Capítulo 27: The Love, the Hurt, the Wacky (2)
"It's like a movie, but there's not a happy ending. Every scene fades black and there's no pretending. This little fairytale doesn't seem to end well. There's no knight in shining armor who will wake me from the spell" – Red Like Roses, Part 2
"You know that this just sounds… so stupid. And insane?"
I stared at Sienna with a dry look.
Some nurses had come by to check on us and put us both in wheelchairs. Staying by the hall outside my hospital room, we were waiting for the rest of the group to finally return.
Once we were done cuddling and kissing, the first thing I did was to inform her of my suspicions. Surprise greeted me, and I kind of expected her to be… skeptical over my theory.
The young woman returned my stare with a calm frown.
"You want me to believe that the tall, overly-cheerful young woman that was with Ironwood, the one that seems to have an eidetic memory for guns, and a passion for cookies..." She groaned, her face lowering to her hands as she tried to make sense of my previous affirmations.
"Why?"
I blinked. "Why I think that's possible?"
A single nod from the tanned woman made her intentions clear.
"To be fair, I'm skeptical myself about it- but I have some means to discern if this is just a massive mess of coincidences or not."
"How is it possible that Summer's kid is… her!" She snapped, hand settling by her lap. "I can understand the whole shenanigans about you being from out of Remnant- and that you know things… but can we agree that what you said was pretty stupid?"
[To be fair-]
No. We all know that has to be Ruby.
I agree with you, John. But maybe, just maybe, this could also be… another individual. Could it be someone from your dimension that ended up in your same situation.
Let me put it in a simple statement, I'm completely sure that the shade of brown-red of her hair and silver eyes match up is just plainly impossible. For it to be someone from my world like that to end up here? Even more absurd.
Are you sure?
Yes. And… I know that has to be Ruby!
I sighed. "It's- I feel really sure about it," I pointed out. "It's not that I'm throwing comments like this without any basis- I've seen plenty of proof to know that it's the only viable possibility."
"I will bite- what gave that off?" Sienna inquired calmly. "At this point, I feel rather clueless over how you got that theory in your mind."
"She is a sniper, her fondness of cookies, she loves killing Grimm and… she used her Silver Eyes."
The Tiger Faunus tensed up at this, her face leaving her protective facepalm. "What? Why would she need to use that if you just needed to captur Tyrian?"
It was at these words that I understood that Sienna hadn't been told the full story. I blinked, tensing up myself at her eyes narrowing at me.
"What did Ironwood 'failed' to tell me?"
I hummed, thinking whenever telling her the truth or not.
…
Sighing, I glanced back at her with a serious look. Surprise appeared on her face at that reaction, but I quickly spoke before she had the chance of inquiring once again.
"Salem was there too."
…
"You mean that-"
"Pasty-white skin, dark sclera, and a hair comb that would make many people go insane at understanding the logic behind it."
By the way, why did she pick that style when-
[I don't know.]
I thought that was a stylish choice.
[While I'm not much into fashion, I do prefer to keep things simple. I really don't know why she decided on that monstrosity of a comb.]
"The Queen of Grimm was-"
"There to try to rescue her minions and recruit me in her jolly little trip for world's destruction," I interceded, concluding that sentence for her. She didn't look happy for that helpful act.
"And I suppose you answered her no."
I nodded, a cheeky smile sprouting at that fun memory.
"Classic manner. I thought she understood at first but..." I paused for a moment, still thinking back at the fact that Salem can actually regenerate from that kind of injuries.
I wonder if I can literally destroy her body, vaporizing it, and kill her like that. Or maybe there's some backup I was unaware about the reincarnation/regeneration spell both her and Ozpin were subjected to.
"But she kind of knew how to dodge pellets and send them back to the sender the second time around."
Sienna highlighted the aftermath by poking at the cast and, while the thing was pretty thick and far from getting her to touch the damaged skin, the pressure exerted was enough to get a flinch out of me.
