Chapter 7

"I'm sensing a large concentration of power just beyond this door." Rise warned. The group had been walking for some time now since Weiss's fight. Weiss had recovered from her injuries and exhaustion, but she was still angry – angry at herself and angry at whoever was responsible for their ordeal. She was eager to fight again, but she was not going to rush in recklessly again. "Weiss, are you alright?" Rise asked sympathetically. Apparently Weiss had not been as successful as she had thought at hiding her emotions.

"I'm fine." Weiss replied. She was less than convincing. "I just want to end this."

"There's more to come after this unfortunately." Rise said. "The strongest shadow and the victim we're here to save are still some distance away."

Weiss sighed. "Let's just do this." She would rather have been just about anywhere else in the world, but she had to see this through. It was not just about saving the victim or helping her friends, Weiss needed to prove to herself that she had changed. She needed to prove to herself that she was strong enough to face her past.

"Alright then." Yosuke said as he slowly eased the door open. "Here we go." The group raced in, ensuring they would not be separated. The room was another large ballroom-like space, containing eleven shadows. The largest had the appearance of a bad caricature of a queen. It was at least fifteen feet tall. The smaller shadows appeared as medieval archers, but without heads, floating masks in their place.

"The shadows make sense for a palace like this." Chie said. "Let's dethrone that queen!" Yang could not help but giggle and Yukiko laughed hysterically at the terrible joke. A few of the others let out an audible groan.

"This isn't a joke!" Weiss yelled furiously. Yang's smile disappeared and Yukiko stopped laughing immediately. "How can you joke around while I'm in this hell?!" An awkward silence followed.

"Let's go already!" Yang decided the best way to break the silence was to start the attack. She charged forward, dodging arrows while heading straight for the queen. Yang leapt into the air and cocked her arm to deliver a flying punch to the queen's face. Yang's fist slammed into the queen, and she followed up the first thundering blow with a series of frenzied punches. The queen swatted her away with its scepter. Yang tumbled through the air but recovered in time to land on her feet. The archers took aim and fired a volley at Yang. She punched most of them out of the air with inhuman speed and precision, her aura protecting her from the rest.

"We've got to help!" Ruby shouted. She summoned her Persona and it charged at the archers. With a swipe of its hand, her Persona unleashed a blast of wind the sent the archers tumbling back. It did not kill the archers, but it stopped them from attacking Yang. Ruby's Persona unleashed a blast of wind at the queen. The queen laughed evilly and countered with a bolt of electricity. Ruby's Persona dodged the attack, but only just. The archers recovered and launched a volley at the Persona. The arrows hit their mark and Ruby's Persona began to fade into static. Ruby doubled over in pain. It was the first time her Persona had been attacked directly, and she was surprised at how much physical pain it had caused.

Yukiko summoned her Persona and unleashed a wave of fire at the group of shadows. It seemed to heal them. "Fire's no good." Yukiko warned. Unfortunately, her attack had returned the shadows to full strength. Yang charged the archers, but they were too fast, easily dodging her attacks while returning fire. The queen laughed and hit Yang in the back with a bolt of electricity. Yang shouted in pain and retreated, unable to keep fighting under the current conditions.

Blake fired Gambol Shroud at the archers, but the bullets bounced off harmlessly. Yu and Kanji launched electric attacks at the archers, but with little effect. Ice from Chie and Teddie was similarly ineffective. Yosuke's Persona launched a wave of wind at the archers, sending them tumbling much as Ruby had done, but it failed to defeat them. It seemed to be little more than an annoyance, but he launched a series of follow-up attacks. The queen hit Yosuke's Persona with a bolt of electricity, and it faded to static and disappeared. Yosuke fell to his knees in pain and struggled to catch his breath.

"Mahamaon!" Naoto shouted. Her Persona engulfed the archers in blinding light. When the light disappeared, the archers were no more.

"The archers are down!" Rise shouted. "Go for the queen!" As the queen possessed electric attacks, electricity was unlikely to work, so Yu and Kanji were effectively sidelined. Yukiko was busy tending to Yosuke and Ruby, who were both injured. Yang rushed in and unleashed a flurry of punches on the queen, but the queen again swatted her away. Naoto stepped up, her Persona launching dark and light attacks on the queen, but it was immune.

Chie and Teddie unleashed a blast of ice at the queen. The queen cried in pain, but countered with dual blasts of electricity, directed at the two. Chie and Teddie braced to endure the onslaught, but they could not attack any longer. "It's weak to ice!" Rise encouraged. "Keep hitting it!" Blake charged up to the queen and began slashing it with Gambol Shroud. The queen responded by raising its scepter and bringing it down to slam Blake into the ground. Blake dodged away at the last moment, leaving behind a shadow with her semblance. Thanks to the proper application of dust, Blake's semblance trapped the queen's scepter in ice. Blake returned to slashing the queen and Yang joined the assault, unleashing a series of punches and shotgun blasts.

