The REDS of war

Volume Nine

Rei awakens suddenly in a strange land, with Ambrose lying unconscious beside him. "Status?" he asks, but receives no response. He tries to activate his robotic eye, only to be met with static. Glancing around, he spots the chip for his eye on the ground. He picks it up, cleans it off, and inserts it into a small port behind his ear. The eye reactivates, running through its normal procedures.

"Status report? Who's nearby?" Rei inquires.

[Jaume Arc... Amethyst Lilac] the eye responds, identifying the two humans.

"Ame?" Rei says in shock. "Where's Ame?"

[Directly next to you.] it replies. Rei's eyes widen as he looks at Ambrose's unconscious body. He pulls down the back of her shirt, revealing a scar that runs from the base of her skull down her nape toward her back.

"I've been fighting Ame this whole time," he mutters, realization dawning on him. "Where... where are we?" Panic begins to set in.

[Location unknown to Remnant.] Rei collapses onto the dirt, sitting as he gazes up at a massive black castle. "Oh, god."

REDS of War Volume 9

On the path to the Crimson Castle, a toy soldier, who is drumming, leads Team RWBY who are followed by three more toy soldiers.

"Uh, are we sure we should do this?" Yang asks.

"Well, the Red King helped Alyx." Ruby says.

Weiss looks at Ruby. "We aren't Alyx."

As they walk, a turquoise butterfly is seen landing on top of a stone pillar.

Entering a courtyard, they see many Toy Guards lined up along the pathway. A soldier does a drumroll, and the soldiers along the path play an extravagant fanfare. Pair by pair, they step aside, making way for a rather short-statured, crowned figure dressed in royal garments who walks down to Team RWBY. They pose dramatically as the fanfare comes to an end. Team RWBY look on flabbergasted.

"You're the Red King?" Ruby asks.

The Red Prince, stammers. "How dare you! I'm the Red Prince. Hmph! Why, I never! Coming to someone's castle without even knowing who they are, and on my birthday!" The Red Prince stands before the team revealing his full self to be a young human boy with black hair and purple eyes.

"Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!" The Toy Guards shout.

A soldier is distracted by the butterfly from earlier, before his fellow soldiers nudges him. "Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!" The soldier stands at attention again.

The Prince looks on with a slight anger in his eyes, before calming his composure. "Yes, yes. A joyous occasion, thank you very much."

Blake whispers to Ruby. "Red Prince?"

"The King wasn't nearly as rude, or small, or loud." Yang comments.

The second Toy Guard 02 gasps. "Well, if it hadn't been for your kind, the King and Queen would still come out of their room!"

The Toy Guards shush him. Ruby sighs and steps forward.

Ruby smiles and does a curtsy. "Happy birthday, Your Majesty."

"Happy birthday!" Little says.

Yang shrugs. "Ugh, happy birthday..."

Blake nervously does a curtsy. "Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday, I guess...?"

The Red Prince gasps. "How do you know such privileged information?!" He climbs on a soldier. "You must be infiltrators! Here to steal my parents crown!"