Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ruby didn’t know what she was expecting after falling into the void, but it wasn’t this. Laying on her sore back, staring bleary-eyed up at the canopy looming over her. She groaned, struggling to sit up, entire body aching like she’d just fallen down a flight of stairs. She could feel her aura thrumming weakly to ease the pain, but it wasn’t exactly succeeding.

...Wait. If she fell, and ended up here, that means…

“YANG?!” Ruby screams, voice hoarse and trembling as she struggles to her feet. Her legs feel like they could snap at any moment, but she still forces herself to her feet as the heat and muggy air beats down on her.

She hears and echo, someone else shouting, but- But it’s too blurry, too far away, her- Her head is pounding, it feels like it could explode at any minute-

Ruby stumbles forwards, just barely catching herself against a tree, only for her legs to buckle as she falls back to the ground, face down. The dirt and vegetation bites at her skin, at her lungs, at her body, she-

She hears footsteps, slow and quiet. It’s not the heavy sound of Yang’s boots, the low click of Blake’s heels, it’s- ...It has to be Neo. 

“...If you’re going to kill me, do it already…” Ruby grumbles, using the last of her strength to roll over, her eyes finding exactly who she expected. ...Except… Neo has no weapon. Her hat- Torchwick’s hat- is gone. Her eyes are full of pain and anguish, and she seems… Surprised, to have even found her, as if that hadn't been her goal or intention. Was she…?

“...You’re… You’re not going to hurt me…?” Ruby drawled out. Neo slowly shook her head, her hands moving with precision, signing, probably…

“Here, just…” Ruby fished her scroll out her pocket with leadened limbs, handing it over. “I can’t understand you, just…” Ruby feels her eyes roll back into her skull as another wave of agony washes over her, the end of her sentence turned into a pained hiss. Neo tilts her head slightly, but obeys, typing up what she wants to say and turning it to face Ruby.

“After that betrayal, I’m pretty sure my initial suspicion was correct. You didn’t kill Roman, I’m not even sure if you’d be capable of killing someone if I’m being honest. So no, I’m not going to kill you. All I’m worried about right now is finding my hat and getting out of here.” Ruby read aloud, slowly forcing herself to sit up against one of the trees. 

“Well then, let’s try and work together… Yang… Yang and Blake are probably here, so we can have their help too, four heads is better than one and all that... I’m not- I’m not sure I can walk though…” Ruby lifts her head to look at her. Neo seems contemplative, weighing her options. 

Then, much to her surprise, Neo moves to help her up, looping one arm around Ruby’s waist and pulling her arm around her shoulders, taking most of the weight off and making walking a lot more possible.

“...Thank you, Neo.” Ruby smiles warmly and Neo just rolls her eyes, though it seems less hostile than usual. Less of a ‘I want to stab you’ thing and more of a begrudging alliance sort of thing.

“I heard voices from somewhere over there, maybe we could head that way?” Ruby nods in said direction. Neo just nods, and the two limp their way over.

“RUBY?! RUBY IS THAT YOU?!” Comes Yang’s voice, and Ruby almost wants to cry. She thought Yang was gone for good, but… But…!

“YANG I’M OVER HERE!” Ruby yells out, and Neo recoils, letting go of her arm briefly to rub her ear with a glare. Ruby just gives an apologetic smile.

“Ruby- Ruby?!” The voices seem closer now, and there’s rustling in the bushes ahead. Then a mane of blonde peaks through, and there emerges Yang, jacket tied around her waist and looking a little sunburnt from the heat.

“There you are, don’t scare me like that ag-” Then she abruptly pauses, eyes landing on Neo and turning red. 

“Hey- Hey wait- Don’t worry, she’s cool, uh, turns out she was getting all stabby because she thought I, um... That I killed Roman. Which I didn’t!” Ruby lifts one of her heavy arms in front of Neo, almost defensively. But, she almost immediately regrets it as her vision starts spinning again from the movement. Her head is killing her, and she’s getting heavier and heavier by the minute...