The queen, enraged, wrenched its scepter free from the ice and swung it wildly at its attackers. Blake and Yang were thrown aside as the queen charged at Teddie's and Chie's Personas. It smashed its scepter into them, causing them to fade to static and disappear. The queen continued its rampage, heading for the now helpless and injured Chie and Teddie. Weiss ran forward and used her glyphs to create a sheet of ice beneath the queen's feet. The queen slipped and slammed to the ground on its back. Blake and Yang charged at the queen, delivering a series of devastating blows as Weiss kept it trapped in place by encasing its limbs in ice. After a sustained assault, the shadow queen dissolved and disappeared.

Yukiko had a lot of healing to do in the wake of the battle. Yosuke, Ruby, Chie and Teddie were all pretty beat up, and it took a lot of energy for Yukiko to get them back on their feet. "I think Teddie's going to have to take over the healing for now." Yukiko said, catching her breath. "I don't think we can afford another battle like that."

"It was rough, but we beat them." Yang said confidently. "Blake and I make a good team, and Naoto did a great job with the archers." She paused before turning to Weiss. "I think the MVP goes to Weiss for this one though. Without that ice we'd have been in trouble. That's two in a row now; you seem to fight better when you're angry." Weiss was not sure how to feel about that comment.

"Weiss, I'm really sorry about before." Chie said meekly. "I just thought everyone needed a little cheering up."

"It's alright." Weiss said. "I know you didn't mean any harm. I'm just on edge right now."

"I don't know how that's any different from normal." Ruby joked. Blake and Yang chuckled. Weiss glared at them. "Too soon? Sorry."

"This is it." Rise said. "The victim and the most powerful shadow are just through this door. I can already sense the other shadows preparing to attack us as well."

"Now we know their tactics." Naoto said. "If Team RWBY can handle the shadow in there, we can hold back the others here."

"Sounds like a plan." Yang said.

"Weiss, are you going to be okay?" Ruby asked.

"Let's just get it over with." Weiss replied as she pushed the door open. It opened into a large room with staircases on either side leading to an upper balcony. A figure stood in the shadows on the upper level.

"That's the shadow." Rise warned. "Don't listen to what it says Weiss."

"Show yourself!" Weiss shouted. The shadow walked over to the balcony railing. It had the appearance of an older man. "Of course it's you." Weiss groaned. It had taken on the appearance of her father.

"Weiss, how nice to see you." The shadow responded. "It's been too long. You never call, you never write."

"If I wanted hostility, I would go to a meeting of the White Fang." Weiss replied.

"Well, excuse me." The shadow laughed. "It seems my hostility was more than warranted."

"Why should we bother with this part?" Yang asked. "Attack!" She rushed at the shadow.

"Not so fast young lady." The shadow said casually. With a wave of its arm, Yang was thrown back by an unseen force. "You'll hear me out." It returned its attention to Weiss. "I thought I had done a better job raising you. What a waste of money it turned out to be. First, you go to that dreadful academy, and then you fail to even become a team leader. You can't even match a child!"

"I don't need to be the leader to be successful." Weiss countered. She was already falling into the shadow's psychological trap.

The shadow ignored her. "The other members of you pathetic team are just as disgraceful. You've got that hot-headed whore and of all things a Faunus!" The shadow walked over to a glass case. A person was inside, apparently unconscious. It must have been the victim they were here to save. "Take this one for instance. I offered him an honest job in my quarry, but honest work was too much for him, so he ran away. That Faunus you call a friend is no different. She's run away before, and she'll do it again. That is if she doesn't stick a knife in your back first. You have no idea of the things she's done to our family do you?"

"Blake is my friend, our friend!" Weiss shouted angrily. "She would never betray us. I don't care about her past, she's changed."

"You're such a fool." The shadow said. "No matter how much you may wish it weren't the case, you're still a Schnee and she's still a Faunus. You'll always be enemies, it's your fate."

"The only fate I believe in is the fate I make for myself." Weiss protested. "Enough of this! Fight us!"

"Gladly." The shadow replied. With that it dissolved into a black mass and oozed down to the lower level. It reformed as a giant knight astride an armored horse, armed with an enormous sword.

Ruby briefly looked back at the Investigation Team. They were busy fighting the predicted tide of shadows. Shadows in the form of those they had faced previously accompanied my more grotesque visages waged an unceasing assault. "We've got to finish this." Ruby said. The Investigation Team would only be able to hold out for so long. "Summer Rose!" Ruby summoned her Persona and it charged the knight. The knight pointed its halberd at the Persona and unleashed a torrent of that completely encased Ruby's Persona. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt. She quickly lost consciousness. She had not known it, but her Persona was vulnerable to ice.

"Ruby, no!" Weiss yelled. Ruby lay still just in front of the shadow. Weiss rushed to her side and picked her up. The shadow raised its sword and prepared to bring down a crushing blow on the two of them. Just before it came crashing down, Yang slammed into the two of them, sending Ruby and Weiss flying across the room. The sword slammed down on Yang, pounding her into a crater in the floor.

