Trigger warnings: torture, non-consensual body modification, body horror, inappropriate contact and staring, mentions of rape

Note: If you're expecting sweet Oscar looking after Ruby, not gonna happen. If you read the last chapter, you know he's problematic. It's takes more than an honest soul to survive Salem's domain. This was written pre the V6 finale.

Ruby's falling.

Ruby has no idea how long she's been falling.

She knows how it started. Racing up on swirling glyphs holding her to the side of the headmaster's tower, only to reach the top and see her friend drop to the ground. Ruby swore she felt that same hot, burning spear in Pyrrha's torso pierce her own heart before everything turned white hot. It consumed everything until there was nothing but darkness left, sending Ruby plummeting.

The more she falls, the colder it gets and the darker it becomes. The air screams as it passes her ears.

Snatches of memories, some worn with age and others sparkling new, flash before her eyes.

Her father's trembling frame bent over on the couch, the cloudy sky outside casting him in a depressing shade over him …

The summer-tinted image of a butterfly landing on a red rose in full bloom …

Working on a Crescent Rose prototype in a Signal shop room reeking of copper and oil with Uncle Qrow …

Seeing the vivid blue of Weiss' eyes in the Emerald Forest.

The memories appear in infrequent snatches as Ruby falls deeper into the void.

Another glimpse of the past catches Ruby and she's looking out to a woman in a white cloak, the fabric billowing out behind her. The door is open in front of her, the night as black as the void Ruby's falling through. It almost seems to be waiting to devour the woman once she crosses the threshold.

The woman stops when she notices Ruby standing behind her. The woman turns, her rosy red lips curving up in a fond smile. Ruby's throat thickens at the sight, heart clenching painfully in her chest.

Ruby immediately understands the bemusement in the woman's eyes. What are you doing up this late?

"…Couldn't sleep," Ruby mumbles. "Where you going?"

"A dear friend of mine needs some help," the woman explains. "Seems I'll be gone with your Uncle Qrow for quite some time."

"You'll come back for my birthday?"

The woman holds up her hand, her tiniest finger sticking up from her closed fist. "Pinky promise." Ruby laces her pinky around the woman's, enjoying the shared warmth between them against the chill coming in through the open door. The woman presses her forehead against Ruby's, sighing deeply. "I love you, rosebud."

"I love you too, Mom," Ruby says to her retreating figure.

The fabric of her mother's snow-white cloak unravels, scattering into petals. They wash over Ruby, gently grazing her form with soft, velvet kisses. The interior of the foyer fades, eaten away by the shadows, and once again Ruby is falling.

Ruby's tears drift upwards into the void, a stark contrast to her quickening descent. Ruby's hair whips wildly, the air now wailing in sync with her grief. All the while it got colder, to the point the chill was like knives piercing into her chest.

Where was she? Where was everybody else?

Ruby reaches out only to grasp nothing. Nobody. Nobody was there. She was all alone. Before, when she was naive enough, Ruby thought she could live all by herself. Now all she wanted to be standing at Beacon, Weiss at her side, scolding her for her bedhead, Yang always watching her back, tempering Weiss' icy attitude, and Blake two steps ahead, nose in a book.

Ruby hits the ground. The sun greets her, the light scorching her. Ruby quickly notices that the light is too sterile to be the sun's unforgiving rays. It's a lightbulb casting its pale shine on her. Ruby winces, turning away from the burning intensity.

But only partly as Ruby soon comes to realise. Her back rests on something cold and smooth and she can't move her hands or legs. Her wrists and ankles clamped down. A spike of panic rushes through her, tightening her chest. Her heart beats a quick hummingbird tune.

The anxiety is mingled with searing pain, blooming from her eye. Ruby winces, squeezing her eyes shut. It hurts. It's almost as if something was trying to claw its way out of her.

"You're finally awake," A voice says.

The overhead lamp is the only source of light in the room. A shiver runs through her at the table beside her, stainless steel surgical instruments on top of it wet with blood. Beyond that, Ruby can see white tiles, the vague silhouettes of cabinets, lightboxes displaying X-rays and medical equipment.

An operating room?

Ruby draws her eyes to the source of clacking heels against tiles. A stilted gasp quickly leaves her. The woman's skin was sickly white, her hair much the same deal. Scarlet irises seemed to glow ominously on pools of black, darkened spidery veins cracking around her cheeks. Her flowing robes almost to meld with the shadows behind her.

