cinder finally looked somewhere besides her eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Where exactly are you going with her?"

"The Valeia Bistro. She said to dress nice and"- Emerald pointed to the dress -"this is the nicest thing I have."

"I see…" Cinder opened her scroll, scowling at the screen after a moment of typing. "That dress is appropriate for such a venue."

She looked over Emerald again.

Emerald smiled, clasping her hands in front of her.

"What about training with her group? Have you made any progress there?" Cinder's eyes bored into hers.

Emerald looked away. "She hasn't offered. I've just been training with her… alone."

"Doing what exactly?"

"What we used to do." Emerald whispered. Right after Cinder saved her, they spent almost two months sitting in a room together, staring into each other's eyes. Cinder assaulted her mind with every spell she knew until Emerald could resist them. "She's… terrifying when she wants to be."

"Well." Cinder's scowl turned into a smirk as she walking up to Emerald. "You wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

"Of-" Emerald gasped as Cinder's fingers ran along her waist.

"Emerald." Cinder pressed into her side, whispering in her ear. Her body was warm, even though her arms were frigid. "Such diligence deserves a reward, especially when you were so uncomfortable with the idea at first."

Emerald stood completely still.

Cinder ran a finger up her belly. "Take as much time as you need. I'll still be up when you get back."

She drew the tip of her finger up Emerald's chest, then neck, ending just below her lips.

Emerald shivered, nodding very slowly.

"Now then, while you get dressed, go over everything she's done to you, in detail."

~~~​

Cinder waited for almost a minute after Emerald left. When Emerald appeared in the window, walking in the courtyard with the Schnee girl, she looked at the 'empty' bed. "I know you're there."

Neo appeared on her own bed after a moment, in her black haired disguise.

"How much of what she said was accurate?"

Neo raised her hand and wobbled it.

"Show me."

She pulled out one of her new scrolls. The first was a short clip of Weiss staring at a shuddering Emerald, then embracing her. That had not been part of what Cinder did during their training.

"How often has she done that?"

Neo held up three fingers.

"Anything else?"

She played back one of their discussions. There was something off about it. The words were innocuous, but Emerald's responses had too much intensity for what was being said.

"What about the group? Has Emerald ever joined them?"

Neo shook her head and swapped to another image. It showed a picture of Weiss Schnee, Coco Adel, Sun Wukong, Neptune Vallies, and Penny Polendina walking into training room together.

"Has Nikos broken with them?"

Neo shook her head, then held her scroll up with one hand; with the other she mimed crushing something.

Cinders arms rumbled, growling. "I see. And Valkyrie?"

Neo swiped to an image of her in Weiss' office.

Cinder nodded. It was a connection, but not of the same sort. "Does anyone else behave like Valkyrie does?"

Another shake of the head.

It could be a coincidence then, but she couldn't afford to assume that any more. Any plans would need to include the girl as well as the rest of Schnee's group. "I'll assume that you haven't gotten anything useful recorded."

Neo tapped her scroll again.

"Ahh, that's just… so unfair." Sun's voice echoed as Schnee danced around him, casually deflecting the attacks of three others. "How can you be that… oh wait… nevermind."

Cinder watched the battle for almost a minute. The girl was not only able to weave between three opponents at once, but also lecture them on their technique in the middle of fighting. Impressive, but not enough for a student who had been forced into the second investigation her freshman year. Her movements were barely outside of what a mature Huntress was capable of. The video would not cause the panic she needed if released to the public without a lot more proof.

"If your first recording had survived, we would have no issues." Cinder closed her eyes, considering the likely outcomes of each plan.

She had made a mistake, a mistake that might prove fatal. If Neo had heard correctly a few weeks back, then Weiss Schnee was not the person who killed all of the Grimm surrounding Beacon, it had been the goddess Mars. That meant she'd sent Emerald up against an Anathema who was not focused on sorcery and combat, like they'd assumed, and that Ozpin didn't have a secret weapon they couldn't directly fight against.

Everything that had happened since they arrived at Beacon was consistent with that notion.

"Follow them to the restaurant and record everything." Cinder needed to know if she'd completely lost Emerald before planning any further. Neo could replace her for certain roles, her Semblance was more versatile in many ways, but Neo could not be trusted to act with the correct intent or goals.

Neo made a gagging noise, proving the point.

"Are you incapable of such a simple task?" Cinder formed a fireball in her palm.

The girl sat up, shaking her head. She held up a picture of Emerald on her scroll, then clasped her hands. Bright pink hearts floated from her eyes as she blinked at the ceiling.

The flame stretched with a twist of her fingers, shattering the illusion with a whip crack and revealing that Neo was still lying down. She gulped, eyes white as she slid off of the bed.

Cinder held Neo in a glare until she left the room. The feeling of hunger vanished from her arms as the girl ran away. Only then did she go back to the window.

Emerald and Weiss Schnee were standing near the fountain, very close to each other. Emerald was smiling, laughing… Cinder's arms growled as she grit her teeth.

She glanced at the tower. What remained in the Fall Maiden was in there, somewhere. She could feel the void deep in her soul; half of a flame that yearned to be whole again.

Cinder shot a glare back to Weiss Schnee. If she wasn't responsible for destroying the Grimm, then she could still be beaten down.

No one would take what was hers away from her.