Dragon and Sword Master: First of all, I want to thank you all for the kind words coming from the last chapter. They really mean a lot to me. For all of those wanting to see more of this, then your wish has been granted! The only interesting thing that happened between the last chapter and this one in my real life was the fact that my brother got married but other than that, nothing new was on my front. And I have made some edits to chapter 3 of this story, seeing as I didn't realize the small errors that were made before publishing it.
My apologies! It's small, simple fixes so you don't have to re-read the previous chapter if you as the reader don't want to, and I leave the decision in your hands! Guess I need to take time to re-read my own work sometimes… *shakes head*
With that, I'll let you get to the chapter. See you all at the end and enjoy!
For the Guest Reviewers that asked me about my friend, MercenaryGrax: Grax is doing as best as he can despite his multiple issues with his health. His computer has died on him and his fingers are too big for the phone so he doesn't want to text to much or write on his phone, but he is still alive and doing well as far as I know.
Furthermore, I have heard the news and I'm saddened at both the closing of Rooster Teeth by WB and hope that DillianGoo can acquire the IP and work his magic on it like he and his crew have done with various shorts in the Genshin Impact Community. And on an even sadder note...we lost a great man at the start of March this year in the name of Akira Toriyama. One of the greatest Mangakas of our time. My prayers go out to his friends and family.
Card 04: An A-Maze-ing Good Time (Part 2)
"I think I've asked everything that I wanted to ask," Blake said after what seemed like thirty minutes had passed between the three as they asked question after question; Blake about Ruby and the cards in general while Ruby asked about Blake's weapon and semblance. She wanted to ask the girl about her past as well but thought that would be an invasion of privacy. Getting off the floor, she dusted the back of her pants up as she then offered Ruby a hand. "So…next room?" she asked as Ruby nodded.
"Probably a good idea," she replied before checking the time on her scroll again. "I'm still amazed that time doesn't move as fast here. I know if it wasn't for this space here, I'd still be passed out…" Ruby admitted. "Anyways…let's go," she said before standing next to Blake and mirroring her actions as she also brushed the dust off the back of her skirt. Once she had done that, the duo was standing in front of the pathway that had the two books that started the whole 'twenty questions' between the three. "Ready?"
"Ready." Blake replied as the two headed towards the next room. Once they crossed the threshold and noticed the room behind them go into darkness, they were on guard. A few seconds later, they both heard the small chime and relaxed just a bit seeing as they had succeeded in that moment. However, Blake was still on her guard as she remembered how she had accidentally set off a trap while she had been carrying Ruby. "Well…that's one hurdle down. Now…"
"Blake, please don't jinx us," Ruby requested as Blake frowned lightly at that though Ruby didn't notice before turning to Kero. "Are you sure you can't connect to the Maze Card and ask what's going on Kero? I have two Sakura Cards; shouldn't that be enough to give you some sort of magic boost?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, The Windy is under the domain of Yue and the boost I get from The Flower isn't enough for me to connect to The Maze. Sorry Ruby," Kero replied. He had tried as soon as Ruby had woken up but to no avail. Ruby nodded and let out a light sigh at that but waved his apology off, saying that there was nothing to apologize for since he had at least tried. After that small conversation, the two stepped into the next room. Once they did so, the entrance behind them vanished which caused Blake's instincts to go on high alert. She really wished that they had brought their weapons with them…
"Oh what now…?" Ruby groaned out as she looked around wondering what was going to happen next. Seeing the room having several bookshelves along with bookends that looked like wicked dragons from her fantasy books as well. 'Those aren't frighteningly cool at all…' she thought before noticing a small indentation in the middle of the room. 'What is that for…?'
"Ruby?" Blake asked, causing said girl to jump lightly as she was broken out of her observations. "Sorry…didn't mean to spook you, but do you have any idea what we need to do to move on?"
"No…you're fine. I might have an idea, but I need to see something first. There's a small indentation in the middle of the room and something is telling me that there's going to be a puzzle. Either that, or a small fighting zone. I wouldn't mind a fighting zone…" Ruby muttered to herself as she headed to the center of the room. A few moments later, a groan came from her. "Ugh…it is one of those. Kero, when we get out of here, I'm lodging a formal complaint against the Maze Card. Lights out puzzles suck…"
"Lights out puzzle?" Blake asked, confused as to what Ruby meant as she looked up from above. "What's that?" the ravenette then asked, tilting her head to the side as she waited for either one of them to answer. It sounded like something out of one of their games. Ruby was examining the nine tables that were currently out, so Kero decided on explaining for their friend.