"You're so young," the woman drawls, "and you've signed up for a war you had no idea you were fighting. Although, it's not hard to be led astray at your age."

"W—" Ruby's voice wobbles. She swallows, dry tongue thick in her mouth. "What's happening?"

The woman smiles, a cruel turn of her lips. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I—" A school in ruins. Reaching the top of the tower. Pyrrha on her knees, Cinder standing triumphant above her. Falling. The woman's smile grows at the pain flickering through Ruby.

Ruby jerks to move, only to be held back by the restraints. She looks down, seeing the metal clamps, looking so impossibly thick and sturdy that it deflated any hope of running. Her usual dress was gone, replaced by a flimsy cover that Blake's disposable masks were made out of held by bits of string. The chill in the room sends shivers up Ruby's spine, doing absolutely nothing to calm her frantically rising nerves.

The woman enjoys Ruby's scrambling, the girl pulling at unyielding restraints and the panicked breaths that leave her.

"Who are you?" Ruby hisses.

"Just this once I will excuse your tone, young lady, but I will be spoken to with respect," the woman says, archly. "Simply put, I am Salem. I'm the reason you are here. I'm the reason your precious school burned. I'm the reason there are bodies piled on the steps of Beacon."

"You … " Ruby gasps. The image of Penny lying in pieces in the arena and scattered embers drifting in the wind flashes in her mind. White hot anger replaces the fear. Ruby bares her teeth against the woman. Ruby screams, trying to rise from the table.

And to it all, the woman—Salem—makes a mockery out of Ruby's anger, blistering and hot, merely folding her arms and watching the girl rage with a raised eyebrow. Ruby was nothing more than some kind of insect Salem is spying through a magnifying glass. And it chills Ruby that might be what she is to this woman, strapped down and almost naked.

"Hmm, now you've had your tantrum, Silver Eyed Warrior—" what? "—, I've run out of entertainment of you. Of course, there's always this."

Salem flicks her wrist. That's all it takes for Ruby arch off the table, pure pain coursing through her being. Ruby screams, and screams, and screams. She isn't sure her throat is raw from her cries or if it's the millions of phantom knives twisting inside her. It stops suddenly, leaving Ruby to slump on the table, tears stinging at her eyes.

Ruby can only pull in shuddering gasps, her gaze drifting hazily around the room.

"That's always fun." Salem's voice sounds muted, as if Ruby's been plunged underwater. And she probably has, a poisonous liquid inside her lungs thickening, the ability to breathe becoming lost to Ruby. "I could make one of those videos and spread it around, show what happens when you cross me. Seems more effective than putting a corpse on display."

The world blurs around her, shadows and shapes blending into the other. Salem seems to change, smile widening from ear to ear, pale skin standing out from the darkness. Ruby can only gasp and writhe, her sight gradually leaving her until …

she …

floats …

"Death is not that kind, I'm afraid," Salem says, pulling Ruby back to reality. Her head hovers over Ruby's, stray white strands falling around her.

Ruby doesn't want this. Ruby doesn't want this. Where's Yang? Dad? Uncle Qrow? Please—

"Death is never kind."

Salem tightens her hand into a fist.

Ruby screams.

A hand touches her, a mere graze of her cheek. Ruby jolts awake, crying. The big lamp isn't blaring down on her, turned off in favour of lighting the overhead lights. Everything's hazy for a second until her surroundings focuses into clarity.

A boy stands at the side of the table, bearing the same white hair and blackened veins as Salem. Ruby sees stark differences immediately, eyes glowing green instead of red, skin olive instead of pale, and so drastically young he may as well be Ruby's age.

"You …" the boy says. "A silver eye. She had red."

Ruby frowns in confusion. Her gaze drift to the side. The boy's hand hovers near the side of her head, steady and still, sleek gloves covering the skin. Ruby shivers. All Salem had to do was close her fist …

"Are you going to hurt me?"

The boy maintains his unnervingly neutral expression. The boy narrows his eyes, lips turning in disdain. Then his hands snaps to the clamps, pressing a button. The first clamp gives way, letting Ruby's arm free. The boy does the same thing with the rest of the clamps. The boy doesn't help Ruby up, instead coolly striding over to the door and waiting for her there.

