- X Ruby X-

Ruby watched the castle that been her home away from home the last seven years shift and change. Transforming from a castle into a manor that only her and one other would be able to find their way through, the wind lashing the red cloak over her keyblade armor.

Finally, Aqua made herself known, stepping from the castle with Eraqus's keyblade in hand. The blue haired keyblade master held out the sword.

"I don't want it," Ruby said, taking her hand off Crescent Rose and pushing Master Defender back towards Aqua.

"You need it," Aqua said, pushing it back into Ruby's hand, "Without it, you won't be able to find Ven."

"What about you?" Ruby asked, taking their mentor's keyblade.

"I still have Stormfall," Aqua said, planting a hand on the smaller woman's shoulder, "You're a Master now…"

"What?" Ruby said, "No!"

"You have to be," Aqua insisted, "There's not enough Keyblade wielders alive anymore. You need to take some students while I rescue Terra and Ven… Terra did the Keyblade inheritance ceremony with a boy on Destiny Islands, Riku."

"...Fine," Ruby said, planting Master Defender into the ground pulling Aqua into a vice grip hug, leaving the older girl to squawk.

"Ruby… armor… crushing me…!'

"Sorry!" Ruby jumped back, "Sorry!"

"It's alright," Aqua said, returning the hug gently, "Take care of Ven, ok?"

"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "It's kinda funny, isn't it?"

"What?"

"I always thought you'd be the one to take over for Eraqus," Ruby admitted softly, starting down at Master Defender and Crescent Rose, "And that I'd travel around the worlds, saving people. Instead, it's gonna have to be the other way around."

"That's not funny," Aqua said.

"I know…" Ruby trailed off, "Do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Come back once a year, ok?" Ruby said, voice wavering, "I remember how lonely Master seemed sometimes, I don't want to be like that."

Ruby looked away, blinking away tears as she admitted that. She didn't want to be alone, she had trained with the plan to explore worlds, helping people, she didn't want to be trapped-

Ruby froze as Aqua swept down, pulling her into another soft hug. Finally, Ruby cracked, burying her face in Aqua's shoulder and sobbing.

"I'm sorry," Aqua said, voice soft, "This is more than you should have to deal with… why don't you train them on Remnant?"

"What?" Ruby said.

"You don't need to train them here," Aqua said, "Train them on Remnant."

"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "That's a good idea! Grimm are great training toys!"

"And of course I'll come visit," Aqua said, "We're family."

"Yeah," Ruby sniffled, "See you around?"

"Of course," Aqua said with a smile.

"And Aqua?" Ruby said, hesitating.

"Yes?" Aqua said as she climbed aboard her keyblade glider.

"May your heart be your guiding key," Ruby said.

"Always," Aqua said, taking off as Ruby drew Crescent Rose from the ground, frowning at the unblinking eye gazing up at her.

"Was this part of your plan, Master?" Ruby wondered through her sniffles, before zipping up her coat and summoning her helmet, a door to the lanes between opening behind her.

- X Roman X-

Roman stepped into the Dust shop, spinning Melodic Cudgel around with a whistle before pointing it at the man behind the counter, the aiming reticle popping up, "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a Dust store open this late."

"Please," the old man said, "I don't want to fight! Just take my Lien and go!"

"Didn't you hear me?" Roman said, "We're here looking for Dust. Hand it over, and you don't get hurt."

"Yes, yes!" he nodded, hitting the button to unlock the case in front of them.

"Good," Roman said, voice still calm, "Is there anyone else in this building?"

"There's a client in the back," the old man said.

"You two," Roman nodded at two of the thugs with his chin, "Make sure they don't try to be a hero."

"Right," one nodded, drawing his machete, "C'mon, Dim."

Roman watched several crystals be added to the box, grabbing a red one before one of the thugs went flying past him. Seconds later, the other one, Dim, slammed through the glass in front of the store. Roman sighed, pushing his gun against the proprietor's head, "Why does someone always insist on playing hero? Come out now, or I blow his head of-!"

