I feel like I should start a drinking game for each chapter that starts with someone coming out of a Dark Corridor.

-X Ruby X-

Ruby stepped out of the Dark Corridor with a sigh, rubbing the back of her neck, "Hey, I'm-"

Ruby didn't finish the sentence as Yang collided with her in the mother of all bear hugs. Ruby groaned, pain in places she didn't know she had ripping through her, "Do you know how worried we were?"

"Hi, sis," Ruby said, weakly, trying to worm her way out of Yang's grip.

"Three days," Yang continued, pulling Ruby back, "almost fo- what happened to your eye? And why's your skin burned? And what's that stuff at the corner of your mouth?"

"I don't know," Ruby said, limping towards the bathroom, "I don't want to talk about it, and probably blood. Now can I please take a shower? I want to be clean one last time before I die."

"Di-? Ruby what happened!?" Yang demanded, followed her into the bathroom. Ruby couldn't bring herself to care as she stripped down and started the coldest shower she could.

"I went on a training trip," Ruby said without bothering to mince words, leaning against the shower wall as the cold water crashed down on her. Thank the Light, "It sucked."

"And you didn't tell us before you went?"

"I lost track of time," Ruby said.

"Lost track of- how do you lose track of time like that!?"

"World was tidally locked," Ruby said, "means one side is always facing the sun. I literally couldn't tell how much time had passed."

"I'm going with you next ti-"

"No!" Ruby barked, shaking her head, "No!"

"I'm not letting you go back there without-"

"No! No," Ruby coughed, forcing herself to articulate, "There's… there's not gonna be a next time, Yang. I'm never goin' back there. It sucked, I hated it. The only world I've been to that sucked that much-"

Was The Graveyard. Nowhere else, not the Enchanted Domain, not Radiant Gardens, not the Coloss-

Oh no, she'd forgotten Zack again. How had she forgotten him?

"Wayfinder," Ruby hissed.

"What?" Yang said.

"Wayfinder! Now!" Ruby demanded, "in my coat!"

"Right!" Yang said, fishing around for it and pulling it out of the pocket. Ruby snagged it from Yang throwing it around her neck and sliding down as she went. The cold water thrummed against her skin, bounced against the stainglass of the Wayfinder. Ventus, Terra, Rita, Mickey, Aqua… and… wait who was tha-? No, not important, she needed to find-

There! Weak, weaker than all the others, just a ghost of a ghost, Zack. Zack Fair. She had to, she had to…

Ruby fought herself. If he was in trouble, she had to save him. But she was too weak to do anything at the moment.

Finally, Ruby cracked her mouth open, realizing she had sunk to the floor of the bath at some point, "Yang…"

"What?" Yang said.

"I need you, and Blake and Pyrrha, to do something for me," Ruby said, raising a hand and opening a Corridor against one wall, "There's a world, it's called Olympic Coliseum. I need you to go there, find a guy named Phil, you can't miss him, he's short, and looks like a Faunus with goat legs and horns. Tell him… tell him I sent you, ask him if he's seen Zack Fair in the last few months. Then, find a boy named Herc, ask him the same thing. Then come back, and if you see someone named Hades-"

"Ask him?"

"No," Ruby said, raising her head to meet Yang's eyes, "Stay away from him. I'll, I'll be here when you get back. I promise."

Yang glanced at the Corridor, before pulling out her Scroll. Ruby's Scroll vibrated in its pocket, but Yang continued to talk. Group call? "Hey, hey it's me. Ruby's back, but she's not feeling well. Listen, I… I need you two to do something for her. Come to the bathroom, we'll explain there."

"What-?"

"I'm not leaving you, Ruby," Yang said, taking her hand and squeezing it tight, "You look like you're gonna pass out any second now. I don't need to come back to find out you slipped into a coma while I was gone."

-X Blake X-

Blake watched Ruby lay under the water, mind spinning. Sticking out her hand, Blake felt the cold liquid, how overheated was Ruby, that she wasn't complaining about that?

"Yang," Blake says softly, "You need to get her to the med ward. Now."

"What-?"

"She might be suffering from Hyperthermia," Blake said, "overheating. Ruby, were you somewhere hot?'"

Ruby blinked tiredly, silver meeting gold and Blake was left wondering who had done what to Ruby's eye because that wasn't natural, that wasn't normal and it wasn't right. Ruby's eyes were perfect the way they had been and they didn't need some… some whatever the hell that red pupil was poking from out of the sliver iris. Then slowly, weakly, Ruby nodded.

