Howdy everybody! I am Random O' Panda.
All constructive criticism is welcome. I may be a book man but my grammar often needs help. This is my first published fanfic so honest words are best. Many thanks to you for reading.
Brackets [] indicate words that have been written out on paper, generally by Neo.
Full sentences in italics represent flashback or thought, as context-appropriate
RWBY and its characters are owned by Rooster Teeth.
Tales of Symphonia and its characters are owned by Namco Bandai.
Please support the official series.
Tales of Neopolitan. Chapter 1- The Paths Cross
- Neo -
The rhythmic footsteps of boots rang throughout the factory's hallway.
Tap, tap, tap, tap…
Neo couldn't help but feel relaxed as she walked towards her destination, the very center of the building. And why should she be worried? The security so far had been impossibly lax. She understood that the target wasn't exactly rich but such outdated humanoid drones (Atlesian Knight-130s, to be exact) would fail to protect him from even an academy student. Still, this was the job she was given to do by Roman. She remembered his words to a T:
"Neo, I hate to bug you with something so small but I'm a little… tied up at the moment," he said while looking over a map of Vale. "Cinder's spy network recently discovered a scientist who is researching, in her words, 'an interesting portal discovery'. Apparently the guy has made some machine that sends people, in theory, to another world."
He paused to light a cigar. His smoking habit has gotten worse since Cinder broke him out of jail following the 'Breach' incident. Probably stress.
"I say 'in theory' because nobody he's sent through has come back. His funding from Vacuo got cut and he moved to our little Kingdom of Vale to continue in secret. Could you be a dear and bring him here alive? We're interested in making use of his work."
She wondered for a moment why he didn't send some White Fang lackeys to do this. There would undoubtedly be machinery to be moved, though she supposed that could all be picked up at a later date.
Reaching the core of the warehouse, a massive hangar door stood in her way. A numbered keypad on the right of the door glowed with a faint red light. She reached for the keypad while mentally reciting the six-digit code she had been told would get her inside.
But remembering the code was as far as she got, because the door began to open on its own. She braced herself for a fight.
And then…
Nothing came out of the door. It occurred to her after a moment that it could be an invitation; or, far more likely, a trap. Peering inside, a man sat in a chair in the middle of the room facing the right wall. There, a tall machine (well, tall compared to her, as it was only around ten feet tall) stood with an empty 'O' in the center.
"Are you here to take me to my new prison," asked the man, "or is this the part where I'm considered a threat to everyone and removed?"
Her target, Griza Entrada, was a 45-year-old man. His black hair, long and wiry, was pulled into a ponytail. Pale skin, hollow face… Clearly he hadn't seen the sun, or even slept, in days. Neo gestured over her shoulder with her thumb; it was time to go.
He smiled sadly. "I see. Just let me do one final thing."
Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out a stubby, thick device. He pointed it at the machine and pressed two buttons. A moment passed before the machine began to hum with power. It was loud, but not grating. Neo was confused. What exactly was he doing…?
"You know… I haven't had the guts. To go through the portal myself, I mean. A dozen other men sent but never me. Just what is this new world like…"
At that moment Griza started to sprint towards the machine. An escape, huh? Not likely. Neo smiled her trademark slasher grin and jumped with all the power she could put into her legs to cut him off, primed to land in front of him and knock him unconscious. But as she neared the landing point, Griza came to a full stop and pointed his machine's controller…
…right where she was going to land.
Fwoom!
The ground opened up with a blue light, threatening to swallow her whole. She focused her Aura on her Semblance; she had to avoid landing, she had to-
Too late.
She was falling. There were no walls to grasp and no color around her so all she could do was stare at the waning light from above.
She couldn't believe it. The old man had outsmarted her, one of the greatest assassins on the whole planet! All because she had made a rookie mistake. She hadn't been beaten since she fought that stupid blond with the short shorts on the train, and even then she had been forced to flee once that freak with the mask had showed up as she was about to deliver the killing blow.
Did she scream as she fell thousands of feet into the inky abyss? Hardly. She could get angry, she could even cry if push came to shove. But no words could leave her lips. It's not that Neo didn't want to speak.
She's just…
…forgotten how.
-Lloyd/Genis-
"Genis, how much further until we get to Triet? This heat is starting to get to me."
"It should be just a couple more hours, but it's only going to get hotter as we get further into the desert, Lloyd."
Lloyd groaned. Yes, he wanted to catch up to Colette and help her out, but… couldn't they have started the journey in another area? One that wasn't so hot?
They were hiking to Triet because it was the only major area on the continent and, therefore, the best place to discover clues for Colette's destination. Noishe was the original mode of transportation, but he had gotten difficult to work with as the trek got hotter.
However, the party was brought to a stop when they saw a blue light in the shape of an 'O' appear in the air some fifty yards in front of them, surrounding what appeared to be a black void.
Genis and Lloyd exchanged glances before looking at back at the strange sight. It was then that they saw the figure of a person drop from the light, followed by the blue hole disappearing. What was that!?
As they approached the scene, the person who fell stood up and began to brush the sand off of their clothes. It was a girl, wearing a white jacket with a pink inside cropped halfway down the front, a black corset, and grey boots that approached the kneecap of her pants. Her hair was half-pink and half-brown, with white streaks down the pink half. She couldn't have been more than a couple inches taller than Genis! But perhaps most striking were her eyes- right eye brown and left eye pink, the opposite of her hair. Lloyd caught himself staring as the girl regarded them warily.
She studied them back and blinked. Upon doing so, her eyes both became brown. How was she doing that? Finally, after several moments of awkward pause, she reached into her jacket and brought out a pen and small stack of paper.
Scribble, scribble.
She flashed the card at them.
[Where am I?] She couldn't talk? Maybe her throat was too dry.
"You're not too far from the city of Triet," responded Genis. "Are you…okay, after that fall?"
She nodded. She seemed unhappy but unhurt, at least. Lloyd chimed in.
"Where did you come from? What was that light?"
Scribble.
[It's a long story. What is "Triet"?] She was definitely lost, thought Lloyd. The wind chose this time to pick up and send tens of billions of tiny sand grains into the air, causing the trio to shield their eyes from the offending particles.
"Look!" Shouted Lloyd over the gust. "We need to get going. There's no point in staying here, talking in the desert with no shelter. How about you come with us and we'll figure things out when we get to town?"
The mystery girl whipped out a pink parasol, opened it, and made a sweeping gesture with her other hand and smiled. 'Lead the way', it suggested. The group of 3, plus Noishe, began to hurry in the direction of the oasis. But all the while Genis couldn't help but thinkthat the stranger's smile had seemed almost… condescending.
-Neo-
Despite her initial anger, she had to hand it to that scientist; that was a clever move he had pulled. Griza managed to send her over to (what she could only assume to be) the so-called 'new world'. Still, she couldn't have asked for more than these two showing up to act as guides (The fact that one of them was actually shorter than her was a massive bonus). One does what one must, and she would make use of them until she finds a way to return.
My gratitude to Recycler for revising this chapter! And thank you for reading.