A confident laugh emanated from the crater. "You'll have to do better than that!" Yang yelled. Engulfed in flame, she leapt from the crater and into a furious attack on the knight. The hit had only made her stronger. The knight swatted her away like a fly, but she jumped back to her feet and attacked again. Blake joined in, attacking the knight with her sword. Their combined attack kept the shadow occupied, but was doing little damage. Yang was hitting hard, but the shadow was hitting harder. She was near her breaking point. The punches she was landing were clearly doing damage, denting the shadow's armored plates, but she was hurting just as badly. Blake could not get close enough to land any significant hits. Getting any closer would have been too dangerous for Blake, so she just tried to distract the shadow so Yang could get some hits in. It was not a sustainable situation.

"Ruby, please wake up." Weiss implored. She finally stirred.

"Weiss…" Ruby said weakly. "You can beat him."

"What about you?" Weiss said shakily. "I can't just leave you injured like this."

"I'll be fine." Ruby said. "They need you more than I do." Weiss still was not sure what to do.

"Go!" Rise said, rushing to Ruby's side. "I'll take care of her while you fight."

Weiss stood and charged the shadow. She slid under the horse component of the shadow as the knight slammed its sword down just behind her. She slashed wildly at the horse's underbelly, and it collapsed and dissolved, leaving only the knight component. Yang leapt in for another attack, dodging the knight's sword as it slashed at her. She failed to dodge its fist, however, and the attack sent her flying across the room and into Blake. The two tumbled to the ground, dazed. Yang had surpassed the point of gaining strength from taking hits; now she was just wounded and fatigued. Blake was in a similar state. Both struggled back to their feet and charged again. They were moving too slowly now, their injuries holding them back. The knight prepared to eliminate them with a powerful swipe of its sword.

Just before it landed, the shadow's attack met unexpected resistance. There stood Weiss, locked in place by a glyph, having caught the knight's blade with her own. Though the knight was easily four times her size, she held the knight's blade back as the two struggled to gain the advantage with brute force. Weiss cycled Myrtenaster, and using her glyphs, encased the knight's feet in ice, trapping it in place. With Yang and Blake safely out of the way, she stopped resisting the shadow's sword, causing it to swing and overreach. Twisted into an unusual position, the shadow's armored plates pulled away from one another along its side to reveal the soft body underneath. Weiss charged in and stabbed furiously. Yang and Blake joined the attack, pounding the knight's weak spot. Finally, the shadow collapsed and dissolved before exploding with a blinding light. The torrent of shadows attacking the Investigation Team retreated.

Weiss stood where the shadow had been, struggling to catch her breath. She was engulfed in a purple light. A tarot card descended in front of her and shattered. The figure of a female knight, clad in golden armor and carrying a sword made of ice appeared above her. "Ananke." Weiss whispered her Persona's name. Suddenly drained of energy, she fell to her knees. Yang and Blake rushed to her side. "Is Ruby alright?" She asked weakly.

"I'm okay." Ruby said. She had been healed by Teddie once the Investigation Team was done dealing with the attacking shadows.

"I'm sorry Ruby." Weiss said.

"It's alright, I'm not hurt." Ruby said cheerfully.

"It's not that." Weiss replied. "I'm sorry for resenting you for being the leader."

"It's not a big deal." Ruby said. "We've already been through this. As long as we both do our best, it doesn't matter who the leader is. We can take on any challenge as a team."

"Blake, I'm sorry my shadow said those terrible things about you and the Faunus." Weiss said sadly. "I guess, deep down, that feeling still exists in me."

"Neither of us can change our past." Blake said. "We can only control the present. I know you don't really believe that now, so what does it matter? We all have thoughts we're not proud of."

"Uh, what's a Faunus?" Yosuke asked. "I've heard it a few times now."

"It's a bit hard to explain." Yang said, scratching the back of her neck. "In this world, some people have animal parts, if that makes sense. They're called Faunus." Yang looked to Blake for a better explanation.

"I guess there's no point hiding it now." Blake sighed. She took off her bow, revealing her cat ears. "I'm a Faunus. We often face discrimination. The White Fang is a terrorist group that fights for the Faunus. They used to be peaceful, only interested in equal rights, but they've changed."

"Your cat ears are so cute!" Rise said enthusiastically. The attention made Blake uncomfortable.

"Do you have any other animal parts?" Teddie asked suggestively. That made Blake even more uncomfortable.

Yosuke smacked Teddie. "What did I tell you earlier? Sheesh, can't you ever stop being a pervert?" Yosuke turned to Blake who was tying her bow back on. "I'm really sorry."

"I'm sorry to hear about the Faunus' plight." Naoto said seriously. "Discrimination of that sort is deplorable."

"We should really leave." Yukiko interrupted. "Weiss really needs to rest. We can continue this conversation later."

The group freed the victim from the glass case and headed for the exit. He was fine and told the same story as the dust shop owner. Upon exiting Weiss's mansion, the portal shattered and disappeared, and one of the four remaining locks on the large door opened. They were one step closer, but still had no idea who might be responsible for the disappearances or the shadows.