It was weird, in a way, what was happening.
There had been countless times in the past when Ruby had felt anxious about something, like when she expected to reach the minimum age to unlock her Aura, be forced to meet new people at school, learn to fight under the tutelage of her Uncle Qrow, or finally be able to create her beloved Crescent Rose and face her first Grimm.
However, not one of those situations, which could include being caught with her hand in the cookie jar in the middle of the night, trying to blame Zwei, and failing miserably, could compare to this moment, but not in a bad way.
While it still sucks to know that Blake and her sister were being left out of the picture for the moment, she would be sure to convince Vegeta to change his mind later, never before had Ruby felt her heart pounding as it did now that this man had his hand on her head.
Such a gesture, normally considered gentle despite being childish, had an immeasurable meaning that took shape in the impossibilities she had recently witnessed.
After all, she was one step away from gaining the power to catch fire, become super-strong, move things with her mind, shoot beams of energy from her hands, and most of all, fly!
Only the sum of all this could explain her current state of euphoria!
Ruby would no longer be a Huntress; she would be a superhero!
That was her greatest dream!
Besides, having Vegeta's hand in her hair, in a way that felt like he was complimenting her, made everything better.
He could be a kind of evil prince like Weiss was in the beginning, but only in such a cool way!
Like an anti-hero!
Then it happened.
A fraction of the immeasurable power that had given life to those golden flames before, but without the relentless fury she had expected, came up to fill her body in a way she could barely describe. It seemed as if she had breathed to the limit and locked her breath after eating ten bags of cookies, dipped herself in hot water just to be shocked, but the kind that didn't hurt; all at once and as fast as the blink of an eye.
It didn't take long for something else to happen.
Vegeta's power receded as fast as it came, and it was like breathing again after drowning, being filled with something different from her Aura but that felt just as familiar, like it had been with her forever and felt so...alive!
Ruby opened her eyes abruptly, and even if only for a moment, she was burning up in white flames just like Vegeta had done before!
Realizing that it had worked out, that she had gained access to a power that no one else had and that could help her save so many people, just like her mother, made her eyes water.
She had never felt happier than she did now!
In a way that seemed immeasurable, like the first time she ate a cookie made by her mother or used her Semblance!
Which seemed crazy, but couldn't be more justified.
However, it seemed that the change wasn't over yet, and her heartfelt thanks to the super-cool man who made it all possible would have to wait a little longer.
That's because soon after, her Aura, the power of her soul, but acting in a way she hadn't seen before and definitely being stronger than ever, also appeared to cover these white flames, almost as if to suppress them back into her body, but without diminishing the feeling of power.
In fact, she felt even stronger!
Also, while her body was no longer on fire, kind of, she kept glowing visibly, almost like Yang did when she was angry, and releasing petals from her Semblance like little embers that, instead of disappearing, kept floating around her.
Although Ruby didn't understand what was happening, she wasn't complaining about how cool it was.
Not only that, the world around her seemed completely different too, being absurdly more vibrant and...alive than before.
While Ruby always had excellent eyesight, something she believed was tied to her Semblance for being a necessity to move at high speeds, it didn't compare to what she was experiencing now.
Like, she was pretty sure it wasn't normal to be able to see a bird that was definitely more than a kilometer away as if it were mere meters!
Heck, she could even see its feathers waving in the wind!
It might be an absurd comparison to make, but Ruby felt as if she had been blind all her life!
Maybe that explained the strange burning sensation she had in her eyes.
Weird, Ruby would admit, but she was so happy and excited now that nothing else seemed to matter, and she could find out more about this by asking Vegeta. What about Weiss?
A sudden cold feeling made her think of her best friend, wondering if something had happened to her; if she had similar changes to talk about before they thanked Vegeta together for opening up this new world for them, which seemed endless!
To some extent, Weiss shared what Ruby was experiencing, but with some differences for reasons she didn't like to think about, where her anxiety could easily be mistaken for fear.
