Ruby could barely see. The trees around her were blurred and soft. The sunlight streamed down and sparkled. Her throat had swollen. Her nose ran. She dragged the back of her arm across it while trying to get her breathing under control. It didn't matter. She just couldn't stop crying.

It was hard leaving that dream place and having to say goodbye to her mum. In some ways it should have been a happy occasion. All those years ago, she had said goodbye the night before Summer left on what should have been a simple hunt. It had been a goodbye, but not a proper one. It had been a goodbye warmed with the promise of presents and cookies upon Summer's return.

Routine had robbed the moment of its power. It wasn't her mum's first hunt and, at the time, Ruby had been sure it wouldn't be her last. If she had just known, even as a child, she would have said so much more. Told her mum just how much she loved her.

As an adult, she'd had that opportunity. It was a miracle really. Even if the memory was a false one, some extension of the dream, she didn't care. She'd had the chance to talk to her mum again. To tell her everything she'd wanted to all those years, and to hear everything her mum had wanted to say back.

Even though she had gone through the pain of saying goodbye again, Ruby didn't regret it. Though her eyes were wet with tears, her heart should have been buoyed. The age-old wound within finally mended. She should have woken up happy.

That hadn't been the case. Not by a long shot. Not with what she had learned about Weiss. They'd had their ups and downs. In some of her darkest moments Ruby had laid all the blame in the world at Weiss' door. But she had never, for one single moment, wished her harm. She loved her far too much for that. And now they were talking again, even laughing on the phone. They were finally on a path where Ruby had begun to imagine there might somehow be a future for them together. Then Aurora had dropped that bombshell.

It wasn't in Ruby to hate. Not really. She had never hated Weiss. She hadn't hated White Fang, or the people who'd done all those things to her homeland. She didn't even hate the Grimm. Detested them yes, but not hated.

She had never thought she could properly hate anyone but, right at this moment, she hated Aurora. She hated Aurora with her entire being. It wasn't just the fact that she had been the bearer of bad news. It was the fact she'd seemed to get a kick out of telling her that Weiss was going to die. That was probably unfair, but it was how it had appeared.

Aurora could have left her oblivious. Left her to face Ozpin with a free mind only to find out her world had ended afterwards. Aurora had instead made her choose. She might have thought it some grand test. Some ordeal that would ultimately show if Ruby was worthy. If she had that simple, honest soul that seemed so important. If it had been meant to be a test, Aurora had been successful. It had tested Ruby. It had broken her physically.

She'd had to choose between holding onto the core values of herself ̶ ̶ the vows of a hunter she had spent her entire life trying to live up to ̶ ̶ and her life. Weiss. The twin forces that her world revolved around had torn her in two. And then torn all of those pieces in two, and so on until there hadn't been anything left.

Without her mum there to hold her, to provide a shoulder to cry on, to loan her strength, she would have just curled up on the floor and died. She wanted to do that anyway. Especially after her decision. The decision that would haunt her to her grave. She could only wish it would come soon.

It had always been her dream to be the hero. The huntress who saved the world. If only she had known that would mean abandoning the girl she loved to her death. Knowing that Weiss was going to die, and doing nothing about it… She was the worst kind of person.

Waking up, she had found that her dream tears had in fact been real ones. A mirror wasn't needed to know that her eyes were swollen and red. The trudge up the hill to the ruins of the temple had been the worst of her life. The sun might have been bright and the sky blue, but it wasn't to her. All she'd been able to see past the tears was grey. Her world would never be bright again.

In the end, she'd had no choice. No matter who it was. No matter that it was Weiss. The needs of everyone ultimately triumphed over her own. It would have been selfish beyond measure to pick her love. It wasn't who she was. Her mum would have been proud of her choice either way—she had been absolutely furious with Aurora—but Ruby could sense that, in the end, her mum had been even prouder that she'd chosen the world. It was what the characters from the stories would have done. What a hunter would do. The difference was they got happy endings. She never would.

The apologies of Aurora and the rest hadn't help. Seeing the state she was in they had even been hesitant on following through with their plan. As if they had thought making her choose wouldn't affect her at all, or at least that she would be able to master it.

As it was, she had still been crying when Juno made her sit in the middle of a ring of Dust. And she had still been crying when she'd appeared here an instant later. She didn't really know where here was. She hadn't concentrated on whatever Aurora and the rest had been saying. She hadn't been able to.

It was a forest at least. Somewhere between Vale and Vacuo. The blurred spot of light that was the sun told her she had teleported within the same time zone. Apparently Ozpin was meant to be around here somewhere. She couldn't face him in this state.

Ruby gritted her teeth. She balled her hands up into fists, tensed every muscle in her body, and tried to push thoughts of Weiss away. She couldn't. Weiss… was Weiss. She would forever be a part of her. The largest part. And after this day, that part of her would burn with the knowledge of what she had done. She might not have been able to do anything to stop the execution. She couldn't have fought her way through an army, but she could have tried.

It took her a long time to get herself under control. Fortunately, she had nothing but time. Aurora had told her she would have to wait for the other part of their plan to come to fruition. For Ozpin to be made vulnerable. So Ruby sat underneath the boughs of a tree and meditated. Forging her mind into a state where she was actually capable of fighting.

In an ideal world, she wouldn't have wanted to fight because she knew where that path would lead. Ozpin wouldn't surrender and, if his abilities were to be believed, they wouldn't have been able to hold him in a cell. By committing to this plan, Ruby had also committed to the outcome.

