Makoto Yuuki was the type of man who could always keep his calm even in the most dire of situations, in both his past life and his current one. He could stay cool under pressure that would bring the greatest men to their knees. As the former strategist and field leader of SEES, it was his duty to be the guide and shepherd of his flock of warriors. It was that reliability which allowed him and his team to triumph over horrific, eldritch creatures during the Dark Hour.

However, the appearance of a certain golden-eyed woman almost made the blue-haired boy lose his poise. His ever brilliant mind came to a sudden halt as the Velvet Room's former attendant made her presence known to him.

He was frozen in shock as Elizabeth strutted towards him with a playful grin on her beautiful visage. She stood in front of Makoto, her golden eyes locked into his. Elizabeth's inhuman nature easily shone through the glow of her eyes.

"It's been a while, Makoto Yuuki," Elizabeth spoke. Standing face-to-face, the woman stood several inches shorter than the reborn messiah.

Elizabeth placed the holster and the pistol on top of the grimoire she held in her right hand and then placed her left on Makoto's chin. Makoto could feel Elizabeth's slender, gloved fingers tracing his chin in a rather intimate manner before she pulled his face towards hers.

To his surprise, Elizabeth pressed her lips against his, and he was too shocked to move as the attendant explored the crevices of his mouth and sucking on his tongue. A few seconds later, she let him go, licking the edge of her lips sensually.

Makoto blinked a few times in utter bewilderment. He was convinced that he and the attendant made quite the scene.

"Do not worry," Elizabeth said reassuringly, "even though they may see me, our presence is masked from their perception, unless if they were to pay full attention-"

She gestured to the group of teenagers around them. Makoto saw a few teenagers glancing, but they simply looked away as if nothing occurred, ignoring Elizabeth's presence entirely.

"-Or if I cause a massive ruckus. My, now that idea seems to be rather tempting, but I shall refrain myself for the time being."

Her playful and nonsensical attitude was essentially the same as he remembered. He couldn't help but feel nostalgic. The sudden kiss notwithstanding, he was glad that he was able to meet someone from his past life.

Then, one particular question popped into the boy's mind. He looked at Elizabeth, blinking a few times.

"How did you get yourself to Remnant," Makoto asked, "and why?"

Elizabeth tilted her head. "Oh? So this realm is called Remnant? How simple, yet inquisitive! I wonder what caused the reason behind the name in the first place!" Then, she focused on the boy standing in front of her. "But, I digress. This matter must be saved for another time."

Makoto nodded. "Yes, but you haven't answered my questions yet," he deadpanned.

"Ah, my bad," Elizabeth apologized. "Well, when I went to the Great Seal, I discovered that the soul powering the seal had been replaced by someone else. Unlike you, the current Seal was able to communicate with me, and she told me about your whereabouts. So I jumped through several alternate dimensions before I ended up here. And it seems that you've been reincarnated into this world, while maintaining your original appearance."

She studied Makoto's face carefully. "Ah, now that I may take a closer look, your hair seems to be a lighter shade of blue compared to before, and you're a few centimeters taller as well."

"Why did you come here?"

"Why? Well… because I want to be with you," Elizabeth said, answering Makoto's question, as if telling him that was the most obvious thing. "The voices in my heart told me that if I don't follow you, then I may regret it for the rest of my life." Her gloved hand reached out to stroke Makoto's cheek. "A great destiny awaits you in the near future, and it is my duty to assist you to reach out for it."

Makoto was silent for a moment before he closed his eyes. Then, he looked at Elizabeth, giving her a wry smile. "…Thanks."

"You are very welcome," Elizabeth replied.

Elizabeth lowered her gloved hand after she was done stroking his cheek.

"When I was hopping through the multiverse, I took a little while to smuggle this thing with me, in case you ever needed it," Elizabeth said before handing Makoto the holster in her left hand. He took it from Elizabeth, removing the device sheathed within.

"My Evoker," Makoto muttered in awe. The cold steel of the Evoker brought him a sense of nostalgia.

Makoto remembered the time when he first awakened himself to his Persona, his battles against the Shadows, his ascent of the malevolent tower known as Tartarus, his battle against the Nyx Avatar and countless other war stories.

