Ruby sat calmly on the couch, her hands locked together as she waited for everyone else to come back.
They'd asked if she wanted to go out with them to tour the city one more time, but she denied. The young woman herself hadn't exactly been feeling all that great earlier when she'd woken up, and opted to just stay at the house. The solitude gave her plenty of time to think and rest, however that loneliness also brought with it a set of worries. Once the others returned, they would all be headed out to the forest to try their luck with Jinn, and it was this thought which had Ruby feeling all sorts of doubts.
The usual 'what if I'm wrong' came to mind, but there were new concerns as well. One of these concerns came in the wonderings of what exactly Jinn would say. Before the others left for the day, Ruby proposed an idea: a question she'd come up with over night. They would simply ask if it was possible to travel back through time; yes, it was fairly flat all things considered, but simplicity was the point.
Like Pyrrha explained, it didn't matter if they knew how, because if it really was her who was mentioned in the book, then she herself would figure out that little issue later on. Sure, this question wouldn't exactly confirm that she went back in time, and to be quite honest, she was partially afraid that it actually was her who was spoken of in those pages. Ruby wasn't quite comfortable with the idea that she took a detour back some decades, especially because it was only herself who was mentioned in the journal. Then again, there was a chance all of it was fake; lies designed to tell a fictional tale, all to deceive them. But if that was the case, how did it know of V? Either this was a series of insane coincidences, or she would eventually get to live out some geek's fantasy.
The creek of the front door drew her ear, and was followed by shuffling boots.
"Hey sis." Yang stood before her, with one hand on her hip and the other extended. "Come on. It's best to get this done quickly, before we try the base."
"The base..." Ruby grit her teeth a little, only to relent and breath. "Right, but do we have any solid ideas on how we'll be getting them to let us through?"
"Honestly, no, but we're thinking it might be useful if we scope it out a little. Blake believes that if the rumors of transportation are true, then we might be able to find the few who run it somewhere on the outskirts." Right as Yang finished, Blake stepped in.
"From what we know, there are a few lookout towers set up along the coast, overlooking the main base from the cliffside. There are also a few deeper in lining the boarders of the city, but I don't think they'd set up their 'escape route' so far from the others; from what we know the idea is to blend in with several other official excursions, and that requires sticking to their guns and excuses."
"Is that all, just a look?" Ruby felt her tension ease up a little. Running in without a plan hardly ever ended well, so knowing it was just a little scouting allowed one of her concerns to essentially shove off.
"Well, we can't exactly rush in without a plan." Weiss crossed her arms from beside Jaune, bearing a stern face that once upon a time used to frighten them both; Jaune himself seemed a little startled either way. "Plus, I highly doubt Salem will attack Atlas anytime soon." A small, yet surprisingly spicy smirk slipped into place across the heiress's lips. "I'm fairly certain they won't forget how we trumped them back at Haven."
That was true; plus, with that particular assault they'd also taken care of the stragglers of the White Fang, leaving the entire group disjointed. While it was possible other sets of the organization still lie in wait somewhere across Remnant, they were severely handicapped with Adam now defeated.
"Can we quit stalling now!" Nora called from the door, appearing somewhat irritated in her standard overly animated way. "I wanna see the magic lady you talked about!"
"Yes." Pyrrha stepped in, somewhat helping Ren settle the woman down. "We all do, but we'll get going once everyone's ready; right Jaune?"
Ruby watched with mild amusement as her fellow leader seemed to stutter - as though he'd been caught off-guard by that one. As he righted himself, Pyrrha offered a soft giggle, silent and partially hidden behind her calm expression.
"R-right, yeah!" He regained composure, straightening his stance as he relaxed. "We'll head out when Ruby's ready."
Jaune looked over, sending a small nod as Ruby herself allowed a smile to slip into place. He made it sound like it wasn't a big deal to wait, even as Nora whined from her place, crossing her arms with a huff. They group had earned another point towards calming Ruby's concerns, and while there were plenty of things to still panic about, they were all almost entirely based in a series of 'what-if' questions. It was with this in mind that she stood from her spot, taking Yang's hand and letting her older sister pull her fully to her feet.
