Apologies for a delayed upload- internet was wonky yesterday.
Anyways, please enjoy this chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Ruby was running at a full sprint down one of the forested acre's dirt paths, her diminutive teammates held tightly in her arms. Little was nestled in the hood of Ruby's cloak, doing their absolute best to try and keep an eye on the Cat, though the bumpy ride made that a little difficult. Eventually, the red-hooded Huntress's steam ran low and she had to come to a stop, taking a seat on a nearby fallen log and just panting. Yang looked up at her sister with the deepest concern. She noticed Ruby's eyes first when the smoke cleared, not really caring about the Cat's timely intervention until the Herbalist was swallowed up by the very ground he was standing on. If Yang had met a double of herself in those fumes, Ruby must've as well. Whatever that copy said, it must've gotten to her pretty badly.
"Ruby?" Yang asked.
"Ah, thank the Tree I got there when I did!" the Curious Cat interrupted, practically drowning out Yang's concern, "I'm so pleased the four of you are still the four of you. Not always so in the Ever After. Didn't I say to let me handle the talking though?"
"You're pleased? You're PLEASED?!" Weiss fumed, "You're the one who ditched us for a bug! We only ended up in there trying to find you! So really it's your fault we ended up meeting a delirious caterpillar who tried to DRUG US!"
"Are we forgetting he was swallowed by a damn hole in the ground?!" Blake asked.
"No, I was just about to bring that up! What happened?!"
"Ohhh that is exactly the reaction Alyx had when she saw someone return to the Ever After for the first time," the Cat answered calmly, licking their paw, "But I tell you, it's not how it seems! Well, I suppose it is, but not the way you think unless you think like Alyx which I think you do."
"...that's it, no, if I hear one more nonsensical riddle from them, I'm going to go insane," Weiss muttered.
"My riddles are perfectly sensible to Afterans! And sanity's definition does differ on one's perception. Have you ever considered that to people here, you're the insane ones?"
"That-! I-!" Weiss tried to argue, but for the first time this fickle feline had a point.
"See? I know what I'm talking about. Curiosity can lead to wisdom on quite a number of topics," the Cat slyly smirked. They then looked up to one of the nearby mushrooms and hopped atop it, before jumping from mushroom to mushroom, disappearing behind a bush.
"Um...shouldn't we go after them?" Little asked, patting Ruby on the cheek.
"I...I don't..." Ruby started, only for the Cat to reappear, peeking their head out from behind the bush.
"We're here!" the Cat announced. Ruby took a deep breath, steadying herself before she stood back up and walked after the Cat. The red-clad Huntress pushed aside some low hanging branches as she moved forward, the Cat happily trotting along in front of her before they exited the treeline entirely. The Cat and their followers now found themselves on the shores of a massive lake, seemingly right in the middle of the acre, with giant lily pads slowly floating across the still waters. Some of the pads were empty, moving back to shore, while others were occupied with various denizens of the Ever After, from the game pieces and toy soldiers of the Red Kingdom, to Jub-Jub Birds and Hunter Mice from the Shores, and even creatures Ruby and the others hadn't met yet, like bug people made of colored class and individuals made of various forms of candy and sweets. Those lily pads were lazily floating towards a grand, spiraling structure in the middle of the lake that was topped off with a glowing pink, full blooming lotus flower. It was a beautiful sight to behold, so peaceful and tranquil. One of the empty lily pads floated up to the shore near the Cat, RWBY, and Little, with the first happily jumping aboard.
"Better run, Huntress. Don't want to wait, do we?" the Cat asked. Ruby took note of their transportation, thinking it was kinda like a weird natural ski-lift and raced aboard the giant lily pad, the water beneath it barely rippling as she boarded the makeshift raft. Once all were aboard, the pad began floating back towards the lotus-topped building.
"So, Cat?" Blake asked, "Mind explaining how getting sucked into the ground 'isn't how it seems?'"
"Ah that. Of course, of course. When we break or we've done what we were made to do, we're called back. But Herb...poor old Herb, his heart was too weak to listen. So I gave him a bit of mine," the Cat explained, a paw patting their chest.
"Is he...dead?" Ruby asked.
"Dead? No, no, no, not at all! Well, maybe a little bit."
"Ugh, which is it? Is he or isn't he?" Yang groaned.
"You see, now that Herb's been properly returned, he'll be fixed up nice and made into the Herb Herb wanted to be when he was still Herb! Then he'll come back and find his purpose, could be the same, could be different," the Cat exposited.
