White.
When I opened my eyes all I could see was an open expanse of white nothingness. I looked around confused as I wondered just how did I get here in the first place. I walked forwards but I couldn't tell if I was making any progress. That was when horrible thought started to get into my head.
Wait am I dead!? I thought panicked. Is this what heaven looks like, or am I in purgatory or something?
I started running forward hoping to find some kind of exit out of this place. I kept running and running but I couldn't the only thing that continued to greet me was the wide white expanse. I slowly came to a stop and put my hands on my head.
"No, no, no! I can't be dead! I had so many other things I wanted to do! I wanted..." That's when I took a deep breath and breathed back out. "Ok Garrett, calm down. Being panicked won't help in this situation." I took a few more deep breaths to calm myself before seeing something in the corner of my eye.
I looked left to see a brown door. It was just standing there with no room attached to it. I looked around a bit more to see if there was anything else like it but found that the door was the only object in the white expanse.
It's the only way forward, I guess.
I walked to the door and grabbed hold of the gold-colored handle. I took a deep breath before opening the door to find... not what I expected.
I entered a room that had brown wooden floors and cream-colored walls. Two shelves full of books adorned the left side of the wall. On my right were two tables, one table with a phonograph on it and a small shelf with some record discs, and another table with multiple things for making tea. I looked towards the back of the room to see an old man shuffling through and writing on some papers at a brown wooden desk that was facing me. Two grey single couches were facing the old man in front of the desk.
The old man looked up at me and I got a better look at his face. He was wearing a grey suit with a blue tie. His hair was black with some streaks of grey in it and his beard was the same color. His face was adorned with a few wrinkles that put his age between 50 and 60. The eye-catching feature on his face was... well his eyes. His irises were a beautiful golden color that was mesmerizing to look at. Like they don't compare to a normal human's eyes.
The man smiled and put down his pen. he crossed his hand and waited for me to stop my observation.
"Are you god?" Was the first thing that came out of my mouth. A comment that made the man chuckle.
"No, I am not God, nor am I an angel either." He said in a soothing voice. "My name is Theodore and please have a seat and I'll answer all of your questions," He gestured towards the chair on my right.
I sat down and thought about what I could ask. The only question that came to mind was what I have been thinking about ever since I got here.
"Am I dead?" I asked.
He shook his head, "No you are not, I have brought you here from your world myself."
That made more questions pop into my head. "Why did you bring me here, and what are you?" I asked, curious as to what led to this predicament.
I will answer the second question first as that leads to the first," he informed, "I am what is called and Advisor. Advisors are beings created by God with the sole purpose to observe and maintain a universe. Are you familiar with what the multiverse is?"
"The multiverse?" I said confused until it dawned on me. "Wait... you mean that you maintain a universe in the multiverse?"
"Exactly," He nodded, "We Advisors observe what happens in the universes and make sure nothing goes awry. Sadly, however, the universe that I was assigned to has done exactly that."
"Ok... but where do I fit in all of this?"
"I will get to that." He stood up and walked towards the phonograph. He put a record on it and I heard some classical music play from. "You see, the universe I am assigned to is one you're familiar with." He said as he walked towards the table with tea, and he looked back at me inquiringly. "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes please," I said politely, and Theodore went straight to work. "So what is this universe based off of," I asked curiously.
"It's based on a tv show in your universe named RWBY." He said simply.
I took a few seconds to process that before I jumped out of my chair and yelled, "WHAT!"
Theodore didn't seem to react to my outburst and only continued to make tea. I sat back down to contemplate what I just heard before releasing just what type of situation I was in.
A god summons me for some unknown task. He mentions a show that I enjoy watching. Oh my god... I'm in an isekai situation! I thought surprised.
After thinking that I felt something awaken inside me. Something that has been slumbering ever since I was a teenager. This thing started to make me feel giddy as I realized the situation I most likely was in.
My teenage fantasies have been awoken after being repressed for so long.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I said with thinly veiled giddiness.
Theodore looked at me before chuckling, most likely laughing at what I was trying to hide. He moved away from the table with two cups of tea before sitting back down.
"Yes," he said taking a sip of tea, "I am going to be sending you to one of the RWBY universes."
I felt like I was going to explode with excitement before thinking about the last part he said.