At least, at first.
Not because she didn't trust Vegeta, something she did and maybe even more than she should, not as much as Ruby and her endless naivety provided by her pure heart, even more so when Weiss didn't even know him, but because of the connection experienced before.
Her fear was of the possibility of it happening again, but this time she was the one to let her deepest emotions be read.
That couldn't happen!
Not only was it an invasion of privacy...something she had undeniably done before with Vegeta, even though it was definitely not intentional, but she was ashamed of the things she felt at the thought of him.
The traitorous heart that beat like crazy in her chest at just having his strong hand in her hair, the first man to have such an honor when not even her heartless father tried, didn't help at all!
Even worse, was imagining that just as she had done, Vegeta would find out about her fears and insecurity...proving how weak she really was, and that could change his opinion of her completely.
Contrary to her fears, however, what happened was very different from what she expected and not in a good way.
His life energy entered her body, causing shivers to run through her, leaving her mind in chaos when she should be calm and resist this ritual, exactly what Vegeta had told her not to do.
But how could she not?!
This Ki was his life energy! His essence, and Weiss was sure that Yang and Blake were having dirty thoughts about it at this very moment!
In fact, it wouldn't be strange if Yang tried to attack Vegeta because Ruby was also going through the same thing...and somehow, thinking about it didn't please Weiss either.
However, if she paid attention, this power...wasn't just strong, as expected, it was also calm and controlled, being a clear reflection of Vegeta's current personality and mental state; his maturity in taking the task at hand seriously.
Very different from what she was doing, even if it was for her own benefit.
While this man wasn't immune to falling for the teasing done earlier, where Blake and Yang were outdoing themselves, given the indecency of mimicking this meditation position despite their revealing clothing, Vegeta knew how to separate the moment.
Especially when the power he was now using wasn't his Aura but his Ki, something distinctly provided by flesh that hardly shared the emotional sensitivity of a soul.
There was no anger, grief, or even the pride previously present in Vegeta that surpassed hers, and it was very reminiscent of her older sister.
Weiss, on the other hand, was an idiot who was allowing herself to be influenced by fear of her colleagues' provocative opinion and the chance of losing the respect of this unknown man.
In the end, it seemed she hadn't changed at all, still caring too much about what others thought of her in an almost desperate attempt to keep her image intact...just as her father taught her.
This couldn't go on like this.
This kind of mentality was forced on her by someone who lived in denial to avoid repercussions and only cared about his reputation and nothing else.
Weiss needed to break free of these chains, just like when she accepted Ruby as her first and best friend.
Maybe she was too stubborn and too proud to admit it, but that was one of the best decisions she had made in her life.
Along the same lines, there was no reason for Weiss to feel ashamed of her flaws, since no one was perfect, much less to be attracted to another person, even if she made a mistake by getting carried away with Neptune, which hardly applied to someone as qualified, dedicated, and serious as Vegeta.
Weiss would no longer be weakened by falling for Yang's teasing and silent stare from Blake, time after time!
Taking a deep breath, she stopped resisting this ritual and much more besides, where the power circulating within her gained strength in a way that was strangely pleasing, and what transpired was beyond imagination.
Nothing she had experienced before, be it unlocking her Aura or awakening her Semblance to finally be able to follow in her older sister's footsteps and gain her attention, could come close to this feeling of comfort and power with no apparent end.
But that wasn't all.
Before long, something similar to an electric shock happened, and the feeling inside her changed completely when Vegeta's power, to her disappointment, left her body all at once, but not without bringing something else to the surface.
In a way, it was as if every cell in her body had awakened for the first time to resonate together with power!
Weiss took a deep breath as she felt the change, one that brought an absurdly large smile to her face, the kind that until some time ago she would never have allowed herself to show in public, which was no longer the case at all, and she could only revel in this feeling without caring about anything else; in this power that although weaker than Vegeta's, for obvious reasons, was much more familiar and definitely belonged naturally to her!
