A Wish for A Better World

Ruby's head spun as her back hit the soft mattress. She had to blink tears out of her eyes when she felt her sister's now-unfamiliar weight on her. How did she have forgotten this feeling so quickly?

This couldn't be possible. This wasn't real.

She was hallucinating. This was one last fantasy dreamed up by her mind before she died. Or before she experienced whatever the consequences of her actions were.

"Hey, Ruby, what's wrong?" Jet asked her, her voice holding the tenderness that she reserved only for when she was worried about Ruby.

Ruby swallowed back a sob. She'd gotten really good at doing that over the years.

She hesitated, but then decided to indulge herself, to immerse herself in this illusion. One last perfect, innocent, carefree day. Or however long the universe would allow her.

Ruby sniffed and smiled. "Nothing. It's just… we're fourteen now."

Jet grinned brightly. "I know. We're so old!"

Ruby swallowed again but Jet didn't notice her affected mood, bouncing off the bed and running over to her room.

"Come on, if we don't look proper, Mum will be mad at us, and I want to stay on her good side today. Dad said he was going to give us a surprise."

Ruby remembered.

They had managed to stay good that day, making it to midday without getting in trouble. Theo and some of the other Knights of North-Gumbia had followed them and their father as they went out and had lunch in Dulcington. When they got back, Calroy and their father had treated them both to a combat lesson. Of course, their mother had found out, and Ruby distinctly recalled hearing the echoes of her parents' fight about it, though her mother had not addressed it to them. It was one of the few things in her life she hadn't told Jet about.

Ruby frowned. She wondered why her subconscious chose this day. Why not the day after, when they'd slipped out of Lapin's class and gone to the secret fights held by the kids and street urchins in the Dulcington? Jet had wrestled her way to the top of the charts and Ruby had talked her way out of getting stabbed. On top of that, shad also successfully stolen from the four older kids who had pickpocketed her on her excursion the week prior. It had earnt them the respect that had them commanding the streets for the next four years. There had been challengers, of course, but none had been able to best them when they worked as a team. And they always worked as a team.

That had been a good day made even better by the fact that they had managed to return before Lapin had noticed their absence, though Ruby now wondered if the old rabbit had ever really been as blind as he pretended to be.

This had not been.

This year had marked the first year that their mother insisted that they have lessons on their Saint's Day. She remembers sitting in the room, eyes glazed as Lapin droned on before being dragged to the church to say their prayers before they had been allowed to properly celebrate.

She'd hated every second of that morning, anxious to get it done and hadn't been able to sleep that night, her parents' fight still ringing in her ears.

As Ruby made her way to her closet, she almost tripped over her art supplies, which she'd left strewn across the floor. This had been when she was between phases. Her carelessness with the equipment showing that she was about to switch interests. If she remembered correctly, she would take up singing and the lute next (she had been quite good at singing, but not as adept at the lute, and the dissonance between her talent in the two had caused her to lose passion for it fast) and then she would change to dancing for two months which would evolve to acrobatics by the time their next Saint's Day came around.

That was the one that had stuck. And the one that had been the most useful in the end. Though, she wished she'd somehow decided to pursue magic, that some twist of fate would have allowed her to begin learning it earlier. She could have been good at. Maybe even one day as good as Saccharina. But she'd never know. War wasn't exactly the best time to learn the complex foundations needed to be able to perform proper spells that actually caused damage.

Ruby couldn't imagine why a hallucination would have such mundane detail as the mess in her room.

This was an ordinary day. It didn't make sense for her to be experiencing this.

She was quiet on the way down, stewing as Jet practically skipped alongside her, chattering happily. 

She'd had hallucinations before, she'd even had one or two visions; they had never felt like this.

This almost felt… real.

It struck as she was eating breakfast. She had followed Jet, just like she'd always done, and hugged her parents, a tight crushing one from her father and a warm but sharp one from her mother, and then took her place across from her sister at the table.

Theo was standing at the door, Toby on the other, less used exit, as they watched over them silently.

Lapin would already be getting ready for their lesson.

Liam was still in the Great Stone Candy Mountains, three months away from arriving in her life.

She dropped her fork when she realised it, the clattering sound cutting off Jet and her father's loud chattering.

"Ruby!" There was her mother's instinctive reprimand.

"Ruby, are you alright?" That was her father, his tone gentle and concerned.

