A.N. (3/15/20) - I probably should've said this last chapter. I don't own the characters nor the setting of RWBY or Fate/Stay Night except for any OC's. That privilege belongs to Rooster Teeth and TYPE-MOON.
Now, introducing the SI/OC character - Erik - that inhabits the body of Rin Tohsaka. I now dub thee... E-Rin. Kinda sounds like Erik too. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 2 - Memory of a Past Life
Smoke and clouds of dust filled the air. Every breath he took only allowed him to inhale even more of the pollutants in the air. A sickening cough could be heard next to him, but he was more worried about the iron rod stabbed into his chest.
In this nightmarish situation, he continued to cry along with the numerous other voices begging for help. Everywhere he looked, he could only see others who were either dying or pinned down by some form of debris. He turned his eyes away from a horrible sight, the glazed eyes of a young boy who had grown quiet only a minute ago.
What was supposed to be a normal day for him suddenly took a twist when fate decided that this day would be different. Nature itself helped, for the cause of this scene of destruction was a powerful earthquake that destroyed the foundations of this once pristine shopping mall.
Rin watched from a distance as an observer, gazing on the dying form of her former self. He couldn't see her, of course. But Rin remembered how she used to feel what he was feeling, the feeling of her blood slowly pooling out of her chest and how she used to wonder why she was able to survive so long only to live those extra minutes in agonizing pain.
How many times had Rin had this dream? Erik, for he was the one dying before her, was supposed to have had a normal day. He had planned to meet his friends to watch a movie to celebrate the past few weeks of stressful tests and other mundane school problems. He was staring at his phone when he heard the first few people scream. The lights flickered, and he was in the underground level looking at a new jacket. Before he knew it, parts of the ceiling collapsed on the floor.
She used to wonder what happened outside the mall, for no way was such a powerful earthquake only limited in impact to this area alone. Her former friends were probably injured or dead, and she had no way of knowing if her past life's family were ever affected directly by the earthquake, if not indirectly affected by her death.
But she knew that it was pointless. Erik had died that day, alone in the dark bleeding out. The past already happened, and after those first few weeks of dealing with the trauma and memories, she had to accept that it was over.
}-{
As she felt the surroundings change, she soon found herself in a new location. Within a black, empty space on top of a large chair sat Wizard Marshall Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. A serious expression covered his face, as he went over the recent events of one dimension's 5th Holy Grail War.
"Somehow," Zelretch said, "...a descendant of Nagato actually managed to recreate my Jewel Sword. Sure, she received help from that Sword Boy and the homunculus' inherited memories of Justica. But still... somehow a miracle came to be." Rin watched her old self sitting in a wooden chair in front of the Wizard Marshall himself. He appeared to be some sort of spirit, with a transparent appearance and an incredulous face plastered on him.
"So let me get this straight. You're saying that you're offering me the chance to live again, but the condition is that I have to do some research to recreate some magic knife of yours?" Erik asked.
Rin remembered her surprise at the time at finding out that Zelretch was real, and that he wants him to recreate some fancy Mystic Code of his. Erik, the guy who only had a passing interest in the Fate franchise and only started getting into it recently. After having the time to get over the fact that he was dead, he suddenly found himself before the Dead Apostle himself. From first impressions, Erik found out that Zelretch... wasn't that bad. A tad serious, not really expressive. Of course, it could be that he's just in a mood. It was definitely a surprise when he found out that he was called here to be recruited to recreate the fabled Jeweled Sword of Zelretch.
"Why don't you get somebody that actually knows Magecraft? I mean, I can't be the only candidate. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm one of the worst candidates," Erik questioned. And his question was justified. Literally anyone who lived on the magic side of Zelretch's world was probably more qualified to research something like this.
"Well, it's not as simple as that." Zelretch began. "First, I have to find a soul that's compatible with the body I would send you in to inhabit. Then, I have to find someone who's not fixated on conventional thought, and the Magi all have extremely rigid mindsets on how Magic is supposed to work. So I needed someone who thought outside the box," Zelretch explained.
"And you picked me?" Erik asked incredulously. "The guy who's only redeeming quality is that he is passing school with minimum B's and C's."
"Exactly! You're lazy to a degree that you actively think outside the box to pass with the bare minimum of effort. I worked with hard workers and talented individuals for many decades now, and none of them passed the minimum qualifications I was looking for. So I'm throwing a bone and hoping you'll make something good out of it. I literally have no expectations that this will pan out."
"Hm," pondered Erik. "Well, it's not like I have a choice. I want to live, and you're offering me a chance. All I have to do is work on some projects that you don't even expect to get anything out of. Actually, how are you gonna make sure I'm even gonna hold up my end of the bargain." Hopefully, he didn't use some fancy mind control magic on him.
"Don't worry," Zelretch reassured, sensing the suspicion in the other soul. "I'm not gonna make you my slave or anything. I'm gonna use the carrot and the bigger carrot approach. For every milestone in your research you make, I'll give you a gift. It's not a real big loss for me, but you'll definitely enjoy my rewards."
"I guess I'll do it. I mean, why not." Erik shrugged as he said that. "So, how's this gonna work? I get a body, and then what?" Erik wondered if this was going to work out okay. It's not like he had a big reason to return to life or anything, but it's better than the alternative.
"I found a world that you might be familiar with. In this world, Magic has been taken from humanity in a way so that only a few individuals are able to harness magic. Here, you can experiment to your heart's content with a large source of untapped mana and less interference from Gaia. The natural resources here are also something related to your Magecraft."