“...Ugh, fine, I’ve got my eye on you though.” Yang glared, but before much else could happen, Ruby felt her eyes close and her feet lose any strength they had left. She could vaguely feel hands grabbing at her to keep her from falling, hear Yang shout in concern, but it all seemed… Far away. She could hardly hear it over her own heartbeat pounding like gunshots in her ears…

When Ruby woke up again, it was dark out. She felt a sort of nipping cold, though something draped over her made it abate a bit. It seemed fur lined, a jacket, maybe? She still felt sore, but not nearly as sore as she had been. Slowly, every slowly, she opened her weary eyes, being met with the sight of a fire and six shadows sitting around it, two on either side of her. There’s a dull red light in the edges of her vision, her aura, maybe? She groaned, moving to sit up more against the- Was this a fallen log she was propped up against?

“Shh, hey, take it easy, okay?” Yang cooed softly, gently moving to pull her jacket more around her little sister. Ruby didn’t have an argument for that, letting herself get comfortable.

“Is she awake?” ...Weiss? What’s she doing down here…?

“Yeah, she seems a lot better now, thanks Jaune.” Yang smiles at the other figure next to her, she can feel his hand resting on her shoulder, seems he’s been amping her for awhile.

“...What happened?” She croaked her vision coming more into focus. It looked like all of team RWBY was here plus Jaune and Neo. Neo was hugging Roman’s hat to her chest, sitting quietly on her own, off to the side. There didn’t seem to be any hostility that she could see directed at Neo, they must’ve gotten along in the end...

“...Well, uh… Cinder got the staff, but not the maiden power, and everyone else made it to Vacuo.” Jaune explained, though there was a bit of an edge to his voice. He almost sounded… Guilty? Why would he be guilty?

“Well, at least there’s that. They’ll be fine, probably, I mean they have Penny after all.” 

Everything went dead silent.

“...Did… Did Penny make it through?” Ruby raised her head, pulling Yang’s bomber jacket off. Jaune wasn’t looking at her. Weiss wasn’t either.

“...Penny… Didn’t make it.” Jaune’s voice came out quiet, strained. Ruby’s eyes lit up, hoisting herself to her feet, It was a lot easier than before, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Well then let’s set out to look for her in the morning, this place is kinda big but I’m sure we can find her, we could definitely use some help from the Winter Maiden!” Ruby grinned. Yeah, they might need her on the other side of the portal, but that also meant that they’d have the Winter Maiden with them, that had to be useful considering they seemed to be in whatever place the vaults were at. 

...No one was looking at her. Did she say something wrong?

“...What’s wrong?” Ruby looked around the group, and not one member of it would look her in the eyes. She could see Weiss, sitting across from her, wringing her hands and looking… Well, she’s not sure, but it wasn’t good.

“Weiss? Are you okay?” Ruby asked softly, making her way over on much stronger legs, ignoring the stares she felt on her back.

“...Penny isn’t the Winter Maiden anymore.” Weiss’ voice came out small, strained… She looked so small, so upset and sad…

“What do you mean, of course sh-” The implication hit her like an entire herd of Megoliath’s all at once and sent her stumbling back. That… That would mean… Someone…

“Who-” Ruby grumbled out, eyes on her feet as tears seared in them. “Who- Who killed her? Who killed Penny? You said Cinder didn’t get the powers, so she didn’t drain them from her, she couldn’t have killed her and not gotten the powers- So- How- WHY?!” Ruby’s entire body was shaking, eyes darting up and looking around the group. Blake and Yang seemed… Surprised at her line of thinking, looking between Weiss and Jaune, Neo looked like she really didn’t want to be here at the moment, and Jaune…

Jaune was completely silent. So was Weiss. Jaune was just staring down at his hands, shaking violently.

“What HAPPENED?!” Ruby’s tone was louder, almost demanding as the hurricane inside her chest tore more and more away. Penny was- She had just- She had JUST turned human- It was cruel, it was beyond cruel, the word seemed to be underselling the incredible pain stabbing at her heart.

“...Ruby.. I…” Jaune started, staring vacantly at the sword on his hip. There was… There was blood on it, human blood… No, no he couldn’t have-

“P-Penny didn’t want Cinder to get the maiden powers, s-so, she, she asked me to-” No- No no no NO! That- That couldn’t-

“T-There was so much blood, I-I’m- I’m so s-sor-” “NO!” Ruby’s voice boomed, filled with anguish, disbelief, sorrow, anger… Almost as if all the stages of grief were hitting her all at once.

“Y-You- You wouldn’t- You- H-How COULD you?!” Ruby screamed, honest to Gods screamed at him. Tears were streaming down her face, hands curled into white knuckled fists as complete and utter agony wracked her body.

