Part 3: Running Out of Time
They have no idea how Ozpin learned about Ruby, much less what he wants from them, but they know something is about to change, yet again. Ruby can see the distress and panic on her teammates' faces.
Yang is wearing a constant scowl and would jump at every small thing, always throwing her arms in a fighting stance, standing protectively before Ruby. Blake's worry is more subtle, but Ruby can see her eyes scanning their surrounding wearily. Her feline ears stand on high alert.
And Weiss is stone cold. Her fingers grasp at the rapier incredibly tight, so tight that Ruby has to wrap her hand in her palms before she hurts herself.
They are all worried about how they would sneak a supposedly-dead Huntress-turned-Grimm into one of the most prestigious combat school. Weiss even suggested ignoring Ozpin's message altogether, fearing that it will be a trap.
But under Ruby's insistence, they find themselves moving past unguarded gates and empty schoolyard.
Ruby looks up to the top of the Beacon tower. She thinks she saw a man standing in front of the window, watching their progress, but she cannot be sure. The sun is too bright, and she does not want to worry her friends more.
Their journey to the elevator is uneventful. The school seems completely empty. They encounter not a single soul on their way, and there is no sound to indicate the presence of Beacon's staff and students.
The elevator chimes weakly when it reaches their destination. The metal doors slide to the side noisily.
They glance at one another, unsure of what to do, until at last, Ruby breathes in deep and takes the first step out of the metal box, before the doors close again.
Her teammates follow her hastily, with their alarmed eyes and twitching fingers resting against the hilt of their weapon, aiming intently at the man in the room.
Ozpin seeps his coffee calmly as he points to the couch on the far side of the wall.
"Hello, team RWBY." He greets them casually. "Please, have a seat."
Ruby is the only person to move. The rest of the women stand defiantly, staring dagger at their commander.
If their disobedience bothers him, he does not let it show. He places his Scroll on the table. Holographic images dance to life in front of him.
"I have a mission for you." He says, like he is talking about the weather. "There is a relic in the depth of the Emerald Forest. One not far away from where you retrieved the pieces during initiation. I have been told that this relic is extremely powerful, and thus decide that it must be retrieved before it can fall into the wrong hand."
They stare at him with untrusting eyes. Or more precisely, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are, while Ruby looks at him with mild curiosity.
"Why is the school so empty?"
There are a million things she could have asked, but this is the one that puzzles her the most.
Ozpin chuckles.
"I expect you to not know, Miss Rose." He replies. "But it seems your teammates have forgotten as well. Today is the Remembrance Day. All the staff and students are assembled in downtown Vale, where the ceremony is taking place."
They exchange a look of embarrassment. Truthfully, with everything happening, the three of them have shoved the event to the very back of their minds.
"Well, not that I expect otherwise." Ozpin continues. "It is not everyday that you are given the chance to be reunited with your fallen comrade, but do be prepared for questions regarding your absence, Miss Schnee, Miss Belladonna, and Miss Xiao Long."
Yang growls and deploys Ember Celica.
"What do you want?" She challenges.
"I just told you." The Headmaster says. "I need you four to retrieve a relic."
"Stop playing games." Weiss snaps. Myrtenaster leaves its sheath and points directly at the man. "What is your true intention?"
Beside them, Blake has taken to shielding Ruby from the sight. Her right hand is on Gambol Shroud as she lowers her stance, ready to sprint.
Ozpin signs.
"What must I do to convince you I am only trying to help?" The man muses. But in an instance, his face shifts from resignation to sternness, and his voice booms low and harsh. "The relic will be retrieved, whether by you or by another team. But know this - if other people become involved, I will not be able to protect any of you. Least of all Miss Rose. I trust I do not need to spell out the treatment she might receive?"
They shudder at the thought, but still stand their ground. Ruby stands from the couch and pats Blake gently on the shoulder, before she moves past her to stand in front of the headmaster.
"The relic in the Emerald Forest." She repeats the information and nods to Ozpin. "Got it. Should we go now?"
Ozpin relaxes back into his smile. "As soon as you can."
"We will be back before sundown."
She starts moving toward the elevator, but Ozpin calls after her.
"Miss Rose, if I may have a word with you?" He looks apologetically at the other three women. "Alone."
Ruby looks at her teammates. Blake frowns her disapproval. Weiss glares at Ozpin like he has just insulted her family. And Yang grits her teeth like she is about to punch him.
"Sure." She says quickly, before her teammates can express their displeasures in action. She turns to them and tries to smile. "It's fine. I've got some questions too."
She calls the elevator for them before they can object. The machine chimes indifferently again. They shuffle in reluctantly.
"We will be waiting downstair." Weiss says, looking pointedly at Ozpin. "We won't leave without you, Ruby."
Ruby smiles and squeezes her partner's arm gently. "Thanks."
Yang pulls her into another tight hug. "You be careful." She whispers in her sister's ears, and puts something in her palms. "Here. I know you don't have your Scroll. Blake programmed it to speed dial to our number. If anything happens, just tap 5 and it will connect us."
"Don't worry." Ruby chuckles, but squeezes back. "I'm sure the professor just wants to talk."
"Well, yeah. But he might lie to you."
It's funny. Since she arrived, all three of them look more scared than she is, even though she is the one who has the memory of herself dying and of a completely different world.
"It's gonna be okay." She says to her sister. "I promise."
Yang's lips tremble. Slowly, Ruby remembers. She has said the exact same thing before, to this Yang. To all three of them.
"That's what you said before the Grimm captured you." Blake says quietly.
Ruby does not respond. She pushes them into the elevator and watches the doors slid shut. Their eyes never leave Ruby.
"I would ask you how you are feeling, but I think I already know the answer." Ozpin says from behind her.
