1/Terrielle
Yang sighed with relief, hearing the faint sound of the door closing behind the Ice Queen.
She didn’t like how quickly and easily Ruby had accommodated her into their life, the trust she had given without a second thought.
She wasn’t sure if it was due to her nature as a Queen, or just puppy love, but Yang knew she’d have to be there for when the new addition in their life finally broke Ruby’s sweet and fragile heart.
Ruby had situated herself opposite of Yang, and was staring holes into Yang.
“My dearest Sister Yang, why didn’t you tell me you had taken a delaying brew last month?” Small amounts of anger evident in her voice, but the small hints of betrayal were what was tearing Yang up inside.
When Yang had agreed to her Uncle Qrow’s plan, a much younger Ruby had made her promise one thing: No secrets and she’d be a good girl.
This had obviously caused issues, especially once the young queen had hit puberty, and learned that Yang had spent time in the Eyrien camps, and was making a living with her body.
But, having seen the much needed value of secrecy in Terrielle, Yang had started making small white lies, and had slowly expanded them, until she had the level of privacy she needed to remain sane. If she couldn’t have her body to herself, she was damn well going to have something.
“Because we needed to leave, and I can’t leave you unprotected while we travel.”
And because you have no idea how close we were to the Queen of these lands, and she can’t have you. Yang wanted to tell her what little information she knew, but her Uncle had also made her promise him: Ruby must not learn about what she could be, until the final Offering had been made.
Her uncle hadn’t said it, but it had been plain as day across his features: Ruby hadn’t been the first
potential candidate for her Uncles plans, she was just the most recent and most likely.
Ruby snorted, before airing her grievances, “No, no more lies, not now that we have someone new with us. You know the risks of a delay brew, and you know how badly they affect the next moontime. From the fact you didn’t use Craft to bring you your War Staff, you’ve probably hav-“
Ruby was cut off by a screech, coming from upstairs. Due to the nature of the buildings that surround a Red Moon house, Yang knew no one else would come running, either due to not hearing the screech due to various noise cancelling spells that could’ve been added, or due to the fact no one wanted to find what had caused, or been the cause of, the screech.
Dragea was the main capital of Hayll, but Grimm still managed to get in every now and then, and dragged off Blood. Being Creatures born of the Darkness, Craft was effectively useless against the smarter and stronger Grimm, and that made them adept at hunting Blood.
Feeling the concern for Weiss in Ruby’s psychic scent, Yang headed to the stairs, but a gesture from Ruby stopped her, glad that Ruby had been quick witted enough to try and contact Weiss first.
A small grin spread across Ruby’s face, before she informed Yang of Weiss’ reaction to finding a mirror.
Yang laughed loudly, and was momentarily pained from the dark energies in her gut, but it was totally worth it, knowing that the Ice Queen had effectively scared herself.
Yang settled back down, glad that Weiss had distracted Ruby enough to make her drop the subject. Before Ruby could get back on topic, Yang was already up and gliding towards her, ushering her from her seat.
“Come on sis, time for bed. Between me fighting during a forced moontime, our new addition, and the long journey we have ahead of ourselves, we need to get as much rest as we can.”
“But the night is young, and I haven’t gotten to talk to Weiss properly yet.” Ruby whined and pouted, crossing her arms, and Yang loving every second of the display, since it meant that Ruby was still her lovable and childish dork of a sister, not the Queen she would become.
“You can talk in the morning, once we’ve gotten some shut eye. Come, you can teach me some more of that Protocol you and Uncle keep going on about.” He added with a smile, seeing the change from pouty child to eager and energetic scholar.
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2/Remnant
Ozpin walked through the dark mist of the Gate, finally arriving back at the Dark Altar near his estate. He’d been gone for a few thousand years, but he knew Glynda would keep the estate in order.
Both she and he had chosen to become Guardians, the living dead, with her keeping an eye on Remnant, and he’d keep an eye on Hell. After long having lost it High Lord, Hell was slowly being reclaimed by the Darkness which had given it birth, meaning fewer Demon Dead lived alone.
But he was concerned by what he had been seeing there, or the lack of thing he had seen. Despite how close and entwined with the primordial Darkness that Hell had become, few Grimm had been reported.
And there were rumors of the Harpies finally having chosen a new Queen. Harpies were demon dead witches who had been brutally killed by a Blood Male, put still possess the will and/or the power to come back. They weren’t known for being friendly to Male Blood, and since Ozpin didn’t have enough to go on, he’d decided to wait until the new Queen of the Harpies would reveal herself. That had been a thousand years ago, and Ozpin had regretted it.
Snuffing the candles that powered the Gate, Ozpin left the Altar, slightly perplexed that it was unattended. While Priestesses were still an uncommon caste, they were also a well looked after caste in Remnant. But considering the proximity to the old SaDiablo estate, there should still be a Priestess on site, since their duties included caring for the Dark Altars, and the Gates within, besides being the one who helped honour the ancient tradition.
He headed toward the crumbling SaDiablo estate. Despite Ozpin and Glynda typically being considered ‘Dark Jeweled’, their Jewels apparently weren’t considered dark enough to renew the spell that had kept this marvellous estate in top condition.
Upon entering the Hall, Ozpin could sense that Blood had been here recently. He could never forget Glynda’s psychic scent, but the other two confused him. The scents he was picking up, belonged to people he thought long since Demon Dead, and having passed back into the Darkness.
Before he could puzzle the scents out, he turned towards where he believed Glynda to be residing, and stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes betraying him.
“Lord Peter?”
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3/Terrielle
Jaune pondered as to why he never received his Jewels, and was made to work for the Schnee courts. He didn’t understand why his family would want him serving one of the few dark families, and why they wanted him to be a guard, of all things.
