Miracles of Ancient Wonder [RWBY/Exalted]

[Graveless]

Is that why they quarantined her world? Because she's too big a pain in the ass to deal with?

Click to shrink...

In large part, yes.

Very much not an expert but I think the way it works is that having a god of a certain concept grants some level of control over said concept. Without the god the concept would still exist but it would be far less predictable and controllable. That doesn't help much if the god goes rogue but if they don't then it can help. So in this case the question wasn't 'spirititual corruption vs no spiritual corruption' but 'controlled spiritual corruption vs uncontrolled spiritual corruption'.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much this.

Would the world be better if there was no spiritual corruption? Probably. It also would probably be better without lethal diseases or genocide.

However, it exists so someone needs to be in charge of it.

Salem wasn't the first god to have that position, but she took her tools and official regalia with her to Remnant so they can't exactly fire her without going there, fighting her, and reclaiming them. Her boss certainly has someone lined up to take over the role, who has been just filing paperwork she should've been doing this entire time and getting her official salary for it, but without getting those divine tools back, said successor has the role in name only.

 

[hailcapital]

Pretty much this.

Would the world be better if there was no spiritual corruption? Probably. It also would probably be better without lethal diseases or genocide.

However, it exists so someone needs to be in charge of it.

Click to shrink...

I guess it sort of seems like if a government had a corruption department with a head of corruption, who had special privileges to bribe cops.

Yes, corruption exists whether or not they've got someone "in charge" of it, but having that position isn't exactly helpful.

Although this was mostly a joke, I can see why Gods wouldn't think this way.

 

[Patch]

"A rogue Sidereal has taken command of a Lunar and two Solars whose Essence has been corrupted by the underworld and Yozi. The Sidereal is using their influence to build her own cult and fight against heaven's control over Remnant… Given this terrible breach of Celestial law, I humbly request an immediate investigation by the celestial lions."

Click to shrink...

What exactly would Heaven send to fix that though?

I'm not too familiar with Exalted lore, but Sidereals don't work well together because they mess up each other's plans (accidentally) and they're heaven's go to when a problem needs an Exalt to solve. And the gods generally don't intervene directly in these things, as the Exalts have an explicit right to rule the world. If they verify everything Salem said, who would they send that could even fix it? Sending a singular Sidereal to fight against 3 exalts and a siddie?

I guess they could send 5 siddies but my little knowledge of Exalted lore says sending multiple siddies to accomplish a single task would be less then predictable.

 

[Graveless]

I guess it sort of seems like if a government had a corruption department with a head of corruption, who had special privileges to bribe cops.

Click to shrink...

Something important is that Spiritual Corruption is more like: your soul now possesses energies from chaos that want to mutate it than bribing the cops. That gods can be corrupted in this way is something that annoys them, but they can also get sick from especially virulent supernatural diseases.

What exactly would Heaven send to fix that though?

I'm not too familiar with Exalted lore, but Sidereals don't work well together because they mess up each other's plans (accidentally) and they're heaven's go to when a problem needs an Exalt to solve. And the gods generally don't intervene directly in these things, as the Exalts have an explicit right to rule the world. If they verify everything Salem said, who would they send that could even fix it? Sending a singular Sidereal to fight against 3 exalts and a siddie?

I guess they could send 5 siddies but my little knowledge of Exalted lore says sending multiple siddies to accomplish a single task would be less then predictable.

Click to shrink...

She's asking for one of their tough investigators who would certainly lose a fight with team RWBY to go confirm that what she says is true.

Once confirmed, there're a lot of ways it can go from trying to bribe them to heavenly hit squads.

A second problem beyond rogue Sidereal(which is something they'd want to confirm, but isn't a huge problem), that she reported in the most unhelpful for team RWBY way, is Solars corrupted by the underworld and hell. This is both her actual job to figure out and request assistance for along with being a big problems for many gods.

 

[Artemis1992]

If they wanted to send a team that doesn't die to RWBY they might want to send one or two Elder Siddies with an entourage of divine beings capable of meaningfully fighting Exalted, like Celestial Lions I guess.

But that would be a huge investment, you can't just send one or two real Elders to bumfuck nowhere on the request of a rogue deity.

 

[Datakim]

Salem wasn't the first god to have that position, but she took her tools and official regalia with her to Remnant so they can't exactly fire her without going there, fighting her, and reclaiming them. Her boss certainly has someone lined up to take over the role, who has been just filing paperwork she should've been doing this entire time and getting her official salary for it, but without getting those divine tools back, said successor has the role in name only.

Click to shrink...

If her position is that precarious, why hasn't some of the opposing gods gotten rid of her. I mean if someone else is basically doing the job and getting the official salary, it probably wouldn't be hard for the boss to send the celestial lions on her ass instead. At that point the panopaly is basically stolen.

Of course, thanks to Salem, the boss and the one doing the job now know there are multiple strong Celestial Exalts on Remnant who would probably be willing to gank her, if they just had a little help and knew where she was...

 

[Tiz Goldeneye]

Isn't Ruby not actually rogue, but secretly (even to herself) a black ops deniable asset who 3 of the Celestial Maidens are using to fix Remnant with a hammer instead of a scalpel? I mean admittedly this doesn't change anything since if they check the records they won't find anything that lets Ruby do what she is doing, but I think she did get backhanded permission at one point (or at least got double talked into this). Plus this plan gives the gods data on how Abyssals and Infernals work, which they need, so she is helping them anyways.

 

[Patch]

I don't think Mars endorsed anything Ruby is doing, just double talked Ruby into doing it.

Something about necessary violence and waging a war through heaven.

 

[Artemis1992]

Even if she fully stands behind Ruby, she wouldn't show it to prevent a conflict, aye?