One of them would likely die and, if it were Ozpin, it would only have meant that she had killed again. Further stained her broken soul. It was worse than before. If the sin of killing could be worse. The two times before had been instinctive, spur of the moment, and in the heat of combat. This was cold and premeditated. Ozpin was a person she had once looked up to. Once liked even. Someone she had thought had embodied everything a hunter should be. How had it gone this wrong?

Ruby sat still, lost in her thoughts. Listening to the gentle rustle of leaves in the cool breeze. The chirping and chittering of small animals nearby. Centering herself for what was to come. At the alarm on her scroll, she stood up, wiped the salt from her cheeks, and left the forest.

Waist-high golden grass stretched before her in a flat ocean. The late afternoon scent of flowers was thick in the air. Before she could stop it, the thought of being here with Weiss rose in her mind. Of lying the grass, talking, laughing, kissing. It almost broke her again. Almost, but not quite. She would always have her memories and her fantasies. They couldn't compare to the real thing, but it was at least something.

She didn't have far to travel. A few hundred metres in front of her, two figures waited. She recognised one, but not the other. Whatever Aurora had told Ozpin to get him here had worked, but he hadn't come alone like she had promised.

Ruby could have tried to sneak up on them, but she didn't have the heart to stab Ozpin or his companion in the back. She at least wanted to try talking first. Even when she could recognise how foolish that was, violence had to be a last resort.

It was just as well she hadn't tried stealth. Two more figures appeared from the grass. They'd been so well hidden Ruby could have sworn they'd been invisible. She didn't recognise them, but she didn't need to. They were young children, barely teenagers, a girl and a boy. They both held themselves with complete confidence and an unnatural stillness. They were Tinmen. She came to a halt hesitantly. Aurora had clearly underestimated Ozpin.

"You are Ruby Rose?" The girl spoke. It wasn't really a question. No doubt they had her photo in their memory banks, but she answered anyway.

"I am—"

"Ruby!" A shape lunged from the grass in a flying tackle. Ruby flared her Semblance, spinning away, leaving Penny only clutching air.

"Stay back." Ruby held out one hand, the other on Crescent Rose. She didn't want to draw it. She wished she didn't have to. Penny had once been her friend. But that was before. Before everything. Before she had killed Jaune. If it came down to it, Ruby wouldn't be killing her friend, only the soulless machine that wore her face. Or, at least that was what Ruby kept telling herself.

"Wh… what?" Penny's eyes were wide. "Ruby… It's me. Penny. Your friend. Don't you remember me?" Penny seemed genuinely confused.

Of course Ruby remembered. How could she have forgotten? She didn't know how to respond. Wasn't capable of responding.

Penny's face fell. "You're mad at me aren't you? I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. Father said I wasn't ready to fight in the tournament. He made me leave. I wanted to see you again. I tried to." She might have been android, but tears gathered in her eyes. She took a step forwards, not an aggressive one, more hopeless, hoping to catch Ruby's hand. Ruby took another step back.

She didn't understand. Penny's words made absolutely no sense. She hadn't said goodbye; that much was true. But only because she had killed Jaune and aided the fall of Vale. But according to her, she hadn't even taken part in the Vytal Festival.

"Penny…" Ruby said slowly. "You did fight in the tournament…"

"No I didn't." Penny shook her head, her orange hair whipping back and forth. "I wanted to. It's what I'd been working towards for months. I wanted to show everyone how good I was." She glowed with the same childish pride from years before. "But father wouldn't let me."

"You did… I watched you. There are videos."

"No!" Penny's shout was cut off by a hiccup. She covered her mouth in surprise. "There aren't." She was adamant. "I didn't. Don't you think I would remember? Why are you trying to trick me? Are you just trying to get back at me? That's not nice. I thought we were friends."

Ruby licked her lips. She didn't have a clue what was going on. There were videos. Lots of them. Either this was all some elaborate ruse, or Penny really didn't remember anything.

"Do you remember watching me take part?" Ruby asked. Those duels in front of the screaming crowds had been so long ago. When her life had been so easy and her future was set in stone.

"No." Penny hiccupped. "I mean yes. I mean…" She rubbed her temples with her knuckles, her face contorted, her eyes screwed shut. "I mean… I must have seen it on the TV."

Watching the turmoil such a simple question had caused, Ruby began to understand. Her tone became softer, sadder.

"Penny… you were in the stadium. You came down to congratulate me in the locker room afterwards."

"No I didn't!" Penny's voice rose again. "I told you. Father made me leave Vale."

Despite her better judgement, Ruby took a step forward. She couldn't stand seeing anyone like this. Even if it was Penny. Maybe especially because it was Penny.

"You were in Vale. You didn't leave."

"No! Please… Stop lying. It hurts." It seemed like it really did. Her skin was even paler than usual. "If I was there I would have stopped it. I would have been able to save everyone. Stop it all happening." She choked back a sob. "I wouldn't have been having all these dreams."

Penny really seemed to have no idea, no recollection of what she had done. That the only reason Vale had fallen was because of her. Upon hearing what had happened to Jaune, Ruby had refused to believe it. The idea that Penny could have killed him had been unimaginable. Over the years she had come to accept it as the truth, but maybe it wasn't. At least not the whole truth.

Maybe Penny couldn't remember because she hadn't been in control of her actions. Because she had just been a puppet to another's whims. Ruby's encounters with other Tinmen only showed how different Penny was. When chasing her, some Tinmen had seemed entirely emotionless, as if they were just mindless robots.