As his fingers traced the word "SEES" on the metallic surface of the summoning device, he felt his other selves stirring deep inside him. All the different facets of his psyche, taking the shapes of ancient warriors, majestic beasts, holy and demonic creatures, godly beings and gods whose powers could destroy the world several times over, and many more, were ready to be unleashed for the world to see.

The calm swell in the sea of his soul was replaced, swept away by a raging tempest. The masks that he used to face the hardships in the world, the powers that could even bring the greatest to their knees, were once again ready to be brought out with a pull of his Evoker's trigger.

"Now, I wish you good luck. For the time being, I shall be waiting on the sidelines, watching over you. Whenever you wish to see me," the woman gave Makoto a mysterious smile, "I shall be there. Till we meet again, Makoto Yuuki. Farewell."

Elizabeth turned around and walked into a small crowd of other passengers, and once Makoto blinked, she was no longer there. There was no trace of the woman anywhere on the ship. For a while, he stood still before he sighed and wrapped the holster's belt around his waist. With an audible click, he adjusted the buckle of the belt before he brushed his new Evoker.

"Well, at least there's one thing to look forward to in the future, then," Makoto muttered. Having nothing better to do, the boy put his earphones and switched his music player on. Like most of his other possessions, they resembled the one that he had in his previous life, and there were a few songs that were quite interesting.

No Burn My Dread or Mass Destruction, though. What a pity. He quite enjoyed those songs back then.

Makoto glanced at Summer's daughters while he listened to some beats. There was nothing out of ordinary about them, from what the boy could tell. Yang was teasing her little sister affectionately. Just looking at their interaction made the stoic messiah smile.

Somehow, he also noticed that the younger sister was looking at him, her brows scrunched up. He felt examined in full under her attention.

When Makoto looked back, the red-clad girl immediately averted her eyes, shifting her focus somewhere else.

Ruby even tried whistling.

"Well, that was weird," he finally commented.

Shrugging it off as one of the girl's numerous quirks, Makoto continued listening to a song on his music player. He bobbed his head slightly as he closed his eyes, immersing himself in "Red like Roses".

It was a beautiful song, and beautiful songs were something that the boy genuinely appreciated. He looked forward to the second part in the future.


Messianic Rebirth

Persona 3 and RWBY Crossover

Chapter 02: The Beacon

Alongside the others, Makoto walked out of the ship as soon as it docked at the academy's entrance. Hands stuffed in his pockets, he looked at the enormous structure right in front of them. A few of the other passengers let out "oohs" and "wows" as they stepped through the entrance, with awe in their gaze at the sight of Beacon Academy.

Makoto had seen the pictures of the academy before from books and photos, but this was his first time seeing the real deal in front of his eyes. Signal Academy was completely miniscule in comparison.

There were other ships docking, dropping more passengers, and like him, they were students who were also invited to attend the school. He looked at the teenagers walking through the entrance before he glanced back at Beacon. For an academy specialized in training future Huntsmen and Huntresses, its students seemed very carefree.

Makoto shrugged. He had no right to criticize them. They were teenagers, so it was only natural for them to act childish and carefree.

"I feel like an old man already," he grumbled. Despite physically seventeen, mentally he was much older, possibly timeless as time in the collective unconscious had no flow or direction. He shrugged before he adjusted his earphones on his ears.

Continuing his walk, he saw Yang and Ruby again. Somehow Ruby was excited while looking at other students, or more precisely, their weapons. From the limited interactions that he had with the hooded girl, he knew that she was an extreme enthusiast with weaponry. Yang had to drag her away from swooning over a collapsible staff and blunderbuss hybrid owned by a girl who was also a student invited to the academy. The owner of that weapon could only blink in confusion as the strange girl was dragged away.

Thinking that he had nothing better to do before reaching the building, he continued observing the sisters, removing his earphones to focus on their conversation.

"Why can't you swoon over your own weapon?" Yang asked her sister. "Aren't you happy with it?"

Apparently, they were talking about Ruby's enthusiasm of weapons. Makoto had to admit, most weapons found in Remnant were very impressive. He once saw an axe that could shift into a Gatling gun and a sword that could shoot plasmic rounds. Such tools made him feel that his gladius-scimitar hybrid was rather inferior and lacking in comparison.