Roman didn't finish the sentence, being forced to dodge back from the slash of a sword as a girl appeared between him and his hostage, flames launching for him. The last two thugs drew guns, pointing them at the girl only for her to disappear in a flurry of petals.

One thug collapsed, the girl grabbing his gun from the air and shooting the other before attacking Roman. Roman swung up Melodic Cudgel, blocking the strike from her weapon, a massive black and red sword that looked like someone had fused it with an oversized car key, a blue slitted eye in the guard and a second on a chain hanging from the pommel, a red flower around it, and was blasted back.

The girl was wearing a black coat with a red cloak with a red and black pauldron over one shoulder and armor down that arm, a ball of fire igniting other hand and she tried to drive it into Roman's face.

"Woah!" Roman dodged it, kicking the sword out of her hand as he went and catching it, "Nice try, Red, but if you're gonna fight, you might want to keep a tighter grip on your weapon! I think I might keep this, I'm sure some collector would give me a- huh?"

The last part was cut off as the sword disappeared from his hand in a burst of fire and smoke, drawing his attention back to the girl as it reappeared in her hand a sword with an E shaped bit on the end, "You shouldn't talk so much when you're fighting!"

Roman barely got Melodic Cudgel up in time, both weapons impacting the cane and sending him flying back. Popping up the aiming reticle, Roman fired it at the girl, turning and running as the explosion went off, climbing up the fire escape towards where Cinder was waiting for him in a Bullhead.

He had barely reached the top before a bang went off from above him and he staggered forward as a large arrow of fire smashed into him, turning enough to see Red standing sideways on the side of a building, a massive sniper rifle aimed at him and firing four more times. Roman danced around the shots, letting three hit him before the fourth blasted him back, "How many weapons do you have?"

Red didn't answer, merely disappearing in another explosion of petals as he climbed onto the bullhead… before the ship listed to one side, Cinder hissing under her breath as she battled with the control, "What's going on, Roman?"

"Huntress or something!" Roman barked, throwing open the other side of the Bullhead and swinging himself halfway out, aiming at Red, who was hacking away at the underside of one wing, "You really need to learn to take break ups better!"

Red looked over at him as her hood finally fell back, revealing a baby faced girl with silver eyes, before Roman fired Melodic Cudgel at her again, the sound of rending metal coming from the damaged cane-gun.

It was only as she vanished that Roman realized he had fired a highly explosive flare right at point she had been savaging, "Oh son of a bi-"

Roman's flare exploded against the wing, blasting it apart and sending the ship into a tailspin as Cinder gave an inarticulate yell of rage. Roman screwed up his eyes on instinct as the ground approached, before the ship crashed.

The next thing Roman knew, he was pinned against the ground by the ship, everything below his waist numb. Pushing himself up, Roman stared at Cinder, "Hey! Help!"

"I-" Cinder looked back, where a pair of voices were coming towards them, "I have to go."

"No!" Roman yelled, struggling against the bullhead as Cinder fled, "Cinder! CINDER!"

- X Ruby X-

Ruby fell through the water head first, eyes closed against the salt water. What was going on? Her and Yang weren't that far from the beach.

So, was this real, or had she fallen asleep in the water or-?

Ruby's eyes jumped open as she felt her feet land on something hard, the world warping so she was standing upright, "Wha-?"

With the rustling of wings, hundreds of white birds suddenly took off from the ground around Ruby, flying into the sky and disappearing, convincing her this was definitely a dream. Below her feet, the inky blackness was replaced with glass like the windows in that old church she had visited with Uncle Qrow that one time. She wished she could get a good look at it, they were always so cool, with heroes and Maidens and dragons and-

"Wow, you rattle on," a voice that reminded her of Qrow echoed from all around Ruby, sending the little girl whirling to find it, "Don't hurt yourself, kid, you won't find me. Not yet."

