Chapter 29

A Mother's Undying Love

(A/N: As a quick note to avoid any confusion, the scenes of this chapter are happening concurrently. I hope you enjoy, and God bless)

The shadows ripped and tore through the young girl pinned helplessly to the snow covered ground, rivers of crimson flowing down and staining the once pristine mountainside. Her screams echoed throughout all of Patchwork but they mercifully faded along with her vision and all feeling in her body. She could still hear the shadows ripping and tearing but the sounds were becoming distant and meaningless. Far away she heard a familiar woman screaming her name, and opening her eyes she found herself floating upward and saw a white cloaked figure sprinting down from a tiny cottage toward the tire swing tree where Ruby had last been playing.

She tried calling out to her mother down below, tried telling her that everything was alright and that she was finally flying like she'd always wanted, but either she wasn't listening or she was too far away to hear. In the blink of an eye the shadows began to dissipate revealing a gnarled, misshapen body that her mother collapsed atop of screaming and crying. Ruby stared curiously at the girl lying on the ground, their lifeless silver eyes staring back at her and their final words still on her lips.

'Mommy...'

Higher and higher Ruby flew accompanied by a beautiful light and the symphony of flapping wings. While the mangled body didn't bother her in the slightest, Ruby was very sorry to see her mom so upset. There was however a peculiar giddiness inside of her like she'd never felt before, like every Christmas morning and birthday all wrapped up in one. Soon she could see beyond even the highest peaks of Patchwork, but she was still somehow able to see her mother down below who began glowing with a white light rivaling that of Ruby's traveling companion.

She then began to hear her mother's voice whispering in her ear. "...Calavera, daughter of life and death, successor of rebirth and regeneration..."

Many of the words were nonsense to Ruby, and she had difficulty understanding her mother through her high-pitched wails and uncontrollable sobbing, but just hearing her voice made Ruby feel warm inside.

The warmth eventually faded however and Ruby was violently jostled and yanked backward, reminding her of the times Yang would tie a leash around her to keep her from super-speeding away or wandering off. She imagined herself as a frayed rope in a tug-of-war match between the sky and earth, and just as Ruby thought she was about to be pulled apart the heavens conceded and she began plummeting back down to Remnant, back where she knew she didn't belong.

The young girl screamed not because she was falling but because of the unimaginable agony that she'd somehow forgotten returned just as suddenly. She pleaded with her mother to stop whatever it was she was doing, and for the man who'd been carrying her to take her away again.

She closed her eyes in anticipation of splatting on the ground but slowly her vision came into focus and she saw her mother's face looking down at her, puffy and tear stained but smiling just as it was supposed to be.

"M-mommy?" she asked, her voice weak and raspy. "What's wrong? Why are you crying, Mommy?"

Her mother's face was ghostly pale and covered in a sheet of sweat. Her silver eyes twinkled but were dull in color and had embers falling from them in the shape of rose petals. They were beautiful, and Ruby reached out to catch a handful but her hand weakly fell beside her empty.

"E-everything's okay, sweetie," she sobbed, burying her face in Ruby's matted hair. "Everything's okay. J-just lie still and try not to m-move."

Ruby was only vaguely aware of being wrapped in her mother's cloak and carried in her arms. Her eyes opened briefly and despite the washed out colors of the world she saw that both the cloak and her mother's arms were covered in scarlet, leading her to believe that she'd fallen asleep in the strawberry patch yet again.

"I'm sorry, Mommy..." she said sleepily. It was her mother's favorite cloak and the one she wore on all her missions.

The woman hushed her, choking back what sounded like something painful. Ruby had heard her mother cry like this many times before during thunderstorms or on nights when she didn't think anyone could hear, but she was too tired and weak to try and make her feel better this time. She never quite understood why her mother cried, and thought perhaps it was just something that mommies did.

From the far away sounds of the cobblestone steps Ruby knew that she was being carried back to the cottage, and thought her mother must've also been very sleepy because she bumped into the front gate and stumbled several times on uneven stones, something she normally didn't do even on the darkest and snowiest of nights.

The front door creaked open, and moments later Ruby felt herself being laid atop her bed still swaddled in the now red cloak. Her eyes fluttered open as she felt a strange yet pleasant sensation in her body, and saw that her mother had glowing hands pressed against her stomach much like she did when Ruby had boo-boos to fix.