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" Ruby answered before she took her weapon and unfolded it, transforming into its scythe mode. No matter how many times Makoto saw it, he couldn't help but be impressed.

"I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better..."

She hugged her weapon. It seemed that her appreciation for weapons ran a bit more than what he had expected.

Makoto spent much of his time watching Yang and Ruby from a distance, and he could tell that Ruby wasn't an extroverted person. She was a kind girl, of course, and quite a pleasant one to converse with, but to him, Ruby seemed to favor weapons over people.

"Ruby, come on," Yang said, pushing down Ruby's hood over the younger girl's head. "Why don't you try and make some friends on your own?"

Removing her hood, Ruby pouted, or at least that's what Makoto assumed, based on her tone. "B-but… why would I need friends when I have you?"

"Well," Yang began before she spotted a few teenagers who were in their ship earlier. She waved her hand to call for them, and in an instant, the busty girl was swarmed. Apparently, they were Yang's friends. "Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, c'ya, bye!" And so, they dashed off, leaving Ruby in their dust, literally.

Left dazed, Ruby was dizzy-eyed and spinning. Makoto blinked owlishly a few times. Well, that was rather irresponsible for Yang to leave her little sister alone, but he figured out that she might have left her so that she could make friends on her own.

In her confusion, Ruby fell backwards onto a luggage cart, sending cases flying.

"Oww!"

Makoto winced as he saw the poor girl. There was a girl in white who stood above her. He saw a snowflake-shaped crest on the back of her jacket, which looked rather similar to his.

And then she screamed.

"What are you doing?!" Makoto winced upon hearing the girl's shrill voice. Ruby got up, supporting herself with her two hands.

"Uh… S-sorry!"

Seemingly unimpressed by Ruby's apology, the girl in white continued yelling at her.

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?!"

Ruby winced as she was berated by the white-clothed stranger. She absentmindedly picked up one case. Ruby had completely no clue as to why the girl was yelling. Sure, she may have made several mistakes by accidentally crashing into the cart earlier, but there was no need to be so mean.

"Uuuh…"

"Give me that!" The girl barked before she snatched the case from Ruby's hands, opening it to reveal a rainbow of vials. "This is Dust – mined and purified from a Schnee quarry!"

"Ah."

Makoto now understood why there was a similarity in their symbols. The girl was a Schnee: a distant branch bloodline of the Yuuki. Makoto assumed that she might be the current family heir, Weiss Schnee. While Schnee's family crest was white in color, the Yuuki's was a light blue.

"Uuuh…" Ruby was still too dazed to even say one word to the heiress.

"What are you, brain-dead?!" Weiss yelled at Ruby again. She took out one of the vials, holding it out as she closed the case, shaking it in front of other girl, the Dust spilling out without Weiss' notice. "Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!"

"I… I know…" Ruby said before she coughed from the particles spread her face.

"Are you even listening to me?! Is any of this sinking in?! What have you got to say for yourself?!" Weiss yelled as more and more of the precious material clouded them.

"Oh boy…" Makoto muttered to himself, expecting shenanigans. As expected, shortly after there was an explosion in the courtyard.

An explosion triggered by a sneeze, to be exact. Due to the Dust released, and the girl's sneeze, the Dust agitated to the point of combustion. Flames, snow, and lightning that were generated from the explosion hit Weiss in the face. The vial she was holding was thrown away due to the explosion, flying over the courtyard before landing at the feet of someone who was currently reading while sitting on a bench.

When the cloud caused by the explosion dissipated, an angry, soot-covered Weiss emerged. Miraculously, she was uninjured. Perhaps the Dust didn't generate enough force that could harm people, but still, nobody wanted to be covered in soot.

Shaking off the dirt, Weiss glared at Ruby, who twiddled her fingers in embarrassment.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

Ruby fidgeted, looking embarrassed and apologetic. "I-I'm really, really sorry!"

"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms over her chest, eyeing the red-clad girl suspiciously. She was able to tell that Ruby was definitely younger than other students who attended the academy.

"W-well, I-I…" Ruby attempted to answer, but Weiss cut her off.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight monsters, so… watch where you're going!"

While Makoto didn't really care about his distant relatives in this world, after finding out that his distant cousin was quite an irritating girl, he couldn't help but feel a little concerned.

