Chapter 3
Living with the Grimm had never been easy, it was part of why the world needed so many huntsmen and built schools around raising and training them. No one knew where they came from or how they continued to propagate, all they knew was that clearing them out was only ever a temporary solution.
Still, training to fight, to help save lives, had always been what Ruby had wanted to do. She had always wanted to follow in the footsteps of her parents and uncle and be one of the many saviors of Remnant, maybe become the best there was some day.
Training had always been difficult, stressful even, but she had taken joy in it as a child. Going from barely being able to swing her scythe to twirling it like it weighed nothing was part of what made her who she was. And though those days had been stressful at times…
…She had to mark today as one of the most stressful she'd ever had.
It may have only been a few hours since she'd woken up that morning but already she'd been teleported to two different strange lands, arrested and thrown in jail, and then forced to fight for her freedom against long-earned elf-like faunus. At any point she fully expected to be teleported again or made to face yet another life-threatening challenge just to get through her day.
Fortunately, for the moment at least, she was sitting at a comfy dining room table with a blanket on her shoulders and sipping a delicious cup of hot cocoa.
House Fortemps may be strangers to her but apparently any friend of Alphinaud, Tataru, and Ardbert was a friend of theirs and she could certainly use a friendly face at that moment.
Upon arriving at the mansion Ardbert had received a summons by someone called the Archbishop who appeared to be the ruler of this land. So while he attended to that business Ruby was catching up with Alphinaud and Tataru on how her day had gone.
"-And when the door opened I started falling through this void full of crystals that seemed to show images of this place. And at the end of it I awoke in the snow outside the city limits where the guards arrested me," Ruby said with a weary sigh. "Then I met you and, well, you know the rest."
"Fascinating." Alphinaud spoke with a hand to his chin as he sat across the table from her. "If what you're saying is true then it would imply you come from another world entirely, much like the voidsent."
"I'm not sure what a 'voidsent' is. Do you mean the Grimm?" Ruby asked with a tilt of her head.
"Describe a 'Grimm' to me and I can let you know." Alphinaud said simply.
"You know, big and small ugly monsters? All black with white armor pieces, red eyes, come in all shapes and sizes?" Ruby exaggerated her explanation by posing several different ways. Alphinaud hummed in thought as he listened to her.
"Goodness," Tataru said with a bit of shock, "that sounds terrifying."
"Well, the small ones can be kinda cute sometimes," even Ruby had to admit that, "but all of them are incredibly violent. There's never been a grimm that didn't try to attack someone outright."
"Well, while your description could describe one or two voidsent, in my experience they tend to be far more varied in shape and color," he said simply with a nod. "For example a low-level voidsent may appear as a small flying imp. Gray skin, bat wings, large head, hands, feet, and a tail." Alphinaud put his hand to the table and then raised it about three feet to show how tall it might be.
Ruby could just sigh and slump against the table.
"Nope, never heard of a grimm like that before." She wallowed in her emotions with a shake of her head, before sitting back and rubbing frantically at her head. "AUGH! I've really been teleported to a different world!? Like, not just a different area but someplace completely new!?"
She then proceeded to fall from her chair, slumping against the ground as her blanket fell on top of her dramatically.
"Goodness, are you alright?" Tataru asked with urgency, hopping down from her seat to walk over to Ruby.
"You'd think I'd be happy to explore a new world I know nothing about," Ruby groaned from under the blanket, "stuff like this is what I dream of when I read my adventure books!" She let out a sigh, pulling the blanket off of her face and sitting up, "but now that I'm here I'm just thinking about how stressful this all is. How my family doesn't know where I am or when I'm going to see them next. Not to mention fighting here feels so different from my own world…"
"It feels different?" Alphinaud asked curiously as Tarary helped Ruby back onto her chair, "could you explain?"
