Kamen Rider Saber: Tale of Two Worlds
仮面ライダーセイバー：二つの世界の物語
Kamen Raidā Seibā: Futatsu no Sekai no Monogatari

First Book: Beacon of Hope
初の書籍：希望の烽火
Hatsu no Shoseki: Kibō no Hōka

Chapter One: Approaching Ignition, the Spark of Flame.
第一章：近づいてくる発火、炎の火花。
Dai Isshō: Chikadzuite Kuru Hakka, Honō no Hibana.

He, who has the dreams that foreshadow the past and the future...
過去と未来を予感させる夢を持つ彼は...
Kako to mirai o yokan sa seru yume o motsu kare wa...

(OST: EP 2 Score – The Shining Beacon Pt 1)

"Those dreams..." The male figure spoke to himself, as he held the picture in his hand, a tear forming in his eye.

"Who was that girl...?" He wondered, as he pocketed the photograph, folding it neatly and pacing it in his right shirt pocket.

Immediately afterwards, he would head into the bathroom, though his face was mostly groggy from having gotten out of bed, as he began undressing, making sure to close the window that separated his room and the outside. He was staying in one of the ground floor rooms, after all, so people could look inside any time they wanted.

And as he closed the blinds, he quickly got undressed, putting on a towel and heading into the bathroom, quickly taking a shower. And as he finished his shower, leaving the bathroom, he would put on his sports watch that he had on him, checking the time.

"Already past half past eight, huh? I really do be out here sleeping for two hours after waking up early. At least registrations take up the whole day, so I don't have to worry about that... not that I can be sure that it'll be open for the whole day anyways."

Shrugging, he opened the small closet located next to the bed, as he put on what would be his formal outfit. A red coat not too different to Captain Marvelous' one, though unlike said Captain, his one went all the way down to his ankles, and a regular white T-shirt underneath, along with a jet-black pair of jeans. He didn't know why jeans existed in jet-black here, but he got them just because they were jet-black, and not the regular blue or dark gray. And as he finished putting on his coat, he would take out the picture from his night shirt, putting it in one of the many pockets of his coat.

And as he read the news, he could only stare puzzlingly, wondering, "Why the hell is the daily news here more interesting than the business news? Anyways... the White Fang, huh..."

Continuing to gloss through the headlines, he figured he could wait until later to properly read them, probably while he was eating breakfast. And as he looked in the mirror, admiring his new outfit, he would chuckle to himself ever-so-slightly, as he began packing his stuff, thankful of the fact that he didn't have much to pack anyways.

And as he grabbed his small backpack of stuff, hoisting it over his shoulder, he picked up his red sword that he had laid against a wall, sheathing it on the scabbard he had integrated onto the side of his belt.

Observing the sheen of the sword, the white and gray runes decorating the blade would glow dimly for a brief period, much to his own confusion, though he decided to put that thought away for the time being.

Moving onward and checking out of the inn, he would quickly head to the front desk, fishing his wallet out of his pocket, and pulling out the credit card-like currency he had on him.

"Why the heck does this place use credit card-like material to make their currency? Wouldn't paper be easier?" He asked himself, as he would pull out the appropriate amount of Lien, taking a few cards from his wallet and handing them over to the owner of the inn.

Leaving the building, walking through the hustle and bustle of the city unfurling in front of him, it almost felt like something more out of a video game than an actual place, so everything was still new to him.

And as he took in the sheer colorfulness of everything, stretching his arm a little, he looked upwards, seeing the gargantuan spire loom over the cityscape, a bright green light emanating from the upper regions of the spire from the gems that hung from the spire. It indeed was a beacon of hope.

The best kind of pun there was, indeed.

And as he noticed a small French-themed restaurant down one of the many spits in the main road of the city, he figured he could take a detour and get breakfast, seeing as the day was still fresh, and he was hungry.

Entering the restaurant, he quickly ordered a croissant and a small latte, quickly grabbing the food and paying the appropriate amount of Lien, before searching for a place to sit down, noticing that it was surprisingly packed. Then again, he shouldn't have been too surprised, considering that the streets of the city were just as packed.