"Next time you should switch tactics. If the first time didn't work, then you should use something else instead of quick shooting," The Tiger Faunus reminded, her lips twitching in minor amusement at my small pout. "When we get back home… I will have to teach you."
I glanced at her, keeping quiet.
"Thoroughly."
Shivering at that, I still managed a smile at that teasing remark.
[This brings so many fond memories about when you wanted to be taught more about magic, dear.]
I don't think it's necessary-
[Oh, but you were so eager to know! And I remember the kind of rewards I used to give you when you succeeded~.]
I think I should leave you two alone-
[Why so? Don't you want to know how to spice up things with your lover-]
And I'm out of here.
Just as I silenced my connection with the two, I noticed that the group was finally making their way back and… Summer was rushing towards me. With her silver eyes narrowed at me in what I oculd only describe as the glare a mother would offer to her naughty children, I felt some flashback from my childhood rewind in my brain.
I-I swear, momma, I didn't mean to break the cookie jar!
"John Bukharin, you put yourself in danger- and you fought Salem."
"Be quiet about-"
"And don't try to shush me!" The brunette exclaimed fiercely. "What you did was outright stupid, dangerous, and incredibly suicidal."
Flinching a little, I kind of cowered as I found her face quite close to me. And it wasn't the 'romantic' kind of closeness, but the one 'I am about to punch you in the face, twice' closeness.
Fuck.
"To be fair, I didn't thought that-"
"I still remind you that you were the one chiding me for being incredibly reckless," The Rose continued mercilessly. "You said that I was being so stupid to put myself in danger now that I've a family and… what do you have to say for yourself?"
…
"I'm sorry?"
"Damn right you are," Summer said while nodding. "And that is just the tip of the iceberg. I know that you got hurt even more before that. I'm so- so-"
"Worried?" I guessed, staring at her fuming self for a while.
She actually tensed up at that suggestion, before sighing and sporting an awkward look.
"It's just… you remind me so much of how Qrow once behaved. And Raven… and Taiyang," The woman groaned the more she thought about it. "Oh Gods, is it going to be an occurrence just like how it was with my team?"
"I feel hurt you compared me to Qrow-"
"You're terribly unlucky. And my brother can blame his Semblance on it," Raven quipped curtly. "Still, good to see that an encounter with her didn't kill you."
"I'm made of sturdy material."
The bandit leader scoffed, coming closer and… poking at my chest. I blinked, surprised by the forwardness… and embarrassed by the sudden blunt approach.
"Can you not, Ms. Branwen?" Sienna calmly asked, getting the woman to actually stop.
"Have you never heard of 'sharing is caring'."
I snorted, and I found myself matched with a snort from Summer.
Raven took notice, a confused look on her face. Then she realized what she had just said and the irony of such a rebuttal.
"Very funny," She muttered with some irritation.
I took a moment to glance at Willow, and the woman nodded back at me.
"I hope things are a little better now."
"You can say that," The Schnee matriarch admitted. "Summer, Raven and I decided to set up some… tentative play dates. I'm still unsure if Weiss and Winter would like to-"
"I think they will love Yang and Ruby," Summer interrupted with a bright smile. "And imagine little Whitley and Ruby play together."
The brunette almost squealed, while Willow merely smiled at the possible future scene.
[I really want to see that.]
Sadly, we've other things to look at.
And in fact, my attention was quickly taken by a sudden tense posture from 04. The young woman looked rather unnerved by the mere mentioning of her younger self being parried with littlest of the Schnees.
I wonder if she is genuinely from the original timeline.
Either that or worse. Something has to have forced her in this time travel.
"-And I hope you and Ms. Khan managed to sort out the… tangled situation."
I blinked at Willow continuing with the discussion, my attention slightly lacking, but I was saved by a certain Tiger Faunus that was now smiling smugly.
"You can say that," The Tiger Faunus replied for me. I smiled happily at her and, instead of wasting further time on the matter, I turned my sight right onto… Ironwood.