"A Lights out puzzle is a puzzle, most often in video games, where the player has to either light all the items in question, in this case torches, or turn them all off. The reason it's more complicated than it sounds is because each one you turn on or off makes the surrounding ones turn on or off as well. There's some that have a move limit as well and if we go over that then there is a penalty or all the torches turn off and you have to restart. At least this is the easiest version of one having it be a three-by-three grid," Kero explained.
"Still a pain!" Ruby cried out as she looked for anything to explain what was going on. "Okay card, what's going on here…" she muttered. She wasn't expecting a response from the card in question based on what Kero said, but it still helped vent out her frustrations while deciding on what to do.
"W-H-Y-S-H-O-U-L-D-I-A-N-S-W-E-R-T-O-Y-O-U?" came up causing the silver-eyed woman to glare at the set of books that made up said question.
"Because I'm the successor to Sakura Kimimoto and the new Card Captor. Because I'm going through your stupid maze, following your rules, and playing your stupid games! And you can't just give us a hint as to where to start or anything you useless waste of space?!" Ruby exclaimed, annoyed at the sass she was getting from the card in question.
"Um Ruby? Maybe we shouldn't insult the card that has us trapped and at its mercy right now?" Blake suggested, worried.
"Y-O-U-S-H-O-U-L-D-L-I-S-T-E-N-T-O-Y-O-U-R-F-R-I-E-N-D," the Maze Card spelled out, causing Ruby to narrow her eyes at the books in front of her before they went back to their spots on the bookcase. Mumbling some choice words that Yang would have been alarmed at hearing coming from her younger sister, Ruby decided to not rise to the bait from the card though it was clear that she was still annoyed.
"Ruby?" Blake asked, concerned.
"It's fine, I'm thinking. Kero…do you think you can maybe help me out here?" Ruby requested after reassuring Blake that she was fine.
"Well...usually when I run into this puzzle in the games I play, I usually start from the center," Kero stated. "Starting from the corners usually causes me to have to leave the room and reset the puzzle," he added a few seconds afterwards.
"Alright. Next question. How are we going to light the torches?" she asked as Kero looked around, not seeing anything. Ruby looked around as well before noticing a small pedestal with what seemed to be a fine red powder. "Burn Dust?" she muttered.
"I-H-A-V-E-G-I-V-E-N-Y-O-U-T-H-E-T-O-O-L-S-T-O-C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E-T-H-E-T-A-S-K-B-E-F-O-R-E-Y-O-U," The Maze Card spelled out for Ruby and Kero. "P-R-O-V-E-T-O-M-E-T-H-A-T-I-S-H-O-U-L-D-R-E-T-U-R-N-T-O-M-Y-T-R-U-E-F-O-R-M, N-E-W-C-A-R-D-C-A-P-T-O-R," after that, the books vanished one by one.
"Um Kero...are you sure this isn't how the Maze Card usually acts?" Blake asked, spooking the two of them since they had forgotten that she was there for a few moments. As both guardian and female looked sheepish for a moment, Kero turned towards her.
"As I explained before, not at all. I don't know what caused this personality shift to occur. And until Ruby 'tames' the card, we cannot ask about it either," he explained with a light sigh. "Guess all we can do is play its games and hope for the best."
"About that. Do you think...maybe I can try it? I may not be a gamer like the two of you are, but..."
"But?" Ruby asked, curiosity shining in her silver eyes.
"It sounds like something I can do."
"While I appreciate the offer Blake...this is all my fault. I should be doing it," Ruby countered. "And...you've done so much already while I was sleeping. It's the least I can do after all that's happened so far," Ruby added a few seconds later. She then took a few pieces of burn dust and headed towards the center of the grid of torches, the three-by-three structure looking innocent in nature in all of this. As soon as Ruby touched the dust, four bookshelves popped out of nowhere.
"Ruby!" both Kero and Blake exclaimed as they were pushed away from the puzzle in question.
"I'm okay!" Ruby exclaimed once the surprise died down. 'For now...' she thought, not wanting to worry the two as she turned back towards the puzzle in question. Taking the burn dust in her hand, Ruby carefully moved to the center and lit it as Kero had suggested. As the torch lit up, Ruby stared at the flame light up successfully and waited to see if any of the others lit up as well, just in case.