"Well, for one thing, I notice I can't use my semblance anymore." Ruby said with a dejected sigh. "It kind of feels like I've lost a part of me because of that…"
"...I'm sorry for your loss, though pardon my confusion as I'm not sure what a 'semblance' is." Alphinaud tilted his head confused.
"Uh, well, maybe you don't have them here I guess? Basically, in my world, everyone has a semblance that is unique to them. Like some people can conjure fire, my sister was like a damage sponge that then unleashed it back onto her opponent, and I could turn into a tornado thing that dropped… rose petals…" Ruby paused as she began saying that, suddenly blushing as she looked away embarrassed. "I realize now how silly that sounds if I can't actually show you it's true…"
"That sounds quite amazing," Tataru said with a genuine smile, "I'd certainly love to see this for myself one day."
"Well, such things aren't entirely impossible in our world," Alphinaud explained with a smile himself, "it's just you would have to use your aether to create the intended effect, and that could take months, if not years, of practice and training to achieve the result."
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that," Ruby said with a tilt of her head, "aether? As in like… Magic?"
"But of course," Alphinaud chuckled, "in our world aether is everything. It's what breathes life into everything around us as well as is the source of our magic. If you've been brought into this world then in all likelihood you've been given aether from our world as well and can use it as you please."
"...That's going to be hard to wrap my mind around." Ruby groaned a little, rubbing her head. "I'm just not used to the thought of magic being 'real' this way. Like the closest thing we had is dust, which was basically like a sand or powder that let us use elemental effects in our attacks." Ruby really wished she had a cartridge from her scythe to show them right now. "You put the dust in shells that you put in your weapon and when you fired them it granted these different effects, it was really cool…"
"…Pardon me if this seems rude, but… How is that any different from magic?" Tataru asked curiously.
"Huh?" Ruby blinked at Tataru's question.
"I mean, maybe you call them semblances and dust, but it sounds to me like they're just different types of magic," Tataru put a finger to her chin in thought. "Being able to perform a feat outside the realm of what your physical body can achieve, to conjure spells, even if it is through an alternate medium, that's what I would call magic even in our world."
"Well… Uh… You see…" Ruby spoke up, trying to defend how magic was totally different, but the more she pondered over Tataru's words the more she realized that… She was kind of right. The only reason Ruby wouldn't think of those things as 'magic' was because they were so commonplace in her world, literally everyone had access to semblances and dust and even auras.
"Huh…" It was all she could think to say in that maybe. She fumbled with her thoughts before managing to continue. "I guess I just mean, like, magic as we imagine it is more like you wave your hand or a wand and something happens that couldn't, like…" Ruby scratched her head desperate for a thought, "like how my semblance is going fast and I didn't have any dust on my but I suddenly waved my hand and conjured fire out of nothing! That's kind of what I imagine."
"Well, even for us, conjuring something from aether takes a lot of concentration and practice," Alphinaud explained, pulling out the book Ruby had seen him using earlier. "For example, this is an arcanists' book. By channeling aether into the ink of your pen and writing equations within its pages, you're able to transform your aether into various effects and abilities. For someone like me who does well with information it's an easier way of channeling aether, though for some people they do better channeling through a weapon or item."
Alphinaud opened the book before pulling out the quill he wrote with, opened to a blank page, and began scribbling down lines and symbols. Ruby watched in astonishment as he perfectly drew straight lines and circles, connected them together, and created some strange mathematical symbols that she probably couldn't replicate if she tried.
Then, the moment he was finished, they began to glow brightly! And from his book-!
Emerged a small, glowing white, almost fox-like animal with long ears, tails, and a gem embedded in its forehead.
"AWWWWWWW!!" Ruby immediately cooed upon seeing the strange creature, reaching over to pet its fluffy body. "Look at you! Aren't you the cutest thing ever!? Yes you are! Yes you are!" She cooed and awed over it, rubbing its fluffy little cheeks with her hands much to its dismay.