“Ruby- I-” In a flash of rose petals, she was gone. Running and running away from the fire, away from the concerned voices, away from the guilty look on Jaune’s face, away from everything. She ran and ran and ran into the dark forest, not caring about how the branches swatted at her arms and face as she ran blindly or how she could hear something rustling in the brush. She just needed to get away, now.

Her legs carried her until the sounds died off and her legs gave out, crashing to the ground in an agonized heap…

The air of this land feels strange. It’s certainly not a world I’ve seen before, and even what I see seems to be from another, almost as strange world. I buzz quietly, surveying the dark, shaking shape laying in a heap on the ground.

“...I-I’m never gonna see her again…” The child sobs, curled up on her side as tears fall endlessly. This ‘her’ seems to be fitting, a promising goal… And the girl below me seems strong already, at least physically.

Perfect.

“Never is such a strong word, child.” I speak, soft and almost lost in the wind. She stiffens, slowly lifting her head and looking around. Slowly, I let myself glow, making me stand out against the canvas of inky black night, and her eyes land on me.

“...A firefly…?” She wonders aloud, wiping her puffy and red eyes. She seems confused, but at least she knows what this form is, I had my doubts about that...

“Do you want to see her again?” I ask, hovering before her. She looked slack-jawed in surprise, but not nearly as much as I would expect. Then again, this place seems like a fairytale come to life, she must think this is normal in this odd wonderland…

“...With all my heart…” Comes her reply, soft, broken… But assured and firm. Her eyes are haunted, like a child left alone with the monsters in their closet for far too long. Malleable and easily swayed… This is going to be easier than I thought.

“There’s a way to bring her back, it’s a bit perilous though, I will admit, so it depends on how badly you want her back.” I explain, or at least, I vaguely explain. Her expression is unreadable, though I can tell there’s a thousand different thoughts running through her mind, weighing her options, perhaps?

“...I’ll do whatever it takes.” She speaks slowly, with purpose. I would smile if I could, but I can’t so I make do with more buzzing. I rest in the air in front of her eyes, and slowly wink my light off and on. Off and oh, dark and light, until I see her eyes glazing over… It must feel odd, like falling into a trance and deep sleep all at once. She slumps over, unmoving...

Mission complete.

“So, how has  school been going for you guys?” The girl asked, practically skipping as she and her friends walked through the path, greenery and wildlife sprawling out around them all, her mismatched eyes practically sparkling.

“Oh, it’s been alright, It’s uh, been a little hard without, you know, but overall it’s alright. I’m not struggling with any lessons at the moment, so there’s that. Thank you for asking, Ai.” The tallest of the four piped up, smiling warmly and seeming content.

“I’ve been doing awesome, duh! I’ve got beauty AND brains, I’m thriving!” The bleached blonde grinned her usual overconfident grin, earning a chuckle from the taller girl.

“What, you got something to say to me Momoe?” She elbowed her playfully, earning a sheepish chuckle.

“No, no, nothing at all!” Momoe rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. The blondes response was, very maturely, sticking her tongue out at her before she turned back to the task at hand, namely, walking.

“The only thing bigger than your ego is the thickness of your skull, Rika.” The brunette piped up, almost monotone and with a dry edge to it. 

“Aweee, you’re just upset that I’m prettier than you! I didn’t now you felt that way about me Neiru.” Rika grinned wolfishly, waggling her eyebrows. 

Neiru looked about two seconds from decking her in the face. 

“Guys, guys, chill, you’re both pretty!” Ai quickly pushed them apart, pouting at their antics. Rika just grinned and Neiru immediately shrunk back, probably because it was Ai who said that…

“Uh, guys?” Momoe interrupted their squabbling. 

“Yeah?” “What’s up?” “What is it?” They all piped up at once, turning their reply into a bit of a mess. Momoe just pointed ahead of them, and they all stopped.

Laying in the walkway was a crumpled heap draped with red and completely still where it laid, a single egg laying next to it

“...Can I poke it?”

“RIKA!”

“I’m not hearing a no.”

“RIKA!”

Chapter Text

    Ruby’s head was killing her again, but it seemed not nearly as harsh as when she fell. She was sore, but not as sore, all she could really feel besides that was her cape wrapped around her and something repeatedly bumping into her, it felt kinda prickly, like a stick or something…

    “Rika, yamete! Kiken kamo shiremasen!” A voice said, though Ruby had no idea what it was saying. It sounded like a completely different language, the tone sounded concerned, though. What…?

