As I looked down upon the city through the airship window, seeing people so small they seemed like ants as they moved in a busy, orderly swarm through the narrow streets, I couldn't help but feel far removed from it all, detached from the affairs of the world below. Like some almighty sky god perched high atop a mountain, looking down on my weak mortal subjects and just waiting for the opportunity to smite some poor fool with lightning.

So basically, the same thing I usually do when I'm really high up and looking down on people. The feeling, not the smiting people with lightning from on high. Though if I could… nah. I turned around and got back in my seat as we began to land.

"Welcome to the city of Vale. Please check all luggage before disembarking," the artificial female voice said over the intercom as the airship landed. "Current time is 9:43 AM. Current temperature is a pleasant 68 degrees. Thank you for flying with Borealis Airlines, and have a safe and happy day."

"About time," I muttered to myself as I grabbed a drab gray luggage case.

Almost as soon as I'd disembarked I saw a guy who was holding a sign with "Morgenstern" written on it. He was an older man, tall and thin, with a receding head of whitish-gray hair and the biggest mutton chops I'd ever seen in a living person. His posture was as rigid as a flagpole, and he was wearing a military dress uniform in a very ugly mustard-yellow color.

So the moment I step off the airship I already see someone in the military, I thought to myself as I approached. The more things change…

He caught sight of me as I walked up and belted out a greeting in a voice only a few decibels below a shout. "A-ha! You must be young Mr. Morgenstern! Excellent, excellent, a pleasure to meet you, my boy!" He stuck out his hand fast enough that it would probably knock someone out if it hit them. After a moment's hesitation I presented my own, which he shook vigorously as he continued to talk as though he was addressing me from the other side of the room.

"I am of course Colonel Mustard. Well, not technically a colonel anymore, you understand, been retired for years, but a soldier once is a soldier forever, that's what I say! Nowadays, though, I spend most of my time imparting all that I've learned in young and promising pupils such as yourself at Signal. But of course you could certainly guess that, clever young man that you are! I had the pleasure of looking over your transcripts and I must say I was quite impressed! I know there was some difficulty in arranging your transfer to Signal, but I assure you that you shall find the quality of education at our fine institution unmatched by any school but Beacon itself!"

I blinked in confusion as he blathered on without pausing for more than a moment to catch his breath, all the while still shaking my arm like it was an old-fashioned water pump. "I'm… glad to be here?" I replied uncertainly.

"Excellent! Glad to hear it, my boy! Now come along, we have a bit of a trip ahead of us to get to Patch and your complementary tour of the premises!" he declared, turning on his heel and suddenly walking away at a march. Feeling even less sure about my recent life decisions than before (if that were possible) I followed him.

The Colonel (as I quickly learned he referred to be called) brought me to Signal Academy, where I'd be studying for the next year, all the while prattling on about the merits of the school while I only half-listened and fought off a loudmouth-induced headache, giving the odd "I see" or "interesting" when he paused for a moment so as not to seem rude and piss off one of my teachers.

He also pointed out the nearby neighborhood where the orphans and foreigners usually stayed in what was called "cooperative housing" or just "co-op" while attending school. One great thing about training to become a Huntsman is that almost all of your expenses can be paid for at every step of the way if you need it. There's simply too great of a demand for Hunters to let little things like money get in the way of making more of them.

"As I'm sure you're well aware, Signal is one of the oldest and most prestigious Combat Schools in Remnant, being one of the very first founded at the same time as the Hunter Academies and the entire system of creating Huntsmen and Huntresses," the Colonel lectured loudly as we walked up to the doors of the school.

"Yeah, I did do some reading on the school when I decided to transfer here," I told him, vainly hoping that would convince him to drop the subject.

"Excellent! Then we can skip the generalities and go right to the interesting details of this school's history!" he proclaimed enthusiastically. I sighed internally. I actually love studying history, even really mundane or trivial history, but I was already starting to get a headache from this guy's complete lack of volume control. It's one thing when someone just can't shut up, it's another thing entirely when he practically shouts every word as he does so.