 

[Patch]

Even if she fully stands behind Ruby, she wouldn't show it to prevent a conflict, aye?

Click to shrink...

Mars, Goddess of War, preventing conflict?

That can't be right.

If anything, she's backing both sides.

 

[Graveless]

If her position is that precarious, why hasn't some of the opposing gods gotten rid of her. I mean if someone else is basically doing the job and getting the official salary, it probably wouldn't be hard for the boss to send the celestial lions on her ass instead. At that point the panopaly is basically stolen.

Of course, thanks to Salem, the boss and the one doing the job now know there are multiple strong Celestial Exalts on Remnant who would probably be willing to gank her, if they just had a little help and knew where she was...

Click to shrink...

Basically stolen and actually stolen are pretty different things, which does matter from the perspective of heavenly courts. They could absolutely get her on tax fraud if she showed up to the office though.

As for sending a squad of Celestial Lions. Could they do this? Yes. Would it work? Maybe.

She's had centuries to make dragging her out of her planet fortress as hard as possible. The geomancy is polluted and poisonous. There's active interference with Fate(see all of Ruby's problems with astrology), which will impede their ability to even figure out where she's hiding. To say nothing of her massive army of Grimm. While Celestial Lions might be immune to the omnipresent bugs, they can be worn down by larger Grimm and their backup isn't as easily immune.

It's very possible to deploy enough to get through all of that, but the person sending the first squad after her needs to answer the question "is firing her and getting her panoply back worth the risk of escalating into a war when all she seems to want to do is sit in her fortress?". This is not only for themselves, but also the commanders of different groups who would have to get involved in the fighting and be pulled away from other worlds that haven't fallen to this level.

Unless, say, you preside over all war and have figured out a way to make these conflicts happen such that the hilariously lethal compared to most gods Exalts can team up to deal with this problem with minimal fuss while also solving a few of your other problems at the same time.

 

[giodan]

Isn't Ruby not actually rogue, but secretly (even to herself) a black ops deniable asset who 3 of the Celestial Maidens are using to fix Remnant with a hammer instead of a scalpel? I mean admittedly this doesn't change anything since if they check the records they won't find anything that lets Ruby do what she is doing, but I think she did get backhanded permission at one point (or at least got double talked into this). Plus this plan gives the gods data on how Abyssals and Infernals work, which they need, so she is helping them anyways.

Click to shrink...

Well this suond like a great excuse to gain time.


I love it!

 

[Estro]

I guess they could send 5 siddies but my little knowledge of Exalted lore says sending multiple siddies to accomplish a single task would be less then predictable.

Click to shrink...

The great curse isn't that simple or that blatant - if it was, the Men From Heaven literally wouldn't be able to do their jobs.

 

[Tiz Goldeneye]

Unless, say, you preside over all war and have figured out a way to make these conflicts happen such that the hilariously lethal compared to most gods Exalts can team up to deal with this problem with minimal fuss while also solving a few of your other problems at the same time.

Click to shrink...