"I seriously am not used to the hustle and bustle of Vale... I've been here for a week and I still don't feel normal..." He commented to himself softly, managing to find a seat in the corner furthest from the entrance.

And taking a seat, he began his breakfast, as he took out his phone, skimming through the headlines once again, figuring that since he had time to kill, he could actually spend the time he had reading whatever was interesting.

And as he found the business section of headlines consisting of just the Schnee Dust Company, for whatever reason (like seriously, he couldn't understand why almost all of the articles were either directly about the S.D.C., or were indirectly about its effects), he found the world news more interesting for once.

"Faunus Civil Rights protest... White Fang... history really likes to repeat itself regardless, huh..."

He could only sigh, continuing to flip through the articles, occasionally either taking a bite out of his meal or taking a sip from his drink.

"'The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities...' Funky."

Honestly, he didn't have much to say about anything, though he decided that he could keep more tabs on the White Fang issue, given that it's a rather sensitive topic... or not. He wasn't a newskeeper.

And as he took the last bite out of his croissant, he took out the one book-like object he had in his arsenal, or rather, his suitcase, as he quickly fished it out of his storage, pulling out what appeared to be a red book of some kind, with an illustration on the front of a red and silver dragon, spewing flames in front of a crimson and dark green background, the words 'Brave Dragon' lining the title.

He stared at the dragon, getting the feeling that it was staring back at him the same way he was staring at the thing. 'Seriously, how do I even have this book anyways...? The book that appeared in my dreams...'

Scoffing, he placed the book back into his pocket, although he noticed it glowed ever so slightly.

'Maybe it has something to do with the sword?'

Putting it back into its resting spot, he closed the bag, before leaving the restaurant, returning onto the bustling cityscape, making his way to what appeared to be a big compound of some kind after about ten minutes or so of walking, the tower continuing to loom over him. He definitely and unfortunately felt frightened, but he tried his best to toss those feelings aside, as he felt his left hand gripping the picture in his pocket.

Continuing to make his way through the compound, and taking in the fresh air, he noticed something going on in the far distance, observing what he assumed was a flying vehicle landing on what he also assumed was a helicopter landing pad, as multiple people exited the aircraft.

He looked on in confusion, though he also made a mental note to himself to stop assuming so much.

And as he continued walking, watching the people leaving the flying vehicle, he could only comment to himself, "I seriously can't get used to it no matter how much I say it..."

And he paused for a moment, before lamenting to himself, 'Is this what being a boomer feels like?'

And thinking of that caused to chuckle to himself ever so slightly, as he would leisurely stroll to the entrance of the big complex sprawled in front of him, his suitcase still hoisted over his back and red sword sheathed on his belt.

Though the Stonehenge-styled circular formation of pillars around him almost confused him to a sense, particularly in its design.

'Why'd they even design this place like this anyways? It just feels weird… and omen-like in nature...'

Arriving at the entrance, making his way to the registration area after a good while of following the signs that were plastered to the walls, in classic laminated paper, he took out his wallet, picking out what appeared to be an identity card of sorts.

And armed with his new item, he walked up to the receptionist manning the front desk, as she would then ask, her tone remaining almost completely monotonous, "Manner of business?"

"Registration."

"Alright, just confirming. May I have the assigned identity card?"

He nodded, passing the ID to the clerk, as she would insert it in what was apparently a barcode scanner, waiting for a brief moment before the monitor in front of her would display his personal details.

"Kuen Akegata, first year student at Beacon Academy, am I correct?"

"Yep."

Taking back his identity card, the clerk also passed to him a piece of paper with four digits on them.

"The paper is for your locker number... and the mess hall where you'll be staying temporarily for the night will be the right, and the cafeteria and auditorium will be on your left."

Confused, Kuen asked, "Temporarily? What do you mean by that?"

In the same polite and monotonous tone, the clerk noted, "You'll be staying at a mess hall temporarily for the night, until you get your respective rooms tomorrow evening. And since it's still roughly pretty early in the morning, you're free to roam the hallways and look around, as the orientation speech begins in the late afternoon."

Kuen bowed politely in response, before placing his ID back into his wallet.

