AN: One week and we are already at 286 Views, 198 Visitors, 9 Follows, 11 Favorites, and 2 Reviews. Thank you most kindly.
Metsubou: Here is your chapter good sir/madam/reviewer-person.
(Guest) Reader9000: Thank you for the review. These are the kinds of things that actually help me with the story's development. On to your points. For spilling the beans too quickly, Zack just gave a general overview. And, as seen in this chapter, not everyone will believe his story straight off. Limit Breaks were actually intended to be considered Zacks Semblance in this story, so you were right on the money there. Genesis actually was a Limit Break in Crisis Core, obtainable after you defeat him before you obtain the Buster Sword. His DMW Reel shows up randomly. Zack's Genesis Limit Break is called Apocalypse. Needless to say, it may not be used anytime soon, along with the other, mass monster-slaying Limits. New Limits may also replace older ones, with new characters in here, and they will be original... so bear with me on those when they do arrive. As for the Cloud-Jaune similarities, I noticed that from the get-go, starting with the motion sickness. I had to put it in here somewhere. I will attempt to tone down the Zacksomeness as you said, to the best of my ability. That being said, I envision Zack the way I built him up on my playthrough, with the cutscenes. Materia will be used sparingly. Limits will not be thrown around like Weiss's attitude during the first season. No need to worry there.
And with reviews done, on with Chapter 2.
Both of the teens were escorted from the room afterwords by Miss Goodwitch. She had taken it upon herself to make sure the two teens would be returned straight to their place of residence to prevent any more 'heroics'. That, and she did not entirely trust the young man, Zack, with his outlandish story. Electrical companies taking over the world? Super soldiers? Utter nonsense. As far as she was concerned, the young man had lied straight to their faces, and Ozpin had let it slide without a care in the world. She was nowhere near as lenient. Eventually, the small group had returned Ruby to Signal Academy, where she was to pack her things before she left for Beacon in the morning.
This left her alone with Zack. As they walked the streets, Zack's gaze would focus on simple things in particular, weapon shops, smaller markets, dust shops. The eerie glowing blue eyes taking in everything with a smile on his face, and questions that should have been common sense.
"Soooo..." Zack intoned. "What exactly is dust and where does it come from?"
Glynda gave her bright green eyes a roll as she glanced coldly over to the boy. "It is mined by several companies. It is the power of nature's wrath that, when channeled correctly and refined, can become sources of power or a means of attack."
Zack gave a bright nod to her, smiling a bit. "It sounds a lot like mako from back home. Its pumped out of the earth and refined in reactors, making our electricity and fuel. Sometimes when it gets refined, it makes materia, although sometimes materia can be made on their own naturally."
Glynda gave a small sigh as she looked over to the boy, who was still somehow engrossed in his new surroundings. "I do not believe your story for one bit, Mister Fair. It would do you good to stop spreading around your lies. Super Soldiers? Shinra? No such thing exists. You more than likely just have a strength semblance and have some stolen unreleased Dust products."
Flabbergasted, Zack stopped walking with her for a moment, his arms crossing over his chest. "Excuse me?"
Turning around, Glynda stopped walking and crossed her own arms, one hip slightly out to the side with a small glare. "Ozpin may believe your outlandish story, but I don't. If you cause any problems while you are at Beacon, IF you can even manage to pass the Team Placement tests, I promise you that I will do my best to have you out of the school faster than you can blink."
With a frown, Zack looked at her, his arms still crossed. "What do I have to do to prove what I said is true then?"
Pausing, the strict blonde looked at him in confusion. "What?"
Zack looked at her again, his head cocked slightly, like a puppy's. "What do i have to do to prove that I was telling the truth?"
Glynda gave a frown of her own before she started to list things off. "We can take a small outing to the forests right now before the city's curfew. You will demonstrate these 'materia', and if I deem them unsafe I will confiscate them. They will not be used, but they will be locked up where only Ozpin and myself will have access to them. You will give an example of your 'Limit Breaks' as well, other than the one I have already seen. If there are any that are too destructive, I will ask that you restrain yourself from using them. Lastly, a small trip to the local hospital for a full body scanning, to check for these 'enhancements' you spoke of. Is that agreeable to you?"
