Everyone found themselves in the white void alone, at first.

Things didn't stay that way for very long... though perhaps time itself was irrelevant under the power of the gods.

Ruby tried to run and found herself running at high speed but not seeming to go anywhere.

She tried to yell for her friends and family, but, as expected, she got no answer.

The Ruby of 6 months ago would have been overawed by this situation and just stopped and stood there.

But this Ruby, who'd fallen into Underland already and been dealing with the powers of the gods for the last 3-4 months, was a little more resilient.

Instead of shrinking back from the void, she raised her fist and her scythe and yelled into it.

"I know you're out here, you gods of Remnant!" she cried. "Show yourselves! This isn't funny!"

There was a gleam of yellow light in the void, and the god of light appeared as if behind a screen. Ruby could see at once that she couldn't have touched him; he was ethereal.

But she ran towards him anyway. He only got a little closer, because she seemed to make no traction.

"Ruby Rose," the god of light said, just as if Ruby hadn't been yelling defiance at him and this was a normal conversation. "We meet at last. One of the Silver-Eyed ones has never met me, in life."

He sounded almost proud.

Ruby was not so naive anymore as to be entirely taken in by that.

It made it sound like she was his pet.

Still, it was hard not to feel a little reassured by it.

"Why did you bring us here?" she demanded in a lower voice. "What are you doing? Bring everyone back."

"It would be wise not to demand things of your creator," the god of light said. "I brought you here to speak in private. I know something of what it is like to have the fate of so many creatures weighing on your shoulders. To want do right by them all."

Ruby lowered her scythe but kept a grip on it.

"So I want you to think about what is the course of action you wish to take," the god of light said. "The last time this happened, it did not end well for your kind. Are you willing to lead your friends, even your family, into that risk?"

"I've led them into worse ones," Ruby said. [True tho.]

The god of light didn't appear offended by that.

"Once--" he said, and as soon as she did, the void became colorful.

In fact, it was imagery much like the Lamp, so that Ruby wondered if Jinn was somehow behind it, showing her this.

"--the world of men was very different," the god of light said, as the shapes of people Ruby didn't recognize filled the scene like a 4-walled movie screen. "They had power and peace. And lived in harmony with the gods. Until one woman changed everything."

Ruby saw Salem walking through the area, as she had been when she was human.

"The pride of one person led to the destruction of the entire world," the god went on. "And what became of all those who followed her? Dead or fleeing for their lives."

Ruby saw an array of all the villains, both dead and alive.

"There must be balance," the god of light said, "or the world will end in chaos. Life and death must coexist. If you cannot accept this, the mistakes of the past will repeat themselves."

Ruby pursed her lips.

The scenes faded, and they were standing on a hilltop, the very one Ruby's mother's gravestone was at.

How did the god know it? Did he pluck it from her mind? But no, they didn't know people's minds... not if Salem had lied to them.

That thought suddenly made Ruby just a little wary. The gods didn't know what humans really thought; all they had were these events, same as her... Something about that was bugging her.

"Your friends may listen if you tell them to run back now," the god of light said. "It is possible that with the interference of other worlds, we may overlook the summons for now. The world may go on until they are ready to receive us back. So I ask you to think carefully about what you will choose."

Ruby stared at the scene.

She wondered what her mother would have thought of this choice.

She always would have tried to do the right thing, to protect everyone.

But the truth was, as Winter had pointed out to Ruby, there was no way to know where Summer would have stood on this. She was only human--asking what she would have done was useless now... Ruby had knowledge that she'd never had, met people she'd never met...

Somehow it was this thought that cleared Ruby's head, and she suddenly knew just what she thought.

And suddenly she was angry.

"Are you trying to use my mother to convince me that I should listen to you?" she suddenly hurled at the god of light, who had the gall to look surprised.

"No..." he said, but Ruby didn't even believe him.

"I loved my mother," she said loudly. "But she's gone. And you would never have brought her back even if I asked for it. So you don't get to speak for her, do you understand me? You don't know what humans think, you just guess! Or Salem could never have lied to you!"

Logic had never been Ruby's strongest point, but the DJs had been over this so many times with them that she was quite sure of herself here.

And the god of light seemed utterly astonished that she should bring it up.

