Ruby woke up on the floor in the Expanse. She felt her arm go numb from laying on it. As she dragged herself to her feet she made a mental note to ask Stephen to install some carpeting.

"Alright, let's see how far I have to walk this time."

To her surprise, she didn't have to travel very far. After an hour of walking she could hear the classical music that Stephen always listened to. She quickened her pace, but stopped when she saw someone pass her by. She did a double take, certain that she was just seeing things.

It was an older looking woman with blond hair down to her waist. She was wearing a flowing blue dress. The air around her seemed to shimmer, like she was on another plane of existence.

"Excuse me," Ruby called out.

The woman slowly turned around. Her cold, blue eyes looked upon Ruby with mild amusement. She walked up to Ruby and grabbed her by her face. She looked directly into Ruby's eyes. The woman's grin grew even wider.

"Fascinating. I haven't seen a child in this realm in quite some time."

Ruby knew at a glance that this woman wasn't human, but she didn't feel the hostility that the demons normally gave off. In fact, Ruby didn't feel anything from this woman, aside from the slight discomfort from having her face touched.

"Is there something on my face?" Ruby asked.

The woman let Ruby go. "I merely wanted a closer look at this land's Messiah."

"What's a Messiah?" Ruby asked. That wasn't a word she had ever heard before. But somehow, she knew that it was something important.

The woman laughed. "That is something you will have to discover on your own. You defeated Ares, but that is merely the beginning of your journey. The enemies you face will only become stronger from here. I wonder if you are truly prepared for the coming days. I am looking forward to see what path you choose."

The woman turned and walked away. As she was leaving Ruby called out to her.

"Wait, what's your name?"

The woman turned around and smiled at Ruby. "Louisa. Take care, child."

The woman placed a hand in front of her and opened a hole in the air. She walked through it and the portal disappeared.

Ruby knew that this wouldn't be the last time she would see this woman. She hoped that if they met again it would be as allies.

She looked down at the floor and saw that the woman's bare feet left imprints in the ground. Each footprint was surrounded by cracks. Ruby really hoped she wouldn't have to fight that woman.

Ruby ran towards Stephen's room and walked inside. Stephen was typing away at his computer like he always did.

"Hello again, Miss Rose," Stephen said, not looking up from his computer.

Ruby waved at him. "Hey Stephen. Do you know who that woman was?"

"What woman?" Stephen asked.

Ruby decided not to press that issue. She thought of something else.

"My friends and I defeated a really strong demon the other day. Except the demon's lair is still around. Why is that, and what are the Sectors?"

"I cannot say why the Sectors remain, but I can tell you what they are. Sectors are miniature versions of the demon realm. The demon realm is a blighted land completely inhospitable to humans. If left unchecked they will soon completely engulf your world."

"Inhospitable? How were my friends able to survive in there then?"

Stephen adjusted his glasses. "I suspect it is due to the Harmonizer. It adjusts your biological and spiritual wavelengths to match those of the demons. Without it, you would have died the instant you set foot in the Sector."

Ruby felt a chill. "So I shouldn't lose my scroll, got it. One more thing."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the gem she had found in the Sector. After another quick glance she handed it to Stephen. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

Stephen examined the gem closely. It was a red gem covered in gold letters.

"So you have acquired the first of the artifacts."

"The what?" Ruby asked.

Stephen gave Ruby the gem back. "The answer will become clear as you collect the rest."

Ruby pocketed the gem and sighed. "Maybe Ozpin knows what they are."

Stephen's eyebrows raised. It was the most overt display of emotion that Ruby had seen him make.

"Did you say 'Ozpin'?"

"Yeah, he's the headmaster at my school."

"I see. It appears my appearing before you was not a coincidence."

"I guess I'll have to ask Ozpin about it. See you next time."

She left Stephen's room and woke up in her bed.

She sat up and stretched out. A look at her scroll told her that it was two in the afternoon. She jumped out of bed and left her room.

She went to the school to find Ozpin. She didn't like carrying the gem around. She knew that it was incredibly important and didn't want to risk losing it or having it stolen.

She heard a pinging sound coming from her scroll. She looked and saw that Jaune had sent her a message.

Hey Ruby, you up? What am I saying, of course you're up if you're reading this. Anyway, me and Pyrrha are doing a joint mission with Team CFVY while Nora's still laid up. We don't know how long it'll take, but it shouldn't be that long. Your teammates have been training nonstop since you guys got back. Something really lit a fire under them.

I think I hear Coco yelling at me. I'll see you when I get back. Bye.

Ruby pocketed her scroll and went to find Ozpin. Her search didn't take long, as she found Ozpin and Glynda lounging near the school's entrance. They were watching a procession of students coming and going. Some were returning from their missions clearly worse for wear, others were setting out with a palpable sense of dread. Some teams Ruby had seen leave days ago, only to return short a member or more. Then there were the teams that never returned at all. Ruby couldn't comprehend how the people in charge of the school must feel.

She walked up to Ozpin and pulled the gem out of her pocket.

"Here, I think you should hold on to this."

She handed the gem to Ozpin. He gazed longingly at it, like he had finally found something he had spent years searching for. There was a faint glint in his eyes as he pored over the gem. After several seconds, he placed it in his pocket.

"I understand not wanting to keep this on your person. I assure you I will do everything I can to keep this safe."

"That's nice, but what is it?" Ruby asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot divulge that information quite yet. I will tell you when I am able."

Ruby shrugged. She could tell that the gem was important, but as long as no bad people had it then there was no problem.