"Wait... one of the universes?" I asked.
"Yes," He sighed, "You see, in this universe, Salem was defeated earlier than she was supposed to. While odd, it isn't that big of a deal. However, when Salem was defeated all the Grimm disappeared."
"Ok," I drawled out, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"In a way. With humanity's greatest threat gone, they were able to expand their territories and build in places they never could before. "
Theodore looked at me solemnly. "However, the Grimm weren't supposed to disappear along with Salem. Sure Salem could create and control the Grimm, but she wasn't what created them. This has had terrible consequences as without an enemy to unite against, humanity will eventually start to turn against each other."
He took a sip of tea while I had barely touched my own. "Soon my worries will come to fruition. Another Great War, similar to the one before it will happen on Remnant. However, humanity will not go unscathed from this one. With how the world had advanced in technology the only way the world will end is with certain destruction."
I could only sit there surprised at what has been told. A question started to become more prominent in my mind, something that must be answered.
"W-where do I fit in all this?" I asked still trying to process everything that has been told.
Theodore stared straight into my eyes, and I knew that whatever he was going to say next was going to determine my unknown fate.
"I have summoned you to make sure this war never happens in the first place." He reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a purple crystal. "I need you to bring back humanity's greatest threat. I need you to bring back the Grimm."
"..."
"...'
Silence reigned in the room for a few moments as I thought about what he said. I eventually came up with quite the quaint response.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" I yelled as I stood up.
"I mean bring back the Grimm!? What type of shit is that! And why did you choose me to do it! I'm just a normal human being who barely even works out! Why couldn't you pick, oh I don't know, someone on Remnant who could actually do it?!" I screamed exasperated not only irritated at what he wanted me to do but also extremely curious about why he chose me. I mean it's not every day that you get summoned to save the world right?
Theodore didn't react to my outburst, as he waiting for me to cool down. I sat down in my seat, taking deep breaths as I became a bit calmer as the adrenaline started to wear off.
"Truthfully? I chose you at random." Theodore said.
"Wait, what?"
"I chose randomly, using certain criteria, out of the many universes in the multiverse. You just ended up being chosen as the one." He informed me.
"I..." I was stupefied. He didn't choose me because I was a super cool character who could do anything. He only chose me because I was the name that got picked out of the hat. Even with everything that was told to me, that statement hit home the hardest. Ignoring the feeling of insignificance there was something I had to ask, "What... type of criteria are you talking about?"
Theodore smiled, happy to move onto something more positive than saving the world. "Well, you see I wanted only one criterion, specifically they had to have the tenacity to be able to do a job like this. You, my sir, have exactly what I'm looking for."
Theodore put on a serious face and leaned forward. "However, I need to know one thing before I tell you what you need to do. Are you willing to do this? Just because someone has the tenacity to do something doesn't mean they will do it. If you don't want to do it I can send you back and you won't remember a thing about what has happened in this room. You can live your life not worrying about having to save the world." he said softly.
"So what is your choice?"
What a choice it was. If I say no like he said, I will never have to worry about this stuff again. The burden of saving the world wouldn't matter, as I could continue living my usual normal life. When I thought about it, denying would be the better option as I would be much safer and my family wouldn't be worried about where the hell I was.
If I said yes, however, then I could be living in something I could only dream of as a kid. I mean, going to another world? Who wouldn't want to experience something like that? An adventure in another world so I could save it sounded very appealing to me. This was one in a lifetime chance so why should deny it?
"Yes," I answered resolutely.
"Are you sure." He raised an eyebrow at me seriously.
"Absolutely. I will help you in saving Remnant."
He nodded, "Alright so the instructions are very simple. You need to bring this," He held up the crystal he took out earlier, "To a specific spot in the continent Interitus that is the only place in the entire world of Remnant that still has a Grimm spawning pool. You are going to need to throw it into the pool to finish your task."
"Do you mean that all the Grimm spawning pools have disappeared or something like that?" I asked curiously.
"Exactly, the Grimm pools started to slowly disappear and the holes they were in closed up. The one hole you need to go will close up in a few years so you will have more than enough time to get there."
His eyes lit up and his back straightened as it seemed he had remembered something. "Oh yeah! Since you can't get aura you can ask for one thing to help you with your task."
