As Ruby walked towards Faith's room, she kept her head down, lost in thought, preparing to apologize on behalf of Heirloom. The hallway leading to Faith's room felt shorter than she would have liked, and soon she arrived at the wooden arched door. Standing on the other side, Ruby twirled a strand of hair by her shoulder as she stared at the door, unsure of what to do next.

Ruby hadn’t known Faith for long. Back on Earth, they would occasionally spend time together in advisory, but never to the degree that they knew each other. Even in this world, their only real conversation has been in combat. Unconsciously her nerves skyrocketed while staring at the door. The uncontrollable urge to push the doors open was getting to her until she decided to knock.

With three taps against the wood, Ruby stepped back and crossed her hands behind her back. Her eyes immediately darted for the bottom of the door where she could see a shadow walking around the room. Everything was silent on the other side of the door like a muffling spell was used to suppress the sound. With Heirloom out of the house, she listened to the breath of the wind in silence.

Ruby noticed the shadow on the other side not coming any closer to the door, but rather growing smaller and distant.

Ruby silently: [Hey… are you okay in there?]

The shadow suddenly stopped in place.

Ruby: [I know what Heirloom said was out of place… but I’m sure he doesn’t mean it.]

Everything went silent again.

Ruby: [We can talk… if you want.]

She walked up to the door and placed a palm on the wooden frame.

After a moment, Ruby felt the door softly push back against her hand. Hopeful, she looked down and saw the shadow covering a large portion of the light on the other side, as well as a small pale finger slipping through the crack.

Ruby: [If you don’t want to talk, I understand. I just wanted to apologize for what he said earlier. It was out of character, even for him.]

The finger slipped back through the crack and the sound of rustling clothes came from the other side. Ruby grew fearful that she might’ve said something wrong.

Ruby: [Listen, I–]

Before she could finish her sentence, the door busted open with Faith standing on the other side. Her face was stone-cold and lifeless, and her eyes shined a bright purple, similar to what happened earlier. Ruby didn’t know what to think of it, but she noticed the magic presence around Faith intensified and left a bad smell in the air.

Faith: [I’m going to kill the demon lord.]

Faith walked through the door and passed Ruby. She attempted to talk back, but nothing but a hesitant mutter would slip. Frightened to retaliate, Ruby built up all her courage to pull Faith’s arm back and stop her in her tracks.

Faith: [What are you doing?]

Ruby: [I just wanted to talk!]

Faith: [If you want to come with me, feel free. Just don’t get in my way.]

Ruby: [Where did this come from?!]

Faith: [Why do you care?]

Ruby looked into Faith’s amethyst eyes and took a breath. Jerking on her arm to draw her closer, Ruby slammed her palm on Faith’s forehead and closed her eyes.

From one second to another, Ruby appeared in a white room where a series of floating panes down a hall led to a weeping body. Around her was a field of purple and blue flowers that were dying and losing their color. Ruby slowly began making her way towards the body at the end of the hall, occasionally taking a glance at the floating panels. Displayed on the glasses were slices of Faith’s life in this world, from the moment she arrived to when Heirloom shouted at her. Ruby couldn’t believe her eyes yet continued to walk to the figure.

The closer she got, the more obvious it was who she was looking at. With her arms wrapped around her knees, Faith sobbed to herself, covering her head in shame. Ruby got down to her knees and reached for Faith’s shoulder, but a sudden voice interrupted her, making her jump in fear.

She turned around to see a figure that looked a lot like Faith, with their arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

???: [I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.]

Ruby softly: [… Who are you?]

The figure’s image replicated Faith to a tea, with the exception of the streak of white hair hanging behind its ear. Its clothes were similar to the beginner sorceress’ apparel, which gave Ruby an idea of what she was looking at.

???: [What, or who I am isn’t important.]

The figure walked up to Ruby and stood right in front of her face. Nearly touching noses, Ruby attempted to step away, only to step on Faith’s shoes behind her.