Thank you for answering my question.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 3.1

~~~​

"This doesn't make any sense." Ruby groaned at the screen in front of her. It had been three days since she could dream about something besides medicine and her first new project wasn't going well at all. "Stop me if you've already heard this, but the core concept… sort of works. The issue is step three in particular."

She pulled up a page long equation with multiple large sections that were only question marks. Each of the rest have different color coding depending on which researcher wrote them, sometimes shifting from term to term. "This, this right here. Based on what's written, it begins with the assumption that if you can compress an eight dimensional object with a very specific configuration, that's all question marks I will note, down to three dimensional space, you can generate infinite energy in the third dimension."

"That much we'd figured out." Penny's dad pouted, stroking his beard with one hand.

"Right, so that's already a pretty crazy assumption and I have no idea how someone could make an object like that, but let's say it's right. In order to compress it, you don't need a cage one dimension higher, this says that it needs to be compressed in every higher dimension. Depending on how you look at it I can work with four, maybe five dimensions, and I'm already lost on what that would even look like."

She swapped over to a different portion, a schematic with the main unit being in the nanometer. "Beyond that, I don't understand how you etched these wires by hand. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had to be lying because I tried and I can't go that small."

"All I can say is that I fell into a fugue and my hands knew what to do, but it was also with some machine assistance. We had to figure out what I did afterward." He shrugged. "I suppose my little girl is a miracle that defies even the genius of the Anathe-"

"Exalted," Ruby interrupted, "Weiss is very insistent and honestly I think she's probably right."

"Sorry," He cringed and looked away from his camera. "It's just new and-"

"I get it. I still mess up too." Ruby closed the Atlas top secret files and went back to a different report they'd sent. Atlas was the second kingdom to sign a treaty with them and Ruby was all for what they wanted. Dust, materials, and money in exchange for a few hours of her time per week consulting them.

"Well, that makes three data points," Penny's dad pouted, stroking his beard with one hand. "If none of you can figure this out, then we'll have to keep trying."

"Oh, no. That was just me complaining about everything. For the problem Penny was having… I suspect it's related to throughput. Even if she has theoretically infinite total energy, she certainly can't pull on it and it sounds like the 'failed' weapon design exceeds what she can handle. But, it's still good to have around for when she can."

He spun around in his chair, looking up. "Last time we tried to expand her power supply, we noticed unstable fluctuations in her core."

"You were never a Huntsman or anything similar, right?"

"Nope, the sight of blood makes me queasy."

"Right, so part of Semblance development also develops your Aura. As you learn more about yourself, you can refine your… you-ness and this will not only make your Aura stronger, but also it possible to do more things with your Semblance."

"I have heard of the theory."

"The thing is, it's not one big thing, but it also is. Like, you learn a lot and develop a lot, but you can stay stuck for years. Most Hunters never even do this one, even if they figure out their Semblance. The absolute best of them can do it twice because you need to figure out something deep and then it clicks and there's only so deep you can go."

He continued nodding along.

"From what Penny's said, she's never done this and I'd bet that's what's missing."

"Is that something you can help her with?"

"Well…" Ruby drew the word out, thinking about every possibility and the best route forward. "Is Petra in the lab today? It'll be better if we talk to her too and also I need to answer her questions."

"Let me check." He walked away, leaving his camera on.

Ruby used that time to check their big group chat. Nothing big had come up yet, besides Blake's negotiation with Qane City going poorly. They apparently wanted to join up, but weren't willing to bulldoze some mansions to fix their Essence flows so… not her problem. That was a Blake and Weiss problem that she'd be told about if it became a her problem.

After a few moments, he came back with a blond woman who had many tools held in different strands of hair. "Hello… your Highness?"

"No." Ruby squeezed her eyes shut. "Yang's Queen and I have no titles around that. Chief Engineer, sure, but you're not working for me."

"Miss Ruby?" Petra squeaked.

"Sure." It wasn't worth arguing about. "So, Aura Refinement. We-" Ruby twirled her hand in the air. "-re weird about this and I'm just now realizing part of that. My family are incredible Hunters and mom, who was a crazy prodigy, only managed to pull off her first grade of refinement at twenty three. I think I've passed three without noticing because why would I think that was what I was doing when I'm this young and I'm fifteen? Sixteen? What day is it? Did I forget my own birthday?"

Ruby stared at her screen for a little while, other pieces of her theories suddenly clicking into place at the same time as her gut wrenched at the amount of time they'd lost fighting the Kingdoms.

"Anyway, that aside. All of us can not only refine our Auras sooner, but also deeper. The thing is, it isn't ourselves we need to figure out, it's our power and we relate to it. Petra and Blake have the same flavor, but…"

Ruby watched Petra slink away.

"Have you gotten past just feeling the rivers of energy and into being able to analyze or manipulate them?"

"No, Miss Ruby. It's still beyond me. About that, I had a question regarding your design…"

"Let me finish this first. Both Petra and Blake draw on death and other aspects related to it because it turns out there are sub-flavors of death. Which isn't exactly a nice thing to think deeply about how you interact with and internalize the meaning. Blake's had to do this because of how she's lived despite hating it. While I'm sure she could share some of her own insights with Petra, that wouldn't be enough."

"Because it's personal," Penny's dad said.

"Right, Penny needs to figure that out for herself and I'm not sure how much I can help… Though… I'm going to throw explaining this to her in the Weiss and Ren buckets because they know how to teach people these things and maybe meditating or Sorcery could help." Ruby quickly added a note in both of their columns. Low priority, below all of the reconstruction efforts.

"Does this relate to the warnings about not using my own power to unblock the Essence rivers?" Petra asked."

"Yes, sorry, roundabout way of getting there to kill two birds with one stone. In order to make the reactor design work, you need the Essence to have a consistent flavor and a stable flow. I'm still working on a design for using a big Dust burn to fix some of that, but right now all we've got is throwing your own power at wherever it's stopped. Sorcerers could do this really well… if they could perceive the blockage and have enough Dust.

"Your power would change the flavor in the same sort of way Yang's does, forcing the existing energy to take on aspects of death. If you were able to see what the Sorcerers were doing and guide them, though, that would work because the best case infusing an area with death will make something like the town where we met." Ruby shuddered at the memory of that weird place where everything felt wrong. It would be better than letting the Grimm run wild, but there was just something about the air which made her reconsider ever putting people through it.

"I wouldn't want to make anyone understand this feeling… And the energy nexus?" It was so nice to work with someone who knew the right sort of questions to ask. Running for a safe haven in Atlas made sense considering Petra and Maroon, her partner, would have just been liabilities in the fights team RWBY took on, but that didn't make not having her around easier. Maybe Ruby could borrow them as part of another treaty.

"We're still waiting for our reactor to confirm your theory, but it does match Yang's memories." Ruby'd been checking the center of their power source for a theoretical stone of power every day. All she'd found was an ever growing ball of energy so far. "If it works… It's going to change a lot. Energy sources the size of my fist? I can only dream."

"On a different topic, we looked over the new armor design and it's fantastic. I never would've thought to use Moonsilver that way." Penny's dad started rifling through papers, "But, how important are pieces like the plating. Would it work as an exo-suit for construction too?"

"I put a lot of the circuitry in the plating, so you'll have loose wires running around without it, but… hmmm…" Ruby sketched a quick diagram and then stopped. "Uhh, do your construction workers have strong Auras because that's kind of mandatory for the frame to not tear itself apart?"

"Some do, but I was thinking about the small Dust furnace and-"

Ruby's earpiece started ringing with Weiss' ringtone. "Sorry, one minute."

"Hey, Weiss, what's up?"

Her partner's tone could cut glass. "We have a situation at the northern border. Three Mistral airships are landing just outside of our territory and Blake's too far out to intercept."

"Urgh," Ruby groaned and stood up. "Got it, I'll be right there." Turning back to her workstation she waved. "We can talk more later, once I've figured out what's going on."

Hefting Crescent Rose, she looked to the stars for what else she'd need to prepare during her run.

~~~

By the time Ruby arrived, the ships had landed and people were mostly disembarked. She didn't worry too much about hiding her approach because they weren't at war and also she could beat much better soldiers than what Mistral sent. There were ten people with weapons at all and only one of them was worth noticing. A tall, red haired man who had a cutlass-pistol at his hip.