Ruby spins around to look at her teacher, sitting behind his desk with a morose frown.
"Considering everything that has happened?" She shrugs jokingly. "I think I'm feeling pretty well."
Ozpin sighs.
"I presume you are already suffering from the visions, are you not?"
The straightforwardness catches her off guard. She eyes him cautiously, before nodding. Ozpin sighs again.
"You are not supposed to be here." He says.
The bluntness stings a little bit. Ruby lowers her head briefly, then looks up.
"I know. I'm supposed to be dead."
Ozpin shakes his head.
"That is not all." He looks sympathetic. "You are not from this world."
Ruby stares at him, mouth agape. She is about to respond, when the distorted memories rush back at her again.
"Why don't you just tell her?" Yang asked. Ruby could tell her sister was frustrated and worried at the same time.
"Because." She sipped at her whiskey, trying to remain as matter-of-factly as possible. But her voice was weak and small. "She is the heiress of one of the most powerful business empire of this world. She is a highborn, Yang, we live in totally different worlds."
"But she cares about you! As much as you care about her!" Yang grabbed her shoulder roughly and shook, as if doing so would put some sense into that stubborn head of her little sister.
"I know." For a moment, her resolve wavered. "But that doesn't matter."
"Why doesn't it matter? From what I've seen, she's probably willing to put everything aside for you!"
She snapped her head up and she suddenly lost control of her grip. The glass shattered in her palm, the pieces cutting it open.
"Ruby!" Yang jumped up and pried her hand open. "What the hell?"
"She probably will, and that's the problem." Her palm hurt, and she let a tear fall from her cheek. "She deserves so much better."
She clutches her head and bends over, feeling like it is about to split.
"The child…" She gasps. "I was in the forest. Running away with the child. What happened to her? What is going on?"
Ozpin shakes his head again.
"I do not know."
"Why am I here? What in the name of Oum is going on?!" She almost screams. She can still smell the whiskey mixed with her own blood that night. She can feel the warmth from Yang's back when she carried her back to their dorm. And she can see the worried eyes of her teammates watching over her when she woke up.
Ozpin just looks sadly at her.
Ruby takes a deep breath and props herself upright. She is confused, angry, and hurt.
"And why do you know all this? Was it you? Was it you who brought me here?"
Ozpin stands up from behind his desk and walks closer to her. "No. Dear child."
Ruby takes an instinctive step back, and almost tumbles. Ozpin grabs her arm and helps her up again.
"I do not know who, for what purpose, send you to this world. If nothing else, you must believe me in this. I would never want to make you, or your teammates, suffer through the loss again."
"Loss? What loss?"
Ozpin pauses for several seconds, as if debating whether to tell her the truth. He sighs, and releases his grip.
"The Ruby Rose of this world is dead." He says softly. "Nothing can ever change that. It is the law of the universe. Nature has its own way to balance everything. Your very existence at this point of time is an anomaly, and will not be allowed."
Ruby feels dizzy.
"Does that mean I'll… die? Again?"
"I do not know that either." The Headmaster admits.
It frustrates Ruby to hear him say that. She feels like she is just within arm's reach to the truth and the liberation. Only, her arms are tight behind her back.
Whether Ozpin notices her dismay, he continues. "All I know is that this inconsistency will be corrected, one way or another. And it is in both yours and everyone else's interest for you to leave before that happens."
Ruby tries to make sense of this situation, but the pounding headache is not helping matters at all. She slumps her shoulder, defeated.
"So what happens next? I don't know how to jump between worlds. I don't even know what happened before." She curls her fists at the memory of those eyes that look like frozen lake in the winter.
"The artifact should help." Ozpin puts an arm on her shoulder again, and squeezes it gently. "You must stay brave, and focused, if you are ever to return to your world."
She looks up at him, pained. She looks nothing like the decorated nineteen-year-old commander, but rather like someone much older. Someone who has suffered years of loneliness and despair.
"But I don't know if anything's happened since I got here." She whispers. "I'm afraid that when I go back, I've failed my mission. I'm afraid the child will be dead."
Ozpin does not immediately respond. He gives her another gentle squeeze.
"I'm afraid," his voice is barely audible. "That is not where you will return to either."
Ruby opens her mouth to ask what exactly he meant by that, but the Headmaster withdraws his hand and turns around.
"Now you must go." He says without looking at her. "Time is running out. And you must outpace it before it catches up with you."
Ruby stands where she is, thinking hard. She knows Ozpin is not going to tell her more on that specific matter, but there are still so many questions.
"They told me they will never be able to have children."
Weiss was standing next to her, looking into the window at the two women crying softly in each other's arms. Ruby remembered asking herself why fate seemed to love making cruel jokes with them.
"And why is that?"
Her own voice was hoarse, tired, and slightly angry. She had been on so many long and dreadful missions lately.
Weiss looked over at her. Crystal blue rippled with concern. "Are you okay? When was the last time you slept?"
Nine days ago. The night when Grimm ambushed their camp and she watched one of her colleagues died. But Weiss did not need to know that.
"Why is that?" She repeated her question.
Weiss sighed and put a hand around her arm, the one not in a sling. She tensed.
"The chemicals involved won't work on Yang's unique condition. And Blake… some of the wounds went deeper than they appeared. Her body was too damaged to nurture a child."
They did not speak after that. They simply stood and watched over their teammates helplessly.
She shakes the phantoms out from her mind. Ozpin is right, she is running out of time.
"One last thing, Professor?"
Ozpin does not reply.
"How do you…" Ruby bites her tongue, searching for the right word. "How do you know about all this?"
Ozpin turns around to look at her. There is something distant in his eyes, as if he is not really speaking to her anymore.
"Dear child," he says. "You are not the first Traveler."