"Okay, let's do it."
"That's the spirit!" Yang's optimism was refreshing to not only her younger sister, but for all of them as well.
With terrorists and Grimm, magic and curses, and even a pair of literal gods, their adventure weighed heavy on all of them. It was so incredibly draining to force themselves through, with each and ever event seeming to always take something away, rather than give. But even so they'd managed to pull through. Now all they needed was to get V back, and then they'd be a full party again.
And so they set off, to confront their supposed fate.
Oscar pulled a little closer to Ruby during the trip, and it was now, halfway through the forest, that he leaned in and whispered.
"Are we really going through with the question?"
"Yeah... why?" Ruby offered back, sneaking glances to the others ahead.
"Nothing, it's just..." He paused for a second, and his face fumbled through a series of disgruntled expressions. "I'm a bit spooked, you know? It was just a little while ago and I was on my aunt's farm. But here we are, about to ask a godly spirit if we can travel through time."
"Feels surreal, doesn't it?"
Both Oscar and Ruby refrained from jumping, even if their hearts skipped a beat. Maria merely smirked, having apparently found some sort of amusement in their near strokes.
"You don't have to whisper." Maria then nodded ahead, and facing forward, both were able to see the rest of the crew looking back and forth between one another on occasion. "They're having a ripe enough chat already; they won't hear a thing."
"How long have you been listening?" Oscar tried, only for the elderly woman to chuckle.
"What, afraid I'll get in the way of your date?" Oscar choked, but Maria kept talking, choosing to ignore him as she carried on. "Believe you me young-ins, there ain't nothing you can talk about that I haven't heard before, least of all your doubts." Oscar seemed to calm down a little at that, and Maria eased into a complacent smile. "Besides, you two just started with your little talk anyway; we haven't even gotten to any good bits yet."
"I'm just a little worried." Oscar offered, scratching at the back of his neck as he faced the front. "Everything is just so over-the-top now. It was easy to forget about it all before, with everything going on and all, but..."
"Being laid back and forced to slow down has you in a rut." Maria hummed with a nod. "Yes, I've seen this plenty of times before too. With the old man out of your head, you're finally alone with your thoughts again, and I'm betting the buggers are anything but relaxing. They're hammering home just how risky and extreme things have become, ain't they?"
"Yeah." That one word was probably the most certain sounding thing he'd said so far, free of stress and straight to the point.
"Well, try not to let those nasty thoughts overwhelm you. Believe me, once you let them dig their nails in, they won't ever let up. Everyone has those worries from time to time, and now that we've been dragged into all of this, that effect has doubled. But it still doesn't detract from all the simpler things in life."
Oscar let loose a miniature chuckle.
"I guess, but it's twice as hard to enjoy them when we know Salem could just-" He flicked his fingers outwards. "Brush us all aside at any moment."
"But she hasn't." Maria flicked the snow ahead with her cane, placing a small bit of hop in her walk. "That alone should say something. Laziness really is quite the powerfully villain, and so far I'm half convinced Salem is just sitting home all day hoping we all fall apart on our own."
"We're coming close though." Ruby didn't want to be the one to pop the bubble, but she was having a hard time not letting her imaginings roam free.
"And still we're breathing." Maria smirked, humming a quaint little melody. "Be careful you don't over-react about the bloom before the sprout. Worrying about things to come will only blind you to the here and now. We can whine about the future all we like once we get there, but for now it's best to focus on where we're already walking. Speaking of, it seems we've arrived."
Ruby came to a stop with the rest, and she saw the others ahead turn to face her. All of it was simultaneous, which still freaked her out a little, but she'd mostly gotten used to it at this point.
"This seems far enough." Yang started, wearing a face of honed focus. "Now then, does anyone have any objections about what we'll be asking?"
"The question is a little broad..." Weiss thought aloud, and her eyes seemed to distance themselves as she laid out her reasoning. "And it doesn't exactly relate to Ruby either."
"I thought we already discussed this?" Pyrrha was about to jump in when Weiss stopped her.