After years of separation, Penny had greeted her as a friend. That was how she still viewed her. She didn't see any reason why they shouldn't be. And, after all this time, Ruby longed to admit she had been wrong. That Penny was still the girl who had opened up to her. That there was one more person in the world whom she could call a friend. Ruby pushed all her doubts to the side. She didn't quite trust Penny, but she could give her a chance.

"It's good to see you."

Like a switch, the anger and confusion on Penny's face disappeared. She threw herself forward and this time Ruby didn't back away. Penny's hug felt as it always had, a mix of compassion and inexperienced awkwardness. It wasn't that surprising. Penny looked the same as well. Exactly the same. She hadn't aged a single day.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked. Having expected to find Ozpin alone, Penny and the rest had thrown her off balance.

"Father brought me." She waved at the man standing next to Ozpin.

"Your father?" Penny had mentioned him of course, but she had never introduced them. Ruby began to get a better of idea of just why Penny might have gaps in her memory.

"Yes. He told me it was going to be an important meeting, but he didn't say you were going to be here."

Despite the pain ravaging her heart, Ruby managed a fleeting smile. To Penny it was as if the last two years had never happened. She had picked straight back up with the same amount of breathless enthusiasm.

Her enthusiasm was unmatched by the other Tinmen. They stared with hard eyes and blank faces.

"There's a warrant out for your arrest."

"Don't be silly. This is Ruby," Penny answered them.

Ruby nudged her. "Actually Penny, there sort of is."

"Really?" She was even amazed by that.

"We must serve it. Place your weapon on the ground," the oldest Tinman spoke.

"No."

"You are at risk of escalating the situation. I will ask you once more."

"Stop being so silly. Ruby's my friend." Despite the levity in her tone, Ruby couldn't help but notice how Penny had moved between them slightly.

"I'm not here to fight you." Ruby's voice contained a confidence she didn't entirely feel. Beyond the two Tinmen, Ozpin looked straight at her. She stared right back.

"See?" Penny stuck at her tongue at them. They didn't rise to the bait, instead pulling back, and taking positions on her flanks. Ozpin must have passed a message to all of them.

"You will proceed forwards. You will not deviate." Under his direct command, the Tinmen lost all trace of their humanity. The orders came out flat. Ruby complied as Penny skipped forward, looping her arm through Ruby's.

As they walked, Penny leant in and whispered in her ear. "I don't like them." It wasn't hard to see why. Penny had always been so open, whereas they were closed. Perhaps the latest models of Tinmen were even more like robots.

Two years had passed. Two long years filled with hardship, but Ozpin looked exactly the same as the last time she'd seen him. Just like Penny. After everything, it shouldn't have surprised her, but it still did. Penny had an excuse. For Ozpin, it just wasn't right.

She stopped a short distance away from him and the person who must have been Penny's father. More Tinmen rose from the grass. Dozens of them. They took positions where they could intercede if necessary. So, Ozpin didn't trust her.

"Penny, come here," her father said.

"Why?"

"Because I said so." His tone was one Ruby recognised. Her dad had used it on more than one occasion, though usually in Yang's direction.

Penny looked between her father and Ruby, torn in two directions, confused as to why he was being so strict. She clutched Ruby's bicep.

"Leave it Joseph," Ozpin said with a tired voice. He nodded in Ruby's direction. The slightest tilt of the head. "I would like to think it pure coincidence that we ran across each other all the way out here. Logic does not stretch that far."

"No, it doesn't." There was no point hiding it. Ozpin had never shown himself to be stupid. He could put two and two together.

"A shame." He pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I never thought I would have to worry about her betraying me, but I suppose a meeting in the middle of nowhere was just too obvious. You can see I didn't come alone. But, that's enough about me. How are you Ruby? It has been a long time."

In that moment, he sounded exactly like her old headmaster. So exactly she only just caught herself from addressing him as professor. He wasn't that person anymore. The truth could be found in his actions.

"I would have been better if you hadn't chased me for two years."

"That… was not an ideal circumstance. But you must see that exceptions cannot be made. Especially not for someone as gifted as you." Neither he nor the Tinmen had the good graces to look ashamed. She even recognised some of them.

"There shouldn't have needed to be exceptions. What happened to the Hunter's Vow?"

"Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. You saw what the White Fang did to Vale. The world needed stability. That could never happen while the best and brightest of us went unregulated." He shook his head knowingly. "With enough money on the table, anyone can buy an elite force. Hunters needed regulation. I gave it, and put them to work benefiting the people. You can't deny the settlement program has been a success. Many people go months without even seeing the Grimm."

That much was true, a world without Grimm was worth fighting for, but other monsters had only taken their place. "They don't see freedom either. How many have you imprisoned in the name of justice? Killed?" Penny shuddered almost imperceptibly. Ruby only felt it through Penny's fingers on her arm.

"Only those who deserved it."

"Did I deserve it?"

"Ruby. When I met you, you were exceptional. It's not surprising given who your parents were. That's why I admitted you to Beacon early. You know your way around a scythe, but do not overstretch yourself. Sociology has never been your strong point." His smirk turned into a frown. "I'm just puzzled why Aurora chose you of all my old students? There are others who could argue much more effectively. Not that any could persuade us to divert from what must be done. Why didn't you just confront us yourself Aurora? We could have talked it all through instead of acting through a proxy."

Ozpin spoke to the air, as if he believed someone else was listening. Given what Ruby had seen of Titania, he might have been right. About that, but not about her. He still thought she was there to talk. To persuade him.

