So, this is the next part for the volume. We'll have to see what is going to happen soon enough. And with that, let's get to the chapter.
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*3rd Person POV*
Somewhere in the glowing mushroom fields of the Garden's Arce, Ruby is seen running while carrying the still-shrunken Weiss, Blake and Yang in her hands. Azure, Vert and Rosa held onto the inside of Ruby's hood as she ran. Ruby pants, stops running, and looks back. She sighs in relief as Azure looks up at her, concerned.
Azure: "Ruby, are you all right?"
Ruby: "I... Um..."
Before she could give a response, the Curious Cat appeared, hopping on top of the mushrooms.
Curious Cat: "I'm so glad the seven of you are still the same. Not always the case in the Ever After."
Weiss: "You're the one who ditched us in the first place! Which, by the way, was how we ended up in that mushroom house to begin with!"
Rosa: "You know, the same mushroom house where that delirious caterpillar-guy tried to drug us and then was swallowed up by a freaking hole in the ground?! How does that even happen?!"
Curious Cat: "Ah, yes, yes. Alyx had a similar reaction the first time she saw someone return to the Ever After. But it's not how it seems... well, I suppose it is... but not the way you think, if you think like Alyx, which it seems like you do."
Weiss, Blake, Yang, Rosa and Vert exchange glances with each other. The Cat hops from mushroom to mushroom while Ruby looks on, before looking down to both Azure and Little. Their attention is then grabbed again by the cat.
Curious Cat: "Ah ha! We're here."
The Cat proceeds down the path, and Ruby follows. She looks with astonishment at a large lake with lily pads carrying various denizens of the Ever After on them. They seem to be heading towards a grand structure toward the center of the lake with a large, pink lotus flower at the top.
Curious Cat: "Better run."
Ruby hurries and jumps over to the giant lily pad with the Cat.
Yang: "So, Cat. Going to explain to us how a giant caterpillar disappearing into a hole "isn't how it seems"?"
Curious Cat: "Mmmm, when we break or wear out or simply finish what we were made to do, we're called back. But Herb... his heart was too weak to listen, so I gave him a little bit of mine."
Blake: "Is he... dead?"
Curious Cat: (chuckles) "No, no! Well, maybe a little bit, but not at all."
Rosa: "Ugh! Which is it?"
Curious Cat: "Now that Herb's properly returned, he'll be fixed up nice, and made into the Herb he wanted to be when he was still "Herb". Then he'll come back and find his purpose. Could be the same as before, or maybe not."
Ruby: "When Herb comes back, will he remember anything?"
Curious Cat: (laughs) "What would be the point of that? Just like Alyx, you lot. I know, I know, where you're from, things ...die... but we're just not like you at all. We... ascend. Herb will have a purpose again."
Weiss: "That's impossible. Things have to die someday. Right?"
Curious Cat: "Wha-- goodness no! Though I suppose there is a creature... No, no, that's not the sort of thing you talk about in polite company..."
Team RWBY, AVR and the Cat make landings to the center structure, and they step off the lily pad.
Blake: "Wait, so what happened to Herb... what happened to the King?"
Curious Cat: "Oh, it was all very sad. The Red King couldn't cope when he lost to Alyx, a crying mess. Thankfully, he was called back and fixed up, and now he's the Prince you met."
Azure: "You called that fixed up? The Prince was way worse than the King."
Curious Cat: "The Prince isn't supposed to be nice. He's meant to play the game and win, no matter what."
Vert: "So, that's why he cheats, when the Red King didn't. But that still doesn't explain why the Red Prince was so much meaner."
Curious Cat: "While the Prince may not remember Alyx's deception after ascending, the heart very rarely forgets."
Blake: "But there was nothing about ascension in the story."
Curious Cat: "Of course not! Exposition is terribly boring. Even this conversation was, on the whole, rather tedious!"
Vert: "I wonder what else Alyx left out."
Weiss, Blake Yang and Rosa ponder with Vert about this.
Azure: "Moving on from that, what do we need to make this "Grow-gurt Parfait"?"
Curious Cat: "Well, to make a Grow-gurt Parfait, one needs a bushel of grumpy ivy, one good-sized spicy potato, the lint off a griffon's sweater – Ethel's Dragons and More should have that – which is next to..."
Ruby: "I'll never remember all of that."
Curious Cat: (chuckles) "No, I can procure that. But there's another ingredient we must have that's only available on the third level. Some nose hairs from a leprechaun."
