The Illusion - Chapter 6 - Moments (Patreon)
Content
Ruby had known, or strongly suspected, that Weiss had a difficult life. What she hadn’t suspected, however, was that Cinder contributed to it. Cinder - the mean, vindictive woman who went out of her way to make everyone around her feel meaningless. The woman who pretended to own The Illusion, even though it belonged to all of them.
What Cinder did was wrong on so many levels, Ruby couldn’t even begin to explain how angry she was. So what if Weiss was physically unharmed? She spent the last few years without a voice! And only she knew how much she’d suffered because of it. Because of Cinder. And Emerald. And Melody.
They took something that didn’t belong to them and hurt someone important to Ruby in the process. They thought they could bully everyone into submission. They thought that by being the meanest, cruelest ones at The Illusion, they would always get their way.
She wouldn’t tolerate that mentality any longer. For Weiss, for Oscar, and for herself - she would fix this, and she would fix it tonight.
A plan had formed in her mind as she raced back to the tent, and she thought she had an idea that would work. At least, it was a start. What she needed now was to find one of her biggest supporters - someone who always had her back.
“Yang! Are you there?” After knocking several times, Ruby took a step away from the door and waited for her sister to answer. She wrung her hands and shifted between her feet in the process, overcome with anxious energy that wouldn’t go away anytime soon. “Yang!” she said again, and her hand was already raised to knock when Blake opened the door.
“Blake,” Ruby sighed in relief. “Is Yang here? I need to talk to her.”
“What’s up, Ruby?”
Spotting Yang sitting on the bed, pulling on her shoes, Ruby rushed into the room.
“I need your help,” she said first, knowing that would get their attention. And it did, as Blake shared a look with Yang before shutting the door and returning to Yang’s side.
“With what?”
That was all Yang had to say for Ruby’s words to start tumbling out.
“You’ll never believe me, but Melody’s voice isn’t hers. Cinder stole it from someone and gave it to Melody, and I need to get it back.”
“...what?”
“Her voice!” Suddenly incredibly antsy, Ruby threw her hands in the air and paced in front of them. “How she sings - it’s not her voice! They stole it from someone and we have to get it back!”
“Slow down a second.” When Yang reached out and touched Ruby’s arm, Ruby stopped pacing and sighed. Her nerves and anxiousness were firing at full steam, but this was important. This was Weiss’ voice. She had to get Weiss’ voice back.
But first, she took a few deep breaths, tried to slow down her racing thoughts, and only nodded to Yang when she felt a little calmer.
“Ok,” Yang said while setting her hand on Blake’s leg. “Now start at the beginning.”
“I have a...friend,” Ruby began, feeling her words pile back up. “She sings, so she tried to audition for The Illusion a few years ago. But Emerald and Cinder pretended to be in charge of the auditions, and Cinder stole her voice. They trapped it in that necklace Melody wears during her act, and I have to get it back for her so that she can talk again!”
With the summary over, she paused, took a deep breath, and silently hoped that they would believe her. But Blake’s brow was furrowed, and Yang stared with her mouth hanging slightly open.
“You don’t have to believe me,” Ruby added when no one spoke for a few seconds. “But please help me get that necklace. It’s really, really important to me.”
She would learn to sign if she had to, but she had to at least make an effort to help. Because she knew what type of person was being trapped behind Weiss’ wordless exterior. Someone so brilliant, kind-hearted, and magnificent that it was a crime no one else got to see.
“Is this letter girl?”
As soon as Yang asked, Ruby’s eyes widened in surprise.
“How -?” she began to ask, only for Yang to shake her head.
“Ruby, you’ve been cheesing at pieces of paper for months now. How blind do you think I am?”
Ruby thought that she was being inconspicuous, but when put that way, it sounded pretty obvious.
“Ok,” she replied. “It’s a long story, but her name is Weiss. She lives here in Atlas. I saw her last time we were here but was too scared to talk to her, but then we started exchanging letters and...”
And they grew really close. They became close friends, and...
“And you like her.”
“And I really like her,” Ruby admitted, much to Yang’s delight and Blake’s pleasant surprise.
It was true. She liked Weiss more than she’d ever liked someone before. But, even if she didn’t feel this way, she would still do this - because it was the right thing to do.
But she couldn’t do it on her own, which was why she waited on bated breath while Blake and Yang did that silent communication thing they always did. Once a decision was made, Yang nodded, and Ruby’s hope renewed.
“What do you need us to do?”
***
How many times before had Ruby stopped whatever she was doing to listen to Melody’s act? How many times had she stood at the end of the tunnel and felt that voice speak to her on a deeper level than anything she’d ever felt? How many times had she thought to herself that she loved Melody’s performance more than any other?