Finally fed up, Ruby retorted, "Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!" Both girls were glaring at each other. Makoto was considering whether to interfere or not before someone else approached the two.

"It's heiress, actually."

Both Weiss and Ruby looked at the one who interfered and saw a girl in a black-and-white sleeveless outfit, with a bow on top of her raven hair. She held a vial that was thrown around from the prior explosion.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world," the girl calmly continued.

Smiling smugly, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the newcomer.

"Finally! Some recognition!"

But the new girl wasn't finished yet.

"The same company that is infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

"Wha-" Weiss was dumbfounded by the girl's statement, and Ruby giggled. "How dare you-" She glared. "The nerve of… ugh!"

Weiss went to the girl and snatched the vial away from her hand, walking off with a haughty huff as a few men in suits, probably her helpers, gathered her luggage and followed.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby said to the departing Weiss, before she sighed. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day… So, what's-" Ruby saw her savior walking off as well. With them gone, she collapsed to the floor on her back.

"Welcome to Beacon…" Ruby muttered dejectedly.

The girl with the bow walked towards Makoto's direction and brushed past him. Then she paused and stole a glance at him. The messiah saw the girl's amber eyes dilating slightly upon seeing him, and her brows furrowed. A few seconds later, the girl bowed curtly before finally leaving.

"Okay, that's weird…" She might have recognized him from somewhere, but he couldn't tell. After the girl was gone, Makoto looked back to the still grounded Ruby, noticing how lonely and miserable she was.

After spending an eternity of loneliness in the collective unconscious, Makoto understood loneliness far better than anyone. His promise to the mother Rose came back to forefront of his mind as well.

"If you happen to see Yang and Ruby, could you take good care of them? Particularly my baby, Ruby. Sh-she's… She means everything to me, and I wish for nothing but her happiness."

He never forgot her parting words.

Ruby was alone and on the verge of tears. Her mother would weep at her child's dilemma. Clicking his tongue, Makoto went over to Ruby, and his footsteps startled the girl slightly.

"Hey…" Makoto began, holding a hand for her support. "Can you stand?"

Ruby looked at Makoto's face before she took his hand.

"Y-yes…"

Pulling her up, Makoto helped the girl to stand. Makoto realized how small the girl was as she stood. He never noticed this before, considering that he rarely interacted with her directly and only observed her from afar, but she was short. Too short, in fact. He should have expected this since she was two years younger than him, but sometimes, he forgot that particular detail.

Ruby's hand was slightly callused, most likely from the use of Crescent Rose. Still, it was small. He was afraid that he might break her hand with a squeeze.

"Umm," Ruby's voice brought Makoto's attention back to her, "a-aren't you… umm… Makoto?"

"Yes. Makoto Yuuki. You remember me, right?"

Ruby nodded. "We're schoolmates." She smiled. "I-I'm Ruby Rose."

"I know, we talked to each other several times before. Do you remember that?"

"D-did we?" Ruby asked before she brought her knuckle to her brow, lightly tapping it a few times. "Oh, oh… oh! Yeah, we did!" She exclaimed before she realized that Makoto was still holding her hand as they spoke to each other.

"You want me to let go of your hand?" Makoto asked calmly.

"N-no- I mean, yes please!" She frantically answered. Makoto slightly smiled before he let go of the girl's hand.

"Umm…" Ruby fidgeted, seemingly unsure of what to say to the blue-haired boy conversing with her.

"You alright?" Makoto asked. "Since your sneeze was kind of explosive back then, I sure hope you didn't hurt yourself…"

"Y-you saw?!" Ruby gasped.

There was no point in lying.

"Everything."

"Uuuh…"

Seeing that Ruby was troubled and embarrassed, Makoto tapped her shoulder.

"Let's go. I have a feeling we have to gather somewhere. Probably at the auditorium." He took out a pamphlet from the pocket of his jacket. Makoto glanced at the girl and asked, "Are you coming?" He already taken a few steps away as he gave her that question.

"Y-yes!" Ruby answered before she trotted behind Makoto.

Ruby was silent as she followed the boy, but when Makoto glanced behind over his shoulder to see her, she fidgeted. She looked like she had something on her mind.