"This is a Carbuncle," Alphinaud explained with a smile, "it's one of the first things they teach you when learning the arcanist style of magic. By using living aether in combination with geometry it brings life to the creature and it can then act as a companion. It does require aether to maintain though, seeing as its made entirely of aether, so we usually only summon it for short periods of time when we need it."
"I don't know if I could limit myself," Ruby said, still petting the shiny fox-bunny with a big smile on her face, "I'd want him around me all the time forever!"
Alphinaud and Tataru got a chuckle out of this. At the very least it seemed that the Carbuncle had done wonders to help bring Ruby's mood back up from where it had been.
It was then that the front doors of the Fortemps manor opened up and everyone turned to see Ardbert returning from his trip to the Vault.
"There you are!" Alphinaud said with a smile, getting up from the table to walk over to him followed by Tataru. "I confess, I was more than a little concerned when I learned that you have been summoned to the Vault. What did they want with you?"
Ardbert smirked a little at Alphinaud's question, raising his hand up as he spoke.
"The Archbishop personally apologized for the charges against you, as well as promising to punish those who wrongly accused you." He said simply and straight to the point.
Ruby was a little surprised to hear him speak, as it was the first time she'd heard him do so. Even during the battle earlier that day he'd mostly been the strong, brooding, quiet type.
"Well, well. A formal apology and an admonishment of those responsible? I see my fears were wholly misplaced." He said with a smile on his face.
"That's not all. He even admitted to me that he's been talking to the Ascians, though he claims that it's to use their own plan against them." Ardbert explained further.
"By the gods, the archbishop freely admits to consorting with Ascians?" Alphinaud spoke with shocked surprise, "So their ambitions extend to Ishgard as well…" He brought his hand up to his chin as he continued to speak.
"We will have new primals to contend with ere long, of that you may be certain. 'Tis but a matter of time. Yet shorn of the support of our missing allies, what can we realistically hope to achieve?"
Ascians? Primals? Their missing comrades? This conversation was definitely going over Ruby's head with how little she knew about this world. Plus it was hard to really focus when she was so busy being distracted by the cutest fox-bunny in the world!
"Though, I suppose we do have but one new ally in our question," Alphinaud said, turning to look at Ruby who lifted her head up from the Carbuncle in surprise. "Ruby here has agreed to join us in our fight, so long as we can somehow assist her in returning home."
"Hey, it's the least I can do right?" Ruby said, getting up from the table and walking over to join their conversation. "I mean, if it wasn't for you three I'd probably be locked up in a dungeon for who knows how long. Plus if I really am in another world I'm not going to get far just running around helplessly, so I'll do whatever I can to help. I scratch your back, you scratch mine." She said proudly.
Ardbert tilted his head a little at that statement, to which Ruby realized he wasn't up-to-speed on what was going on.
"Oh right, uh, long story short, I'm from a different world than Eorzea, don't know how to get home, and I don't really know how to fight in this world either…" Ruby explained rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
"You did excellent during the trial though, so I think you might have a knack for it." Alphinaud spoke encouragingly, though Ruby wasn't so confident.
"I dunno, I was kind of just mimicking my sister. She's always been the one who punched and kicked things, but without my scythe I'm not sure how to fight." Ruby looked at her hands, gently squeezing them open and shut.
"Hand-to-hand combat?" Ardbert spoke up curiously, putting a hand to his chin. "I might be able to help you out then."
"What? Really?" Ruby looked up, blinking in surprise. "How would you do that?"
He just smiled courteously for Ruby before turning to his allies.
"Alphinaud, Tataru, how about we call it a day after everything that's happened? I'm sure you two could use the rest and I'd like to help Ruby get caught up on how things work around here."
"I suppose a short break could be in order." Alphinaud put his hand to his chin in thought. "What say you Tataru?"