The armed group was forcing the other men and women all wearing the same outfit into groups. Each had baggy gray shirts and pants, a few had very poorly made knives hidden in their shoes.

Ruby beelined for the man with a real weapon. "Excuse me, what's happening here?"

He jumped back, hand grabbing his blade. "Woah, wher-" He looked at Ruby for a moment, realization dawning on his face. "Ahh."

"So, what are you doing?"

The man gulped, "Hello. I'm Captain Raj, we're transporting a group of prisoners here for release."

"I'm sorry, what?" Ruby squinted at him, then the terrain. They were in a small clearing right next to a thick forest. North, West, and East were all Grimm territory because Ruby hadn't found another Man-o-War to capture yet. "This isn't your territory, you can't do that."

Raj avoided looking at her directly. "It isn't anyone's territory."

"Our border is right over there." Ruby pointed over her shoulder. She could tell exactly where it was, even if there wasn't a visible line for anyone else. "And there's nowhere else for them to go. That's basically dumping them right on us and, you said prisoner. What did any of these people do?"

There were sorts of people who were arrested without any good reason. Maybe they were activists who were taken away for protesting in the wrong place.

"Banditry and murder."

Okay, nope. "And you're just going to let them go, here?"

"Those are my orders."

"This can't be legal. Give me a second." Ruby called up Weiss and told her about it while people were still being unloaded.

"They have us in a tricky spot there. It's illegal to do this to any kingdom by treaty, which we're still negotiating with Mistral. Frankly, this is a lot like what they did to the Menagerie and only stopped because the Faunus won the war."

"Didn't we just win a war?"

"Yes, and are in the process of negotiating the full peace agreement without any normal agreements to fall back on."

"Can you hit them back for this? Get us anything?"

"Oh, I'm planning to."

"Great! I'll deal with this then." Ruby hung up and turned back to the captain. "Get them organized so I can talk to them."

"I-I don't-" He folded under Ruby's glare, grabbing his radio. "Men, gather up the criminals."

It didn't take long for them to be sorted out, but long enough for Ruby to start pulling together a few curses. Given how many there were, she'd need four or five to get them all. Hopefully that'd be enough.

"Hi everyone," Ruby said as all eyes turned toward her. "I hear you're the sort who like to prey on other people. I'm here to let you know that doing so is unacceptable in my territory, which is the only civilized place you can head to from this location."

The crowd wasn't quite sure what to make of her yet, squinting at her in thought or blatantly glaring.

"We actually are in desperate need of people who can handle a long day of construction work or want to learn how to work in a metalshop. If you give up your criminal ways, I'd be happy to bring you in, though we will be monitoring you for the next few years."

They stayed silent for a bit, then started laughing. A heavily scarred man, one of the ones with a hidden knife, walked up to her. He towered over her by almost a head and a half.

"All right girly, that was cute, but not me or any of my boys are scared of one little Huntress. Ain't that right boys!" The crowd cheered for him. "There's only one red bitch in these parts anyone cares about and you ain't her. So, what we're gonna do is follow you back to your town and have the first good meal in five years."

"What's your name?"

"Brann, the Brutalizer." He leaned in close. His breath stank.

"Okay, Brann, I have two questions for you. You said five years, have you been in prison that long and did you have any network access?"

"We were all in max."

"Right, right. So you actually don't know." Ruby scanned the crowd of criminals and locked onto one of them. A thin man, lacking a weapon, with a missing ear and broken nose. "You there, what's your name?"

"S-s-slater."

"What's wrong Slate, scared of a little girl?" Brann laughed back at him.

"All of you should be." Ruby tapped Brann on the arm and attached one of her curses. She could feel it take root and spread of about a third of the people present. "You see, I'd bet Slater hasn't been in prison for more than… a year or so."

Slater nodded, somehow losing more color from his face.

"And the person who you'd actually be worried about. That's Raven Branwen, isn't it?"

That got a reaction. Brann, who had been getting ready to punch Ruby took a step back, as did the rest.

"She's actually my Aunt-" And the crowd went dead silent. "-but that isn't why you should be worried."

Ruby waited a moment, then pulled on her Essence for a show. The symbol on her head blazed as did her Aura, bathing everything in red.

"Slater, knows who I am and that the world you're coming back to isn't the one you left."

With three quick steps, she vanished from sight and tapped a different person on the back. Her curses spread to the entire crowd.

"I've attached a nasty curse of the Lightning Bolt to each of you. If you take the foolish risk of trying to harm anyone, it's going to activate and you're not going to enjoy the result."

She landed back where she started. Brann fell over, shouting. "Who- What are you?"

"I'm Ruby. I'm a Huntress and an Engineer." She waved a hand over her shoulder and whispered a command. An Ancient Ursa that had been foolish enough to fall into her domain materialized behind her. "Don't worry about this guy. I've usurped control of the Grimm in the region and it's now a peaceful place. So, I'll ask again. Who wants to give up being a criminal and work toward a better future?"

The group glanced back at the sky ships, which were closed and preparing to lift off. As they turned back to her, Ruby smiled and called Weiss. "We've come to an agreement… Do you think we can get the kingdoms to pay us for this because I'm pretty sure that between the four of us we could rehabilitate people pretty well."

 

[kinigget]

Wait, are they trying to figure out Hearthstones, or am I reading that wrong?

 

[Patch]

Atlas is simultaneously strangely accepting of anathema while also being the strongest opposition to them.

 

[beleester]

Wait, are they trying to figure out Hearthstones, or am I reading that wrong?

Click to shrink...

I think you're right, she said she was expecting a "stone of power" to form in their reactor, and the talk about arranging a flow of a particular flavor of Essence sounds like the process of making a manse.