"I know, 'it doesn't matter if she goes back anyway', but what I mean is: what if it's possible, but it isn't our Ruby we read about in the journal? We'll get confirmation on time travel - which truthfully would be astounding - but we'll just end up assuming she goes back, when that might not be the case."
"You think she doesn't?" Blake questioned, only for Weiss to grumble a little.
"It's not that I think she doesn't, but I'm wondering if our assumption will have any effect on whether she can or not."
Yang proceeded to scratch her head, tilting it slightly as she bore an indecisive face.
"You lost me."
"What I'm saying is that I'm concerned on if we're going about this all wrong." Weiss's expression shifted again, although this one showed a solid amount of concern, almost downright dread. "What if time doesn't work like we think it does? We're running on the theory that it follows our rules of logic, but what if it doesn't? I mean, consider paradoxes for a moment: we assume they can't exist based solely on our understanding of cause and effect... but what if they could?"
Blake's eyes appeared to light up, and her whole appearance seemed to click into motion.
"I think I see what you're saying. If paradoxes could exist, then it would be like a wound, but for time."
"Exactly." Weiss relaxed a little, seeming more comfortable now that it was clear someone else shared in her idea. "And like any other injury, it should naturally heal. However, if time were to try and heal, what would it do to the paradox, or those involved with them?"
"Well..." Blake evened her voice, her eyes squinting a little as well. "In the case of a person or animal, the reaction would either close it up if it's a cut, or scar over if the opening is too severe."
"That's only for physical damage though." Weiss stiffened her posture as her voice dropped a level. "Consider an illness instead, either a virus or a general flu."
"In that case..." And therein the face of worry faded from mild curiosity to full blown shock. "A virus would run its course, but a flu... being a bacteria it would be targeted by the natural anti-bodies of the infected." She shot her head towards Weiss, who appeared to have fully mellowed out, and now sported a somber mask. "Are you implying a paradox would be treated the same?"
"If it was, what would happen to those involved with the paradox?"
"They'd be... destroyed." It seemed as though it was Blake's turn to lock her jaw in grimace, and soon after Yang apparently had enough.
"Woah woah woah, how about we run this back a bit." She crossed her arms with a restrained anger. "We just spent last night talking this over; don't tell me you're both chickening out now."
"We can't just ignore the risks." Weiss shot back, standing her ground with a scowl.
"Yeah, and what?" The blond firecracker threw her arms up. "You're quitting out now just because there's a chance we might all die?"
"And dying doesn't worry you?" The snowy heiress accused, only for Yang to groan.
"No, that's not it, but if you're so worried about this, why didn't you bring it up last night?"
"I never considered it last night. We were too busy trying to fathom what it meant if Ruby did start jumping through history."
"Okay, so are you saying this fear of potentially destroying the timeline is enough to stop us from asking if it's even possible."
"No, Yang, I'm not." Weiss took a deep breath, her look dropping the irritation it built up over the argument, building back up into one of worry. "I'm just... I'm afraid we might ask the wrong thing and mess everything up, okay? I... I don't want this to be another Adam situation."
"So that's it..." Yang seemed to ease up her ire. "You've hardly said a word about that since we got here."
"But it's always been on my mind, just like all my other failures."
"Weiss, you're not responsible for him." Yang dished out, her voice firm but careful. "He made his choice, and that's all there was to it."
"But what if I had something to do with it? What if I'd done something when we were little that made him run away? He left when I was just a girl, and soon afterwards the whole house began to fall apart, with my father reaching his limit and revealing the truth about what he thought of us."
"You were just a kid." Yang sighed as she stared pitifully. "You can't assume it was all your fault."
"I know but... what if-"
"Alright alright, settle down children." Maria stepped in to silence both, drawing perplexed faces from each. "Young adults today are so melodramatic." She shot a face to Yang. "Listen here dolly, your friend there has every right to worry about major decisions effecting everyone, and as her teammate it is your responsibility to be considerate of those worries."
