Disclaimer – I do not own either Blazblue or RWBY. They are owned by Arc Systems and Roosterteeth respectively.


"Speaking"

"Thoughts"

Aura/Semblance/Drive/Etc

"Izanami Mental Speaking"

Chapter 2 – What to Do with You


Saya sat across from Ozpin on one side of his crescent-shaped, glass-topped desk sitting in a curved, white chair. Ozpin was also sitting in a similar chair, though it was clearly more fixed than her own, on his side of his desk. Behind him, stood Professor Goodwitch staring at her intently.

Ignoring the gazes of the two faculty members of Beacon, Saya couldn't help but admire the design of the room she was in. It was quite open an expansive with a large design made up of different types of building materials and pillars evenly distributed around the circular edge of the room, each interconnected by windows viewing the wide expanse of Beacon Academy. The only exceptions were the side behind Ozpin, which was a wall with a glass clock-face in the center of it, and behind her side where the two elevators to reach the top of the tower were.

Above her head was a glass ceiling with massive cogs continuously turning and spinning overhead with the top of the spiral tower over them. Considering how many times she had helped the sister clean the church she had grown up in, she could also appreciate how clean the office was as well as the school in general.

"Now Miss Saya," the headmaster began drawing her attention towards him. "What do you actually know about the world we live in?"

An odd question to be sure, even his aide seemed perplexed and confused by the implications of it, but Saya completely understood why he asked that, "Other than what you've told me, I don't know anything. Up until I met you I hadn't heard of Remnant or Beacon or of huntsmen."

Glynda blinked in surprised while Ozpin nodded, "They allow me to fill you in."

Saya nodded and listened.

"You are currently in one of the four kingdoms of Remnant, Vale," Ozpin began. "Each kingdom has a huntsman academy dedicated to training the next generation of huntsmen, the defenders of Remnant, to protects its people."

"Defend them from what? Invaders?" Saya asked perplexed.

"Not too far from the truth, I'm afraid. Creatures of darkness known as Grimm ravage the land killing anyone in the wake. Time and again they've brought down kingdoms and civilizations. Only the four kingdoms and a few outlying villages remain, and that number is dwindling fast. Huntsmen and huntresses are trained to fight off the Grimm and to protect its people."

"Creatures of darkness?" Saya tilted her head in confusion. "Where did they come from? What do they look like?"

"They are creatures who are entirely black in form save for glowing, red eyes and bone-like armaments. As for where they come from, we aren't entirely sure nor does it really matter at this point in time."

"But wouldn't knowing their origin help in defeating them?"

"We are in no position to launch a strike into the unknown for a mere chance we can find out something we may or may not be able to use," Glynda reprimanded her for the question. "Right now, we just need to allow the continued survival of our people."

Saya tilted her head down so that her royal-colored hair covered her eyes. She thought back the prison of her own body. She survived there, but what did merely surviving accomplish? What would have happened if she hadn't struggled and broken free at the first opportunity?

"Doomsday," Saya bitterly thought to herself. While as long as Izanami existed in the world, the Day of Reckoning was inevitable, at the very least she could delay it until a solution for dealing with the goddess was found. But still, she knew simply surviving wasn't enough to defeat the darkness. "You can only survive for so long. If you don't even try to find a way to stop the darkness from consuming you, eventually you find yourself unable to break free by yourself."

Glynda was stunned by the response. Despite her apparent young age and her ignorance to the truths of the world, this girl was likely more mature and worldly than most people her age. And her response and body language almost certainly pointed to experience in a similar scenario, "And considering the aggrieved response, it was likely rather recent."

Ozpin noticed this as well but unlike Glynda decided to tactfully probe the issue, "Miss Saya, if it's uncomfortable for you I understand, but I'd like to know. . ."

Saya looked up; red-ringed eyes meeting brown as she acknowledged she was listening intently to what he was about to ask.

". . . what did you break free from?"