We had just walked through the main doors, and the Colonel had just started his lecture, when a whole different voice started yelling.

"Colonel!" a high, reedy shout rang out through the halls, accompanied by the footfalls of a tall, reedy man who looked to be in his thirties or forties as he ran up to us. His plum-colored suit (with tweed jacket) was in disarray, as was his prematurely balding hair. He looked like a very stereotypical university professor, except for the plush plum color.

As he reached us, panting for breath, the Colonel put a hand on his shoulder. "Professor Plum! Are you alright? What seems to be the problem?" he asked, concerned.

"Someone… someone started a food fight in the cafeteria, and it's become just short of a full-blown riot! I haven't been able to find Professors Branwen or Xiao Long anywhere! I can't – someone needs to stop them!" the now-named Professor Plum cried out plaintively in between gasps for air.

"A riot! Ah, that brings me back!" Colonel Mustard said nostalgically, and still very loudly. "Did I ever tell you about the time that I was serving in-"

"Shouldn't you be getting around to stopping that food fight?" I cut in, hoping to stop him before he really got started.

The Colonel frowned. "Hmm, yes, I suppose I probably should. But I had intended to give you a tour of the campus to help you become acclimated…"

"Please, there's no need to go out of your way to do that," I said firmly. "Really, you can go. Right now. I'll be totally fine, I swear."

"Colonel, please! They had just managed to break into the kitchen when I ran off, who knows what they could be doing right now!?" Professor Plum implored him as he stood around pondering what to do.

"But I can't just leave the boy without someone to show him around this campus and help him through this difficult period of adjustment…" the Colonel pondered aloud.

"Colonel, he's sixteen years old, not six!" Professor Plum replied desperately.

"He has a point," I agreed, only slightly less desperate.

The Colonel more or less ignored both of us. "Be that as it may, my wife has always told me that it's eminently important that…"

As the two began a heated argument, my attention was captured by a group of a half dozen girls – very pretty girls, at that – who were passing by, chatting with each other. Amongst a tide of color, my eye was naturally drawn to one in particular.

What drew the eye at first was her hair. It was the longest, most voluminous hair I'd ever seen, and I'd never seen hair that I would honestly consider "golden" until now. It was like a waterfall of wavy golden threads spilling down to the small of her back.

Once the hair captured my attention, the rest of her grabbed it and refused to let go. Flawless skin and striking purple eyes, warm but with a glint of mischief in them. An outfit that called attention to the fact that puberty had been inordinately kind to her and she had done a very good job of working with it, considering how toned and fit she was.

For just a second I didn't realize who it was. But then it clicked, and my eyes widened in a combination of shock and recognition. One of them! Already!?

She stopped as her eyes caught mine and I blinked once, hard, hoping that she didn't notice I'd been staring a bit. The teasing glint in her eyes and the curving of those perfect lips into a slight smirk told me that I probably wasn't that lucky. The accompanying wink confirmed it. The only response I could come up with was a sheepish grin and a shrug of my shoulders.

When she stopped, her friends stopped with her, first looking at her in confusion and then following her gaze – their eyes passing over Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum arguing so quickly it could only be a common occurrence – onto me.

"A-ha!" the Colonel cried out as though in epiphany, startling everyone in the hall. He pointed at the group of girls.

"Uh… something up, Colonel?" the blonde asked.

"Miss Black!" he said, causing the mocha-skinned girl immediately to the blonde's right to start. Even though Signal didn't have a uniform (a fact that was confirmed with one look at the varied ensembles of the group in front of me), she was wearing a somewhat schoolgirl-esque outfit with a black knee-length skirt, crisp white blouse with a patterned black and white blazer worn open over it, and Mary Janes with knee-length white socks. Her wavy black hair was held back in a ponytail.

"Uh… yes, sir?" she asked.

"Miss Black, this young man here," he said, clapping me on the back (causing me to grit my teeth in annoyance at the sudden, over-familiar contact), "is our newest student, fresh from Atlas! As the student council's vice president, perhaps you could guide him through this period of transition by giving him a tour of the campus?"