Seeing that the torch above her, below her and to the left and right of her also light up, the brunette let out a small breath she didn't realize she was holding. It looked as if The Maze was holding true to the rules of the puzzle which Ruby was grateful for. Looking around, Ruby could see the bookshelves more clearly now, though the titles on the spines of the books suggested nothing that Ruby would willingly read. Maybe for an assignment, but definitely not for fun. 'Alright now…what's next?' she thought. She wished that she could bounce ideas off the Guardian of the Cards, but apparently The Maze thought that was cheating as she couldn't hear either Blake or Kero…or anything else but the fire crackling away.
Blake was indeed worried for her friend but knew that she couldn't do anything at the moment. Glaring lightly at the cage that was created, all she could do was wait...even if that wasn't her strongest suit. Looking up, she noticed something over the cage. "Um…Kero? What's that?" she asked as she pointed towards the top of the cage. Focusing on it for a few moments, the ravenette noticed that it seemed to be some sort of timer and that it was counting down to something.
"Seeing as how The Maze has been trying to kill us ever since we got here, probably nothing good." Kero replied. As soon as Kero said that, Blake started hearing the shelves creaking. However, it was such a soft sound that it seemed like only she heard that. Looking at the shelves, she was sure that she started to see them move…if only just a little. Looking back up at the clock, she could see that the timer had gone down to 02:50 and was continuing to count down. As she connected the dots, her eyes widened before she turned towards Kero.
"You just had to jinx it, didn't you?" she deadpanned as Kero turned towards her, the look of confusion in his eyes.
"What did I do?!"
"The walls! They're closing in around her!" she shouted, surprised that Ruby hadn't heard her or responded ever since the shelves had trapped her within that puzzle. "If we don't do something then Ruby could be crushed!" she added. Blake was trying her best to remain calm though failing as her nerves betrayed her. She didn't realize that her cat ears were twitching underneath the bow covering them.
"How did you even hear that?" Kero asked, not sure how Blake had heard them when even he hadn't heard the walls moving inwards.
"That isn't important right now. What is important is trying to get Ruby out safely and not smeared on the walls," Blake retorted, albeit sounding a little harsher than she would have liked. Kero narrowed his eyes for a bit before nodding. He'd be bringing this topic back up later; of that he was sure. "Now then…any ideas?" she asked.
(Break)
Unbeknownst to Ruby and Blake's plight, Weiss was pondering what to do now that she had pretty much nothing else going on. She was currently just wandering around the academy and familiarizing herself with the location while also still thinking about what Yang had said about older sisters. 'There must be more than one type of 'older sister then…' she thought. However, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and bumped into someone. Biting her tongue to stop her first response that would be full of anger and spite, Weiss looked at the person she bumped into.
"I'm sorry..." was the voice that Weiss heard as she was reorienting herself. Recognizing the voice, Weiss opened her eyes and stared into two emerald orbs filled with concern. "Are you okay?" the melodic voice of Pyrrha Nikos asked as she offered a hand to Weiss. The auburn-haired woman knew that this was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. She silently worried that by bumping into her, then Pyrrha worried that she would suffer some sort of consequences for doing so. However, she didn't need to worry as she heard words coming from the heiress's mouth.
"Y-you're Pyrrha Nikos..." Weiss exclaimed, silently glad that she didn't tell the person that bumped into her to go take a proverbial hike as she took the offered hand. "Youngest champion of the Mistral Tournament four times in a row, with barely a scratch against your aura!" Weiss exclaimed before coughing lightly. "Sorry...I got a little excited." she admitted, feeling her cheeks burning in embarrassment.
"I never mind meeting a fan, but are you okay?" she asked again, mentally hiding the fact that she was being put on a pedestal yet again because of her fame. When she came to Beacon Academy, she wanted to leave her past and fame behind her...but apparently that wasn't going to be the case.
Weiss wanted to lie and say that she was hurt, just to see what her idol would do, but had a feeling that it wouldn't be fair to the person that she idolized. "I'm fine, though I thank you for asking," she replied courtly. "I should be apologizing to you all things considered," the heiress replied, knowing that she probably wouldn't have done so if it wasn't anyone else. "I assume you were looking around and trying to familiarize yourself with everything?" she then asked. Getting a nod as a response, Weiss then asked if she wanted a partner.