"What do you mean?" he said. "Lied to us? She tried to divide us."

"Well, why are you so easily divided?" Ruby suddenly shouted out triumphantly. This was starting to feel like a test she had a cheat sheet for. "What do you understand about what's right and wrong? And balance? What even does that mean? If you can't even agree, how can you expect us to?"

"Mortal--" began the god of light, but Ruby went on.

"I won't speak for my friends!" she said loudly. "They decide for themselves what to do. I just take care of them. I lead by example, but in the end, I'm not going to make them go along with me because you promised me it would work. I don't think you know that for sure. I don't think you know if they would listen to me. Do you?"

"They might." The god didn't have a response for this.

"You don't know!" Ruby said, triumphantly. "And if you don't know, then... I... I'm just not going to speak for anyone else. Just for myself. If they join me, then fine, but I can stand alone too."

"You are making a grave mistake," the god said in a tone that matched his adjective.

Ruby put her scythe up. "Aren't you just threatening me?" she said. "Who is going to punish me for it except you and your brother? You're making it out like it's my choice to save the world or not, but you're the ones who said you would judge it and that we need balance. If you think we need balance so much, why does it matter what I want? I'd rather have everyone alive, but that won't change what you decided. And if we're talking about that, why is it okay for Ozpin to be reincarnated but not just brought back to life? It doesn't make any sense!"

She was on a roll now.

"You do not understand--" began the god of light.

"Yeah, I don't know," Ruby said. "I don't understand how that's balance. It sounds like you make it up as you go along. I've seen what your curses do. They're horrible. If that's you helping humanity, maybe they were better off without your help. And I don't need your Silver Eyes anyway. I already have something stronger than them. I wouldn't need them if you hadn't left magic and Grimm on this planet when you left. It's all endless, isn't it? The powers fight and fight, and you did it that way for balance! Who is this balance helping? It doesn't make any sense. No one's happy with it. It's constant fighting. So how can Ozpin unite it anyway?"

Now that she was saying all this herself, it was so clear. Ruby saw why the DJs had always had an issue with it. Maybe it was facing the god herself that made her see it. The whole entire mess.

And now that she got it, she wasn't afraid. At least not in that moment.

She was so sure of herself.

"It's just one big hoax!" she finished.  "And I don't want to be part of it! I'd rather have it the other way. Evil is evil, good is good--that was simpler. Before it was all mixed up by curses and  magic and Relics and Silver Eyes."

"You would despise the gift of your creator?" the god of light said.

"You're not my creator!" Ruby shouted at him, her eyes flashing not with silver light but with passion. "You've never been there to make me anything that I am! But the other stuff, what I used to think about good and evil, that was there, and that was what I based my life on believing. And I liked it better that way! I believe in those things! I don't believe in balance!"

[Take that, Volume 9. And yes, I planned this arc long before I saw that, but, boy, did this feel sweeter after how stupid it was.]

There was something so pumped about telling this god that she didn't believe in what he stood for while he was standing right there that Ruby might almost have jibed with why Salem felt so defiant.

And she finally understood, as she'd said it.

What had always driven her was simply wanting to help people, to fight the darkness in the world, and nothing in that had even made her think that there needed to be darkness in order for there to be light. Far from it.

In fact, quite the opposite.

But since she'd heard the story of the gods and Ozpin and Salem, she'd had the idea in her head that balance of good and evil and light and darkness was necessary, and it had messed with her head. What was she supposed to do? What did she represent? What would her mom have done? Ruby had questioned this more than anything in her life.

But they were all empty questions. She'd already known deep down what she believed in and wanted to fight for.

By contrast, the DJs had never encouraged her to think otherwise. Nothing in what they taught ever contradicted the idea that evil must be fought--just the opposite. If anything, they made it simpler. 

It had seemed too simple almost, but, facing it now, Ruby began to think that that was a good thing. 

 The other way had only made Ozpin lose his mind and had driven Salem over the edge literally trying to outwit it.

[Another note. One thing in Volume 9 that struck me as interesting--and it was one of few-- was the theme song's one good line "balance is blind". Balance is blind. It doesn't care about pain or suffering or value. It's always concerned with keeping things equal... but that pleases no one, neither good nor evil. There's no real reason in the Volume, just that Ruby was better as she was.