Silence dominated the room after the question was voiced. A soundless echo reverberated around the three people within the open room. Slowly, Saya arose from her chair and gently floated over to the window on her far right. She stared out over the landscape before her. She almost appeared afraid to speak.

Glynda looked at Ozpin as he, too, arose from his chair and slowly walked, cane in hand, behind her. A sense of pity filled her as she saw the clearly-broken girl gazing at the sun as afternoon slowly began to turn to twilight. She almost glared at Ozpin for pressing the issue.

Even so, Ozpin again spoke up to press the issue. This time, however, his tone was gentle, almost fatherly, as if he was trying to convey to her that he wanted to help her, "I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories, Saya. . . but I only wish to help you."

Saya didn't respond immediately but eventually, "It's not that I don't want the help, headmaster. . . I-I know I need it. I can't do this alone. . . but, I'm afraid. . ."

"Afraid of what?" Glynda inquired, finally joining Ozpin behind the royally-garb, young woman.

"Afraid you won't believe me. . ."

Glynda and Ozpin shared a knowing look. A typical response sadly, children afraid others won't believe them if they say they're hurting. They knew, despite anything that was about to be said, they had to support her. The huntress placed a hand on the girl's shoulder in support, "No matter how unbelievable of a tale you may tell, we will believe you."

Again, silence reigned, before Saya finally decided to tell her story, "I wasn't always alone. . . I had two, older brothers: Ragna and Jin. We were orphans. I don't really know what happened to our parents. . . or what happened before— well, we were taken in at a church by the sister who lived there. I don't know what happened before that. The sister took care of us for a while, raising us as her children, before. . . he came. . ."

"He. . .?" Ozpin's eyes narrowed. This wasn't going to end well.

"A man named Yūki Terumi," Saya spat, and for the first time since they had met, hatred and anger pour from the girl. Her hate was practically palpable within the room, startling the huntsmen. Instinctual alarms were going off in their heads warning them of the imminent danger. "He killed the sister who took care of us for so long! He burned down the church we had been living in! Our childhood home! And then he tricks Jin into cutting off Ragna's arm with a sword! And then. . . and then. . ."

Tears began to form in Saya's eyes as the traumatic events of that day played over again in her mind. She forced herself through it. If they were going to help her, they deserved to know what they were getting themselves into. The huntress and huntsman had lost their words at Saya's descriptions at what had happened. Even more so, from the sound of it, it was only going to get worse.

"He kidnapped me! He took me away from my brother! And he-he gave me to that man. . . and he turned me into. . . turned me this. . ."

She finished by raising her hands before her as if to look at them in disgust. By now she was practically sobbing.

"He did this to me. . ."

"Did. . . what. . .?" Glynda swallowed, almost too afraid to even ask. She was practically getting sick to her stomach even thinking about it.

"He turned me into this. . . doll. . ."

With that, she dropped as if whatever force had been keeping her aloft sudden completely vanished. Glynda and Ozpin were on their knees next to her instantly, checking to see if she was alright.

"Doll?" Ozpin asked, eyes shown in disbelief at the claim.

Saya nodded, and slowly, hesitantly, she reached for the hem of her red hakama and pulled it up revealing to the huntsmen the state of her 'feet'.

Glynda's hand went to her mouth to stifle an 'Oh my—' while Ozpin gazed upon the girl in sorrow. What a terrible fate for anyone, much less a child.

"Why would he do that to you?" Now Glynda really did feel sick. What that man must have done to that poor girl's body if the current state of her 'feet' were any indication as to what had happened to the rest of her.

"To turn me into her vessel," Saya said bitterly with also a slight twinge of fear, almost as if she was afraid of who that word was referring to.

"Her?!" Glynda and Ozpin both spoke up in alarm. Their minds had instantly had come to a singular conclusion. This girl couldn't possibly be referring to Salem. . . could she? But almost as if she was relieving them of their fears, Saya clarified, "Izanami."

Glynda and Ozpin breathed out a slight sigh of relief. So if it wasn't Salem. But if not her, then who else could she be referring to?