Coming to this conclusion at the end of the ritual made Weiss finally open her eyes in anticipation and see herself exuding life energy in its purest form from every pore of her body, resulting in the white flames she had coveted since the moment she saw Vegeta fly through the sky!
It had really worked!
Not that she wanted to doubt, but skepticism was part of her nature.
Perhaps another aspect to change, just like her decision to ignore others' opinions and acknowledge her interest in Vegeta as a man.
An interest that only grew.
After all, thanks to him, Weiss had taken a tremendous step toward her goals.
Finally, surpassing Pyrrha and even Winter was no longer a dream!
Weiss could be one of the best Huntresses that ever lived, clear her family's name, and help the whole world be a better place!
But there was more.
As she looked down at her hands and almost lost herself in the intoxicating feeling of having this power now coursing through her veins, her Aura manifested on its own to almost scare her, but not as much as seeing her white flames being devoured.
For a moment, she thought she was losing her power, only to be surprised by a change just as unexpected.
Her Aura merely transformed her white flames into an icy blue color, something that also applied to the branches of grass she was sitting on, before compressing this power back into her body.
Seeing her Aura behaving this way, against her will, displeased her and raised questions about side effects that she would be sure to let Vegeta know about later, preferably when just the two of them were alone; however, maybe what just happened wasn't such a bad thing.
For Weiss didn't feel weaker but stronger!
Much stronger!
Certainly, the result of the combination of two different sources of power in one body.
Still, what exactly explained the ice and cold spreading around her?
I'm not using Dust...or am I? Considering all that was going on, it wouldn't be strange if she was, and to be sure, her hand was on her belt to check her refills and even her weapon to confirm that it wasn't the case. How then?
As absurd as it would be to make a comparison of sorts, this looked a lot like that fairy tale, about the four Maidens...
Regardless, and while she would have to put up with more jokes about being an "Ice Queen", the mere notion of her being able to recreate the effect of a type of Dust on her own was just another surprise in this list of possibilities that seemed endless.
After all, there were also her senses, which were incredibly sharpened.
Never before, the world seemed so detailed, where the slightest movement of a leaf on a tree hundreds of meters away was visible to the naked eye.
In fact, if she paid attention, everything seemed to be...moving slower?
Absurd. Weiss couldn't help but think she was dreaming, for it was all too good to be real. And what about Ruby?
If this were all happening to her, her friend must also be having a similar experience.
It was at this moment that both their eyes, motivated by curiosity, met to widen in surprise.
They mirrored their reactions as they jumped to their feet, almost startling each other, but for a good reason.
"Weiss!" Ruby was the first to speak in an unsubtle manner, just as expected of her. "You're all shiny and icy!" Just by standing up, one could hear the frozen grass under her feet breaking! "And, and, and you have one of your Glyphs floating above your head, almost like an aureole or a crown!" Then her eyes lit up with barely contained admiration. "Like a real princess!"
Although she would never admit it, because it was kind of embarrassing and not out of envy, Ruby had always thought that Weiss was really beautiful, but not like she was now.
With this Glyph, one that was much smaller and looked more solid, almost real, floating over her head while her icy blue Aura shone over her body and released what looked like tiny snowflakes, it made this best friend of hers look like someone who had come straight out of a fairy tale!
Also, there were the ends of her white hair that were now blue, as if they were frozen; a contrast that made them look alike, which was so cool!
"Hmm," Weiss didn't know what to say exactly, even more so because of this unexpected look of admiration, but she recognized the strangeness of the situation with this Glyph that shouldn't be there, as well as the noticeable change in her hair, now being similar to Ruby and that made her strangely happy, justifying the reaction she received. "Thank you, I suppose?" As much as she had decided to change some things, it was still awkward to accept such compliments, but that didn't matter for the moment, where returning the favor was a necessity, as she pointed out what had changed in this all-happy friend of hers. "You too, Ruby. Your hair looks longer now. Also, your body is glowing red and releasing petals all around, almost as if it's winding over a field of flowers, but that's nothing compared to your eyes."