"For a few days," Ruby said, "Tidal lock."

What? No, whatever.

"Call Dr. Pele, call her right now," Blake demanded Yang, before reaching down to touch Ruby. Her hand wrapped around Blake's wrist, feeling like she was put into a heated cup, "Ruby-"

"Zack," Ruby spat, "You gotta help him. He's, he's in trouble. He's been in trouble since we got to Beacon, they're probably hurtin' him, if it's taken them this long to kill him. You gotta help-"

"Ruby," Blake said, "You're not thinking-"

"He's a good guy," Ruby insisted, fervently, eyes waving and unsteady, "and you gotta….you gotta ask Phil and Herc if you've seen him. That's all, then you can come back, please. Please."

Blake looked down at the girl, chewing her tongue, before nodding, "Fine."

"Thank," Ruby croaked, "Thank you. Phil's a short guy, looks like a Faunus, and Herc's-"

"We'll find them," Blake said, "Don't worry about it."

"'K," Ruby says, "'K."

"Dr. Pele will be here soon," Yang said, "Will you two be-?"

"Fine," Blake said, "Fine. Coming, Pyrrha?"

"Yes," Pyrrha nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder and speaking low as they turned to the Corridor, "Do you think Ruby will be-?"

"Fine?" Blake said, "she better be. I'm not losing her to something as stupid as heatstroke."

"...Good," Pyrrha said, "You're a good friend, let's go."

"Yeah," Blake said, walking forward.

-X Pyrrha X-

Pyrrha stepped out of the Corridor just behind Blake, eyes scanning the courtyard in the early night. Below their feet, sand swished in a low breeze. Pyrrha breathed in the dry, warm air.

It reminds her of home, of days sparring with her father below the pomegranate tree in their backyard. Of one dropping on his head and breaking open with a loud crack and them both agreeing it was a terrible idea to do that, through Pyrrha's giggling and her dad scrubbing juice out of his eyes with the towel that was supposed to be for her sweat.

"Look at that," Blake said, nodding to the board across the space from them. On it were dozens of names, at least she thought they were names, but some of them, most of them, really used symbols Pyrrha had never seen before. But in the fourth spot, clear as day, was the name Ruby Rose. Scanning the list, Pyrrha quickly realized that, excepting the first name, it took until the seventh name for her to find one she didn't recognize.

.

2. Terra.

.

4. Ruby Rose.

5. Ventus

6. Zack Fair.

"No last names," Blake murmured.

Pyrrha nodded, chewing her cheek. Ruby was… she was a good fighter, how strong were Terra and Aqua to place above her in whatever that was?

And how strong was this Sephiroth to place above them? Because-

"Found Phil," Blake said, striding towards the short man talking to a boy with brown hair and a toga, "Hey!"

"What?" Phil turned, towards them, "I'm bus-"

"Ruby sent us," Blake said, cutting him off, "She wanted us to ask you something."

"Ruby? Ruby…?" Phil said, pacing, before something sparked in his eyes, "Oh, yeah! How's she doin'?"

"Ok," Blake said, "bit under the weather, which is why we're here. I'm Blake, and this is Pyrrha Nikos."

"Pyrrha… Nikos…" Phil said, looking her over, "Well, your parents hated you, huh?"

"What?"

"Pyrrha, comes from Pyr, means fire in our language," Phil said, "Then you got Nikos, comes from Nike, goddess of victory. So Burning Victory, doesn't sound too bad right? Wrong, because normally when someone says that, they're talking about a victory so bad you burn yourself out."

"O-oh," Pyrrha said.

"But then, you ain't from around these parts, are ya?" Phil said, "since you aren't speakin' greek. So your parents probably didn't know that," Phil said, "definitely weren't as dumb as Achilles for usin' it. Nevermind, talking to myself more than anything. What do you need? Me and Herc were getting ready to break for the night, but if it's quick, shoot."

"Ruby was wondering if you had heard from Zack recently? She seemed pretty sure he was hu-"

"Zack?" Phil said, "black haired Zack?"

"...Probably? She didn't describe hi-"

"No," Phil said, "he just disappeared one day. What about you, Herc?"

"No," Herc shook his head, "Have not…"

"Sorry, he's not fluent in other languages yet," Phil said, "But Zack was a good kid, I'm sure if anyone's seen him they'll tell you. Come back with Ruby, I'll help you ask around, capiche?"

"Uh?"

"Understand?"

"Yeah," Blake said.