The black-haired girl tilted her head and gave me a considering look, then looked at the blonde girl.

"Actually, sir, the student council is meeting in fifteen minutes, so I don't think I'll have enough time," she replied. "But I'm sure that Yang here could give him the tour."

"Wait, what?" the now-named Yang said, turning to look at the black-haired girl.

"An excellent idea! Miss Xiao Long, as the child of one of our illustrious professors, surely you would be willing to help welcome our newest student and help him acclimate to this new environment?" the Colonel asked.

Yang turned to look at me again, as did her friends. One of them giggled a little, not that I could blame her; I had gotten some pretty good luck in genes in this life, and I had taken a lot of care in my appearance and health to capitalize on that.

"Yeah, alright," Yang finally said. "I'll show him around a bit."

"Excellent! Now that that's settled: Come, Professor Plum! The game is afoot!" Colonel Mustard cried out as he dashed off without so much as a backward glance, Professor Plum frantically running after him and trying to catch up, already panting.

"Wow, that guy's out of shape," I observed to myself out loud.

"Well, he only teaches literature and a few art classes, so he doesn't really need to be in shape," the schoolgirl vice president explained. She put her hand out to me. "By the way, welcome to Signal. I'm Dahlia, student council vice president."

"Right, thanks. I'm Lucifer," I said, shaking her hand.

"And this is Yang," she said, pointing at the blonde. "Since I'm busy with student council duties, she'll be taking you on a tour of the school."

"Hello~," Yang said, stretching out the word and saying it in a very sing-song way as she waved a hand.

"Uh… Nice to meet you," I said awkwardly, trying to keep from showing how disconcerted she was making me and avoid staring again. The fact that one of the girls giggled a bit told me I was failing badly.

"Oh by the way girls, the student council is absolutely swamped with work right now; do you mind going with me to help out?" Dahlia asked, turning around to the other girls.

"Hey wait, you were complaining yesterday that you had nothing to- Ow, my foot!" a girl with soft pink hair and a laurel wreath cried out.

"Yeah, of course we'll help!" said the girl next to her, a chipper-looking girl with bushy brown hair and a slight overbite.

"Great! Yang, Lucifer, we'll be going now, have fun with your tour!" Dahlia said, waving as and the other girls quickly left, Dahlia dragging the pink-haired girl by the arm while she complained about her foot.

"… The hell was that about?" I asked.

Yang sighed. "I have dumb friends is what that was about," she said wearily.

"So is all this normal?" I asked. "Weird teachers and rioting students?"

"Nah, that's not really normal," Yang said. "We find totally different ways to be crazy every day around here."

"I want to think you're messing with me… but I'm not that optimistic," I replied, a sinking feeling in my gut.

"Welcome to Signal," Yang said with a grin.

For the rest of the lunch period Yang showed me around the campus, pointing out places of interest and giving a little commentary on them. Case in point:

"And that's the library, where nerds read and people with a test coming up cram," Yang said, pointing at a pair of large double doors.

"Well with a description like that, I wonder which category you fit into?" I asked sarcastically.

"Hey, I don't really have anything against reading for fun. I've got some books I like. It's just not really high up on my list of things to do, you know?" Yang explained.

"I guess I can understand that," I said with a shrug. "Personally, I love reading, but as much as I wish otherwise, it really isn't for everyone."

"Good, I get enough grief about it from Dahlia," Yang said with a roll of her eyes, though not with any real distaste in her voice.

"Let me guess: she's the diligent type who always gets on your case for not studying enough or challenging yourself intellectually." I'd known a few people like that. Heck, I've been that person for a friend more than once.

"Big time," Yang commiserated. "She's always talking about whatever book she's reading, trying to get me to read them with her, stuff like that."

"So speaking of your friends, what was up with them ditching us like that? That pink-haired one made it kinda obvious she didn't actually need their help with student council stuff."

