The last thing she saw was Yang, standing there, staring at her with eyes full of worry.
But Ruby knew.
It was just another illusion.
"In the end, you just have to accept… that the world would be better off without you."
Ruby died.
And she was falling.
Falling.
Falling.
---
[I don't want to be me anymore.]
Her eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was the sky, dark, oddly oppressive, and almost unnatural.
And threaded.
"Threads…?" Ruby murmured, blinking slowly. Thin, almost translucent lines crisscrossed the heavens, glowing faintly in rhythm, like the pulse of a great, unseen heart.
She turned her head, scanning her surroundings. Small bushes and wild foliage clung to patches of earth, but everything beyond was swallowed in a dense, grey mist.
Pushing herself upright, she crossed her legs and stared at the ground. Her silver eyes welled, the mist making the world feel small and closed in.
"Hah…" She exhaled sharply, wiping away a tear with the heel of her hand.
"Hah…" Again she exhaled, her voice trembling this time as she drew her knees up against her chest.
Every tear burned.
The ache in her chest doubled each time she tried not to think. About what had happened. About what she had seen. About the mistakes she had been forced to acknowledge, about the truth she could no longer deny.
That the world had never needed her. That it would have been better without her.
So she stayed there, curled in on herself, crying into the fog.
Hours passed. She didn't move.
When the rain came, she lay on the bare ground and let it soak her.
When the wind grew cold, she did not flinch.
This was what she deserved.
Ruffle!
A bush stirred nearby.
Ruby barely reacted, her eyes only drifting toward the sound, heavy and listless.
"It's over here… hehehehe. I can smell it. A soul. This way."
The tiny, shrill voice drifted through the fog from somewhere far off, distorted by the mist.
Ruby ignored it, sinking back into her thoughts, into that heavy, choking stillness that had wrapped around her since she woke.
The voice came again. "Hey… what's this? Hehehehe. It looks like a scythe."
Ruby's eyes widened for the briefest moment.
Another voice joined in, rougher and more irritated. "What the hell's a site? This is a sickle."
The first voice barked a laugh. "What kind of sickle is that? Hehehehe… it's bigger than you! Trust me, I've been to the human world recently. That is a scythe."
Ruby laid frozen, torn between ignoring them and going back for her weapon. 'Why does it matter anyway?' she thought bitterly.
"Anyways, let's break it," the second voice cheered.
Ruby's eyes snapped fully open.
"Hehehehe! What the hell? Are you crazy? You're not breaking it. I'm the one who found it!" the first voice snapped, tone shifting from playful to possessive.
"Hey! Give it back!" the second voice yelled in frustration.
"No. Hehehehe… it's mine. I found it!" the first voice grunted, sounding almost feral now.
Ruby groaned, dragging her hood forward and pressing it over her ears. The voices still bled through the fog, high-pitched, grating, and impossible to ignore.
The arguing grew louder, the sound of small feet pattering against wet earth echoing in the fog.
Ruby shifted slightly, pressing her palms against the ground. The cold seeped into her fingers, grounding her… just enough to hear the distinct clink of metal familiar with Crescent Rose.
They really found it.
Her body tensed.
"You can't even lift it, short legs!" the second voice barked. "It's mine now!"
"No! Hehehehe. I smelled it first. You can't claim something I smelled first."
There was a thud, followed by a scuffle, the sound of bodies colliding, limbs flailing, and something heavy hitting the dirt. Ruby shut her eyes, trying to drown them out, but every instinct screamed at her that her weapon, her last piece of herself, was in danger.
"Fine," the second voice growled, "then I'll just break the blade and keep the handle."
Ruby's breath caught.
Her head lifted, eyes narrowing. The mist pressed close around her, the threads above pulsing faintly like a heartbeat, each glow quickening. She stood, brushing the damp from her clothes without thought, silver eyes now fixed in the direction of the noise.
Through the haze, vague shapes darted, small, hunched silhouettes with long arms and twitching movements. Their laughter echoed again, sharp and distorted.
The sound of metal shifting echoed once more.
Ruby vanished in a blur of crimson petals, her mind locked onto the faint, familiar hum of Crescent Rose.
"Hey!"
"What the hell?!"
She ignored the shouts, shoving past bodies in her way until the unmistakable weight of her weapon resonated through her very being.
With a sudden swirl of petals, she materialized, hands closing around the cold, familiar steel of Crescent Rose's grip. Only then did she lift her gaze to the ones who had dared to manhandle it.
Her brow furrowed. Faunus?
Before her stood two figures that could only loosely be called human. The first was tall but scrawny, his skin an unnatural shade of blue. A single eye stared at her from beneath a dark sclera, his face and limbs etched with jagged, scar-like markings. Pointed ears twitched faintly, sharp claws glinted, and massive canines protruded past his lips. His clothes hung in ragged strips, smelling faintly of rot and damp earth.
The second was broader, heavier-built, with a frame that spoke of brute force. His skin was a deep, burnt orange, also marred by scar-like markings. Unlike his companion, he had two eyes, black sclera swallowing glowing pupils. Two thick, ridged horns jutted from his skull, curving upward like a predator's crown. Beside him rested a massive club, pink-hued and gnarled, easily the size of a tree trunk.
"Ooh… it's a human," the orange-skinned one said, his deep voice tinged with awe.
The blue-skinned creature practically bounced in place. "I knew it! I knew it! I could smell a soul from a mile away!" His grin split unnaturally wide.