"Who are you? Where are you? Where am I?" Ruby's rapid fire burst of question cut the man off, "What is this place? How did I get here? Where's Yang?"

"Slow down," he said, "To answer your questions, you'll find out later, you'll find out later, you'll find out-"

"I get it," Ruby said with a sigh.

"-later, you'll find out later-"

"Ok, I get it!" Ruby said, running her hand through her hair. Stupid voice.

"Right, right. Alrighty, time for your first quiz, kid, real simple one, look around you, see the stuff?"

"What stu-?" Ruby stopped as she saw the three pedestals around her, one with a sword hovering above it, another a staff shaped like a rose, and the third a shield with the same rose on it, "Oh."

"Pick one," the voice said, "Any one, your choice. No wrong answer, either, ain't that just the best kind of test?"

"Uh," Ruby looked between the three, trying to decide, before grabbing the sword and swinging it like a bat a few times.

"That's not how you use that, kid," the voice said.

"I don't know how to use a sword!" Ruby defended.

"Whatever. You sure you want the sword? Last chance to back out."

"Is there a scythe?" Ruby asked, "Uncle Qrow uses a scythe, I wanna too."

"Do you see a scythe?"

"No?"

"Then I'm sure you can answer the question for yourself."

"There's no scythe," Ruby said.

"Yep! Now, barring scythes than don't exist, or any other weapons that don't exist here, are you good with the sword?"

"Yeah."

"Good to hear! Question two, my new apprentice, what do you give up? The scepter or the shield. Phenomenal cosmic power… or the ability to take a hit?"

"I have to give one up?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, make your choice!"

"But I don't want to give one up!"

"Too bad, you gotta, you can't get something for nothing, you know?"

Ruby looked between the scepter and the shield, nibbling on her lip. Which one?

Finally, Ruby pointed over to the shield, "I'm giving up that one."

"Cool," the shield vanished in a flash of light, "Come on up to the next station."

"What-?" before Ruby could finish, a staircase formed with the clinking of glass. Ruby reached out and pushed her foot on the glass, and when it held, she climbed up to the station.

Turning to look down, Ruby gasped as she finally saw the glass of herself asleep, a red cloak wrapped around her, in a garden of white flowers, "Wow…"

"Yeah," the voice breathed, sounding… wistful? Was that the word stories used? "You never forget your dive. Alright, kiddo, time for a bit of a test."

Ruby turned towards the center of the pillar she was on, taking a startled step backwards as three bubbling pools of darkness formed, newborn Beowolves crawling from each one, "He- hey!"

A small, detached part of her mind noticed that instead of the red eyes Grimm normally had, these ones had yellow eyes, but the bigger part reminded her of the stairs, which she turned towards, only to find them gone.

"Don't worry," the voice said, "Your heart is your strength here. You can beat these Heartless, I believe in you."

Ruby breathed in, fingers wrapping around the sword. When the first Beowolf lunged at her, she dodged to the side, swinging the sword for its chest and watching it sink through like a hot knife through butter, exploding into a cloud of darkness.

Ruby dodged as the second Grimm barreled at her, watching the claws rip into the glass as she threw the sword into the Grimm. The Grimm howled, thrashing and pawing at the sword with its claws as the blade glowed bright.

Ruby dodged to the side as the third Grimm lunged at her, scampering away from it as quickly as she could. The Grimm dug its claw into the ground, using the force to whirl and charge at her.

Ruby closed her eyes, waiting for the impact while hoping for something to stop it. She didn't want to die, she hadn't become a Huntress, she hadn't helped anyone, and-

Ruby opened her eyes as the beowolf gave a confused whimper, watching the huge sword made of light, looking similar to her Uncle Qrow's sword, Harbinger, before it exploded, ripping the Grimm apart as the voice grunted, "So that's what it's like, huh? Not the strangest I've see, but a up there. By the way-"

Ruby jumped, squawking as something fell across her vision and she yanked it off, holding up an oversized black coat, "What the heck?"

"Put that on," the voice said, "please."