"Something troubling you?" Makoto asked.

"Eh?" Blinking a few times, Ruby stopped walking. "Umm…"

Turning behind him to face the girl, Makoto looked at Ruby as he put his hands into his pockets. "Don't worry. I'll listen."

"Umm… M-Makoto," Ruby began. "Why did you help me out back there? In the courtyard?"

The answer was obvious enough...

"Because I was there," Makoto answered. "And you looked like you really needed help, and it'd be wrong for me to leave you alone." He paused for a while. "It's only natural, I suppose."

"You helped me out because it's a natural thing to do?"

"You prefer me leaving you be?"

Ruby shook her head. "N-no, that's not what I mean," she said. "I mean, we hardly know each other, and yet…" she trailed off.

Makoto smiled. If only she knew the truth, then she would never say such a thing. He had known her name long before he was enrolled into Signal, and he had been observing her the whole time. While they were never close to begin with, Makoto still had a promise to fulfill.

"It's hardly a big deal," Makoto reasoned. "Even so, if you're still bothered by this, why don't we do this?" He held out his right hand. "Let's be friends."

"Friends?" Ruby looked at the hand held out by the boy in confusion.

"If we're friends, then you won't have to worry about why I helped you," Makoto rationalized the reason behind his suggestion. "You're having trouble making friends, right? If that's the case, then let me be your friend first. Then we'll work from there."

"I… umm…" Ruby hesitated as she looked at Makoto's hand.

Makoto smiled. "I won't force you, but we can't be alone forever, can we?"

Mulling over his words, Ruby took a deep breath before she looked at Makoto.

"Alright. L-let's…" She smiled bashfully before she shook Makoto's hand. "Let's be friends. A-and," she looked aside, bringing one hand to her face and scratching her cheek in embarrassment, "thanks, I guess." She then let go of Makoto's hand.

"It's only natural. That's what friends do, right?" Makoto said before he turned on his heel and started walking. "Come on, Ruby. We need to go to the auditorium."

"Right!" Ruby nodded before she followed Makoto. "Umm…"

"Anything else?" Makoto asked.

"W-well…" Ruby began, before she shook her head. "Nah, it's nothing."


Ruby didn't expect this kind of situation to happen. Sure, Makoto Yuuki was an acquaintance, but she never expected him to actually help her when she needed it most.

As she followed Makoto from behind while talking with him about a few things, mostly about weapons, she noticed the size of his back. She wasn't sure whether it was a trick of light, considering that Makoto's body was slim for his size, but she thought his back was rather large. She thought Makoto to be a person who might have carried a large burden upon his shoulders, more than one could ever imagine.

She had seen Makoto at Signal before. Ruby hardly spoke to him since her older sister, Yang, usually did all the talking. Makoto was considered one of the academy's best students ever to grace its halls, and she had seen him in action before.

Makoto's forms were… beautiful.

His weapon was rather simple compared to the others: a silver gladius without a sword guard that can split into twin scimitars. But the way he wielded it was a breathtaking sight to behold. He easily changed between tactics and the forms of his weapon without any hint of hesitation, showing no sign of fear even when faced with a greater adversary.

Ruby might be skilled in the arts of combat, but she could tell that Makoto was on a different level entirely, comparable to the actual, professional Hunters themselves.

Ever since she was little, Ruby aspired to become a Huntress, just like her mother. Ruby wanted to become a hero, or rather a heroine, who used her powers for the sake of the world, protecting it from the looming darkness which threatened it ever since the dawn of time.

Makoto was different.

He never aspired to be a hero. Instead, he was already a hero, at least in her eyes. The way he carried himself and the way he fought made it apparent for Ruby to say that Makoto Yuuki really deserved the title. Because of that, despite the fact that she really never interacted with the boy, she admired him.

Earlier, when they were on board the airship, Ruby glanced at Makoto, and much to her surprise, he was talking to a strange woman. Ruby thought that she might have imagined it, considering that she didn't really recall seeing her afterwards, but she still remembered the woman kissing Makoto on the lips. Actually, she wasn't really sure at all, and no one seemed to notice in the first place.

Despite that, she still had her suspicions. She tried asking Makoto but decided against it because she thought that she have been imagining it all along.