"Now that that's taken care of, do you know where the rest of my teammates are?"

Glynda looked at her scroll. "They are in the training field. They've been training for nearly the entire day. It's a miracle they haven't succumbed to exhaustion."

Ruby ran off to find her teammates and waved the administrators goodbye.

"Thanks."

XxX

As soon as ruby walked into the training field she was blasted by an intense wall of heat. Near the center of the room was a massive pillar of yellow fire. Ruby could feel Yang's aura all the way from the entrance.

A small ember appeared on Ruby's sleeve. She panicked and hurriedly put it out. She summoned her aura and slowly made her way to the center of the room.

"Hey Yang," she called out.

Weiss shook her head. She was encased in ice from the neck down. Her face was covered in sweat. For someone used to the frigid climate of Atlas standing near Yang must be agony.

"She can't hear you. I wouldn't get too close, five kids already got sent to the infirmary."

Ruby took several steps back. "How long have you guys been at this?"

"Four hours. We're trying to increase our aura levels. It took everything we had to beat Ares. We need more strength."

Ruby nodded in agreement, then took a look around the room. "Where's Blake?"

"Over here," a voice called out.

Ruby turned and saw Blake slowly walking in a circle around Yang's fire. With every step she took she was burned to death, her clones being reduced to ash. Her clothes were singed in various places. It had clearly taken her multiple tries to get the timing right.

Ruby couldn't help but feel proud of her teammates. They understood that they needed to get stronger and took steps to correct their problem. Ruby smiled at her friends. She knew that as long as she had them there wasn't anything that could stop them.

The pillar of flame sputtered out, and Yang collapsed to the floor in a plume of smoke. She was breathing heavily, and there were burn marks over most of her body. Even though the flames were gone the heat Yang radiated was enough to melt the ice surrounding Weiss' body.

Weiss sprinkled some dust on Yang and the heat surrounding her body dissipated.

Yang coughed. "Alright, after we rest up we can get back to it."

Ruby stepped up to her sister. "I think you guys should call it a day."

Yang looked up at Ruby. "Hey." She rose to her feet and stumbled.

Ruby caught yang before she fell over. "Are you okay?"

Yang was still breathing heavily. "I'm fine, don't worry."

Ruby sighed. "You look awful. I understand you want to get stronger, but there's no point in training if you wreck your body in the process. You've done more than enough for today, so take a break."

Yang threw her arm around Ruby's neck. "If you say so."

Ruby struggled in Yang's grip. "Gross, you're covered in sweat. It's getting all over me"

Yang ran a hand through Ruby's hair. "Not like it's the first time."

Ruby flailed helplessly as she tried to escape from her sister. "Come on, I just took a shower."

Yang laughed at Ruby's discomfort and looked towards her other teammates. "So what do you guys wanna do?"

Blake picked off the burnt bits of her clothes. "I'm all for taking it easy for right now."

Having reached a consensus, the four girls left the training field to enjoy the rest of their day. In this new world blighted by the demons, a single day of rest was more than most could ask for.

XxX

Footsteps echoed through the dark tunnels. The two were in no hurry to arrive at their destination. If anything they were hesitating. As soon as they arrived then it would become real, no longer a faint idea that they could push to the edge of their minds. As they reached the end of the line they stood before a massive metal door.

There are only two people at Beacon authorized to access the area beneath the school, and there are only five people on Remnant allowed anywhere near the vault at the end of the basement's hall.

Ozpin held up his scroll as Glynda held up hers. The heavy gears in the vault door turned with a clank, and the huge steel rods holding the door shut retracted. The vault doors opened to a plain looking white room. The room was filled with various items. There were paintings that looked as though they were several decades old, a cache of fierce looking weapons, various piles of gold, gems, and other treasures, and what looked to be an ornate coffin. None of that was of any concern to the two at the moment. What mattered to them was the four empty pedestals near the center of the room. They were made of white stone, and each one had a word carved into it in a language no one alive could read.

Ozpin walked up to one of the pedestals and drew the gem from his pocket. He placed it on the white pillar and the gem floated up into the air and began to emit a faint glow. On its own its powers were weak, but as it was reunited with the rest, it would allow the wielder to obtain unimaginable power.

Of course, the two were the only ones who knew that, and how they had discovered that information was a secret they would take to their graves.

"How long can we keep this a secret?" Glynda asked.

Ozpin didn't hesitate to answer. "As long as we have to."

Glynda looked Ozpin directly in the eye. "You of all people know what Miss Rose is like. She won't back down from obtaining the rest of the artefacts, and when she does she's going to ask you about everything."

"And when she does I will not hesitate to tell her. To inform her now will only needlessly burden her."

"That girl is already bearing a heavier burden than anyone."

"I know, Glynda."

After speaking those three words a mixture of emotions crossed Ozpin's face. Glynda had never seen him look so tired, or so ashamed.

She let out a heavy sigh. He was carrying a burden as well, the kind no one would understand. Except for her.

Glynda looked at her roster of demons.

"They're still there, same as always. Maybe that person was right, maybe we can't escape our fate no matter what we do."

Ozpin looked at the sole demon in his possession. "Perhaps, but I do not intend to lay down and die for fate. If there is even the slightest chance of breaking free, then I'm going to take It." he turned towards Glynda and smiled at her. "I hope you will be there to assist me when that time comes."

Glynda sighed. "No matter what path you choose I will always stand by your side. I meant it then, and I mean it now."

"I am quite glad to have you as my ally. Now, I believe we should return to the school. Who knows what people might say about us if we remain gone for too long."