Both teams become disgusted at the mention of that.
Curious Cat: "What if you retrieve that while I go get the rest?"
Ruby: "Sure, I guess so."
Curious Cat: "Wonderful! Look for the Teapot Lady. She'll have it now. Now off you go."
As the Cat goes off, they get distracted when a leaf-headed creature waves from a vendor holding a flower in their hand.
Yang: "Ugh... Guess I'd better go with the Cat so they don't get distracted by a shiny doorknob and never come back."
Blake: "I'll go with you."
Weiss: "Get me as far away as possible from the nose hairs, please."
Rosa: "The more the merrier, as they say."
Vert: "I guess I'll join in as well."
Ruby starts looking sad that they were leaving her, and Azure stepped close to Ruby and softly placed his hand on her cheek, making her turn to look at him.
Azure: (smiles) "I'll stay with you, Ruby."
Little nods as well.
Ruby smiles back at Azure and she brings Weiss, Blake, Yang, Rosa and Vert to the Cat.
Yang: "Nice try, Kitty."
Weiss jumps and lands onto the Cat's head.
Weiss: "But we're coming along."
Yang, Blake, Vert and Rosa follow and land on the Cat. The Cat leaves the vendor who tries to offer Ruby the flower this time. Ruby awkwardly stammers and walks away.
Little: "Onward!" They said cheerfully, but then they yawn before falling asleep. Ruby chuckles at this, but then frowns again. Azure sees this and decides to find out why.
Azure: "Hey, Ruby. Are you feeling okay?"
Ruby: "I am... Why are you asking all of a sudden?"
Azure: "It's just..." He sighs before looking at her with a worried expression. "I'm really worried about your well-being. You haven't been your usual self ever since we got here, and you looked like you were dealing with something when we got out of that mushroom place. And I just wanted to know what was up. If you don't want to talk about it, I can understand, but I want to help out however I can."
Ruby: (sighs) "You probably saw the same thing, but... I saw my other self. She was saying these things, and it was making me question if all of this is what we should be doing... I'm not even sure what I should be doing..."
Azure: "You should continue on. No matter what those illusions said to make you feel like this, you should not let it get you down. We have to carry on this responsibility that we were given, for the people with us and for those no longer with us. I'm sure that Penny and Nero would feel the same. And remember, no matter what happens, I'll always be there by your side, every step of the way. I made a promise, and I'm going to stick to it, as long as I live and breathe."
Ruby: "Thanks, Azure. I'm glad to have you with me." She smiled at him.
Azure: "And I can say the same to you." He smiled back.
Ruby: "Now then, let's look for the Teapot Lady--"
Suddenly, a loud clanging can be heard. Ruby and Azure find themselves alone with all the other denizens walking around suddenly gone. Darkness encroaches and surrounds the area on all sides except for the small area Ruby is standing in. Ruby gasps as she notices what is happening. She raises her hand as a bright light is emitted from her right. She and Azure notice a rack of weapons, among them being Penny's Maiden sword. Ruby grabs it off the rack and holds it in her hands.
Azure: "What the heck?"
???: "Does that one interest you?"
Ruby and Azure look up to who spoke, and sees a feminine-looking, metallic Blacksmith standing before their forge. Their features are obscured by the forge's bright flames. Ruby approaches them, entering the shop.
Ruby: "I... I thought this was lost forever. How'd you have it?"
Blacksmith: "Nothing. No one is ever truly lost."
Ruby and Azure stare at the Floating Array sword, and a reflection of Penny appears in it. They gasp.
Blacksmith: "And what of you two?" She turns to Ruby and Azure. "Are you lost?"
The Blacksmith holds a pair of tongs holding a heated, metallic butterfly wing.
Ruby: "No, no. I'm just... My friends went somewhere else."
Azure: "We're just trying to find a Teapot Lady."
Little wakes up and notices their surroundings in the Blacksmith's tent.
Little: "Ruby, Azure... I don't think we're supposed to be here."
Blacksmith: "Are you their guide, little one?"
Little: "Yes. Ruby and Azure are my friends, and I want to help them and their friends get home. Even though I don't know where that is or how to get there."
Blacksmith: "Hmm..." She hits the hammer on the glowing half part of a butterfly wing.
"You seem to be carrying a rather large burden with you." She said to Ruby, before turning her attention towards Azure. "And you seem to carry a large amount of guilt with you." She hits the hammer again.
Ruby: "I'm fine. I can handle it."