"Will...he remember anything when he comes back?" Ruby wondered.
"Now, what would be the point of that?" the Cat laughed it off, "You lot, just like Alyx! I know things are different where you're from. I know that things...die...but that's just not how it works here. We do not die, we ascend. When he comes back, Herb will have purpose again, just a matter of time."
"So you...what? Reincarnate? Like Ozpin? But even his incarnations have died. Everything has to die at some point," Weiss explained.
"Weiss Huntress, I am insulted and appalled at such an insinuation! Although...well there is...no, no, not something to talk about in polite company. Never you mind."
Team RWBY and the Cat landed at the center structure and stepped off the lily pad. A bird-like denizen was seen walking around carrying a tray, offering some tasty looking baked goods that made Yang and Little's mouths water. As good as it smelled to Blake, it wasn't enough to keep her from breaking focus.
"Wait, so what happened to Herb… Is that what happened to the King?" the feline Faunus asked.
"Oh, it was all very sad. The Red King couldn't cope when he lost to Alyx. He was left a crying mess." The Cat explained. "Thankfully, he was called back and fixed up, and now he's the Prince you met. Charming fellow, isn't he?"
"That doesn't make sense. That's more like character regression." Ruby said. "The Red King was this imposing, calculated chessmaster who lost because Alyx cheated. The Prince was just a spoiled brat that wanted everything to go his way."
"The Prince isn't supposed to be nice. He's meant to play the game and win, no matter what." The Cat hummed.
"So, that's why he cheats." Blake realized. "He must have been focused on her cheating and winning that it consumed him. Winning became all that mattered, no matter how he cheats."
"But that still doesn't explain why the Red Prince was so much meaner." Weiss interjected.
"While the Prince may not remember Alyx's deception after ascending, the heart very rarely forgets." The Cat explained.
"There's no mention of Ascension in the original text, though." Yang added.
"You realize Alyx left a lot out, don't you?" The Cat smiled. "Exposition is terribly boring. Even this conversation was, on the whole, rather tedious."
(...shut up, you fucking Cat.)
"Aside from that and maybe getting the Jabberwalker wrong-" Blake began, only for the Cat to jolt around, fly up and hush her.
"Word of warning, Blake Huntress, don't say that word around others."
"What Jabb-" Weiss started, only to get hushed as well.
"Yes. That. It's...to you, it would be like announcing a...what did you call them? Grimm? It would be like announcing one of those was walking the streets of the market. Those horns and that mask are nightmarish enough..."
"Wait, THAT was it? I thought the J-I mean, I thought the monster of the story was a giant bird thing with a tail tipped off by a claw," Yang chimed in.
"I thought it was a scorpion with a shining shell," Blake said, "Maybe other authors have changed what it looks like over time to make it resonate more with a certain Kingdom?"
"Well now that is an interesting little tidbit..." the Cat hummed.
"Cultural differences are all fine and good, but what about this Parfait? We're here, what do we need to make it?" Weiss asked.
"Ah, as focused as ever! In the short time I've known you anyway! Right, the ingredients. We're going to need a bushel of grumpy ivy, one good-sized spicy potato, the lint off a griffin's sweater, which we can find at Ethel's Dragons and More. Lovely girl, that Ethel! So sweet, so welcoming! She should be right next toooooo..."
"You expect me to remember all of that?" Ruby asked.
"No, no, I can procure most of it. But! There's one ingredient that's only available on the Garden's third level: the nose hair of a leprechaun," the Cat nodded, earning looks of disgust from the four.
"GREAT way to learn that Leprechauns are real." Yang cringed.
"What if you retrieve that while I go get the rest?" The Cat asked.
Ruby sighed. "Sure, I guess."
The Cat beamed. "Wonderful! Look for the Teapot Lady. She'll have it in stock, I'm sure. Now off you go!" As the Cat went off, they got distracted when a leaf-headed creature waved from a vendor holding a flower in their hand.
"If we had a laser pointer, it'd be easier to reign them in." Blake frowned.
"I think we need to go with them to make sure they stay on track," Weiss sighed, "Can't forget what you're doing if there's a voice telling you what it is at every slight detour."
"You're also saying that to be as far away from the nose hairs as possible, aren't you?" Yang asked.
"I thought that went without saying. You coming with?"
"Yeah." Yang nodded.
"I'll also join." Blake added. "Ruby, are you gonna be-"
"Yeah. Whatever." Ruby huffed. "I'll be fine."