Ruby pulled the coat on over her swimsuit, reaching down to roll up the ends and sleeves so she was able to move as she grabbed her sword from the ground. Looking up, Ruby walked towards the door that had appeared without prompting, pushing it open.

Ruby blinked her eyes rapidly as the shining light beat down on her, looking around.

She was standing before a castle, three people standing around the yard before her. One was a brown haired boy in his teens wearing a hakama, the second a sandy haired boy around Ruby's age wearing a jacket that was divided into a white half and a black half, and the third was a pretty, blue haired teen girl with a backless outfit.

"Oh?" the voice snickered.

"Ruby!" the boy turned towards her, waving with a smile as the other two turned towards them, causing Ruby to slink back slightly, "We've been waiting for you!"

"About time you got up," the brown haired teen said with a smile, planting his sword in the ground, "I was starting to think you were gonna sleep all day."

"Leave her alone, Terra," the girl said with a laugh, "Come on, Ruby!"

Ruby gave a shy smile, walking down the steps, "Hi! I'm Ruby, your weapons are cool looking, what's your name?"

"Boy, oh, boy," the voice said, "You're never gonna be not fun to tease, are you, kiddo? I think I'll name you Luxu II. I was gonna call you Superbia to round out the set, or Ignia to round out this trio, but you're just like Luxu. I even gave you his coat!"

"My name is Ruby!" Ruby complained, "R-U-B-Y! Ruby! Not Luxu or Super or whatever!"

"Fine, fine," the voice said, "I'll call you Ruby, Luxu II."

Ruby gave a shriek of annoyance as the voice laughed.

"Ruby," Ruby focused on the boy, who was twirling his sword, "Come on! Summon your Keyblade!"

"Key blade?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah! I want to spar! C'mon!"

"She just woke up, Ven," the blue haired girl said.

"So?" Ventus said "We're gonna have to fight after waking up, sometimes! C'mon, Ruby!"

"You can do it," the voice said from behind Ruby, leaving her to twirl in place to see a man wearing the same coat as her, the hood pulled over his head pointing at her chest, "It's in there."

"In my chest?" Ruby asked. The man was silent for a moment, before giving a snickering laugh.

"In your heart, Luxu II, the guiding key everyone has."

"My name's Ruby," Ruby repeated.

"Get that Keyblade out, and maybe I'll stop calling you Luxu II, Luxu II," the man said.

Ruby puffed out her cheeks, pressing her hand to her chest. How was she supposed to get something out of her heart? How was something in her heart to start with?

Ruby closed her eyes, focusing on her heart. Finally, her mind returned to the sword that had appeared earlier.

"Good!" the man said, "good! Just a bit further and-"

Ruby's eyes opened as a loud 'thunk' came from in front of her, a gasp rising up as her eyes locked onto her Keyblade.

It didn't look as much like Harbinger, except in size, up close, looking like the key to her father's truck in red and black, with a blue, slitted eye in the center of the guard. Ruby reached out, grabbing the sword and lifting it with surprising ease for something so big, "I had wanted a sc- woah!"

The sword shifted, the entire guard moving until the blade, which was segmenting and curving like Harbinger, was parallel with the hilt, which shot out, hitting Ruby in the gut. The man laughed, "Well, I guess you got your scythe, Luxu II."

"I thought you said you would stop calling me that if I got my Keyblade out," Ruby squeaked from her place next to the scythe.

"I said maybe I would stop calling you that," he said, "Ready for the last part of your dive, Luxu II?"

"What's-?" before Ruby could finish, the ground beneath their feet tilted, sending he falling even as the man waved with exaggerated cheer, leaving her to plummet away from him and her scythe with a loud yell, "Hey-!"

"See ya on the other side, Luxu II!" the man yelled with a laugh as the scythe vanished in smoke and fire.

"Jerk!" Ruby yelled as he, and the ground he was standing on, vanished from sight, looking behind her. Another stained glass floor was rapidly approaching, another image of herself and the three people who had been in front of the castle on it.