???: [You need to tell me how you got here.]

Ruby: [I had a feeling something was wrong with her, so… I don’t need to explain myself to you.]

The figure sighed.

Ruby: [What are you doing in Faith?]

???: [You choose not to answer me, and rebound my question.]

Ruby: [You’re the fairy feeding off of Faith.]

The clone chuckled and walked up to Faith’s weeping body.

Ruby: [What do you want from her?]

The clone began to play with Faith's white hair, twirling her strands between its fingers.

???: [None of this is your concern. Leave this body at once.]

Ruby: [I won’t leave until I get an answer.]

It looked at Ruby’s confident eyes.

Ruby: [I’m willing to fight for it.]

The figure narrowed its eyes.

??? coldly: [You can’t win.]

Ruby threw a hand out and punched through an invisible barrier, shattering the air in front of her fist and manifesting a golden magic circle around her wrist.

Ruby confidently: [It’s worth a shot.]

???: [I respect your drive, but it’s pointless.]

The figure stood up and moved it’s white strand behind it’s head.

???: [If you know what I am, you should reconsider.]

A gold bolt of lightning struck the clone, flashing a bright light and manifesting a pair of magic circles above and below the figure. Both of the circles withheld faint stars that formed different constellations.

Ruby grew anxious in the face of a fairy and smirked in an attempt to keep her cool.

Ruby nervously: [Try me.]

Instantly, the room cut to an ominous black that had a faint light source, dimly illuminating the room to a dark gray. The magic circles around the two shined like stars, becoming the only light source around them. A puddle of cold water as wide as an ocean, surrounded the two in the dim room. Faith had disappeared entirely, leaving the two of them alone in the barren space.

Ruby’s heart stopped for a second as she tried to get an understanding of her situation. In front of her stood a figure feared as a god, angered at her for rebutting. She trembled in her shoes and struggled to clench a fist as she took a large shaking breath.

???: [I’m giving you one last chance to back down.]

It raised its hand and pointed at Ruby.

???: [Take it and leave, before you get hurt.]

Ruby: [You’re the thing that has been causing so much trouble for Faith. Until you tell me why you’re here, I refuse to take you up on that offer.]

???: [Then what happens next is your fault.]

In front of the thing’s index finger, a sphere of deep space manifested in thin air. Within a few seconds, the lightning coming from the magic circles fed the orb, allowing it to grow larger until it was the size of a large football.

Faster than she could blink, the black orb shot towards her at an intolerable speed, reaching close to the speed of light. Unable to react in time, but with enough time to think, a clear portal formed in front of her, absorbing the ball and spitting it out behind her. She was still hit by the gust of wind that followed it, however, there wasn’t much. She guarded her face while her hair blew with the breeze.

As soon as she lowered her hands, she noticed that the fairy had disappeared, along with the massive magic circles around it. Suddenly she felt electric shocks on her left shoulder, prompting a turn only to see a bolt of yellow lightning following a leg moving towards her head.

Ruby quickly raised her hands and blocked the strike with her forearm. Despite her block, the attack sent her skipping away, kicking the water back with her. She gripped the ground and created a black platform to stop her momentum. The kick carried with it a lot of force. Her arms grew numb after the first blow, though they recovered fairly quickly.

The figure ran to her in the blink of an eye. Like a lightning bolt, it appeared in front of Ruby with a thunderous boom.

What started with a simple block led to a series of punches between the two. With powerful blows that shook the ground and rippled the water around them, the two exchanged blows for some time.

Each punch was boosted by the magic circles rotating over their bodies. Like clock hands, the circles would jolt with every strike.

One good punch to the gut sent the fairy in the opposite direction, leaving enough time for Ruby to breathe. Her breaths were growing heavier and her body weaker. She could feel her muscle fibers tensing after every direct hit, and a loss of stamina similar to an exercise run. The fairy showed no signs of fatigue, so she knew there had to be a change.