Ruby struggles to sit up, the pain in her eye spiking unpleasantly, making her gasp. Ruby brings her hand up, feeling a velvety softness where her eye should be running under her fingers like the flipping pages of a book.

What …?

"W—What happened to me? My—My eye. It doesn't feel right."

"What happens to all those that needs a closer watch." The boy walks back to her, grabbing a nearby handheld mirror off a table and holding it up. "Salem makes sure we don't disobey her."

A rose. A rose is there, where her right eye should be, red and radiant and—what happened? What happened? Where's her eye? Where? Her hand pushes against the flower, its smooth texture all too apparent under her palm.

"I wouldn't recommend doing anything to displease Lady Salem," the boy says. "Otherwise, you'll turn to glass and shatter."

"Are you serious?!" Ruby hisses frantically.

The boy doesn't seem all too affected by the fact that Ruby was strapped down to a table half-naked or that Ruby's eye was taken against her will. There's a beat of silence until he finally speaks, in a much softer tone, "It's what happened last time."

The boy snaps the mirror back to the table he picked it up from, a clattering sound resounding in the sterile room. "If you want to survive, then I suggest adapting as fast as you can."

"But I have to leave," Ruby argues. "I have a family. A team. They need me." I need them.

The boy's eyes sharpen. "In Salem's domain, concepts like family don't matter anymore. Now"—the boy crosses his arms—"are we leaving? Or do you want to stay here?"

Ruby gapes at the boy. Does he really not see how messed up this all is?

"You have to move," the boy hisses, "if you want to survive Salem's domain, Miss Rose."

Nowhere to go. Just forwards.

Ruby gingerly lets herself down but her knees shake and her legs feel like jelly when her feet touches the cold tiles. She uses the operating table to support herself, inching towards the boy. It's gruelling work when you combine the aftermath of Salem's torture, the throbbing pain in her eye—rose—whatever it is—and the numbness of her legs. Every step is a mile for her.

Ruby takes a deep breath when it becomes apparent when she has to leave the support of the table. Nothing is nearby for her to reach out, at least not without a few steps. It certainly doesn't appear as though the boy is willing to help her, who stands by the door, unswayed by her beseeching face.

Ruby manages to make it two steps before her shaking knees give out beneath her. The way her head knocks into the tiles, somewhat cushioned by her arms, fills her with a dizzying nausea. Ruby groans, lying on the ground in a great useless heap. Tears sting at her eyes, frustration and fear fuelling them.

A heavy sigh. "We're going to be here all day."

Ruby lets out a strangled cry when a hand curves around her shoulders and forces her onto her back. No! NO! Please don't hurt me! The words don't come out though, replaced instead by panicked whimpers. The boy, kneeling besides her, does nothing to assuage her panic, sliding a hand under her back and bringing her upright.

The only reaction he has is when Ruby shoves her hands into the boy's face. It's laughable. At her normal strength, she'd be able to push him away. Drained of her energy and aura, it's nothing more than a limp slap.

"Relax," the boy says, voice hard. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Ruby doesn't believe him, trembling as she stares at him. The boy pushes on, taking off his blazer and draping it around her shoulders. It offered her upper body some comfort from the cold. Her legs still shivered, though. He picks her up with ease, heading over to the door. Ruby has to link her arms around the boy's neck to falling when he carries her by only the knees, the boy opening the door.

Ruby keeps quiet, resting her head on the crook of his shoulder. The temperature didn't change leaving the room, still chillingly cold. It was only the warmth of the boy and the cover of his jacket that carried her through it. Light from the flickering flames of the burning wax candles illuminated their way through the dark corridor.

They climbed a spiralling staircase upwards to another corridor, this time with a long carpet sprawling under the boy's feet and arching windows. The blood red sky bearing the shattered moon, illuminating the barren plains and the ominously glowing crystal tearing out of the ground has Ruby gasping. It was nothing like the dreamy blue and the warm sun bearing down on Patch or the picturesque skyline of Beacon. This was something else entirely …

"Wh—Where are we?" Ruby's voice sounds disgustingly dry, the parched quality of her throat catching up to her.

"Salem's domain. In the Land of Darkness."

"But that's just a fairy tale. A—A bedtime story parents tell their kids to keep them from being naughty."

"They do? Huh. Then we must have done something spectacularly bad to end up here."