Ruby smacked into the ground with a moan pushing herself up as the man's voice came above her, "Alright, kiddo, here's the thing. What do you know about light?"

"Light?" Ruby said, "It's uh… what lets you see?"

"What happens to your shadow when you get closer to light?" he asked.

"It… I dunno?"

"What happens to your shadow when it's almost sundown?"

"It gets…" Ruby felt her hair stand on edge as it dawned on her, turning, "bigger…"

Taking up half the station was a massive upper body, back almost double before its body jerked up, golden eyes starting at her as it opened its mouth way, way too wide and shrieked.

Ruby flinched, covering her ears as the shriek echoed and reached out as it faded. Her Keyblade appeared in front of her, letting her clutch it as the clawed hand swung down for her.

Ruby dove out of the way, swinging her sword into the black flesh and clinging tight as the monster pulled its arm back and Ruby up, dangling her above the head. Ruby shifted the sword to scythe form as she threw it down, watching it slice through the head like a knife through butter.

Ruby clenched her eyes shut as she plummeted, only for a pair of arms to catch her and put her on the ground, patting her on the head, "Nicely done, Luxu II!"

"Stop calling me that," Ruby pouted.

"Let me think…" the man said, stepping away from her as one vanished into his hood, "Right, I've thought about it and come to a decision!"

"And?" Ruby asked.

"Nope! Still gonna call you Luxu II, Luxu II!" he said, "I'm the Master of Masters, and I'll do what I want!"

…

"You're a bit of a jerk," Ruby said.

"Oh, I am, am I?" the Master of Masters said, striding towards her, "I give you a shiny Keyblade, a nice coat, you get friends because of me, and I'm a jerk!?"

"Uh," Ruby held her Keyblade between her and him, "Yes?"

"Good!" the Master of Masters said, patting her on the head again, "Never hesitate to speak your mind, Luxu II! Now, get out of here."

"Uh," Ruby looked at the door that had appeared before scampering through it and onto the beach.

"Ruby!" Ruby staggered back as her dad pulled her into a hug, "Do you know how worried we were? Where were you? Where did you get that coat? Where did you get this sword?"

"It is called a Keyblade," Ruby looked over her father's shoulder, catching sight of a middle aged man with his hair in a top knot and several scars across his face, "It is a rare ability, Mister…?"

"Who are you?" Tai asked, pushing Ruby behind him.

"I am Master Eraqus," Eraqus said, a keyblade with an E shaped extension, "a Keyblade Master."

- X Glynda X-

Glynda watched the girl pacing around the interview room, not with malevolence, but with boredom. Considering she had been stuck in the room for the better part of two hours without any interaction, Glynda couldn't really blame her.

Glynda looked over as Ozpin stepped into the room, a tired sigh on his lips,"What's wrong?"

"I just finished talking to Qrow," Ozpin said.

"And?"

"And he seemed quite surprised to find out Miss Rose was home to begin with. Evidently, the reason I wasn't able to find a file on her is because she doesn't have one."

"I refuse to believe she hasn't been trained," Glynda said.

"I didn't say that," Ozpin said, "I said she hadn't gone to any of the Academies. She trains with a reclusive swordsman, Eraqus."

"I've never heard of him," Glynda said.

"Nor have I," Ozpin said, "Unfortunately, Qrow is a bit busy at the moment, so I couldn't get any more from him than that."

Glynda nodded, inferring that he was on the hunt for whoever attacked Amber, "What do we do? She crippled a man."

"She crippled a criminal in the midst of a robbery," Ozpin observed as the subject of their discussion passed right by the two way mirror, "Even if Torchwick managed to get her to court, the case would end in her favor within minutes. Come, let's speak to her."

The minute they stepped into the room, Miss Rose whirled around, a wide smile on her face as she saw them, "Hi! I was worried I had been forgotten about or something!"

"How could anyone forget about such an adorable girl?" Ozpin asked.