As the fairy recovered from the shock, the magic circle around Ruby’s wrists flew off and joined together, forming an orb of gold that dropped into Ruby's hand. She tossed it in the air and watched as a silver staff manifested around it.

Fairy: [You’re no ordinary sorceress. There’s no sign of an amulet on you, nor do you have an aura.]

The staff dropped onto Ruby’s hand.

Fairy: [You have exceptional proficiency with Od.]

Ruby smug: [You like it?]

She spun the staff around herself with precision and finesse. Like a ribbon, she twirled it around so much that it looked like a dance. As she spun, several lightning bolts moved like circuits around Ruby’s figure. Once she finished, she pointed the tip of the staff to the ground and smirked.

Ruby: [My father taught me just how I could beat your ass.]

Fairy: [Your father… don’t tell me—!]

Ruby interrupted the fairy's shock with a laugh.

Fairy: [Don’t get your hopes up.]

Ruby: [The thing with Od is the longer a human uses it, the better they get. Fairies are locked to the level of their artifacts.]

Fairy: [That’s right. Consider yourself a genius.]

Ruby: [Then that confirms my suspicions.]

Ruby stuck out her staff and activated the orb. It began to glow brighter, emitting its golden light across the room.

Ruby: [You’re using her.]

Fairy: [It’s a matter of equivalent exchange. She wants power, I want experience.]

Ruby: [A fairy’s artifacts carry negative properties towards humans.]

The Fairy narrowed its eyes.

Ruby: [Does she know about the consequences?!]

Fairy: [No, and I intend to keep it that way.]

Ruby: [What is your problem?!]

Fairy growing agitated: [I’m not sure if you know this, but there are problems far greater than the life of this sorceress. The demon lord is building his resources and attempting to revive the tyrant as we speak!]

Ruby softly: [This is an issue between the fairies and the demon lord. Bringing Faith into this is unreasonable.]

Fairy: [Why don’t you butt out!]

Ruby somberly: [I can’t do that. Not until you release her.]

With a growl, dozens of black orbs similar to the one the Fairy shot out earlier, rose from the ground with trails of electricity. They covered both sides of the Fairy and hovered in place waiting for a command. Ruby tightened her grip on the metallic staff, preparing herself for whatever the Fairy had in mind.

She took a large breath as the Fairy raised a hand, pointing a finger straight at her with narrow, dingy amethyst eyes. Not a second later, the orbs of deep space shot toward Ruby like race cars on a green light. Ruby planted her feet on the ground and loosened her shoulders.

Ruby began twirling her staff to deflect the orbs, each one packing a punch against her silver staff. Coming into contact with her staff forced the orbs to transform into little red butterflies of light that flew back to the Fairy and popped like firecrackers. Ruby couldn’t block each of the orbs. So many shot at her that her mind couldn’t keep up with the intensity. Several of the orbs got through her staff and cut several parts of her body. Bits of her clothes, along with her skin and hair fell apart.

She kept this up, trying to move closer to the fairy, but the barrage of orbs was relentless and never-ending.

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Ruby once again planted her feet, but this time she fanned her staff, creating a cyclone of wind that changed the direction of the orbs. Instead of coming at her, the orbs turned around and shot at the Fairy with the same speed, if not faster. As the Fairy was completely distracted by the popping butterflies, the oncoming hoard of space orbs shot at it.

To Ruby’s surprise, the orbs dissipated before coming into contact with the Fairy. Like they were never there, they disappeared into the wind.

Once all of the butterflies popped away, the Fairy looked back at Ruby, who now had her staff in the Fairy’s face and the golden orb pulsing orange.

Ruby: [It’s over.]

The pulsing from the orb grew brighter by the second, not wasting a moment until it fully charged, however, the Fairy took advantage of the charge time and shoved the staff to the ground. Shocked, Ruby kept her eyes on the staff as it clattered against the two-inch ocean of water.