...Erik did not understand most of anything he said, but he got the gist of it. "So where am I going?" Hopefully, some nice world where Erik will have the time and resources to safely conduct experiments. Maybe a place like the Pokemon world, or a magic world like Harry Potter after the war.
"Remnant," Zelretch smiled as he answered. "You're going to Remnant."
...what?
"REMNANT! I'm going to the Remnant. Home to a dying race of Humans and Faunus, under constant attacks from monstrous creatures!" Erik cried out in indignation.
"I told you, it's related to your Magecraft. You'll find that you'll thrive greatly there," Zelretch calmly said, ignoring the heated glare Erik was sending him.
"Does that world even have magic? I'm pretty sure that the Gods got rid of magic or something," Erik asked. Sure, there were Ozpin, Salem, and the Maidens. But the Maidens came from Ozpin, and Ozpin and Salem were both cursed by the Gods themselves, so they were not exactly a good example of the average people. There was also Qrow, Raven, and the Silver Eyed Warriors (were they magic?) but they all had some ties to the Gods through either Ozpin or some weird prophecy or legend.
"Mana still lingers on Remnant. It is merely the ability to use magic that was taken away from humanity," Zelretch explained. "Your body will contain a good set of Magic Circuits, so you can process the mana in the atmosphere and safely convert it into prana."
Erik grew quiet for a moment before he asked a question that was on his mind. "Why me?"
"Hm," Zelretch looked at him curiously. Erik continued, "Why me? You can't have just picked me for compatibility issues. I'm literally from a different universe. I ain't no expert in Magic, but I'm pretty sure the kind of work needed to bring me over is going to cost a lot of something. That's a bit over the top for just a simple task like this."
"Heh. See, that's the kind of thinking I'm looking for. Then again, it's kind of obvious that I'm going out of my way." Zelretch seemed amused. "If you really want to know... you came highly recommended."
"What?" Erik didn't know what to say about that. "By who?"
"Ah ah ah! That's probably enough questions." Snapping his fingers, the magic of Zelretch slowly closed around Erik to transport him away, ignoring Erik's panicked actions. Waving his hand, a trunk appeared out of nowhere and started to float next to Erik.
"Here are some materials that'll help you for the next few years. Make an effort to get used to your body quickly, and don't worry about your Magic Circuits or Family Crest. They should slowly open the moment you land. Oh, and try not to pass out in pain in the middle of nowhere."
"Try not to what—?!" A kaleidoscope of colors twirled around him, and Rin watched as her former self was slowly getting absorbed into the light. Rin's mind suddenly seemed to dim as she felt her surroundings slowly fade away along with the disappearance of Erik. Her head slowly felt the effects of exhaustion, and her consciousness started to fade.
}-{
Rin woke up with a start, staring in confusion at the unfamiliar ceiling. Blinking her eyes sleepily, she wondered in groggy confusion why she wasn't in her room. Honestly, it was getting kind of annoying how repetitive her dreams were becoming.
Getting up from the sleeping bag she was laying in earlier, she finally remembered where she was. She was in the new storeroom Tukson got when he bought a new building for the expansion.
Six months have passed since the day Tukson made an offer to adopt her. The first few weeks were awkward, with Rin still getting used to being a girl, Tukson struggling with a start-up business along with taking care of a kid, and various other problems that life threw at the two of them. The two had lived in a tiny apartment that was directly above Tukson's bookstore, which was just a tiny place at the time as Tukson had just opened a few days before Rin came.
Eventually, Rin found herself slowly getting used to life with her new identity and getting herself adjusted to her new life. Tukson was extremely patient with her when she first started working, and life slowly grew from there. Tukson finally grew stable enough to switch from renting to actually owning a larger shop, and Rin asked for a room for her to practice her 'Semblance' in private.
Tukson still didn't know about her Magecraft, and Rin was conflicted about how she was gonna tell him. There was no Mage Association or anything similar she had to worry from, but the forces hidden in the shadows that fought over Magic were probably too much for the old-timer to know about. And she definitely didn't want those forces to know about the trunk Zelretch gave her, which held various books and tomes about the different branches of Magecraft.
Plus, Tukson still hasn't told her about his past in the White Fang yet. In fact, he didn't even tell her he was a Faunus until after a really annoying customer shouted off a couple of insults in the middle of his shop.
That was the day Rin found out she could use hypnosis to do some... amusing things. Without Tukson knowing of course.
"Hey, Rin!" The sound of Tukson's voice boomed as he knocked his fist on the door. "You awake yet? The store's not gonna prepare itself. Help an old man out, will ya?"
"Coming! Don't knock down the door waiting, I'll come out soon." Rin quickly began to clean up last night's experiment, storing her latest work in a sealed container. A crystallized form of Fire Dust with modifications using her Magecraft. It either made it so that using it would create a vortex of fire... or more likely, a bigger explosion.
Yeah, she was gonna make sure the container was on reaaaal tight. Don't wanna pull a Weiss there.
"Are ya done cleaning yet?" Tukson asked as Rin hurridly came out the door in a messy manner. Rin only glared at him, but it looked more like a pout on her childlike face. She quickly patted down her clothes and the two walked to the front of the store.
The two spent the next hour cleaning and preparing for opening hours. The two joked at each other while they moved books and swept the floor. Outside, a banner sported the words "Grand Re-Opening! Limited-time deals!" that was placed there by Tukson earlier that day.
Rin wondered how life turned out like this. Six months ago, she was dealing with the stress of dying, changing genders, and getting used to her new guardian. Now, she was joking around while she helped Tukson prep like the past few months. Her thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell jingled. Facing the customer, Rin gave off a practiced smile and turned to face the visitor and start off the day.
"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. How can I help you?"