She could talk, though she hated being talked down to. It probably stemmed from being surrounded by people older than her at school. Her marks in the more academically obtuse subjects might not have been anything special, but it didn't mean she wasn't able to comment on them. She still knew right and wrong.

"What must be done. How many times have you said that over the centuries?"

Ozpin reappraised her. "So Aurora revealed more than I thought she would have."

Penny's father was one of them. Ruby was certain of that now. The only shock he'd shown was at the fact she knew, not at what she knew. Aurora had mentioned two other men, Dolos and Ioséphus. Which one he was, she didn't know.

"Aurora didn't tell me. I found out on my own." Despite the awful consequence of her discoveries, there was still a hint of pride in Ruby's voice.

"Really? Might I ask how?"

"There were only so many times I could read about a white sword before putting two and two together."

They'd both smiled, and Penny's father actually laughed. "I can't believe it took someone this long."

"Now Joseph, not everyone is as clever as you." Ozpin ran his thumb over the silver top of his cane, amusement in his eyes. "I always did wonder why no one noticed. It seemed so obvious to me. I could change how I looked, but not how I fought. I suppose it's fortuitous that white is considered a holy colour." He turned his attention back to her. "It seems you've exceeded my expectations again Ruby. Maybe Aurora was right to choose you. Not that it will make a difference. If you know about me, about us, then you know all we have done to keep the world safe."

Safe was one way of putting it. Ozpin and Joseph's world would be safe. There was no doubt about that. As long as you didn't put a toe out of line that was. Safety in exchange for liberty. The age-old trade off.

"I know what the world is like now. It's not one that I want to live in."

"No it's not. Not yet. There are still far too many people in this world that put their own well-being above others. They climb over others to get to the top. We're changing that. Under our guidance, everyone will prosper."

"Everyone? What about the Faunus?" she couldn't keep the anger from her tone.

"I suppose you mean the White Fang? It was regrettable, but they were terrorists. An example had to be set. You might not like what I did, but ask yourself this, have there been any more uprisings since? Ruby, even you must agree that in some exceptional circumstances lethal force is the only solution."

She had come to realise that. As much as she hated it, some people just couldn't be reasoned with. The White Fang would never have lain down their arms voluntarily. Neither would Ozpin. In that they were one and the same.

It was clear to her that she would never win an argument with him. Ozpin was too intelligent and too blinded to accept any view but his own. The last of her hopes at peaceful resolution began to slip away. They shouldn't have existed in the first place. If Aurora really believed he could have been reasoned with, she would have come herself. Instead she had sent Ruby.

Perhaps Ozpin took her silence to mean he had won her over, or perhaps not. Whatever the case, he changed the subject.

"You've been crying."

Ruby didn't want to think about why again. She couldn't help it at the reminder. Her reply came out flat and spent. "Weiss is going to die." Penny gasped.

"Ahh… yes. Unfortunate." Unfortunate. If there was anything that made her want to strike him, that was it. To so callously write off Weiss' life. "She was a useful ally. I warned her about Vacuo. She didn't listen. I'm doing all I can to save her, but it likely won't be enough. I can't spare the resources." His airy indifference grated on her. "The Vacuans have put together an impressive plan. So impressive I know they weren't behind it. I could barely spare the time to come here. I wouldn't have if I had known only you would be. But at least there is one benefit. You're going to have to come with us."

Ruby took a step back, putting more space between them. Even Penny had managed to work out what he meant by that. Ruby stared at him.

"I can't let you go free. I can't make any exceptions. And, if Weiss survives, you will be a useful bargaining tool."

Is that all she was to him? Is that all people were? "I won't."

Ozpin bowed his head. "Ruby, don't try and fight. We both know you won't win." He addressed the Tinmen. "Take her in, but don't hurt her."

They started forward, their backs opening.

"No!" Penny pushed Ruby behind her, facing down the Tinmen. They came to a stop.

"Penny, come here!" Joseph said.

"No. I'm not going to let you."

Ozpin spoke in a softer tone. "You don't understand all the facts."

"I understand Ruby doesn't want to go with you." Penny gave her a glance just to check. Ruby was surprised, but nodded.

Just like it had been with her mum, after so long, it felt good to have someone in her corner again. Even if it was ultimately irrelevant. Aurora had told her to expect Ozpin. Instead there were two members of the Pantheon, and almost two dozen Tinmen. Faced with those odds, it didn't matter how good she was.

"Penny!" Joseph appeared to have lost patience. His voice was the stern tone that had been heard by daughters all over the world. "I need you to come here."

Penny took half a step towards him, before seeming to catch herself. The muscles along one side of her face twitched. For a moment her eyes rolled back in her head until only the whites showed. Her body spasmed as she fought against something. Something internal. Ruby had a good idea what.

"She's your daughter," Ruby spat in Joseph's direction. Seeing her friend in such pain stoked the fires of Ruby's already burning anger. "I know what you're doing to her."

"You know nothing." His face contorted.

"Maybe not, but I can guess. How many times have you done this to her? Made her do things she didn't want to? Made her forget? She's not your daughter. She's your slave." How could he even bear to look himself in the mirror? Ruby made another connection in her head. "Wait… you made her kill Jaune!"

Penny twitched when she heard the name, her pupils returning. "No." Penny shook her head vigorously back and forth. "I saw him a couple of months ago. He was with Pyrrha."

Ruby grabbed her arm, pulling her around. She wasn't angry at her, but she was furious with Joseph. What had he done to her? "Penny. You didn't. Jaune's—"

"Do not dare say another word!" Joseph interrupted her.