Also, the discussion on "aura refinement" was basically explaining how leveling up Essence works - get enough experience and do some sort of thematic meditation, like an Abyssal surrounding herself with death.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder Book Three: Creation

~

Chapter 3.2

~~~​

Ren took a deep breath and entered the living room of their wing of Yang's mansion for the first meeting of his morning. He carried what he was certain was a very expensive tea set carefully. Placing a cup in front of each person, he poured a simple green tea that he always made sure to keep around.

"Thank you for the hospitality." Robin, the supposed leader of Ruby's cult, took his cup of tea and sipped it. His red robe that was just barely off color compared to Ruby's cloak was badly in need of mending. "I understand that you have a problem with me and my fellows."

"Yeah, you could say that." Nora raised her cup and drank the entire thing in one go. "Oww."

Ren sighed. That was one of the reasons why he kept this particular tea around. It didn't have much caffeine and had a low enough steeping temperature that would only mildly burn Nora whenever she did that.

"We have a number of problems." Ren sat down. "The first of which is the existence of your cult. It's dangerous and wrong to worship people."

"Firstly, it is not my cult, it's that of Lady Ruby. Which"- Robin began speaking, louder than before.

"Which she doesn't want." Nora interrupted between quick breaths that wouldn't help cool her tongue that much.

"Secondly, I don't think we'll ever come to an agreement on whether or not worshiping gods is dangerous."

"She's not a god. She's just a powerful person." Ren said.

"Just a powerful person?" Robin laughed. "Maybe to your Kingdom Hunters that might be true, but the world is larger than what you know and out here, we don't have your comforts."

Ren placed a hand on Nora's shoulder to stop her interruption. They'd correct him when he was finished.

"We have all witnessed the miracles of Lady Ruby: telling the future where none else can, granting the skills of a master craftsman to whomever watches her work, and restoring the bodies of people sliced in half by the Grimm! To say nothing of how her designs have reshaped this city to a place of wonder!" Robin grew louder with each word, his eyes intense, unblinking, as if he thought that staring at them would convince them.

Ren looked away as his fingers clenched hard enough to make the cup shake in his hand. He could make out another building being raised by Yang by how the roof slowly crept up above others. Nora squeezed his thigh, he wasn't even sure when she'd grabbed it.

Robin's smile faded, "Though, it does take time for revelations to occur and the two of you have already come so far."

"Excuse you!" Nora started to stand up.

"We watch every video that we can. The two of you are very distinct in the first of them."

Ren could've stopped her.

"You mean when we were about to attack her?!"

"When you didn't. I'm certain that even then, a part of you-"

Ren caught Nora's arm before she did something they'd all regret. She dragged him halfway to his feet. After struggling for a moment, her arm went slack.

"I'm leaving." She turned and stomped away, making the teapot shake with each step.

Ren took a breath through clenched teeth. "I had half a mind to let her finish."

"The two of you would get along well with us. The passion, the impulse, the violence."

"You don't know anything about us."

"Nor you us." Robin stood up, meeting Ren's eyes.

"Nora and I grew up outside of the kingdoms. We've seen where what you're doing leads." Ren stepped closer. "Nothing good for anyone can come from worshiping her. Ruby herself doesn't want any of you doing this."

"Have you studied any myths? Let it not be said that gods are perfect or always correct." Robin kept getting closer. "I consider myself one of the more restrained worshipers and even though I know how foolish it would be, I can feel my blood burning."

"You're not helping your case."

"Do you have any idea what would happen if I was not guiding those who are drawn to Her?"

"Try me."

"What sort of goddess do you think it is that we see? What glory did her Revelation bring?" Robin stepped back and turned away, raising his arms. "The promise of bloody revolution, of breaking the kingdoms that have looked down on us, of the truth that so many have known deep in their hearts. Those who claim to rule and protect us are nothing more than liars and hypocrites who must be answered with force."

If Ren wasn't certain that Ruby didn't want this, as confirmed as it could be by Nora's spell, he'd leave then and there. The Anathema who'd tried the same would have dreamed of men like Robin. "I thought that you were craftsmen and engineers."

"Many of us are. We take pride in learning what She loves and providing what we can… Yet still Her gaze never falls upon us despite this. I am one of the few who can remember each appearance and what She says, others wonder why we're forging tools of war and not using them. They think that if they whet their blades with the blood of Her enemies, then She will lead to victory!"

"That's-"

"Foolish!" Robin shouted "Lady Ruby will lead us to war when the stars are correct and no sooner. So, I preach restraint and heeding Her foresight. She can see so much more than any of us and the reason for Her absence is the path being forged into a glorious future! We are not strong enough or wise enough to walk it with Her, so we must follow in Her footsteps!"

"And"- Ren could feel his pulse more with each word. That sort of insanity was… how could they even stop it? "What does that future look like?"

"Oh, I would be a prophet rather than a priest if I knew, but… A world where the kingdoms lay broken and the four Goddesses take their rightful places! A world where Lady Ruby has leashed all Grimm and remade it as she sees fit!"

Ren took a deep breath.

~~~

"We have a problem." Ren said as soon as he entered the practice range.

Blake looked away from the center, where Pyrrha sat cross legged. One of Ruby's Man-o-Wars was having smaller bugs pop in and out of sight near her. Though, since it was also invisible they just shouted at the air when they needed it to do something. "Just one?"

"Has something else gone wrong since the morning? I've been… not strangling cultists for hours." Ren wasn't exaggerating.

"Wasn't Nora supposed to help?"

"She almost hit the first one and left to do something else after I stopped her."

Blake took a moment to consider what she knew of each of the cults. That shouldn't have been Carmen or Nix and she wasn't sure if Weiss' even had a leader. "Robin?"

