Standard Disclaimer:

Writersblock made their way out onto the stage. The audience held their collective breath, if Block was on stage, then something important was going to happen. Block only said important things on stage.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, My Enby Friends, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Fae, Eldritch Horrors, Demons," They reached into their pocket, and pulled out a small piece of paper, "Aarakocra, Aasimar, Autognome, Bugbear, Centaur, Changeling, Custom Lineage-er." They glanced up nervously, "Well, yeah. Welcome, everybody. To the last chapter! I have been working on it, and I have just one thing to say." The audience was clearly waiting with baited breath for Block to finish. Or maybe they were hungry. WB had never been very good at telling the difference. "Um…line?"

A heavy sigh came from the front row. "We don't own RWBY." Airilymusing's annoyance was palpable, and a few of the audience decided they should probably sit elsewhere. Preferably away from the mildly annoyed person who was fingering their spear consideringly.

"Nope, never have and never will." Block nodded firmly. "Thanks for joining us all on this crazy ride. Somewhere behind a curtain, there's an epilogue for this story."

"More like behind a google drive link!" Jeneralissima's voice drifted down from the balcony where she was sitting with an ipad, sharing a bucket of popcorn with Morrigan. "Seriously, why the heck did you finish the epilogue before the last chapter of the actual story?"

Writersblock just shrugged. "So expect that to come out a heck of a lot faster than the last time we did this. A world without Blake is in the cards too-"

"Somewhere!" called out Morrigan, tossing popcorn at WB, who caught it in their mouth.

"-and is definitely not partially written." Block nodded firmly. "See you all next time!"

Yang was a mess.

Sun had barely arrived at the hospital before he'd been confronted by the blonde. Apparently Ruby was in the city and wanted to meet with her. Tomorrow. If that wasn't enough to raise her blood pressure, the fact that her girlfriend had actually met with her sister while Ruby had apparently only left a note was rubbing salt in the already open wound. Couple that with the fact that she was still dealing with realizing that Blake had nearly been killed…

Yeah, he could see why Yang wasn't really sure how to respond.

The brawler seemed caught between concern for her girlfriend, who had since been moved to a room out of the emergency department for observation, fear for her sister, anger that Blake had been the one to meet her, and finally disappointment that all she had gotten was a note.

Sun couldn't really blame her for that.

Blake had admitted, out of earshot of Yang, that something was definitely wrong with Ruby. She had seemed a lot more subdued than usual. What had really thrown everybody was when Blake had told them what Ruby said right before she left.

There had been a lot of things that he had seen traveling around Remnant during the War of the Witch, but death with only a touch? That was new. His mind told him it was impossible, but his instincts told him it wasn't just possible, it was very likely to be the last thing he ever did if he asked for proof.

Needless to say, he wouldn't be demanding proof any time soon. If he even saw Ruby, which didn't seem likely.

Blake had stayed overnight, and Yang had refused to leave her side, sleeping in a chair next to her girlfriend. He'd been feeling more than a little guilty for missing the danger that the sandwich had presented, and had spent the night alternatively dozing in another chair the nurses brought in and pacing.

Neptune's call had been a brief but welcome relief.

Irrespective of whatever Gwen had wanted to do with him, Neptune was commandeering him for help with managing the upcoming funeral. The day was going to be full of letters, arguments, and plans, none of which he would help make, but all of which he would be expected to help with. He'd agreed (reluctantly) for two reasons. One, Neptune was practically his brother. If anyone deserved help with this, it was him. Two, he did owe Gwen. If this was her price, it was better than being her dress-up doll and package carrier on a shopping trip.

He wasn't looking forward to the family drama, though.