"Or what? I haven't been programmed to obey you." She turned back to Penny. Looked deep into her eyes. This would hurt her, but it was for her own good. "Jaune's dead, Penny. He died in Vale."

"No… I saw him…"

"You didn't. If you did, where is he now? What did he do after you saw him? And why hasn't he contacted me?"

"He… he… was with father…"

"No he wasn't." It must just have been another fiction inserted into her mind. "Think back. Try and remember. There must be holes. And think back to Vale. You were there. I promise I'm telling the truth."

Joseph had heard enough. "Penny, I need you to come here."

Penny twitched, and for the first time that Ruby had known her, she appeared angry. It just looked so wrong on her. "No!" she shouted.

Joseph's mouth fell open slightly. "I need you to come here."

This time she didn't move. "No! I won't!"

"I'm your father!"

"I don't care!"

"Penny! I need you to be quiet. I need you to step away from Ruby. I need you to listen to me."

"No I won't! You… you… you killed them didn't you?" Her voice broke. "You killed Jaune and Pyrrha… I… I remember…"

Ruby's heart froze. It still didn't make sense to her, but Penny sounded certain about that. Had Jaune somehow survived Vale? If he had, it was like losing him all over again.

Joseph's face had gone white, and some of the other Tinmen had turned towards him. "What?"

"They let me go. You promised! Then you killed them!"

"I didn't."

"Don't lie!" Penny screamed with the anguish of her entire world collapsing around her. "I can feel the holes. I can remember now. Even if you didn't want me to. How much more have you made me forget? Would you have made me forget this too?"

Ruby didn't understand any of this, but she understood that her friend was in pain. She placed her hand on Penny's back. She didn't say anything. There wasn't anything she could say.

Ozpin turned to his companion. "We don't have time for this. I need to get back to Vale."

Joseph nodded. He had been rocked back by the venom in Penny's tone, but his jaw jutted. "Activate shutdown procedure gamma-delta-foxtrot."

Penny's head drooped forwards before snapping back up. "No! I'm not a robot! I'm a real person! I'm your daughter!"

Ozpin pressed a finger between his eyes, breathing out deeply. "The rest of you have your orders. Take them both in. But don't hurt them."

The Tinmen started forward again. Ruby couldn't resist the urge to draw Crescent Rose any longer.

"No!" Penny held her hands out. "You're my brothers and sisters. If it's happened to me, it must have happened to you as well. We shouldn't fight! You're all people too. Think for yourselves."

Penny implored them all. Some stopped moving, their eyes flicking rapidly around. They underwent the same journey of discovery Penny had undergone. Some even came to stand next to her. Others didn't. The two sets faced each other down.

"Really?" Ozpin glared at Joseph. "Get your creations under con—"

Ozpin grunted as if he had been shot. Light blistered from his skin. Pulsing and gyrating from the Dust infused just underneath. His body trembled, his muscles out of control, he fell to his knee. Looking up at Ruby, at her deployed weapon, he began to understand. "What did you do!" His roar was filled with pain.

"Dad!" Penny's cry joined Ozpin's. Her father had been similarly afflicted by whatever Aurora had done. The other Tinmen blocked her path to him.

Ozpin didn't wait for an answer to his question. He couldn't afford to wait. Not with the weapon of his would be assassin deployed and a mutiny among his enforcers. "Kill her!"

Swords rose into the air. Hundreds of them. First from the Tinmen nearest Ozpin, then the ones facing them.

"No! We don't have to fight!" Despite her shout, Penny deployed her own weapons. The other Tinmen were too far gone to hear her.

A sword flashed towards Ruby, and all hell broke loose.

Another blade intercepted it in mid-air. They moved so fast they were just blurs. The two sets of Tinmen. The two sets of enforcers that had captured and killed experienced hunters across an entire continent, clashed together.

Even with her Semblance, Ruby could barely follow it all. None of them were holding anything back. They couldn't afford to. Ozpin's Tinmen had no expressions on their faces. They were just mindless robots. But for the first time, Penny's brothers and sisters were not. They fought for something. They fought for Penny. They fought for their stolen childhoods. And they fought for Ruby.

A Tinman jumped at her. Another Tinman tackled him in flight. They rolled through the grass lashing out, their blades clashing above them. Ruby dove aside from another set of blades that had been intent on burrowing into her heart. Two Tinmen followed soon after. A boy and a girl. They had slipped through the cordon. All her defenders were occupied in a series or running skirmishes that carried them ever further away.

Her attackers walked towards her slowly, spreading out to flank her. They knew how good she was. They wouldn't take her lightly.

"Please… please…" Ruby stepped backwards, willing them to stop their advance. She didn't want to do this. She had prepared for Ozpin. Not them.

It was no use. Their legs bunched beneath them, and Ruby flared her Semblance. Time slowed. She witnessed with excruciating length as they lunged forward, their swords spinning. It was said they were unbeatable. She had run from Tinmen many times. But she couldn't today. Not after the sacrifice she had made to be here. Her finger found the button grafted onto Crescent Rose's haft. She leapt to the attack.

Two slashes. Not even two heartbeats. That was all it took. Two untouched bodies sailed past her, skidding through the grass. They didn't rise. Ruby did. Crescent Rose loomed above her. Its blade glowed bright white in the sun.