Leaving herself wide open, the Fairy smashed her head in with a punch carrying with it a lot of force. Ruby was sent flying backward and collapsed on the ground, barely capable of picking herself back up. She felt blood drip from her mouth and her face grew numb.

The Fairy darted at Ruby faster than she could keep up, clutched a hand around her neck, and raised her with a single arm. Ruby flailed her hands around, scratching and pulling to get the figure away, but it wouldn’t budge.

Ruby: [You bitch! Let me go!]

Fairy: [You need to get out of here!]

The Fairy slammed Ruby into the puddle of water that was miraculously deeper as soon as Ruby got in contact with it.

Once she shut her eyes, Ruby reappeared back in her body outside of Faith's consciousness. Her body had healed, and her clothes were back in proper condition. Like it was all a dream, Ruby groaned and looked up. In front of her, Sean was looking down at her body with a raised brow and bowl of soup in hand.

Sean: [Kind of weird to sleep in the hall, don’t you think?]

Ruby's head ached as she stood up.

Sean: [I thought you were supposed to be with that dragon guy.]

Ruby: [There were some… complications.]

She turned back to the ground to see Faith’s unconscious body resting, and the amulet around her neck pulsing like it never did before.

Sean: [You two got in a fight or something?]

Ruby: [Something like that.]

Sean nodded and took a sip of his soup.

Ruby: [Hey, do you mind if I try something?]

Sean: [As long as no one gets hurt.]

Ruby: [Cool.]

Ruby slowly motioned a wave near her wrist, manifesting a magic circle around it that slowly rotated clockwise. Sean looked at it confused.

Ruby: [It’ll sting like a static shock, but it’s completely harmless.]

Sean: [If you say so…]

Ruby planted her magic hand on Sean’s forehead and closed her eyes. Sean flinched back, only to open his eyes to a new location.

Ruby had entered Sean's subconscious, taking him with her. The empty white room filled with memory panes, and covered in green and yellow flowers, was foreign to the person it belonged to. He looked around in awe, completely speechless of his surroundings.

Rather than looking at his memories, Ruby searched the room for something that could’ve been lurking around.

Sean confused: [Where are we?]

The wizard ran up to the panes and watched the first one in line. A video of the moment he arrived in the world started playing in front of him, entirely from his perspective.

Sean: [Are these memories?]

Ruby: [You’ve never come here?]

Sean: [I mean, sometimes when I’m in between sleeping and being awake, I sit in a room like this one. I never took the time to look around, but I thought of it as a waiting place between R.E.M and consciousness.]

Ruby: [This place is your subconscious.]

Sean: [Oh, this is where I get the urge to beat one out.]

Ruby looked at him with narrow eyes.

Ruby disappointed: [Also the place that stores your emotions.]

Sean: [Did I say something wrong?]

With a chuckle, Ruby returned to her search.

Sean: [Why are we here, anyway? Did you just want to show me this?]

Ruby: [I’m looking for something that sort of looks like you.]

Sean: [You mean the thing behind you?]

Ruby quickly turned to see nothing.

Sean: [I was surprised you couldn’t see it earlier. It’s been there since we showed up.]

The wizard walked up to Ruby and stared into the blank space.

Sean: [I think it's a manikin wearing my old clothes.]

Ruby confused: [What are you looking at?]

The wizard turned to Ruby, then back to the manikin in front of them.

Sean: [Are you blind?]

He raised a hand and pointed straight forward, again directing Ruby to the empty white hall.

Sean: [This thing right here!]

He placed a palm on the top of its head and began patting it’s green hair.

Manikin to Sean: [She can't see me, dumbass.]

Sean: [Holy shit!]

The wizard jumped as soon as the manikin spoke in a soft-spoken tone.

Ruby: [Are you ok?]

Sean: [You didn’t hear that?!]

Manikin to Sean: [She can’t hear me either, dumbass.]

The manikin’s short and stubby body, along with its quiet and soft voice was almost a direct opposite of Sean’s. Watching himself speak and stay perfectly still, phased him enough to cause a headache.