Zack gave a blink as he took in what was said, then a small smile and a nod. "Sure, if that is what it takes. I don't mind."
Once again, Glynda was paused, taken aback before she nodded, her face ironing out into its strict expression. She then led the boy to the wilderness out of the city, then turned around expectantly. "First the 'materia' if you please."
Zack paused for a moment before he fished a hand into his pocket, withdrawing several multicolored glassy orbs. "Which would you want to see first? Combat, Curative, or Support?"
"Just list off the effects of the Curative and Support, and demonstrate the Combat, if you please."
With a nod, Zack took three of the lighter green orbs in his hands, showing them one at a time. "First off, is a Full Heal, which is kinda self explanatory. It fully restores a its target to their peak fitness. The second one is called Esuna, which is kind've like a cure for odd illnesses, or a messed up status. Say that a monster blinded you, or poisoned you? Esuna would fix you right up. Lastly, I have Wall. if you saw it earlier, it makes a small shield to protect you from incoming attacks, physical or magical." Pocketing the first two orbs, he then withdrew two more orbs, a light purple in color. "The next two are pretty easy to understand. The Dash materia lets me move faster, and the Dualcast lets me use any of my other materia twice in an instant." Lastly, Zack took out the two darker green orbs, pocketing the purple orbs. "The two materia I use for combat are Quake..." For a moment, He remained still, gripping the green glassy orb in his palm, only for stone and rocks to jut out of the suddenly shaking ground around his form. He pocketed that orb, and then held out the last one, holding it close to his chest for a moment as it charged. "And Ultima..." After a few moments, Zack was engulfed in a bright white light, a small radius of trees around him had just evaporated into nothingness. Turning to her, he gave a small grin before holding out the orb. "I can kinda already tell you would want to keep that one. I don't use it much as it is. I had to tone both of those down too. The radius is actually a lot bigger."
Glynda blinked slowly at the destruction caused by the second orb, then nodded as she accepted it, pocketing the glassy ball. "That is satisfactory. Rest assured, nobody will be using this, and if you are proven trustworthy, it will be returned to you. It is yours after all."
Zack gave her a small nod before her crossed his arms, frowning slightly. "As for Limit Breaks... I can't really give you a demonstration. It kind've just happens with my mental state as a reaction to the environment. I can describe them though. Is that okay?"
Goodwitch gave him a frown and a nod, taking out her small holographic scroll, already recording the information she had gathered thus far. "Proceed."
With a nod, Zack began his descriptions. "Well, I have two that are a pure supportive roll, one supportive combat, and five pure combat Limit Breaks. The two that are supportive are Lucky Stars, which just makes everyone more lucky. It doesn't sound like much, but it is pretty useful when it comes to dodging and getting in hard strikes. There is Healing Wave, which is pretty self explanatory. It's like a Full Cure materia for a group. All the rest are essentially used in combat, with two being single target, and three being multiple target."
Glynda gave a frown, nodding once again as she reviewed the information. "Very well. I would ask that you try to prevent yourself from using anything too destructive for the time you are in the school. We can pass this off as your 'Semblance' while you are at Beacon, if anybody asks. Am I understood?"
For a moment, Zack had a small flashback to Sephiroth, standing at attention with a serious expression for a few seconds before it shifted into a grin. "Yes Ma'am."
With a nod, Glynda turned and began to lead him out of the outskirts, back into the city. "Very good. We will be able to perform your physical tests once you arrive at the school tomorrow. You may be honest Mister Fair, but that does not mean I trust you. For now, I will take you to a rest house used by travelling Hunters and Huntresses, provided by the City of Vale. It will be located near the airship transport bay, so you should have no trouble finding it. I shall see you tomorrow evening, Mister Fair."