The major change looked worrisome.
"My eyes?" Ruby hadn't realized that her hair was touching her shoulders now, but that didn't bother her as much as the idea of having something in her eyes since they were really giving off a different feeling. "W-what's wrong with my eyes?"
There was an undeniable tone of nervousness in her question, and the one who made sure to answer was her older sister with her usual explosive temperament.
"Your eyes look like they're on fire, Ruby!" Yang was on top of her little sister in a flash as soon as the ritual was over, almost freaked out by all this craziness that was going on, and only then looking straight at the cause of it all with accusation. "What the hell did you do to her?!"
Vegeta wasn't sure what to say, only that he didn't expect this kind of development, but he had some theories.
The combination of powers and the method used to awaken their Ki certainly held the answer.
"Tell me," Vegeta ignored this indecent, anger-filled blonde's question despite the fear she definitely felt from just having his attention, deciding to address the problem directly. "What are you feeling?" He took a few steps closer before catching the surprised little girl's face in his hand. "Do your eyes hurt or something?"
Yang could hardly believe the audacity of this bastard! The way he was leaning on her little sister, doing it right in front of her eyes, which were now glowing red with anger!
"Hmm..." While Ruby didn't mind having her face touched like that, even though it was a bit awkward, she knew Vegeta was only examining her eyes and sensed that Yang was about to explode and do something bad. If she kept acting like this... Her sister would never get the chance that they had to get this power, and Ruby didn't want that to happen. "I don't feel any pain, just a little discomfort, like I've gone too long without blinking or hours playing video games? I don't know, it's hard to explain."
That and she was kind of tired, but that was unrelated to her eyes, right?
Vegeta didn't care much for the explanation he received, figuring this girl was fine if he considered the almost calm way she was behaving in spite of everything and focused on this silver energy.
One that seemed very familiar to him, and not in a good way.
Because, inevitably, that silver-haired clown came to his mind, but it couldn't be that, regardless of how pure this power felt.
There were obvious differences between this silver light and that emitted by the power of an angel, no matter how familiar it was, and the fact that it was almost...divine.
Could this really be some kind of God Ki? Which was something absurd to consider, not because it was laughably weak and benevolent in nature, but because this little girl from a forgotten planet in the far reaches of the universe was blessed like this, with three distinct sources of power in her body, regardless of this silver light coming only from her eyes. Almost as if they belonged to someone else...
Something that also made no sense, because if that were the case, the use of his technique just now would have caused her body to reject these eyes and result in an effect far worse than mere eyesores, such as eye bleeding and perhaps even blindness.
After all, that was what Forced Spirit Fission was supposed to do with external factors and fusions.
A doubt that would have to wait, because someone was finally losing her mind.
Or the will to live.
"How long do you intend to keep your hands on her?!" Yang was no longer putting up with this, this weakness and fear that was forcing her to stand by and watch a dangerous man like this one do as he pleased! "Get away from her right now!"
Her fists were clenched and pulsing with the power of her Semblance, but not as much as the frightened heart that beat like crazy in her chest.
Yang might be stubborn, but she wasn't stupid.
She knew better than anyone that she could do nothing against the monster that Vegeta was, having experienced his power firsthand.
The reason that fueled the fear and anger inside her.
Fear of being unable to protect Ruby and anger at being so weak.
But it didn't matter.
Just keeping Ruby safe did!
As for Ruby, she was having the same startled reaction as Blake; both could almost feel their hearts leaping out of their throats at the obvious result of this recklessness.
This time, if Yang attacked him, Vegeta might really end up hurting her while defending himself!
However...
"That's enough, Yang!" Weiss had her hand on this girl's wrist in a flash, stopping her from making a mistake just as quickly and without the slightest apparent difficulty. "He's only analyzing the anomaly in her eyes, and you know it." Although she didn't like seeing what Vegeta was doing either, for her own reasons, she knew there were no ulterior motives on his part. "Then do me a favor and don't make this situation any more complicated than it needs to be."
