Disguised as Ruby Red:

---

You just can't catch a break, can you...?”

Ruby swayed to and fro down the path to Dawncliff Mine, a happy balance of thankful and regretful. She moved with a serene grace, happy to be employed once again. It was a quiet night, with the stars shining bright above and constellations bare for all in Earthland to see. There was a beauty about the world at night, where people were so often defenseless and born of weaker stuff. The beautiful crimson that would leak from the defenseless and the weak was her greatest joy, and her art shone the most gloriously under such a celestial twinkle of natural light from above.

Her thoughts were, of course, on the mine itself. She had been here a number of times now, and each time she had left feeling a bit more... complete, in a way. At first it felt as if she was a mere doll under someone's control, but as she waltzed to the wide and dark entrance of the structure, she knew that she had become complete. No longer was there anyone else controlling her, and she had become truly her own person. Was there even a struggle worth worrying about in the first place? Of course there wasn't, and she knew that better than anyone. Ruby Red, the Bloody Barber of Dawncliff, was a name that struck fear in the hearts of those in Sieghart Mountains. Rumors spread of a ghostly young woman who hadn't slept in centuries, murdering any who would cross her. Her blade was rusty and held the souls of the damned within. Those types of stories kept miners awake at night and plagued the rocky jungle known as the Sieghart Mountains.

She was no demon, however, but merely a human like anyone else. What greater way to demonstrate her mortality than to show others their own fleeting existence? There was none, and that's why she got to work as she did. As she entered the mine, she was rather surprised to discover a lack of workers and security near the front. Even as she focused her senses to listen for the diligent working of sooty laborers, she discovered nothing. Such things immediately turned her smile into a frown as she unsheathed her rusty blade with no hesitation. Other than her nameless, rusted katana she had no gear to claim fame to other than a rugged brown cloak that draped down to her thighs and a high school uniform torn and stitched back together.

---

Spells used:

WC: 418/1700 [15% reduced]

Disguised as Ruby Red:

---

There was no fun to be had in an empty mine, which became painfully clear the more she delved. There was no one to murder, and was lacking in new deposits even as she descended further and further. Her employer would be disappointed if she returned now, empty-handed like so much dead weight, and thus she pressed on. It was unacceptable to be such a failure after her previous successes and the praise heaped upon her by her employer, and so it fell on her to succeed yet again.

“There has to be something...”, she muttered, a hand to her chin as her eyes sharpened with concern.

At that moment, a loud noise rung out and zoomed just by her head, mere centimeters from her button nose. She looked just in time to see a red bullet of magic crash into the wall behind her, and her head immediately twisted the opposite way to see a man. He had a gun trained on her, and had long raven hair and a brown leather coat. He was the type of person someone might describe as a 'cowboy', minus the hat, and the getup was enough to piss Ruby off immediately upon seeing it. Such a tacky outfit was inexcusable when attacking someone. How could she be disrespected so? It was insulting.

“You've got a lot of nerve, taking a shot while looking like that, cowboy.”, Ruby spat out with so much venom and malice, her raised sword unyielding and without doubt.

The man scoffed and let out a quick shrug, keeping his eyes firmly trained on the killer before him.

“I'm just here to do a job, Ms. Schoolgirl. You've been causing a lot of trouble for some important people and devastated families, so here I am. The miners are further down, so if you wanna continue your killing spree, you'll need to get through me.”

And like that, the game was on. Ruby immediately dashed behind a nearby rock wall before the man could take a true shot at her, her body moving like a hunted beast and shot to maximum adrenaline. She was in a fight rather than a slaughter, and she would thus move differently than normal. Taking a quick breath after nearly being shot, she adjusted and paced herself for the next few moments to come. Hearing the man's footsteps approaching, she would quickly jump out from behind cover with a running start, blade aimed and aiming for the man's chest immediately upon seeing him.

---

Spells used:

WC: 836/1700 [15% reduced]

Disguised as Ruby Red:

---

He fired off a bullet without mercy, going through her left shoulder at the same time as her rusted blade made contact with his chest. The exchange, at first, appeared to be more beneficial for the man. With such a grievous-looking wound and Ruby without armor, it was at first clear who the victor was. That dynamic shifted immediately once the barber, unaffected by the pain of the shot, quickly dug her blade out from the man's chest where she had missed any vital organs, and slashed at his hand holding the pistol. The degraded metal dug into his wrist, and the pain from the impact alone was enough to cause him to drop the gun and howl with pain, collapsing to the floor once she had removed the sword an instant later.

Kicking his gun across the mine floor, it skidding to a stop thirty meters away from them in the direction Ruby came from, she pointed the blade at his throat.