Pyrrha thought about it for a few seconds before letting out a nod. She was reserved about Weiss Schnee, but she seemed to be nice. While she was apparently a fan of hers, the young woman could also tell that Weiss was doing her best to not bombard her with praise and/or questions as well. Pyrrha had a suspicion that this was most likely due to the fact that Weiss knew what it was like to have that happen. "If you don't mind...I would like that," she replied.
(Break)
With fifteen seconds left on the clock, the walls surrounding Ruby finally lowered, causing both winged guardian and hidden faunus to let out a sigh of relief. While Ruby was busy solving the puzzle inside the box of death, Blake and Kero were doing their best to get her out of it: prying at the corners of the box, using stacks of books to try and get inside, and they thought about trying to ram it from the outside before thinking better of it.
"Ruby! Oh thank goodness you're safe!" Kero exclaimed as he flew towards her and gave her a version of a hug. Even though he hadn't known her for long, if she had died there then it would have been all his fault. Hearing a soft giggle come from behind them, Kero turned and noticed Blake who had a smile on her face.
"And here I thought you couldn't smile or laugh..." Kero commented teasingly before turning back to Ruby. "Since we're no longer courting death after that harrowing experience, we should move on," he suggested. The flying bear heard something moving from behind Ruby as he hugged her and glad to see that she was alive.
Blake also heard the sound and looked around before seeing that a new passage opened up. She suggested that they should head through it before the card decided on creating another puzzle for them to solve, one that would probably be harder. With that thought in mind, the trio headed through the darkened path, the ding of having a correct path a sound that they were grateful to hear.
"So...once we get out of here, what happens next?" Blake asked, turning her amber eyes to the most knowledgeable one there.
"Ruby will have to summon the Sealing Wand and return the spirit of The Maze into its true form," Kero explained. "It would then look like a card similar to The Windy and The Flower," he added.
"And…how do I do that?" Ruby asked.
"Unfortunately, I can't help you there. The words to summon the wand and seal the card spirit differ from Card Captor to Card Captor," Kero replied as he answered Ruby's question, causing the girl to frown lightly at that. "Sorry Rubes, I don't have all the answers."
"No…I kinda figured as much," Ruby said with a light sigh. "Nothing worth doing right is easy after all," she replied before they came to another room; the girls were shocked to see an exit so quickly. Blake was instantly on guard, not trusting the Maze with anything at the moment. Just simply walking out like that? Yeah, she doubted that. Even her mother would have commented on her mistake of being gullible if she took this at face value.
"Blake, it's the exit!" Ruby exclaimed, not knowing what was going through the ravenette's mind at that moment. Ruby was just about to rush towards the exit before Blake grabbed the back of her hood, stopping her in her tracks.
"What was that for, Blake?!" Ruby exclaimed after getting her breath back, her silver eyes glaring a hole into her friend. They were right there at the exit, and she wanted to get out of here! She was quite sure that her sister was looking for her. The budding Card Captor also had a feeling that her sister was going to be quite annoyed after finding her too. They still had an initiation exam to get through as well!
"Something's not right here. With how often The Maze has been trying to kill us after trapping us in here, this could be a trick to get us to lower our guard," Blake explained after letting go of Ruby's cloak. "And I'm surprised that Kero didn't say anything either about that," she added while looking around to see if there was anything to throw and seeing nothing before frowning lightly. She also saw Kero frown lightly as he noticed the same thing.
"Maybe…I can summon The Flower then? Her petals could possibly activate any traps if there are any?" Ruby suggested. She honestly wanted to just get out of here; plus they didn't know how much time had passed between the time they started this crazy, impromptu adventure and the time outside. Ruby noticed Kero taking on a thoughtful look for a few seconds as he pondered this.
"That…could possibly work actually," Kero muttered out loud, causing Ruby to nod and then ask what she needed to do. "Lady Sakura would usually grab the key and then say the phrase to unlock it. But since it's going to be different from yours…" he said, reminding Ruby of what he said earlier which caused the young girl to nod.
"Right. So…just grab the key then…" she muttered to herself. 'Mom…give me strength' she thought before closing her eyes. After doing so, a soft glow surrounded Ruby as words appeared in her Mind's Eye:
Shine like A Beacon within the Darkness…Release!
Opening her eyes with determination brewing through them, she grasped the key tightly in her grasp. It was almost as if she was going to break the chain as she confidently said the words that appeared to her. The effect was instantaneous as the key glowed a semi-ominous crimson color that caused Blake to look away due to how bright it was. Once the light died down, Ruby was holding a ruby red staff with two bands of silver at the top of it. On top of that was an open rose petal in black with the middle petals a steel silver and the top petals a dark crimson color. "Woah..." Ruby breathed out in awe of what it looked like as she admired the new (to her) weapon.