Sean: [… What are you?]

Manikin: [A fairy trapped in your body.]

Sean: [Why? Did I do something wrong?]

Manikin: [I did wrong. This is punishment.]

Sean: [Uh, that sort of makes sense?]

Ruby: [Who are you talking to?]

The wizard turned to Ruby and started scratching his head.

Sean: [It says it’s a fairy that has been in me for…]

He turned to the manikin and watched it raise three fingers.

Sean: [Three weeks.]

Ruby shocked: [You have a fairy too?!]

Sean: [Apparently! This is as much news to you as it is to me.]

He turned back to the manikin.

Sean: [Hey, what’s your name?]

Manikin: [Mệt.]

Sean: [That’s a strange name.]

Ruby: [Ask it if it knows about the fairy in Faith.]

Mệt to Sean: [I do.]

Sean to Ruby: [He does.]

Ruby turned to where Sean was looking and squinted her eyes.

Ruby: [What is your relation to it?]

Mệt to Sean: [Brothers.]

Sean to Ruby: [They’re brothers.]

Ruby agitated: [I don’t understand why the fairy can’t talk to me.]

Mệt: [Too tired.]

Sean to Mệt: [Like your name…]

He turned to Ruby

Sean: [He doesn’t want to reveal himself. It takes a lot of effort.]

Ruby: [Well, talking through a messenger isn’t any faster.]

She crossed her hands and flicked her hair back.

Ruby: [Since you don’t want company, I have one last question. What would happen if I removed the artifact binding Faith with the fairy.]

Mệt: [I suggest you don’t.]

Sean relayed the message, and Ruby was taken aback.

Mệt: [To defeat demon lord, and stop resurrection.]

Sean to Mệt: [Stop a resurrection? Who could the demon lord want to bring back?]

Ruby: [The fairy in Faith told me they’re bringing back Elliot Bengt.]

Sean: [That’s a good thing, isn’t it?]

(Ruby speaking over Mệt)

Ruby: [If you listened to me earlier today, you’d know it’s a bad thing to bring him back.]

Mệt: [Bengt brings another Resurgence. Not good one.]

Sean confused: [One at a time, please!]

Mệt turned to Ruby, who was furiously tapping her toes, crushing a yellow flower beneath her. Mệt let out a sigh, allowing himself to be seen and heard by everyone.

Ruby lowered her gaze to look the fairy in the eyes. Hers narrowed in frustration and a silent growl under her breath.

Like Faith’s fairy, Mệt looked almost identical to the fire wizard by his side. It wore his old torn-down attire and was significantly shorter than him. Despite this, it constantly had narrowed eyes that shined yellow, different from Sean’s cheery green.

Mệt: [Bengt, not good. Keep artifact. Save world.]

Ruby: [But it’s killing Faith! I can’t just let it stay there!]

Mệt: [Barely. Super slow.]

Ruby: [Why should I trust anything you say?]

Mệt lowered its head and took a heavy sigh.

Mệt: [You came here looking to ask me questions, yet you rebut my answers.]

The fairy began to fade away.

Mệt: [Whatever, just don’t anger the sisters.]

He finally disappeared, leaving the both of them alone in the panel room.

Ruby confused: [Sisters?! There are more?!]

Sean: [Calm down now. We’ll figure this out soon enough.]

Ruby: [How can you stay calm right now, Sean?! That guy was—]

They suddenly appeared in the hallway of Zack’s home, sitting against the stair railing with Faith still unconscious beside them. Sean stood up and dusted his pants.

Sean: [I’m not sure who the sisters are, but if Biêng says not to anger them­–]

After rubbing his eyes, Sean suddenly could see a faint purple aura coming off Faith’s amulet. Its intoxicating and violating presence happened to captivate Sean mid-sentence and abruptly stop him.

Ruby: [You aren’t gonna help?]