"Ruby, here we are," Makoto spoke. Ruby immediately looked at her surroundings, finding herself surrounded by a crowd. She didn't realize that both of them had already entered the auditorium.

"Whoa, so many people," she said in awe.

"Are you worried?"

"A little," Ruby answered. "Still, I've got you with me now, and it should be alright for me."

Makoto sighed. The girl was weird. "You need to think about making more friends, Ruby."

"Ah, y-yeah, you're right, ahaha…" Ruby laughed nervously.

Then, they heard a voice, belonging to a certain blonde girl who was waving at Ruby.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Seeing that as a cue for him to leave, Makoto walked away, not before telling Ruby they would meet again later after the ceremony.

"Y-yeah, see you later, Makoto." Ruby nodded before she went to Yang. Alone, Makoto stuffed his hands into his pockets again before finding a secluded area in the auditorium. It happened that the secluded place was near the corner. He still would hear whatever was said on the stage, so he leaned against the wall, yawning a bit as he adjusted the dark blue jacket he wore.

Then, he realized that he wasn't really alone. Not too far from him was the bow-wearing girl he saw at the courtyard, the one who saved Ruby from being lectured to death by Weiss. Like him, she was also leaning against the wall, reading a book.

"Hey," Makoto began, "you don't mind having me here, right?"

The girl looked at him, again in surprise.

"…Go on."

The girl spoke softly before she resumed her reading. Then she glanced at Makoto, particularly the collar of his jacket which bore his family crest.

Makoto was quick to realize this before he spoke, "In case if you're actually wondering, I'm not a Schnee. I'm a Yuuki." He tapped the small crest on his collar. "You can only imagine how many people get confused because of it. Also, does it look like I have white hair?"

"I see… and no, you don't," the girl said. As she continued reading, Makoto glanced at where Summer's daughters were in the corner of his eyes. He saw Weiss Schnee finding her way to yet again bully her poor victim, berating her over the incident that happened at the courtyard earlier.

Well, as long as no harm would come from it, Makoto saw no need to interfere.

He noticed that Weiss was pointing at him as she spoke to Ruby. He had no idea what the heiress was talking about, and he didn't really care.

However, he did not notice that Weiss took a double-take as she saw him. She narrowed her eyes, noticing a peculiarity.

All attentions were drawn to the stage, where the headmaster of Beacon stood readying the microphone, Glynda Goodwitch standing beside.

The headmaster was a man with tousled white hair, clad in clothes with different shades of green, along with a pair of round glasses. Makoto instinctively became wary of this man, due to his experience with another similarly eye-glassed man in his previous life.

Like Glynda, Makoto also remembered meeting this man prior, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin. Despite his wariness towards glasses-wearing adult males, he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He knew that he was being irrational when he compared him to Shuji Ikutsuki, but one could never be too careful.

Unlike Ikutsuki, Ozpin seemed to have no ulterior motives behind his actions. Nevertheless, Makoto would keep his guard up around the man.

"I'll… keep this brief," Ozpin began. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction..."

Other students whispered amongst themselves about his words.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step…"

Despite his wariness towards people like Ozpin, Makoto couldn't help but agree with what the headmaster said. There was more than just theoretical knowledge needed as Huntsmen or Huntresses. To be a Hunter meant that one had to possess courage and willingness to face the possibility of death without falter. It wasn't an impossible task to accomplish, considering that he himself had overcome his own fear of it, but the same couldn't be said about the others.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready," Glynda spoke as Professor Ozpin left.

The Huntress adjusted her glasses.

"You are all dismissed."


At night, all the students gathered at the ballroom, sleeping bags spread over the floor. It felt like having a massive slumber party. All the students were dressed on occasion: in pajamas and nightgowns.

With all the boys and girls sharing the same place to sleep in, shouldn't they be a little bit more cautious? Especially the girls? Makoto couldn't help but wonder about these things while seeing a female student, dressed in a some revealing sleepwear, getting into her sleeping bag while the male students around her blushed.

Even so, Makoto thought about Ozpin's speech back at the auditorium. Some students murmured about Ozpin not being his usual self. Usually, he was more affable and friendly. Makoto thought that the headmaster was tired from dealing with new students. Being a headmaster of a prestigious learning institute, it was already expected.