"You say that...but I don't know if I can believe that."
"Not the first time someone's decided to doubt me..." Ruby muttered.
"...okay." Blake said, taking a deep breath. "I'll give you some space, if that's what you need."
"Yeah...yeah I think it is," Ruby said, bringing her teammates over to the Cat and dropping them on top of their feline guide's back. The Cat froze as they felt WBY land on them.
"Nice try, but we're coming along this time," Weiss smirked.
"This just feels...very cartoonish," Yang shook her head.
"Oh! Well, alright!" the Cat agreed.
With their new passengers, the Cat left the vendor who tried to offer Ruby the flower this time. Ruby awkwardly stammered and walked away. Honestly, Ruby was happy to be alone...she needed some time to herself.
...but she forgot someone, still in her cowl. Little popped up, eying that cheese on the counter. "Cheeeeeeese..."
"H-huh? Little?! Did you-?" Ruby started.
"Fall asleep? Think I did, but that sweet cheesy smell woke me up. Where are we again?" Little asked.
"The Garden. We're supposed to be going up to the third level and find the...Teapot Lady."
"Teapot Lady? Does she live in a teapot or is she a teapot?"
"Wha-? I don't know? Could be either here..."
Little giggled and scurried up to Ruby's head. "Well, I'll scout out a teapot! Shouldn't be too hard."
"T-thanks," Ruby said, allowing herself a small smile as she moved off towards the third floor of the market.
"And you said this is your current harvest?" the Cat asked one of the stall owners as they eyed up the goods on display. Now, the stall didn't really have anything too crazy for sale, just a bunch of bright red apples. Some of those apples, though, were about the size of basketballs. The owner of the stall, a small lizard-like Afteran with light gray skin and a large blue crescent pattern on their abdomen, adjusted their violet and blue leaf hat and spoke in a strange language of squeaks and chirps that only the Cat seemed to understand.
"Really? Well, I simply must try one-" the Cat began.
"Cat," Weiss scolded.
"Uh, after I help out my friends here, of course. Ha ha."
"They're just really big apples. Why are you even interested in them?" the heiress crossed her arms.
"Just apples? Weiss Huntress, these are Every Flavor Apples. They can be grown to have any number of flavors, from sweet to spicy to sour, if you're into that sort of thing, never understood the appeal, BUT some of those flavors can then be combined to be more specific! This fine fellow was telling me how they managed to get sweet roll flavored mixed in."
"We can come back for one of them after we get the ingredients," Weiss promised. She felt like a mom trying to keep an excitable child from wandering off in public. Maybe an apology to her mother was in order for all the times a young Weiss made things a bit difficult.
"Oh fine. I'll be back later!" the Cat said, hopping off and trotting along through the streets of the market to find Ethel's. Dune Dwellers and Delectable Denizens could be seen bartering with an Afteran that took the form of an origami paper star for some rather pretty looking paper flowers.
Weiss huffed. "I swear. Alyx made you so charming in the book."
"She must have had to cut the fat." The Cat joked. "I was admittedly a handful."
"And you continue to BE one." Weiss flicked the back of their head with her tiny fingers.
"Ah, no! Please! Spare me!" the Cat chuckled as they continued on, looking for Ethel's shop. As they went on though, Blake tapped Weiss on the shoulder.
"Weiss? Group huddle. We gotta talk," Blake said.
"Is this about them?" Weiss groaned.
"No...it's about Ruby, actually." Blake corrected and Weiss' face fell. Without another word, she walked out of earshot of the cat, and towards Yang, who was hanging out near the backside.
"...Ruby's not doing well." Yang sighed. "Obviously. No one could shrug off everything she went through like that...and I think it's internalizing."
"And making its way to the surface," Blake added, "Her...explosion before we found the Herbalist."
"With all this talk of Ascension, do you guys...think Ruby might-?" Weiss said.
"No. No, I don't like that idea." Yang cut her off. "Don't even suggest that."
"I don't like it either, but...Yang, what did you tell your...smoke-clone back in that hut?"
"I told it I was a Huntress and that seemed to keep 'em back."
"So did I," Blake added.
"As did I. But we don't know what Ruby's double said to her. And with how she's feeling...the idea might actually sound appealing to her. Forgetting all your burdens, all your failures?" Weiss sighed, "It...it might-"
"...what exactly did you guys see?" Blake asked.
"Just a smoke clone. Of me." Yang said.
"At what age?"
