(Alright first thing first, I want to thank you, we had hit another milestone on the book "A Vex Problem", we had hit over 3K reads which is bloody crazy to think about. So thank you for sticking with me for this long. Anyways on to the chapter!)
Third Person POV
Ruby stares at the moon through a window, sitting on the staircase. Snow is drizzling outside. Ruby checks on Blake, Weiss, and Yang, who are sitting on the rug and staring at the fire from the fireplace. Maria reads a book while sitting on the sofa and Oscar is pacing back and forth, the only member of the group not present is Mystogen. After checking on the other, Ruby stands up and walks toward Qrow. Qrow is sitting nearby the window, looking outside with his feet propped on the drawer.
"Storm's cleared up for now. We should be able to leave by morning," Qrow says.
"That's good," Ruby says.
"No... I don't have a good feeling about this place, especially with me around..." Qrow says.
Ruby looks down at a wine bottle on the floor with Qrow's hand hovering over it, then looks at him, "Are you... okay?"
Qrow scoffs, "Sure. Tell everyone to get some sleep. I'll wake you guys up just before sunrise,"
"Uh, Uncle Qrow," Ruby says.
"What is it, kid?" Qrow asks.
"Have you seen Mystogen?" Ruby asks, wondering about the Guardians whereabouts.
"He's been staying outside on the porch, after burying the bodies," Qrow says, "He hasn't come back in since," Ruby looked worried which caught this, "He's fine Ruby. Now go tell the others to get some rest,"
Ruby walks away as Qrow drinks from the wine bottle. Ruby pauses and looks back at him before narrowing her eyes downward. Back in the other room, the fire continues to burn. The book Maria is reading has a "III" on the cover, with the other two volumes on a nearby table.
"It's a diary?" Oscar asks Maria.
"The head of this household, Bartleby. Apparently, he and several other families founded this little settlement to try and live on their own. It sounds like it worked, at least for a spell," Maria explains.
"Grimm?"
"Just one of many hardships. Slowed down their farming, made everything harder... It's a shame, really. He seemed like quite the ambitious fellow, always thinking of new schemes to overcome the odds,"
Ruby walks back into the room, "Hey guys. Qrow said we should get some rest. We're gonna head out tomorrow,"
"Thank goodness," Blake says.
Everyone gets up to get ready to sleep. Maria hops off the couch, "Hmph, the last thing you'll catch me doing is letting some kid tell me what to do. Go to bed!" She says the last part in a mimicking voice before she scoffs.
Maria sits on an armchair, turns on the lamp next to it and continues reading from the book. Ruby shrugs and smiles before going to sleep herself. The fire continues to burn in the fireplace. Meanwhile, Mystogen sits on a chair outside on the front porch watching the white flakes of snow fall down slowly. Summer is standing next to him while Ghost was the opposite side hover next to him.
"So, I'm guessing we're leaving tomorrow?" Ghost asks.
"Most likely, storm calmed so we should," Mystogen says.
"I still have a bad feeling about this place," Summer says, "It just gives off this bad feeling if that makes sense,"
"Well, I guess it does," Mystogen says.
"It's odd to find corpses with no signs of disease or foul play involved. There shouldn't have been any starvation, or dehydration of any sorts," Ghost notes, "They just went to bed and never woke up,"
"Which give off red flags all around," Mystogen says placing his finger on his chin, "What could have caused this,"
"It might have been a type of Grimm," Summer says.
"Really now?" Mystogen says.
"But there are no signs that I can see right now to find the exact type of Grimm,"
Mystogen looks at Ghost, "Any thoughts on the idea of this being a Grimm's doing?"
"Not out of the realm of possibility, but most Grimm we've seen are vicious and leave disaster," Ghost says.
"Well, we'll be out of here by tomorrow," Mystogen says.
The three fell silent and continued to watch the snowfall. By the next morning, the fire is out. Sunlight seeps through the curtained window while Team RWBY and Oscar sleep on the floor. Maria rests on the armchair, still holding the book she was reading. Qrow sleeps on the chair by the window, still barely grasping the wine bottle in his hand. A couple other wine bottles are also on the floor. The bottle slips from his hand and clatters on the floor, causing Ruby to wake with a start. She looks around before rubbing her eyes and getting on her feet. She walks over to the window and opens the curtains.
Weiss mutters in her sleep, "Close the window!"
Ruby walks over to the entrance hall and picks up the empty bottle Qrow dropped before walking over to her uncle.