Makoto glanced out the window, looking at the broken moon in the night sky. His parents once told him that it was just part of its phase. That alone was proof that he was in a world completely different from what he was used to.

Makoto took the holstered Evoker from his side, weighing the summoning device with his right hand. Considering that he might terrify the other students if he used it, he decided that it would only be used as a last resort. Pointing a gun-shaped device on one's head could even frighten even the most seasoned of warriors in this realm, and he would rather avoid the situations in which he had to use it.

If the Evoker and the holster were his, then he might find something else that would connect him to his previous life. He looked into the holster and found something in the small pocket. It was a note, written in blue ink, about a recipe for making blueberry muffins. It was unimportant, but Makoto couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia.

He never thought a simple thing such as a blueberry muffin recipe could invoke such a feeling within.

Makoto then found a picture taken when the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad were on a field trip in Kyoto. It was cut to fit into the small pocket in the holster, but he could see some of his friends in the photo.

It was a picture of him, Junpei, Yukari and Aigis, standing near a shrine's lion statue.

While he would never say it, Makoto would always treasure the memories of his past life. He might have left them forever, but the precious fragments of his memories would always stay within him.

What were his friends were doing over there, in the world he saved?

Were they doing alright?

Had they been living their lives to the fullest?

Had they already moved on after his death?

Junpei was a bit of a knucklehead, but he was sure that he was fine with moving on. Did he manage to have Chidori remember him?

Yukari was a strong girl. Over time, even the most severe of broken hearts would be mended.

Fuuka, with her big and gentle soul that could even make the meanest of girls shed tears, might have moved on too.

Akihiko should already have moved on as well, his guilt and self-loathing absolved. He would wear his own weakness as armor, and he would never be hurt again.

Mitsuru found her salvation in her responsibility. In doing so, she might have already forgiven herself for the crimes she never committed. With that would come her peace.

Ken, who had lost his drive in life after finding the meaninglessness of revenge, should have discovered another reason to live. Ken might have been able to move on as well.

Koromaru didn't have to wait for him like his late master. A dog like him had to find another form of happiness. Loyalty was one thing, moving on was another, and the dog had every right to move on.

And Aigis… a miracle. A machine who grew a heart. He could only hope that she wouldn't abandon her newfound humanity after his passing and continued to watch over his legacy. With her memories of him in her heart, she would protect humanity in his stead, until her life shone no more.

There was a melancholic smile on Makoto's face before he put away his picture.

"I miss you guys… " the reborn messiah muttered. "I really do…"

Not too far away, both Ruby and Yang were fighting. Soon after, Weiss came to scold them for disturbing her sleep.

Makoto paid no attention as he resumed watching the broken moon in the night sky with a peaceful expression on his face.

TO BE CONTINUED


Author's Note: Hello, it's me again, Prince Arjuna. Honestly, I was surprised because I managed to get more than twenty reviews for a single chapter. It was my first time getting too many reviews for only one chapter, you know? I don't know how to cope with this, considering that I used to get only a couple of them per chapter. As you can see, this chapter, which is Chapter 2, is rather short compared to the previous one, and it also followed the canon. Well, we can't deviate from canon storyline too early, right? I assure you that next chapter is where the deviation from canon starts. Also, I apologize to Jaune's fans out there because Makoto Yuuki will be taking his place, so Jaune may not appear in this fic. I honestly like the guy, actually, but someone has to go down for our rising star, you know?

Once again, I would like to thank Tethriot for beta-reading this chapter. It's so nice to work alongside you, buddy.

So, I hope you like this chapter, and like usual, feel free to leave some reviews. You do know that an author may die due to review's deprivation, right? Hence the reviews. See you guys again in the next chapter, Chapter 03: The Initiation.

Also, starting the next chapter, there will be a special section in the note. Roll the drums, everyone!

Jaune Arc's Review Corner!

Starting next chapter, the author will try to answer most if not all reviews sent for the story, and the section will be hosted by none other than our lovable dork, Jaune Arc! That's the least the author can do to make up for Jaune's absence in this fic. See you guys later!

Prince Arjuna (2014)

Update: Chapter 02 revised (beta-read by Sorata Shioya)