"And Izanami is. . .?" the bespectacled, female teacher asked. Curious as Ozpin likely was as to who this girl was made a vessel for.

"The Goddess of Death."

The reply was so blunt, so empty of emotion, that the two adults nearly missed the importance of that statement. But after a second, the impact of the revelation slowly swept over them like an icy cold flood as a chill crawled eerily up their spines. The Goddess of Death? They'd never heard of such a thing. Surely, she must have misspok—

"You didn't mishear me," Saya replied still lacking emotion in her tone after her declaration. "I was made to be the vessel of Hades Izanami, the Goddess of Death. The very embodiment of death in the world. In his words, I was the only one capable of doing it. Anyone else would have been destroyed instantly upon her possessing them."

The two were speechless. What could they possibly say? This revelation would likely change everything. Their mission. Their strategies. Everything.

"I was trapped in my own body for so long—a prisoner to her—I was convinced I'd be a slave to myself forever," despair was creeping back into Saya's tone as she remembered the over a decade of hell she had been trapped within. "But a light had shown through. I don't know what caused it but I don't care. I took the opportunity. . . and now I'm in control again."

A ghost of a smile found its way onto Saya's face. She clenched her fists lightly to reassure herself that she could still feel with her own two hands. Before a frown returned, signaling that the dark truth still remained and that she hadn't forgotten it.

"But. . . I can already feel her stirring again. I-I'm afraid. . . that it is only a matter of time before she takes control again. . . and next time. . . I don't think I'm coming back. . ."

Glynda couldn't hold herself back anymore. The trauma and tribulations this girl had been through had simply been too much. Surprising Ozpin by her motherly action, she wrapped her arms around the poor girl and pulled her into her torso to comfort her. As she began to quietly sob, Glynda gave a look of grief towards Ozpin. Neither of them knew what to say or do. This whole thing was beyond either of them.

This girl who hid the truth of her emotional state so well earlier had now due to a desperate desire for their help and released the floodgates and have revealed to both of them the shattered, tortured girl that existed just below the surface.

Exhausted from essentially reliving her most torturous moments, Saya finally lulled herself to sleep. Glynda offered and proceeded to take the sleeping girl to one of the vacant first-year rooms intending fully to, at least for the moment, keep her away from the would-be students.

After Glynda left with the sleeping vessel, Ozpin returned to his chair contemplating how to proceed after this terrible revelation. The full weight of what had been revealed to him tonight fell upon him.

That girl had essentially been experimented on, transformed into what was essentially a doll, and forced to act as the vessel for the Goddess of Death to act upon the world.

"Hades Izanami," Ozpin spoke, trying out the name on his tongue. What sort of madman would try to summon such a being? For what purpose could such an act possibly accomplish? And why Saya? Why some random, orphan girl? That was when something Saya had said suddenly began to echo through his mind. Something that immediately answered the question he had just asked himself:

'In his words, I was the only one capable of doing it. Anyone else would have been destroyed instantly upon her possessing them.'

He hadn't caught it the first time but the reasoning was sound enough. Having the embodiment of death possess, even if you had been transformed into what essentially amounted to an object to contain it, likely wouldn't end well for any living thing. So what made Saya so different? Why didn't Izanami possessing Saya instantly destroy her like it would anyone else?

"This rabbit hole is growing ever deeper. . ." Ozpin thought to himself. "Now, what am I going to do with her?"

What to do indeed. Saya herself told them that she could feel the death goddess trying to surface again. She was scared. If Izanami retook control, Saya's fate would likely be worse than death. But at the same time, Ozpin essentially had the avatar of death currently sleeping in his school. A dangerous position to be sure.

But even so, the aged headmaster could not abandon the poor girl. She had practically relived the worst moments in her life to explain to them the desperate situation she was in. She was scared for her life and for good reason.

No, Ozpin could not—would not—leave the poor girl to her fate.

With that, his decision became final.


Saya slept peacefully with the weight of her ordeals finally off her chest. She only hoped and prayed that Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch would be able to help her in some way; if nothing else but to keep her sane.