Zack gave her a small smile and a nod, one that was either ignored or unreacted to as he was led to his temporary lodgings. As Glynda left, he stopped her for a moment, her body tensing as if in preparation of an attack. Zack held out a leather gloved hand to her with a smile, his head tilting slightly. "Thanks for helping me out here. I hope that we can get along someday."
For a moment, she looked down at the hand, then slowly accepted it, shaking it slightly, the ghost of a smile on her own face. "Perhaps someday. Goodnight Mister Fair."
-Hero-
Ruby Rose had been excited to head to Beacon Academy. She would be able to go with her sister, become a Huntress, and help others how she desired to. The look on her face as her sister wrapped her in a backbreaking hug however, was one that wished to fade into the background and never come out as her older sister squealed out loud, "Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"
Ruby attempted to speak as her lungs were slowly being crushed, her voice compressed as it squeaked out, "Please stop..."
The older sister, Yang Xiao Long bounced backwards on her feet, releasing her little sister from the hug with a wide smile, "But I'm so proud of you!"
Ruby looked down at the ground, abashed, not willing to meet her sister's eyes as she glanced around, desperate to not attract any attention, "Really, Sis, it was nothing..."
Yang, however was too exuberant to be helped, "What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone is going think you're the bee's knees."
Ruby shook her head, taking a slight step back as she raised her arms in defense of the proclamation arguing back, "But I don't want to be the bee's knees! I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl, with normal knees." She started looking down to the floor once again rather embarrassed.
Yang looked over her in confusion for a moment, her hands on her hips as she leaned towards her sister. "What's with you? Aren't you excited?"
Ruby glanced back up at her sister with a tired expression, slightly exasperated. "Of course I'm excited, I just... I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." She looked back down to the floor once again in her attempt to make herself seem unimportant.
Yang walked next to her sister, wrapping an arm over her shoulder in a reassuring hug, a sibling gesture. "But you are special."
One of the many screens on the airship swapped over to a news feed, showing the image of the leader of the gang Ruby had foiled the robbery of the previous night. "The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, who continues to elude authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."
The image on the screen then changed to a young, grey haired woman with yellow eyes before it faded, showing several protest images of people with animal traits, the Faunus. "Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now-"
The news feed ended, the holographic image of Glynda Goodwitch stood standing, addressing the new arrivals. "Hello and welcome to Beacon!"
Yang glanced over at her sister, then back at the hologram. "Who's that?"
The hologram continued on with its speech, as if answering her. "I am Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh."
The hologram continued on, oblivious to the question, "You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The hologram faded away after that, the airship's speed picking up as it headed out of the station's clearway.
Ruby blinked towards the window, walking towards it transfixed as her palms pressed flat on the glass, "Wow! Look, you can see Signal Academy from up here!" After a few moments of looking, her face held a small smile as she glanced at her sister. "I guess home isn't too far after all."
Yang, for her part, just placed her hand on her little sister's shoulder, smiling lightly to her as she corrected her. "Beacon is our home now." A short distance away, a young man with short blond hair held his stomach with one hand, and the other was pressed over his mouth as he backed away from the windows, headed towards the back of the ship in staggering steps. Yang gave the young man a glance and slightly shrugged her shoulders. "I guess... the view isn't for everyone."
Ruby still held a small smile, even as the boy staggered off to the rooms. "Well, it was a nice moment while it lasted. I wonder who we're gonna meet." Then, the sound of a door slamming shut was heard, and some wet splatters were heard after that.
Yang glanced at the door, one hand brushing back her long, bright blonde hair. "I just hope they're better than vomit boy."
-Hero-
At the back of the ship, Zack was leaned up against the wall, his head turned to face out the window. For a moment, his mind flashed back to another time, an evening sky, young cadets all around. All that was missing was...
"Excuse me..! Coming through!" Was the voice of the blond boy from earlier, looking for the nearest restroom.
With a blink, Zack turned and glanced towards the source of the noise and blinked for a moment. Messy blond hair, pale complexion, just starting out... Cloud? The image of his friend overlapped the kid for a second, only to fade as the younger boy pressed his arm against the wall to catch himself from falling. Quickly, Zack reached an arm out, wrapping it just around his shoulders before lowering the kid to the floor. "You alright?"