Yang sighed and palmed her face. "Yeah, I might as well tell you; they'll just keep trying if I don't. My friends got this idea in their heads that I need to get a boyfriend, so they've been trying to set me up with every decent-looking guy they can find. You're just the newest one."

"Excuse me? 'Decent-looking?'" I repeated in mock-offense. I gestured at myself. "I dare you to look at this and say it's anything less than spectacular."

Yang put her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Alright, alright, every 'hot' guy they can find. That better?"

"It'll do," I said with a smirk, crossing my arms.

"Heh, right. Anyway, they keep trying to set me up with guys, no matter how much I tell them I'm not interested."

"So… Is that because you're into, you know, not men?" I asked searchingly, not sure whether I should be disappointed or excited at that prospect.

I mean, wow.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Yang asked with a teasing grin.

"Oh, so is that how we're playing it?"

Yang looked at me for a moment, then shook her head. "Nah, that's not the reason. I've just… got too much stuff going on in my life right now to really want to get into the dating scene, you know? I mean, it's fun to tease people, and I go on a date or two sometimes, but never anything serious. Just mostly hanging out, blowing off some steam, stuff like that. Anything else just gets too complicated.

"So, if you were getting any ideas…" she trailed off awkwardly.

"Right, no, I get it," I said, holding up a hand. "I'm not really in the market for that right now either, actually, so it's definitely fine."

"Oh, good. So… friends?" Yang said, holding out a hand.

"You have to have this talk with every guy before you make friends with them, don't you?" I asked as I shook her hand.

"Nah, just most of them," Yang said with a grin, which got a light chuckle out of me.

The moment was broken by a bell going off, signaling the end of the lunch period.

"Crap, I need to hurry; Colonel Condiment didn't give me a hall pass or anything to get me out of going to class," Yang said. "Hey, the headmaster's office is down the hall and to your right. You should probably go there to get your schedule and everything sorted out. Talk to you later?"

"Definitely," I said with a wave as she ran off to class, then began to make my way to the headmaster's office.

So… that was one member of team RWBY, and from what I could remember her sister and the apparent leader of the team was also at this school.

Man, that felt weird, I thought with a frown. Is this what it's like to meet someone you've watched on TV? It was a weird mix of strange and familiar; I had known intellectually that she was a real person, but it was so odd to just… talk about books and relationships with her.

Just wish seeing her had jogged some of those memories. It was incredibly frustrating, since those irritating memories and impulses that refused to leave me alone were the whole reason I had bothered to transfer to this school in the first place, leaving behind everything and everyone I knew in Atlas.

Seeing no reason to keep sitting around feeling annoyed, I opened the door and introduced myself to the secretary. After a short wait, I was allowed into the headmaster's office, where the plaque helpfully informed me (or would, if I hadn't already known) that his name was Dr. Nigel Black.

"Hello Mr. Morgenstern, it's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face," Dr. Black said. He was… incredibly generic-looking, somehow. Just imagine a dark-skinned, black-haired, clean-shaven, middle-aged man wearing a smart black suit and you've got everything I would be able to remember about his appearance later. His voice was soft and pleasant, though, and the warm "favorite uncle-esque" smile he gave seemed genuine.

"I have to say, it was quite a surprise to everyone involved – myself included – when you suddenly decided to transfer to another school on a completely different continent," he continued, flipping through papers in a folder.

"Like I've said many, many times already, I decided to apply to Beacon next year and thought it might help my chances to come here. Signal has a lot of Beacon graduates on staff, after all," I said, speaking almost from rote.

"Including myself," the headmaster noted with a smile. "Again, while your request for a transfer was unusual, especially when you only have one year of combat school left, we're certainly glad you decided to join us here, however brief your stay.

"So, how have you found our school so far?" he asked conversationally.

"It's… interesting," I hedged. "Colonel Mustard was very… enthusiastic, with his introduction."

"'Enthusiastic?' That's one of the nicer things he's been called," Dr. Black said with a chuckle. "Algernon is a bit of an acquired taste, I'll admit, but you'll find that he's an excellent instructor."