    “Ochitsuku! Kiwotsukete! Mata, korehanandesuka?” Another voice said, the first half sounding a bit exasperated and the latter sounding curious. Ruby could feel what she assumed was the stick poking her catch on a fold in the fabric, trying to tug it down. The cloth around her legs was replaced by open air and grass, and she heard a chorus of shocked gasps and an almost scared sounding squeak.

    “N-NANITE KOTODA! SORE WA SHITAIDESU KA?!” The curious voice shrieked, accompanied by more sounds of panic. Ruby groaned, the sound making her head ache even worse than it already did...

    “K-Kon'nichiwa? Daijōbudesuka?” One of the voices asked slowly, hesitantly… Ruby just groaned louder at that, starting to try and move to get her cape off, but it was hard to see and she had no idea where the cape ended and began from here…

    “Anata wa watashi ga anata o tasukete hoshīdesu ka?" The same voice seemed to be asking something, but she had no idea what. Help, maybe? Well, if she doesn’t understand them they probably won’t understand her… So instead Ruby tried to nod the best she could. 

    More words she didn’t understand, followed by hands starting to tug on where the edges of her cape probably were, and she could feel more and more of her body coming free from being tangled up. She heard the curious voice make some sort of comment as her torso broke free followed by an irritated sounding one, and the next thing she knew, her vision wasn’t filled with red anymore. Now, she could see the mystery figures that had been talking. Kneeling in front of her, hands still holding the edges of her cape was a person with dark blue hair and eyes of different colors. Ruby wasn’t that surprised at that, after all that wasn’t uncommon, it was actually much more normal for, say, a cat or dog Faunus to have Heterochromia than color changing eyes like Yang’s or silver like her own. They were also wearing a big oversized yellow hoodie with a sunflower on it, and they looked a mix of relieved and rather curious about her. 

    Ruby’s eyes drifted to the other figures, making first note of one of them with blonde hair with a single pink streak dressed in a way that definitely reminded her of how Yang used to when they were going to school-school, then a dark skinned one with dark brown hair and blue eyes dressed rather plainly, and finally a taller figure with short reddish hair and green eyes dressed in slightly fancy and a bit masculine wear, not that Ruby was going to make any calls on pronouns here, that was a pretty rude thing to do in Remnant. 

    “...Thank you.” Ruby spoke as she sat up, eyes drifting back over to the bluenette in front of her. Her expression shifted to a bit confused, probably because she didn’t know what she was saying, but the brunette seemed to oddly enough. 

    “...Can you speak Japanese?” They asked, stepping closer, expression unreadable. Ruby let out a sigh of relief at one of them understanding her, thankful for that.

    “No, I don’t, I uh, speak plain old English. ...Can you understand me, though?” Ruby asked, taking the time to look around where she was. It seemed to be a garden path of some sort leading towards a rustic looking house. ...This certainly wasn’t where she was… Where’d the firefly go? ...And who were these four?

    The girl nodded, then turned to the others, speaking in what Ruby assumed was ‘Japanese.’ It sounded a bit like Native Mistrali, she didn’t understand it but she’d definitely heard it a few times, kind of like how Atlas had Atlesian, she didn’t know much about it but she did know that Weiss’ full name was Atlesian, meaning White Snow if she remembers correctly…

    “We’re not sure why you’re here, but there are a few people down this walkway and in the garden that might. Come on, we can take you to them.” The brunette reached out their hand to Ruby, offering to help her up. Ruby gave a smile and took it, then looked between them all again.

    “Thank you. Oh, and also, what are you guys’ preferred pronouns and names? I’m Ruby, I go by she/her.” Ruby introduced herself or more accurately introduced herself to the brunette and hoped she’d relay that introduction. They blinked in surprise, then turned and said something to them. The red-ish head seemed to perk at it and then the bluenette spoke again, causing the brunette to chuckle a bit.

    “Alright then, well, for starters, I’m Neiru, I uh, also go by she/her. This is Ai, also a girl, and Rika who’s an absolute headache and also a girl, and then Momoe, who’s very much a girl. Oh, and uh, Ai says it’s nice to meet you.” Neiru introduced them all, and Ruby eyed each of the girls as Neiru listed them, taking mental note of pronouns and names with a smile. It was nice to meet new people that weren’t, yknow, immediately ready to kill her or something like most recent introductions had eventually turned out. 