"Mmh." Ren nodded and made a noise.

"Yeeeeah," Blake drew the word out in a sigh. "He's… passionate."

"He's bloodthirsty, insane, and claims to be the 'reasonable one'."

"They're just edgy and want Ruby's attention." Blake considered some of the things that the more passionate Fangs of Luna did and whatever nonsense Ruby's cult got up to paled in comparison.

Ren frowned at her.

"It's not like we can just stop them."

"We could outlaw it."

"That would drive them back underground, which is where we found them in the first place." Blake thought for a moment. "I could write a bunch of pamphlets about how you shouldn't worship people, but…"

"That's getting close to a bad line."

"Yeah… This is why I think it'd be better if Ruby gave them rules and showed up to some of their ceremonies to say 'making knives good' 'sacrificing animals bad'."

"It would be better if we stopped them."

"I don't think there's a way to do that without taking away their will."

"It's a problem that's only going to get worse."

"Is it getting worse faster than our other problems?"

"Probably not, but I don't want us to ignore it."

"What about the others?"

"Yang's claims they don't recruit, just throw parties so great that no one can resist. Yours refuses to stop recruiting until the Faunus are treated well everywhere. And the three 'leaders' of Weiss' couldn't even agree on who was in it. They didn't appreciate the suggestion of just stopping if even they don't know."

Blake nodded, but she honestly didn't care that much about the cults as long as they weren't hurting people. Maybe it was growing up in the Menagerie where a lot of little ones flourished… No, that didn't make sense. Ruby, Ren, and Nora were really the only ones who were pushing. Yang used to hate the idea when she didn't know hers, but Pyrrha and Weiss also didn't care.

Speaking of Weiss, Blake turned toward her as she entered the field with a… six foot tall, hunchbacked mantis man. Blake rubbed her eyes and looked again. That was still a mantis with hands and robes that was carrying a bag overflowing with books.

"Sorry I'm late. This is"- Weiss took a moment, licking her lips before continuing. "-Z'atrh'kre." she made strange clicking noises during part of whatever that was.

"A commendable effort, Z'athrh'kri is my name," The mantis said with a ton of noises that mouths didn't make. "However, this is hardly the first time I have been called for. You may all call me Athr."

All save Pyrrha, who was still focused, introduced themselves. When Blake stepped forward, the demon bowed its head lower.

"Ahh, yes, you I have heard of. A kindred spirit." His head swiveled up in a way that would be impossible for a person. It was clear to the demon that they were more alike than any others here.

"Uhh…" Blake tried to figure out how to respond to that.

"One who also seeks out that which is forbidden. The tomes of knowledge which others consider dangerous and unnatural." He hissed.

Blake glanced at the books in the Athr's bag. She couldn't read any of the titles, but those which had cover art looked nothing like what she read. Looking up, Weiss was grinning at her.

'That is unfair and not true and you know it.'

'And it'll be fun watching you explain.'

Blake took a deep breath. "We can talk later. I'm assuming that you're the advisor we asked for."

"Yessssssss, I understand that you seek lost knowledge from a long forgotten age." Athr raised his hands, tapping his fingers together in a strange rhythm. "A method for the physical to interact with the spiritual."

"Have you made any progress?" Weiss asked Blake as Pyrrha finally opened her eyes.

"None." Blake shrugged. The invisible Grimm were as invisible as ever.

"I believe I felt something, but it may have been the wind." Pyrrha stood up with a sigh.

"Show me." Athr's eyes glowed with a soft light as he stared at Pyrrha. His mandibles kept clicking as she sat back down and started.

"Are we sure about this?" Blake hesitated slightly before asking Weiss.

"This type of demon has Yang's signoff and no one vetoed it. There was one that might have been more knowledgeable, but would come with its own problems." Weiss watched the group work. "So, I specified a Naneke who had knowledge of martial arts and exalted techniques when I cast the spell."

"Has it helped you?"

"He confirmed that I'm on the right path to seeing the bugs. There are subtle changes to the Essence in the air I can feel, I just need to expand upon that." Weiss narrowed her eyes, focusing on a patch of air with nothing in it.

"And the other problems."

Weiss frowned. "I'm no closer to dodging lightning than I was at Beacon."

"Nothing?"

"I can accelerate my perception to the point where I can watch it coming for me, but that doesn't change how quickly I can move. It just makes it worse."

At least Blake wasn't the only one having problems. Maybe if she could dream up solutions, it'd be better.

"Hmm, you are developing a method that ignores your innate Essence in favor of utilizing that which naturally flows around you. A long method, a weak method, but admirable." Athr walked around Pyrrha, "To reach the Bulb of the Perfected Lotus through a new path… yes… this is good."

He spun around, staring at the rest of them.

"You, you can follow in her footsteps, though it will prove harder." He pointed at Ren. "Your spirit is too weak. Both of yours are, but hers has the strength to attempt the first step without risk. Hmm, it may also kill you. I am unsure. The mortals of this world are hardier than most."

Ren remained silent.

Athr moved to Blake next, staring at her heart. "You have the depth to follow or even surpass, but I do not understand why you would ask when the fruit is already within your grasp."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about. I have no idea how to do any of this. Pyrrha's closer than I am." Blake looked away.

"You…" Athr chittered, raising a finger as he thought. "But your… Do you know the demon lore? The ghost lore?"

"That's Weiss' deal and ghosts? Ghosts don't exist…" Blake paused at the end. "Ghost's don't exist, right?"

"There it is!" The mantis fumbled through his bag, pulling out four books. "You will study these and you will learn."

Blake hesitantly took them and opened one to the first page. It was gibberish. "I… is this a language?"