"Well… I admit I wouldn't mind a short break, though I'd feel bad not putting my best efforts forward even at a time like this." She said with a short sigh. "How about you and I go get dinner at the local tavern and see if we can't drum up any extra clues or rumors while we're at it."
"An excellent idea for sure. I too would like to keep my best foot forward, even at times like this." Alphinaud said with a nod and a smile before turning back to Ardbert and Ruby. "We shall reconvene here once the sun has set, how does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me." Ruby said with a nod, not opposed to getting more time to acclimate to this world. Ardbert for his part simply nodded.
"Then we shall see you then. Take care my friends." Alphinaud said with a wave, Tataru waving as well, before the two of them made their way out of the house. Ardbert then turned to Ruby with a smile and lifted his hand up.
"Follow me." He said simply, before turning and going through the house to exit through the backdoor. Ruby followed after him, heading into a small backyard that contained a large stone gazebo and a wooden striking dummy in the yard.
As Ruby adjusted once more to the chill on her skin she watched as Ardbert stuck his axe in the ground and leaned it against the wall of the building. He then turned towards Ruby, a smile on his face.
"Something I've been thinking about since coming to Ishgard was that it might be time for a change of fighting style. This is the land of dragons, so why not fight in the style that best suits taking down the large, winged beasts?" He said, before reaching behind him and pulling out a small, blue, pointy stone.
"That makes sense I guess…" Ruby said, raising an eyebrow curiously at the stone. Ardbert just smirked, before gripping the stone in his hand and holding it up to his chest.
In a suddenly flash of sparkles and light his very armor changed into a far slimmer, sleek, yet jagged and pointy set of dark blue armor.
"What the-" Ruby jumped back a little at the sudden change of clothing! "You can just change your outfit at will!?"
"Sort of," Ardbert chuckled, putting a hand on his hip, "it's a little more complicated than a change of clothes. But, that's exactly what I came out here to teach you."
Ardbert reached back into his pocket once more and pulled out another small stone, this one yellow with three lines on it in an odd jagged shape. He held it out and Ruby hesitantly held her own hand out, him placing the stone in her hand.
"This is called a soul stone," he began to explain. "On its surface, carved in aether, are the skills and deeds of people who wielded it long ago. You can attune yourself to this stone and the knowledge of the skills they developed and wielded will enter your mind allowing you to learn those skills without having to dedicate months or years to learning their techniques."
"Whoa…" Ruby said wide-eyed, turning to look down at the rock. "So you're saying this will make me good at fighting however the person who previously wielded this stone will?"
"Well… Not instantly," Ardbert chuckled, "you still have to train in order to be able to use the skills effectively. However you can learn those skills within a matter of days, if not hours, with proper training instead of months or years. Go on, give it a try."
"Uh… I guess I can try…" Ruby said, looking down at the rock and gripping it in her hand. She closed her eyes and held it close to her chest, feeling warmth starting to emanate from the stone itself. It reminded her of when Alphinaud told her to 'channel her aether' earlier that day, in a similar way she had learned to channel her aura around her.
She took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, then let the warmth of the rock inside of her.
In an instant she felt a century of knowledge flow through her mind, yet it wasn't overwhelming nor did it hurt. She knew things she had never known before, yet it felt so natural that she couldn't believe she hadn't known them mere moments before! She opened her eyes and looked down, half expecting to be wearing a near outfit like Ardbert was-
-But she was wearing the same red and black battleskirt she'd always been wearing.
"Hey, how come I didn't get a new outfit?" Ruby asked, confused.
"The soul stone doesn't come with outfits, you have to attune outfits to it," he chuckled as he explained. "This, for instance, is the traditional outfit Dragoons wear when fighting dragons so I attuned it to my soul stone. If you want to change your attire you'll be able to attune it to your soul stone as well."
"I see…" Ruby murmured looking down at her stone. The knowledge of fighting was still something she was getting used to. While it felt natural it felt strange for it to feel natural, it was a conflicting feeling in her mind. "So, you gave me the knowledge of how to punch people better?"
