Bloody Sakura Rose: Lies

Everything was fine yesterday. Today the world was turned on it's head. No lie stays secret forever.

---

If you had asked Ruby yesterday, she would have laughed at the thought; of course she was the daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long, why did you ask? The conversation then would most likely lead onto a conversation about her father, jokes thrown in, and just a fun conversation. That is what would have happened if you had asked yesterday, or any day before that. Because yesterday, Taiyang Xiao Long was Ruby’s father, something the young reaper would have noted with great pride.

Today however, if you asked Ruby that same question, she would give you the most heartwrenching look you have ever seen on her face and then walk off without a word, her red hood covering her face. It was today that she had discovered that her father was NOT Taiyang Xiao Long, but some person called Marluxia. That didn’t even sound like a proper name from anywhere on Remnant.

Ruby still held her mother’s journal in her hand. None of the entries were dated, but it was easy to work out how old the entries she had read were. Just almost sixteen years.

Today, I met a man while on my mission. He seemed to be on his own mission too. I asked him his name and he introduced himself as Marluxia. He even wrote it out for me when I asked how that was spelt. After all, it wasn’t the most common of names! He was rather odd, he spoke with the most expressionless tone I’ve ever heard, and his ever present smile was rather unnerving…. I wonder if I’ll meet him again.

…..

I met Marluxia again today, he helped me fight off a strange beast he called a Heartless. He said that it was similar to the Grimm here, in a way. He didn’t elaborate on that though. I asked him if he had a team that he was working with. He said yes, but I’m not sure if I believe him. Once again he didn’t elaborate. I reported these Heartless creatures to Headmaster Ozpin, I didn’t tell him about Marluxia though. I don’t know why. Tomorrow my mission is to discover the nature of these Heartless. I may ask Marluxia more if I can.

……..

It has been several weeks since my last entry, I’ve been busy. Marluxia is actually camping with me, he suggested that we team up; he’ll tell me about the Heartless if I tell him more about the Grimm. A rather odd request, I mean, who doesn’t know about the Grimm, though I suppose he means he didn’t go to a combat school. I agreed. He’s rather good company once you get used to him…. Not bad looking either. Not sure when I’ll get the chance to write again. Marluxia and I are hunting down a rather large Grimm.

……

Three months. That’s how long it has been since I’ve had a moment to write. Luxia and I keep teaming up to fight Heartless and Grimm. I think I’ve fallen in love with him! These past three months… he’s just always been there, had my back, and even saved me by showing up out of nowhere and using his scythe to cut down an enemy I haven’t seen. He still speaks in the same tone, but I think his smile is warmer now. I return home soon. I have to report back to Headmaster Ozpin. Luxia isn’t coming with me, says he has to report on his own mission. We have one last week together we estimate. The Heartless we are tracking is elusive but we are getting closer.

……..

I’m home now, it’s been so long. Team STRQ is back together again. Raven keeps grilling me on my solo mission. I think she’s jealous that I met this hot guy and didn’t ring to tell her about it. The last day, I slept with Marluxia. Oh it was so embarrassing having Raven grill me on it. Yes, I met a hot guy; we fell in love and then fell in bed together. But no, she wants all the details. My friend is changing though. She seems restless. I hope Raven is okay. Little Yang is such a lovely girl; she needs her mother now more than ever.

…….

Raven went missing two weeks ago, and I discovered that I’m pregnant. The child is Marluxia’s, but he has also gone missing. I have decided that I won’t tell anyone who the father of this child is. Taiyang promised to help me raise her, and I get a second child in the form of Yang too. My child will be raised as if Yang were her sister. I think I’ll name my child Ruby if it’s a girl or Onyx if it’s a boy.

That was the last entry Summer Rose had written in her journal. She had buried the book along with her secret, well within the many boxes of possessions. It was clear, when Ruby had stumbled upon this book that Taiyang had tried to hide it as well. Now Ruby knew that everything she once thought about herself was a lie.