    Then Neiru turned and walked, saying something before they all followed her. Ruby was doing her best, she still felt sore but it was waning now. A million questions ran through her head such as what was going on and how this was supposed to help her save Penny… And probably the biggest most immediate one, what had they all been saying?

    “Rika, stop! It could be dangerous!” Momoe warned as Rika continued to both ignore said warning and poke the bundle of red fabric.

    “Calm down! I’m being careful! ...Also, what is this?” Rika mused as she continued her poking, trying to pull loose the thing at the bottom which was a lot looser.

    ...Only to be greeted by the sight of a pair of legs sticking out. Everyone froze, letting out a chorus of surprised and shocked gaps punctuated by Ai’s slightly scared squeak.

    “O-OH MY GOD! IS THAT A CORPSE?!” Rika shrieked, stumbling backwards and into Momoe, almost making them both topple. Everyone was starting to panic at this development, I mean, what were they SUPPOSED to make of a corpse on the way to the Acca’s pl-

    “Ugh...” A voice groaned from the bundle as it started to shift slightly. Everyone froze in place, looking utterly bewildered.

    “H-Hello? Are you okay?” Ai snapped out of it first, moving to kneel next to the decidedly not-a-corpse. The non-corpses’ response was another groan and shifting inside their fabric prison, clearly struggling.

    “Do you want me to help you?” Ai asked, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. They seem to be freaking out a little, which one could argue made sense considering one would be freaking out if you woke up cocooned in red cloth for some reason. Part of the bundle shifted slightly, it seemed to be the head and like a nod…

    “Okay, I’ll try and help.” Ai gave a nod and started to try and help out. It was wound pretty tight around them, no wonder they needed help…

    As more and more of the figure became clear, it became quite clear that it was a girl and she seemed to be just as (if not more so) battle hardened then them, her muscles were pretty prominent and her outfit seemed combat oriented considering her belt had bullet rounds strapped to it and a fancy rose emblem on it like a buckle.

    “Oh geez, I’m surprised she couldn’t tear that right off with those honey glazed hams on her legs and tree-trunk arms!” Rikka giggled, not seeming to care at all if she could hear them.

    “Rika, shut your mouth before I shut it for you. With my GUN.” Neiru let out a warning growl and death glare that Rika didn’t seem to care all that much about. 

    Then, all of the girl was free, revealing her cropped black and red hair and striking silver eyes. She glanced around at them, expression a little confused but mostly neutral, seeming to take mental note of each of the girls before she spoke words they didn’t understand and sat up, looking back at Ai.

    Ai tilted her head, rather confused at this new development. She didn’t seem to be from around here, and not speaking their language added onto that feeling, but then… How did she…?

    “Do you speak Japanese?” Neiru spoke, making all eyes land on her as the girl responded. ...She knew that language? I mean, it made sense considering she was a child prodigy, she probably learned other languages for fun…

    “...She speaks English, I think she may be American considering her accent. Maybe we should go take her to the Acca’s? She showed up in this place, so it stands to reason that they would know why.” Neiru turned to the others, explaining the situation.

    “That’s a good idea!” “Yeah, let’s do it.” “Does this mean we’re still getting eggs?” Neiru couldn’t help but snort at her friend's antics before she turned back to the girl, holding out a hand to help her up as she presumably explained it in English. The girl nodded, taking the hand and getting up before saying something else, looking around at them all. 

    “...Oh, uh, hm. She wants to know what pronouns to call us, and her name is Ruby.” Neiru glanced around at the others, taking note of how Momoe perked up at that.

    “Well, you already know ours, so go ahead. Oh, and tell Ruby it’s nice to meet her!” Ai smiled brightly. Neiru couldn’t help but chuckle a bit and turned, relaying that. Ruby glanced over them all, probably as Neiru introduced them, then gave her own smile with a nod. 

    “Well, let’s go.” Neiru turned and started walking back down the path, causing the other girls to do so as well with a small bit of delay. Ruby did have a bit of a limp though, and there was definitely bruising marring her otherwise oddly flawless and incredibly pale skin, standing out almost as starkly as the dark circles under her reddish eyes and tatters in her clothing. She, quite frankly, looked like she had been to hell and back. Ai couldn’t help but glance back at her on occasion, genuinely a little concerned. Should she be walking?