With a nod, the kid shakily looked back up at him. "Yeah I'm fine. Just a little motion sick is all. Its a lot more common than people would think."
Zack had another flashback, a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I had a friend with the same problem.. You kinda remind me of him. What's your name?"
"Jaune. Jaune Arc. Its short, sweet, the ladies love it." The boy said confidently, only to quickly cover his mouth once again, his face turning green.
With a small grin, Zack held up one of the lighter green orbs, the Esuna, and pressed it into Jaune's back, letting the materia do its thing. Jaune's body lit up for a moment, his motion sickness cured and forgotten for the moment. "How are we feeling, Lady-Killer?"
With a small smile, Jaune quickly hopped up to his feet and flexed his arms. "I feel like a new man, ready to take on anything!"
Zack gave him a small chuckle, then pulled him into a headlock, rubbing his knuckles over the kid's head playfully. "Definitely. Nice to meet you Jaune. I'm Zack. Zack Fair."
After a few moments of smalltalk, the ship eventually landed at Beacon's platform, and students began to rush past them to escape. Seeing as they were not going to be getting out the door anytime soon, the two just waiting. Zack leaned against the wall, looking either out the window or over the sea of teens heading out the door while Jaune struck poses, winking at several girls as they went by in his attempt to be charming.
-Hero-
As the first group of students, Ruby and Yang included, stepped out across the landing platform, their mouths were held agape as they looked over the majestic towers of Beacon Academy. It looked like a massive castle. "Wow..."
Yang crossed her arms with a smirk, glancing back over her shoulder at the city they had left behind. "View from Vale's got nothing on this!"
Ruby however, was already lost in her own world, her eyes alight at the sight of the other students, or rather, their weapons. "Oooh, Oh sis! That kid has a collapsible staff! That girl has a fire sword!" Ruby began to wander off, trailing after people with different weapons, changing direction constantly until Yang lightly yanked her back next to her by her red hood.
"Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons."
Ruby looked shocked at her sister, her arms held out in disbelief. "Just weapons? They are extensions of ourselves! They're a part of us! They're so cool!"
Yang looked over her sister in confusion, her head cocking slightly, "Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?"
The sounds of rapid unfolding was heard as Yang glanced away from her sister, who was suddenly hugging her large crimson scythe. "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. Its like meeting new people, but better."
Yang rolled her eyes, then tugged Ruby's hood overtop her head. "Ruby, come on. Why don't you try to make some new friends of your own while you're here?"
Ruby looked up at her sister in confusion, her head now tilting off to the side, "Why would I need friends when I have you?"
Yang backed away slightly, only to be consumed by a group of her own friends from Signal. "Well, actually my friends are already here gotta go catch up Bye!" She and her friends left in a rush, leaving Ruby spinning out of control at the speed her sister had abandoned her with.
"Wait! Where are you going? Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? ...I have no idea what I'm doing.." Ruby muttered in rapid confusion, spinning out until she hit a small cart being pushed by a valet, stumbling off as a white haired girl began to rant at her. Eventually, Ruby continued to spin and stumble until she collided with a firm chest, steadied by two different hands. Shaking her head to clear the dizziness, she looked up the taller form, only to see two bright blue eyes looking down at her with a small smile.
"Fancy bumping into you here. You alright?" Zack smiled as she slowly backed up, only to nearly run into the white haired girl again, who was still on her rant.
"Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused? This is Dust mined and purified by the Schnee Quarry. What are you brain-dead? Fire, Lightning, Water, Energy! Are you even listening to me?" As she spoke, she was shaking one of the small jars of Dust, spreading the powder into the air. Slowly, Ruby began to inhale it. She then sneezed, setting off a small explosive reaction, covering them all in soot. For a moment, the girl stood still, then began her rant anew. "Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Ruby began to poke her fingers together, not wanting to make eye contact as she stuttered out. "I'm really, really sorry..."