"Uncle Qrow. Come on, get up," Ruby says as she shakes Qrow's shoulder.
Qrow groans, "Leave me alone,"
"We overslept,"
Qrow, still groggy, just lightly shoves Ruby away. Ruby looks at the empty wine bottle, and after a moment, her hand starts shaking. She angrily throws it against the wall, shattering it.
Qrow wakes up startled, "What?" He looks around, seeing Ruby stand before him and then to the shattered bottle, "Oh, right. Sunrise,"
Ruby's angry expression softens, and she hugs her uncle, "You know, you can talk to me about stuff. Yang too,"
Qrow hugs Ruby back, "Let's just get outta here," Qrow gets up from the chair, with Ruby following him.
Later on, the group moves outside where Mystogen still resides. Weiss is seen using Myrtenaster to weld a metal ball to a makeshift trailer hitch attached to Bumblebee. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Qrow and Oscar's pupils appear to be dilated, while Ruby's are their normal size.
"There," Weis says.
Oscar and Blake can be seen sitting on the porch steps.
"Can we just go back to bed?" Oscar asks.
"If we're all so tired, maybe we should make breakfast?" Blake asks.
"You wanna make it?"
"Not really,"
"You guys should be used to waking up early," Mystogen says who is leaning on the railing of the stairs.
"Says the person who doesn't need sleep," Blake says.
"Touche," Mystogen says.
Ruby and Qrow push the flatbed trailer behind Bumblebee. Once it's in position, Ruby walks up to Yang.
"You guys the bike ready?" Ruby asks her sister, which Yang gestures to it.
"Well, it's done now. So let's hook this thing up and--" Qrow says before resting his foot on the side of the trailer, and the tire on the opposite side goes flat. He groans in frustration before checking on the tire.
"You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?" Maria says.
"You can say that," Mystogen says.
Frustrated, Qrow just walks over to a nearby fence post and sits on the ground. Yang also sits on the ground by the well.
"I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas," Yang says.
Ruby sighs, "It's just flat tire, I'm sure there's a spare,"
"It's not just that, it's everything. Storm, crashes, monsters..." Yang sighs, "I'm so tired..."
"Me too. It feels like we're always having to fight to get by," Blake says.
"Yeah. But that's what we signed up for," Ruby says and then looks at Mystogen, "What most of us signed up for,"
"We signed up to try and save the world, not just... delay the inevitable," Oscar says.
"Last night, I..." Weiss says placing a hand on her arm, "I couldn't stop thinking - why are er even going to Atlas?" Everyone shares troubled looks.
Mystogen looks at Summer who was thinking at the moment, Ruby speaks, "Weiss, we have to,"
"Why?" Yang asks standing back up, "Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but... how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?"
"What?" Mystogen says slightly shocked at this statement.
"The Grimm might-" Ruby says.
"They'd find it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down the well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now," Yang suggests.
"That's not an option," Mystogen says.
"It is an option, we can just leave it here. It's not like it'll harm you," Yang says.
"I'll have to clean up your mess if you do so. I continue living," Mystogen says as his eyes narrow.
Ruby looks at Mystogen then to Yang, she detaches the Relic of Knowledge from her belt, glancing at it before looking up at her teamsmates, who appear to all have dazed looks as if they were in a trance. Ruby stares at the Relic one more time before over to the well.
"I am... really..." Ruby's pupils become dilated, "Tired..."
Ruby starts to have the same dazed look on her face as she holds the Relic out above the pitch-black darkness of the well.
A hand is placed on her shoulder which is from Mystogen, "Hey, get a hold of yourself. We got to get it to Atlas,"
Ruby pauses from a moment before gaining her composer back. She starts pulling the Relic back, but then notices a pair of glowing red eyes at the bottom of the well, startling her and snapping her out of her trance-like state and returning her pupils to their normal size. In her fright, she accidentally drops the Relic into the well. Mystogen and Ruby watch it fall into the darkness below.
"No! No! No! I didn't mean to!" Ruby says in a panic.
Mystogen continues to look down, "Damn,"
"Ruby, it's okay," Weiss says.
"No! No, there's something down there! I saw it, it was looking at me!" Ruby says.
Yang places a hand on her sister's shoulder, "He, it's okay. You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go,"
Ruby swats Yang's hand off, "What's wrong with you?! We can't just leave, we have to go down there! We have to get the lamp back! Oh, what was I thinking?!"
