That day was fun, but largely uneventful. Then something happened that night that set her troubled brain whirring.
Ruby had crashed on her bed earlier and was finally falling asleep.
Now she was wandering through a maze of sea caves filled with gems and statues. Gilded carvings abounded on the walls. It looked like a palace. Probably because that's what it was.
Ruby knew the way to the throne room. She had been there many times before. But it was always such a pleasure to simply wander and take in the beauty around her.
When she did finally get to the throne room she gave a respectful bow towards the center and got straight to the point.
"What do you want from me this time, Neptune?"
He feigned innocence. "What? Can't I check on my daughter?"
"Can? Yes. Do? No."
He smiled. "Smart as ever, little gem. I wanted to show you something. Right after you tell me how you're doing."
She hesitated. Ruby wanted to tell him she was fine, be he knew her. And she was a bad liar around him. "Not good. Not okay. Some stupid training simulation."
The voice softened and an older man with sea green eyes and a seafoam-white beard appeared to put his hands on his shoulders. "I understand."
The throne room dissolved around them to be replaced with two scenes, both featuring older versions of Jason.
One showed him standing with a gun pointed at Batman, the Joker tied up behind him. As Ruby watched he took the gun off safety and fired.
The other showed him sitting in class at Gotham Academy High School. Ruby smiled knowingly when he glanced down at his communicator and asked to be excused.
After a moment, Ruby understood what she was seeing. Two possible futures, one happy, and one tragic. The question was, why was Neptune showing her this? She asked.
He looked down at her. "Because, you barely even know the boy yet you care about him very much. I have no wish to see the boy in such pain," he gestured to the scene with the gun, "And I know that you don't want that either, so I decided to find a way to change things. After all, the future is never set in stone. The tragedy that you see comes to pass due to jealousy. Jason is jealous of Richard's place as Bruce's favorite son. To prevent that from happening you need to convince Bruce to be a better father to Jason. And be there for them. All of them."
She nodded. "I can do that. I will do that." She swiped a hand at the pain filled scene and it disappeared. "That will not come to pass. I swear it."
Neptune chuckled. "That's my girl. Who knows, perhaps I may decide to bless young Jason. He seems like a nice boy. But enough of that. When you wake up in the morning it'll be your birthday! Or had you forgotten?"
She looked startled. "I guess I did."
"Well, what do you want?"
"You have already given me a present by showing me what to do to help Jason. The only other thing I could ask for is your wisdom in helping Robin."
"Such a selfless child. You want nothing for yourself?"
"My family, my friends, and my kingdom will always come first."
"Then I will have to come up with a gift on my own. As for your friend, fear not. I will offer him my guidance as I offer it to you. He is kin to you, and your kin is my kin. Blood related or not. Now sleep. Tomorrow is a big day."
He lifted his hands from her shoulders and everything faded to darkness.