"General, if it's not asking too much, can I ask a relatively small favor?" I asked quietly, drawing the eyes of the Atlesian officer right on me.
"Depends on how 'relatively small' we're talking about?"
"I need to speak with Misfit-04 in private," I replied back with a sigh, getting an 'oh' from the aforementioned girl. "It's quite urgent matters and-"
"I'm right there. Didn't you see that, Mr. Bukharin?" The masked woman commented with a huff. "You could've asked me."
That sounds strikingly like Ms. Rose…
"And you would've mentioned some 'classified' motivations to get out of that instance," I pointed out dryly. "I'm not born yesterday, brat. Remember that."
She snarled. "I'm- I'm not a brat!"
"Aren't you? I guess one could get that impression when you have a passion for cookies and milk," I commented back with a smirk. "And one would never be wrong in saying this, especially since I know who you're, crater face."
[Oh, you're starting pretty heavy already. Are you sure it will work?]
I know Ruby. Or better, I know her main mindset is and I know that it's not something prone to change… for anything.
The woman almost jumped at the aggravation, but then paused in shock as she realized what did I just say.
"That's… that's a rude thing to say to someone you clearly don't know," She said that, but instead of offering a blank tone, she offered a weak one.
And now you've got me sold over your theory. It's Ruby Rose.
[You sure know your students, Ozma.]
You can say that Ruby is just… unforgettable.
"I mean, technically you didn't deserve that one. One would say that it was more of your partner's fault at the time by waving around vials of fire dust and letting some get you to sneeze- Kaboom!"
I almost chuckled at the comical reaction I was getting from the masked girl, but I restrained myself on the simple fact that the others were giving me odd looks.
"You… you-"
"Come on, I'm not asking too much, am I?" I asked with faux annoyance. "I swear, you can be such a dolt when you want to."
I can't help, but imagine Ms. Schnee nodding approvingly at your acting. But I don't thing she would be that much happy that you're stealing her mannerism for the occasion.
We've something of an old saying where I come from: 'Eye doesn't see, heart doesn't bleed'.
That was the final straw, and the girl was now waving around in shock.
Yes, this was the quintessential Ruby Rose.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we got her.
"HOW?!"
I smiled happily at that childish exclamation. I was so going to have fun with that development.
"It's complicated. But I guess you can offer me a hand as we check the cafeteria. I've heard that there are plenty of good cookies there."
She huffed, but nodded. "Fine, but… you tell me everything."
"Only if the same is applied to you," I muttered back with a frown, then I turned to look at Summer. "While it might sound abrupt, I really need to have this talk."
"You make it… sound as if it's something I should be worried about," The woman pointed out with a confused look and I shrugged.
"Just covering myself a little bit from any resurfacing from your 'concerned mom' moment."
"I-It wasn't that bad," She looked around at the other mothers for help. Raven was pretty much staring away, while Willow was the only one offering attention… but she was shaking her head at her.
I hummed happily at the amusing scene, but I knew that the situation was far from over as I now had to deal with a certain temporally-displaced Rose.
And I really don't know how I'm supposed to deal with it without laughing thorough the interaction.
"You're not from Remnant," Ruby muttered surprised. "And you know about… my team?"
[I suppose you're just running away from slow approaches.]
It's just… so exciting. Little Rubes is in front of me! Gah, I wonder how much she has grown since-
It's quite creepy what you're doing right now. Please stop.
We had decided to pick a small reserved section of the hospital's cafeteria. Some doctors and nurses still passed around to get something to eat or drink, but none actually came close to our current table.
We both picked cookies to eat, but the girl decided for plain milk while I took some chocolate milk to enchant my delicious snacks.
She was almost confused, saying that she would've expected me to go for some coffee.
I replied with a flat answer. "I don't wish to become an eldritch creature."
It was even more confusing to think about it, but perhaps I wasn't just going to turn in someone beyond the human comprehension.
What are you even talking about?
[Shh, Shade might be listening!]