Slowly, her eyes parted with a satisfied, thin smile gracing her features. Almost instantly, such feelings of relief were torn straight from her mind as she awoke to swirling maelstrom of darkness rising around her like the flames of a roaring inferno. Her eyes widened as far as they could as she struggled against an invisible force holding her down. She tried to scream, anything that would draw attention, but to no avail.

"I do not know how you managed to retake control, child," a voice that sounded eerily similar to her own echoed around her. The emotionless yet somehow taunting tone of the female voice sent a wave of terror over the poor, trapped girl. "But don't think for an instant that you are free."

Saya's struggling became more and more fierce. She had to break free. If she didn't, she knew something terrible would happen.

"I'm still here, Saya. Despite this set back it will only be a matter of time before I myself retake control."

Saya tried to stop the tears forming in her eyes. She could show her any more weakness.

"You were made to be my vessel, after all."

Slowly, an exact copy of her current form appeared through the torrent before her smiling sinisterly at her predicament.

"I have all eternity. The Day of Reckoning cannot be stopped."

Saya's eyes widened in horror as the face of her copy transformed in a ghastly, smiling skull with hands melt into bone as they grasped the sides of her head. The disturbing visage was soon before her practically laughing at her terror as skull-like faces arose from the blaze of black flame swirling about her. The bone-chilling, distorted screams of dying people filled the air as her decayed countenance whispered mockingly to her.

"You cannot escape from death."


Saya awoke with a scream immediately jumping up. Her right hand immediately found its way to her heart to which it desperately attempted to cling to as best it could. She scrambled to gain control of her breathing which was on the verge of hyperventilating.

With several minutes of loosely-controlled inhaling and exhaling, she finally managed to calm her breathing down. After she had calmed down from her panic attack, she broke down crying. Her arms encircled around and face buried in her knees.

That had felt too real. Izanami's presence was already so strong. How could she possibly hope to stand against her? If she hadn't woken up. . .

She heard a door open somewhere ahead of where she was facing, the sound of someone moving rapidly towards her, and then two comforting hand on her shoulders.

"Saya!" the worried voice of Professor Goodwitch reached her ears. "I was just coming to see if you were awake and I heard you scream. Are you alright? What happened?"

For what seemed like forever, only sobs could be heard in the room. Sobs of a broken, terrified girl. Finally, a single word managed to escape from Saya's lips, but that single word provided all the answer that the woman next to her needed.

"Izanami."

A shudder ran through the professor's body. That single word, now that she knew what—or who—it referred to, held a terrible weight upon it. Saya didn't even need to describe what had happened. Glynda simply knew the nightmare this girl had just gone through. Thinking of nothing else that she could do, she once again wrapped her arms around the girl in comfort.

Minutes passed before she finally calmed down enough for Glynda to release her hold on the girl so that they stare face to face with each other.

"Alright, let's get you up and ready. We have a busy day today," Glynda said in an almost motherly tone. "First things first. Ozpin wishes to speak with you before initiation begins."

Saya nodded and, with the Goodwitch's help, slowly got out of bed. It was then that Saya finally noticed her state of dress. It was mostly still the same except the shouldered, black haori, the purple cloth that wrapped over her outfit, and her golden crown were not on her but instead on a desk up against a window that was centered in the room she was in.

The room itself was pretty much a dorm room with four beds, white walls, a single window, and two doors. One of the doors was on her right which she assumed was to a restroom and one in front of her which she knew left outside as that is the same door the professor entered from.

Before Saya left her bed, she looked down, almost ashamed, before speaking, "I'm. . . sorry. I know I wanted your help but—"

A finger to the lips silenced her self-loathing speech; her eyes widening at the teacher.

"Don't apologize," Glynda said. "I'm a strict, stern woman, but that does not make me heartless. I know when to drop that side of me. You don't need a disciplinarian right now, so I will not act like one."

Saya smiled, growing ever more thankful for this teacher, "Thank you."

Glynda returned the smile and nodded, "Now, let's not keep the headmaster waiting."


