Divine Red

I, Silva Branwen, woke up feeling a strange tiredness. It felt similar to when I exhausted my Aura, but more than that, plus something else I can't identify. As I got up from my bed, I heard the familiar voice of Raven tell me.

" Easy now, you've exhausted your soul, Silva."

" Exhausted my soul?"

I was unfamiliar with the term as Raven had never mentioned it before, and I never saw anything on it when I browsed the CCT on my Scroll when I was looking up Aura. My mind was a mess, and I was having difficulty concentrating as I listened to Raven's explanation.

" It's a rare occurrence, and it's something that can't happen in normal circumstances, but the awakening of your Semblance was anything but normal. Vernal's death... and her gift to you before she died caused your soul to bear more than it could handle."

Remembering Vernal's death, I felt tears fill my eyes as I laid my arm across my eyes, and I cursed.

"Damn it!"

As my emotions still felt fresh, Raven recited her favorite phrase with a cold expression.

" The weak die, the strong live, just as it has always been-."

I felt my sorrow quickly morph to wrath, and I felt an impulse that I acted on, interrupting Raven's little rhetoric. Triggering my Semblance, I fired a black beam of light from my paw at Raven, which she sidestepped to avoid a hit, and growled at her with fury burning in my throat.

" I am not in the mood for a philosophical debate Rav-."

A fresh new wave of tiredness and fatigue hit me hard as I collapsed in my bed, feeling difficulty moving. Raven sighed, looking at me, concerned?! She sat next to me and told me in a gentle tone I had never heard from her before.

" Silva, exhausting one's soul is a serious matter; it can make or break you because in your current state if you're not careful, you could weaken or even shatter your Aura for good, but if you can overcome this, you will experience a massive growth in your Aura reserves."

Hearing her, I can't help but ask.

" Who are you, and what have you done with Raven?"

Raven scoffed at my question but then gave a rare sincere smile as she commented.

" If you're able to joke in your current condition, then I might not have had to worry as much as I did."

I continued my line of questioning as I was just weirded out by this nice Raven look-a-like on so many levels after growing up with her for years.

" You can't fool me, your not Raven! She is nowhere near as nice as you! Where is she?!"

The false Raven's eyes twitched as she hit me on the head, and I couldn't use Aura for some reason to protect me from the attack. She then got up then ordered me.

" You are to rest and not overdo anything until you are fully recovered, Silva. No training, no use of your Semblance, either of them, and most importantly, no fighting with your Aura! Do I make myself clear?!"

" Okay, now I believe you are Raven, for now anyway."

Raven(?) just shook her head at my sentence in exasperation and started to walk away. Before she left, I asked her something that came to my mind; my throat constricted at the question, but I needed to ask.

" Raven... what did you do with Vernal's body?"

She paused for a moment, then told me without looking back.

" I picked out a quiet, out-of-the-way place for her grave. She would've liked it; it has a small meadow of flowers nearby. I will take you there later, so for now, rest."

As she left my tent, my thoughts went back to Vernal's final moments, and I felt hollow inside at her loss. I then suddenly recalled what she did; she gave me her Semblance! My eyes widen in realization at what this could mean. I know Raven said not to use my Semblance, but I need to know for sure if what I am thinking about is real. I focused inwardly and felt my Semblance and Vernal's Soul Archive. I triggered Vernal's Semblance within me and found myself in what I could only call my mindscape.

I searched within my mindscape and found what I was hoping for, Vernal's memories. Without hesitation, I started to view them.

***

Days have gone by since... Vernal's death, and now I sat in front of her grave marker under a cherry willow tree. I have to admit Raven picked out a good spot to bury Vernal; she would've liked it here. Maybe Raven isn't as calloused as I believed her to be. I had nothing during these days but to think and feel my grief. I only viewed Vernal's memories once, and they told me a lot about her that I never knew. Her fears, concerns, and sorrow. Along with how much it meant for her to have bonded with me as she did.

During this time, I made a few decisions. One is to get strong as possible no matter what, not that it changed anything. It just reinforced what I already desired to a far higher degree. As for my other decision, it is one I might come to regret, but I feel it's something I need to do to move forward unburdened. Despite Raven's warnings, I used Soul Archive to gather Vernal's memories and... let them scatter into oblivion. Having Vernal's memories doesn't make me feel better, but it causes me to rely on them to feel like Vernal is still with me even after death.

I knew that wasn't... a good thing in the long run, so I made a choice I didn't want to make but had to anyway. As Vernal's memories and emotions faded away from my mindscape, my mood went downward as I felt I had lost Vernal a second time. I felt even more hollow than before as I said my last goodbye.

" Goodbye, Vernal. I will never forget you in this life or maybe even in the next, and thank you for so much."

Hot tears filled my eyes once again as my grief was renewed.

***

As the sunset over the mountains overlooking Vernal's grave, I got up as I ran out of tears and went back to the camp feeling just a bit lighter. As I got up, my surroundings changed to a blurry and vast void. I felt dread as I asked myself out loud, a creeping suspicion.

" Did I die again?!"

" No, you are still alive."

I looked toward the source of the voice and saw the God of Darkness?! Okay, this is either a dream or my life has reached an all-time low. Please let it be a dream. I swallowed my saliva and asked the divine entity in front of me.

" Who are you?"

He might look like the God of Darkness, but he might not actually be him. The God of Darkness replied in a way I had not expected.

" You already know who I am; after all, you came from another that viewed Remnant as nothing more than a work of fiction."

I looked at him, stunned, and asked the most obvious question.

" Why?"

The God of Darkness casually answered me in a laid-back tone.

" I just happened to find your soul in the void, and after viewing your memory retained within your soul, I decided to send you to Remnant to see what changes you would have made from your knowledge of RWBY. Was it? After observing you and your recent decision that honors the value of life and death, I decided to speak with you in person."

Okay, just great, just bloody freaking great! I sighed, feeling my mental fatigue steadily increase as I asked the God of Darkness.

" So what now?"

" Hmm... I believe that you have earned a reward of sorts for making use of your second life as much as you could despite your circumstances."

I perked at the thought of what I could get but reigned in my desires as I remembered who I was dealing with and asked another question.

" Is there any limit to what I can ask for?"

" Hmm... I will leave it up to you."

Just perfect. Now I feel certain the God of Darkness is testing me on something; I need to be careful. As much as I would love to have Vernal back from the dead, I feel that wish won't be granted, and I would earn the god's ire. Magic is probably out as well with how the previous humanity ticked off this particular god with it and how the brothers have withheld their blessings until humanity and faunus prove themselves worthy. I can and will get strength through my own means, so I won't bother asking for that.

Wealth I can also get on my own if my books pan out well. What is it I need most in the long run? As I considered everything I could think of and alternate solutions to desires and needs, I decided. I told the God of Darkness what I wanted, and he asked me in return.

" Are you sure?"

" Yes."

With this, my future plans will become far easier to achieve, but for now, I need to train as much as possible. Good thing, Raven is the Spring Maiden now because if I can get her to practice Healing Magic, then I can push my limits far more and get greater gains. Now then, I better make some plans in advance and use Soul Archive to recall every single detail of RWBY I know of and may have forgotten. I got a lot of work ahead of me.