"Kind of. You know the TV shows about young heroes fighting for justice and heroic reasons in some strange and dangerous world?" I suggested while munching at my third cookie. "You were the main characters in there, you and your team. It wasn't like a full show that displayed everything you did with them, but I know the main events that transpired for a couple of years."
"Which main events?"
You might need to be a little more specific.
"I know about Vytal, I know you went to Mistral to get the Relic of Knowledge and… I think you went to Atlas?"
"You think? You mean you don't know?" She pressed on with some irritation, and I huffed in response.
"I'm not in command of what appears in the shiny box, little Red," I remarked tightly. "Still, I don't see why you're keeping that helmet."
"It sounds like a bunch of lies- and I don't see why I should reveal my pretty face," She crossed her arms close to her chest as she proclaimed this.
I merely smiled at her with a smug look. "Perhaps I've to remind you that I know a lot about embarrassing bits?"
"And who are you going to tell those to?" She rebuked smugly and I shrugged.
"Oh you know… I think I can talk it to Sienna. She knows who you are after all-"
"Wait, what?!"
"I'm telling her everything whenever I got the chance," I explained calmly. "Trust is the basis of a healthy relationship."
[Never heard truer words.]
I reckon you said that 'blondes are actually smart' was the truest words.
[I can have no limits about truest words!]
"But- but what if she's…"
"Evil?" I guessed with a sigh. "She's not. I mean, she was pretty anti-human when I met her but… you can say that we care fondly about each other."
"You were smooching each other before we left," The girl agreed and just as I opened my mouth to comment on that, I noticed what she had just said.
"I recall the smooching happening way after you had left," I brought up with a skeptical tone. "Were you spying on us?"
"Do you call it spying if I was just checking by the doorstep?"
"Yes. And that's creepy," I pointed out with a frown. "And you can't be creepy, Ruby. You can't be anything else but cute."
She tilted her head to the side, sporting an immense amount of confusion on her tense shoulders.
"Whaaat?"
"Is there even an instance where you can't bring your adorableness out of any scenario?" I asked back with a small smile.
"When people die?"
"You know, you're social dummy like you were at Beacon," I answered with a huff. Still, bringing up her 'childhood' was enough to get a tired sigh out of her.
"I guess habits are difficult to kill and… I'm not cute."
"I bet you still are- heck, you can't be older than me."
Maybe she is.
She can't be! I refuse to imagine a Ruby older than me. By natural's rule, she is either the cute little sister of the same-age gun dork everyone needs to love!
[She is quite cute during her days at the school.]
"I'm twenty."
While I merely smiled brightly at that comment, I almost exploded in glee at that confirmation.
"I'm older."
"You seem oddly satisfied by that," She remarked warily. "Why?"
"It's all about rules of space-time continuum," I explained with a false reason. "But you may know that I'm just happy about it."
…
"Okay?"
I nodded. "Let's move on the next topic- can you remove your helmet?"
"You're making me regret accepting this whole private talking," The Rose admitted dryly. "Like really, why are you being this cheerful about things?"
"What… do you mean?"
"You changed things," The girl muttered irritated. "You changed so many things that now I can't do much without getting myself in danger."
"You mean with-"
"Everything!"
…
"Do you know why I got here? Why am I in the past?"
I could thrown in plenty of suggestions. I could go blindly and hope that my capacity in elaborating hypothetical reasons could work in this case too.
But I was unsure about why she seemed so much tense. So much… frustrated.
"No," I replied truthfully and she nodded, her hands reaching for her helmet and… she finally revealed the cruel fate.
Ruby's face was mostly unscathed, yet her right eye was covered by what looked to be a hefty eye patch.
"I messed things up. Badly," She hummed quietly. "And I got everyone killed because of 'this'."
She pointed at her patch and… I blinked in shock what this was actually referring to.
We actually lost?
[Doesn't seem… to be the case. Something else is afoot about her.]