It was all a farce - she saw that now. Such a beautiful gift couldn’t belong to someone so cold and contemptuous. It belonged to someone beautiful through-and-through.
So tonight, she watched with apprehension as the stage was prepped for the final act. Nora’s voice floated across the crowd, getting everyone excited for what they were about to experience, but the prospect of hearing Weiss’ voice come from someone else’s mouth put a rotten feeling in Ruby’s stomach.
Tonight was the last time Melody used something that wasn’t hers - of that, Ruby was certain. She didn’t care if she was ‘useless.’ She didn’t care if she didn’t have a gift like everyone else in her family. If Cinder did this to Weiss, she could do it to Yang. She could do it to Blake, Oscar, Pyrrha, Penny, or any of the other performers.
So she didn’t care if this moment felt too big for someone ‘like her.’ She wasn’t alone, and she was too determined to fail. That feeling only grew when Melody stepped onto the stage to a round of applause she in no way deserved. While she walked over to the microphone, Ruby narrowed her eyes, pinpointed the necklace, and felt her anger grow. The moment she stepped forward, however, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
Turning in surprise, she found her gaze locked with crystal blue that normally made her heart swoon. Right now, however, something closer to panic jumped into her veins.
“Weiss? What’re you doing here? You need to leave -”
‘No,’ Weiss mouthed in return, shaking her head and keeping a firm grip on Ruby’s arm.
“Weiss -” As the opening notes of music played through the tent, Ruby glanced that way and felt her alarm grow. “Weiss, you need to get out of here. Please - I don’t want you to get hurt.”
But Weiss didn’t let go. Instead, she mouthed something that, from the way she pointed towards Ruby, felt like an ‘I don’t want you to get hurt either.’ As sweet as the concern was, Ruby didn’t have time to argue right now. Instead, she looked around and thought of a quick way to get Weiss out of harm’s way.
“Actually, did you buy a ticket?” When Weiss’ brow creased at the question, Ruby wrapped an arm around her waist and led her outside. “Jaune!” she called out as soon as she saw the boy standing at the exit of the tunnel. “She slipped in without a ticket. Can you make sure she stays out here?”
“Sure.”
Ruby tried to surrender Weiss to Jaune’s watch, but Weiss refused to let go of her wrist.
“Weiss...please…” The first song was nearing its midpoint, which meant she needed to get into position as soon as possible. “Weiss,” she tried one last time, setting her hand over top of Weiss’ and looking deep into blue eyes. “Please let me do this.”
Conflict swirled in Weiss’ eyes, but she knew better than anyone how much Ruby felt held back. How much she didn’t want to be treated like she had to be watched out for. She wasn’t a child, and just because she couldn’t set things on fire didn’t mean she couldn’t take care of herself.
That was probably why Weiss loosened her grip, but Ruby didn’t have time to ask. Instead, she slipped her wrist free, gave Weiss a grateful smile, and ran back down the tunnel.
The first chorus had just ended, which meant their time would come soon. Cinder and Emerald were nowhere to be found, which could be a good or bad thing. Ruby would rather know exactly where they were, but at least they weren’t close enough to be immediate help.
While the song continued, Ruby’s adrenaline grew and her focus zeroed in on the necklace around Melody’s neck. Any second now, their cobbled-together plan would spring into action. They just needed to wait for Ren’s signal...
Two bars into the second chorus, everything shut off. The lights cut to black, plunging the tent into darkness. The speakers cut off mid-sentence, leaving an eerie silence where sound had once been.
That silence quickly filled with confusion, as the crowd murmured amongst themselves wondering what just happened. When the lights briefly flickered to life only to fall dark once more, the audience groaned with realization. Meanwhile, Ruby slipped closer to the stage and watched Melody observe the situation with the same curiosity as the fans.
After a few seconds of everyone wondering what was going on, Nora hopped onto the stage and waved her arms for everyone’s attention.
“Sorry, everyone!” she yelled so everyone could hear her. “It looks like we’re having some tech issues right now, so we’ll have to end the show early.” When the crowd gave a collective “awe” at the bad news, she chuckled and shook her head. “I know, I know, it sucks! But our ravishing tech guru just told me this will take a while to fix. So please make your way safely to the exits - you should see the flashlights now. Walk towards the lights!”
A few chuckles rippled through the crowd as they accepted the unfortunate turn of events and slowly got to their feet to leave. Crew members motioned with flashlights at the end of each tunnel now, gently beckoning the audience towards the exits and away from The Illusion for the evening.