Yang paused. "I saw...myself, starting at Beacon. But I had a real arm."
"I saw myself at the start of Beacon too..." Weiss said.
"What if Ruby saw an even younger version of herself?" Blake asked.
"And from what I remember...that Ruby very much saw Hunters in an almost fairy tale light. Heroes who always saved the day in the end."
"...she had to have seen her ten year old self." Yang realized.
"Really?" Weiss asked.
"I've never seen Ruby's eyes shine brighter than after that summer she spent with Ben. Things were simple back then." Yang answered. "So, to see this...younger, brighter version of herself to ask her current self..."
"Like two different people," Blake realized.
"That's gotta mess someone up mentally." Weiss said. "But it feels...targeted."
"Targeted?" Yang repeated.
"We saw ourselves at our first year. Ruby saw her ten year old self. And she's the only one of us to be having worse experiences. Do you think someone is trying to break her down?" Weiss worried.
"Who would want to? Do you think it's just the Ever After itself? It just...preys on the weakest link, tempting them to throw themselves into ascension?" Yang asked.
"This world IS alive, in some way." Blake said. "It prevented Weiss from going forward earlier in the forest."
"I refuse to let Ruby ascend. She's fine! She's...she's my sister. And she's going through a rough patch..." Yang frowned. "I..." Yang looked despondent for a second.
"Yang?" Weiss asked.
"Have...have we been ignoring something with Ruby?"
"Ignoring? Of course not! We've just...been...busy..." Weiss began, but with each word, she trailed further off. That was just an excuse, a very common one when it came to people not noticing the issues of others.
"Busy isn't a good excuse when it comes to our friend's mental health. She's been doing most of the heavy lifting right now...and she can't even defend herself in combat." Blake said.
"I...I know. I realized it before I finished," Weiss sighed, "We need to talk to her once we're back to normal size. No interruptions, no weird Afteran nonsense."
"Yeah," Yang agreed, as the Cat jumped down to the ground to snake underneath the crowd. "...maybe we ditch the Cat."
"I'm not opposed to that." Blake said, before her ear twitched, hearing an odd clanking noise. She looked behind her, to see a pair of armored boots walking in the opposite direction. Her eyes widened.
"And I think I know who we can get to replace him," the feline Faunus finished.
"Ah-ha!" the Cat suddenly exclaimed, making a beeline to maybe the largest stall in the market. Well, no that was an understatement. It was more like three stalls joined together with varying items on display, ranging from gems and necklaces to foodstuffs galore. Behind the stall were several more crates containing god knows what, especially when one of the crates suddenly had a stream of fire shoot up into the air.
"Woahhh." Yang said, looking at the sights. "Where ARE we going, you crazy cat!?"
"To HER!"
"Her?" Blake asked.
"I said we were headed to Ethel's Dragons and More didn't I? Well, this is Ethel!" the Cat introduced as the owner of the mega stall appeared from behind the stacks of boxes. In a way they were much like the Herbalist, a humanoid upper body with a worm-like lower body, though the coloration and number of arms was different. With her, the colors shifted from bright oranges to yellows and greens, matching some of the natural bioluminescent lights of the fungi that served as natural lanterns in the Garden. Instead of four arms, she sported six, four of them were busying moving a large wooden crate to the front, out of which a cone of frigid air was spewed into the air., and the last two were holding onto two jars of some glowing purple fluid that sported the consistency of syrup. Ethel placed the box down behind the counter, simultaneously putting the syrup jars on the countertop. The big difference in the upper body for her was that her head was much less humanoid, almost resembling that of a praying mantis.
"Gah!" Weiss jumped back.
"Oh, Curious!" Ethel greeted, adjusting a pair of glasses over her eyes, "It's been too long!"
"Indeed it has Ethel, indeed it has! I'm the market for some particular ingredients, which I know you'll have," the Cat said with a grin, "We're going to need a spicy potato, a bushel of-"
"Grumpy ivy, griffin sweater lint. Curious, I know the ingredients to a Growgurt Parfait when I hear them. But why would you need those?"
"Oh it's not for me! It's for my new little friends back there."
"Ooooh, who's business did you get into now, CC?" Ethel asked, eying the girls.
"Oh, so they've done this before." Weiss huffed.
"Of course! There was that old man, that burly and intense guy, those kids…" Ethel listed off.
"Wait, kids?" Yang asked.
"Oh they haven't-?"
"Ah ah ah, my stories, Ethel. Not yours," the Cat cut her off.