Gwen had been close to her grandmother (she had apparently been a huntress years ago) and had regularly gone to visit her. Her father had little to do with his mother, barely seeing her since he had 'married up' into the Darcy family. Consequently, Gwen was spearheading the entire funeral and butting heads constantly with both of her parents who wanted to 'keep the whole thing small,' which Sun gathered was a nice way to say 'we'd rather not pay for anything we don't have to.' Couple that with her mother's insistence that Neptune and Octavia were 'just a phase' that her daughter needed to get through…

Sun actually wondered if there was a safer thing to do. Maybe Atlas needed a Huntsman or two to head back to the land of darkness?

As his eyes opened from what was supposed to have been a restful sleep, he took in the two women asleep on the bed. Yang had apparently forgone her chair and was cuddling into Blake, who seemed happier than he'd seen her in a long time, even if she was just asleep.

Smiling to himself, he sighed as he checked his phone. It was time to head to help his other friend. Hopefully Blake and Yang's meeting would go well.

Hopefully Ruby wasn't as dangerous as she'd said.

Blake turned off her scroll as soon as she woke up.

She'd opened her scroll, seen Ilia's message from yesterday, and felt a flash of anger. At that point, she'd hit the power button and ignored the other messages. Yang would tell her parents she was okay (she actually already had, something Blake appreciated), and Sun would probably keep everyone else in the loop once Yang let him know that she had been discharged. She just didn't want to read Ilia's excuses.

She wasn't naive.

Ilia had been religious about keeping her favorite snack separate. Yang might have believed it was because her former friend was just greedy, but Blake knew better. Ilia understood that porthos leaves were dangerous to anyone who didn't have a very robust digestive tract- including humans and most pets. Even Sun couldn't eat them without any issue at all, and it was only the fact he hadn't bothered with a breakfast (apparently, while he wasn't a fan of who he was meeting with, they did have good food) that had kept him out of the bed next to her. He'd checked his sandwich and, sure enough, the leaves were there.

The day that they'd left, Ilia just happened to mess up?

Blake had done far too much in her life to take that at face value.

Consequently, as she and Yang waited out in front of the old shop, now dusty from lack of use, she had decided to put off the issue of her friend's actions. She would process everything later. Right now, she had other things to deal with.

Her ear twitched as a large raindrop splashed off of it. Great, and now it was raining.

"She should have been here by now." Yang glanced up and down the bustling street. People were hurriedly making their way out of the sudden downpour, but Ruby was nowhere to be seen. "Something is wrong."

"Somewhat," a voice commented from behind. Both of them jumped and whirled around. Blake's blade was halfway out of its sheath, while Yang had immediately activated her gauntlets. The woman behind them held her hands up while clearly suppressing a smile. "Would you like to come in?"

Blake spared a glance at her girlfriend, who dropped her guard, although her gauntlets stayed activated. "Mary," Yang's tone was almost hostile, "if that is your name."

The brunette chuckled. "It's close enough. Now, are you coming in or not?"

"In," Blake answered for them as the rain seemed to start coming down even harder. Any longer and she would be completely soaked through-something she did not want to experience. As she passed by the woman, who was still holding the door open, she paused. Something was…off.

"You okay?" Yang placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Fine," she lied, pressing on. Her girlfriend might know that she was lying, but that was okay. One more person on high alert was a good thing in Blake's book.

The scent of old leather and metal assaulted her nose as she made her way inside the shop. "I'm surprised Pietro isn't here."

The woman gave a sad smile as she closed the door behind Yang. "He doesn't come here often, from what I gather. Too many sad memories, he says."

"You know him?" Yang glanced at her curiously.

"I do." Mary replied. "He won't be here today, though."

"Really?" Blake tightened her grip on Gambol Shroud. "Isn't it his place?"

"Of course." Mary laughed, though it seemed rather bitter. "He knows better than to approach here, though."

Blake had just opened her mouth to ask further questions when the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly rose. Whirling around to face the door, she only peripherally noticed Yang do the same thing. Drawing her blade, she held it in one hand even as every instinct told her to run.

"What is this?" Yang demanded, glancing behind them before staring back out the window. "What did you do to us?"