Mystogen places a hand on her shoulder, "Calm down, there is no need to panic,"
"All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare," Qrow says.
"I'm not leaving without the lamp!!/ We're not leaving without the Relic!" Both Ruby and Mystogen yell. Ruby's teammates continue to dazedly stare at them.
Blake sighs, "I'll go down with you..."
"We'll go down together," Weiss says.
"Fine!" Qrow says getting up, "Get the stupid lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire," He heads to the house, passing by Maria on the porch.
"Where are you going?" Maria asks.
"Where do you think?" Qrow says as he shakes his flask and walks back into the house.
Maria just looks down, "Stupid..." Maria takes a seat on the porch steps and continues to read another volume of Bartleby's diaries.
Mystogen looks down the well, "I'll go down first,"
Mystogen drops down the well and takes Ace out aiming down the waterway tunnel, he looks up and waves them down. Team RWBY hop down into the well as well, into the vast underground waterway system. Ruby and Yang take out their Scrolls and turn on their flashlight while Ghost expands and illuminates the area with his Light as well.
"Maybe the current carried it away," Yang suggests.
The group proceeds forward cautiously, Summer still thinks intently. Weiss notices more tunnel openings along the path. They continue sloshing through the waterway.
"Oh, come on, where is it?" Ruby says.
"Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?" Blake suggests.
"Okay..." Ruby says nervously.
Ruby and Yang turn off their flashlight, Mystogen looks at Ghost and nod which Ghost closes cutting of his light source, Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose and proceeds forward with caution. The group continues their search.
"There," Blake says pointing at something ahead.
Ruby looks to the direction Blake is pointing toward and notices the blue glow of the Relic of Knowledge coming from a tunnel along the path. Ruby runs forward by herself.
"Wait a minute!" Summer says catching Mystogen.
"What is it, Summer?" Mystogen asks.
"The dead bodies in the bed, everyone acting so tired and unwilling to go on. It's the-"
Ruby lets out a terrified scream, and her teammates snap out of their trance-like states, their pupils returning to normal.
"Ruby?!" Yang yells.
Ruby backs away and runs out of the tunnel. Yang, Weiss, and Blake see her run out and approach her.
"What is it?" Yang asks.
The rest of the group notice skeletal Grimm slowly trudging out of the tunnel.
"The Apathy!" Summer yells.
Ruby and Mystogen wield their weapons and fire multiple rounds at them. One of the Grimm lets out an ear-piercing scream, causing Team RWBY to struggle to stand, and only Mystogen being dazed.
"What is this...?" Yang says.
"My weapon... feels heavy..." Blake says.
"Run!" A voice says from behind the group, Maria is there, "Now!" Maria turns around and runs. The group watches the Grimm start to move them.
"Go, go!" Ruby yells.
The group turn around and run, Mystogen runs behind the group firing at the Grimm kill two. They catch up to Maria, and they see daylight coming from the well, but more of Apathy appear and block their path. Another ear-piercing scream is heard, affecting the five women, Mystogen stubbles sightly and fires at the Apathy killing another. Ruby notices another tunnel next to her.
"This way!" Ruby announces.
The group and Maria run into the tunnel. They continue to run through the complex underground passages while avoiding more of the Apathy along the way. They then make their way to an underground room. However, the group and Maria notice a much larger group of the Apathy at one end of the room. They make a run toward the other way, but one of the Apathy lets out another scream, causing Team RWBY and Maria to collapse on all fours, Mystogen collapses on one knee struggling to move Ace.
"I can't... do this... I can't..." Yang says.
"These screams are actually affecting me now," Mystogen say slowly raising Ace.
Maria gets back up, using her can to support herself before collapsing again. On her fall, she feels a set of stairs in front of her, "An exit. An exit!"
Ruby looks up and notices the stairs leading up to the cellar door. Ruby crawls forward to Weiss.
"Come one," Ruby urges.
Ruby then hears a weapon drop behind her and notices Blake collapsed on the ground, while the Apathy continues to inch toward her.
"Blake... get... up!"
Blakes pupils dilate, "It's fine..."
Blake starts to get her dazed look from before. More Apathy emerges from the entrance the group and Maria came from. Mystogen aims Ace and fires at the closest Apathy to Blake and his arm falls back down. Ruby looks on in horror and in her desperation, crawls and attempt to reach out towards Blake, who continues to lie down motionless. The Grimm reach their hand down to the cat Faunus.