Is that a joke? Ruby doesn't know. The boy was so flippant to the world around them she had no idea of knowing. Ruby curls in closer to the stranger holding her, if only for the pseudo sense of comfort. She's so tired that she wants to curl up in the safety of her bed, spoiled by Yang's adoration, scolded by Weiss' tough love and comforted by Blake's quiet assurance.

They continue the rest of the walk in silence. There's an odd distribution of weight in how the boy walks. One leg takes more weight than the other. The other leg drags behind slightly with each step, rocking Ruby in an awkward motion.

Ruby numbly takes in the passing hallways, decorated by morbid paintings and statues in a futile bid to liven up the dying atmosphere of the castle. Left, right, up the staircase … Even though Ruby notes the change in direction, she can't be bothered to memorise them, as the pain and exhaustion settle in.

Ruby sees hide nor hair of anybody else. It's just them, the halls that seem too eerily empty and the sounds of their steps on the tiles. When they finally enter a room, Ruby notes an ever-so-slightly fresh change in the air.

For one, she sees potted plants, green with life, scattered on tables, stands and on the ground. As the boy takes her up another spiralling staircase, she sees vines crawling up the side of a bookshelf and terrariums sitting on the sills of windows. Books, in what could be the hundreds, are shelves along the staircase, mixing the scent of paper pages with the freshness of soil. It was a tight space but it wasn't claustrophobic. It feels inexplicably cosy, a stark contrast to the dreary castle they wondered through.

Another door opens and then the library changes into a bathroom. The boy props her on a sink bench, hands to coming up to the fabric of the sheath covering her body. Ruby tries to bat his hands away, only for the boy to grab her wrists, holding them above her head. Ruby kicks him, foot connecting to his middle. However, drained of strength and unable to summon her aura, it has much the same effect as hitting the boy back in the operating room: Nothing.

Something coils around her leg, forcing it away. It's long and dark, dark green and yellow reflecting off it in fractures. Another of those things replaced the grip on her wrists and as one more holds down her other leg to keep her from kicking. They're coming from him, Ruby realises, following the curve of the—tails? Tentacles? Lashers?

His hands reach out, grasping the fabric of the flimsy sheath. After what Salem did, Ruby thought her throat hurt too much to scream. It wasn't the case, the boy ripping the only thing covering her.

Ruby trembles, utterly exposed to this boy who was capable for doing anything to her. She watches him in fear, mouth trembling and tears stinging at her eyes. The boy is unperturbed by her frantic mood, taking her naked form in stride. Ruby squirms, fruitlessly trying to cover herself from the boy's unwelcome gaze, gasps and whimpers leaving her, tears freely leaving her.

Is he going to—?

Without much further ado, the coils pick Ruby up and drop her into water. The water is chillingly cold. Ruby scrambles to sit up, clinging to the ring of the tub. Water is poured unceremoniously over her head.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asks frantically, trying to wiggle away.

"I'm washing you," the boy replies coolly, ladle in hand, as if she were being obtuse. The boy continues his business, pouring more water over her.

There's no gentility in the boy's handling of her, hands roughly spreading the shampoo through her scalp. Her pleas for him to stop touching her fall on deaf ears. Other than ripping off the only thing covering her and washing her, he does nothing untowards. It doesn't stop her trying to escape, though.

"Would you stop squirming?" The boy grits once Ruby's out of the tub, trying to towel her dry. The coils come out once more, wrapping around her ankles and wrists, keeping her in place.

"How do you have this much energy after being tortured by Salem?"

A shiver runs through Ruby, making her freeze. The boy doesn't seem too fazed by why she did this, merely taking advantage of her still body to throw her over his shoulder and carry her further up the tower. Her fear spikes up once again when the boy throws her roughly onto a bed.

Ruby whimpers, quickly covering herself with the blanket and retreating against the headboard. She watches the boy, who hisses in annoyance at the wet spots on his clothing. She could run on her weak legs down the tower. The boy could quickly and easily catch up to her, though. Even then, the castle was unfamiliar terrain to her and she didn't want to chance running into Salem again.

"What are you going to do to me?" Ruby asks.

The boy has his back to her, standing in front of a wardrobe. He pulls out a shirt, carefully examining its length and flicking his inhuman eyes back to her. "Dress you. Can't really have you walking around naked." His gaze went back to the shirt. "No, this won't fit. You're too big …"

"That's all?"