By this point, Zack butted in, stepping in between the two girls. "It was an accident, alright? If you want to blame anyone for her being dizzy, blame the person who made her dizzy in the first place. She could have been injured when she hit the sheer amount of your stuff. Did you bother to check to see if she was okay?"
At this, the white haired girl gave a frustrated groan, snapping her fingers, her two followers pushed her cart towards this building. "This isn't over."
An older girl with long black hair and a bow tied on top of her head walked past, reading a book, following the path later on. Ruby glanced down after offering her a wave, which went unseen and ignored. A hand placed itself on her shoulder, belonging to the Vomit boy from earlier, smiling slightly, "You alright? I'm Jaune"
Ruby smiled slightly at the guy, nodding before she blanched, "Ruby. Oh, aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"
The group began to move towards the school, with Ruby and Jaune walking together and talking while Zack wandered around the yard, inspecting each and everything he could find. he was just enjoying the view. Jaune and Ruby were beginning to talk about their weapons comparing notes.
Ruby gave a shy smile and slowly reached behind her back, flourish and spinning Crescent Rose until the tip of its blade impaled itself into the ground. "Well, I've got this thing." Jaune backed away slightly as it unfolded, his arms raised.
Jaune slowly approached it, slightly poking one of the edges, "Is that a scythe?"
Ruby gave him a cheerful nod, then began to speak shyly again, "It is also a customizable, high impact velocity sniper rifle."
"A what?" Was Jaune's only response, blinking in confusion.
"Its also a gun."
"That's cool."
Ruby leaned towards Jaune, grinning slightly, "So what do you have?"
Jaune fumbled around a bit, drawing out a plain straight-edged shortsword. "I've uh... got this sword! And its sheathe is also a shield, too." He expanded the sheathe into its shield mode, only to fumble around with it, then drop it to the ground.
Ruby nodded, her eyes alight at 'meeting' the new weapon. "So what do they do?"
Jaune looked over her and gave her a small smile. "The shield collapses into a sheathe when I get tired of carrying it."
"Doesn't that mean it would still weigh the same?"
"Yeah, it does..."
Ruby gave a slight embarassed laugh as she began to slowly stroke her the Crescent Rose before collapsing it, returning it behind her back. "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in designing it."
Jaune looked over at her in surprise and then spoke, "Wait, you made that?"
"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you?"
"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune glanced down at the ground, slightly embarrassed as he sheathed the shortsword.
"It kinda sounds more like a family heirloom to me. I like it though. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." Looking over, he glanced over at Zack, not having paid much attention to his back. "Hey Zack, what about you? Do you have any weapons?"
Blinking as he was called over, Zack gave a nod, grinning as he reached up over his shoulder. Gripping the hilt of the Buster Sword, he lifted it up over his head, the blade catching the sunlight made the sword seem to glow. "Yeah. It was passed down to me by my mentor. This is the Buster Sword."
Jaune blinked for a moment, gawking at the size of the sword. "That thing is huge! How are you even able to use that?"
Zack gave a small smile, winking at the pair. "Trade secret." Slowly he lowered the blade down, offering the hilt to Jaune. "It's not that heavy really.." As Jaune tried to take hold of the blade, all of its weight seemed to pile up at once, nearly flooring him. Ruby grabbed at the hilt, gripping it tightly in an attempt to hold the blade as well. Blinking, Zack quickly grabbed the blade before it could hit the ground, slowly taking it back from the pair. "...or I guess it is. Sorry about that."
Ruby gave him a small smile as she poked one of his arms, speaking in a sing-song voice. "Like I said. Super strooong"
Jaune blinked and looked over Zack for a moment, looking over his form. "Sheesh man, did you eat your veggies as a kid? You're practically a male model."
"Trade secret." The three then finally made it to the main chambers, with the rest of the new arrivals.
-Hero-
"I gotta go, I'll see you guys after the ceremony!" She gave them a slight wave before begin dragged off by her sister.