While they shuffled slowly past, Ruby’s gaze locked onto Melody. More specifically, the necklace hanging around her neck, which glowed unnaturally in the dark. With the show officially canceled, she wouldn’t stick around. That was her thing, after all. She disappeared as soon as the show ended - no autographs, no talking to fans, nothing.
Tonight, however, they couldn’t let her slip away. So the moment she turned to leave, Nora stepped in front of her.
“Wow! Look at your necklace - it’s glowing!” When Nora reached towards the necklace, Melody stepped back and swatted her hand away.
“Can’t I just see it?” Nora pressed, much to Melody’s obvious annoyance. “Just let me hold it for like a second!”
Before Melody could say ‘no,’ the necklace lifted off her neck on its own and soared towards Ruby. Touching her suddenly-barren neck, Melody spun around in anger and snapped loudly in Ruby’s direction.
Ruby didn’t stick around to find out what those snaps meant. As soon as the necklace landed in her hands, she sprinted towards the performer’s entrance to the stage. With the audience still taking up all the other exits, it was the fastest and most available escape.
“Thanks, Pyrrha!” she got out while racing past the girl, who nodded and stepped forward to head off Melody’s pursuit.
First part done. Now Ruby had to get the pendant out of her hands as fast as possible.
But as soon as she exited the tunnel, something slammed into her shoulder so hard that it knocked her right off her feet and sent her sprawling onto the floor. She managed to keep the pendant safely clasped in her hands, at the expense of every other body part.
Disoriented and confused, she righted herself and made sure the pendant was unharmed. Only after confirming that did she look up and realize what just ran into her - Emerald.
“I’m going to need that back.”
When Emerald pointed to the necklace, Ruby scrambled to her feet and backed away.
“It’s not yours.”
“It’s not yours either,” Emerald pointed out while taking another step closer, forcing Ruby back a step to match. She could try to run, but she wasn’t sure that she could outrun Emerald. Instead, she held the pendant behind her back and slowly backed away.
“I’m giving it back to the person it belongs to,” she said as Emerald matched her step-for-step. “And you can’t stop me.”
“You know...I was hoping you’d say that.” With a menacing smile, Emerald pulled a knife from her pocket and passed it between her hands. And that was exactly what Ruby expected - should Emerald get involved, she would resort to real violence.
“And I was hoping you’d be predictable.”
When Ruby put her hands back in front of her, she uncurled her fists to show empty palms. And, for a split second, Emerald didn’t understand what happened. Instead, she stared at Ruby’s hands in disbelief before a vicious scowl appeared on her lips.
“You have a death wish,” was all she said before clutching the knife and lunging forward.
But she hardly made it halfway before being met by a ball of flames, forcing her to stop and stumble backward in surprise.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this.” With a scowl on her lips, Yang cracked her knuckles and watched flames cover her fists. When Emerald didn’t back down, but instead switched the knife between her hands, Yang lunged towards and threw a punch that barely missed Emerald’s jaw.
Emerald responded with lightning-quick reflexes - ducking out of the way and stabbing the blade towards Yang’s torso - but a burst of flames made her yelp in pain and drop the knife to the floor. Before she dove to retrieve it, Yang kicked it down the hall and took another swing at Emerald’s jaw.
“Go find Blake!” she told Ruby before blocking Emerald’s follow-up and shoving her into the wall. Watching the fight unfold, Ruby was overcome with indecision. But she couldn’t just stand and watch, and she couldn’t help without getting in the way. So she did as told - turning around and racing away in search of Blake.
“Blake!” she called out while sprinting through the back areas of the tent. She had to find Blake so they could get the pendant to Weiss as soon as possible. But maybe Blake already found Weiss?
That hope came crashing down when Ruby flew around a corner and slid to a stop.
Cinder found Blake first, and now had her roughly by the arm while she struggled to get away. The pendant dangled in her hand, out of Cinder’s reach, but it probably wouldn’t stay that way for long.
And seeing those two struggling with each other - with Yang still fighting with Emerald, and Pyrrha possibly fending off Melody - angered Ruby like nothing ever had before. These were her friends - the people she cared about - her family - and she would protect them just like they protected her.
“Let her go!” she shouted, drawing Cinder’s attention her way. The smirk that appeared on Cinder’s lips only angered her further, so she did the first thing that popped into her head - sprinted into the fray.
Her feet pounded against the floor as she tore down the hall, closing the distance as fast as possible. Her breaths grew deeper, her heart pumped faster, and then…
Suddenly, it felt like her feet weren’t even touching the ground anymore. It felt like she was flying. And, in only a fraction of a second, she closed the space between them, lowered her shoulder, and slammed into Cinder’s ribs.