"Truth be told, I'm making this up as I go. I don't really have a plan for you."

"So you're not …?" Ruby trails off.

"I'm not what?" The boy scrutinises her wary form on the bed, eyes narrowing. Realisation strikes his face then. "Do you think I'm going to rape you?"

Ruby flinches, pulling the blanket higher over her chest.

The boy stares at her blankly for a moment until a look of complete disgust crosses his face. "Really?"

"You ripped my clothes off."

"To bathe you," the boy explains. "You were dirty. That thing was really just a scrap of fabric. Although, looking back on my behaviour now … I can't fault you for thinking that. I have more power than you in this situation."

Ruby's grip tightens on the blanket. "And what situation is this?"

"You're my new pet," the boy answers simply, striding to the bed. He holds the loose shirt to Ruby's shoulder. "Looks like this will do." His hand goes to the blanket covering Ruby however it hovers before it can make contact. "Can you dress yourself?"

"Y—Yeah," Ruby says unsurely, taking the shirt. His pet?

The boy turns away, heading back to the wardrobe, probably in pursuit of more clothes she could wear. The boy doesn't look back once, completely focused on rummaging through the wardrobe. The shirt is an off shade of black, loose strings holding the parting 'V' together and something a farmer would wear but it fits, even if it's a little tight around her chest.

"Hmmm … Your waist is wider than mine. Think these will work?" The boy holds up boxers in his hand.

Ruby shrugs, unsure.

"Might as well try." The boy drops the boxers on the bed. The boy leaves after that, disappearing down the stairs. Ruby is quick to slip the boxers on, though the sluggishness of her legs impedes the speed of the process. The boxers squeeze uncomfortably around her waist and strain around her thighs.

When he returns, he carries a tray bearing a jug and cookies on the surface. Ruby's throat burns at the sight, joining the uncomfortable lurch of her stomach. He sets the tray on the bedside table, pouring a glass of water for her from the jug. Ruby silently accepts the glass offered. However, her grip is shaky, the water threatening to spill out until the boy steadies her grip, fingers closing around hers and guiding the cup to her lips.

Ruby eagerly drains the contents, the boy acquiescing to her obvious thirst and pouring more water for her. The boy regards her carefully once Ruby is satisfied, deep in thought. What he's thinking Ruby has no idea. Frankly, she's a little scared of knowing.

"What are you going to do to me?" Ruby pushes herself to ask.

The boy considers think. "Hmmm … Might be nice if I had somebody to talk at." Not with, Ruby notes. "The company here isn't exactly the best for conversation. I'm not sure. I'm really just making this up as I go."

"Who are you anyway?" Ruby asks cautiously.

"I'm Oscar," he says. "I work for Salem." A pause. "I'm a grimm."

"Wha …? But—" Ruby opens her mouth to argue. It was impossible. But then the boy's appearance strikes her. His pale hair, his unnatural eyes, the veins that resembled shattered glass, his … tails from before. It should be impossible to have a living rose implanted where your eye should be. It should be impossible to be in the Land of Darkness.

"You seem to have trouble taking in all of this. Get some sleep," Oscar orders her, standing from the bed. When he sees Ruby's wary expression, he sighs. "Relax. The door on the bottom floor is locked and I'm not going to do anything. You know what?"

Oscar bends over at the bedside drawer, pulling something out of one of the drawers. He removes the cloth covering it, revealing a black dagger, curved and serrated, the slightest glint of red running along its blade. Oscar throws the knife in the air, catching the sharp end deftly with his fingers and presenting the handle to Ruby.

"Here," Oscar says. "Take it. For your own protection. I won't be around all the time." Ruby does, unsurely. Oscar takes his leave then, pausing at the threshold of the staircase. "I'll be around if you need me, Miss Rose."

The boy disappears down the stairs, his shock of white hair the last thing Ruby sees. The energy thrumming through Ruby leaves, the girl slumping on the bed. The tremors start to overtake her, her body rattling on the bed. The knife stays close, lying right next to her.

Pyrrha … Penny … They were dead. And she had no idea who else was. And Ruby was stuck here, in an unfamiliar land, no friends and no family to back her up, completely useless.

Once the tears started coming to her eyes, they didn't stop.