    “We’re back, and we brought a friend.” Neiru spoke again, thankfully in Japanese this time, though that did cause Ruby to look a little more confused, that is, until they emerged to the garden and she was confronted by the Acca’s, which probably looked really odd to her.

    Neiru wasn’t particularly far off, Ruby had no idea what to make of what was in front of her. Two mannequins, but... They seemed to be alive? They turned their heads when Neiru spoke, had she called out to them…?

    “Ah, you must be the girl Acca found, I hope your trip was alright.” The more relaxed looking one spoke which provided even more questions then she already had let alone answer any…

“...Who…. What…?” Ruby blanched, eyes darting between the two Acca’s, utterly dumbfounded.

“You seem like someone who likes fairy tales, how do you like long stories?”

“...Try me.”

Chapter Text

“…This isn’t your world or the world you came from.”

Honestly Ruby would’ve been more surprised if that development shocked her at all. Life had turned into a twisted fairytale and nothing made any sense anymore, why not add some more nonsense onto the table?

“Wait- She’s from another world ?!” Neiru’s eyes widened in utter shock and surprise. The rest of the girls’s attention snapped to Neiru at her shout, all of them looking utterly baffled.

“Wait- For real? She’s from another world?!” Rika practically shouted, eyes wide and tone shocked.

“Yes, she is. Well, we found her in a world that wasn’t her own in the first place, so you could say she’s from two worlds.” Ura-Acca chuckled a bit. That did not help the sheer shock the girls were feeling. Acca sighed with a shake of his head before he turned to look back at Ruby who looked confused at the sudden surprise. This seemed to be becoming a pattern…

“But I digress, we sensed that you were longing to bring back a loved one, and thus, we came to you. I hope your landing was alright? You didn’t answer me before.” Acca leaned back in his chair.

“Well the uh, whole ‘talking mannequin’ thing made it hard to think about answering. The landing was… Not great. I mean, these guys straight up thought I was dead!” Ruby gestured to the girls, a bit exasperated.

“Ah, my apologies, then. Anyways, Miss Rose, you seem to be able to handle your own in a fight, so I’m assuming your world is a dangerous one, correct?” Acca asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“…Yeah, it is, what does that have to do with anything?” Ruby seemed to be getting a bit antsy about all of this, she’d been dropped into a world that wasn’t Remnant and was being asked about her fighting skills, this wasn’t what she signed up for. …But, then again, what did she sign up for? She was in so much pain she wasn’t thinking straight, she didn’t even consider what that decision would lead to…

“Well, let’s just say being good at fighting already gives you an advantage here.” Acca kept it vague, and Ruby tensed.

“...What’s that supposed to mean? And how does this bring Penny back?” Ruby cut to the chase, arms crossed and brow furrowed. True, she was determined to bring Penny back at any cost, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to know what that cost was.  

“Simple, help the souls of other girls who took their own lives pass on, and with each one you’ll get closer and closer to reviving her.” Acca spoke plainly, like he was reading a passage of a particularly boring book and not saying something wildly out of left field.

“...Uhhhhh…What? How does that even work?” Ruby gawked at the sheer casualness of that incredibly strange sentence.

“Think of it as an equivalent exchange, it takes bringing peace to many deaths to bring someone to life. We don’t really have a specific number in mind, but it certainly won’t take forever and a day.” Accra leaned back in his chair, tone matter of fact. 

“…That didn’t explain anything. How would I even do that?” Ruby’s tone grew even more baffled, arms still firmly crossed as she raised a brow skeptically. 

“It involves a lot of sleeping and a lot of eggs.” Neiru piped up in English once more. Ruby almost jumped, as if suddenly realizing that the girls were still there. 

She just. Stared.

“…What?” She rasped.

“That’s a bit of an oversimplification of the process, but in a way, that is indeed correct. We give you Wonder Eggs, and when you sleep you get transported to the realm of dreams. There, the egg will release the spirit of someone who’s taken their own life. From there you protect them and defeat their own personal monster called a Wonder Killer.” Acca began.

“So, basically, you physically fight the inner demons of girls who killed themselves like your friend did until said friend is revived from the dead.” Ura-Acca elaborated, leaning back in his chair. 

“That… Sounds crazy. But I’m also talking to two living mannequins and just got thrown into a different world two times in a row so I honestly shouldn’t be surprised.” Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh, headache worsening by the second.

