"Where are we?" Ruby asked as everyone took in their surroundings. They had been on their way back to Beacon following the successful containment of the Breach. Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY sans Fox along with Sun, Neptune, Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood were dead tired from the ordeal. Despite their fatigue, everyone was in high spirits and that included the adults. Though, Ruby could feel some tension coming from the teachers. It wasn't the kind of vibe that she sometimes felt from her dad after something went wrong back at Signal. It was different, but she couldn't put a finger on it.
Before she could dwell further upon it, something strange happened when the doors to Beacon closed after everyone entered. A nauseous sensation overtook her and she could have sworn she smelled a hint of ozone. She blacked out for barely a second, but when she came to everything was different.
Instead of the usual architecture of Beacon's interior, she was met with a weird blend of gothic beauty found in castles and bland practicality found in industrial buildings. The lighting was provided by both torch and electrical means. Little skulls mindlessly floated about, their red lenses looking at every which way as if they too were as lost as the gang. On the marble floor, a double headed eagle was emblazoned in gold.
"Impossible." Blake heard Goodwitch mutter to herself and was about to ask the Headmistress what was wrong when Nora interrupted her thoughts.
"Look!" The motley crew of students and teachers looked at where she was pointing at, and were a little confused at the sight. At a fork in the hallway where three new corridors met, a lone figure garbed in a dark green hood watched them in silence. A sight that would have unnerved most, if it were not for the figure's diminutive height.
"It's adorable!" Ruby and Nora gushed with childish glee at the small being. Any attempts to approach the creature were stopped by Blake and surprisingly, Velvet. The Faunus students stared at it with fear in their eyes as they held back the two powerhouses of uninhibited energy.
"Blake?" Weiss asked, worried at her teammate's odd behaviour. If she was a more boorish character, then she would have pointed out that the monochromatic huntress' looked like a cat with its hackles raised.
"Don't come close to it, there's something wrong about it." Blake's voice barely rose above a whisper, and Velvet could only nod as she broke in a cold sweat. Sun himself could feel his palms grow clammy the longer he stared at the small thing. Yang and Coco deployed their weapons to protect their teammates and the others immediately followed their lead.
"Watcher of the Dark!" All eyes now turned to Glynda, surprised at the surety in her voice when calling out to the dwarfish humanoid. The thing in front of them slowly shifted its head towards the blonde woman and stared from beneath its hood. "What's going on? Why are you here? Why are we here?"
It gave no verbal response, but raised its arm in a beckoning gesture before walking into the centre corridor. It had moved about 40 feet from its original position when the dark seemingly encompassed it whole, such that not even Faunus eyes could pierce its veil.
"Should we follow it?" Pyrrha and Jaune asked in unison, the former blushing slightly at the rather cute accident. When nobody moved or gave a response, the Watcher returned and gestured again to follow it. At first, Glynda followed it into the dark with hesitant strides before slowly building up confidence in her gait.
"Keep your guards up." Ironwood raised his revolver as he followed her. Before long, everyone marched into the corridor as one with Neptune's trident of all things being used as a light source.
After minutes of silently walking in the dark, they came to a stop before an enormous set of double doors. The Watcher approached it and gently caressed one of the handles. For a moment nothing happened, until the doors opened on their own accord with a loud creak that reverberated through the corridor.
"Ah, I see that you have found our guests." At the other end of the door, an elderly man awaited them. Garbed somewhat similarly to the Watcher albeit with a lowered hood and a drab shade of brown akin to dirt rather than the rich dark green of a forest. His face was deeply wrinkled with age, and strands of thin, long white hair messily clung to his scalp. However, his eyes still shone with vitality and power. Coupled with a disarming smile, one cannot help but think that the man knows more than what the others could ever hope to learn. "I hope that they weren't too much trouble."
The Watcher shook its head as the old man chuckled. He reached into his robes and pulled out an indistinct rectangular object. The familiar crinkle of plastic clued them in that he gave the Watcher a reward for its efforts. As soon as the Watcher walked away with its prize tucked into its robes, did the old man face the crowd.
"Greetings. How are you doing today?"
"Cut the crap old man! Who are you? What do you want with us?" Yang, who had been severely on edge this entire time, aimed Ember Celica at him. The faunus, for they still felt the sensation of wrongness emanating from the old man, as well as Coco and Ironwood followed suit while the others watched the stranger's reactions.