"Wait," Did I just hear him right, cause it sure as hell sounded like he said I couldn't get aura. " Did you just say I couldn't get aura? What do you mean?"
"Well you see, your earthborn soul was never intended to develop something like aura. If you were born on Remnant, then I would've unlocked your aura if you didn't have it already. This also means that you can't use anything like magic or something similar to that as your body wasn't made to use something like that."
I sighed sadly, "Guess that means no cool superpowers." Though it does explain why no one has used something like magic on Earth. Well if I can't use anything like magic then I'll have to think of some type of equipment that'll let me do just that.
I put my hand on my chin and thought about what I could use to help me. Maybe some type of weapon? I shook my head at that. A powerful weapon is useless when you still a squishy human who is slower than the people who have aura. How about an armor? I could make it increase my strength and speed, and it also comes with the effect of protecting from blows that would most likely kill me. Though what type of armor-
Wait.
I could choose any type of armor. That means I could choose to wear armor from a videogame about a badass super soldier in green armor that kicks alien ass.
I can fulfill my childhood dream of being a spartan! I mean come on how could the idea not sound cool! I mean I would not only have a shield that is like aura, but it looks fucking badass!
"Do you know about Mjolnir armor from the game series called Halo?" I asked excitedly.
"Halo?" He asked curiously before closing his eyes, "Give me a second... just searching for the specific universe." I squealed a bit when I heard that the halo series had its own universe. I mean imagine meeting Master Chief? I thought about it for a little before shaking my head.
Actually never mind. I would not want to visit a world where the galaxy is always in constant danger.
"Ah yes!" I was interrupted out of my thoughts as Theodore spoke up. "I know about the Halo universe now, yes. The question is, what type of armor do you want?"
My mind instantly jumped to Halo 3, seeing as it was my favorite in the series.
Maybe recon? I mean I worked my but off for that armor, so it would be cool to actually wear it. Hmmm... on second thought no. While recon looks good it's not my favorite armor. How about rogue? I mean I used it a lot during my time playing Halo 3, and it does look cool. Yeah... I like the sound of that.
I want the rogue armor set from Halo 3, Ooh and make the color maroon!" I continued to describe what I wanted the armor to be like, which included it making me stronger and faster so I could be at a Huntsman level, and also make it so that I can remove it whenever I want. While I was talking about this stuff, my practical side told me that it was a dumb idea not to think about this carefully, but it was practically stomped out by the side of me that said that it didn't care as this situation was absolutely fun.
"Now just think or say suit on if you want the suit on, and suit off to get it off," Theodore told me when he made the suit, which I am still confused as to how he did it. He just told me that it was one of his powers, and I just let it slide.
Suit on! I thought.
In an instance, a maroon-colored armor was on me and I stood up to admire the armor, and I almost squealed in enjoyment, which was held back by the remains of my practicality.
"This. Is. So. Cool." I said slowly.
Theodore smiled, "I'm happy you like it," He reached into his desk again while the suit disappeared and I sat back down. he took out a duffel bag and handed it to me. "In this bag, you will everything that you need, which include some lien, a scroll that has an id for you, and multiple pairs of clothes. Speaking of clothes," he snapped his fingers and suddenly there were new clothes on my body. This included a grey parka jacket with a fur hood, a black pair of pants, and brown boots. "You're going to need these as I am going to be sending you to Atlas, which as you know, can get quite cold. When your ready just back through the door you came and you should reach your destination." I nodded at him and grabbed the bag, and he passed me the purple crystal, which was about half a feet and it was about three inches thick.
I put the crystal in my bag and moved towards the door. I look back at Theodore and nodded at him and he nodded back. I headed through the door and onto a new adventure.
A/N:
Hmm.
I've had this in my doc manager for way too long and I kept trying to make this chapter to my liking, but it still feels sort of unsatisfactory to me.
Anyway, what did you like about this chapter? What did you think I could improve on, or what did you think I did well? This prologue was supposed to set up some things that have to do with my oc, Garret. Like how he didn't seem to think too hard about what he could bring with him and went with the option that was the coolest instead of the option that would have been a much better choice. The consequences of his choices will be seen as we progress through the story.
Next chapter Garret will be arriving in Atlas, and he will be seeing the effects of what not having the Grimm around can do to the world.