"It was written in Forest Tongue two thousand years ago, some of the grammar has drifted since."

"That doesn't help. I have no clue how to read this."

"You will." Athr nodded rapidly, putting one of his hands on top of hers. "You will."

"You're going to teach her." Weiss cut in. "And you're going to explain what you meant to Pyrrha. If there's a regular technique, then we should just learn that."

"Teach her"- He pointed to Blake, -"yes, but I will not destroy a new path before it is tread."

"I summoned you to teach." Weiss stepped closer to him. "There's no reason we should reinvent the wheel if there's already a method."

"New knowledge springs so rarely, it is a gift that"- Athr started gesturing wildly -"It does not simply come around and"- he looked around, eventually landing on Ruby and Yang's uncle in bird form. He was sitting on the edge of a roof, still watching them -"she is the one you should speak with if you want easy answers!"

"Uhh, he keeps refusing to talk to us despite all of our efforts and isn't a Maiden. So if you don't mind-" Weiss corrected and pressed forward.

"That is a female bird with similarly flavored Essence."

Everyone went silent and looked at the large crow which was ruffling its feathers and starting to take flight. It occurred to Blake that she had no idea how to tell male and female crows apart. Especially as Weiss flashed with silver, turning into another crow that only looked slightly different.

But then she moved.

~~~

Blake drew as she landed. She needed enough to stop it from flyi-

The bird shifted slower than Weiss, but still fast enough. A figure in a red and black coat, wearing the mask of a Nevermore. He drew a red blade, sweeping her blade above his head, making his hair move. Her energy was transferred to his blade where-

Blake jumped away, ready to deflect Adam's follow up- No, wait he was dead. Yang killed him and-

"You flinched, Blake Belladonna." The woman chuckled.

Blake took a breath and pushed the bad memories away. It wasn't Adam. Adam was dead. This had to be Yang's mother. What she thought was Adam's black coat over a red shirt was instead black hair partially covering a red and black robe.

The swords were eerily similar though and Blake didn't need her Essence to hear the challenge.

"The next won't." She sheathed her blade and breathed in.

"Third coil." Raven did the same. It would be to the blood then.

Blake had speed. Raven had reach.

Blake shifted her stance lower. To spring forward or up?

She couldn't judge strength, but she'd bet on Ruby's armor over any silk.

Raven adjusted her grip. Low to high, deflect and cut at once.

The mask must obscure her vision, but there were other senses. If Raven could teach Pyrrha, she couldn't count on sight.

Blake leaned forward, slightly to the left. Twist in the dash.

Her Aura was probably stronger. What did Aura matter to masters of Shining Point?

Raven raised an arm, then lowered it again.

Bird Weiss appeared and flashed with silver Blake moved.

Her blade bit into the side of Raven's throat at the same time she felt one in the side of her ribs.

The phantom Adam fell and a tremor in Blake's heart left with it.

Weiss had her lips held tight, glaring at both of them as they traded initial positions.

"Always wanted to know what one of you would do with training." Raven flicked the blood from her sword. "Not good enough."

Blake grimaced, but couldn't help agreeing. That was closer than she would've liked. The red blade had enough power to cut through her armor, despite connecting with the weaker part of the slice.

"Now that the two of you are finished." Weiss had her arms crossed. "Raven Branwen, why are you here?"

"To see if any of you have become worth my time." Raven kept most of her focus on Blake even as Pyrrha and Ren arrived. She was here for the Exalted, and Pyrrha, and was not impressed by most of them.

"Funny, I could say the same about yo-" Weiss began speaking as Raven moved.

Raven drew, sweeping her sword in a circular motion, she formed a screaming face. Within the mouth was a Man-o-War. Before Blake could reach her, she sliced through it.

Blake waited in a ready stance. The technique was a defense against sorcery…

"You should control your pets better."

"What did you do?" Blake stared into the red eyes of the Grimm mask.

"Stopped whatever your Grimm was trying." Raven said, explaining nothing. "If she wants to destroy Salem, then Ruby needs a tighter grip."

"Because she'll be holding the leash afterward?" Weiss asked.

"If she doesn't grab it, then either someone else will or they'll run rampant."

"You?"

"No." Raven would consider it, if necessary, but she knew a few people who would actually try.

"Care to enlighten us?"

"Ozpin." Raven certainly believed what she said.

"But," Blake interrupted. "Professor Ozpin's dead."

"And he'll be back in… twenty years? Thirty? He never said how long it takes him to reincarnate." Raven shrugged. "It'll be down to one of you. Assuming you don't get yourselves killed in the process."

Raven looked at Blake, Weiss, and Pyrrha.

"Wait, me?" Pyrrha stammered.

"You're green, Fall, but have the potential. I doubt you'll actually reach it though. Take control of the Grimm."

Pyrrha shuddered. Blake couldn't help agreeing.

"And that is why you're weak." Raven sheathed her sword and let go of it. "You'd rather be good little girls than take what you can."

'Ruby, Yang, get to the training ground as soon as you can!' Blake thought to the others.

'Is that where we're under attack? The Man-o-War's are asking about eating someone!' Ruby shouted back.

'Don't let them do that!' Weiss thought.

'Duh!'

"I'd rather destroy them and anyone who should have power should think the same." Weiss continued.

"Why? So the pathetic masses can feel safe? So they'll cheer for you and love you?"

"For all of humanity to be free."

Raven obviously rolled her eyes behind the mask. "Spare me. You and Ruby have the right attitude, but you're too soft hearted." Raven turned her back to Blake and began walking away. "You'll sit here and listen to weaklings whose opinions should be as relevant as flies."