“Ms Rose, is something the matter?”

Ruby jumped at the sound of Ozpin’s voice and spun around to face him, her silver eyes wide. She recalled that Ozpin was the one her mother was reporting to in her journal, maybe he knew who this Marluxia person was. Maybe. Ruby certainly hoped. Suddenly she realized that she was wringing her hands together, and Ozpin was still waiting for her to answer. Quickly she took a breath to work up her courage, and then said quickly;

“DoyouknowwhoMarluxiais?”

There was a pause, an uncomfortable one. Ruby found herself counting the seconds. It was a six second long pause. Long enough for the Headmaster to decipher her question, and then to pause again when he registered WHAT she had asked. His eyes fall to the journal in the teen’s hand, widened slightly, almost unnoticeably, but Ruby noticed, because she was already hyperaware of everything currently. Almost mutely, Ozpin gestures in the direction that lead back towards the way to his office.

“It seems you and I are in for a long conversation Ms Rose,” he commented as he walked beside his student. “May I inquire as to where you found that journal?”

“It was with my mum’s things which my father had sent through,” replied Ruby quietly, as she opened the book to the last entry again. “I asked dad if he could find me her old broach, but since he was heading out on a mission, he sent me the box to look through…. I guess he didn’t realise that the journal was there.”

“Actually, Ms Rose,” Ozpin hummed as he pressed the button for the elevator. “I do believe that Taiyang had no idea of the contents of that book.”

Ruby opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again as nothing came out. Her voice died. He hadn’t known about this book? The ride up the elevator was quiet as the young silver eyed teen stewed over this information. When they reached the top, Ozpin lead the way in and offered Ruby a chair in front of his desk before he himself sat down.

“Let’s see,” the Headmaster started, pinning Ruby with a look. “Marluxia, your birth father, is someone I have only met twice, and he has never met your father. Taiyang only knows that Marluxia is your father and nothing else. He believes that your birth father is dead, as is what happens when someone goes missing for an extended period of time. However, I can tell you that, for as far as I know, Marluxia is not dead.”

The young reaper’s mouth fell open in shock, her hood falling itself as she shot out of her chair and all but slammed her hands on the Headmaster’s table. Her mind was reeling.

“He what?” she demanded. “Why isn’t he here then? Why was I raised by… dad instead of this Marluxia guy.”

Ozpin raised his eyebrow elegantly at Ruby, who deflated and sat down with a mumbled apology. The white haired man sighed and pressed his fingers together, resting his elbows on the glass table before him. Copper eyes closed and for a few moments the only sound that could be heard was the movement of the cogwheels above them.

“Your birth father visited me twice,” the man continued as if Ruby hadn’t interrupted. The young silver eyes watched him with rapt attention now. “The first time was the day of your birth. He asked me a favour, to keep your light safe. Keep you safe, because he wouldn’t be able to. The second time was at your mother’s funeral. It was then I asked him why he couldn’t take you in, and he told me. He is what is known as a Nobody, he is incapable of emotion. I’m not entirely sure if that is true, but… He clearly wasn’t about to take you.”

There was a sound of glass shattering, though only Ruby could hear it. It was the figurative sound of her heart shattering further. Taiyang was not her real father and kept that fact from her, and then she discovered that her birth father wanted nothing to do with her. Tears pricked in her eyes, poor Ruby was so confused. Again Ozpin spoke.

“Might I suggest that you talk to Ms Xiao Long about this,” he said. “She may have some insight for you. Though I can tell you that Marluxia did have some semblance of care for you, otherwise he would not have shown up at all after you were born.”

Ruby swallowed thickly and nodded. She took a few calming breaths and managed to get her heart beating at a somewhat normal rate. Once again she looked up at Ozpin, her expression slightly more subdued than before.

“What…. What was he like?” she asked hesitantly. Ozpin stood up and walked around the table. He gestured for the book in Ruby’s hands, which she handed over without a word. The headmaster hummed as he flipped through the pages.