She heard a whoosh of air leave Cinder’s lungs as the two of them crashed through the wall and tumbled into the room beyond. The next few seconds were a jumble of arms and legs and bruises and scrapes before the world finally stopped spinning. Only then did she groan, push herself to her feet, and look around in confusion.
They were in the control room now, with a newly-formed entrance to the right of the real door.
She just ran fast enough to break through a wall…?
“Ruby!”
Back in the hallway, Blake was racing after them, but Cinder regained her feet and stood between Ruby and the door.
“Go find Weiss,” Ruby told Blake, who hesitated just outside the door and glanced at Cinder. Cinder, however, had a scowl reserved only for Ruby.
“Go!” Ruby urged Blake. “I’ll take care of myself.”
When Blake finally nodded and raced away, Cinder didn’t even glance after her or try to pursue. Her gaze remained locked on Ruby instead.
“You sneaky bitch.” Lightly touching where Ruby’s shoulder just landed, her scowl deepened. “You had a gift and didn’t tell me? I’m hurt.”
“Like I’d ever tell you anything,” Ruby snapped back, though her mind raced at what Cinder just said.
Was that what just happened? Was that her gift? Had she just unlocked it?
But she had no idea how she did that, so it wouldn’t be any help getting her out of this situation. Instead, she stepped back when Cinder approached her.
“Stay away from me.”
Even though Cinder was backing her into a corner, her voice was firm and even. Her heart raced - with adrenaline not fear. And her mind worked quickly as she set one hand on the counter and subtly searched for anything that might help. Something that could be used as a makeshift weapon? Something that would let people know where she was?
“And here I thought we were friends,” Cinder said with a sad shake of her head. “But friends don’t keep secrets, and friends don’t take things that don’t belong to them -”
“Her voice never belonged to you.”
Ruby heard the anger in her voice as it surged through her veins, but Cinder smiled at the reaction and took another step closer.
“I think of it more as...using my gift. It may not be show-worthy, but it’s quite unique, isn’t it?”
While Cinder smirked at her ‘gift,’ Ruby’s hand finally stumbled across something that would help. At the very least, something that would prove to everyone at The Illusion that Cinder didn’t belong here.
“You can’t just go around stealing people’s gifts,” Ruby replied, hearing her voice loud and clear over the pounding of her heart in her ears.
“But I can. Actually…” From one of her pockets, Cinder removed a necklace identical to Melody’s, except this one had a clear pendant dangling upon it. “I’ve been saving this one for someone special.”
When Cinder offered her hand, Ruby smacked it away and glared.
“Don’t be like that,” Cinder purred while stepping even closer. “I think I’ll keep yours for myself…” she added with a sinister smile. “Then I’ll take your sister’s, and her girlfriend’s, then the rest of the people in this tent. I’ll control every gift and run The Illusion myself.”
“You don’t get it, do you.” With nowhere else to go, Ruby stood her ground and shook her head at just how wrong Cinder’s way of thinking was. “The Illusion isn’t about who’s the most powerful or talented,” she continued. “It’s about having a gift and sharing it. Using it to inspire others, or make them smile and laugh. What you’re doing is malicious and greedy, and you know what? We’re sick of it.”
“‘We?’” Cinder repeated with a smirk.
“Yes. We.”
Ruby’s confidence sent confusion flickering through Cinder’s eyes, but that confusion became concern when Ruby reached behind her and restored power to the lights in the main arena. There, standing on the stage, were the cast and crew of The Illusion. From their folded arms and the scowls on their lips, they weren’t happy.
“You picked a fight with the wrong family,” Ruby said after raising the volume so that Cinder would hear her voice echo from the speakers in the tent.
Realization quickly followed, but Cinder looked at a loss for what to say. Now that the entire crew knew what she’d done - and planned to do - the game was up. She lost, and she knew it too.
“You sneaky bitch,” she sneered at Ruby as footsteps raced towards the control room. Before she could attempt anything else, however, Yang flew through the door, grabbed her arm, and dragged her away from Ruby.
“Get the hell away from her,” Yang snapped while shoving Cinder into the opposite wall.
“And get away from us,” Blake added with a fierce glare. “Take your friends with you.”
When Blake moved aside, Ruby looked into the hall and found Emerald along with...a girl she’d never seen before - short, petite, with tri-colored hair and two different colored eyes. Both of them had their hands bound together, pieces of tape stuck over their mouths, and serious scowls on their faces.
“You can’t make me leave -” Cinder began to say only for Nora to raise her hand.
“Uh, actually, we can. Majority rules! And the majority says - you’re fired.”