Kuen's jaw was metaphorically on the ground right now.

"When she said everybody, I didn't know she was going to mean everybody..."

Looking around, Kuen noticed the room seemed to be mostly bare, except for a few people who had seemed to already register, setting up their stuff, along with a few extra rooms, particularly some bathrooms and a locker room.

"That's probably the purpose of this slip of paper."

Holding the slip of paper the receptionist had passed to him, he quickly headed to the locker room, searching for his locker number. And as a minute or so went by, Kuen managed to find his locker, quickly inputting the provided digits into the lock, opening the locker door and shoving most of his stuff inside, fishing out the red book, as he placed it in the pocket containing his picture.

And he left as quickly as he entered, heading to the front entrance, as he tried to think of things to do to kill the time. Eating was a no go, since he was full. Playing games it is then.

And as he managed to find a bench, he managed to play a round of Call of Duty Mobile before he was so rudely interrupted by something. And that something was an explosion in the background, to his right, much to his own confusion as he jumped upon hearing the big bang.

"What the fuck? And just as I was about to start my second round too..."

Kuen quickly got up, rushing over to where the explosion sound came from... though he didn't run too fast.

Almost arriving on the scene, he noticed a vial rolling towards his leg, as he picked it up, looking at the design on it.

"Isn't this the logo of the S.D.C.?"

Pocketing it for the time being, he then overheard a girl with a black bow on her head stating, "It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Finally! Some recognition!" Another voice spoke, particularly a girl in white. This must have been Weiss.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The girl in black retorted.

And as Kuen looked upwards, he could barely notice that 'Weiss' and the girl in black had both disappeared, the former stomping away in an anger of sorts, and the latter having just... disappeared? Confused, he walked up to the girl in red, who was lying on the floor, a defeated look in her eyes.

And Kuen walked up to her, offering a hand to her, although he was trying his best to hide his look of nervousness. "H-hey. I'm Kuen."

She looked up to him, before grabbing his hand, helping herself get up. "I-I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."

Minutes has passed since Kuen and Ruby had met, and at this point, they had hit it off in a conversation, as the two continued talking, whilst walking down a small pathway next to a small garden that decorated the courtyard.

Not only that, they were also joined by a new friend, named Jaune. And Ruby also seemed to recognize him, too... somewhat.

And as the three continued pacing around, Kuen took a moment to admire the scenery around him.

Decorating the courtyard in this particular area were neatly-arranged rows of scenic trees of all kinds, architecture that seemed to love arcs more than anything, and a small winding road next to a river that seemed to flow cleanly.

"But all I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let me on!" Jaune retorted, as Ruby could only chuckle in response.

"Yeah, look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind!"

Kuen quickly interjected in, asking, "Well, what if I decided to call you Crater Face?"

"Hey! That explosion was an accident!"

That almost made him cackle, but he barely managed to stifle it just in time for Jaune to introduce himself, "Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!"

"...but do they though?" Kuen asked sarcastically.

"They will! Well, I-I hope they will! My mom always said that- never mind."

And an awkward silence flooded the conversation for a brief moment, before Ruby pulled out what appeared to be a belt thing of some kind.

"The hell is tha-"

Kuen's words were quickly cut off, as Ruby unfolded the device in front of her, swinging it in a wild, yet controlled manner, as the extensions slowly unfolded, revealing what appeared to be a massive scythe of some kind, clearly half her size, much to Kuen's and Jaune's shock.

"The f-" Kuen covered his mouth almost quickly, as Ruby gleamed in almost pure joy.

Stabbing the blade into the ground, forming a visible dent, she grinned. "Well, I've got this thing!"

Jaune then asked in pure shock, "Woah! Is that a scythe?!"

"Yep! It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

Jaune was left in confusion, as Kuen chimed in, "Also a gun."

"Oh. That's cool!"

Though Kuen was left feeling like he'd heard that phrase before from somewhere. Maybe.

"So, what've you got, Jaune?" Ruby asked, before Jaune pulled out a simple sword, with a gray blade, brown cross-guard, and a navy blue hilt.

"I got this sword!"