“Your mother’s explanation of his character is rather accurate. He always spoke with a voice which rarely ever expressed anything, and he certainly smiled at times which could not have had any stimulus to smile. Though I tended to notice a truly expressionless face the two times I spoke to him.”

Before Ruby could ask her next question, Ozpin was already walking again, this time over to a cabinet on the side of the room. He pulled out a few pages, and momentarily Ruby wondered where all these pages had come from, first her mum’s journal and now these pages. Journals like her mum’s were generally recorded on scrolls.

The pages were placed in front of Ruby and the teen gasped when she saw they were drawings, signed by her mum; drawings of a pink haired man in a black coat, holding a scythe. Different poses, sometimes only his head, or half body, but it was all the same man, one man that Ruby recognised, because there was one such drawing in her room, a drawing that Ruby vaguely remembered her mother dubbing the “Guardian of Ruby’s Room”.

“This is…. Marluxia….?” Ruby asked softly, picking up one of the images and gingerly touching the drawn details. Her mother was a good artist, at times, at other times her art was no better than that of a child. Her mother had only put great care into images which meant the most to her. Marluxia clearly meant a lot to Summer. Ozpin’s answering nod was all that Ruby needed to confirm that the silly little drawing she had always cherished in her room, was an image of her father, drawn by her mother.

A silent question was asked of the Headmaster, the answer being an inviting hand, and Ruby gathered up the images from the desk carefully. She had gotten answers, and gained more questions, but she now had more clues.

“Thank you Professor,” she said with a smile which was brighter than her earlier despondency.

“If you have more questions Ms Rose, you need only ask.”

With a more cheerful nod, Ruby left the office, pages in hand. Ozpin watched her go with a sad expression. The secrets of Summer Rose were about to come to light, and he could only hope that Ruby wasn’t disappointed with the results.

---

Dear Diary,

Hi, I’m back again. Writing to you in secret because I don’t want Yang to find me. She doesn’t look at my paper diary. Is that why mum kept a paper journal? Because dad wouldn’t look in it? I would have thought that such a thing wasn’t for mum and dad… but I found out today that dad isn’t actually my dad. My dad is actually my guardian angel! I never knew that every time I looked at that image that mum drew I was actually looking at a picture of my real dad! To be fair…. I didn’t know that dad wasn’t actually dad. And now I don’t know what to call him! Do I still call him dad? Or do I call him Taiyang? Oh I really should ask Yang about this…. But I don’t know how she’ll react. Marluxia…. If I look for you, will I find you? And will you want me to call you dad? I think I’ll ask Blake, maybe she’ll know.

With love,

Ruby Rose

---

Meanwhile, in the city of Vale, there was a small commotion happening in the streets. Some shopkeeper was making a racket about his dust stores being robbed. In the crowd watching there was a certain pink haired man, with blue eyes. He scanned the area for something, before leaving the commotion behind, the tattered tail of his black jacket trailing behind him as he adjusted the sleeves of his white shirt. What he was looking for wasn’t here, so he moved on. This man walked into a pub on the main street of Vale and he walked over to the barkeep.

“Hello,” he greeted with a charming smile gracing his lips. “My name is Lauriam, and I was wondering if you could direct me to where I can look through older issues of the news? The Librarian wasn’t able to help me I’m afraid.”

The barkeeper took one look at Lauriam before pointing over to the side of the pub, where the news stand was.

“We keep newspapers as old as three months before we send them elsewhere, for patrons who prefer holding paper, or haven’t got immediate access to their scrolls, hope you find something useful there.”

Lauriam nodded his thanks before walking over to the stand. He picked up one from two months ago and hummed when he saw the front page.

BEACON STUDENTS APPREHEND TORCHWICK

The picture was of a team of four teenage girls. Lauriam’s eyes were drawn straight away to the youngest. Black-red hair, black clothes, red frills, and a scythe.

“You look just like her,” he sighed, before settling down in a chair so that he could read.