"I-I'm almost done, sweetie..."

She nodded and her eyes closed again. Some time passed and Ruby felt her mother's lips touch her own then her forehead where they lingered. Afterward she was scooped into her arms and rocked back and forth like a small child before eventually being set down on the floor beside the bed.

"Ruby, sweetie? M-Mommy has to go bye-bye but I'll be right back."

She could hear her mother fighting back tears and Ruby instinctively grabbed her hand. "No, Mommy, don't go."

"I-I'm sorry, sweetie," her voice cracked. "I have to, but I promise that I'll be back before you know it."

"Pinky promise?"

Her mother intertwined their fingers and kissed them. "I promise, and mommies always keep their promises. I'll be gone for just a minute but I'll be right back. And when I do I promise I'll never leave you ever again." She hugged her daughter tightly and kissed her atop the head. "Now, I need you to be a big girl just like your sister and stay under the bed. I'll...Daddy or your Uncle Qrow will be here in a little while. Until then just rest, sweetie. Just lie still and rest. I-I love you, Ruby. Remember that Mommy loves you more than anything, a-and that I'm sorry..."

"I love you too, Mommy," she yawned. Ruby felt several more kisses on her face before she was slid safely underneath the bed.

Soon after, uneven footsteps walked away, opening and closing the front door behind them. In a sleepy daze Ruby wondered if her mom was going outside to fight with her dad or to be alone with her uncle again, but as she began slipping into unconsciousness she found herself walking in the garden, her vision blurry and the world spinning.

Crawling out from underneath the bed she got to her feet and as if in a trance limped to the bedroom window overlooking the garden. Her mother was stumbling toward the front gate paying the quickly approaching darkness little mind, and glanced back toward the little girl standing at the window, staring at her with a vacant expression and empty eyes.

'Go back under the bed, sweetie,' her mother whispered, sounding as though she were standing there beside her. 'I don't want you seeing this...'

The shadows overtook her, and Ruby stared blankly at the rivers of scarlet flowing from where her mother had been standing and where they had picked strawberries together her entire life. A few of the shadows paused to lick their claws and study the little cottage but it didn't seem to be of any particular interest to them. Some rejoined the frenzy while others ran down the hill toward the screams of villagers, but none paid any mind to the glowing white figure calmly walking back through the garden, rose bushes sprouting wherever the embers falling from her eyes landed.

The translucent woman paused at the window where the young girl stood before passing through it and into her.

'You need to rest now, sweetie...' Ruby's legs moved seemingly on their own accord back to the bed where she crawled underneath and got into a comfortable position. 'The Grimm won't be able to sense you, or me, but you need to stay hidden and stay still, and you need to rest. Daddy and Uncle Qrow will find you soon, I promise. Mommy's here. Mommy will always be here. My aura and consciousness will slip into your own but I'll never truly go away, and someday this will all be a bad dream. And someday after that we'll see each other again. Sweet dreams, Ruby. And remember, Mommy loves you...'

"I love you too..."

The days that passed felt like a lifetime for Ruby. She was never entirely aware whether she was awake or sleeping, and had strange dreams of flying over Remnant and of shadows doing terrible things. Her mother kept her company and kept the worst of the nightmares at bay, a duty she carried out for as long as Ruby could remember until the day it all became a bad dream like she promised.

When she was finally pulled out from under the bed Ruby was fully aware this time that she was being carried. The cold and hollowness inside of her was attempting to be remedied by her father's warm aura, as well as her uncle's. At first she thought they must've been carrying her together but neither aura felt quite right. Besides, it'd been her uncle who found her underneath the cottage's remains and carried her, but neither he nor her dad had ever been able to make the nightmares go away quite like her big sis.

And that's all it was she realized. Just another bad dream, which explained the warmth she felt and emptiness being filled.

'Yang...'

"RUBY!? RUBY!?"

Yang cradled her sister in her arms as she screamed and thrashed, trying in vain to keep her still and from hurting herself any further.

"I've got her head! Somebody grab her arms! Her legs! Something!"

Without hesitation Weiss dived atop her partner, gritting her teeth as elbows and forearms buried themselves into her chest. She flared her aura like Yang was doing in an attempt to calm her but all it did was soften the blows as Ruby cried for her mother and begged for her to 'make it stop'. Weiss looked to Yang for an explanation as to what was going on but found her expression just terrified and bewildered as her own.

