Memento Mori Chapter One: Part One

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“Fauna! What are Fauna? What are these 'unholy offspring of human and animal' everyone seems to love discussing? What are these 'killers in shadows' that so many love to call them? Failed science experiments? Creatures from another world? The true natural inhabitants of Remnant?”

"Ugh, this guy sure loves the sound of his own voice. Even I feel like yawning and passing out. Also, is he talking about normal animals or Faunus?"

Ruby ignored the voice, instead concentrating on waiting for the right moment to make her grand entrance.

"You know, I don't know what I find more ridiculous; his long winded speeches, or the fact that you actually indulge him like this. Should have gone to theater school instead, at least you have the flair for it."

She once again ignored the voice, and she heard its owner give a weary sigh. That alone almost brought a smile to her lips. Almost.

Me: 1 Him: 0

But now was not the time to keep track of scores. Instead, it was time for the moment of truth! With a flurry, she teleported down, appearing in the room in a kneeling position as rose petals fluttered down around her.

"Greetings, pathetic mortals! 'Tis I, the blood-stained Grimm Reaper! I hath come down to your wretched planet from Valhalla to deliver this upmost important message; REPENT! THY END IS NIGH! REPENT OF THY WICKED SINS, YE BUNCH OF LOSERS."

Hidden under her hood, Ruby's mouth twitched, but she ignored the ramblings within her head and instead slowly rose from where she knelt, opening her eyes to look at the man in front of her.

The man laughs, and the voice within her groans, followed by an image of a young man slapping a hand to his face. Of course, she ignores this, as she has gotten good at doing over the past year.

She nods at the rotund professor's inquiries, and hands him a little green box.

"Ah-ha! At last, my long awaited Huntsmen Weekly's Grimm Catalogue! The sorrows of being such a magnificent specimen of a man, such as myself, is that I simply destroy the beasties whenever I draw near them, and as such, only the beauties of the paper can survive!"

It takes a great deal of willpower not to snort at that, and Ruby instead bows to the professor, before making her getaway, teleporting onto one of the rows next to some girl, before quickly teleporting out of the room.
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• One year ago... •

The girl runs, teleporting every few feet, in a desperate attempt to escape. Not that it did any good.

"You know, I don't really see why you're running like this.

"Shut up..." she says quietly, not really registering the words, either hers or his.

"I mean, I think it's been established that I'm not actually following you, so much as I'm stuck with you."

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

She crashes into a wall and falls to the ground stunned. Mercifully, all is quiet, at last. Sadly, it doesn't last long.

"That looked like it hurt. Are you OK?"

"SHUT! UP!"

Her scream cuts off the voice, and she clutches her head.

"You're dead! You're not here, you can't be! I saw you die, I....I..!"

"Yeah, I kind of noticed. You know, because YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED ME. But hey, things happen, right?"

"No, no, no, no! This isn't happening! This isn't happening!"

She scratched her head furiously out of stress, and the voice, that unceasing, familiar voice, sighed.

"Hate to break it to you, kiddo, but it's happening."

"No, no it's not! You're not here! I'm just hearing things! It's just the stress! It's been three months, of course I'd hear things, hah hah...."

In that instant, her vision blurs, and she falls to the ground, staring into nothing, still weakly laughing and tying to convince herself that she was hearing things that weren't there.

Then the world around her changed.

She was back in that awful blood-soaked world, with a red moon hanging in the sky. And there, standing across from her, was Him.

"Ech, what a nasty world," he said, looking around in disgust, "What's with all this blood? Why is the whole place covered in blood from the get-go?!"

His clothing was ripped and torn, and his body covered in scars, especially his face and throat. His hair was black, with red mixed in, and messy. She knew that wasn't his actual hair colour though. No, not when she remembered seeing him with brown hair. Not when she could see the blood seeped in it.

"Yo," his voice snapped her out of her stunned daze, and she refocused on him to see him staring in irritation at her, "Do you know how bad a world of blood smells?! Like, seriously, if I were alive, I'd be vomiting by now. Actually, I still might do that..."