Well, that is true in one way: Ruby used to believe in things. She was better that way.]

Ruby thought she should have seen it before. 

But she realized this all in a flash of inspiration, because she had little time to think.

Once she'd shouted her last words at the god, he seemed to become either angry or afraid or something else that she couldn't identify, but it wasn't calm.

"So you've chosen." His words seemed to echo more in her mind than in the void itself.

Then he vanished from sight.

The void vanished also, but Ruby was not back in the Grimm lands.

She was in some place that she didn't recognize. It looked like a blank field, kind of like the doorway to the winter Relic.

She was sure at once that it was not Remnant; it was too calm and too... almost fake-looking for that.

Little, who'd been much too afraid to speak before now--and somehow had been brought along with her because the gods didn't care about her presence--peeped out of Ruby's hood.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I don't know." Ruby found her voice sounded almost muted, like sound didn't work properly here. "But it's not where we were before."

* * *

"Guys?" Sun yelled. "What the frick is going on?!"

He poked at the void.

"It's time for you to go home," said the voice of the god of light, though Sun hardly could tell the difference, just that it sounded like less of a growl than the other guy's.

The void changed to Vacuo abruptly.

Sun could feel the heat. It wasn't like the Mind Grimm's illusions that always had an unreal air to them even if you forgot it. He thought his mind was clear, but the place was real.

He scratched his head. "Crap, did he really just send me home?"

"Dude?" Neptune stepped from around a palm tree. "What the heck was that?"

"I don't know, man. It was weird. Are we home?" Sun said.

"I think you mean are you home?" Neptune made a face.

"Well, it's a lot better than the freaking Grimm lands," Sun said. "Where's everyone else?"

"I think it's just us," Neptune said.

"This doesn't seem right." Sun frowned. "Did the big, glowing guy talk to you too?"

"Yeah, he just said, 'This doesn't concern you,' and I was here," Neptune said. "But there was this white--"

"Void, yeah," Sun said.

"A portal maybe?"

"I dunno."

Neptune rubbed his arms. "If we're really in Vacuo, everyone else is too far away for us to reach them."

"Yeah..." Sun deflated. "Do you think we should just go to Shade then? See what's going on with them?"

"Maybe..." Neptune didn't like it. "Hey, why just us though? Meridian is from here too."

"Do you think it's because we're late to the team," Sun mused.

"But he's even later than us," Neptune said. "It doesn't seem right."

"Yeah." Sun flicked his tail. "Something's not right. I guess the gods really aren't fair."

"Careful," a voice said.

It was one of the gods, but it was faint, and they weren't sure which.

"You heard that, right?" Sun asked.

"Uh, yeah, creepy," Neptune said.

"Wait, that means they can still hear us," Sun said.

"Yeah, it does," Neptune said. "Hey!" He looked up. "Uh... Mr... god... of... light? I guess... or... whatever, where're our friends?"

No answer.

"This is so not cool," Sun said, "just dumping us here without them."

"Well, it's only fair," said the voice again. "You've left them before."

"You're throwing that in our faces?" Sun held up his pole. "Listen here, Mr. Light Giant, maybe we've ditched some people in the past, and maybe we're kind of distracted, and hey, maybe we're not that good at this whole hero thing--"

"Can you get to the part where you're hyping us up?" Neptune interrupted him.

"Shut up, dude, I'm getting to it," Sun said. "What I'm saying is, just because of that, you can't just kick us out. We promised we'd help them to the end of this."

"Yeah, what he said," Neptune said, "uh... sir. You can't just make that decision."

"I am a god. My decisions stand," the voice said.

They shuddered. Somehow even without seeing him, it was threatening.

"Do you think he's... you know, just gonna dump us here?" Neptune said.

"He's being a real prick," Sun said.

"Dude, don't say that about a god," Neptune said.

"Oh, you heard Shine and Wally--they aren't really gods," Sun said. [You know, it is quite in-character for Sun Wukong to not respect gods. Just watch OverlySarcasticProductions' summary of Journey to the West. It's hilarious.]

"They're still powerful," Neptune said.

"I thought we weren't gonna let them push us around," Sun said.

"I don't think it's as simple as just saying they can't," Neptune said.