Oh wow, Algernon? I thought to myself in wry amusement. No wonder he wants everyone to call him Colonel.

"As I recall though, the Colonel had to go deal with that… incident, in the lunchroom. What have you been doing through the lunch period?" he asked curiously.

"Before he left, he asked a student to give me a quick tour; Yang Xiao Long."

"Ah, Taiyang's daughter," Dr. Black said. "She's a bit of a troublemaker, and I really wish she put as much effort into her bookwork as she does combat training, but Miss Xiao Long is one of our most promising students and a fine young lady. I'm sure she'll do an excellent job of helping you acclimate to this school."

"Uh… Okay," I said, not sure how to respond to that.

"Now, I'm sure you'd like to get settled in quickly – you have a big day tomorrow, after all, first day in a new school and all that – so I've got your schedule here, as well as a key to the cooperative house you'll be staying in while you're attending Signal," Dr. Black said, sliding a sheet of paper and a key with a tag on it that had the number of my house on it. I thanked him as I took them, looking over my schedule.

"Now, were there any questions you had for me, Mr. Morgenstern?" the headmaster asked.

"None that I can think of right now, Doctor," I admitted. "I should probably leave you to your work."

"Very well. Just remember, my door is always open to you," Dr. Black said as I stood up, shaking my hand. "Welcome to Signal Academy."

"Thank you, Doctor. I'm glad to be here," I said, a little more honestly than the last time I'd said it. Looking over my schedule again, I stepped out of the office… and then promptly realized I'd meant to ask for a map of the campus.

"Well… I can't just go back in and ask for it now," I thought aloud. "I'd look like a tool. Well, Yang showed me around most of this place; I'm sure I can find my way around."

"God damn it, I have no idea where I am," I cursed thirty minutes later. In both this life and my last, my sense of direction has always been horrible for some reason. And since everyone was in classes, I couldn't even ask anyone for directions.

I really need to find the door out of here, I thought to myself as I looked around the unfamiliar surroundings. If I'm still wandering around aimlessly when everyone gets out of class, I'm going to look like an even bigger tool than if I'd just walked back in and asked for the damn map. And some asshole decided to lock all the windows. Wait, is someone talking?

Straining my ears, I noticed that, indeed, I could hear someone talking, and it seemed to be coming from around a corner. Keeping my footsteps quiet, I walked up to the corner and leaned my head over to check.

Well, this brought back memories. A short, scrawny kid being threatened by a big ugly bastard. I certainly remembered a lot of scenes like this, though not usually as an observer. My hands unconsciously curled into fists.

Well, do unto others and all that, and I certainly wished someone had had my back a lifetime ago. So without really thinking it through I called on my Semblance, and my hand began to glow with bright white light.

"Hey!" I called out, then struck my hand out just as the big guy turned toward the sound, causing him to catch a face full of the blinding white light that shot out from my hand like a beam from a flashlight.

"Ah!" he yelled, dropping the kid and putting his hands to his pained eyes, trying to rub the blindness out of them.

I quickly ran down the hall towards him. Once I was halfway there, my run turned into a jump, and I twisted in midair so that by the time I reached him, both my feet were planted firmly into the side of his face. Already off-balance from his blinding, he went flying himself and landed with a crash several feet away.

"Come on," I said firmly, grabbing the kid's arm and pulling him up. "Let's go."

Dumbfounded, the kid could only nod and follow as I pulled him away. We hurried out while the would-be bully was still blind and dazed.

Once I felt we had attained sufficient distance, I let go of the kid's arm and stopped. I looked around hopefully until I realized my surroundings were no more familiar to me now than they were when this mess started. So much for good karma.

"Um… thanks a lot, sir!" the kid said nervously. "I, uh… I don't really have anything to give you for…"

"Forget about it; I did that for my sake more than yours. I can't stand bullies," I said with a shake of my head.