Jet did not say anything, just stared at her. She knew that she was acting strange. She had not done this the first time around. This was not how hallucinations went. This was not plucked from her memory, the edges were to sharp, the details to minute.

This was real.

A thousand thoughts crashed through Ruby's head all at once. All she could do was stare as she realised the implications of her situation.

When she didn't react to their voices, her father rose and walked to her side, Jet also stood up whilst their mother leant forward in her seat.

"Ruby," her father's voice rumbled. That deep cadence had been one of her last comforts after Jet…

But Jet was alive. She wasn't dead anymore. She'd never died.

And she wouldn't. Ruby would make sure of it.

In that second, Ruby made a decision, constructed her plan and decided on to carry it out.

Her mother had once said that she'd grown into a woman who was not afraid to make her bloody way through the world. She had become good enough at politics and reading between the lines by that point to get the hidden meaning; that Ruby was ruthless and cunning and was capable of using both those attributes to get what she wanted.

It was time to test that assessment.

She blinked and looked to her dad, plastering a smile on her face. "I'm fine."

Her dad's hand tightened on her shoulder. (When had that gotten there? Ruby hadn't noticed. That was something she'd need to do better. She couldn't miss things like that. She'd missed too many things last time.)

She met the suspicious and worried gazes of her family, her eyes settling on her twin. "Really. I just had a nightmare last night. It's okay now."

Her mother frowned. "Are you alright?"

Ruby turned her smile to her mother. "Of course. Dreams can't hurt me."

She made it through breakfast and then they were herded to the tower where Lapin conducted their lessons under their mother's disapproving eye.

'We might have been able to use your nightmare to get out of this,' Jet whispered to her in twinspeak as she squirmed in her seat, barely one minute into their class and already wanting to leave.

Ruby nodded absentmindedly, but did not reply like she used to, when they would keep up their murmured conversations throughout the entirety of their classes instead of actually listening to Lapin.

She would not make the same mistake again.

Lapin was droning on about the history of Ceresia and its relationship to the Church, information that would have been quite helpful in her understanding in the future. Ruby listened with rapt attention.

She actually asked a question. A question that was on topic and not designed to distract Lapin.

Jet was gaping at her. Lapin blinked, shocked, but answered after only a few seconds' hesitation. Ruby ignored their reactions. There was little she would be able to do to explain her seemingly sudden change in personality, but she did not have time to slowly ease into it. She only had four years. Four years to fix things and make sure that the Church could not attack them from the same angle that they had the last time. They would not dethrone her father under false pretences. They would not turn Calorum against them. Candia would not burn.

If the bitchifex wanted to come for her kingdom, she would need to do it from another angle.

Ruby did not whine as they were dragged down to the chapel nor did she roll her eyes through her prayers. If she were to pull off her plan, she would need to cultivate the appearance of someone so devout that her faith could not be questioned, following in the steps of her lost aunt, the Saint Citrina. 

Lapin noticeably hesitated when she willingly dropped to her knees at the alter and placidly listened to him, none of the nervous energy that she used to be filled with which would have her fidgeting through the entirety of his sermon.

When they were done, Ruby briefly contemplated pausing in front of one of the stained glass windows and bowing her head, but thought that that might be too much too soon. So, she dutifully followed her mother out of the small cathedral, ignoring the surprised looks that Jet kept sending her.

She tried to be cheerful on their lunch with their father at Dulcington, but she kept getting distracted, preoccupied by seeing old shops that had been burned down, by having Jet back at her side, by seeing the many fallen Knights still alive. Both Jet and her father kept sending her furtive glances, but Ruby didn't acknowledge them, shaking her gaze away from Sir Toby or Lamington, who had become her second in command on the streets, or Frostel, the travelling pickpocket, to refocus on the conversation that she was only minimally contributing to. People she'd never thought she would ever see again.

People that she couldn't let die.

When they arrived back at Castle Candy, their dad lead them to the training courtyard where Calroy was waiting beside a rack of training swords.

Ruby froze.

He'd been dead for so long, but the time had done nothing to appease her rage. She had never been as good as Liam, had never been able to rise above it.

"Now, don't tell your mother, but I'm about to give you both your first sword fighting lesson," her dad said with a wide grin.

Jet clapped her hands together and let out a manic laugh, but Ruby clenched her hands behind her back, breathing deeply.

She turned to her dad, and smiled as sweetly as she could. "Can I actually go down to the archery range, dad? I think I'd be a better archer than a swordswoman."