"Good," Phil said, before switching to another language and talking to Herc. The boy nodded, following Phil and carrying on the conversation.

-X Yang X-

Yang quietly watched the strange tub of water Ruby was lowered into, an oxygen mask around her mouth. All through it, Dr. Pele kept up a commentary, "I'm actually slightly impressed."

"Why?" Yang said, voice wavering.

"She went into the shower," Pele said, "and cooling down someone suffering from Hyperthermia is the most important thing to do. But given that you're Tai's daughters, you probably knew that. Does he still get episodes?"

"No," Yang said.

"Good," Pele grabbed a container of blue Dust and inserting it into the tub. A low hum kicked to life, the water glowing blue and casting Ruby in a ghostly light, "Don't look so depressed. There won't be any permanent damage and this should cool her to a safe level within the hour."

"I just…" Yang said, "I wish she wouldn't be like this, putting herself in danger."

"Well, she is Summer's daughter," the grey haired doctor said with a sigh, "I can't count the amount of times I had to patch her up. And Tai wasn't much better if I honest."

"What about her eye?" Yang asked.

"Well, I'm not an ophthalmologist," Pele said, "but preliminary checks didn't seem to show anything worrying. It's not a buildup of blood, the pupil dilates normally. She is functionally fine, just with a red pupil. The iris remains the same, so there's no need to worry about that. She should be fine, Yang."

"You're sure?" Yang asked, voice wavering.

"I won't say a hundred percent, I never would, but I will say I'm as certain as I've ever been. When you've been at Beacon as long as I have, you get used to strange things. This isn't even the strangest one this year...I normally wouldn't do this, but would you like to return to your dorm to get changed and then stay the night with her? I know it would put your mind at ease."

"Yeah," Yang said, reaching out to touch the glass dome over Ruby, "I'll be back in a couple, sis. Take care until then, ok?"

Ruby, unsurprisingly, didn't answer. Yang lifted her hand off the tub and turned, walking towards the dorm with her hands in the pocket of her jacket. This needed to stop, she needed to be with Ruby when she went off on adventures, no matter what. Ruby had misunderstood, it didn't matter which world she was going to, Yang was going with her.

Yang blinked as she saw Blake and Pyrrha talking as she entered their dorm room, "Back already?"

"It wasn't hard to find Phil," Blake reported, "but be wants us to come back with Ruby. How is she?"

"Pele's using an Ice Dust bath to cool her down," Yant said, "then she's gonna stay the night. I'm gonna get changed and then go stay with her."

"Ok," Blake said, before putting a hand on her shoulder, "She's gone through worse, she'll pull through this."

"I know," Yang said.

"And when she wakes up, tell her Team RNBY is going off world together," Blake said, "We're gonna keep her safe this time."

Yang couldn't help but crack a smile at that. Normally, she'd be teasing Blake about this, but couldn't help the glowing gratitude. Ruby had gotten a great partner.

"I will," Yang promised.

-X Ruby X-

Ruby sat next to the short man with neck length white hair, watching the sand of the desert below them shift and warp. A large clocktower towered over the village, and they watched it shimmer like a mirage. Finally, the black eyed man spoke, voice soft, "This won't end well for you."

Ruby blinked, turning towards him, "What do you mean?"

"Looking for Zack," the man said simply, "it's… you aren't ready for it."

Ruby's teeth immediately started grinding, on edge, "I've got to. He's in trouble, and I can't let another friend be-"

"I wasn't saying it expecting to stop you," the man said, "just so you would know the downsides before you went. Whatever you do, do not go without your Aura at full. That goes for your entire team."

"That bad?" Ruby said as the landscape changed, the sand rumbling and turning into water under a giant cannon.

"Very," he said as the cannon began to split, "There is little more dangerous than a soul corrupted by vengeance."

"Was that… was that Loveless?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," the man said, sounding pleasantly surprised, "it survived this long?"

"Aqua used to read it," Ruby said, "but it was missing the last act."

The man laughed, long and loud as he placed a hand to his face, "I know of a man who would be very unhappy about that. But yes, as I was saying, this will be one of the hardest fights of your life. Which is the reason for my gift."

"Your gif-?" Ruby blinked, staring at him and feeling a bond between them. A familiar bond, like a D-li- "Diabolos?"

"Yes," the man turned so Ruby could see his face fully, revealing red pricks of light in the black, "Promathia needs you to survive this battle, Ruby. So when the time comes, and I know you'll know it, don't hesitate to draw on my power for a moment."

