Queen Ruby

Chapter 7

Monday had gone by like any Monday at Beacon. Team JNRP and team RWBY got into another food-fight, though I did notice a slight improvement in my reflexes and felt stronger than I usually do. Lucky no one else noticed and I acted as normal as possible all day. When evening came I excused myself and told my team I'd go for a walk. They didn't question me today and just left it be for once. Now I'm walking to Torchwick apartment in the middle of the bad side of town. I ditched my cape for a blue rain jacket with a hood. I am late so I run, making sure not to leave behind any rose petals. Torchwick lets me up.

"You weren't followed were you?"

"Don't worry Torchwick. I hid my face. No one followed me."

"Please stop calling me by my last name... "

"Fine. What should I call you?"

"You could call me Guard...? Or Roman?" He sounds almost hopeful at the thought of me calling him my guard.

"Have I ever told you that you're weird?" I ask bitterly. He shrugs. "A few times."

I sigh "Fine I'll call you Roman."

He takes my jacket and hangs it up. I place the book on his table and sit down on one of the two chairs. 

"Why did you change your mind?" He asks. 

"I had a weird dream, the headband changed, I slammed my friend into a wall in a training fight and you seem to be the only one who can explain anything, even if it sounds crazy."

Roman looks amused at that. With a faint smile, he answers.

"And that's why you suddenly trust me?" 

"I don't trust you. I believe you. So... I haven't had dinner yet. Can you make me something? "

"I could" His smile gets even wider. He knows that this only irritates me further.

"I order you to make dinner for me. "  This works much better. He looks at me for a second before standing up and getting out a pot. 

This is the first time I ordered him to do something. I could never have imagined Roman to take an order from me, especially such a childish one. I had eaten dinner at Beacon, but I wanted to see how far he'd go. 

"Is Vegetable soup ok?" His question knocked me out of my thoughts. "Yea. That's fine." I stammer. 

"If you're ok with it could we multitask? You tell me about what happened and I try to explain whatever I can." 

I nod and start explaining. I tell him about my dream, the headband, and the fight. He listens carefully, only interrupting if he doesn't understand something. It takes me so long to explain, the soup is already getting cold when I finish. 

"That all may seem alarming but I assure you it's nothing to worry about. It's completely normal. You only just turned 16 and you still have to activate most of your power. Once you've unlocked your full potential and learned to control it, everything will make more sense. As for the dream, you probably had a vision of a past Queen. I can't say who but it was definitely one of your predecessors. " One thing still doesn't make sense.

"What about the headband?" I ask.

"I thought I left a note in the bag explaining it?"

"You did,"  I answer before he goes back into a long monolog about the origins and powers of the Artifact. In short: Frist Queen had it. When she died she put a spell on it, something-something shapeshifting, passed down from generation to generation, protects against Grimm.

"You know you could just read the book? It has more information that I do." He says. It's clear that he'd rather not have to explain everything. I roll my eyes at that and answer.

"Roman, my Guard. I order you to teach me everything about being a Queen I need to know." I decide at that point to trust him. He doesn't answer, instead, he bows down in front of me. I stand up and take my jacket. Before walking out I turn around one last time.

"I'll be back tomorrow. From now on I'll come by every evening and you'll cook dinner. I'll be here by seven. You'll teach me everything and do as I tell you. See ya tomorrow. Bye." At that, I run out.