Her father frowned briefly before he smiled widely. "Of course, Ruby. We can go there after."

Ruby shook her head. She knew that as soon as she got a weapon in her hand, she drive it through Calroy's stupid face, regardless if it was blunted. She needed time to get her emotions under control.  She couldn't exactly murder her father's closest advisor.

Yet.

She just needed to find some proof.

Easier said than done, but she thought she knew where to begin looking.

"Why don't I go with Sir Toby now? I'm sure one of the archers will be there," she suggested lightly.

Jet frowned and turned to her.

"Are you sure?" she asked in Twinspeak.

Ruby smiled at her. "Yes. The new Head of the Army should have some private lessons.  I wouldn't want to cut that short. And I'm thinking of maybe being Head Archer."

Jet paused for a second before she returned her smile. "Thanks, Rubes. You're the best!"

Ruby nodded, feeling the thrum of the locket on her chest. She suddenly had to swallow back tears. She'd forgotten that it used to do that; thrum when either of them felt a particularly strong emotion.

Her dad was stammering. "Ah, yeah. That sounds great. If you wanna."

Ruby visibly grinned, bouncing on her toes as she threw her arms around him. "Thanks, pops."

Her father ruffled her hair like he hadn't done in over half a decade.

She flounced off, hearing Sir Toby scrabble a bit and Theo whispering a frantic order, before he fell in behind her.

"Archery is a very noble pursuit," Sir Toby commented as they approached the range. "I'm sure you will be very accomplished at it, Princess."

Ruby inclined her head at him respectfully, ignoring the stutter in his step at her sudden proper behaviour.

"If the Bulb above wills it, then I will succeed," she replied.

Her manners may have given Sir Toby pause, but her reply had him gaping. He blinked at her for a few seconds whilst Ruby continued.

"Of course, Princess," he eventually said and they fell into silence as they walked along.

The green sour strap archer attending to the range roused at their approach, straightening up and immediately assuming parade rest.

"Princess Ruby!" he greeted with a deep bow. "Sir Toby."

"I would like to learn archery, please," Ruby announced.

The man blinked at her. "Of - of course, Princess. I will get you a beginner bow."

Ruby frowned. "I want one that will work as a proper weapon, not a glorified toy."

The man nodded frantically. "Yes, Princess."

He whisked into the large gingerbread shed that housed all of the ranged training weapons, abandoning the arrows that he had been tending to.

Ruby rolled her shoulders, starting to do warm up stretches. She frowned as she assumed familiar positions that she'd used a thousand times before, feeling a stiff strain in her muscles that she'd hadn't felt in years.

Shit.

This body didn't have the muscle memory of her old one, which had been honed by years of acrobatics, archery and fighting, that she'd never stopped training, even years into peacetime. After it all, she had finally understood why her father and Theo had always trained so hard.

Ruby listened as the archer explained the basics to her, internally grumbling at how much she struggled to draw back the bow.

She nocked an arrow, aimed and loosed as the archer instructed her, grimacing when the arrow thunked into the very outer ring of the lollipop target.

"That is very good, Princess," the archer complimented. "Not many hit the target on their first try."

What about on the millionth one?

Ruby managed to cast him a grateful smile before she was loosing another arrow, her movements just a little awkward as she adjusted to her weaker muscles.

She would need to start training immediately.

By the end of her session, he was able to get her shooting to an acceptable accuracy, though the imprecision still irked her. She lowered her bow after about an hour, her arm aching. She wouldn't get much more progress that day, and she had things to do before Jet's training session ended. It had about an hour and a half left, if Ruby's memory served her right.

"Thank you," Ruby said, turning to the archer who had overseen her for the hour as she took off the guard on her arm. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name Mr -?"

"Sarone, Aeple Sarone, Princess."

Ruby inclined her head in the respectful nod that she was meant to give to her subjects. "Thank you, Mr Sarone. Your help has been much appreciated."

The man grinned and bowed. "Any time, Princess. You have a real talent for archery."

"You flatter me," she replied with a laugh. "I wish you a good day."

They entered the castle again and Ruby curtseyed at Sir Toby, a rather strange experience when she wasn't in a dress. She had worn them much more often in her last few years in the future, when she had been required to be seen as a formal figure.

"Thank you for guarding me, Sir Toby," she said. "I will not require an escort for the remainder of the day."