Kero sighed after hearing that. "Ruby, stop ogling your Sealing Wand and focus. We have a job to do," he stated, hovering in front of the ravenette as she continued to look over the staff. Blake was interested in the staff as well but was keeping an eye more so on the girl instead. A small smile graced her face as she saw Ruby acting so happy about something so simple.
"Sorry…but…it's shiny…" Ruby exclaimed as Blake couldn't help the small speck of laughter come out from that while Kero could only shake his head in response. Before Kero could repeat his request for her to focus, Ruby's silver eyes narrowed as another phrase came to her in her mind's eye. Grabbing The Flower Card out of her cloak, she threw it in front of her staff, the rose petals touching the four corners of the card.
As your Beacon, Shine forth and do as I request! Flower!
From where the petals touched the card, crimson light burst forth before enveloping the card in a ruby light. A few seconds later, the child-like spirit of the Flower was flying around the Card Captor in training. Resting on top of Ruby's cloaked head, the young woman couldn't help but feel the warmth that came from the card as she did that. However, she felt a little drained from summoning her first card. "Flower, can you please use some petals and guide them to the entrance? We're not sure if there are any traps there or anything along those lines.
"Certainly, Miss Ruby! I can do that for you!" the spirit exclaimed before dashing forward towards the lighted exit. As soon as the spirit touched the sunlight coming from the windows near the exit, a series of books rose up out of nowhere with chains wrapped around them in a crisscross pattern. Five locks then appeared on top of where the chains intersected. Her task complete, The Flower flew back to Ruby's side before transforming back into her card form.
"Thank you Flower, you did your job amicably," Ruby stated as she pocketed the card before the trio walked towards the barricade. They weren't sure what was going to happen, but they knew that they had to go through it. If not, then they'd be trapped in here for who knows how long. Once they stepped close enough, books came out from the shelves to form sentences once more. Ruby brought her staff up in a defensive stance in front of her while Blake got into a defensive stance of her own. She wished that she had Gambol Shroud with her, but they wouldn't get their weapons back until the start of the initiation exam. Until then, she would have to make do with just her fists and her previous training.
"F-I-V-E-R-I-D-D-L-E-S-S-T-A-N-D-B-E-T-W-E-E-N-Y-O-U-A-N-D-F-R-E-E-D-O-M. C-A-N-Y-O-U-A-N-S-W-E-R-T-H-E-M-A-L-L, C-A-R-D-C-A-P-T-O-R? O-R-A-R-E-Y-O-U-A-N-D-Y-O-U-R-F-R-I-E-N-D-D-O-O-M-E-D-T-O-B-E-I-N-M-Y-W-A-L-L-S-F-O-R-E-V-E-R?"
"You expect us to just answer your riddles and be done with it? What are you hiding?" Blake accused as she narrowed her amber eyes at the books in front of them. After all of the events that the card had put them through, this seemed too easy. Something had to be going on here…but for the life of her, she couldn't fathom as to what. She, however, didn't get any response from the card that had trapped them.
"Blake…let's just answer these riddles and then get out of here. We know the card has some plans for us, but we wouldn't be huntresses-in-training if we couldn't handle the unknown," Ruby said softly before heading towards the locks. "Alright Maze Card. Do your worst! I handled your death traps and your riddles don't scare me!" she proclaimed as five scrolls of parchment paper appeared in midair alongside a quill to write the answer to each.
"Alright now…first riddle," Ruby mused as she read the riddle out loud.
Open me and peer within my halls
Explore a land bound by no walls
Though this world fits in your hand
And you needn't leave where you stand
After reading the riddle, Ruby thought about it for a few minutes before a look of understanding crossed her eyes and she let a smirk grace her features. "You're a book of Fiction," she commented before writing down the answer. Once she finished writing down her answer, the parchment of paper rolled itself up and turned into a key before going into the first lock. The padlock turned green after the key was inserted and the lock disappeared. "One down…four to go," Ruby muttered to herself, hoping that both Blake and Kero would be able to help her with the remaining four if it came to that.