"Ooh!" Ruby replied, before Jaune pulled out the sheath of the weapon, as it then suddenly expanded, deploying it into a white shield, with a golden emblem on the center, "I've also got a shield!"

"So... what do they do?" Ruby asked again, taking a good look at the shield, as Jaune fumbled a little with his weapons.

From the shield retracting, to expanding, to retracting, in that order, before it finally properly shrunk back into its original size.

"The shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... uh, put it away..."

Kuen then asked, very much confused, "But... wouldn't it weigh the same?"

"Yeah, it does..." Jaune sighed dejectedly, before Ruby turned to Kuen, asking, "And what about you?"

And at that point, trying to hide the fact that he was still very shocked casually seeing weapons in the public, pulled out his red sword from its sheath, as the weapon suddenly whirred to life, the emblem on the crossguard glowing.

KAENKEN REKKA!
火炎剣烈火！
Kaenken Rekka!

All three of them jumped in shock from the sudden announcement of the blade, as Kuen could only comment to himself, "It never did that before..."

Ruby looked at him with an almost wondrous gaze, before she suddenly bombarded him with a barrage of question, at a speed so fast he was unable to keep up.

"Woah, woah, Ruby! Calm down...!"

And Ruby looked at him, blinking in surprise before she stopped, blushing a little, as Kuen chuckled.

"Yeah, this is my sword. At least Jaune has a shield. I just have a sword. But! It can catch on fire, for some reason. Also..."

He pulled out the Brave Dragon book from his pocket, as Jaune looked on with the same look of confusion that he had been keeping for the past few seconds, as he scanned it on the silver tip of the blade, as the runes on the blade suddenly flickered to life, flashing red and white repeatedly for a few seconds.

DRAGON! MM-HM!
ドラゴン！うーん！うーん！
Doragon! Un! Un!

And looking around to make sure that, one, it wasn't going to cause property damage, and two, nobody was watching, the blade would then catch on fire, as Kuen would then send out a wave of fire above, pulling on the trigger located directly beneath the crossguard of the sword, as it lit the skies, though not as much considering it was still late in the morning, nearing noon.

SHUTOKU ISSEN!
習得一閃！
Shutoku Issen!

Ruby was visibly struggling to control her glee over the weapon, as Kuen chuckled softly, before sheathing Rekka, the runes flickering briefly before returning to its off state. And storing the book in his pocket, he chuckled a little more.

"So you're really a weapon nut, huh, Ruby?"

Ruby sheepishly rubbed her black, responding with, "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons... it shows since I kinda went overboard with designing my weapon, after all."

Jaune and Kuen looked at Ruby, the former then asking, "Wait, you made that?!"

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons! Didn't you make yours?"

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune replied, as Kuen also replied, "I got mine. Didn't make mine."

Ruby then commented, almost cheekily, "Sounds more like a family heirloom to me! Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics..." Jaune trailed off, sighing a little more.

Ruby then turned to Kuen, asking genuinely, "So why'd you help me out back there in the courtyard?"

Kuen was unsure for a moment, before he replied, his lack of sureness very obvious in his statement, "I figured I should help and approach... for some reason. I'm not quite too sure myself."

She let out a shrug, even unsure of why it would have theoretically happened. "Hey, uhh, where are we going anyways?"

Jaune replied almost instinctively, "Oh, uhh, I dunno! I was following you...!"

The two of them stared at Kuen, before he shrugged. "I know where it is, don't worry. Though... it's later, I'm pretty sure."

Checking his watch, he continued, "Yep, it's still pretty early." Ruby let out a large sigh of relief, before chuckling awkwardly.

And Jaune almost instinctively quipped once again, "I need to go do something real quick."

And he proceeded to disappear, leaving the two of them to mind their own business. And that was going to be an issue for Kuen, as he blushed a little.

"So... what do we talk about now?" Kuen asked.

"I dunno." Ruby responded instinctively.

Great. Two people who were bad at social interactions having to interact with each other.

"So how'd you end up here in the first place?" Kuen asked once again.

She, who wields the scythe that rose from despair...
絶望から立ち上がった鎌を振るう彼女...
Zetsubō kara tachiagatta kama o furū kanojo…