Ruby stood up and pressed her back against the wall. Her pure, soft voice stole Sean’s attention away from the amulet. He placed his hands behind his head and chuckled. Softly rubbing through his green hair, he thought of his answer.

Sean: [As interesting as it sounds, I trust my mind fairy. I don’t want to see my friend die, but in this situation… we’ve got to have our priorities straight.]

Ruby slightly opened her mouth to his response.

Ruby concerned: [You’d have your friend killed to save the world?]

Sean: […]

He lowered his head and softly smiled.

Sean: [I’d do a lot worse.]

Taken by surprise from his answer, Ruby stared at him silently. There was something about his cold green eyes and fake smile that put her off, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around it.

Who was her upperclassman, and just what has he done?

Ruby: [Comradery and family are the most treasured things to people–]

Sean: [Don’t kid yourself.]

He said cutting her off.

Sean: [Think this through logically, Ruby. You have your princess memories, don’t you? Has no one ever told you that “All for One; One for All” is bullshit?]

Ruby: [You’ll take the word of a fairy over the life of your friend?] Sean turned away. [We might be in a game, but there is no respawn, Sean! If we let the fairy eat away Faith’s life, Faisal will be no more.]

Sean: [I understand the concept of life and death–]

Ruby: [Then you should know how important it is to keep her alive!]

Sean fell silent as he clutched onto the stair railing behind him. Ruby lowered her eyes and took a large breath.

Ruby: [I don’t know what kind of life you lived back in Winooski. I’ve only heard stories from Mr. Gore… and none of them have been negative. He talked about you like his first-born kid. You aren’t a bad person. I know you loved your advisory, just like the rest of our class. You don’t want Felix to die.]

Sean: [This is different. We aren’t killing him. Felix is a sacrifice for the greater good. It’s either his life or the rest of the world.]

Ruby: [A world that we don’t belong in, Sean!]

As if coming to a sudden realization, Sean widened his eyes and looked at the princess standing before him.

Ruby: [You’re going to sacrifice the life of the only family you have right now, just to save a world you won’t be in for much longer? We aren’t heroes, Sean. We weren’t summoned here to save a world or find some sort of McGuffin! Our only goal should be to get back home… and I’m not letting anyone die to get there!]

Sean and Ruby looked each other in the eyes, silently battling through a means by which no one moved a muscle. The hall was dead silent —­ with a quiet whir coming from the amulet around Faith’s neck. Ever since Ruby was kicked from Faith’s subconscious the amulet grew restless and rowdy. It would shuffle in place, as well as sound like a fan on a summer day. The two tried their best to pay no mind to it, but occasionally they couldn’t help but break the staring to see if she was okay.

Sean: [I feel like I’ve been in this world forever.]

He raised his head and looked at the empty ceiling above.

Sean: [It’s been no more than a month, but I’ve grown so attached that I forgot about the other world.]

Ruby: [You can’t be serious.]

Sean: [I know, right? I’m pathetic.]

Ruby: [You love this world… don’t you?]

Sean: [Yeah… but don’t take that the wrong way. The first chance I get, I’m leaving this god-forsaken world… but it wouldn’t be a reach to say that I’d hesitate.]

Ruby: [I’m the same way.]

Sean looked at Ruby’s warm smile.

Ruby: [I’ve been in this world for my entire life. Every now and then, I get the memories of my family and living in the castle. Compared to my life back in Winooski, this is a dream come true! I’m a fucking princess with magic powers! I don’t have to worry about school or getting good grades to get into some major league college!]

The smile on her face led to a giggle that contagiously made Sean smile.

Ruby: [Without school or the constant stress to stay at the top, I can lay back and finally let myself go! I’ve dreamed of an event like this my entire life.]

Sean: [You have it worse than me.]

The two looked at each other with smiles.

Ruby: [No matter how long I spend in this world, or what experiences I get to have, there will always be this feeling of guilt within me.]

Sean: [What do you mean?]

Ruby: [We’re leaving behind the people that love and care for us.]