A couple dozen students stood motionless in the hallway covering their mouths and some even fighting back tears, including Blake Belladonna. Her body refused to move any closer to the caped-girl, and she could only watch in stunned silence as she continued flailing and trying to bash the back of her head in.

Weiss buried her face in Ruby's chest at the sound of another gut-wrenching scream, but like a punch to the gut it snapped Blake out of her trance. She immediately began scanning the crowd for any red auras or glowing eyes, her head spinning like a swivel until halting at the opaque window of the girls locker room door they had just stopped in front of. There must've been dozens of partially see-through doors throughout the training hall but it was the closest thing to suspicious that Blake saw. Even if it wasn't perfect line of sight it might be enough for a skilled mind manipulator, and opaque or not anyone would be able to recognize Ruby from her trademark cloak.

"We need to get her out of here," Yang hissed, gesturing at the crowd gathered around. Weiss raised her head and nodded, and the two began cocooning Ruby in her cloak with limited success. Eventually Yang just scooped her into her arm doing her best to ignore the punching, kicking, and headbutting. "Blake, I-"

Yang's eyes widened and her mouth fell open as her partner rushed toward the locker room and slammed the door behind her. "B-Blake?" she half-whimpered, reaching out for her only to be elbowed in the stomach, causing her to double over and nearly drop her sister.

Blake had already drawn her weapons by the time she rounded the corner, and with scathing eyes she studied every detail of the locker room searching for anything even remotely amiss. It was spotless and well-lit, and large enough for two entire classes of girls to comfortably get changed together. Dark green lockers surrounded the room on all sides with another row in the middle, essentially splitting the room in two with an entryway on the left and right. On the other side was a smaller room that acted as a partisan to a hallway with a dozen semi-transparent shower doors on either side.

The faunus began stalking around in erratic patterns, her bow perked up and twitching in every direction. Blake could hear two showers running, and without any shame or embarrassment she studied the figures inside to make sure they were in fact occupied and real.

After checking the other stalls she and her shadow flitted about the locker room taking wild swings in search of an invisible target. The longer she searched the more frantic she became. If her mind hadn't been altered then injuring Ruby was her fault, as was whatever was happening to her outside. Everything was her fault.

Everything was always her fault...

Blake cursed loudly and kicked one of the lockers, leaving a sizable dent. A faunus' senses were much sharper than a human's but their sensitivity often meant they were easier to overpower and exploit. To counter this she flared her aura shield as much she could and began dialing in her senses when the locker room door opened again and heels came stomping around the corner.

"What do you think you're doing!?"

She turned to see Weiss glaring at her with tears in her eyes, and seeing Blake's weapons drawn she did the same. After several deep breaths she seemed to notice that the katana and cleaver weren't directed toward her, and with an unsteady hand she moved to defend Blake's flank.

"I was coming in here to tell you to stop feeling sorry for yourself but I can see that you're busy."

Blake swallowed, her eyes lingering on the heiress for a moment, making sure every detail was as it should be. "Ruby only started hallucinating when we passed the locker room. If it's someone-"

"She's still hallucinating!" Weiss snapped, "If you can even call it that! If someone's doing this to her but they're hiding in here that means they can't see Ruby and she should be fine, except she's not! Now come on! Yang needs you! Ruby needs you! And quite frankly right now so do I!"

Watching Weiss' rapier tremble, her finger on the trigger, Blake hesitantly lowered her weapons and began dragging her feet back toward the entrance. As she passed Weiss however the heiress grabbed her shoulder and held up Myrtenaster. With a flick of her wrist and squeezing of the trigger a layer of frost and snow covered the locker room.

With their breath pluming in the air they nodded, and after a breach and clearing search that even their combat instructor would've been proud of they both returned their weapons to their resting places.

"The ice will disappear in a minute or two," Weiss said, sighing. "Hopefully nobody comes out of the shower before that or else they'll be in for a surprise. You, um, you don't think-"

Blake shook her head. "Two showers are running and they're both occupied, and no, I'm not checking to see who's in them."

"Alright then. We can ask to see the surveillance footage of who all came in here later. Right now we need to help Yang move Ruby upstairs before she kills us or something worse happens."