"How," she said quietly, her voice trembling as she lifted a shaking hand and pointed at him, "How are you here? What are you?!"

The young man raised an eyebrow, and shrugged.

"Beats me. I should ask you that. After all," and here his eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms, "You are the one who ate me."

He might as well have slapped her. She jerked, stumbling backwards, as memories rushed through her head.

A kind young man sees her having an episode, the second one since that horrible day.

Concern fills his eyes, and he rushes to her downed form.

Snarling, she raises her head, and while she sees him, she doesn't SEE him.

Claws slash. Teeth bite down. Blood fills her mouth, flesh fills her stomach.

She covers her mouth as bile rises in her throat, and she collapses to her knees and retches. In an instant, he's right next to here, rubbing her back. She tries to get away from him, but more bile forces itself up and out of her mouth.

"Hey now, easy there. Calm down, calm down. Deep breaths, kiddo, deep breaths."

Slowly, she stops, and she sits there on her hands and knees, breathing heavily. And still, he hasn't left her side.

"You're dead," she croaks out, tears falling from her eyes, "I killed you."

"Yes, I am indeed aware of that, thank you for reminding me. I never would have guessed that on my own."

There's no malice in his voice. In fact, his tone is casual, almost as if the whole situation was a mere annoyance to him.

"How?"

It's only one word, but the weight behind it is tremendous. He shrugs and scratches his head, sitting down cross-legged across from her, not minding the blood that soaks his pants.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I'm not even sure where we are right now. I just...came to, so-to-speak, today. How long has it been since you turned me into a Happy Meal?"

She blanches at his words, but answers anyway. After all, he deserves an answer.

"T-three months..."
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• Present Day •

"-uby. Yoo-hoo! Remnant to Ruby! Do we have a bad connection here? Warning, warning! White Girl 'bout to nab herself one Ruby Rose! Gonna get herself that Ruby Ass real quick."

Wait, what was that last bit?

She didn't have time to think, or even react, really, as she was suddenly grabbed from behind and spun around, and found herself staring into the hard eyes of a white haired girl.

"See? See? This is why you don't day-dream. This is what happens when you get into the zone at school. I hope you're hap-hey, she's actually kind of cute."

Ruby froze, and instantly begin to tremble and sweat. The two ladies in front of her glanced at each other nervously, than back at her.

"Error, error. 404 Ruby Rose not found. Recomputing. Restarting brain. Rebooting social skills. Error 404; Social Skills not found. Activating emergency escape protocol in 3...2...1..."

Ruby vanished in a flurry of rose petals, leaving two confused girls behind.
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She came under control in an alleyway, with his voice in her head.

"Easy there, kiddo."

"W-what happened?"

"You had another panic attack. Bowled some poor woman over too after you fled from the two girls earlier."

The little girl curled up, knees to her chest, and quietly sobs.
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• One year ago... •

The two sat across from each other in that blood-soaked world, staring at one another. The young man sighs, dragging his hand across his face.

"Three months? Damn. I guess that's it then, isn't it. I'm really dead. Huh. I should be upset, but I'm not. Odd."

The girl across from him squirms uncomfortably. What was he? Why was he here? Was he a ghost? Was she doomed to be haunted by his visage for the rest of her life, a sin to stain her soul?

"You know," he speaks up, getting her attention, "This is probably really, really, awkward, but I never did get your name. So, seeing as I'm kind of stuck here, wherever here is, let's start over and properly introduce ourselves. Might as well make the most of it."

He stands and holds a hand out, lopsided grin on his face, completely at odds with his scarred face.

"Hello, my name is Mark. What's yours?"

She stares at the hand reached out to her, then back at him. She shouldn't even be in this place, conversing with him. She hates this place! She doesn't even know him!

And yet, and yet she knows the only reason this situation is even happening right now is because it's her fault. She had to confront reality, at least this once. So, despite her misgivings, despite how badly she wants to leave, wake up and go home, she's compelled to stand.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she reaches a hand out to him, then hesitates. She bites her lip, steeling her nerves, and takes his hand.

"My name...is Ruby"