"Why shouldn't it be?" Sun said. "I mean, we've been going without their decisions up till now, following that other book. Works for me. I thought it was cool. You remember... you know, needing freedom and stuff. This jerka-- is just trying to put us right back where we started, I mean literally. Man, you gonna let him psych you out like that?"

"I guess I just don't know if I can do anything about it. I feel like fire might rain from the sky," Neptune said.

"So let it." Sun looked up at the sky. "Wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've seen in a while. Bring it on, I say. Anyway, that doesn't prove anything. Grow a pair, Neptune."

Neptune glanced upward. "Sun, you know... I'm not as confident as you," he said in a small voice.

"What? Man, you're way cool," Sun said.

"Yeah, but... maybe I'm here because I just don't have enough conviction... I don't know, you seem on top of it, but I've been kind of behind in the whole mission," Neptune said.

"How can you say that, dude? You fought so many Grimm, and you helped us kill, like, two of 'em, and Blake told me you freaking made a tidal wave--which I can't believe I missed, by the way. That is so not right!"

Sun had been mad about this ever since he heard about it.

"But the point is, how can you say you were behind? It's all in your head."

"It's just... taking on these guys... if Ozpin couldn't, then... how can we?" Neptune said. "I mean, the DJs were with us, but they've separated them."

"They told us we could do it it without them," Sun insisted. "I say we give them what for. If the others can do it, then why can't we? The power or the gift or whatever--I mean, we saw lava kill Grimm. Come on, man, you need to have some... what's the word?..."

"Faith?" Neptune said.

"That one," Sun said. 

Neptune shivered. "Well...nothing's happened yet... I guess it's possible this is just to freak us out."

"Or it's simply an act of kindness." The god of light formed in front of them, and he didn't look happy.

He was also a dragon right now.

"One which you are showing very little gratitude for," the god of light said. "Our quarrel is not with you, children, but you are playing a dangerous game."

Neptune stiffened.

"Well, hey, you know what? You can just frick right off." Sun held out his pole. "Because my buddy here and I think that you're not so scary, not when we've been getting our a---s bailed out by a better God than you. What are you doing, trying to bully everyone? Is that what this is? Did you drop them all over the world?"

"You presume much," the god of light said.

"Actually he's inferring it from the situation and the assumption that you'd probably do the same to them as to us," Neptune said.

The god glanced at him.

"Uh... well, it's just a guess," Neptune said.

But then he felt ashamed.

"Still, if Sun's not giving up then I'm not either," he said. "That's what friends do. And they don't ditch other friends while they're saving the world. I want to go back to everyone else."

"Yeah, because that's what friends do," Sun said. "Plus, I don't want to miss this."

"Take us back," Neptune said, a bit more bravely. Mostly because so far they hadn't been blasted.

The impression was that perhaps the god would have done so, but Shine and Wally had spread their protection, and it seemed he could not do anything to them that was actually harmful.

With a frown, he said, "Remember that is what you asked for."

Vacuo disappeared from view.

Sun and Neptune both appeared in a field that was certainly nowhere they'd seen before.

Ruby was in it, with Little, looking bewildered.

"Ruby!" they called.

"Guys?" Ruby turned, hoping it was more of her team, but she was happy to see anyone she knew.

They rushed up and began to explain what happened.

Ruby, the smartest probably out of the three of them (at least that Neptune would admit), noted that there was a similarity between the experiences.

"We all were taken somewhere that reminded us of something," she said. "I guess it wasn't real... or it was, but they can transport us anywhere. And now we're here. I don't think this is Remnant."

"Yeah, it's too... still..." Sun said.

"Yeah, there's, like, no bugs or birds or anything here," Neptune said.

It was true.

"Kind of like the land of the god of light, no animals," Ruby said. "Which is weird, if he represents life."

"Does he though?" Neptune said. "Shine said they don't really represent life or death."

"Good, because if they did, I think we'd be in heaven right now," Sun said. "And this is too fricking boring to be heaven... but how do we get out?"

"I have a feeling that we don't get out till everyone is here," Ruby said. "This is... some kind of test, maybe? I don't know if we passed or failed by being here. But I don't feel guilty for what I said anyway."