After eyeing the locker room one last time they hurried around the corner and slammed the door behind them. Moments later, only a few feet from the dented locker, the floor shimmered with pink light revealing a young woman with dark skin and green hair sitting upright against a locker. Her body shook, convulsing and shivering uncontrollably. Blood trickled from both her nose and faintly glowing red eyes, and she stared straight ahead as if unable to blink.

Another moment passed and the area shimmered again, this time revealing a petite young woman with dark hair tied in pigtails lying atop of her. While a gloved hand covered the Vacuon girl's nose and mouth the other was pointing a long cylindrical blade toward the entrance.

Glowing mismatched pink and brown eyes glanced down amusingly at the girl's goosebumps which covered her bare arms and barely covered torso, and playfully wagged the blade in front of her face in admonishing fashion. The smaller girl then slowly removed her hand from the other's nose and mouth, wiping the blood off on her already bloodstained cheek. She glanced back toward the entrance visibly disappointed, and with a flourish reluctantly sheathed her blade.

With a silent groan she lifted the Vacuoan girl to her feet and dragged her back to the showers. She opened one of the occupied stalls revealing copies of themselves inside. The pair waved back obviously enjoying themselves but with a snap of her fingers they shattered like glass.

After depositing the larger girl onto the floor and propping her up comfortably in a corner, the smaller removed the braids from her pigtails which caused her to sigh deeply but silently. Her hair shimmered before becoming mismatched like her eyes, and winking playfully at her catatonic friend she began removing her clothes and huntress gear. Once finished she snapped her fingers again and a tall blonde appeared wearing nothing but a mischievous grin offering to help get those hard to reach areas.

She and the blonde took their time, enjoying each other's company and the hot water after expending so much aura. Eventually the Vacuoan girl on the ground began to stir, and seeing that their playtime was coming to an end the petite girl with mismatched eyes thanked the blonde by slitting her throat and watching her bleed out.

Thoroughly satisfied, she turned to her mortified companion and grinned wickedly.

'Want me to wash your back?' she mouthed.

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. There's a lot to unpack in this chapter, and I suppose I should start with Summer's sacrifice. The reasons I fell so hard in love with RWBY can probably be best attributed to the original Red Trailer and "Red Like Roses Part 2". Something about Ruby and Summer's relationship has always spoken to me, as has the latter's death and how it's (theoretically) effected Ruby. Ruby's death, Summer's sacrifice, the aura transfer between them, and the fall of Patchwork were all ideas I had in December of 2014 when I first began writing "The Petals Scatter Now". Other ideas like Summer being a descendant of the first queen of Vacuo soon followed, which aligned rather nicely with the Maidens from canon and the four royal families of this narrative. As you can probably tell this chapter has been years in the making, but despite that it was still very difficult and emotional for me to write. I love these characters very dearly, and while trials and tribulations are a part of all their lives, I hope you always walk away feeling more encouraged than discouraged.

Just to clear up any confusion, yes, all mind manipulation has been due to Emerald's semblance. Something obviously went VERY wrong when she last used it on Ruby as indicated by her bleeding from the eyes and nose, and basically being catatonic, but it was all her doing. Neo's role this chapter was restricted to simply hiding them, but perhaps we'll find out more later. Between their semblances just about anything is possible, and besides moving the story along, I also wanted to show just how much of a threat they can be together. With that said, I think Cinder's leash around them just got a bit tighter.

Speaking of Neo, it's probably a good thing Weiss and Blake didn't find her and left when they did because I have a feeling they just had a brush with death. If it seems like Neo's a bit overpowered that's because she kinda is. In both canon and this narrative her illusions seem to have some weight to them (much like Blake's shadow), and she also didn't seem to be the least bit concerned when she confronted Yang, Blake, and Weiss together on the train. And had she taken her more seriously it's probable that Yang would've been killed, but since she didn't the outcome of that fight in this narrative is up to your interpretation. Neo is quite simply out of Team RWBY's league, at least for the moment, and I do have a reason for her being so powerful and possibly(?) insane. As for the final scene, well, you can interpret that as you wish. I personally view Neo as being insane, obsessive, and sadistic, as well as someone who enjoys playing with her enemies and humiliating them. Neo making "Yang" do whatever it is you wish to imagine before slitting her throat and watching her bleed just seemed like something she would do. Especially if she wanted to impress and/or freak out Emerald.

All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story and with all of you wonderful readers. God bless)