"She didn't," Blake murmured, her eyes tracking a swirl of rose petals riding a gust of wind up the road. "I don't think she can do much at all, to be honest."

"What?" Yang turned to face her, still glancing out the windows.

Blake met her girlfriend's eyes. "Ghosts don't do much, Yang."

"How did you know?" Mary's voice came from behind them.

"You don't have a scent," Blake replied disinterestedly. "Yang, look."

Outside of the door, the rose petals were coalescing into a more distinct form. One with a scythe on her back.

"Ruby?" Yang's voice shook, and Blake only just managed to grab her girlfriend before the blonde lunged to embrace her sister. "Blake, what are you-"

"I just got you back," she hissed in her girlfriend's ear. "I don't know what's going on with Ruby, but I'm not going to lose you."

"But…" Yang stopped struggling as Ruby became much more corporeal and opened the door. "But she's my sister ."

"It's good to see you too, sis."

Blake almost let Yang go at those words, because she could hear the pain in Ruby's voice. The forced happiness of one of her best friends, who would do anything to keep everyone as happy as she could. She forced her grip to tighten, partially to keep her girlfriend from embracing her little sister, but just as much to remind herself not to do so herself. "Hey, Ruby."

"Hi, Blake!" Ruby smiled. "Sorry for having to run yesterday, but I have a job I technically have to keep doing."

"What?" Yang leaned into Blake. "What job? Dad and Qrow are worried sick, Rubes! What have you been doing?"

"I sort of…made a deal?" Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "It's not a big thing, really. I just have to do some work for a while. I just…" She trailed off. "I guess I'm just not keen to go home since I don't want to risk…anything happening."

"You're afraid of killing them." Blake said bluntly.

Ruby closed her eyes and nodded. "It's kind of an occupational hazard." She opened her eyes. "I didn't mean to cut you guys out, I just-time sort of got away from me, and I've been busy. Really, I swear."

Yang reached out before visibly forcing herself back. "Ruby, what's going on? How can we help?"

"You can't," Mary finally interrupted.

"What would you-" Yang's eyes flashed red, only for Ruby's voice to quietly cut her off.

"Don't, Yang. Maria's right."

Yang paused, and Blake scrutinized the ghost. "Ah."

"It's good to see you two again." 'Mary' smiled a bit. "Sorry about the pseudonym, but hopefully you don't begrudge an old woman a little bit of fun."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yang asked quietly. Blake, sensing her girlfriend's hurt, slid her hands down to rest in the brawler's palms.

"Rules," Ruby intervened, crossing her arms. "As part of the agreement that lets Maria stick around me, she can't interact with anyone who knew her when she was alive." She rolled her eyes. "But, of course, she can interact with anyone who knew her when she was alive as someone else. Hence, Mary."

"Yet, you call her Maria." Blake pointed out.

"Technically, I'm exempt," Ruby replied testily. "It's a perk of my new job."

"A job you can't tell us about," Yang growled.

"Yang," Blake murmured. "Does she really need to?"

"We could help her!" Her girlfriend whirled around, a mad light in her eyes. "I don't care who it is, we could stop them, force them to let her go-!"

"Yang, no!" Ruby cried. "Please! There's more here than you know!"

"And you can't tell me-" Yang glared, only for Blake to cut her off again.

"Yang, she already has."

The brawler glanced between the group members before huffing and crossing her arms, leaning up against one of the workbenches. "Care to explain, then?"

Blake sighed. "She can kill with a touch; the dead are her companions." She pointed to Crescent Rose and received a snort and a nod from Ruby. "Yang, she carries a scythe for crying out loud!"

"She's always-" Yang's arms suddenly fell limp at her sides. "Oh. Oh no. Tell me it isn't true!" The brawler searched her sister's face for a moment and clearly found whatever she was looking for, because her shoulders slumped. "So this is what he did."

"Destruction." Blake nodded. A clap of thunder seemed to agree with her, while Ruby's face could have been carved from stone. "This isn't the other one's style."