"Oh, uh, that's… I mean, thanks anyway, though," he said. "Uh… My name's Oscar Glen. What's yours?"

"Lucifer Morgenstern," I answered. "Actually… there is something you can do for me."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where the front door is?" I asked.

"The… the front door?" he repeated.

"Yes."

Oscar just looked at me for several long moments, as if unsure of what I had asked. Then, he pointed to his right. Following his finger, I saw the front door.

"… God damn it. Every fucking time."

"Wow, you're staying in the same house I am, sir!" Oscar exclaimed as we stood outside the address noted on the tag on my key; I'd told him he didn't need to follow me, but he'd come along anyway. I briefly considered telling him not to call me "sir," but truth be told I kind of liked it.

"So how many other people are in this place, anyway?" I asked, looking at the decent-sized building.

"Counting you and me? Six," Oscar said.

"Six, huh? Great," I grumbled as I opened the door. I hated sharing my personal space with other people. I'm the kind of person who needs a private space to be away from everyone else every now and then.

"Oh, it's not too bad. The others don't really spend much time here; they mostly just use this place to sleep," Oscar assured me as we stepped inside.

The co-op house was built specifically to house students attending Signal who didn't have homes of their own on Patch or the city of Vale itself. As such, it was built like a cross between an actual house and a dormitory, with more bedrooms and bathrooms than a house this size would usually have; in this case, six bedrooms and three bathrooms. There was a large living room in the middle of the house with an attached kitchenette and dining room. The living room was pretty bare, just two long couches and an admittedly nice TV. Someone had, however, been kind enough to set up a video game console.

"Your room is that one," Oscar informed me, pointing at one of the nearby doors.

"Thanks. Gotta ask though, shouldn't you be in class right now?" I asked.

"Oh, well, yeah, probably," Oscar said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "But I mean, I only had two classes left today anyway, you know? I've got pretty good attendance the rest of the time, so I don't think I'll get in too much trouble if I apologize…"

"That right? Guess this place is more forgiving than my old school. Well, whatever, it's your choice to make," I said with a shake of my head. "They already moved my stuff in, right?"

"Yep; brought most of it in this morning," Oscar confirmed.

"Good. I should probably get to unpacking but… eh, screw it. You got any good games?" I asked, pointing at the console in the living room.

"Do I!?" Oscar exclaimed in excitement.

After ordering a pizza and playing video games with Oscar for a while, I had finally gotten around to unpacking. Well, unpacking the stuff I'd need in the morning, at least. Everything else I was probably just going to leave lying around in the boxes until I needed it. Procrastination has ever been a 'friend' of mine.

I thought again about why I had come here. I still wasn't sure I could change anything. I didn't even know what was coming, much less what I could do about it. The only things that told me something was going to happen at all were hazy memories of an ominous opening narration and a feeling of dread I couldn't quite shake when I thought of the future.

I didn't think of myself as a hero. Both before and after these memories came, my motives for wanting to become a Huntsman were basically all selfish. Fame, money, freedom, power: all things that are easily obtainable for a skilled enough Huntsman, and all things I've always wanted very much, in as large a quantity as I could manage. I certainly had nothing against helping people, of course; I'd even be willing to do so for free, depending on the circumstances and my mood. But that was more of a happy bonus than anything else as far as my career choices were concerned.

And sure, coming to Signal, and later going to Beacon, would be good for that plan. But still, I was risking myself against some unknown, uncertain future threat, when as far as I knew I could easily avoid it just by avoiding Vale. I had hoped that acquiescing to those irritating whispers of my past life that kept trying to drive me to Vale would quiet down when I finally did so, maybe even tell me something useful. Neither had happened. Fleeting wisps of emotion and thought flickered through my mind whenever I was idle just as they had for over four years now, and the memories that were like waking dreams that I could call by closing my eyes were still infuriatingly vague when it came to any knowledge that would actually help me understand just what I'd gotten myself into.

Sighing, I tossed and turned a bit in my new bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. I hate sleeping in unfamiliar places. Both now and 'before.'