Chapter 1-A Girl's Night Out
The world of Remnant was a world in chaos. The forces of light and dark were in constant conflict with each other in a war that has lasted since the dawn of time. Humans and faunus have fought valiantly against the immeasurable forces of the Creatures of Grimm that have terrorized them since ancient times, and though the two races have put up a hard fight, with each century it felt like they were being weathered away like stone with the ocean waves beating against it.
Kingdoms had risen and fallen over the course of this neverending war, but only one has survived to grow strong. The Kingdom of Olympus, a mighty empire that remained the sole bastion of mortal civilization. Founded by Emperor Chronos, Olympus became the sole safe haven for humans and faunus everywhere, a single empire that grew in size and developed powerful weapons and machines to combat the vast hordes of Grimm. Before long, Olympus had become strong, massive, and prosperous, offering its citizens protection and safety from the dark forces that dominated Remnant. But this prosperity came at the price of personal freedom and individuality in the name of supporting the kingdom as a whole.
For all citizens of Olympus, this was a small sacrifice to continue providing for the wealth and prosperity of their mighty kingdom. All citizens, human and faunus, are raised to place their faith in the king and Olympus itself, for their mighty king always has their best interests at heart. All they need to do is obey and trust in Olympus.
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It was late in the evening when Ruby Rose exited the train that dropped her off at the entertainment district of Vale, one of Olympus's four city-states. It was late enough that the darkening sky was giving way to bright city lights, and the evening rush was already underway as people made their way to their various modes of transportation to beat rush hour and get back home. And as the daytime workers scurried away, the night owls began to appear and populate the streets.
Ruby felt a bit out of place amidst the rolling waves of people, but she steeled herself and left the train station to complete her missionβfinding her sister Yang.
"Why do I have to go find her? She's a big girl." Ruby grumbled, stomping down the dark streets of downtown Vale. "I'm the younger sister and I'm stuck being her handler all the time. I'm missing valuable comic book reading because of this!"
Ruby Rose was a girl born and raised on the outskirts of Vale along with her older sister Yang. She was a petite girl on the cusp of womanhood with short dark red almost black hair and fair skin with silver eyes. She was wearing her usual outfit of a long red hooded cloak over her black blouse and dark red frilled skirt with thigh-high rose patterned stockings and combat boots. She stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the crowd, but Ruby really liked the color red.
Ruby was on a mission to find Yang, who was doing her usual routine of partying in one of Vale's many night clubs. Normally this wouldn't matter for Ruby, because she knew Yang was a big girl, but Ruby wanted Yang to stop staying out so late with her Registration coming up in a few days.
Ruby had never been to the darker parts of Vale, an area where there were an abundance of bars, night clubs, strip joints, unlicensed brothels/massage parlors and love hotels. She never really had any reason to come here in the first place. Vale's entertainment district was Yang's kind of thing, as the older girl spent her time working full time as a stripper in one of the clubs before her physical exams. Usually Yang would call ahead to give Ruby a heads up about being out late, but Ruby figured she was probably too wasted to do anything but spread her legs right now.
"I can't wait until she heads off to Beacon. Then I won't have to worry about her all the time." Ruby sighed as she stomped down the street, ignoring the looks being sent her way. "I'll be lucky to get back home by midnight!"
Ruby was walking past a nightclub when she spotted something curious. A man flanked by two bodyguards and at least the age of her father, if not older judging from his half-bald head, was talking to a girl no older than Yang by a nearby alley next to the club. The man in question looked a bit heavyset but not too fat, a thin mustache on his upper lip that curled tightly at the ends. He wore expensive looking clothes that displayed his status as a wealthy man, and judging from the bodyguards he was pretty high profile.
As Ruby got closer to the trio of men, she got a better look at the wealthy noble, but then she blushed furiously upon seeing that the man's fancy pants were bulging around his crotch.
'Oh.' Ruby thought and quickly shifted her gaze elsewhere when she realized what she had seen and began to meekly sneak past the group.
"I'm not interested." The girl snapped at the old, fat man.
"I don't think you quite understand." He replied with a lewd grin, his eyes barely leaving the girl's large cleavage. "I'm a man of great wealth. One night with me will set you up for life!"
It was by chance that Ruby spotted the large stack of lien barely contained in his chubby hand. She stopped dead in tracks as she stared at the pile of cash being flaunted shamelessly, having never seen so much money in one place before. At that moment, the other girl walked away from the man in a huff, leaving the chubby man irate and frustrated. It was only by chance that he spotted Ruby at the corner of his eye as he turned to talk to one of his guards.
"You there, young lady." He called out in a sweet tone he used on the other girl.
"Huh?" Ruby squeaked in surprise as she realized the man was now talking to her. "Me?"
"Who else?" The old man laughed. "What's your name?"
"Oh uh..." Ruby paused, feeling a bit uneasy about being approached by a stranger this deep in Vale's seediest quarter. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be polite at least. "I'm Ruby Rose."
"Nice to meet you, Ruby. My name's Antonio Picard. What's a girl your age doing around these parts? I'd have recognized you if you were a common face." He asked lecherously eyeing her up and down.
"I'm looking for my older sister. She likes to spend her nights around here, but she's a bit late coming home this time." Ruby said.