"Ah, silly me. Now, you're aware that-" Ethel began, her lower hands searching for the ingredients behind the counter.
"We have someone searching for the nose hairs."
"Ah, good! Should I get the ingredients for a Shrinking Sorbet as well, just in case?" Ethel asked as she put a basket on the counter of the stall, the spicy potato already place inside it.
"Eh, I think we're good on that. Well...maybe for the Weiss Huntress back there," the Cat quipped.
"Excuse you?" Weiss asked.
"You strike me as having a sweet tooth is all."
"I just like cake. Okay?" Weiss huffed.
"And brownies." Yang added.
"And Red Vines." Blake piped in.
"Red Vines?" the Cat asked.
"Twizzlers but worse." Yang said.
"Ah! What are those?" The Cat asked.
"Getting off topic here, ladies...and cat." Weiss huffed.
"Quite the interesting creatures you've met. Not from this acre, are they?" Ethel chittered.
"Not at all!" the Cat answered honestly.
"Then please, what are you?"
"Huntresses. We protect people who can't protect themselves," Blake answered, giving her the same explanation as Herb.
"Ah, a trio of noble knights!" Ethel beamed, putting the ivy and lint into the basket.
"There's four of us. Ruby, my sister, is off getting the...nose hairs. Still so weird to say," Yang said.
"Knights…hmmm. You know, a certain knight just stopped by to get some ingredients earlier," Ethel smiled.
Blake began vibrating. "Oh my god, he's here…"
"Wait, who's here?" Weiss asked.
"Him! The Rusted Knight!"
"This is maybe the third time I've seen you this happy," Yang, "Other two times were when we officially got together and at a book signing for one of your favorites."
"Yang, you do not understand. He's my favorite in the story. My mom could tell you stories about how sad I was when I heard what happened to him," Blake said.
"…were you a Rusted Knight fangirl?" Weiss asked.
"How are YOU not?! You literally have a knight aesthetic." Blake knocked on Weiss's breastplate.
"I thought he was a polite figure. I already had my grandfather as MY knight, so…I sort of had the real deal." Weiss shrugged.
"Any payment needed?" the Cat asked as they picked up the basket with their mouth.
"Not this time, Curious. It's on the house for first time customers like your Huntress friends," Ethel beamed.
"Well, thanks for the discount!" the Cat said, their voice muffled with the basket handle in their mouth. With that gratitude and a tail wave goodbye, the Curious Cat jumped off the countertop with WBY holding onto their fur before they made their way to meet back up with Ruby.
Ruby was up on the third level of the Garden, eyes scanning every stall she could to find this Teapot Lady. Mentally she was imagining the one from Beauty and Beast but human sized. Little wasn't helping as, in the time it took to get up here, the small mouse had once again fallen asleep.
"Teapot Lady...Teapot Lady..." the Huntress muttered to herself, passing by one of the Garden Afterans and their larger toy soldier companion. Maybe the Prince hadn't notified them about his hatred of the four lost humans or maybe he was a soldier belonging to one of his many rivals. As long as they weren't trying to arrest her, she was fine with either outcome.
Ruby took a few steps forward, before someone stepped in front of her. Now this was a character. He looked like a fast food mascot manifested in the real world, vaguely human, too. At least everything from the neck down was. He wore purple robes and a black pair of pants, with a very 'square' shaped body. His head was…
"...A burger?" Ruby repeated, making sure she was in reality.
"I'm the Burger Man." The burger man introduced, his voice carrying a thick australian accent, like he was putting it on for the bit. "Today I'll be doing a non-copyright poem for you-"
"Yeeeeeah, no thanks." Ruby said, walking right past him.
"Beware the Jabberwalker!" The Burger Man began. "Beware the Jabberwalker, my child! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Curious Cat, and shun the frumious Cat!"
Ruby turned around. "What did you say-"
But the Burger Man was gone. A look of discomfort spread across her face. Am I going crazy? She wondered.
Another sound reached Ruby's ears, one that she recognized from Signal, Beacon, even Haven. The sound of a hammer hitting metal, echoing out as it no doubt struck an anvil of some kind. As she turned to try and find the source, it was like a switch had been flipped. All the lights had been turned off around her and darkness was slowly encroaching on Ruby's position and all of the stalls had been replaced with tents, all emblazoned with a stylized leaf logo. She took a step back and gasped, before a light shone on her face from her right. She turned and saw one tent, open to the elements and seemingly made of stone on the inside. An assortment of weapons hung on hooks at one of the openings, including a familiar jade green crystalline sword.