Sir Toby bowed at her. "It was my honour, your grace. I will be happy to accompany you on any other archery ventures in the future. It seems the Bulb above has blessed you with great skill with the bow."

Ruby smiled. "Thank you for the compliment. May the Bulb shine upon you."

Sir Toby beamed at her. "And you, princess."

Ruby nodded deeply at him and walked off, stopping by her room to pick up one of her many lined notebooks and shoving it in a large satchel with a bunch of her study materials, pausing just long enough to clean her room up. She hadn't been in the room since she'd left Castle Candy for Calorum all those years ago. She hadn't been able to re-enter it when all that would be left there was the ghost of her sister. Back then, or she guesses, yesterday, she didn't have the appreciation for organisation and order that she did now.

With a sugar quill and her white chocolate notebook in her satchel, Ruby made her way through the castle and sat down, cross legged in front of the four, humongous statues of her aunts.

Ruby started to make a list. Of things she needed to do, things that needed to change and things that she would not be able to change but would need to be ready for.

She wrote and she wrote, sifting through her memories and attempting to ensure that she didn't forget anything.

Eventually, she got herself down to a checklist for the next three days. It was short and sweet, but more complicated than it seemed at first glance.

Ruby sighed as she looked up from the book, staring at the statues around her.

She felt something in the back of her mind and Ruby almost screamed when she heard the whispers of the shadows echo around her.

She slammed her book closed and throw it, jumping to her feet as she ran her hand through her hair, tugging it hard. However, she paused before she could cast the shadows away. They no longer felt like the cold, destructive things that had urged her towards vengeance and rage.

These were… warmer. Their whispers did not tell tales of hatred, they just called welcomes in her ears.

Mistress… you are - you are here… you are home… let us help you…

They were a thousand voices speaking at once, all ready to embrace her.

Ruby closed her eyes and tentatively delved into her magic, feeling that the connection inside her was more indistinct, less rigid than before, but somehow more lively, thrumming with a sought of life that it had never had in the past (or, well, future). She felt sparks of energy shoot through her body as she channelled her magic and her eyes snapped open.

She gasped at what she saw.

In one hand, a ball of light glowed in her palm, whilst shadows pooled in the other.

In between them, streams of purple light danced around her, singing songs of growth and change and prosperity. Her vision turned misty as she finally felt it. Neither the cold destructiveness of the Hungry One, nor the blinding light of the Bulb scorched her soul. Whatever she'd done back there, that strange balance she'd found, had carried over into this world.

She could tap into both the Bulb and the Hungry One, the light and the shadows, and she could use them both to feel the ever changing world around her. Finally, she understood what Liam had been trying to teach her. The Bulb birthed them and the Hungry One took them at death, but the time in between was for them, was for the change and the growth that came with truly living.

She dismissed the Sweetening magic first, releasing it with a smile. She allowed herself to bask in the golden glow for a few more seconds before she allowed that to disperse too. They would be useful in the future, but they were not calling for her now.

Now, the shadows had news for her.

And, for the first time in her life, Ruby let them in with warmth and security in her heart, finding comfort in their protectiveness as she raised her right hand to her hear, allowing the black mass that was wrapped around her hand, to speak directly to her.

We can help you, Mistress… we have felt what you will need… follow us.

So, Ruby allowed them to lead her. At their bidding, she walked over to Sapphria's statue, and climbed it with more difficulty than she would like - she really needed to start her acrobatics training. However, she made it to the circlet, pushing the purple jewel that was inlaid at its crux, one that mirrored the jewel in Ruby's own circlet.

A compartment opened up in front of Ruby's eyes, books and scrolls and maps. But, most interesting of all, a clear, pale blue sphere made of pure sugar, and a set of four black daggers, each long but, as Ruby discovered when she picked one up, well balanced enough to use as throwing knives. Ruby took the sphere, the daggers and two of the books; one that was a pure black journal and another that was deep purple and pulsed with magic, and scampered down the statue, depositing her findings in her satchel just in time to see her mother storm into the room.

The queen paused when she saw Ruby.

"Ruby," she said, her furious scowl quickly being replaced by raised eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"

Ruby raised one of the history books in her satchel.

"I just wanted to do some studying in the quiet," she explained. "It's… peaceful here… calm."

Her mother took a deep breath in, glancing down. Her voice was quiet when she answered, "Yes, it is."

Ruby clenched her hand around the satchel strap, reaching back and stealthily summoning her white journal and quill into her hand before shoving them in the bag.