(Break)
As Ruby and Blake were taking on the final task from the Maze Card, three people were on a cliff overlooking the forest that would house the upcoming Entrance Exam for the first year students. Beside Ozpin on his right was his faithful companion, Glynda Goodwitch, and on his left was the good doctor, Cyan Truwood. The blue-haired medic had come to Beacon Academy two years ago and quickly revamped their medical facilities.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Oz? This gives faunus students more of an advantage than having it done during the day like planned," Glynda said as she stood next to him. She was worried that only a handful of students would make it through and join for the year. Even if she had a reputation for being a hard ass, she wanted the students to have a fair chance of getting into the academy.
"I don't think it's unfair at all Glyn. While Faunus kind do have night vision, humans can replicate it to a degree with Burn Dust or Aura. Sure they're burning through a resource, but that's the price they have to pay before being thrown into the deep end," Cyan replied as she smirked at the blonde, showing off her shark-like teeth. "Plus, if anyone gets in over their head, we have staff on hand to get them out of it. Course I'm gonna be busy either way most likely," she said with a light sigh.
"I agree. It may seem unfair at first, but then again life isn't fair either, and this is the first of many lessons that they'll learn. If they cannot adapt to the situation..." Ozpin said before looking over the cliff once more, his brown eyes narrowed at something in the distance. 'No...it cannot be. Can it? They should be locked up in my office…'
"Oz? / Boss?" both women asked, concern laced in their tone as they noticed the one male trail off.
"It's nothing. 'for now,' he replied before apologizing about worrying the two of them like that. "Anyways, we are getting close to starting. Let the students know that we are closing off the Emerald Forest for the night and that anyone not participating in initiation will be punished. And gather up the student hopefuls and let them know that we'll be starting soon. Cyan, if you could prepare for any students that may be coming in please. And if any student assists you, make a note of it, and I will personally excuse them from all classes tomorrow," he requested of the two as both women nodded.
"Got it boss. I'll let you know if I ask any student to help me tonight," Cyan replied though she couldn't help but shake the feeling that Ozpin was hiding something from the both of them. Letting out a small sigh, she looked over the cliffside one last time before turning around and heading inside. She had a job to do, and while the shark faunus didn't like it, she had no business to pry into any secrets that her boss had.
(Break)
Ruby finished writing down her answer for the last riddle, sighing lightly as she saw it glow green as well and the last lock open. Some of them had been hard and yet she hadn't needed to ask Kero or Blake for help, which actually surprised her. Looking towards the now free exit, Ruby turned towards the duo with a smirk on her face. "You know…something tells me that if I had gotten even one answer wrong, then we would have to have fight a dragon or something like that. Though now that I think about it, that actually sounds kinda cool," she thought out loud. Blake just shook her head at that.
"Only you would think fighting a mythical beast such as a dragon would be cool Ruby Rose," Kero deadpanned as Blake laughed at what Kero said.
"I still can't believe you can do that."
"Hey!" Blake replied, a little annoyed with Kero's comment there before she, too, looked at the exit. "So…now what? I assume Ruby has to capture The Maze Card, but what does that actually mean?" she asked. The ravenette had tried reaching for the book of Sakura but had found that it had gone missing which honestly saddened the bookworm for a bit.
"It means exactly that. The Maze Card will be in a period of weakness while between this maze ending and the current one being formed, which is the only time it can be caught. Otherwise the cycle would just continue," Kero explained.
"And um…how do I do that, exactly?" Ruby asked, unsure of what to do here. The Windy and The Flower had stayed with her after she had let the other cards become scattered across the academy (and maybe even Vale itself) so she wasn't certain what to do in order to capture the card.
"Just like with summoning your capture staff and releasing The Flower, the words will come to you. At least, I'm pretty sure that will happen," Kero answered as both girls looked at him. "What? I may be the Guardian of the Cards, but I don't know everything," he replied, annoyed at their staring. "Anyways, don't you two have something to do later tonight? While time may move slowly in here, it still moves. I don't think whoever is head of the school will allow you to retake this exam of yours if you miss it."
Blake's eyes widened at that and nodded. "Ruby, he's right. We should probably get out of here so that we can get accepted. I'd rather not go back to…" at that, she stopped what she was saying and quickly shook her head. "Never mind. But we really should get going," she stated as both Kero and Ruby looked at Blake for a second, confused at the ravenette's actions. Mentally shrugging, they filed it away for now and vowed to ask her about it later.