"Are you," the smile on Miss Rose face shrank, "Uh, flirting with me?"

"No," Ozpin said.

"Oh," Miss Rose's smile grew again, "Good to hear!"

"Please, Miss Rose," Ozpin gestured towards the table, "take a seat."

"Ok!" Miss Rose said, sitting down across from them, "What's up?"

"Do you know who we are, Miss Rose?" Ozpin asked.

"Uhhh…" Miss Rose nibbled her lip, "No? Should I? Sorry, I don't spend much time around Vale."

"We're friends of your uncle," Ozpin said.

"Uncle Qrow?" Miss Rose's face blossomed into yet another smile, "I haven't seen him in a couple of months! How is he?"

"He's doing well," Ozpin said, "but he was surprised to hear you were in Vale, he said you were training with someone named Eraqus…"

"Master Eraqus," Miss Rose's eyes flickered down, "Uh… passed away… a few days ago."

"Ah…" Ozpin reached out, gently resting his hand on Ruby's, "You have our condolences."

"Thanks," Miss Ro- Ruby said, voice cracking slightly, "It's been a rough few weeks."

"Can I take this to mean you currently don't have a source of training?" Ozpin asked.

"I guess," Ruby said, "I'm technically supposed to find my own apprentice now… already have one, I guess."

"Miss Rose," Ozpin said, voice gentle, "You're fifteen, you can't have enough training to take an apprentice-"

"I have to!" Ruby insisted.

"Why?" Ozpin asked.

"Because someone has to!" Ruby's voice let in some frustration.

"Where would you begin?" Ozpin asked.

"I'd go get them," Ruby said.

"Begin training," Ozpin stressed.

"I'd- I'd-" Ruby sagged, "I dunno. But I'll figure it out."

"Why are you so determined to do this?" Ozpin asked.

"Because that's what Master Eraqus taught us," Ruby said, "Someone needs to train the next generation, while the others go out and help people."

"Then why can't the others do that?" Ozpin asked, "are they younger than you?"

"Ven wa- is," Ruby said.

"And is he the only one?"

"No."

"Then why can't the others do it?"

"Terra's," Ruby voice cracked again, "He's gone, and Aqua has to find him. It has to be me. Why do you care?"

"I am Professor Ozpin," Ozpin said, "Headmaster of Beacon Academy, this is Glynda Goodwitch, a professor at Beacon. I would like to offer you a place at the Academy."

Glynda's head jerked over at those words, "Sir?"

"You're clearly trained," Ozpin said, "at least in part. We have a few open spots left this year."

"I… I need to train-"

"Ruby," Ozpin said, voice calm, "Whoever you plan to train, you aren't doing them any favors by doing it without being fully trained yourself."

"I have to!" Ruby insisted, looking almost in tears.

"Then start off by doing it on weekends," Ozpin said, "and spend the week learning. I'm sure we can do something to have your apprentice count towards school work, can't we, Glynda?"

Glynda looked at the girl sitting in front of her, feeling a tugging on her heartstrings as the girl appeared to edge closer to tears, "I'm sure we can."

"Ok," Ruby said, voice cracking.

"I'll go call your father," Ozpin said, standing up and patting Ruby on the shoulder.

"I called him when I got here," Ruby said.

"Then he's probably waiting," Ozpin said, "Let's go meet him, shall-?"

"You have no right to keep me from seeing my daughter," Tai's voice snapped, all but yelling, "You haven't pressed charges, but I will of you keep-"

"There's no reason to be so hasty, Tai," Ozpin said as he swung open the door, "Ruby's right here."

"Dad?" Ruby said.

"Ruby?" Tai asked, Ruby's black coat over one arm, "is everything alright? You look-"

"Master Eraqus died, Dad," Ruby's voice cracked.

"Come here," Tai said, spreading his arms to catch her, "What happened? I thought-"

"Not here," Ruby said.

"...Yeah," Tai said ,"C'mon, let's go home."