But that was the kind of message this was actually giving. There was no reason to not believe that they had failed to kill Salem. Not something completely absurd since the Queen was a dangerous individual that couldn't be killed by natural means.
I had tried it and… the results had been less than pleasant.
"Ruby-"
"I got them killed," She commented quietly. "I made a single mistake. Just one, and I fucked everything up."
…
"You… are not at fault," I tried to reason, only to be met with a shrug.
"I was a moron. I still am right now, but at least I learned to not trust anyone that just comes in with the sweetest of words," Ruby sternly confessed. "So who are you John Bukharin, and what do you gain from killing Salem?"
Gritty reality Ruby was starting to get in my nerves with how pushy she was getting. While I was trying to sympathize to her plight, here she was throwing mud back at me for trying to be kind.
It's difficult to trust someone after many betrayals. You shouldn't… be this hard on her.
[You just told her that her adventures were a kids' show. I think you can see clearly how her darker reality wasn't the same as you imagine.]
This is indeed a case of AU that I really was unsure how to tackle. Still, I wasn't letting the girl get a free shot at me. Not while I'm this frail and crippled.
"World peace, relative calm?" I started to throw reasons left and right. "Maybe I want to kill her because I want?"
That sounds rather crude.
[But not wrong. John doesn't actually have a fixed reason to go after Salem. He's… just doing it because she is a threat.]
"That sounds vague."
"Just like it sounds vague the motivation you didn't give me about you traveling back in time," I rebuked swiftly. "And don't think I will just let go the fact you're shifting blame of me for making things better."
"You changed things too much," She half-hissed and I frowned.
"I saved lives. Something you wouldn't have done out of fear-"
"I-It's not this. She- Salem knows how to play the situations at her advantage," The girl pointed out. "In fact you were almost killed when we were sent to capture her minions and-"
"Why didn't you leave me to die if I'm the problem?" I inquired. "Why not just let her get rid of your main issue?"
"It doesn't work- I'm not going to let anyone die-" She shook a little bit, a mix of anger and annoyance playing in her reaction. "I just… I just want-"
…
…
There was silence, and I didn't press her for a little while. I munched at my sixth cookie, and I sighed when I looked around, distractedly keeping myself from falling in the boredom.
"How did you lost that eye?"
The girl blinked in minor surprise at my sudden question, but I wasn't looking at her.
The real issue right now was that we both were talking of incredibly heavy topics… without having never established much of a genuine connection. There wasn't much friendliness from her part, and what was palpable was just Ruby being… Ruby. Kind of.
Still, the young woman stared at the table and… answered my query.
"It was Neo. She wanted to take a final shot before we killed her and… she managed to slice at it."
Spiteful little thing. I could imagine that ice cream addict making one hell of a last stand before certain defeat. Truly a loyal minion, but one that didn't have a genuine voice to her warped sense of reality.
"How did you… travel back so far?" I had to know now. Maybe this was connected to my same situation and-
"It was an old portal we found while searching in Vacuo. It was one of the last things from the first generation mankind," She replied numbly. "I managed to destroy it once I had gone through. It can't be used again."
Which means that this isn't the way we all got stuck together.
I wanted to groan in annoyance at the fact that there wasn't much of a connection between her arrival and mine.
Then why am I here? Why I feel like this isn't just a coincidental circumstance?
"Do you need both eyes to kill Salem?" Another question, this time I was picking up the pace a little bit.
No need to rush but… I really needed to get her to relax. I didn't want to bore her with disconnected inquiries.
"Yes," Ruby admitted softly. "Maria told me that the most powerful silver-eyed warriors are those capable of using both eyes. And Salem can be killed only by the strongest."
"It wasn't your fault-"
"I hesitated and I got punished for it- no, everyone got punished for my single mistake."
"It's not your fault."
…
"Can you… not say that?" She asked with a terribly quiet tone. "It's my fault and I can accept my burden about it-"
"It's not your. And you shouldn't beat yourself about it," I interjected sternly. "You're far from flawless."
"I'm not like Weiss, Yang or Blake."