"Ah, Saya," Ozpin said cheerfully as the fully-dressed doll and his aide exited the elevator to his office. "I hope you had a good sle—"

He cuts himself off when he sees Glynda urgently motioning not to finish that statement. Something bad obviously happened. He raised an inquiring eyebrow; silently signaling to Glynda as if to ask what happened. Her answer was exaggeratingly mouthing 'Izanami'. He nodded and changed the subject, "Anyway, please sit, I have a couple more questions for you."

Izanami nodded and glided again over to the chair to take a seat. Glynda stood right behind her.

"Now then, Saya, how old are you?"

"I. . . don't know."

"You don't?"

"I'm an orphan. My earliest memory was waking up in the church with my brothers after the sister took us in."

"Can you try to give me an estimation?"

Saya thought for a moment before she answered, "Well, I think I was probably six or seven when I was. . . kidnapped. . . so now I'm probably—um—around 18 maybe 19 years old?"

Glynda and Ozpin stiffened. Had she been a prisoner in her own body for over a decade? Or even worse she hadn't been a prisoner that long but had been horribly experimented on to turn her into that death goddess's vessel all that time?

"The more we learn about what she's gone through," Glynda thought, practically shaking. "The less I want to know. I couldn't even imagine. . ."

Ozpin let out an 'hmm' then continued, "18 to 19? Then, we may have a problem."

Saya blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Generally speaking, students enter this academy at around 17. Miss Rose, who you met yesterday, is really the only exception to the rule as she was allowed in two year earlier to most students."

"Really? She must be quite the prodigy then."

"Perhaps," Glynda said, hands moving to her hips. "But she still has a lot of growing up to do."

"So, because of your age. . . what should we do with you?"

Saya was quiet. She honestly didn't know what she could do at this point in time. She was just barely too old to join as a student. Even if she wasn't, she wasn't eager to overuse any of Izanami's abilities; fearing she might summon forth the goddess herself by mistake.

"I. . . don't know. . ." she spoke up nervously. She was afraid of his response.

"Really? Because I do."

Saya blinked. That certainly wasn't the response she was expecting.

"I can see you formed a bond with my aide," he said smiling slyly at said aide, who, embarrassed, turned her head to face away from her boss. "And being both a professor and my aide can make her quite busy. Since I have no attention of throwing you to the wolves I feel the best place for you would be assisting Glynda in whatever she needs. I trust you don't have much of a problem with that?"

Saya smiled, relieved, "I'd be happy to help out wherever I can. . . "

She then turned to Glynda with the same smile on her face, ". . . If you want me to, of course."

Glynda couldn't help but let a smirk form on her face as she glanced at her boss and said, "Considering how much of his work Ozpin dumps on me I suppose I could use the help."

Ozpin grumbled in annoyance, "Glynda. . ."

It was then that a gentle laugh filled the air. It was simple but to the two of them probably the most beautiful thing they had ever heard. Saya was laughing. For the first time since the incident that had ruined her life, she was laughing. After so much anguish, after so much fear, after being so close to being broken, she felt joy again. And it was the most wonderful feeling she had ever experienced.

Glynda and Ozpin smiled to themselves. Happy to see that they had managed to bring a genuine joy to her.

Finally, Saya stopped laughing and stood up to face her new boss, "So, what's my first task, ma'am?"


Not as long as the first chapter but still a pretty decent length I feel. I know these are coming out pretty quickly but don't expect that all the time. My job is sort of hit and miss when it comes to off-time for me to do things like this. But I'll continue to do my best. Again, don't expect chapters to always come out this fast. Anyone who knows me knows it depends on a lot of factors.

Also, don't worry about the fact that the whole 'different worlds' aspect hasn't been brought up yet by either side or how the Blazblue verse hasn't been mentioned at all. I haven't forgotten but we can't have all the revelations in one day after all.

Hope you all have enjoyed and as always please read and review!

~Omniczar


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Dread Grim Reaper – Thank you! I'm trying my best.