Azure: "I can deal with it on my own."
Blacksmith: "If you change your mind, you may choose any one of these you like and set your burden and guilt down."
Azure: "I'm... I'm okay with just my sword."
Ruby looks down to find a dagger in the Floating Array sword's place. She stares at the blade, and a reflection of Alyx appears.
Ruby: "I already have a weapon. I did..."
Blacksmith: "And yet, here you are, searching for something else that you do not even know."
Ruby sets the dagger down on the table next to her, before looking up to see a rather intricate axe-like hybrid weapon with a trigger function. Azure looks to the right and gasps as he sees a familiar white sword that once belonged to his father hanging up on the wall.
Azure: (mentally) "What is my father's sword doing here?"
The Blacksmith continues hammering, the clanging sound ringing. Ruby gasps as she sees on the blade of the axe a reflection of Summer Rose, her Silver Eyes starting to glow and covering their surroundings in a bright white light.
Curious Cat: (echo) "Azure? Ruby? Ruby?"
Ruby, along with Azure, gets startled and turns around. She is seemingly back, having snapped out of her and Azure's vision with the Blacksmith. The Cat is seen holding the Grow-gurt Parfait ingredients in a basket with their mouth. Weiss is riding on the Cat's head, Vert and Rosa were on his back, and Blake and Yang were in the basket.
Curious Cat: "Ruby? Azure? Who are you talking to? Did you retrieve the nose hairs?"
Ruby and Azure look around, noticing the Blacksmith's shop and forge are gone.
Ruby: "Uh... no, not-- not just yet, but--"
Weiss: "Ruby, come on. We got everything else."
Rosa: "Are you two okay?"
Ruby: "I... Uh... I'm sorry."
Azure: "It's not your fault, Ruby. We just got distracted."
Blake points to the left.
Blake: "Is that the Teapot Lady?"
Team RWBY, AVR and the Cat approach the Teapot Lady's booth.
Teapot Lady: "Welcome to Things n' Things! How can I help you?"
Curious Cat: "Looking for nose hairs. No, not the ogre ones."
The Cat nonchalantly tosses aside and tips over the various items on the booth, much to the Teapot Lady's annoyance. Suddenly, some fireworks go off, and the crowd goes to see it.
Yang: "Woohoo, a festival!"
The crowd begins to scream, and everyone runs for their lives.
???: "Jabberwalker! It's the Jabberwalker!"
Yang: "Or not?"
The Teapot Lady screams and quickly takes away the items by sucking in with her spout. The Cat hangs on to the jar they found.
Ruby: "Wait, please! We need those leprechaun's nose hairs!"
Teapot Lady: "No time!"
Ruby: "Here! I'll give you this!" She shows off her brooch. "I-It carries a mother's promise!"
Azure was surprised at this, but couldn't say anything. Meanwhile, the Teapot Lady sucks in Ruby's brooch.
Teapot Lady: "Take it!" She begins running away. "Run!"
Curious Cat: "This... is exceedingly bad..."
Vert: "Wait. What's a Jabberwalker?"
Curious Cat: "It's a truly terrible creature. If the Jabberwalker eats one of us, we do not ascend."
Weiss, Blake, Yang and Rosa gasp while Vert and Azure go wide-eyed.
Yang: "How do we make the parfait thing?"
The Cat uncorks the jar of nose hairs with their mouth and places it on the table.
Curious Cat: "Toss everything in here. But be careful, eat too much and we'll have to shrink you back again. And that's a completely different potion."
Ruby tosses everything together in a span of a few seconds, and the Parfait is prepared. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Vert, Rosa and Azure run forward and take a scoop of it in their hands, consuming it. They start to grow a little bigger, bigger than the parfait cup.
Blake: "It wasn't enough!"
Azure: "We're still small!"
The Jabberwalker then appears, breaking a vendor booth. It notices the group and charges toward them.
Jabberwalker: "FOUND. GRAB. MAIM. KILL."
Little screams. Ruby grabs her friends in her arms and uses her Semblance to dodge out of the way, but the Jabberwalker hits her with its tail. The parfait falls away from Ruby's arms. Some of it spills on the Jabberwalker, who wipes it off.
Weiss: "No!"
The Jabberwalker starts to grow bigger from the spilled parfait. Ruby holds her friends in her arms and runs away.
Jabberwalker: "PREY. EAT. DEVOUR."