"What...?" Ruby gasped, racing up to the weapon and taking it off its hook. She gently held the blade in her hands as joy and relief flooded over her. As it stood, she was just tempted to hug the sword to her chest as if it was a comforting pillow.
"Does that one interest you?" a voice asked, the thrumming of the hammer stopping for but a moment to ask the question.
The voice, while echoing around the stone interior, seemed much bigger than it should, carrying just a hint of a metallic reverb to it. Ruby, shocked by the sudden question, moved to enter the forge and as she did, she saw the figure that called out to her. While their features were mostly obscured in shadows as they stood before an open forge, Ruby could make out a few details. They had a feminine looking body, easily dwarfing Ruby at a height around nine, maybe ten feet. To be eye level at this entity, Ruby would need some kind of ladder. Just as their voice held a metallic reverb, so too did their body sport metallic components. Bent wrenches formed large shoulders, wires formed hair with a single strand hanging in front of their face taking the form of a chain. The only part of them that wasn't metallic was an odd almost branch-like trunk that seemed to be connected to their back. The only thing they wore, from what Ruby could tell, was a simple blacksmith's apron.
"I...I thought this was lost forever," Ruby admitted, illuminated by the light of the fire, "How do you have it?"
"Nothing, no one, is ever truly lost. The heart always remembers, even if the mind does not," the giant blacksmith answered vaguely.
"More riddles..." Ruby sighed, before turning her gaze down to the blade. She adjusted it and, for a split second, she swore she saw Eunice's face, an exact replica of Penny's, flash by in the light. The sight made her let out an audible gasp that the Blacksmith no doubt heard.
"And what of you? Are you lost?" they asked as they picked up a pair of tongs and grabbed their current project, what seemed to be an insectoid wing.
"Lost? Uh, no...no, I'm just...doing this on my own. My friends are back on the ground floor."
"All alone, hm?"
"Uh, Ruby?" Little said, tugging on the Huntress' hood, "I don't think we're supposed to be here."
"And you, Little one, are you her guide?" the Blacksmith inquired.
"Y-yes," Little took a gulp before continuing, "Yes. Ruby's my friend and I want to help her get home! Even if I...don't know where that is. Or how to get there."
"I see," the Blacksmith looked over their creation in the tongs before placing it back down on the anvil. They grabbed a smaller hammer and began to strike at the wing, evening out an imperfection.
"You seem to be carrying a very large burden," the smith continued, words spoken between hammer strikes.
"It...it's fine. I can...handle it," Ruby said, doubting her own words.
Lying again. At this rate, you'll weave a bigger web of lies than dear old Oz did in his time as leader, the cruel thoughts jabbed at Ruby.
"Large...and loud. But, should you ever change your mind, you may choose any weapon you like," the Blacksmith said, gesturing to a second rack of weapons on the wall. Ruby sighed before she looked back down...and noticed that the crystalline Floating Array sword was gone, replaced by a small, iron dagger. A reflection appeared in its blade of someone Ruby barely recognized. She had dark brown skin with matching, wavy hair, hazel eyes, and was clad in a baby-blue colored shirt with what seemed like a darker blue colored vest on. Maybe it moved down into a dress but the red-hooded Huntress couldn't tell, the reflection being cut off at the waist. Atop the young girl's head was a dark blue headband tied in such a way that the two knots resembled little bunny ears.
Wait...was that? She recognized the outfit. This...this was Alyx. Why was she seeing Alyx? She'd never met the real girl before. She didn't even know Alyx was real until she woke up here. But more importantly, why did Alyx looks so...angry?
Ruby quickly put the dagger down on a table underneath the rack of weapons before she looked up at the armaments on display. Some were generic swords, halberds, maces and shields. Others seemed scarily familiar. A wooden shield with a rotating selector component, a pair of dual pistols, one black and one white, even a pair of gauntlets that would fit snugly over the arms of its user. But the one that stood out the most seemed to be a large ax. The body and long handle of the weapon were painted black, with gold metal accents and a vine-like pattern near the blade itself, a large curved and golden crescent blade.
"Is...that...?" Ruby muttered, reaching out toward the weapon.
A reflection appeared in the ax blade, one that made Ruby freeze. A pair of Silver Eyes stared back at her from the reflection of Summer Rose's smiling face. Those eyes began to glow before they shone with silver light, nearly blinding Ruby…