"Where are my manners?" He chuckled again, unfazed by the threat. "My name is Malcador, pleased to meet you."
"Don't make me beat the answers out of you!" Yang yelled one more time, annoyed at the dismissal.
"I think, violence is no help to you." Another voice, deeper yet kinder than the old man's, spoke from the shadows. It was at that moment that the gathered people noticed a thrumming noise that made their gums itch. A set of thumping noises, heavy and purposeful like footsteps burdened with weight, echoed from the other end of the room and another humanoid figure emerged. He was the complete antithesis of the older man.
He was clad in bulky powered armor clad in the purest white with markings of red and gold whereas the old man was in simple robes of earthly colors. He was statuesque and mighty where Malcador was frail and bent with age. His face, while showing signs of age as well, was marred with scars of war but is also graced with wrinkles that spoke of frequent smiles. The staffs they carried were different as well, for Malcador had one topped with an eagle while the newcomer had one topped with a horse's skull and decorated with shamanistic charms. The one true similarity between them was the power behind their eyes.
"That's a big boy." Coco muttered to herself dumbly, as even the coolest gal in Beacon couldn't help but be awed at the size of the new stranger. "He probably makes you look tiny, Yatsu."
For the first time in his life, the samurai of team CFVY suddenly felt very small.
"Welcome to humble home, young ones." The giant spoke again in his heavily-accented voice, but a large smile was on his face. "My name is Targutai Yesugai."
"Impossible." For the second time that day, Glynda uttered those words. This time, shock was prevalent in her tone. "You shouldn't be here."
"Glynda?" Ozpin inquired as his subordinate's behaviour was worrisome.
"You died in the Dark Glass station. You died in a book written as fiction!" Glynda pointed at the white-armored man, a look of confusion and fear in her eyes. Her finger and gaze then rested on the older man, the serene look on his wizened face a total contrast to that of hers. "And you died in the same works of fiction as well! Like him, through an act of sacrifice!"
"I did." The giant smiled again, but there was familiarity in his eyes. "But Path of Heaven is a curious thing. Don't you agree, szu?"
With one word, the Headmistress of Beacon staggered backwards as if a powerful blow was dealt upon her. Memories of a life that was and was not hers flowed into her mind like a tidal wave in the midst of a storm. She could barely feel her colleagues hold her up as her legs gave up underneath her nor hear the shouts of confusion and anger directed towards the two strangers before them. During these moments of agony, an epiphany came to her.
If a fight were to break loose, they would all die by the hands of these two warriors of unimaginable power.
"Stop!" Glynda screamed aloud, catching everyone's attention, before straightening herself up to her full height. With one hand resting on her aching temples, she approached Targutai. Through gritted teeth, she spoke but her voice was too low for even the genetically enhanced super human to hear.
"I'm sorry?" Targutai politely lowered his head to hear her words better. For all his gifts, he was not able to prepare himself for the vicious slap that the headmistress doled out.
"You should be sorry!" Glynda roared at his face, a bit of strength returning to her limbs as she grasped his armor's gorget. "Do you have any idea what you put us through when you died? Of how your Primarch almost lost himself in his grief as the last link of his old life was severed? Of how Revuel lost the only one who could possibly understand him? Of how I lost my closest friend in that stupid legion I grew to love?"
"I do. I felt everything." With a kind smile and soft words belying the pain he felt, he knelt before Glynda. This time, he was prepared for what came next. With tears freely flowing, Glynda hugged the massive man and sobbed. She sobbed as the memories continued to resurface, but at a more measured rate that did not overwhelm her.
"Uh… Could someone explain what the hell is going on?" Coco Adel, team leader of CFVY and fashion guru, became the voice of reason for the second time in her two years of schooling in Beacon. The first was when she had to assert her dominance over her team during the Unspoken Incident.
"Gladly, I suppose that you have heard of a fictional universe called Warhammer 40,000?" Malcador asked the crowd as he found a place to sit so he could rest his old legs.
"Yes, it was banned from Atlesian libraries because it fostered extremist totalitarian ideals as well as exacerbating anti-Faunus mentalities. I am uncertain if the same could be said for other kingdoms." Ironwood responded immediately, but he stole glimpses towards Glynda every few seconds to ensure that she was okay.
"Tukson had a couple of books in his shop, thought they were brain-dead action comics." Blake answered next, her posture alluding that she was still a little on edge.