She had only used the Dust Weiss had given her once before when she'd tested her makeshift alterations. The trees and rocks had proved no barrier to her scythe, but it hadn't prepared her for what she'd done to the Tinmen. Their corpses were unmarked. They could have been sleeping. If only it were true. Instead their souls had been ripped out of their bodies. Perhaps they floated around her now, lamenting the person who killed them.

Whatever had happened to Ozpin and Joseph had stopped. Ozpin looked up at her white blade, his jaw jutting, fury emanating from him in waves. They rolled over her. He gripped his cane with both hands, his knuckles popping out from his skin.

By design or accident, she, Ozpin, and Joseph were on an island of tranquillity while a battle raged all around. A laser flashed, and a Bullhead plummeted from the sky. The ground rocked as it crashed. Joseph looked around in fear as his creations ran amok. He looked at his hands which still shook, and he began to back away. Ozpin just stood, glaring at her.

"What did you do?" he repeated. Ruby could only shrug. She didn't know. "Aurora!" he shouted into the empty air. "You've come here to kill me."

It wasn't a question. Slowly, he drew Umbraspem from its sheath. Ruby had held it before. Back in the fall of Vale when Ozpin had been injured. That was the first time she'd become aware of the power of White Dust weaponry. It had sunk into concrete as if it were air.

For a sword that had inspired so many stories, Umbraspem wasn't all that impressive. It was small, only a few fingers wide and a couple of feet long. Its design was one of simplicity, but it was exceptional. Whereas her blade burned through her reserves of White Dust, Ozpin's was forged from it.

It was remarkable, but it appeared different from how she remembered. Apparently it was the same for Ozpin. His mouth opened as he looked at the weapon that had been by his side for millennia. The pure white of the Dust was now marred. Coloured patches ran up and down it, fading from existence before reappearing. The predominant colour was black.

"What did you do?" Ozpin enunciated every word. He let the sheath fall to the floor. It wouldn't do him any good in the upcoming fight.

"I don't know. I didn't want any of this."

"No one wants any of this! That's life! But you are here and so am I. You came here to kill me. To try and undo all my good work. I once thought you were a hope for the world, but you are nothing more than an easily led foolish little girl. Whatever you have done, it will not be enough. I will not allow anyone to divert the world from the path it must go down."

Still in the grips of her Semblance, feeling his words travelling through the air between them, Ruby noticed a disturbance. Just to her side the air shifted, as if it were being repelled. As if something was materialising and pushing the air back. Aurora had told her of Ozpin's Semblance, and she'd seen it in action herself. One Ozpin would likely be difficult enough. She couldn't face several.

Just as the ghost of a solid shape began to assert itself, Ruby darted over and brought the White blade of Crescent Rose down. The world cried out in torment. It was like a bubble in space-time had just been popped. Its very fabric wobbled as the link Ozpin had formed with another world collapsed in on itself.

Ozpin hissed out a breath, the energy he'd put into powering his Semblance snapping back at him. He didn't waste time with words. At seeing his trick fail, he lunged at her. Ruby blocked his strike. A pulse of force erupted from where their two white Dust-imbued blades met. Almost like thunder without sound. It shook her organs and flattened the grass near them.

Ruby didn't have time to contemplate just what it was. Ozpin rolled his sword around her blade and came at her side. She took two quick steps backwards, trying to create distance. It was hard for her. Normal she would parry with the haft of Crescent Rose, or its butt. Here she couldn't. It would only take one slip up for Ozpin to carve her weapon into two. She could only meet his blade with her own, and hers was significantly harder to wield.

Her Semblance should have proved his undoing. Crescent Rose was little more than a white blur amongst petals floating on the air. She was faster than him, much faster. It didn't matter. As she spun and ducked, he was always there. Always ready to attack or defend. Aurora had told her he could see the future. Now she believed her.

It was impossible. She couldn't work the slightest opening, and it was only her Semblance which saved her time and time again. Without it he would have speared her in a fraction of a second. The legends had not been wrong. Ozpin was the most skilled fighter she'd ever faced. It was almost as if she were fighting Qrow again in the days after she'd picked up a scythe for the first time. Compared to Ozpin, she was a clumsy amateur. If this was meant to be him when he was weakened and vulnerable, she shuddered to think what he would have been like at his full strength. Fierce enough to send armies running no doubt.

The only way she could stay alive was to keep moving, to continue backing away, ceding ground. Her single advantage was the mass of Crescent Rose. It made it slow to bring to bear but, when she struck, Ozpin couldn't parry fully. Umbraspem was light and only just had room for both of his hands on the grip.

Ruby made use of the discovery. She stopped trying to attack him with every strike and instead focussed on building up her momentum. Keeping Crescent Rose moving, spinning round and round. Sometimes Ozpin leant back just far enough that her blade tickled his skin, but he always seemed to know exactly where her blade would fall.

As she became a spinning tornado of white death, he couldn't reach her. He took a step backwards. Ruby almost missed the pop in the air. Tearing away from him, she brought Crescent Rose down on the almost-figure. There was the same wobble. The same complaint from the universe, but the figure faded from existence.

A sword lunged at her back. She felt it cleaving through the air. She parried instinctively, and there she made a mistake. Umbraspem sheared straight through the bottom of Crescent Rose. A few inches of her beloved weapon fell to the ground. Ruby pulled back and immediately noticed a difference. Bereft of the counter-weight spike at the bottom, Crescent Rose had lost the perfection of balance. She had to fight it as much as Ozpin. The weapon that had been as much a part of her body as her foot became foreign to her.

It was in those moments she started to doubt. Started to realize she was going to die.