“That’s one way to look at it, I suppose. Well, moving on, there are also some rather stark benefits to this process to yourself and your physical body, you will grow physically stronger and stronger with each dream to some most likely helpful extremes, for example, Ai over there can break concrete like it’s brittle dirt.” Ruby’s eyes darted over at Ai, utterly bewildered. She was wearing a baggy hoodie so it was a bit hard to tell, but her frame and what she could see of her body was very petite, she looked like she’d struggle to open a soda can.

“...Uhhhh…Why is she staring at me?” Ai whispered to Neiru.

“Acca just said you can break concrete trying to make a case for Ruby to join us.” Neiru whispered back. Ai nodded without thinking about it, then paused, blinking in confusion.

“Wait, Ruby might join us?” She grinned, seeming rather excited about this entire ordeal. Neiru chuckled at that with a nod, giving the bluenette a fond smile.

“-On top of growing strong, your body will also get a… Healing factor of sorts. You will heal from wounds astonishingly quickly, Neiru was in the hospital not that long ago from pushing herself too hard and recovered from broken ribs in a few days.” Acca explained further, and Ruby’s shocked gaze snapped to Neiru, although it also was filled with concern. Neiru visibly stiffened under her gaze, not making eye contact.

“...That isn’t ‘pushing herself too hard,’ that’s a serious injury! Why did she get cracked ribs? Is this because of-” Ruby gestured vaguely, not certain on what word to use.

“...Yes. I… I did get injured fighting a Wonder Killer. Serious injury isn’t common though, outside of our first few dreams, I was just being careless and cocky.” Neiru bowed her head, tone almost apologetic and with a hint of shame in it. Ai looked up at her, brow furrowing in concern at the tone. She didn’t understand the words, but her body language told her everything she needed to know.

“...How…Old are you four?” Ruby turned fully to face them, words slow, careful, looking even more concerned.

“...We’re all fourteen. Rika’s turning fifteen soon.” Neiru muttered. Rika perked up at hearing her name and looked up from drawing meaningless shapes in the dirt with her shoe.

“...You’re… You’re all just kids.” Ruby’s eyes widened in horror, gaze slowly trailing over them all, voice shaking. No. No. Not again. This was not okay. At least Oscar had a wiser, more experienced person in his head to help guide him, even if said person screwed up here and there. These were kids. Literal. Actual. Children.

“What on REMNANT are you two doing?! A FOURTEEN year old shouldn’t have to be nursing broken ribs in the hospital, all you should care about at fourteen is SCHOOL-” 

“Didn’t you start fighting monsters at fifteen?” Acca interrupted her angry shout, eyeing her tensed posture and death glare with disinterest. Ruby tensed further, hands curled into fist, fully turned towards the two, opening her mouth, ready to continue tearing them a new one-

“Acca, shut up. Ignore him, he’s… Not as good a talker as he thinks he is. We’re well aware that their ages are… Not ideal. But they’re the ones that accepted this life. Each one of these girls has… Lost someone important to them, in a similar manner to you. They’re young, yes, but they’re here because they want to be, because they want to save someone they shouldn’t have lost in such a way at their ages, if any at all.” Ura-Acca spoke softly, carefully, and far less analytical straight-to-the-point than his companion. Ruby paused. She looked around again, at each of the girls. She silently looked back at Ura-Acca, tense posture relaxing, if only slightly, brow furrowed in concern for the girls.

“You’re a trained fighter. You know what it’s like to lose people, and how that affects people in negative ways. You’re here to save someone you care about, and so are they. Think of it this way, you’re older, almost an adult if I remember, who knows, they might need someone above their age to look up to, and to protect them if they need it. I seem to recall that you tend to protect people.” Ura-Acca continued, his tone understanding as he gestured to the girls. 

Neiru… Looked confused. She couldn’t understand what he was saying, but Ruby seemed to. Seems they wanted to talk without an audience… Ruby didn’t notice though, she was facing the two instead.

“...I do. That’s… All I’ve ever wanted to do with my life.” Ruby’s words were soft, previously tense shoulders slumping and anger turning into something softer, more subdued. 

“Then take on the mantle of becoming a protector here. Protect the dreamers that we send you, the girls that will aid you, and the girl you want to bring back.” Ura-Acca leaned forwards and onto his cane, looking up at the girl.

“...Okay. I’ll do it.” There was determination in her eyes, standing up straight. The two men shared a look. 

If they could smile, they would.