Jaune held up his hands in exasperation, then sighed. "Great, now where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"
Yang looked over her younger sister with a wide smile, one hand rested on her hips as her friends began to part ways in the crowd. "So how is your first day going little sister?"
Ruby glanced over her with a face of mock anger, crossing her arms over her chest."You mean since you ditched me and nearly knocked me over?"
"Sorry little sis. Had to catch up, you know? Did you make any new friends, whether people or weapons?"
Ruby's faced lit up happily as she nodded. "Well actually, there are two people. One was a guy I met last night, and the other was Vomit-boy, I mean Jaune. They are both really, really nice. Jaune is kinda funny, and Zack is really, really strong!"
Yang blinked slowly, then grinned slightly at her younger sister, wrapping an arm around her neck, then rubbing her knuckles lightly on top of Ruby's head. "I'm so proud of you. Already making new friends."
Slowly stepping up to the stage, Ozpin began to give his opening address, the chatter died out quickly. "Ahem... I will keep this brief." Ozpin was standing at the stage of the grand hall, all of the new students looking up at the man, either in awe, or respect of his position. Glynda Goodwitch was standing nearby, watching over each of the students with her usual stern expression. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft, and acquire new skills. When you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." With that said, Ozpin walked off the stage, headed out and back to his office.
Glynda then took up the mic on stage, giving the orders for the next day. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"
Yang put her hands on her hips, glancing over her sister. "He seemed kinda... off. Like he wasn't all there, you know?"
With that, the group headed out towards the ballroom, preparing for the evening.
-Hero-
Yang dropped to the floor next to Ruby, who was writing a letter with a small puff of air from the sleeping bags that had been provided. "It's like a big slumber party!"
Ruby continued to write her letter, not even bothering to look away. "I don't think dad would approve all of the boys, though."
Yang looked over several of the males, who were shirtless around their bags, talking. "I know that I do." She gave a slight grin, only for it to fade when Jaune walked by in a full body, one piece pair of pajamas. Glancing over to her sister, she noticed she was writing something. "What's that?"
"Its a letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things were going."
"Aww, that's so cute!" Yang teased, only to be impacted in the face by a pillow, falling back.
"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. Its weird not knowing anyone else here."
"Well, Jaune is nice. Plus one friend!" Yang questioned. "Look its only been one day. You've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."
Ruby sat up slowly, only to see a small set of candles across the room, the black haired girl from earlier was sitting, still reading her book, only with what looked like slight irritation.
"You know her?"
"Not really, she was reading the entire time and headed to the grand hall. I don't think she saw me after you left."
"Well then let's go talk to her!" Yang quickly lifted up Ruby by the arm, marching her over to the girl. "I believe you may know each other."
The girl looked up and slowly shook her head, her eyebrows cocking slightly. "Aren't you the girl that ditched her younger sister and nearly knocked her to the ground?"
Yang gave a guilty grin, and rested her hands behind her head. "Maybe. I'm Yang, and this is my sister Ruby."
"Blake."
"So what do you think of Beacon so far?" Yang began to pry.
"I don't know. I'm trying to read about it. From this book. Right now." Blake said in an even tone, as if trying to politely say 'leave me alone.'
Ruby leaned in slightly, a curious expression on her face, "What's it about?"
"What?"
"The book, what is it about?"
"It's about a man with two souls."
"Yang used to read to me every night before bed... stories about heroes and monsters.. It is kinda what made me want to become a Huntress." Ruby gave a small, absent minded smile.
Blake smiled back up at her, her head tilting a tad. "Why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"
Ruby gave a small smile, glancing out the window at the large moon in the sky. "I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like the heroes in books. Someone who fought for what was right, and defended the people who couldn't protect themselves."
Blake looked up to her, slowly bookmarking her page. "That is very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't like a fairy tale. Not everybody gets happy endings."
Ruby gave a rather sad smile, the sky began to rain lightly, not enough for cloud cover, but still enough to be noticed. "Well, that's why we're here. To give everyone that chance."