Up to this point, she'd been purely focussed on the clash of their blades. On combat. She had never really thought about what would happen if she lost. Part of that had been arrogance for certain, but a greater part had been sense. She hadn't wanted her mind clouded.

Now it was. Now—as she wrestled with her weapon, every one of Ozpin's attacks coming closer and closer—she couldn't help but think about her mortality. About everything she stood to lose. She didn't care about her own life, that had been lost along with Weiss'. But she cared about her sister, her dad, her friends. Would Aurora tell them she had died? Or would they simply think her lost again? Never answering their calls until they were slowly forced to admit the truth?

She didn't want to put them through that. Only once before had she faced someone as skilled as Ozpin. Back then she didn't have the experience she had now, but she had felt equally outclassed by Erashan. Knowing she wasn't going to win if she carried on fighting the same way, Ruby poured more into her Semblance, and disengaged.

After a few moments, Ozpin stopped trying to chase her. Ruby ran in a circle around him, petals trailing behind her, whipped up by the wind she called. The red spots of colour grew into a swirling wall, and still she didn't stop. Ozpin wasn't idle either. He tried to call more of his alternate-selves. Sometimes straining to create two or more bridges at once. Each time Ruby had to break off from her preparations, severing the links. It drained her as much as it drained him.

Ruby didn't think, didn't prepare. As soon as the instinct took her, the spinning tornado collapsed inwards. In the swirling mass of red she could barely see, barely feel. She relied purely on her muscle memory. They clashed in the middle of the maelstrom.

So sharp were their blades that petals were sliced cleanly. The eruptions of invisible force blew them away. But the wind brought more in. Ruby had to blink them out of her eyes, spit them out of her mouth, but so did Ozpin. Her strategy had put him off balance, but he wasn't down.

It had been her hope that the tens of thousands of petals would have overloaded his Semblance. Made it impossible for him to track them all and, by extension, her. It hadn't worked. No matter how hard or quick her attack, he always had a parry and riposte ready.

Her body cried out. Keeping this much air in motion pushed her Semblance to the limit. Her muscles burned with built-up acid. She couldn't do anything. Ozpin was just too strong.

How had she ever thought to beat someone who could see the future? He knew everything that would happen. He could see every one of her attacks. Parried perfectly. He even moved before she did.

Before she did.

Ozpin could see the future. He couldn't keep up with her speed, but he didn't need to. He made sure his sword was in the ideal position to block before she had even completed her attack. She would never be able to beat him fighting like she had been. As if she had been fighting a normal foe. The petals weren't enough. She needed to change.

Ruby cleared her mind. Let her body go loose. Even closed her eyes. She pushed her Semblance, feeling the air around her. Feeling every petal swirling on the breeze. Feeling how her body created wind as she stepped back and forth. And feeling how Ozpin's own displaced the air.

Ruby didn't plan to attack. She just did as her reflexes told her. Crescent Rose swung, whistling through the air, straight towards Ozpin. He was already moving, twisting a quarter turn, bringing Umbraspem up to meet the attack that was still aeons away.

She wrenched the bulk of Crescent Rose to the side, straining the muscles of her shoulders with the effort. She ripped it from the instinctive path of her attack, from the path that would have seen it collide with Umbraspem, and changed its trajectory. Ozpin had anticipated her attacking his front. By moving his sword, he had shown her just what was going to happen. He had let her see the future. And if she could see it, she could change it.

In the microcosm of time, she felt Ozpin react to this new future. Try to bring his sword to bear. To leap out of the way. Without the full advantage of precognition, he wasn't close to fast enough. Crescent Rose took him in the stomach. It passed through his body without resistance and emerged from the other side.

Ruby spun away. Ozpin fell backwards to the ground, Umbraspem tumbling from his fingers. Ruby remained ready, prepared. Ozpin didn't rise. Couldn't rise. His legs were lifeless. They didn't even twitch. Ruby let the winds grow still.

Petals drifted downwards. Thousands and thousands of spots of red. They covered the golden grass in a carpet. They got caught in Ruby's hair. And they fell like a shroud over Ozpin. His fingers clawed at his legs, prodding, massaging. Trying to make them feel.

Looking down at him—so desperate, almost confused—empathy filled Ruby. She knew what she had done. Though his body may have lacked a wound, her White Dust weapon had severed the link of his consciousness with his spine.

It was marvel he wasn't dead. Normally a strong hunter could perhaps survive a White Dust weapon passing through a limb, but not their torso. Like the Tinmen it would have killed them instantly. Only Ozpin's immense Aura kept him alive, but the Dust crystals under his skin were no longer shining. With Aurora's plan, he couldn't call upon power from elsewhere. He tried to push himself up with his arms. They shook.

Ruby walked closer. As her battle had ended, so had the ones all around her. Or maybe they already had and she hadn't noticed? Flicking the button on Crescent Rose's haft, the blade returned to grey. There was no triumph in victory for her. No celebration that she'd overcome unimaginable odds. Only regret. Ozpin may have been a tyrant in the end, but she had respected him once. He had given her the chance to be the person she was today. She would never forget that.

She stowed Crescent Rose on her belt. It wouldn't be needed. She knelt next to him. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Not save him. She didn't even know if that were possible. Only to make him more comfortable.

There could have been anger in his eyes as he looked up at the person who had killed him. He could have shouted at her. Sworn his revenge. No doubt Ozpin had witnessed the very scene a thousand times before from the other perspective. He knew how pathetic it looked. There wasn't anger in his voice, only tiredness and regret.