"You'd think us wanting to help would be passing," Sun mused. "But gods are so weird... They don't make a lot of sense to me. Except the cool one. I kind of get that, you know--be nice to others the way you'd like them to be to you, don't hold a grudge." [Sun could go with Bill and Ted's, "Be excellent to one another."]

"There's more to it," Ruby said. "But I don't know if that's what this is about. It's more like... choosing them, don't you think? Choosing what they want, or choosing what we want... or what we were taught."

"Ruby, if that's it," Neptune said nervously, "there are some people in our team who might have a bit of a problem with either of those things. Do you think we all have to pass, or just a majority rule? Or did we fail already? Gosh, I'm freaking out."

"Stay cool, man," Sun told him. "I guess we just wait to see if anyone else shows up."

That was all there was to do.

https://youtu.be/_ObaAqAxJ1M

[AMV by RhythmofMist, to "Die for You" by Starset.]

* * *

Neo was brought to a street or alley that could have been Vale or Mistral from the look of it.

People were walking by and ignoring her.

"People miss what's right in front of them." Roman was leaning on a wall, hat tilted. "They're not like us. They don't care about us. It's the way of the world."

Neo looked at him oddly.

"But we don't need them anyway." Roman lifted his cane. "Suppose we just left? No more of being in this circus. It's not like either of us really care about saving the world. And we're not really saving it. The gods are here now. It's their business. We did our part. What do you say?"

Neo held up a hand and said aloud, "I don't understand--"

She stopped short.

What?

[I'd like to think she sounds like Mary Poppins, just for character consistency.]

Neo put a hand to her throat.

"Neo?" Roman said. "Did you just speak?"

"No, I can't speak," Neo spoke. "What? Is this what I sound like? How odd, it's just how I sound in my head but with actual vibrations." She felt her vocal muscles.

"My word." Roman put his cane over his shoulder. "And with the accent? How charming."

"This does not make sense," Neo said, still not quite used to the sound of her own voice.

The god of light appeared, smaller-sized now, on the street.

"Healing is a small matter for me," he said. "Perhaps they have told you I'm a cruel god, that all I make are curses. But it's quite false. As a token of my goodwill, I could release you. I could give you your voice. These rash Worldlings should never have involved people like you in this. It's not as if you understood matters. I am not unreasonable. Walk away now, and there is no cause for us to have any disagreements."

Neo rubbed her throat some more. "Is this real?" her voice still surprised her.

"It is as real as possible," the god said. "I am the god of creation, after all."

"It's not quite normal," Neo said.

Roman didn't seem to see the god, or he didn't care.

"But aren't you upset about...?" Neo glanced at Roman and then at the god warily.

The god of light, just for a moment, did look slightly irritated, but then he said, "As long as no further damage is done, it's more likely to cause a problem by reversing it now that so many have seen it."

Neo tapped her chin.

She could be naive, as noted by Cinder, but she wasn't so trusting as to just swallow that.

She glanced at Roman. Then shook her head.

"You'll have to do better than that, Dearie," she said to the god sassily enough, and with a look that was just like her even if the voice wasn't. "I know illusions, mind you. The real Roman would never act so calm while a god was making such an offer. This isn't really happening. It's some trick of the mind like the others, and I daresay stabbing Cinder won't be the worst I do if I fall for this one."

She lifted her umbrella. "Put me back with the others. I don't need a voice from you or charity."

"Consider," the god of light said less nicely, "I'm being very generous to offer not to restore balance forcibly with your friend's life."

Neo froze.

He wouldn't... No, he would. She had the whole story of Ozma getting snapped in and out of reality from the others.

What a nightmare! No! No, she wouldn't let it.

The god underestimated Neo's amount of reality-defying sass where Roman was concerned. She'd backed down from a Maiden, sure, but she'd been watching magic get undone for weeks. She no longer feared it as much.

She made a fist at him. "If you want him you'll have to go through me!" she said. "You overgrown glow stick! Just try it! My new friends can defeat magic and gods alike. Don't you dare meddle with us. They'll pop you!"

Libby would have been impressed by her speech there.

"Is this how you thank me?" the god said incredulously. "Human? And what are you but a weaker human than the rest? I know you, a spiteful and vindictive, little thief who likes to hurt her fellow humans for sport. Such as you would never receive favors from the gods normally, and yet you dare to spurn my offer."