While his grandfather had been a renown Warlord Prince, and his own father had followed in his footsteps, Jaune was turning out to be the disappointment of the family. After his first Offering, where he had returned with no Jewels, his family had tried many things to discreetly rid themselves of him. Sure, it had seemed like they were doing it out of the kindness of their hearts, but Jaune could see the political manoeuvres, after having witnessed the Schnee Court doing business.
Luckily for him, his family’s apparent shame made it obvious to all the foul Witches he’d served, that he wasn’t worth using, and wasn’t a threat, which meant he hadn’t been fitted with a Ring of Obedience.
Jaune shuddered at the thought of those abhorrent devices. He’d heard from the Witch in who was in charge of him, that they were a perversion of the original Rings of Honour that the 3 Ruling Blood Males of a court used to wear in times long since past. But the Ring of Obedience wa different, so very different.
While the Ring of Honour was willingly worn by Males of a Court, the Ring of Obedience was typical forced upon stronger males, so that they could be forced to submit to the unwanted control of weaker Witches. They were also used as severe punishment on any male that was considered to be ‘acting up’, and was considered the alternative to having a male, if they were considered too valuable to be shaved.
Jaune looked up, to see the Witch in charge of him approaching.
“Lady Nikos, why are you here? My shift isn’t over until sunrise, and I wasn’t notified to expect you.” Jaune tarted anxiously, only thinking about whatever potential punishment he might’ve been given on a whim.
The beautiful red haired witch smiled, raising her hand in a placating gesture.
“Calm yourself, Prince Arc. I have come to find you, to make you an offer. And please, call me Pyrrha, when we aren’t in court.” She said quietly and confidently, as if she already knew his answer, and was merely giving him the agency to choose.
Jaune respected her. While other Blood would treat him as a half-Blood, Pyrrha Nikos had always treated him with respect when she didn’t need to. It had been odd at first, but it had been one of the two things that had given him the strength to keep his current post. The other reason was his beautiful Snow Angel, but he didn’t want to think about that forbidden desire.
“Yes, Lady Nik—Pyrrha.” Jaune forced himself to comply to her wish. “What is your offer?”
She merely smiled a brighter smile. “Soon, the young heiress Lady Schnee will be returning home, with some important guests. She’ll want to leave and travel with her guests, and we need to go with her.”
“How do you know that?” Jaune asked apprehensively. There were rumors that Lady Nikos was actually a Black Widow, and actually used poison and the unique mind altering skills of the Black Widow coven to achieve her status.
Jaune hadn’t believed a word, since he had seen her take down an unruly Sapphire Warlord Prince using nothing but the blunt edge of her shield. He alo knew that if she ever choose to wield her spear in combat, even the Schnee family would do their best to try and stop her before she roe to the killing edge.
“A long time ago, a strange crow told my family of a prophecy surrounding the Schnee family, and that how only the Glacial Heir would save the Blood Rose, and save all of the Blood. Having watch the Schnee family for thousands of years, my mother figured that the young Lady Weis has the highest chance of being a part of that prophecy, due to her being the first Queen of the maternal bloodline.” She paused, considering how much to tell him, before continuing.
“Recently, another strange crow has told us that the Blood Rose has been found, and is slowly making her way toward here. Both you and I need to be there to support the Lady Weiss in her future.”
Jaune couldn’t believe what he had heard, and his face must have made it obvious what he thought about her story, since her smile dimmed, and he turned away, apparently about to leave.
“Wait!” Jaune pleaded, cursing himself for not controlling his emotions better. “To be 100 percent candid with you, your tale sounds absurd. BUT, you are the only person who has shown me trust and respect, so I will gladly help you.” He finished, not really believing he’d just agreed to her plan.
The smile she now wore could’ve have rivaled the sun.
Weiss woke with a start, her body aching from her enthusiastic pleasuring last night. Her senses were on edge, but she had no reason to be. She had woken up exactly where she’d fallen asleep, and only the two sisters in the room next door could be sensed in the premise.
This is strange….. Weiss mused, as she probed the surrounding streets. Nothing seemed out of place, yet he had occasionally found paces of nothing, which she’d only ever encountered while traveling along the Psychic webs.
She gritted her teeth, and left her room, heading downstairs to see what she could make for breakfast.
Roman overlooked Dragea, and smiled at what he saw. Packs of Ursi and Beowolves prowled just beyond sight of the Sentries. He knew the beasts were waiting for a chance when the Sentries weren’t paying attention, since they had learnt long ago that the Sentries were more fearsome than they seemed.
He, on the other hand, was waiting to give the signal that his agents were to distract the Sentries, given the unholy Grimm the chance to attack the wall, and invade the city. The powerful Dust weapons used to ordinarily keep the Grimm out, couldn’t be turned inward.
Roman raised his cane into the air, and fired off a ball of white witchlight, which stood out in the pre-dawn darkness.
Once it reached a certain height, he activated the spell he’d added to the witchlight, causing it to explode into a bright flash. That little spell had worked more than he thought it would, since he could already sense half a dozen probes being sent in his direction. They wouldn’t find him and his help, due to one of the unique properties that the Grimm had started developing in the last couple of hundred years.
Between the Grimm hunting, and me specifically looking for her, Little Red won’t stand a chance. Roman mused grimly, honestly wishing the Dark Queen hadn’t given him the job.
Roman had no issue killing Witches. But he did have issue killing young Witches who hadn’t even received their Birthright Jewels. It made no sense to kill potential threats, when there were much more apparent threats .
He sighed, and took the White Wind down to one of Dragea’s landing Webs.