Heading towards the exit, she saw that Blake had stepped through already. Taking a deep breath before letting it out, the future card captor followed in Blake's shoes. Once her feet touched the grass outside, she heard Kero shouting. Turning back towards the building, Ruby was surprised to see that the space around the library building was slowly warping and taking shape, as if it was folding in on itself.
'This is not how I wanted my first adventure to go mom…but something tells me that I'm going to be okay with all of this,' she thought as words sprang to her mind. Raising the crimson staff above her head, she started to bring it down in a practiced motion as if she was using Crescent Rose. Once it was parallel with her face, she stopped her momentum and held the staff there as light started to form from the top of her staff.
Be drawn towards the Beacon and find Safety in my Silver Light! Sakura Card!
As soon as those words had been spoken, tendrils of light headed towards the warped space and started wrapping around it. Before long, the tendrils of light were pulling the mass back towards Ruby and her staff. Once near enough, the Maze Card's true physical form started to appear and a few moments later, a new card drifted down towards Ruby's out-stretched hand. Once the light died down, Ruby was able to see the card in its glory before quickly signing her name on it and claiming it as she had with The Windy and The Flower.
"And that makes three…" Kero muttered softly, a smile on his face as he did so before going still and falling to the ground as he sensed someone coming towards the doors to the library.
"Excuse me, Miss Rose? As much as I would like to have you check that book out, potential students who have yet to take Initiation for this year cannot check anything out. Once you get your student ID; however, I'll be glad to help you check it out," the librarian matron explained, causing Ruby to frown lightly as she wanted to talk to Kero some more, but understood and nodded as such before heading back to the matron and handing her the Sakura Book. "Thank you for understanding Miss Rose. I do wish you the best," she added before heading back inside. A few moments later, and Kero's body vanished as well.
"Huh?" Blake asked as she noticed the plush bear now missing.
"Oh right…I forgot about that with everything that was going on," Ruby started to say before looking around and noticing that no one was around. "Since Kero only has a finite amount of magic right now, he can't stray far from the Sakura Book. If he does, then he'll vanish. He told me that as I collect more cards and awaken more of my innate magic, then he'll be able to stray further and further away.
"…oh," was all that Blake could reply with, clearly not expecting something like that.
"Yeah…oh," Ruby replied as an awkward silence came over the two of them before an announcement came over the speaker that first years were to meet in front of the Forbidding Forest. The announcement also said they had to be there in fifteen minutes or that they would have to vacate the premises in the morning. Hearing that announcement, Ruby yelped lightly as she wasn't expecting that which caused Blake to laugh. "It's not funny Blake!" she exclaimed before pouting lightly at hearing Blake laugh harder after saying that.
"It actually is…at least a little. Anyways, the least I can do is show you to where the Forbidden Forest is. Though after that, we're probably going to be on our own. Think you can handle a little horror?" she teasingly asked as Ruby just shook her head at that.
"Haven't I already?" she asked before pulling the new card out and looking at it for a few moments. Deciding not to get lost in the green and pink hedges that made up several walls that anyone would probably get lost in, Ruby placed the card in her pocket with the others. Gripping the key that was now hanging from her neck, she placed it underneath her shirt and ran after Blake.
"What took you so long, slowpoke?" she asked before seeing Ruby disappear for a second before reappearing right in front of her, causing her to subconsciously jump backwards and into a stance for a few moments.
"What was that?"
"What was what? Come on, we need to head towards the Forbidden Forest," Blake replied as she changed the subject. Deciding that it could wait until after initiation, Ruby just nodded and started following Blake to their destination. She'd have to tell her new friend that she hated being called a slowpoke, especially when her semblance was based around speed.
'Still though…the headmaster didn't say what exactly the Entrance Exam was going to be. With it being at night, something tells me that it will be just as hard as what we went through with The Maze Card.' Ruby thought to herself as she followed Blake; their destination: The Forbidden Forest!
Dragon and Sword Master: And that ends the two-parter arc of the Maze Card as well as introducing Ruby's 'magical girl phrases' to unlock the Capture Staff, how to use a card as well as to how she is going to go about capturing cards as well. I hope all of you enjoy them but if not…well then darn.
Next chapter will start the Initiation Exam / Entrance Exam, I promise. I'm pretty sure that I've used both interchangeably at this point, and I do apologize if I've confused anyone by doing that. With it being held at night, things are definitely going to be interesting.
FireSamurai: *deadpan* …As soon as you figure out what you're doing.
Dragon and Sword Master: Shut up!