"Well, I already got a better offer than yours," Neo shot back, now angered further. "It may be I am what you say, not that you're any prize yourself, darling, but you know what? My friends gave me something though they knew what I was and what I am now, and I was their enemy. Still, I got the most precious thing in my life back and something you certainly wouldn't have done for me, dear. You think I want that badly to talk that I'd side with you? Roman doesn't care if I can talk or not, and neither do they. And really, love, there is more to life than trying to fit in with everyone else. What do you know about humans? You're not one. In fact, I don't altogether fancy your decisions when you've been gone for thousands of years and never gave a fig for our problems till they threatened your power!"

Neo felt quite proud of herself for that.

The god gave her a look that was terrible and then took the shape of a dragon.

Neo, not nearly as brave perhaps as she wished, gripped her umbrella sword and looked uneasy as he began to circle.

"Oh..." she muttered. "Doing this now..."

"All of you have grown so insolent," the god of light said. "Never have I seen such disrespect since the old age. Well, if you won't accept our kindness, then you shall fear our wrath."

"Help!" Neo suddenly began to yell. "Roman! Miss Likstar! Mr. West! Someone who's good at this!"

Her voice abruptly cut off and was gone.

"That's enough of that." The god of light again seemed to fear that her attempt might have worked. "You will regret this!"

He knocked Neo over with his tail before disappearing, and the landscape faded to the same as the others saw.

[The god's tactic of "making her normal" by returning her voice is especially twisted, given her backstory. In the graphic novel Roman Holiday, it's revealed that Neo's parents valued perfection, and when she was born without a voice, they felt she was a stain on their perfection, leading her to develop certain mental problems.]

["This is Your Life"--Switchfoot.]

https://youtu.be/Sx9RcI_EueM

Neo felt her face and hands to see if they were intact. She seemed all right.

"Neo!" the two boys and Ruby called.

"What happened?" Sun asked her.

"She can't answer that, dude," Neptune said.

Neo opened her mouth--but yes, the voice was gone.

Swallowing her annoyance at the god for messing with her head, she motioned frantically and then made an illusion of the god, and then motioned like it was scary or a monster. And then she made an image of Roman and looked at them questioningly.

"No, no, we haven't seen anyone but who's here now," Ruby said. "But the god spoke to us also... I wish I knew some motions. We're trying to figure out what they're doing. We think it's some kind of test. Did he offer you anything?"

Neo looked somber. Then slowly, rather embarrassed, she pointed to her mouth and mimed speaking.

"What? Really?" Sun said.

"That's so messed up," Neptune said. "Playing with someone's head like that... Wait, you can't actually talk, right?"

Sun shoved him.

Neo glared at him.

"I think Neo's never been able to talk," Ruby mused. "I mean, I think someone told me that. But it's okay. Roman can understand her, and I think I'm getting a little bit better at it. But Neo, what did you do? Did he show--no ,don't answer that... I mean, what happened? Did you talk to him?"

Neo nodded. And then she made a very rude sign to illustrate what she'd told the god to do.

"Wow, for someone who's so small, she's got a huge spine," Sun said. 

"Dude, we also told him that," Neptune said.

"Well, yeah, but, like, we had backup," Sun said.

"Well, good for you," Ruby said. "He didn't hurt you either?"

Neo mimed shoving but then shrugged as if to say, "Nothing much."

"I think our idea was right, then," Ruby said. "So everyone else must be in the same position. I don't know how long it'll take. Should we be worried that there's not more of them here?"

"I kinda feel like it's pretty basic to just offer someone the ability to talk though," Sun said, "or to go home, you know what I mean? Like, who wouldn't see through that trick?"

"I dunno," Neptune said. "The thing is, even if you know it's a trick, some things can be really tempting. Like, I do want to go home and just not have to be risking my life anymore. It's just that part of me wants more to make sure everyone else is okay too. But sometimes I'm more selfish than I am selfless, and the gods... maybe they think we're all like that."

"I guess that would make sense," Ruby said. "And maybe it would have worked, but I've learned some things about what's possible lately, and thinking about that, the god's offer just didn't sound as golden anymore."

Neo nodded at her like she understood.

"But could they still hurt us?" Sun said. 

That was the question.