Chapter 9

"Hey Weiss." Ruby said.

"What is it?" Weiss asked.

"I was just wondering what powers your Persona has." Ruby replied.

"It has ice attacks." Weiss said. "It has some physical attacks too."

"It's weak to fire." Rise warned.

"Mine has wind and physical powers." Ruby said. "My second Persona has wind attacks too, but it also has healing abilities."

"You have a second Persona?" Yang asked. "How'd you get it?"

"I don't really know." Ruby answered. "I got it when Weiss got hers. It has something to do with bonds and strength of heart. I don't really understand it, but Yu seems to know. He got the same second Persona. Theodore told us our fates were linked."

"Who's Theodore?" Blake asked.

"He helps Yu and I in the Velvet Room." Ruby replied.

"Velvet Room?" Weiss was confused.

"Oh, right, you don't know." Ruby said. "When I space out back at the entrance to this place, my mind is in a place called the Velvet Room. I think that's how it works. I see a door, and when I open it, I'm transported there. Theodore helps me and Yu with our Personas there."

"Why can't we see it?" Weiss asked. "I even have a Persona."

"I really don't know for sure." Ruby said. "It's something about having the power of the Fool."

"The Fool huh?" Yang said. "Sounds about right."

"Hey!" Ruby protested. "It's my Persona type. Weiss has Fortune."

"We already knew that, heiress." Blake said.

"No, the Wheel of Fortune." Ruby explained. "My second Persona is also Fortune type."

"I don't get it." Yang said. "Oh well, it's not important. We've got more important things to worry about."

Teddie sniffed the air. "Yep, there's definitely a person and a strong shadow in the next room." He announced.

"Is it just one shadow or a bunch like the last time?" Yosuke asked. "I don't need another surprise."

"I think it's just one." Teddie replied. "It's really big though." There was no point in discussing it any further. They opened the door and entered the next train car. Again, it was impossibly large. At the far end of the room, they could see the person they were here to save. She way laying atop a pile of crates.

"Holy crap!" Yosuke exclaimed. "Is that a mech?!" Indeed it was. The shadow had taken the form of an Altesian Paladin, though they would not have known that. It was not an exact replica, this one was much larger.

"Izanagi!" Yu summoned his Persona. It delivered a powerful jolt of electricity to the shadow. The hope was it would react like the shadow robots they had faced earlier. It did not. Instead of stunning or hurting it, the electricity seemed to overcharge the shadow. It now charged at the group with blinding speed. Chie and Teddie summoned their Personas, building a wall of ice to block the shadow's path. It just lowered its shoulder and smashed right through. They refocused their attacks to freeze the shadow's legs together. It worked, causing the shadow to trip and crash to the ground. They proceeded to totally encase it in ice. The shadow broke out of its frozen prison, apparently unhurt.

"We've got to back it up." Naoto said. "If it corners us we'll be in trouble."

"Norn!" Yu shouted, summoning his second Persona. It took the form of a clock, surrounded by three angelic figures. It unleashed a blast of wind that staggered the shadow. Yosuke joined in with his Persona and together they were able to push the shadow back.

"Light and darkness aren't working." Naoto said.

"Fire's no good either." Yukiko added. With the shadow at a safe distance, Chie and Teddie went back to freezing the shadow's legs in place. Kanji's Persona charged the shadow, dodging bullets as it went. It engaged the shadow in a close-quarters fight, trading punches with it. Neither made much of an effect on the other. The shadow changed tack and fired a rocket straight into the chest of Kanji's Persona, staggering it. The shadow took the opportunity to pick up the Persona and throw it across the room. Kanji's Persona slammed into a pile of crates that exploded on contact. Kanji writhed in pain and fell to the ground as his Persona faded away.

The shadow turned its focus to the team. Their Personas were clearly of little threat to it. It crouched and fired a salvo of rockets at the group. "Shield of Justice!" Naoto shouted. A glittering shield of light appeared over the team. The rockets slammed into the shield and exploded harmlessly. The shield disappeared and Naoto dropped to her knees in exhaustion. "I won't be able to do that again." She warned.

"We can't even hurt this thing, what are we supposed to do?" Chie asked frantically.

"We should grab the victim and run." Yu said. "Chie and Teddie, hold it in place, Yosuke and I will distract it. Yukiko, use your Persona to grab the victim and bring her to us." Chie and Teddie froze the shadow's legs together while Yu and Yosuke attacked with their Personas. Using speed, they managed to avoid being hit but did little damage. Yukiko's Persona scooped up the victim and carried her over to the group.

"Damn, the door's locked." Naoto yelled. "I don't think we can leave until we defeat it."

The victim was beginning to regain consciousness. She looked around, clearly shocked by what she was seeing. "What's going on?" She asked.

"We're here to save you." Yukiko said. "We've got to defeat that thing though, and our attacks don't seem to be having any effect." The victim struggled to her feet. She still looked a bit wobbly. She stared at the shadow and reached out her hand, seemingly concentrating on it. The shadow froze. No, it was still moving, just very slowly. "How are you doing that?" Yukiko asked.