The Jabberwalker chases after Ruby and stops her in her tracks. Suddenly, a creature comes galloping in, with an armored warrior riding on top of it. The creature charges forward and bashes the Jabberwalker with its antlers.
Blake: (surprised) "It's the Rusted Knight!"
Yang: "Get the parfait!" She said to Ruby.
With the newly arrived ally keeping the Jabberwalker occupied, Ruby runs towards the parfait. She sets the six down, and they take more scoops of the parfait in their hands, eating them. Ruby looks behind, before looking back to her teammates and friends, now finally back to their regular sizes.
Yang: "Ah, finally!"
Rosa: "Time to kick some butt!"
Weiss, Blake, Yang, Vert and Rosa run forward to join the battle, but Azure's legs won't move. Ruby and Azure look on, with Azure getting mad at himself.
Azure: (mentally) "I should be out there as well, helping them take down that monster! But then..." He looks down at his right hand that's shaking, unable to grab the handle of Blue Flash. "What is this sudden feeling of helplessness that's taken over me?"
Curious Cat: "Ruby! Azure! Follow me!"
This snaps Azure out of his trance as he turns around and grabs Ruby's hand.
Azure: "Come on, Ruby!"
The two follow the Cat. The Rusted Knight leaps over the Jabberwalker with his Jackalope mount. The Jabberwalker tries to charge forward, but is held down by Weiss' black glyph. The Jabberwalker tries to use its tail, but it gets wrapped by Gambol Shroud's ribbon. Yang then jumps on top of it, punching away.
Yang: "I said... I wasn't done with you yet!"
Weiss, with the help of Vert's Semblance, launches the Jabberwalker into the air, followed by Rosa unleashing an orange fire wave with her axe that sends it back down, before a Semblance-enhanced Yang punches it in the gut. It disappears into a bright, pink light, but the group looks on in shock.
Blake: (shocked) "Neo?!"
Weiss gasps.
Yang: "Huh?"
Rosa: "What?!"
Vert: "So this is her doing..."
A growl is heard. Another Jabberwalker emerges out of the water.
Rusted Knight: "What?! There's only supposed to be one!"
Multiple Jabberwalkers appear and surround Weiss, Blake, Yang, Vert, Rosa, and the Rusted Knight.
Jabberwalkers: "Detecting... Searching... FOUND!"
Rusted Knight: "What? Run! This way!'
The Knight gallops away on his jackalope mount, with Blake, Yang and Rosa following him. Weiss and Vert look for Ruby and Azure and find them hiding in a nearby booth.
Vert: "Time to go, Azure!"
Weiss: "Ruby, come on!"
Vert leads Azure as they continue on in silence. Ruby looks back as she runs, noticing a civilian get thrown to the ground and the Jabberwalkers surrounding him. Ruby winces as she hears his dying screams. Team RWBY and AVR follow the Rusted Knight to the top of the marketplace, pointing them in the direction of the giant lotus flower. Weiss stops to look as many various Ever After denizens flee screaming on the lily pads. Smoke plumes rise from the destructive aftermath. Weiss looks on wide-eyed helplessly. She turns around, noticing the Teapot Lady sobbing and crying over her broken things. There are some cracks on her. Weiss holds her hand to her mouth at the heartbreaking sight. Ruby arrives and gives her a sympathetic look as she walks her away.
Weiss: (disheartened) "I am so tired of leaving places in ashes..."
Ruby and Weiss head inside the lotus flower, and the Rusted Knight follows. The Rusted Knight sheathes his half-broken rusted sword as he walks past Team RWBY and AVR and towards his Jackalope mount.
Blake: (excited) "I can't believe it. The Rusted Knight, in person!"
Rusted Knight: "You did good, Juniper."
Juniper coos as the Rusted Knight pets them on the head.
Vert: "Wait, Juniper?"
Rosa: "As in Team JNPR? Who are you?"
The Knight takes off his helmet and turns around, showing them his face. The Rusted Knight is revealed to be Jaune, now older than Team RWBY and AVR. His blonde hair has grown longer tied in a wolf's ponytail, with white streaks in it, and he has a full beard. There are also age lines under his eyes.
Jaune: (smiles) "Team RWBY, Team AVRN... You finally made it."
They gasp, stunned over Jaune's appearance and his identity as the Rusted Knight.
Azure: "Jaune... You're here?"
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That is where we stop for now. Oh man, things are not going as they should be for Ruby and Azure. What will happen next? You'll have to see. All I can say is... something sweet will happen for two pairs of people.