Sean lost his smile and sorrowfully glanced at the ground.

Ruby: [Who knows how our parents feel right now? We disappeared without a trace and are living lavish in a world unknown to them. I can only imagine them in constant panic. If I were in their shoes, I’d have lost my shit by now. I just wish I could tell them that I’m doing fine, you know?]

Sean: [Where are you going with this?]

Ruby: [Honestly, I don’t know.]

She pushed herself from the wall and raised her hands in the air. After stretching she continued.

Ruby: [I guess what I’m trying to say is that we have something important waiting for us back at home. It’s not fair to put our lives on the line, to protect a fictional world.]

Sean: [You're right…]

Ruby smiled.

Sean: [Then should we take the amulet from her?]

The both of them turned to the metallic necklace that emanated a faint purple glow.

Ruby: [I’m scared about the sisters that Mệt mentioned. If they’re so powerful that a fairy had to issue a warning, then I think it’d be best for us not to interfere.]

Sean: [Are you sure? That thing looks like it’s about to blow up.]

Ruby: [The fairy considers her too valuable to kill her right now. I think it put a protective barrier around the amulet to stop us from interfering.]

Ruby turned to a wall where a crystal white portal manifested, splitting the wall apart.

Ruby: [I think our best bet is to wait for her to wake up.]

Sean: [What happened to make her pass out like that?]

Ruby: [Heirloom said some pretty rough stuff to her, and she lost control. The fairy took over, so I fought it.]

Sean: [Damn. Well, looks like you’ll be heading out.]

Sean looked at the portal.

Ruby: [Yeah, despite everything that happened, I still have a friend to take care of. I kinda threw him back in his cell without letting him know beforehand.]

Sean: [Oh… well, good luck with that.]

Ruby: [Yeah, thanks. Take care of her, will you? Don’t be so rough.]

Sean nodded and watched as the princess walked through the portal and disappeared without a trace. The portal that separated the walls closed and reconnected each individual log with one another as it had never been separated.

Upon entering the portal, Ruby heard a blaring alarm coming from one end of the room. The once-dark cell was now lit with flashing red and green lights and an unbearable wailing coming from a patch of torn-apart bricks.

Shocked, Ruby turned to the platform she threw Heirloom onto and stepped back with a gasp. In panic, she glanced around the room, using the light that would occasionally turn on.

He wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere. Where did he go?

The chains that once held him down were now in shards on the floating platform. Ruby quickly turned to the torn-apart wall and clenched her teeth.

All that she could think of was whether he left on his own volition or if someone set him free. Regardless of how he managed to escape, if he was to be seen outside without Ruby, he would be killed on the spot.

She ran out to the corridor with her thoughts running like all hell let loose. Her heart rate increased dramatically to the point where drawing her own breath became a chore.

Suddenly a large explosion came from the other end of the hall followed by a gust of wind that nearly threw Ruby off balance. As soon as it came to a stop, Ruby bolted to see if it was what she thought.

She had many doubts that someone managed to break into Heirloom’s cell and set him free. The chances of finding the room were close to none, and the only way to be let in was through teleportation. A room with no doors, a cell with no light. No escape, no freedom.

When she turned the corner, she felt the heavy gust of wind pushing against her somehow grow stronger to the point she couldn’t keep her eyes open. The dense flapping of wings surrounded her as she tried to open her eyes. She continued to walk towards the wind source blind. Every step grew harder than the last. As she slowly opened her eyes, she froze in disbelief.

Standing on the back of a crimson-red dragon, Heirloom looked down at Ruby with a grin. With him, five other dragons varying in color and size revolved around him as a central entity.

Despite the chaos, Ruby kept her eyes on her Dragon Tamer friend and couldn’t let out a word. As he smiled her way with no regard for her safety, he raised his chin and smirked.

Along with all the chaos, floating behind the crimson dragon was a holographic timer that flashed red.

0:00:00

0:00:00

0:00:00

The next wave… has begun.