"BLAAAAAKE!!!"
Upon yelling put her friend's name, Ruby's eyes start to glow brightly, causing the Apathy to back away in pain. Blake gasps and snaps out of her trance, her eyes back to normal. Ruby helps her up while Weiss, Yang, Mystogen, and Maria also get back up. Mystogen quickly starts to fire at the Apathy, killing them one by one.
"I've got her!" Ruby says.
"What just happened?" Maria asks.
Weiss runs up the stairs and tries to get the doors open, but they do not budge, "They're locked!"
"Out of my way!" Yang says.
Yang runs up the stairs. The Apathy recover from their incapacitation, and another scream is let out. The group and Maria collapse once again.
Yang reaches out for the cellar door, "No... No...!"
As the Apathy inch closer, Maria crawls toward Ruby, only able to see the world in shades of cyan.
"Ruby... What are your eyes?" Maria asks.
"They're... silver..." Ruby answers.
Maria lets out a gasp of excitement, "You have a family? Friends?"
"What?"
Ruby looks up to see the Apathy getting, but Maria lays her head down and covers her ears. From Ruby's perspective, Maria's next words sound slightly muffled.
"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!"
Taking Maria's advice, Ruby closes her eyes and concentrates. While Maria speaks, Weiss tries to budge the doors open, and Yang reaches out in desperation before falling under a trance, her eyes even blanker than before.
"Life... is beautiful. It is precious. And it must... be protected,"
After focusing, Ruby opens her eye, the silver gleaming. She sits up and her eyes glow brightly once more, driving the Apathy back and disintegrating them all. Maria and Ruby stare in awe while Weiss, Blake, Mystogen, and Yang recover. Yang crawls up the stairs and punches the doors open with her prosthetic arm while firing from its gun, The group and Maria run out and find themselves in the basement that Ruby and Weiss discovered the day before.
"We're back in the house?" Blake asks.
Team RWBY then look at the bar and see Qrow leaning on the counter, passed out.
Ruby runs over and shakes her uncle, "Uncle Qrow, get up!
"Hey! Get off me! What are you doing here?" Qrow says, his words slurring.
"We're leaving, you idiot! Come on!" Maria says.
Maria runs out of the room, with Blake and Yang following her. Weiss looks back towards the basement entrance.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Mystogen says which she smiles slightly and nods.
Weiss and Mystogen grab a few of the alcoholic bottles from the shelves and throw them towards the basement, shattering them.
"Hey... Hey! What are you doing?!" Qrow asks his words still slurred.
As more of the Apathy slowly start to come out from the basement, Weiss uses Myrtenaster and a glyph to send fire toward the cellar doors. Using the spilled alcohol, she sets the Grimm on fire.
"Now we can leave!" Weiss says as she helps Ruby grab Qrow's arms as they drag him out of the room, Mystogen following behind.
"Stop it! Stop! What's wrong with you?! What's..." Qrow looks over Mystogen shoulder, he sees the Apathy on fire still walking towards them. Qrow looks on in shock as he is dragged out of the house by his niece and her friend. Outside, everyone sits in the flatbed trailer while Yang starts up her motorcycle. She wastes no time driving away from the now burning house. Yang continues driving Bumblebee down the snowy road with everyone sitting in the trailer pulled behind her.
"The Apathy. 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," Maria explains.
Oscar reads from the book, "Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable, but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired,"
"The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked," Maria says as she takes the book from Oscar, "No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then... no one was left,"
Maria takes one more look at the final page of the diary, the last words written down being "I'm tired". She then closes the book and tosses it out into the snow, the cover having "VIII" on it, while the group continues to drive down the road.
"I'm... sorry for what I said... about giving up," Weiss says.
Upon hearing this, Yang stops driving, "Me too. We can't quit until the lamp is safe,"
"It's not your fault. It was those... things," Blake says.
"I should have known. The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be," Maria says.
"Miss Calavera? How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me... to make my eyes do that. How?" Ruby asks.
Maria smiles, "Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had Silver Eyes,"
(Alright, there we go! Sorry about the wait. Now I have a question for you guys for the next chapter, would you want me to do Maria's story about her being the Grimm Reaper with something added to it, or would you want me to skip it to where she's done telling it and they ask about Mystogen about his background, cause I am still unsure what to do. Anyways that is all, so goodbye and take care!)