"That soul stone contains the skills of monks from years gone by," Ardbert explained. "Since you were able to fight so well with your fists in the arena I figured this would suit you well. Go on, give it a try." He motioned with his hands towards the striking dummy in the yard.
"Well… If you say so." Ruby said, pocketing the crystal as she turned to the dummy. She lifted her hands up to near her face, as if she'd always known how to box her entire life. Her feet began to bounce, keeping her light on her fight as she moved back and forth, ready to strike the dummy in front of her.
"Bootshine."
She heard a voice in her head before she even punched, stepping with her foot and thrusting her fist hard into the dummy. It jostled and bounced as her fist practically exploded with aether to enhance the damage, the feeling of this being natural filling her like never before.
"True Strike. Snap Punch."
She didn't know who the voice was, or if she was even hearing a voice to begin with. It might just be her mind telling her what to do, the spirit of monks long ago whispering their skills into her. Still, it worked exactly as Ardbert had explained, her body moved on its own like she had always been fighting with her hands.
She moved around the dummy, striking it in several different spots, letting out short, quick battle cries with each hit. He fists collided with the dummy's poles that stuck out, before striking the body as well, each with its own unique explosion of aether that enhanced the attack. She felt a burning in her core, a power welling up inside of her with each of her strikes, something growing stronger and stronger the more she fought!
The sudden feeling of overwhelming power filled her body, her feeling a fire burning deep within her soul. She launched one more attack, before stepping back and slamming her fist forward, a burst of powerful aether flowing from her that shook the dummy from the strike as the voice whispered in her voice once again.
"Steel peak."
She panted as she stood there, seeing her breath mist in front of her as the dummy continued to stand after her assault.
She could tell that her attacks hadn't been that strong, that she'd only maybe chipped the dummy with her attacks, but that was a start. Her knowledge told her she still had much to master, so many more skills to learn, to string together, to combo together to unleash true devastation upon her opponents. Each of them had a name, each of them channeled aether slightly differently, and the more accustomed to each skill she got the more powerful it would be.
Ardbert was clapping, shocking her out of her combo-filled reverie. She looked up at him, his smiling face as he clapped for her and she couldn't help but rub the back of her head with a faint blush on her cheeks, a little embarrassed at how into it she had gotten.
"That was an excellent first combo," Ardbert said with a comforting smile, "I believe I chose well with Monk for you. You'll be a natural in no time."
"You really think so?" Ruby asked curiously, looking down at her hands once more, squeezing them into fists. "Hand-to-hand combat has never been my forte, but I feel… I feel like I could really learn to fight like this now."
"For now I would focus on learning to master that job. Once you've got the hang of it you'll be able to switch to another one later if you so desire, or you can always go without a soul stone and try mixing and matching abilities," he continued to explain, "though that's much harder to do and most people who spend their lives learning to do that don't master their techniques as well as someone with a soul stone does. It can lead to us getting new jobs down the road though."
Ruby nodded in understanding, walking around the dummy to get back to the front of it. She stared it down… And thoughts of Yang filled her mind.
Would she be proud of Ruby for learning to fight with her fists? Or would she be jealous since that'd always been her fighting style? Would she want to spare, see who was better at it? Or would she just want to fight together, the sister duo hand-to-hand fighters?
Thinking about Yang… Made her mood drop for a moment, before she squeezed her hands tighter into fists.
"I'm going to keep practicing," Ruby said, turning to look at Ardbert with determination in her eyes. "I'm going to practice all night if I have to. I'm going to get good enough that I won't slow you or Alphinaud or anyone down."
"That's what I like to hear." Ardbert said with a smile as he watched Ruby get back into her battle stance. She then began striking the dummy once more, punching and kicking it to try and memorize all of the techniques of the soul stone to her very core.
She was going to get home one day, and nothing was going to stop her from getting there.