"I guess, but-"
"Zip-it, I'm not done." Maria then turned to Weiss. "And as for you: while it's alright to consider the risks, you can't let them be the only thing you think of. If all you do is make yourself afraid about what terrible things could happen, you'll end up too scared to do anything. If you don't make a decision, the decision will choose for itself; and in my years of experience, that usually never ends up good for anyone."
"But I-"
"Nope." Maria stopped her. "I'm not having it." She then rolled her neck, stretching out the kinks and whatnot. "You lot really do need to get some therapy at some point, but for now all I ask is that you calm your socks before they slip off and run up the hills. People make choices, and no one choice is enough to drive anyone to villainy; it's a collection of terrible events that lead people down those roads. The best we can all do is take responsibility for the actions we ourselves take, and do our best with whatever we can."
Everyone was silent for a bit, and a quick look around provided Ruby the chance to see how everyone else felt. Most were uneasy, but understanding, and yet Pyrrha was smiling gently. It shouldn't have been so stand-out, and yet, it felt... nice to see the shadowy girl happy for once. Yes, she'd seen Pyrrha appear happy at points, but the look of peaceful acceptance spread across her features as a calming change, and one Ruby wished she'd see more often. Granted, that look was probably a common one for Jaune, who Ruby quickly spied as the champion's favorite of the group.
Why Pyrrha hovered around Jaune so much was up in the air, but knowing it made her happy was more than enough to make Ruby reflect on her own dynamic within the group.
"Now then, there's one person who you two never considered in your argument, and I say we should get her opinion on the matter before making any full decisions."
Everyone was facing her again, but this time she was ready, and with Maria's grin directly telling her the woman was on her side, Ruby gave her answer.
"I've made my suggestion earlier this morning, but if anybody has any other ideas, then I'm all for listening."
There was a heavy pause, but after a bit of waiting and right before Ruby was about to speak again, Weiss broke the air.
"Is there a way to combine two questions into one." Her face seemed mixed, but she carried on regardless. "Can we somehow ask both if time travel is possible along with if 'our Ruby' was the one we read about in the past?"
Huh... can we? Ruby never really considered the idea of slipping two questions into one. Then again, the rules so far made it certain that only one question could be asked. However, if they could string the two ideas together, would Jinn answer?"
"We can try." Ruby said, looking down to the lamp at her side. Carefully, she pulled it from its place on her belt, and stared intensely at the glistening metals and glass. "The worst she can do is tell us no, right?"
"But will that count as a used question?" Weiss tried, only to be stopped by Qrow oddly enough.
"It shouldn't." He closed his eyes, crossing his arms as he mulled it over. "Oz gave the others and I a rundown of the relics before, multiple times really. Invalid questions are supposedly denied, but the question is still available to ask. That's unless the rules have changed."
"So we're good?" Yang tried, only earning a huff from Qrow, which was then turned into a shrug.
"Not a clue, but we don't exactly have any other options, unless you want to just choose one question alone."
"No." Ruby gave, looking at the relic again. "We'll try it anyway, unless anyone's in objection."
Looking around offered no resistance, only a vague caution. It was strange after a second, as she then realized how forward her statement had been; it felt... weird. She buried those thoughts for later; they had done enough stalling, so it was time to get everything in gear. Ruby leaned in close, and whispered.
"Jinn."
As before the hazy blue smoke flooded from the lamp, and like a creeping fog it encompassed the surrounding area. After a little wait the sky-blue beauty floated above them yet again, and the accents of golden jewelry jingled with her every motion.
"Woah..." Nora coughed up softly, completely blown away by both the size and wonder of the mystical spirit. That wonder was then interrupted by her next - equally gentle spoken - observation. "She's naked..."
Jinn giggled peacefully, swaying her form a little as she rolled over to take on the appearance of one lying across a bed.
"As you can see, I don't very much have anything to cover, unlike your kind. I am, however, thankful for the implied compliment."
"Jinn." Ruby said, drawing the specter's attention. "I have a question."
"I know." She took on a sitting position this time, with crossed legs and her fingers linked across her lap. "You may ask away."
It's now or never.