"But-but dad said…" Blake embraced her girlfriend. The blonde sounded so lost. Yang didn't hesitate to bury her face in her neck.

"I'm sorry, Yang." Ruby finally broke the silence. "I just couldn't… can't tell anyone."

"Let me guess, it's part of the deal." The blonde didn't bother to look up from her current place in her girlfriend's neck, and Blake felt her ears involuntarily twitch at the way her girlfriend's voice vibrated along her spine.

Maria sighed. "Sort of. From what little I managed to get, it's designed in such a way that she can more easily adapt to her new status."

Blake glanced at her. "And how would you know?"

"An extensive conversation post-death with her sponsor." She nodded to Ruby, who gave a sad smile. "As well as previously applying for the position in the past."

Yang wiped her eyes, as she turned to look at the ghost. "Why didn't you get it?"

"Being blind was a dealbreaker," Maria replied dryly. "And that was not something that pleased me, let me tell you."

Blake finally fixed her friend with an even stare. "Can you at least tell me why?"

Ruby worried her lip for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "Not without potentially ruining the deal. I…really don't want to do that."

Yang sighed, finally untangling herself from Blake. "Look, I don't care who it is: they screw with you too much, I'll mess them up." She grinned crookedly. "I may not be able to kill them, but I figure regrowing teeth is probably painful."

Blake just crossed her arms. "It goes without saying that you have our help, no matter what it's for."

Ruby seemed caught between laughing and concern. "I get it, but maybe don't?" She let out a soft smile. "I really don't want you guys to get hurt for me."

"We're teammates." Blake slid her hand into her girlfriend's. "We look out for each other no matter what."

"No matter what." Yang agreed quietly. "Look, sis, be safe, okay?"

"Always." Ruby grinned, sounding more like herself.

"And visit." Blake tilted her head. "I'm sure you can still drink tea, and I'll always have it- well, once we get out of Ilia's."

Ruby's smile turned sinister, but a moment later it was gone, and she was glancing at her watch. "Oh, dear. I'm running late."

"Work is never done," Maria agreed, suddenly appearing next to her. "I'll remind you to visit, though. No more neglecting your family."

"Thank you," Blake murmured. Maria just met her eyes and nodded slightly.

"Later, guys!" Yang briefly moved forward, but Blake squeezed her hand and she stopped herself as Ruby turned into roses and made her way out into the storm.

A moment later, the two huntresses were the only ones left in the shop, and the sun was coming out from behind the clouds.

"That's that, I guess."

Blake snorted. "I sincerely doubt that."

"Oh?"

Looping her arm through Yang's, she pulled the brawler out the door. "I know you. You're planning something."

"Ha!" Yang rolled her eyes playfully. "I'll have you know I'm planning many things, not just one."

"Think we could use some help?"

"That depends." Yang jumped over a puddle. "Who are you thinking about?"

She bit her lip. "Sun? He's pretty smart when he wants to be."

"Not bad in a scrap either." Yang nodded. "So we pick him up and tell him we're taking on a god?"

"Wouldn't be the first time."

Sun rubbed his forehead. "That's…a lot to take in."

Blake scrutinized him. "Well, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

Yang winked. "We get it if it's too dangerous for you."

"Hey, I didn't say that!" He felt his pride prick at the blonde's words. "I'm just saying it's a lot."

"So that's a yes." Yang grinned, tossing an arm around Blake's shoulders. "Where do we start?"

Scratching his chin, he thought about a couple of places. "You know, there's an old temple in Vacuo that might be worth looking into." He grinned at his friends. "Ancient manuscripts," Blake's eyes lit up. "Adventure," Yang grinned. "And handsome faunus."

"Well, I look forward to seeing them when we get there." Yang laughed at his pout. "Let's go! For Ruby!"

Blake nodded. "For Ruby."

Sun grinned.

"For Ruby."

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Feel free to leave a review. I'll see you when I have the next part written...

Or when the muse takes control. :)