Embrace of Light and Dark

by Knight of Crows

Chapter 55.

Cassiel POV

That was a surprise to say the least. A silver eye, though that would also explain why said eye hurts whenever I channel my darkness. Funny how that works.

"-iel??!!" I was broken out of my thoughts by Weiss.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, having not been listening for I don't know how long.

"Can you explain what happened? Maybe try to start off with why your eye changed?" She asked.

"I think I know, but I'd prefer not to get into that right now. On that same topic,-" I looked at Ruby. "there's something I'd like to talk with you, Yang, and Qrow about later." Just as I turned around to get back to what I was doing before this, Neo grabbed my shoulder.

"Why is this a big deal? What do eyes have to do with anything?" She typed on her scroll.

"No one ever did explain that to you did they?" I asked. She shook her head in response.

"Um, basically people with silver eyes can destroy Grimm by looking at them, or something like that." Ruby tried to explain, Neo raised a brow and looked at her like she was crazy.

"She's telling the truth. That Dragon on top of Beacon felt it first hand, so did Cinder's Grimm arm back at Haven. Hell, I felt it both times!" Those things hurt!

"I said I was sorry!" Ruby apologized.

"What was that? I can't hear you over the sound of your constant team-shooting!" I tried to play it off as a joke.

"But you're just so hard to miss!" She played along before bursting out laughing herself.

"Seriously though, I do need to get back to what I was doing. I'll be back down later." I waited for them to leave before getting back to it. I removed the blankets and threw the bodies out the window. No point in treating this like a funeral service because it's not. I dragged them a few yards away from the main house before doing the same to the rest of the bodies and piling them all up. After they were gathered up, I grabbed some alcohol from the cellar to help with the process. It was a random bottle, some wine actually. Don't know why farmers would waste money on this, better question is how they could afford all the drinks down there.

"Fuck it!" I drank a bit of it, it was actually pretty good. I took another sip before pouring the rest on the bodies and casting Firaga on top of some fire Dust for good measure. The storm couldn't extinguish the flames so far I could tell, but I stayed to keep the flames going anyway.

"Cassiel??!!" A voice yelled as someone shook my shoulder.

"Huh? What?" It was Ruby.

"Uncle Qrow wants everyone to get some sleep, we'll be leaving before sunrise." I looked back at the bodies and saw they were done.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just a little tired." I answered as I looked around. I didn't even notice the storm died down nor did I notice the time. It was around dusk by now.

"Come on, we'll have to share a few blankets though, unless you want one that was used by them?" She gestured to the pile of ash near us.

"Already did that once with Yang, what's one more time with whoever?"

---

I woke up feeling strange for lack of a better word. I was still tired, but I couldn't keep my eyes closed. I felt sort of dizzy, but I wasn't. I felt weak, but I had no trouble with physical activity. I almost felt like I was going to throw up, but I felt like it wouldn't happen. In truth, I didn't really care, I couldn't be bothered.

The others are of like mind. They're tired of all the fighting, they just can't be bothered to care. Not even Neo could be bothered to type anything on her scroll. What's the point in fighting if the enemy can't be beaten? What's the point in going to Atlas? What's the point in my Mark of Mastery when here is the happiest I'll be? What's the point in revenge if-...

"What the fuck am I thinking??!!" I shouted to myself. I'm just now noticing Ruby dropped the lamp down the well, the others are-... Let's just say unmotivated doesn't accurately fit the way they're acting. They other members of RWBY are volunteering to go down the well with Ruby at least, but that's it.

"Keep it down, will you?" Qrow said as he walked past me.

"Where are you going?" Maria asked him.

"Where do you think?" He shook his canteen and walked inside. I walked towards my team.

"Get the lamp and get out of here! I'm going with you!" I activated my armor and summoned Exile.

"Why are you getting ready for a fight?" Yang asked in a monotone voice.

"It's not like anything's down there." Blake said the same way.

"This place keeps feeling worse and worse by the minute. Can you honestly say the way any of you are acting is how you would have acted yesterday?" I asked before jumping down. I waited a few seconds before the rest jumped down with me. After a few minutes of looking around and finding nothing, Blake suggested to turn off the lights from our scrolls and look for the glow. If I didn't feel so wrong, I'd've probably thought of that as well. A little over a minute later, we saw a blue light from around a corner, Ruby rushed towards it as I grasped my head and started breathing more heavily. A few seconds later, Ruby screamed and ran back to us. Humanoid Grimm slowly followed after her before screaming, making everyone feel even worse than we already were. Exile felt heavy, I felt, sick, and tired. I threw Exile as a shuriken, killing four of them before we heard a voice behind us.