“P-Please... I give... you can do whatever you want with those bastards back there, I wasn't paid enough for this shit. Let me go. Please?”, the man begged, his arms raised in helplessness.

Ruby, with a sadistic smile, was amused. Not many combat-experienced men she had encountered had gone so far as to beg after being defeated. That was something considered utterly disgraceful among the average bounty hunter or mage, of which she assumed he had to belong to one category or the other. She nodded.

“Alright then.”, she spoke in a hushed tone, sheathing her blade.

...And then stomping on the man's already partially-severed wrist with a sickening crack, dislocating it and doing Illumin-knows-what else to it internally. Something had broken inside the man, both physically and mentally, and as he rushed off, stumbling and nearly passing out from the pain, Ruby couldn't help but look back at him turn a corner towards the exit of the mine one last time and giggle to herself. He was so shameless, and at the end of the day, that attitude was the true core of humanity's worst. There was nothing worse than cowards who would run away from their duties, showing their lack of morals and their true identities as rats in human skin.

“Guess you weren't ready yet. I'll give you your service next time then.”, she whispered in a tone he would in no way be able to hear; it was more for herself than anyone else at that point.

---

Spells used:

WC: 1250/1700 [15% reduced]

Disguised as Ruby Red:

---

What could possibly be said about how the rest of the expedition went? She had found night shift miners huddled together in the area beyond where the gunner had been guarding. It was easy to butcher and trim them one by one, taking her time as she flirted with the idea of letting some of them leave alive.

Eventually, she decided that she would leave alive any who were brave enough to fight back, beginning to take joy in the 'challenge' they provided – a leisurely morning jog's equivalent, of course. Her raw power, speed and endurance were too far above them at that point, to where she severed limbs with ease and left the combatants to live in agony on the floor. The harder they fought, the less in pain and scarred for life they would find themselves as a courtesy to grow stronger and fight another day. Some of the muscle-bound goons even showed some promise as potential warriors in the future, taking more swings to take down than she would have expected.

Nevertheless, she found her mining deposits hidden by those determined to fight for their jobs rather than flee with their lives. Diamonds, gold and platinum veins of varying sizes and qualities were all for her employer to unveil. She tapped them as she went about checking to see how they felt and how they reacted – plainly as one would expect, but she still felt some level of satisfaction in touching these beautiful stones so feverishly sought after.

It was stunning, to say the least, and she left with a deeper understanding of her employer's desires for more of these; not just for the money, but also for their undeniable natural beauty unrivalled by any living thing. Each possessed within them a swirling galaxy she could stare into and be lost in, she felt, and before she could be pulled into it completely she had to leave. It was for the best, allowing her employer to possess such things instead. Mankind's greatest flaw was its addiction to the beautiful, after all.

As Ms. Red left the mine and out into the fresh night air once again with her mineral deposits checked off and ready to be reported on, she paused.

“Tomoe?”, she thought, gripping at her head with a blank expression.

“Who's Tomoe?”

---

Spells used:

WC: 1638/1700 [15% reduced]

Disguised as Ruby Red:

---

Ruby collapsed to one knee and began to hyperventilate, realizing what was happening. He was coming back again, and she couldn't believe she had forgotten. Tomoe Tanaka was a man who existed, and he was unhappy with his state of being. It was a struggle, one she could barely keep under control.

“Give it back. Give it back!”, a male voice screamed out in her mind, angry and with the intent to kill within his tone.

For a split moment it was as if the entire world went white, and before her in her vision was a man in red with a furious expression. In the background was a storm, approaching closer and closer. The man had lightning in his eyes, crackling and ready to unleash his full wrath upon her if she didn't do what he asked. Ruby knew what this meant, finally, and solemnly lowered her expression to the nonexistent floor around her.

After a second of a second, Ruby's eyes filled with life again in the real world, still crouched down outside Dawncliff Mine. This time, however, it was Tomoe Tanaka who was conscious. He breathed heavily as if he had just ran for miles without rest, silently staring at the midnight sky. It was Ruby's body, a mere conjuring, yet for what felt like the first time in days Tomoe had finally regained control. He had become his own person once more, and in so doing, had triumphed over a great evil. Yet, this evil was not demonic nor was it particularly powerful - and even more, it didn't feel like a triumph. Whatever had happened, it was over for now, but would that stay? He wasn't sure.

Was it really so dangerous, this cloak's magic? Or was it something more personal to him? Ruby didn't truly exist in any capacity, did she? She was just a thought, an act – nothing more, right? The Joyan wasn't so sure, still wearing her face even now as he stood up to make the walk back to his employer. A question echoed in the back of his head all the way through, scared that if he stopped asking he would once more be condemned to the abyss.

Who am I?

---

Spells used:

WC: 1700/1700 [15% reduced]

- Exit -