"Aren't you supposed to be some sort of Bandit Queen? I bet your followers would love to hear that."

"They're useful tools, nothing more." Raven lied.

"Uh huh. You're not leaving here until you at least talk to Ruby and Yang." Weiss said, drawing her sword.

Raven kept walking. "You think you can stop me?"

"Stop." Weiss commanded. Blake shivered just from being nearby.

The air around Raven shimmered and crackled with heat. "Nice try."

Raven waved her hand to the side and fell. A dark red portal had appeared beneath her feet.

Blake dove in before she could think it through. She rolled over a thick rug, to a safe position ready to draw.

Raven stood in front of her, arms crossed. "Persistent."

"Weiss said it, you're not getting away." Blake looked around. Where was she? They were inside, but the room was like nothing she'd seen before. Leather walls covered in tapestries, like a huge tent. Gems, gold, Dust crystals, and all sorts of metal were scattered around the floor. Grimm masks of all sorts decorated the tables.

But, she couldn't hear anything else. No animals, no cars, no people, no wind. It was like the rest of the world didn't exist.

"I've already left, now it's time for you to go back." A wave of Essence erupted and sped toward Blake.

Blake swept her sword in a circle, once and twice, collecting the energy. This time it was Raven's head that formed and was sliced through. The portal forming under her feet faded away as another cut appeared on Raven's neck, mirroring Blake's first.

Preparing another strike, Blake said. "Why do this? If you know so much, help us figure it out!"

Raven removed her mask. The resemblance to Yang's demon mode was uncanny. Bright red eyes with burning orange flames surrounding them. "Tell my idiot daughter to find me when she can break into places like this."

"Where even is this?"

"Nowhere." Raven practically whispered, turning away again. "Everywhere." 'Home'.

"That doesn't make any sense and also you could just tell her!"

"No." 'I shouldn't'

"She needs to learn it herself. I can't help." 'I shouldn't be near her.'

Blake hesitated as the meaning behind Raven's words hitting her. She tried to find something to say about that. Yang had been searching for her mother for… years? And Raven didn't. They were the same weren't they? Stupid in exactly the same way.

"I know that's not what you mean."

Raven remained silent.

"It doesn't have to be this way. She just wants to talk to you!"

A portal appeared next to her.

"Leave!" 'Stop tempting me.' Raven snapped.

Blake could feel something welling up in her, a tightness in her stomach, bile in her throat.

'Coward,' Blake hissed. She'd seen Weiss tear through people often enough, felt how Yang could pull on people's emotions. The sickness and disgust infused her words.

Raven flinched as Blake turned to the portal.

Blake gave her a moment.

"B-bring the Fall Maiden to me once she can see everything. There's no point before then."

"Yang's going to be the one bringing Pyrrha."

Raven huffed, but didn't say anything.

Blake stepped through the portal. She landed in a field to the east of Aincrad and flopped down to the ground. Eyes closed, she basked in the sun's warmth. Seasons were still something she was getting used to: as wonderful as summer was, winter was miserable and not worth it.

Out of range for telepathy, she pulled out her scroll and called Yang.

"Blake! Where are you?" Her partner shouted.

"A few miles east, I'll be back soon." She looked at the flowers near her withering. A few meters away they were still in full bloom. "After hunting some Grimm."

"Weiss said you jumped into a portal!"

"It's alright. I'm fine…" Blake thought about what to say. "Uhh, Yang… I don't know how to say this, but your mother sucks."

Yang took a moment. "Weiss used… much stronger language."

"As funny as Weiss swearing is, it feels wrong to say about your family… I'm so glad that all my mom does is embarrass me."

"At least you got to talk to her." Yang sighed. "Also, Weiss says quote 'I told you so'."

"Uhh…"

"Whatever my mother did hurt the invisible Man-o-War and she knows that's your style."

All Blake could do was laugh. "H-how was I supposed to know I could kill things I couldn't see?"

"I mean, that's how I figured it out!"

"But your powers make no sense!"

"They have a... I mean... Look, there's a logic to... Fuck! I just want one day where only things I'm trying to blow up explode! Is that so much to ask?!"

Blake collapsed in a fit of giggles.

"Blake?!"

"I-I'm fine." She laughed between each word. "It's just... what even are our lives?"

 

[Kaizuki]

I-I'm fine." She laughed between each word. "It's just... what even are our lives?"

Click to shrink...

An EXCELLENT work of fiction.

 

[giodan]

Ohhh nice raven.... come back i just whant to pet you!!!

 

[Artemis1992]

Okay, Raven is a full Maiden here, since Cinder lost her half-mantle with the Exaltation.

That, combined with the boost to Martial Arts explains why she is better than her canon-self here, I guess?

 

[beowolf]

Okay, Raven is a full Maiden here, since Cinder lost her half-mantle with the Exaltation.

That, combined with the boost to Martial Arts explains why she is better than her canon-self here, I guess?

Click to shrink...

Raven was Spring, while Cinder took Fall. Cinder losing what she had wouldn't do anything to boost her.

 

[Artemis1992]

Raven was Spring, while Cinder took Fall. Cinder losing what she had wouldn't do anything to boost her.

Click to shrink...

Oh right, it has been far too long since watching RWBY or reading this.
Raven never had a half-mantle like Cinder and Amber.

 

[Graveless]

Okay, Raven is a full Maiden here, since Cinder lost her half-mantle with the Exaltation.

That, combined with the boost to Martial Arts explains why she is better than her canon-self here, I guess?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, Raven's been a full Maiden for a while and had that status back when she was on good terms with Ozpin, so she knows a lot more. Add in Martial Arts and other supernatural effects I decided the Maidens would receive and you get her losing to Blake, but not by all that much.