"RUN!!! NOW!!!" It was Maria. Don't need to tell me twice! I recalled Exile and drew Lionheart as we followed her before running through a hole in the wall. At this point, we were just running around looking for an exit. Whatever these things are doing, I can definitely see what makes them so dangerous. Just as we found some stairs, these things screamed again and everyone collapsed. My armor wasn't protecting me and I couldn't use my darkness. I struggled to move, it was like my body just wouldn't do it. Ruby was able to keep going, but stopped when she heard metal hit the floor. Blake was laying on her side, unmoving as the Grimm got closer.

"Blake! Get! Up!"
"Come on! Almost! There!" Ruby and I struggled to say because of these things.

"Sotired..." Blake stopped moving completely. Ruby and I tried to help her, but we could barely move. I tried to throw Exile, but couldn't even lift my arm, I could use magic either as I need to be able to use my hands for that. One of those things started reaching for her with it's claws, my own desperation becoming more apparent as it got closer.

"BLAKE!!!"
"GET AWAY FROM HER!!!" We both shouted as light began to fill the room, burning the Grimm away because of the silver eyes. I think my eye too since it felt strange and I felt a little dizzier, then felt much better a second later. Ruby helped Blake up as Weiss ran past Maria to the door.

"What just happened?" Maria asked

"They're locked!" Weiss said, fearfully.

"Out of my way!" Yang ran up to help her. I threw Exile with Fire at the Grimm just before they screamed and everyone collapsed again. Maria crawled towards Ruby.

"Ruby, what color are your eyes?" She asked, hopefully.

"They're... Silver." Ruby answered, Maria gasped before grabbing Ruby's shoulders.

"You have a family? Friends?" Maria asked.

"What?" Maria covered Ruby's ears.

"Don't think about them. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus! Life is beautiful, it is precious, and it must be protected!"

Raven. My master, the one who showed me a path to power and everything I have now.

Naofumi. Reliable, straight forward, trustworthy, no better protector than him.

Raphtalia. In two words, loyal, and just. She can quell his rage if necessary.

Filo. Innocent, childish, reminds me a bit of my sister on her good days.

Ruby. Too pure hearted for any world, though perhaps it's because the world needs others like her. Her light shines bright even against my darkness.

Yang. The big sister of the group, knows how to get the edge off when she herself isn't worked up. Fun to be around.

Weiss. Heiress to a tainted family name, but the only one that can redeem it. She's come far from who she was months ago.

Blake. We understand each other, I love her, I want to be better for her.

I feel happy and safe around them. There's nowhere else I'd rather be, no one else I'd rather be with. Their lives mean everything to me.

I removed my mask as I focused on these thoughts and feelings. My eye felt strange for a moment before light once again filled the room and destroying the Grimm that had gotten close to us. I quickly helped Blake up the stairs, putting my mask back on after Yang blew it open, running past a drunk Qrow, and out of the house with her and Maria. Less than a minute later, Ruby and Weiss dragged Qrow out of the now burning house everyone was loaded into the cart that was attached to Yang's motorcycle and we wasted no more time in leaving. A few minutes after the adrenaline wore off, Ruby asked what those things were.

"Whatever those things were, haunted houses have nothing on them!" I said as I held on to Blake.

"The Apathy." Maria answered. "They're not strong or ferocious, they drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm. Always."

"Managed to get two away from their pack. The hike back was miserable, but got the bastards in the cellar, wife thinks I was out sealing the water entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off everyone. I'm tired." Oscar read aloud from the journal.

"The next page proves that he did, but before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair on the way home. My guess is they made their way to the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked,-" Maria took back the journal. "no one was angry, sad, or scared, no one was anything. And then no one was left." She closed the journal and threw it to the side of the road.

"They don't need strength, speed, intelligence, or anything. Subtlety is their weapon. I'd say that alone makes them one of the most dangerous just because you won't notice the signs eitger because you're too tired to notice or because you don't know what to look for." I said.

"That about sums it up. I should've known! The signs were all there, but I've never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be." Maria said.

"You were a Huntress before, weren't you?" I asked as I removed my mask again, shocking the ones who haven't seen my eye yet. "You knew what to say to help trigger our eyes. Either you once had silver eyes, or you knew someone who did. Which is it?"

"I had silver eyes many years ago." She answered.

Comments

[zachary12]

nice work.

[Sub-Zero]

Keep up the great work he finally starting to understand how to work the silver eyes

[DarkKing2]

10291843