THE MOMENT
"He's a vampire," Ruby nodded. She and an employee, Turbo, entered the cave under the cover of night. Though, the interior path was lit with torches on both sides. "Of course, I don't trust him."
"You haven't even met him," Turbo reminded her as he took the lead down the path.
"You've told me all I need to know," Ruby replied. "I trust Vanilla's judgment, and she time-locked him for billions of years." Turbo chuckled. He worked with Ruby, but technically, he was her mother's employee. He never felt the need to hold anything back.
"She's probably also the one that set him free," he added. But, instead of agreeing to his logic, Ruby shook her head.
"Not necessarily," she replied. "We've already determined the timeline was altered; we can't say for sure what happened." Turbo made an obvious shrug in front of her and answered without turning around. He knew his next comment might be a step too far; but, he had to say it. He never held anything back when it came to business, but this was different. He only kept his eyes forward to give her a small sense of privacy.
"Your sister married him," he said. Her footsteps went silent. Turbo took a single step forward, then stopped. She knew he was aware enough to realize she stopped. After an extended pause, he turned to face her. Her red, crystalline eyes stared coldly at him. She spoke once she knew she had his attention.
"I am my mother's ONLY daughter. Whatever might have happened in an alternate timeline has no bearing on this one now." If he was more mean-spirited, Turbo might have laughed like he wanted to. He could have fired back with any number of questions. Why were they there at all? That was the most prominent. Why hadn't they woken Chroma yet? Why was she so determined to hate this particular vampire? Dozens more questions filled his mind; but, he let them pass unanswered. Turbo looked into her eyes.
"Minerva," was all he said. Her eyes instantly softened and pooled with tears. Ever since Turbo found the pictures of Minerva's wedding, the name drew emotions out in her. No matter how much she protested that the other timeline didn't matter, she still wanted to correct it.
"Shut up," she strode past him. Turbo managed to keep up and followed her through the only path. They turned with the hall and found it led to a wide open cavern.
"Two this time?" A deep voice drew their attention to the towering man. He was ghostly pale and stood alone wearing a thick black duster. From their higher vantage point, it was easy to spot the bat skull tattooed on top of his head. "I'll tell you the same thing I told the others," he said. "Leave me-,"
"I need your help, vampire," Ruby interrupted. He stopped and tilted his head at them.
"Who are you?" he asked. He only assumed he knew who they were; he only got one kind of visitor. But, on closer inspection, he was less sure. The red-skinned woman smelled like a dragon. Both the woman and the teen boy wore crisp white blazers with a reflective, silver sun logo on the breast. The boy also wore a silver tie. They looked more at home in an upscale office than in his cave. "You're not hunters....," he added.
"No, we're not," Ruby said. She jumped down from the short ledge and strode to the vampire. Turbo was right behind her. The man towered over them and was easily as wide as the two of them side by side. He seemed to relax once they said they weren't hunters.
"I'm Ruin," the vampire said. He stretched his hand out. Ruby looked down at it, then met his eyes again.
"I know," she said. "Show him, Turbo," she nodded to her right. Turbo stepped forward and held his node up in front of the vampire. A video was queued to play but Ruin's eyes widened as soon as he saw the still frame.
"Minerva!" he said. He snatched the node out of Turbo's hand and touched the screen.
"How do you know that name?" Ruby asked. Ruin was a stranger and had no idea how much her voice struggled to sound neutral but Turbo could hear it.
"I...," he looked down at Ruby; both their eyes were wet with tears. "..I dream of her sometimes lately...," he said.
'You dream of her?" Ruby asked. Ruin nodded silently. Drops of sorrow fell from his eyes with the motion.
"Well, that's a start," Ruby said suddenly. "Turbo, take Ruin back to Chroma Corp.," she ordered. Turbo nodded. He pulled a black portal card out of his node and tossed it on the ground.
"Wait, where? Why?" Ruin asked. Ruby shrugged. She'd learned enough that her eyes turned cold again. She didn't need him any longer.
"I assumed you'd want to live somewhere less... atrocious," she said. "Feel free to stay in your hovel," she gave him a dismissive wave, then whirled around. She tossed her own black card on the floor to create a different portal.
"Where are you going?" Turbo asked.
"If Miner..," she paused for a moment and shook her head. "If she is appearing in dreams, then I simply have to speak to someone who monitors dreams," she said. With the final word, she sank into the black hole and it disappeared.
"So, you coming, or what?" Turbo asked. He gestured at his portal.
"Yeah... thanks..," Ruin stepped onto the portal with him and they began to sink. But, he still had a question. "Who monitors dreams?" he asked. Turbo answered him before they disappeared entirely.
"The Middlemen."