"I would be impressed if you managed to be the perfect copy of any of them," I agreed with a nod. "Minus Yang. I think the world had plenty of raging blondes that would berserk around when their hair got touched."
The girl stifled a small giggle at that. "She was incredibly… attached to her hair."
"Attached sounds 'incredibly' reductive," I pointed out with a smile. "Do you know how I met Raven?"
The girl frowned, shaking her head and… I could see her eyes lit in visible curiosity.
And so I started to tell her about my little truck adventure that ended prematurely because of a flying masked bird crashing on my window.
I think Ruby got a proper fat laugh when I told her the words I had used when I 'rebuked' Raven's efforts to get her sword to know better my arm.
"You- Snrkt- You called her- You called her a t- a thot?"
[I've the memory saved up in case of emergencies.]
You can save memories? And why did you save that one specifically?
[Because that's a memory worth to remember forever.]
I agree with Sally. That shit is still gold in my eyes.
"Damn right I did. And she thought that meant me and her were destined to marriage by some bandit rule that wasn't an actual rule at all," I sighed at this part and turned at her. "Do you have any crazy pseudo-romantic story you can bring up to the table?"
She hummed, seemingly reverting to her child-like happy self. "I guess there's this… time I was training with Oscar and… he was trying to flirt with me."
I leaned a little bit, this introduction to the story already gaining my full interest as I gestured her to continue.
"He was careful to not sound too pushy or clear with his intentions but… I had to politely ignore all of that session. And he somehow took it as a reason to get bolder with the flirting."
"Who kicked his ass?" I decided to ask, having a strong feeling about where this tale was ending up into.
"Nobody. I think… he got a little frightened when I glared at him while I was busy with… wait, do you know who is my… you know."
I felt tense at that, and I narrowed my eyes at that allusion.
Is she seriously trying to get me to know who her boyfriend or girlfriend were?
Ms. Rose seemed rather close to Ms. Schnee, but I wouldn't deny that she seemed to be in amiable relations with Mr. Arc.
[Now, isn't that a complicated mess to leave without getting bitten too hard?]
"I actually don't know," I confessed slowly. "Why, are you going to tell me who-"
"Nope~," Ruby smugly interceded. "I think it's best you don't know about… that."
"You're kidding right."
I didn't receive an answer to that, only a bright smile from her as she intensified her cookie-munching. We were almost done with our plates, and I was feeling rather filled thanks to the delicious snacks.
I sipped at my mug, letting the chocolate milk in and repelling any dark thoughts over the moment.
Today I lost an important opportunity to learn which of the pairing was true for Ruby. But not everything was lost as I retreated to my Plan B.
Smug shall be met with Smugger Smugness.
"I will lie to myself that it was Crescent Rose all along," I muttered mirthfully. "I think she got the most spotlight with you around after all."
To be fair, she was caught multiple times showering with her weapon. I guess she took the advice 'a good hunter always keep their gun around' a little too literally.
[There is nothing wrong in loving something that generally caused doom and destruction around those. In fact, I can say that I'm experienced about this kind of circumstances.]
Ah ah, very funny. I wonder how John will react when I tell him where your mole actually is-
[Don't you dare scare the kid!]
I decided to ignore the madness unfolding within my head and keep my attention onto the insanity unraveling before my eyes.
Her jaws dropped at that comment, with her silver eyes going wide at what had just happened.
"I- I like guns, just- just not that way."
"You were groping that poor sniper-"
"Don't- Don't talk back about Singular Rose!" She fiercely interrupted and I almost facepalmed at that.
"You gave that gun a name? Are you already replacing your former lover or is there some polyamorous situation I'm not aware about?"
She huffed. "It's not like that and you know it!"
I shrugged, my smile widening the more her face steamed at the accusations.
Truly a sweet development.
A bizarre one considering that now I had to deal with this time-traveling one-eyed Ruby Rose.
From dimensional hopping to time-traveling. What's next? A visit from the Grimmverse?
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