"It's my semblance." The victim strained. She seemed pained beyond her intense concentration. "I can slow time. Those crates are full of dust correct?" She asked without taking her eyes off the shadow.

"I think so, they explode when hit." Yosuke said. "Why?"

"Use your powers to surround the enemy with the crates." The victim commanded. Yosuke, Yu and Yukiko used their Personas to pile crates all around the shadow until it was almost totally surrounded. "Now hit them with something and cover your ears." Yukiko blasted the crates with fire. There was a blinding flash and a thunderous rumble. When the smoke cleared, the shadow was no more. The victim dropped to the ground in pain.

"Are you alright?" Yukiko asked. "I can heal you."

"I doubt you can." The victim said. "No one can." She grunted. "Grimm broke my back, and I've had to suffer through agonizing pain ever since. I had to retire from being a huntress."

"Ah, so you're the retired huntress that went missing." Naoto said. "The police file on your disappearance said hunter."

"Hunter is the general term." The victim said. "My name is Helia Anthos, and I'm very thankful you all came to save me."

"You know, for a huntress, you dress pretty plainly." Kanji observed. "The other huntresses we know wear some crazy stuff."

"I told you, I'm not a huntress anymore." Helia said. "I was never big on fashion anyway."

"Are you sure you don't want me to try to heal you?" Yukiko asked.

"You can try, but I've already tried everything." Helia lamented. "I even tried experimental dust infusions. Nothing works. The pain might die down for a while but it always comes back, as strong as ever." Yukiko tried anyway. Being healed was hard to describe. It was warm, perhaps loving.

"Any luck?" Yukiko asked. Helia shook her head. "I'm sorry I couldn't help."

"You all have already done more than enough to help me." Helia said. "You said you know other huntresses, are they here too?"

"We split up to cover ground more quickly." Naoto explained. "They're clearing the area of enemies at the other end of the train."

"Why are we standing here then, we should go help them." Helia said.

"No, it's our job to get you out of here safe." Chie said. "Besides, they can handle anything this place can throw at them."

"The shadow's in the next compartment." Rise reported. "It's really strong, so be careful." Team RWBY stacked up on either side of the door and prepared to enter. They burst through the door, but instead of encountering a large, open area like they had for other fights, it was just another normal train car. A man, dressed in black, stood with his back to them. The man turned around. He was a Faunus wearing a Grimm mask. "That's the shadow, for sure."

"Blake, I knew you'd come back." The man said.

"Adam." Blake said. "I knew it would be you." She drew Gambol Shroud and pointed the blade menacingly at him. "Shadow or not, he's a monster."

"No more or less a monster than you." Adam countered. "At least I'm not a coward. You won't find me running away, but that seems to be your specialty. You ran away from me, from the White Fang, from being a Faunus, and even from your own team. You're still running, running from your past. You can never quite escape it though, can you?"

"Just stop it." Blake shouted. "Quit this pointless talk and let me kill you."

"What fun would that be?" Adam continued. "I wonder if that Schnee bitch knows what you did. This is their train after all. Of all the attacks we made on them, it's interesting that you chose this one. You barely did any damage here. You chose to run away instead of finishing the job. Still, I'm sure you did more than enough to make the Schnee suffer."

"I never killed a soul." Blake said.

"You may not have held the blade, but you certainly set plenty of them up." Adam said. "I guess that's why you became a traitor to your race. Your pathetic conscience couldn't take it. So you buddy up to humans, and a Schnee! How could you? You know what that family did to us. They should all be exterminated, as painfully as possible. You used to believe that. Somewhere, deep down, I think you still do. Now's your chance to get one. I'll even help. Come now Blake, let's put down this Schnee dog."

"Never, Weiss is my friend." Blake yelled.

"Is she really though?" Adam laughed. "Would she still be if she knew what you've done? Would she choose to side with you over her own kind? You know the truth. You'll always just be an animal in her eyes, and a dangerous animal at that."

"Blake, don't listen to him." Weiss pleaded. "We're on your side. I'm on your side. I would never turn my back on you. I don't care what you did. You're different now. I would trust you with my life. You helped me change for the better, now let me help you."

"We're done talking." Blake said, tears streaming down her face. "You need to die." Blake charged at Adam.

"This won't do." Adam said. Just before Blake reached him, he leapt straight up, smashing a hole through the roof of the train car. "This venue is much more appropriate." He called down to her. Blake impulsively rushed after him.

"Blake, wait!" Yang yelled, but Blake did not listen. "We need to go after her!" Yang and the others rushed forward and followed Blake and Adam through the hole in the roof.

"Rise, wait down here." Ruby said before following.

Ruby had expected to emerge into some bizarre arena, the way they had when fighting shadows earlier, but there was nothing special about this place. It was just the roof of a speeding train. Blake and Adam stared each other down, weapons at the ready. Blake was so angry she was shaking. It was subtle, but clear. She charged forward, shooting as she went. Suddenly, Adam dissolved before reforming into a gigantic Minotaur. Blake slid to a stop in front of the shadow, shocked by the sudden transformation. She had forgotten that it was not the real Adam. She froze. Her demeanor changed swiftly. Gone was the rage, replaced by sadness. The things the shadow had said did not come from Adam's mind; they had come from hers. Did she really believe those things? Could she really be that evil? Adam was a monster, but was she really any better?