Ruby instinctively stepped back, Crescent Rose tightening in her grasp. "Okay… they're definitely weirdos," she muttered under her breath.
"Gui-Ma's gonna love this," the blue one said with a feral grin. "I'll be the one to bring him a soul, hehehehe, even though that damn Honmoon's already been completed."
Ruby's gut twisted. She had a sinking feeling she knew exactly where this was going. She really didn't have time for it… but she asked anyway. "What do you mean bring him a soul?"
Both of them simply grinned, a predator's grin, before launching themselves at her.
Ruby stepped back, narrowly dodging the blue one's claws, then sprang to the side just before the other's massive club smashed into the ground, cracking the stone beneath it.
"I don't want to hurt you," she called out, her voice tense but steady.
The blue one answered only with a guttural growl, dropping to all fours. His speed doubled in an instant, his movements turning feral and vicious as he lunged at her.
To Ruby, the boost was barely noticeable. She twisted away from each swipe with practiced ease, her steps light, her cloak trailing in a flutter of red. When his wide arc missed, she slid low beneath it, planting her knee squarely into his face.
She must have underestimated her own strength, because the blue… human? Thing? was sent hurtling backward, colliding with a boulder hard enough to split its surface.
His face was a ruin, half of it caved in like brittle plaster. A second later, his body dissolved into drifting, rosy-pink motes, scattering into the air.
Ruby froze, eyes widening. "Grimm?" she murmured. She'd never seen any creature of Grimm that looked remotely like this.
Her moment of shock cost her. She didn't register the shadow of the club until it slammed into her arm, pain jolting up her shoulder and sending her tumbling across the dirt.
The towering figure loomed over her, muscles coiling as he raised the club high and brought it down in a killing blow, only to strike empty ground as she vanished in a blur of crimson petals.
The orange-skinned Grimm scanned the shattered ground, searching for any trace of her, but found nothing.
A single red petal drifted lazily from behind it, catching its attention. Slowly, it turned and looked upward.
Perched high atop a jagged stone spire, Ruby stood silhouetted against the ominous, storm-dark sky. Her crimson cloak shrouded her frame, rippling in the wind and scattering petals into the air like drops of blood.
The creature, not a stranger to fear, could already feel the emotion crawling up its spine. The weight of her presence pressed against it, cold and suffocating.
It turned to flee.
It never took a second step. Its head had already left its shoulders, sailing through the air in a clean arc before the rest of its body even realized it was dead. The lifeless form collapsed a moment later, scattering into motes of pink dust beneath the gaze of the Crimson Reaper.
Ruby let out a long sigh as the last pink mote drifted away on the wind. "What kind of Grimm is that?" she murmured. "It reminds me of…" She hiccuped, a sudden shiver crawling up her spine. "…Neo's semblance."
[You don't deserve to die, Red. You deserve to be broken down. Torn apart. Wiped from existence.]
Her breath caught. She doubled over, a hot, sour burn rising in her throat before splattering to the ground. Bitter stomach acid stung her tongue as she gagged and coughed, her whole body trembling.
The pain was back, sharp and suffocating—her chest feeling as though something inside was swelling, pressing, begging to burst.
She stayed on her knees in the foul puddle, unable to summon the will to move, her thoughts dragging her deeper into the mire. But then… she heard it.
Movement in the distance.
Her skirmish with the two strange "Grimm" had not gone unnoticed. The sound of heavy steps and clawed feet scraped against stone. The air carried a chorus of low growls, guttural roars, and high-pitched chittering, melding together into a grotesque, discordant melody.
Ruby forced her head up.
Through the grey mist emerged a horde, each figure more alien than the last. Many were grotesquely colorful, vibrant reds, greens, and yellows bleeding across their hideous forms, while others were dull, greyed-out husks that seemed to rot as they moved. None of them matched any Grimm she had ever seen.
[Torn apart.]
Her fingers slackened around Crescent Rose's grip. The weapon's weight sagged in her hand as the horde drew closer, their mismatched eyes glinting in the gloom.
'What I deserve.'
The first "Grimm" lunged, claws outstretched, aiming straight for Ruby's face.
They never reached. Crescent Rose whirled in a swift arc, severing its hands at the wrist. Before its scream could form, the blade spun again, cutting clean through its waist. The creature dissolved into drifting pink motes.
The rest of the horde descended on her position in an instant, like chaos incarnate.
Thunderous blows from massive clubs cratered the ground. Dozens of claws slashed through the air, snapping branches and tearing soil. Jaws filled with needle teeth clamped and tore and still at nothing, shredding their target limb from limb.
"Why?" Ruby's voice was low, almost drowned out by the carnage below. She stood balanced on the branch of a dead tree, watching as the horde tore apart a person that wasn't there.
"Why can't I die now? I did it before." Her gaze dropped to her own hand, fingers wrapped firmly around Crescent Rose's haft. "I'm not trembling."
"Hey, wait!" one of the scrawnier Grimm shouted suddenly, its voice high and panicked. The others froze mid-strike, snarls turning to confusion.
"She's not here!"
A deep growl rumbled from a hulking, horned Grimm. "She's right. Where'd she go?"
A single red petal floated down between them, carried by the stale wind.
"Oh," Ruby murmured. In the same heartbeat, she launched herself from the tree, a streak of crimson aimed at the cluster of the odd, talking Grimm, only realizing she had done so mid-descent.
"I'm broken."