For a long, silent second, Cinder clenched her jaw and glared. When the crew watching from the stage began shouting for her to go, however, she finally understood that she was both unwelcome and outnumbered.
“Fine,” she scoffed before straightening her shoulders and brushing past Yang.
“Penny?” Yang asked as soon as Cinder walked out of the room. No more instruction was needed for Penny to nod and lift an entire arsenal into the air, which moved unnervingly close to Cinder and her two cronies.
“I’m not happy that you tried to hurt Ruby,” Penny stated matter-of-factly. “And I’ll be escorting you off the premises immediately.”
While it looked like Cinder wanted to respond to the comment, she wisely kept her mouth shut and stalked away without a word. Nora gave Emerald a nudge to follow, and soon Cinder and her cronies were being removed from The Illusion for good.
“Good riddance,” Yang scoffed before walking over to the counter and leaning towards the microphone that had been right behind Ruby the entire time. “The witch is dead!” she told their audience. “Time to celebrate!”
After a loud cheer and many high-fives at the news, the crowd began talking amongst themselves while several people ran off to collect as much booze and food as they could find. Yang, meanwhile, turned towards Ruby and smiled.
“You ok?”
“I’m good.” A few bumps and bruises from the tumbles she took, but nothing that wouldn’t heal on its own. “Where’s Weiss?”
“I told her to stay with Jaune,” Blake answered, and Ruby immediately hurried into the hall. “But Ruby -” she heard from behind her, but she was already rushing through the tent in search of Weiss.
They won, kind of. Cinder, Emerald, and the girl who must have once been Melody were leaving. Blake got the pendant back to Weiss. But Ruby couldn’t count it as a win until she saw for herself that Weiss was alright.
Figuring that Jaune was probably somewhere near the main stage with the rest of the crew, Ruby raced there as fast as her feet would carry her. After sprinting down one of the tunnels and finding the stage still filled with people, she paused and searched for a distinct flash of white.
“Weiss?” she called out when she didn’t immediately find who she was looking for. She knew Weiss had to be here somewhere, but now she was getting worried -
“Ruby?”
She froze at the sound of her name, spoken in a voice she’d heard in song so many times, but never used with such...softness.
Slowly turning around and finding Weiss standing at the end of the tunnel, with tears in her eyes, Ruby raced over and wrapped her in a hug.
“Hi,” Ruby said, grinning like an idiot while Weiss smiled back at her.
“Hi.”
“You’re talking,” Ruby pointed out, and Weiss laughed - a light, hopeful sound that made her heart jump with joy.
“I am.” Eyes sparkling, Weiss moved into Ruby’s embrace. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me.”
“That’s a shame...I thought there might be a reward in order.”
“Ok, you can totally thank me.”
“I thought so,” Weiss replied with another laugh. Then, with a smile and slightly hesitant gaze, she lifted her hand and delicately brushed her fingers through Ruby’s hair. The look in her eyes reflected everything Ruby felt in her heart - gratefulness, fondness, affection, and just a little disbelief that this was where all of those letters led them.
Those feelings only grew when Weiss leaned forward, and Ruby quickly met her halfway for a kiss. The moment their lips touched, excitement sparked through Ruby’s veins, and she smiled when an adorable little giggle slipped through Weiss’ lips.
This all began with a dropped mirror, a string of letters, a Valentine’s connection, and a lifted curse, but it ended with a kiss Ruby would never forget. She could already feel that Weiss wouldn’t either, as she pressed closer and their lips found new ways to express the feelings they’d kept bottled up for so long.
“That’s my sister! Got her gift and a girl on the same night!”
That finally broke them apart, and Ruby turned to the side as Blake shushed Yang and dragged her away. Yang’s thumbs up put an immediate blush on Ruby’s cheeks, but she was so happy right now that she couldn’t help smiling. That feeling only grew when she turned back to Weiss, who had a blush of her own growing on her cheeks.
“She’s so embarrassing,” Ruby whispered, only for her smile to grow when Weiss laughed and met her gaze.
“What did she mean though? That you got your gift?”
With a smile, Ruby reached out and gently squeezed Weiss’ hands. “I’m looking at her,” she said before nodding towards the celebration underway. “Come on, there’s a lot of people I want you to meet.”
It wasn’t that long ago when she would have considered discovering her gift to be the most important moment in her life. Now...it only took one glance at Weiss to know that no longer held true. In the coming weeks or months, she could figure out if what happened was her gift or just a one-off miracle. In the meantime, she couldn’t wait to spend more time with Weiss and get to know each other even better than they already did.
And maybe share another kiss or two.