"You don't know what I did for mankind. What I still do."

She did. Between her own discoveries and Aurora, she did. Ozpin and the Pantheon had guided humanity. They had done good. They had ensured its survival. They had given everyone the gift of the Dust. They had made it so society could flourish. That it could reach the state that it was today. Without Ozpin and the Pantheon, mankind might well have been driven to extinction.

But they had done evil as well. They had decided what was best, and carried out the acts. Even when it involved genocide. Wiping out entire cities and civilization for the benefit of others. And today, in Ozpin's utopia, there was no freedom. Only another brewing war. It may well have been the case that Ozpin could have succeeded. That he would have created a world that was perfect, but it would only have come with the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Even for a kingdom of heaven, that was a calculation Ruby couldn't accept.

As he lay there, Ruby could have argued again, this time with her victory assured, but that would have been vindictive. She took his hand. It was soft. Not like hers. "I know. But others will take up your burden."

The idea seemed to please him. He smiled. "Will you?"

Ruby didn't need long to answer. "I will. Though my way, not yours. I'll keep my Hunter's Vow."

Ozpin dragged down some breaths, each weaker than the last. "You didn't like it, but I saved humanity."

Ruby didn't want to argue with a dying man, but she couldn't let that statement go unanswered.

"No you didn't. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve? You would have kept it stationary. Maybe people would have been safe, but society would have stagnated. It needs challenges. It's the only way it can grow, become better."

Ozpin coughed. It might have been a laugh. Ruby wasn't sure. "I'll guess we'll have to agree to disagree. You know, if I thought anyone would have been able to beat me, it was you. Victory is in a simple soul."

"Why do you keep saying that? Aurora said something similar. I'm not simple. I'm not a blank slate. I wish I was." Some of her anguish ripped out from her. "It would make all this easier. I wouldn't have to feel terrible about this. I wouldn't miss my sister. It wouldn't hurt so much. My soul isn't simple. Anyone's who is, isn't truly alive. I am who I am, because of my love, and my pain. If I was simple, I would have given up a thousand times. Instead I found the strength to go on. If you believe victory is in the simpler things, you are so wrong. You've always been wrong." Tears crept down her face again.

"Perhaps…" Ruby waited for more. A rebuttal or an agreement. It didn't come. Ozpin stared up sightlessly at the sky. His chest stilled.

Ruby looked at him. Looked at the man she had set out to kill. Her old headmaster. A god. An enigma in modern times. Someone who was loved by most who he had ruled. It was very possible that they would blame her. That she would be an outlaw forever more. It hardly mattered. Without Weiss, her life was over anyway.

Ruby sat there, smelling the petals all around, listening to the rustle of the grass, and holding a cooling hand. She had closed his eyes, but still sat there, defeated. There was no point going on. Nothing to strive for.

"Ruby? What's wrong?"

Ruby blinked the tears from her eyes. Penny stood next to her. Her dress had been torn. Her flesh was marred by dozens of silver scratches, but at least she still stood. So did some of her brothers and sisters. And her father. Joseph hadn't made it far. He stared at Ozpin's corpse. At the person whom he had known for millennia.

Ruby couldn't answer. Not really. Her suffering transcended words. Still, Penny was her friend. She had helped her. Made this possible. Without her, she would be dead. Just like Weiss…

"It's Weiss."

"Oh… You said she was going to die?"

Ruby nodded, and went back to staring at Ozpin. She had made the choice. Ozpin over Weiss. It had cost her everything.

"Going to?"

"Yes." Her voice broke and she dissolved into fresh sobs. Weiss was going to die, and as Ruby pictured the future without her, she wanted to die too.

"So it hasn't happened yet?" Penny asked, her tone confused.

It was the confusion that broke Ruby's stupor. Penny was confused. Confused at why she was kneeling here. Why she was just waiting. Why she had given up.

Why had she?

She was still alive. It was the future, but it wasn't necessarily inevitable. Just like she had against Ozpin, she could change it. Aurora hadn't told her the exact time, or even the date. She had only said that Ruby would have to choose between the world and Weiss.

She had made her decision. Now she changed it. She chose both. She was somewhere between Vale and Vacuo. Hundreds or maybe thousands of miles from Alfurat, but she couldn't just sit here. She wouldn't. Not while breath remained in her body. Weiss needed her.

Ruby stood. She would have liked to bury Ozpin, but she didn't have the time. The needs of the living outweighed those of the dead. And Weiss wasn't dead yet. Couldn't be dead yet.

Everyone else must have come in airships, but they were in pieces on the ground. Juno could have transported her to Alfurat in a heartbeat, but if Ozpin's power was gone, so was hers. Penny and her siblings would help, but in this Ruby knew she was on her own. With only her own two feet. They would have to be enough. She took Penny's hands briefly. She wished she could stay for longer. Talk. She couldn't.

"Thank you."

"I'll come with you." Ruby knew Penny meant it.

"I'm sorry. You can't." A Tinman had once chased her for over a hundred miles. He had been so close to catching her. But, back then, she hadn't had the motivation she had now. Penny would only slow her down.

Penny perhaps understood. "Good luck. I'll see you again."

Ruby nodded. She looked up at the sun, got her bearings, and turned her gaze eastwards. She began to jog. A few steps later she began to run. Then she began to sprint flat-out.

Thunder boomed from a cloudless sky as a blur streaked across the landscape.

A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed that. We're almost at the end. Next week will be the final chapter in the trilogy. Thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts.