So… the initiation happened several minutes ago. It was a bit different from the one that I saw at Beacon since we all started out on the podium and were called out in teams, in which we then sat down in the crowd. But all in all, it was fun, in a sense.

I mean, it's fun in the sense of like 'Whoo hoo, I'm officially going to be part of a huntsmen team, with possibly new people, while we galavant on long and arduous adventures with them, to most likely to premature death,' kind of fun.

But not as much, long story short, I'm on team ARCN or team Archon, led by Amaranth Mars, and manned by Ray Smoke, Caerus Ferrum, and Nicole Skies. With me being paired up with Amaranth, and Ray and Nicole being in a pair as well.

I mean it's cool and all, two of the three people I get on my team I know to some extent, which is probably purposeful from the higher ups in Atlas for some psychological and motivating reason, which, again, is cool and all.

Still, team Archon.

…

Our first mission must be to construct additional pylons.

But poorly referenced Starcraft quotes aside, at least I get to be with people I know, well… I know most of them. I mean Ray is practically my best friend since Jae left, I met Amaranth on our training, but that just leaves Nicole. The odd one out, the weak link of the chain, the sacrifice to the gods…

I'll stop there.

We still have a couple of days till school actually starts most likely for the new teams to get to know each other and all that jazz.

Still, I'm happy enough that Ray is on my team, despite the fact that he is so socially awkward and… well just awkward, and while I will never admit it in front of him, he's not the best at fighting. Amaranth, or Ama, is generally in the same boat, although I don't quite know her enough to make a sound decision, but, based off of first impressions she seems fun enough, and I think I'll enjoy having her on my team. And again I don't know Nicole.

At the same time, like every school year, I dread for the year to actually start, yet for different reasons than you may think.

Think of it this way, for most of my second life I have effectively been procrastinating through the events of RWBY. I know what, when and where most situations are going to happen, but having over 10, and almost 20 years to wait I've pretty much not been doing much besides keeping myself happy and just preparing for when I do have to start dealing with the events.

But now, like that 4-year-old child you accidentally waved at, the events of RWBY are coming up, faster than I would have liked, and that means, soon enough I will have to start actually changing things.

That raises a singular question in my head. Who can I trust with my information?

I feel like I can trust Jae, as he already knows my secret, but the information is something I'm more willing to tell in person than over text or phone call. Ray… I trust him, but I feel that he is a bit too clumsy and careless, although I don't quite trust myself either. Ama and this so called Nicole are off the list.

That leaves one main choice, General Ironwood. Yet, knowing what he did in RWBY I'm scared to tell him. Hell if I remember correctly he was the newest member of Ozpin's Secret Council of the Round Table, so how could I even know if he's in it right now?

Even then how would he react to it, the worst possible situation is that he accuses me of being a traitor and locks me up never to see the light of day again to which I'd be subject to morally questionable information gathering techniques. While the best case scenario is that he actually listens to me.

But even then, knowing how headstrong he is, what are the chances that the best chance scenario would happen. I just can't trust him to listen and let me work.

But then that raises the question of what happens to Amber? I mean, I sure as hell want to save her, yet I don't know when she gets attacked. Hell, she could have been attacked years ago. And if she hasn't, it is something I need to prevent, yet I already said I don't quite trust Ironwood with this information. So who do I tell?

…

Ozpin maybe? But how would I contact him?

Maybe I am just overthinking this. Two years is a long time, and a lot can happen over that period.

Hell initiation isn't over yet, and I'm already worrying about this stuff.

"Hey, Nicole" I half shout, turning some heads my direction as I push myself past some people worming my way through the crowd and towards my recipient. Having spotted her after we left the auditorium in Atlas, having gone in there for some speech and preparations for the school year.

A red-haired girl turns from in front of me and steps to the side letting me walk up, "I never got to say hi," I mutter walking up to her and holding out my hand.

"Well, hi," Nicole says turning to face me for a second before continuing walking off leaving me standing there for a bit a bit surprised at how fast she was to shut me down.

Well, that was interesting.

"Do you wanna talk or something?" I ask Nicole again walking up behind her.

She turns back around with a blank and tired expression and sarcastically quips, "Yes, because I joined Atlas Academy to talk about my past and my hopes for the future," she pauses for a second, "I think I'll pass."

And then she just walks off, leaving me there.

Well then.

I mean that's kind of a dick move, she could have at least acted like she could have cared, but if anything she does seem exhausted, she has black marks under her eyes, her entire body is slumped over slightly and her footsteps are forceful and barbaric to an extent, almost as if she is a child just learning to walk.

Her red hair is in a mess and her eyes almost look like they belong on a 70-year-old woman who has dementia.

So I just stand there, slightly dumbfounded, as Nicole walks off to the shared room probably to go to sleep or something along those lines if her exhaustion is anything to guess by.

As stated we still have several days until school actually starts which will give me time, to hopefully get to know Nicole, or at least become on speaking terms, as for first introductions I probably got an F- and a question of my mental capacity.

But still, in the end, her dismissal kind of surprised me. Part of me had always thought that in order to acquaint yourself with someone you just had to put on a smile and talk amicably. And for the longest time that indeed did work.

I suppose it was bound to not work on everyone.

I return to the world from the realm of my thought only to realize that the previous crowd has thinned out massively. Now there are only a group of kids who walk together in a small group, most likely a newly introduced team, a couple of girls sitting against the wall and talking silently and a tall boy leaning against a corner and doing something on his scroll.

Shaking my head to clear out any remaining thoughts I wander my way back to my room, having just realized how late at night it is and realizing I should at least get some sleep.

Half way back I remember that I got a newly assigned team room and change course checking my scroll for directions as I don't quite know the layout of Atlas Academy yet.

At this point in the night, the halls of Atlas were eerily quiet with the curfew quickly approaching, the only noticeable noise in the hallways was the rumbling of the occasional air conditioner and the passing by conversations of a team from their appointed room.

Reaching my team room I wave my scroll in front of the red lock, which clicks and turns green twisting the handle and walking in.

I blink a couple of times at how dark it is, glancing around the room.

It is a dimly lit room with a couple of lamps on that illuminate a large couch in the middle of the room that faces away from me, with a nightstand next to it, and a television placed in front of the wall. On the opposite side of the room is a large window gazing over some small hills and a distant Atlas.

At each corner of the room, there is also 4 separate doors which I guess lead to individual bedrooms.

"Hey, Caerus!" I hear a voice say, Ama popping up from behind the couch, scaring the living hell out of me.

"What the…" I yell, quickly switching into a harsh whisper after realizing who it is "Ama! What the hell were you doing?"

She sits up on the couch leaning forward against the back of the couch, "I was waiting for you, just wanted to talk a bit."

"Okay, I guess," I muttered walking over to the couch, as I run my fingers against the walls feeling a bit of dust pick up, "What did you want to talk about."

"Well, as official captain of team Archon," she starts with a drill sergeant-esque voice, "I want to make sure that you know that you're subservient to me in every way possible."

"I think I'll pass."

"And that's why I'm doing exactly that," She says rubbing the back of her neck with a small laugh, "But honestly, I just wanted to get to know all my teammates."

"Don't you already know me?" I ask sitting down next to her on the couch, enjoying the relaxing feeling of me sinking into the soft couch.

She shrugs, "we know each other as acquaintances, and well, we're partners so we should get to know each other a bit more."

I nod slightly feeling a sudden sleepiness come over me, letting out a short yawn, "good enough, I'm then assuming you met everyone else?"

"Mm hmm," she hums in confirmation.

I frown slightly remembering my interaction with Nicole, and how easily she pushed me away, thinking if she did the same with Ama, "Did you meet Nicole?" I ask subsequently looking over to see how she reacts.

Immediately Ama frowns a bit and almost tenses up slightly confirming my reactions, "Guessing she said the same thing to you that she said to me?" I ask as a simple confirmation.

"Yeah, she seems like quite an ass."

I let out a large sigh at that, thinking about potential future team interactions and if she'll hold us back or cause some internal fighting of course not wanting that to happen, "do you think she's just tired or something?" I question.

"Sleepiness doesn't cause assholery," Ama simply replies, "being an asshole does," she pauses for a second as she looks past me in thought, "although from what I've heard she works closely with Ironwood."

"You think she's a spy or something?" I ask innocently.

"Yes," Ama replies sarcastically, "because Atlas Academy is the HQ of deceit and lies."

"Hey, I'm just asking questions."

"Yeah, well, I think it would be better if you would stop that," she jokes, she pauses and repositions herself to look me closer in the eye, "But do you think she has any dirty secrets or something like that?"

I frown mentally at that, because while I have no qualms about talking about someone, I never really was the person to enjoy gossiping, having been at the back hand of it more than once, both in my previous life and my one in Remnant. And in my attempt to be a good person, to further boost my ego, I simply just shrug and mutter, "I think everyone has their own deep and dark secrets."

"Well, what's yours," Ama asks with combined humor and seriousness.

"I'm secretly a faunus."

"Oh shit!" she says with a fake exclamation, "How did I never notice!"

"It's closely guarded."

"Like your virginity?" Ama says with the biggest shit-eating grin I've seen in a while.

…

Oh dear fucking god.

I bite my lip and fidget madly fiddling with my hands as Ama laughs violently, almost falling off of the couch, I desperately try coming up with some sort of comeback, but in the end, I only start up with, "That was…"

"I'm so sorry," Ama says between mad gasps of breath, "I just had to."

I suppose teenagers will be teenagers.

But that was… amusing, at least.

We both remain silent for a brief second, which I take to relax and try to forget what Ama just said, the room feeling a lot warmer and homey than it did before.

"Oh," Ama says suddenly surprising me a bit, "did you meet Ray?"

"Oh yeah," I reply casually, "we're good friends."

"Wait…" Ama starts looking at me, "wait for what?"

"We've been friends for several years," I reply enjoying the look of surprise on Ama's face.

"Wait… what?"

One last visit to the nether realm.

Don't ask me why I want to visit it again, since last time I went there I was branded with some unknown mark, but I'm curious as there's so much there I don't quite yet understand.

Yet it is the same as I remembered it, yet this time there is no orb. The only difference? There is Grimm prowling along every corner of the world. Be it the rolling monotone fields, the red forest in the distance, or the gray streets of the city. But their black outline is clearly visible among each location, the variety of beasts making themselves extremely visible.

At any other situation I would have fought them, upheld my role as a huntsmen and kill as many of them as possible, but at the moment I lack a weapon… and well… what is there in this world to defend? The closest thing is the mystery person, and if they have survived this long then I won't make a difference, and if they haven't…

That's another situation.

I hold my hand to my eye examining the mark yet again. I had almost forgotten about it. Ever since I had gotten it I had passed it off as a tattoo to those who asked, and left it at that to the point in which even I forgot it wasn't.

It wasn't until I physically traveled here in which it glowed did I finally be reminded about its existence, and yet once again reminding me of how harsh life is, and how harsh it will be.

Currently, I am sitting a bit up the crumbling tower in the center of the city watching over everything else, the world looking like a monochromatic version of a plain, with little to no living things.

The orb… well like I said it had disappeared and as far as I know, it is in the hands of the mystery person whom I will never see. So for the time being that is out of the equation, unless I find any clues. So I don't really have a reason to be here anymore.

Standing up from my little ledge I let the stale air brush past me again, and probably for the last time for a while, and hold out my right hand in front of me as I watch the mark glow a luminescent orange color as a portal opens in front of me.

Sparing no time I step through and with a flick of the hand let the portal disappear from behind me, leaving myself in the bathroom in the dorm in which I reside.

I look out the window as the moonlight filters through and into the night sky reminding me that I had traveled to the nether realm in the middle of the night and that I should probably get some sleep.

Knock Knock Knock

I jump back slightly nearly knocking someone's toothbrush off the sink and nearly falling into the toilet "Caerus what you doin' in there?" I hear Ama whisper silently from behind the door.

"Uh," I mutter rebalancing myself after saving myself from having to pay for another toilet, "Using the… toothbrush."

There is still a day until class actually starts.

In the meantime I really haven't been doing much, I've felt too lethargic recently, I haven't really had the will to do anything. I suppose I could pass that up to living in a new place, where it isn't nearly as comfortable as before, but at the same time, I would partially be lying if I were to say that.

At the moment I am sitting on the windowsill, resting one of my arms on me knee, which is propped up against the wall, and the other by my side, as I watch Atlas from my perch, watching everyone move around like little ants on the ground, the drab colors of Atlas feeling ever more strong.