"Hey! Take that back! Action comics have good stories behind them and complex characters!" Neptune and Jaune, being avid comic and visual novel readers, balked at her casual dismissal of their preferred reading material.
"Guys!" Yang raised her voice to get the three enthusiasts to shut up before a war were to start between them about books of all things.
"No, no. It's quite alright. Passion for literature should never be snuffed at such a young age." Malcador chuckled again before schooling his features. "What if I told you that a work of fiction is simultaneously someone else's reality?"
"I'd call you crazy." Nora, blunt as ever, blurted out without thought. Her aghast friends looked at her as if she had signed her death warrant. Thankfully, the Sigilite had a sense of humour and guffawed at her statement.
"Dear, oh dear. I haven't laughed like that in ages. Well, you wouldn't be the first to say that young lady and I am certain you won't be the last." The jovial aura of Malcador suddenly gave way to an oppressing aura that suffocated all but the Stormseer and his friend. "However, I wouldn't casually dismiss such claims at this given moment. The workings of the universe, multiverse and the realms beyond are impossible for anyone to understand. One man's fiction is another man's suffering."
"Got it, Pops. I'm sorry." Nora gave him an apologetic smile, though it was crumbling by the microsecond. With that the aura dissipated and the jovial energy returned.
"All is forgiven. Now, I know all of you are wondering why you are here and since my friend is predisposed, I shall explain. Your group, through some means I have yet to figure out, have been sent here to learn about the universe that I lived in." With some effort, he stood up again and walked deeper into the room. The others followed, along with Targutai and Glynda who chatted quietly in the back.
"Aren't you, like, an all-knowing wizard or something? Shouldn't you know how we came here already?" Jaune inquired, failing to see how Ozpin suddenly tensed at the mention of 'wizard'.
"Unfortunately, no. While my name and face is that of Malcador the Sigilite, I am only a shard of him. As such, I only know portions of what he did and experienced." They soon reached another set of doors - less ornate and more reasonably sized than the last ones.
"And how are we to do that? I don't think that reading a large amount of books will be stimulating enough for some of us and would be inconvenient for you. Plus, we have to get back home." Ren spoke up for the first time and some of the gathered nodded their heads in agreement. Namely Ruby, Nora, Coco and Yang.
"Firstly, as your lovely colleague had said, I should technically be dead so don't worry about being an inconvenience to me. Company is always nice. Secondly, time works differently here. By the time we are done, regardless of how long it'll take, barely a second would have passed in your realm. So don't worry about the happenings of your world right now. Finally, who said that we would be reading?" As they walked into the next room, the fears of a boring reading session were put to rest. A movie theatre presented itself to them, complete with cushioned seats and a snack bar for absolute viewing comfort. In a burst of reinvigoration, the students rushed towards the snack bar to prepare for the show to come. Squeals of joy could be heard as favourites are found and hoarded with no concern of running out.
"For our first viewing, I feel that your Professor should be the one to choose as she is the most familiar with this universe." With a quiet nod, Glynda approached a pile of boxed records and sifted through them. She was so engrossed in her search, she did not register Ironwood and Ozpin approaching her.
"You still haven't explained why you acted that way, Glynda. You made us all worried." Ozpin spoke to her in hushed tones, careful not to upset her even more.
"I apologize for that. It was unbecoming of me." She spoke in an equally low voice, but still did not raise her eyes from her task. "I will explain it all after the first viewing as I still have to gather my wits about me."
"Alright, I'll hold you onto that." Ozpin gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before taking a seat.
"Glynda… If you need anything, just let me know." Ironwood whispered to her, but only got a nod in response. As he took his seat beside Ozpin, he tried to remember if Doctor Poledina had brought forth any schematics regarding power armor prior to Beacon.
"Lord Sigilite." Glynda called out to Malcador, who was tinkering with the projector, as she handed him her choice.
"Ah, a very good choice. Encompasses the past and present quite well while easy to process" The ancient man looked up at her, his wise eyes locking onto hers. "Are you feeling alright? Are the memories still coming?"
"Yes, but not as torrential as last time. Thank you for your concern." With a smile, she walked off to join her colleagues.
"Which one she chose?" Targutai loomed over Malcador, who was inserting the record into the projector. Without a word, the older man handed the white-armored giant the record's box. It read:
THE ANCIENT OF RITES