"You can stay here. I was just leaving," she told her mum. "I know people usually like to be alone in here."

Her mother looked up at her, eyes widening before she nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

Ruby hesitated for a second before she stepped forward and enveloped her Mum in a firm hug.

"I love you."

Her mother took a second to return the embrace. "I love you too, Ruby."

Before Ruby let go, her mother kissed her on the head. Ruby pretended she didn't see the defeated slump of her shoulders when the queen faced the statue of her aunt.

----

That night, after dinner, Jet's raised her eyebrows at Ruby's spotless room.

"Are you done with art?" she asked.

Ruby grinned. "Yep. I think I want to do something more active. Sitting still all day is boring. I think I want to try acrobatics!"

Jet matched her expression. "Like with the ropes and the flips? Cool."

"Yeah I want to fly through the air!" Ruby said as they both started to get ready for bed.

"And I want to be the most fearsome fighter in Calorum!"

Ruby giggled. "So you liked your lesson?"

"Yeah! I'm totally going to take over Theo's job! I'd be great at it."

"You should teach me what you learnt," Ruby suggested lightly, riding high on the exhilarating feeling of talking to her twin again after all these years.

Jet flung herself onto her bed. "I totally will."

"Then I can watch your back both up close and from afar."

Jet laughed as she got under the covers. "I'm going to be a great general, Ruby. I'll protect you. I'll protect everyone."

Ruby was quiet as she crawled into her own bed, staring at her ceiling, the orange light slowly receding towards the window as the sun fell below the horizon.

"Do you really not want to be queen?" she asked.

Jet sighed deeply. "You know I don't. But I also know you don't either, so I wouldn't abdicate and make you be queen. Even though you'd be much better at it than me."

Ruby snorted. "No I wouldn't."

"Yes you would! You're good at everything."

Ruby frowned. That was just it, wasn’t? Ruby had been good at almost everything she'd tried, but she had been only good. Never a great mage or a great leader or a great beauty; she had never been great at anything until she had started listening to the whispers of the courts and mastering its language. She had learnt to play the games more expertly than any other in Candia, and had used her skill to protect her sister, to protect her queen, to protect her realm.

"I've seen what the crown did to Dad and Mum," Jet murmured. "I don't want that to happen to me. I don't think I'm good enough to do it. I'd be a better general. I can do more good without being chained down by a crown."

"What if you didn't have to take the throne?" she questioned, voice barely above a whisper. "What if there was someone else."

She heard Jet shift up onto her elbows. "Are you saying that you want to take the throne? Is that what today has been about."

Ruby sat up and shook her head. "No. But I… I think I might know a way to help you."

Jet huffed. "You've been acting weird all day. And don't tell me it was just a bad dream! You've never lied to me before Ruby."

Ruby frowned. It may as well have been a dream, for it would never come to pass. Not on her watch. Now, it was just a nightmare.

"I'll tell you what I mean tomorrow night, I promise. Please, just give me time to make sense of it all," Ruby implored desperately. "I'm sorry. I just… I need just some time to get everything together."

Jet stared at her for a few seconds before she nodded. "Alright Ruby. I trust you."

She lay down and Ruby gave a sigh of relief as she did the same.

"Thank you," she said.

"Hey, it's you and me, right?" Jet reminded her with a yawn. "Jet and Ruby forever?"

"Forever," Ruby confirmed, lying down.

When Jet's breathing evened out, Ruby ducked under the covers, pulling the satchel towards her from where it was lying beside her on the bed.

She closed her eyes and reached out with her magic. She felt her heart lurch excitedly as a small ball of golden light appeared in her hand as Ruby opened the black book.

The first page read:

The Life of Sapphria Rocks, the youngest (and the best) Rocks sister.

Ruby grinned as she turned the page.

I don't know if I'll survive this war. And I don't know if anyone will find this, (I'm sure Gummy will hid it and all my other secrets well) but the world deserves to know of my brilliance.

For the person who found this, congratulations, I'm going to teach you all my secrets.

Ruby read until she felt her eyes droop and the words stopped making sense in her head.

But she learnt a lot, about poisons, about whispers, about the secrets of Castle Candy, and, most importantly, about how to establish her web throughout Calorum.

Ruby felt a resolve harden inside her. Suddenly, her list got longer.

She knew what she would need to do.

Her mind spun plans as she finally fell asleep.

She was not prepared for what awaited her when she finally let her eyes fall closed.