There were already enough problems the way things were.
"Weiss..." Yang wasn't surprised by this princess getting in her way, but rather at the fact that she couldn't move her arm and the absurd pressure being exerted that visibly ate away her Aura, not to mention the cold spreading around her that seemed to reach her bones. "How did you...?"
She hurriedly retrieved her hand and took a few steps back, feeling as if she would end up turning into a block of ice otherwise.
What the hell was that?! Yang looked at her trembling hand for more than just the cold, where a layer of ice was now on her Ember Celica. Is this what Ki can do?
The power that she was throwing away the chance to have...
"I what?" Weiss was not blind and saw what she just did, taking a step back as well, because of this power she had no control over...yet. "Stopped you from making a mistake?"
Another one, she wanted to say.
While she wanted to believe that Vegeta wouldn't go as far as killing this emotional girl, he had already proven himself to be quite vindictive and unpredictable.
In the worst-case scenario, Yang could end up in the hospital.
Probably.
That aside, Vegeta had let Ruby go, and contrary to these girls' fears, he didn't show the slightest interest in Yang, for being busy thinking about that silver light and its origin.
Vegeta would be sure to set aside some time to investigate this further.
Before that, however, he reached out his hands in the direction of these two girls whom he had just empowered to do the opposite this time. Better to avoid incidents until then.
Just now, if this temperamental blonde hadn't been using the power of her soul to protect herself along with metal bracelets, her arm would have been destroyed by the mere icy touch of the princess.
As an immediate effect, Weiss and Ruby felt everything return to normal and fell to their knees soon after, fatigued, they were almost unaware of taking hold of them.
"Ruby!" Yang was pulled out of her state of almost depressed contemplation and ran to her little sister. "What happened?!"
Judging by her state alone, it looked like she had run a marathon!
"Are you okay, Weiss?" Blake followed suit and offered her help to her teammate. It looks like things can still get worse.
Too much was happening at the same time, and she didn't know what to do, only that Vegeta was proving to be more and more dangerous and not in a good way.
Slowly, the attitude Yang had toward him seemed to be less and less absurd.
"They're going to be fine," Vegeta crossed his arms and assured. "All I did was interrupt the flow of power before they passed out from exhaustion."
Or something worse.
It might not seem like it, but their Ki was constantly leaking out while their Aura did its best to contain that power, resulting in even more exhaustion that could even kill them given enough time.
Not that they needed to know that.
"What does that mean exactly?" Blake spoke before Yang could throw accusations around, mostly because Ruby and Weiss were still too breathless to be able to speak. It seems that this power doesn't come without a price.
Nothing beyond the expected, she supposed, and could only hope that the price wasn't too high.
"It means that they have no control over their powers at this point and were burning up their reserves non-stop," Vegeta didn't mind clarifying that much. "That being said, you may leave now."
At this, they all looked at him in surprise.
"B-but what about the training?" Weiss managed to ask as she tried to stand up and almost fell over, if not for Blake supporting her. I don't want to leave now...
There were so many doubts weighing on her mind about everything that had happened!
Not to mention that she wanted to spend more time with him!
"W-won't you teach us to fly anymore?" Ruby asked softly, disappointment evident in her weakened voice. Has he changed his mind?
It wouldn't be strange if he had, since they only bothered him, but still, merely imagining that she would never have the chance to learn more almost brought tears to her eyes.
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
"Train? Fly?" Vegeta repeated, almost sneering at them. "With what energy if you can't even stand?" He could change that if he wanted to, but he wouldn't because he had more to do and think about, soon turning his back on them to float toward the lake, he intended to meditate on its center. "Go home, eat well, and get plenty of rest." Looking at them one last time, he added, "After that, you can return to begin your training."
That was all Ruby and Weiss needed to hear before exhaustion got the better of them.
This wasn't the end but the beginning.