"It's… why didn't the Master just tell me it was a D-Link!?" Ruby complained, throwing herself back and staring at the sky, "I can turn those on and off easily!"

"Has Promathia ever given you a straight answer to any question in your existence?" Diabolos asked in turn, "or is it nothing but half truths and vague responses? He likes to play his games, even if they frustrate those around him."

Ruby grunted, dropping her hand onto her forehead and conceding the point, "So, what's with the eye? Please tell me it isn't permanent."

"Insurance," Diabolos said, "and no. It will fade, one way or another. Do not worry, Ruby."

"Good," Ruby said, "you couldn't have just given me normal hetero- whatever? It had to be the pupil?"

"Heterochromia?" Diabolos said, "No, I couldn't. Those eyes are… they're too special for me to touch. So it was that or the scalea."

Special? What the heck did that mean? Nobody had ever said that to her before, other than Uncle Qrow and Dad insisting they were silver, not grey.

"So this could go badly," Ruby said aloud.

"Quite," Diabolos said.

"One of the hardest fights of my life."

"Indeed."

"Soooo… what you're not saying is that I might die doing this, right?"

"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a possibility. The man you're looking for… is old, Ruby, far older than you might think. And he has spent that entire life fighting. If I might offer some counsel?"

"Sure," Ruby said, staring at the sky. There should have been fear gripping her heart, the idea of her dying had terrified her at Menagerie. But right now, she couldn't feel anything but numbness.

"There is a technique he will use against you at one point, a dark, heartless technique. Stop it or it will spell your doom."

"Sounds good," Ruby said listlessly.

"And be prepared to fall back to a defensive position. One with allies you know you can trust, or where you will have the undeniable advantage."

"Ok," Ruby sighed, "I should probably get ready for that. How do I get out of here? Where is here?"

"You'll get out of here when you wake up," Diabolos said, "and if you couldn't put it together from that, this is a dream."

"...Yeah," Ruby said with a sigh, "that sounds about right. Other teens dream about their crushes, I get a… whatever the heck you are giving me advice on how not to die horribly."

"Ah, you want a dream about your crush," Diabolos said, raising his fingers to snap them, "Well, I once moonlighed as a genie, so-"

"No!" Ruby snapped, jumping up, "No!"

"Your wish is my command," Diabolos said, snapping his fingers and vanishing, leaving behind two girls and a loud cackle.

Ruby buried her red face in her hands, doing her damned best to ignore the copies of Aqua and Blake standing there. Yeah, he worked for the Master all right.

-X Diabolos X-

Diabolos landed with a soft thud, transforming as he rose and came next to Promathia. The hooded man sighed, cracking his arms, "Ya gotta ruin everything for me, D?"

"Answer me this. If I hadn't, and I quote 'ruined everything', what were the chances she would survive the day?"

"...She needs to be reliant on herself. She's already lagging behind in the magic department and you're encouraging her to use Gravity magic more."

"And letting her and her friends be butchered would help her how?" Diabolos said, "It's for one fight, then the power is gone."

"You sound sure of that."

"You sound unsure of that," Diabolos shot back, "does she keep it after or not? You know the answer, I know you do."

"Spoilers," Promathia said.

"Does she keep it or not?"

"...She gets ideas because of what you did, D. And I'm not sure I like them. It's just gonna make her problems worse if she thinks she can rely on a few types of magic."

"Which can be ironed out," Diabolos said, "something that can't be if she's dead."

"Fair enough," Promathia shrugged, "by the way, if she starts callin' me Promathia, I'm kicking your ass."

"Fair enough."

-X Ruby X-

Ruby's eyes flickered open on top of the cot, sitting up and shaking her head. Man, that was… weird.

She hoped that wasn't happening often. Because, yeah, that was…

"Can I get a glass of water?" Ruby croaked to the dark room, blinking as Dr. Pele came moving into the room and walked over to her bedside and pushed her back down, "H-hey."

"Rest," Pele said, "don't try to get up. Not only is it after curfew, but you're dangerously low on liquids. I was considering an IV, actually. If you feel up to drinking water, we can try that, but you're going to have to take it slow and I will switch to an IV if it comes back up."

"O...K…" Ruby croaked, resting against the bed and taking the cup of water, "Thank you."

"It's what I'm here for," Pele said, "gave us a right scare though. Your sister was nearly in tears over it.

"So...rry…" Ruby said, sipping the water and coughing, "I didn't mean to-"

"I'd be worried if you did," Pele said, pulling up a chair next to Ruby.

- X AN X-

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