"We've recently gained some particular information from a certain journal, and it has us wondering about a few things..."
"Yes?" Jinn's gaze was soft, comforting, and yet Ruby was locking up. She had the words ready, and yet for some reason...
They terrified her.
However that fear was dashed away as a warmth pressed on her shoulder, and looking over she saw Pyrrha at her side. The woman still carried with her that soft smile, but for some reason, seeing it made her feel much less alone. Strange, she'd felt alone despite being surrounded by friends, and in some ways she was, but Pyrrha wasn't like the others. The dreams, or rather, memories had begun to make her feel isolated from the rest, and yet here was Pyrrha, at her side to remind her that even now with these estranged circumstances of hers, she wasn't alone. With this in mind Ruby strengthened her resolved, and shot forth with the question.
"Is it possible I go back in time to become the woman mentioned in that journal?"
There was a tense moment of absolute soundlessness, and then Jinn cupped her own cheek, and her tone became curious.
"My, what a peculiar question." The spirit's face twisted slightly, but it appeared to grow... mournful? "Although, I don't suppose you'll much like the answer."
What?
Before Ruby could say anything, Jinn provided said answer.
"While that woman you read about is indeed you in a sense, you cannot go back through the streams of time. History is an ever-flowing river, and we are all merely the specs of dust caught up in its flow. Time can only move forward, and as such, it is impossible to move backwards into that which has already passed."
Ruby was silent, voiceless even as her mind tried to process it. Jinn then slipped on an apologetic face, floating down from her perch in the air and taking Ruby's hands into her own, staring sympathetically into her eyes.
"I am sorry, but what you wish is fundamentally impossible; Remnant simply cannot allow it." Jinn then let go, and returned to the sky. Ruby fell to her knees, and bit by bit she fought back the hammering despair beating at her back.
"Then... I've wasted it, our question... gone." Her breathing became laboured, and soon enough Pyrrha was shaking her. Jinn however sighed, and her nodding went unseen by the girl.
"Unfortunately so. I apologise, but that was indeed the last question. As you understand, you get three questions per century, and unfortunately, the eldest of the asked questions will not be recharged until three more years have passed, followed by another thirty for the next."
"Hold on." Yang shot through. "Three years?"
"Yes." Jinn bore a smirk, and this time Ruby was looking up to see it; eyes locked intensely to the blue wonder. "It's a century per question; once one is used the timer for that individual question begins."
"Wait a minute?" Blake hopped in. "We didn't ask about the questions."
"No, however questions pertaining to the rules of my power are freely asked, and information of such is given at my discretion."
"Then why didn't you tell us that earlier?!" Yang shot out angrily, to which Jinn chuckled playfully.
"You already know the answer to that."
"Huh?" Right as Yang said that, Maria then froze for a second, letting out a heavy 'ahh' after.
"We never asked." Maria then shook her head. "It's always something simple."
"Quite." Jinn came down again, her form now less overbearing. "Now then, I believe that does it."
"Wait." Weiss called out, seemingly having noticed something. "You never told us that rule before, what makes this time different?"
"That's a question, you know." Jinn offered a cheeky smirk. "But it's one I don't even need to answer; you can very well realize it yourself. Besides, on an interpersonal note I don't very much enjoy the sight of a grieving young woman, especially one so special."
The spirit of knowledge approached Ruby again, cupping the woman's cheek as she spoke caringly.
"Never lose hope, and never be afraid to fight through the challenges ahead; let nothing stand in your way, not even the immovable, or the impossible." She then leaned closer, her lips nearly gracing the young woman's ear. "Never forget: the soul remembers."
It was with those words that the ghost faded, returning to misty smoke and flowing back into the lamp. Ruby just sat there on her knees; her tears all dried up and staring into the distance. Her mind was all sorts of chaos right now, but her biggest wonder laid on the revelation provided by Jinn.
Time flows one-way, and going against that was just a fantasy, but even so, that left one thing uncertain.
In a sense...