The shadow took advantage of Blake's hesitation. With its giant fist, it pounded her down through the roof of the train car. Yang charged forward, leaping into a flurry of punches to the shadow's face. Laughing maniacally, the shadow grabbed Yang with its massive hands and began crushing her in its vice-like grip. Ruby propelled herself toward the shadow using Crescent Rose. She transitioned seamlessly into a series of slashing attacks to the shadow's legs. The shadow dropped Yang and swatted Ruby to the side with a swing of its colossal arm. She flew toward the edge of the train, but managed to sink Crescent Rose into the roof just enough to avoid flying off to her death. She flipped back onto the roof and, together with Yang, retreated.

"That really hurt." Yang admitted. Still, she was in a lot more pain than she was willing to let on. "I don't think hitting it head-on will do it." Weiss summoned her Persona and blasted the shadow with ice. The shadow pressed forward, unfazed by the attack. Weiss followed up by hitting the shadow with a blast of fire from Myrtenaster. The shadow was stunned but continued its advance. Ruby summoned her Persona and hit the shadow with a blast of wind. It reeled and cried in pain. Weiss cycled Myrtenaster and unleashed a wind attack of her own. Together, they blasted the shadow until it collapsed into a black blob. It did not disappear however. The shadow oozed down into the train car through the hole it had punched Blake through.

"Rise's down there!" Ruby yelled. "We have to protect her!" The three rushed down into the train car. The shadow had retaken the form of Adam, and was holding Rise by the throat. Behind them, Blake lay on the floor, apparently unconscious.

"Make a move and I'll crush her." The shadow warned. It appeared he was already doing so.

"Please, I can't breathe." Rise said, but not out loud. She said it directly into their minds with her Persona. "Do something."

Suddenly, a blade shot through the shadow's chest, just missing Rise. The shadow's grip loosened and Rise dropped to the ground, gasping for air. With a stunned look on its face, the shadow dissolved and disappeared, leaving Blake standing there, sword in hand. "I've wanted to do that for a long time." She said weakly before dropping to her knees. Blake became engulfed in purple light. A tarot card descended from above and shattered in front of her. Above her appeared the image of a woman, clad in leather armor and wielding a gilded longbow. "Diana." Blake whispered her Persona's name. With that, she fell to the ground in agony.

"Blake!" Yang shouted, rushing to her side. "What's wrong?"

"He only got one shot in on me, but it was a good one." Blake answered. "It hurts so much."

"I can help!" Ruby shouted. "Norn!" She summoned her second Persona. This one had healing abilities. The pain left Blake's face as Ruby healed her. Being healed like this was hard to describe. Blake thought it felt warm, perhaps loving.

"Thanks Ruby." Blake said, struggling to her feet. "I feel much better." She forced a smile, but she was not fooling anyone.

"I'm not worried about your physical injuries." Yang said. "By the way Ruby, if you could heal me too, that would be great." Ruby did so. "Blake, I know it's hard. You've had a tough life and you've done some things you're not proud of. We all have our regrets, but they're not important. What's important is that we learn from our mistakes. I know you have." Yang hugged Blake, a little too tightly for comfort. "Just know that you're not alone. We're all here to help you."

"I'm so sorry Weiss." Blake said, tears in her eyes. "I've done such horrible things to your family. I would absolutely understand if you wanted nothing to do with me."

"My family did some horrible things to the Faunus." Weiss said. "I think we can call it even, just so long as we keep working towards making things right, together."

Blake managed a genuine smile. "Together." She agreed.

"Me and Yang will be there too." Ruby said, having just finished healing Rise.

"Now kiss!" Teddie yelled.

"How long have you all been here?" Weiss asked, a little embarrassed.

"We got here when Yang and Blake started getting all touchy." Yosuke replied. "I've got to say, I'm a little disappointed things didn't get hotter."

"Shut up you perv!" Chie admonished. "Anyway, we rescued the victim. She's pretty awesome. Kanji and Naoto are waiting at the entrance with her. We should hurry up and join them."

"I'm Helia Anthos." She said. "I can't thank you all enough."

"I'm still disappointed I couldn't heal your back." Yukiko said sadly.

Ruby and Yu whispered to each other. "What if all three of us healed you at the same time?" Ruby said. "Maybe our combined powers could fix your back."

"Knock yourselves out." Helia said. "I've got nothing to lose." Ruby, Yu and Yukiko focused their Personas on Helia. Helia felt an intense burning in her back, feeling as though it were on fire. She felt a wave of something, she could not describe what, wash over her. Then it was all gone. She felt nothing. "I think it actually worked." Helia said, rubbing her back. She stretched and bent, going through her full range of motion. "Now I really owe you guys. How can I ever thank you?"

"Help people." Ruby said. "That's the best way to thank us." Everyone was taken aback. Ruby had proven to be wise and mature beyond her years, but it surprising all the same.

"Yeah, I can do that." Helia said. "Just do one thing for me. Get the guy who's responsible for all this."