As stated I partially just think that the weight of the future is coming down upon me now. It's not exactly like I haven't dealt with this before, I've had moments in which I've gone through this, but every time I came out feeling fine, but…

Crossing worlds is never a happy thing.

I wish I could say I've gotten over it, I really do. I wish I could say I've put my previous friends and family behind me, but that would just feel like I'm betraying them.

Think about it, think of the most loved person you have in your world right now, a person who you know would give your life for you, think about all the good they've brought you, think about how their very happiness is tied with yours, and how you would do anything for them, just so that they could be happy.

And then they are gone.

You left them behind, everything you've worked for, everyone you've loved, everything you grew attached to, everything you've known. Everything for as long as you can remember is just gone. Your entire existence up and until that point was just meaningless.

I suppose though… that's a philosophical discussion.

But as much as I probably sound like a broken record, you only wish you could have gotten to say goodbyes. Or at least to see them one last time, where I could tell them all the things I want them to know, and that in the end, I do care about them.

As in the end, my family is all I wanted to see before I left them.

Maybe I should stop thinking about this.

"Hey dude," Ray says opening the door to which I lazily twist my head to look, "Amaranth and I are going out to get some lunch, you wanna come with us?"

I pause for a second thinking about whether or not I want to stay here and sulk, before I plaster on a faux smile, bite my lip and reply, "Sure, just give me a minute to get ready."

"Coolio," he simply replies, "message me when you're ready," and with that he closes the door, leaving me to watch it for a couple of seconds.

Once I'm certain he's not coming back I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, counting down from 5 in my head.

I then stand up and walk over to my area, going to grab my shoes, but before I do that I take one last second to look out the window and to the streets, enjoying seeing the little tidbits of life going on outside, be it a little traffic jam at an intersection, or a large group of people marching through a park all of them playing some instrument, or even the couple that walks along the streets pointing at nearby shops.

It's the little things.

Here's a little side note. When I had developed Ray as a character I knew that he was originally going to be on a team with Caerus, the only problem is that I wasn't thinking about a team name when I created Caerus or Ray, which in the end created a bit of trouble with team names since I both had to incorporate R and C.

Hence team ARCN. The only other idea I had was team CRLN (Cerulean), and while that would make more sense, Caerus would be the team leader, and as much as I would like to think so, Caerus is not leader material, so I had to stick with ARCN.

Now, on a bit more serious note. I've noticed that in the past recent chapters my story growth has plateaued a bit. Now I would love to be able to say that I would write out of love for my story and not out of attention, yet I am not that virtuous. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop writing this story anytime soon, as I do want to continue this story, yet at the same time… what do y'all think. Is there anything I can improve on?

And Nicole… FYI this is less important and more just of a 'fun fact'. Nicole has probably gone through the most variations in characters, tied with Ama. In fact, they have gone through the same amount of changes because they were originally the same character, at least until for purposes you will later see, I split them and made them into their own characters.

SOMETHING ELSE! (As if this AN wasn't long enough already) On my profile, I have a poll about if I should write another story, and if I should, which of the ideas, that I would have interest in, should I write. I humbly ask that you spend 10.728 seconds (I'm pulling that number out of my ass), to submit your opinion. As a tangent to this said story would most likely take either less or equal precedence in my efforts in writing. I do have a bit more of a description at the bottom of my profile.

FURTHER MORE!: I have Caerus' team planned out, and have all their backstories and how they evolve in the future, but in trying to make them as complex as possible, I kind of forgot to create other teams, and for the longest while I was planning to just focus on Caerus' team for the majority of the time, however, I was thinking, since I saw this in another FF. If you guys want you can submit characters to me with the possibility of them being referenced or even added onto in the story. This can be from full outlines of a character to just ideas of what you would think would be an interesting character to have included. Since this is kind of new to me, I'm not quite sure of how to have this go, but I feel like I'll figure this out in the end.

Last and kinda least, this chapter is shorter than usual, as it's more of a transition chapter than anything else, signaling that we're moving into the Atlas portion. From here on, the story kind of officially starts.

Review, follow favorite, and spam to that one guy you don't like. FUCK YOU JERRY! (No offense to any Jerry's out there)

Till Next Time