What did that mean? If traveling back through time was impossible then what did Jinn mean by the woman in the journal being her 'in a sense'? It made no sense in that regard, which lead to Ruby breaking out some new ideas and wonderings. Was that woman like her, as in like-minded, or perhaps physically similar? And if this was the case, then why did she have dreams about being in V's place? The woman looked so similar to her mother, and yet when Ruby read her name letter-by-letter in the book, it had her mind set ablaze in a wildfire.
But that was just a fantasy, she couldn't go back.
"Ozpin!" Oscar's shout drew all eyes, and some fairly shocked expressions as well; even Ruby herself couldn't help but jump at the shout.
"He's back?!" Yang shouted questioningly, only for Oscar to stop, pause, and swear under his breath.
"N-no... sorry." He steadied himself, breathing in and out as he spoke; his eyes directed to the lamp before Ruby. "It's just that... he had a thought. No, no I... I think some more of his memories merged with mine."
"Oh..." Yang reeled herself back in. "Okay, so... what did you see?"
"It's Jinn." That earned him some wary looks. "It's... she never acted like this before. The one I seen in his memories... she was... different."
"How so?" Weiss slowly said, causing Oscar to scrunch up his face.
"I can't quite put my finger on it, but... she wasn't so... caring about anyone; not like she was with Ruby now, or even V before he left. Argh!" Oscar shook himself. "It doesn't make any sense; why am I learning this now?!"
"Easy there buddy." Jaune swooped in to save the day, holding onto Oscar as he calmed down. "Let's try not to panic just yet, okay?"
"How can we not though?!" The boy bit back, shooting an angry look to the blond knight. "Jinn just told us we were wrong, and not only that, she's acting weird according to Ozpin's experience!"
"Yeah, probably..." Jaune steadied the young man once again. "But getting angry over it won't help it make sense either."
Oscar looked about ready to fire back, but he stopped, and after his face cycled through probably every emotion known to man, he relented and settled on a more fatigued one.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know." Jaune admitted, taking a second to think before he continued; proposing a new idea as he let go of the boy. "How about we head back and rest; take a day off to process and organize everything."
"Smart." It was Qrow who spat that one, and when turning to face him everyone could see the flask just leave his lips. He screwed on the cap, slipped it back into place, and leveled a look. "Getting pissy in the woods will only attract Grimm; come on."
His tone was scratchy, and Ruby had a feeling her uncle was just as upset as the rest of them, only putting on a brave face for the sake of it. Even so, a break would be nice, and she herself especially needed some time alone to think, and hopefully sort some of the newly acquired info out. It was all cryptic, and barely made any sense when thought about, but then again...
What else was new?
Author's note
...
And here it is, the moment many of you were waiting for, and the very same moment I warned you all about.
Now, I'd like to make a few things clear before anyone goes trying to think of work-arounds for the fairly blatant problem here: this plot point was drummed up before volume nine was released, and as such, I will confirm that the Ever After will have no baring in this story - hell, it won't even be showing up.
Yes, that sounds kind of weird to explain, but volume nine introduced a fruit with time travel powers, so no, they will not be making an appearance here - no cop-outs that easily - but it might be mentioned offhandedly at some point - I haven't decided on that stupid detail. Now, I know this seems crazy, but the answer is actually fairly simple, albeit strange. I highly doubt any of you have the imagination to reach far enough outside of the box to find it though, but you're free to try. Now, there is a fairly solid hint hidden in this chapter to probably put you on the right track; a single word which should feel familiar in a sense - if you recall some particular information from way earlier in the story.
As an extra hint though, I'll have you recall what V's 'other self' said about Jinn. For those who forgot, here's a quick refresher: she cannot lie. Half-truths, at times yes, but pure on lies, no.
To be honest, I kind of feel a bit bad leaving you with what seems like an impossible puzzle, but it really is fairly simple. Try not to hate me when the end comes and you learn what it is, okay? The end-game will explicitly reveal everything important, so just hold on until then if it seems too bonkers. I do hope however that some of you figure it out - that's usually the fun of mysteries anyway - and I will be giving a few more hints later.
Whether you guess right or wrong, note I won't comment on it.
Until next chapter.