Waking with a groan, I rubbed my aching head. When I opened my eyes I had trouble seeing. Everything was hazy. Just what the hell happened? The last thing I remembered was hanging out at my friends place. I don't drink, so I knew I didn't pass out drunk. Did somebody whack me over the back of the head? Was this a prank? If it was, somebody was gonna get an earful as soon as I found them. As my vision started to clear I stood up on shaky legs. With the help of the wall to my right, I was able to stay standing. Though when I went to wipe my face with my left hand…
"Ahhh!" What I saw made me scream and fall right back onto my ass. "What the hell is this!?" In place of my left hand was a reptilian, Demonic looking one! Instead of fingers, I had blue claws! Rolling my sleeve up to get a better look, I found out that it reached all the way up to my elbow. Wait a minute. The red hide. Blue streaks. "Is this… Nero's Devil Bringer?" Nah. Nope. No way in hell. Scrambling to my feet I nearly fell back down again. This time, it was thanks to me tripping over something. Namely, a sword. How'd I miss that?
It was none other then Red Queen. Nero's sword from DMC. Still shaky, I reached over and picked the sword up. For whatever reason, I felt a little more comfortable with the sword in my hands. Looking over it I felt myself ease up a little. Red Queen was apparently based off of the Großes Messer, or Great Knife. The base had ornate etches in it while the grip was customized further. Instead of a normal grip, it was more like the grip of a motorcycle. Twisting it would spray a flammable fuel on the blade, that would ignite the blade in, well, flames. In game the mechanic was called Exceed.
Standing back up with the help of Red Queen I pulled my sleeve back down. Still not fully believing what was happening, I didn't know what to think. First things first was to find out just exactly where I was. From the alleyway that I was in I wasn't able to see much. Stuffing my Demonic hand into my pocket the best I could, I hid the Devil Bringer from view. Hoisting Red Queen over my shoulder, I debated on just leaving it here. Being seen wandering around with a giant sword was a sure fire way to end up being questioned by the police. But… It just felt… Wrong. So instead I chose to bring it with me. If anyone asked, I'd just say I was putting together a cosplay.
Stepping out onto the sunny street I flinched a little at the shift from dark to light. After a few seconds of adjusting I could finally see. It looked like I was in a city of some sort. People were hurrying about on both sides of the street. Some of them were, rightfully so, giving me odd looks. Thankfully the majority of people just chose to ignore me. The most interesting thing was that some people had animal ears on their heads. Since I was in a city, there must've been some sort of convention going on right now. Though I had to admit, everyone had done a really good job. The ears were pretty convincing. Oh well. It'd make things easier on me.
Picking a random direction I went in search of some sort of landmark. Anything that could tell me where I was. Along the way I stopped to look into a shops window. Looking at myself in the glass I wanted to see if my hair had changed color as well. Thankfully it was still red. If it had changed to white… Actually on second thought, that wouldn't be the worst thing. Considering my arm situation. It seemed like everything but my arm was normal. So that was a plus.
Once I was done inspecting myself in the glass I continued my search. As I walked I couldn't help but notice that all the buildings looked different than what I was used to. It wasn't just because they were buildings in a city. No. They looked… European. Was I even still in the US? Wait a minute. I had all the answers I needed in my pocket! At least, I hoped I did.
Pulling off to a less busy area, I stopped and set Red Queen against a wall. Reaching into my pocket I pulled out my phone. Yes! Opening it up I tried turning on my mobile data. Though when I tried to open my browser, I was met with a blank white page. Nothing. That was odd. Trying the various apps on my phone led to similar results. So much for that. While I had it out, I searched through my photos to see if there might've been something useful. In the end, there was nothing to help me. With a sigh I put my phone away and picked Red Queen back up. Continuing my search yet again, I rounded a street corner. In the process I bumped into someone. Whoops. They backed up a bit from the impact and dusted themselves off. They looked at me and smiled.
"Sorry about that." After giving his quick apology they walked off. That was awkward. Something about him seemed familiar, but I shrugged it off.
"It's…" Before I could say anything more the last two brain cells in my brain sparked to life. Holy shit. That wasn't just… Peter Port. Was it? No no no. It was just cosplay. Just like all the people with animal ears on their heads. Just cosplay. They weren't Faunus. Nope. The sword I was carrying. My arm. All of it was just… Oh for fucks sake! What the hell was going on! While I wanted to break down and scream, I couldn't do that as I was in public.
Okay. Deep breaths. That's step one. Now. If I'm really in Vale, I'm going with Vale as that was fucking Peter Port I just ran into, then I was in some deep shit. Depending on when I was in the timeline Beacon and Vale were about to get absolutely leveled. Sure. I had Red Queen and the Devil Bringer, but that didn't mean I knew how to use them! Having all the power in the world didn't matter if you didn't know how to wield it properly after all.
At least I had a new objective. Get the hell away from Vale as fast as I could. While it might seem like a grand old time to stick around and take part in the shenanigans that went down, I'd rather not. Without any Aura or any experience fighting I'd just be a detriment to everyone else. To be honest I'd probably last longer out in the wild then in here. Once I was far enough away, I'd try and figure out how I got here and how I'd get back home. Cuz no way I was staying here.
While I walked the streets of Vale I tried asking those who didn't look busy for directions. There honestly weren't many. Though those who did help me were actually really kind. Maybe it was because I looked like a Huntsman carrying around a big ass sword. With the help of the locals, I was able to reach a checkpoint leading out of Vale.
Outside the walls of Vale, who knew what was waiting for me. Whatever it was, it was a whole lot better than what was going to happen to Vale. Part of me felt really guilty for just running away. Taking a look back at the city I hesitated for a moment. Maybe… Maybe I could stay? Just for a bit…
No. Staying in Vale was a terrible idea. The last thing I wanted to do was play with fate. Turning back towards the outside, I set out. Leaving Vale behind, I felt… weird. There was no way any of this was happening. Right? It couldn't! This all had to be… some dream! Or something! Just not… real.
After getting a safe enough distance from Vale, I stopped hiding the Devil Bringer. Or uh, my left hand. As I walked I clenched my Demonic hand into a fist a few times. It sure as shit felt real… Man. Hiding this thing from others all the time was going to be a pain. Wait, what the hell am I talking about? I'd be gone by tomorrow. The weeks end at the latest. Hopefully.
Hearing some noises off to my left I quickly hid my arm. Since I was wearing a leather jacket I just hid the Devil Bringer in it. Investigating the rustling, I was about to call out when something leapt out of the brush. Surprise surprise, it wasn't a person. Instead a Beowolf jumped out at me. Without even thinking I raised up my arm to keep it from snapping my neck. The Beowolf latched onto my left arm and tried to rip it off. If it wasn't for the fact that I no longer had a Human arm, I'm sure it would have succeeded.
"Get. The. Hell. Off of me!" Bringing Red Queen down I sliced through the Beowolf with ease. Watching it turn to dust I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. Snapping out of my stupor I looked over my arm. There wasn't a scratch on it. Guess given my current situation, this arm wouldn't be all that bad. Though hopefully when I got home, I'd have my real arm back.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something new. On top of my arm changing, Red Queen appearing and me somehow getting transported to the world of Remnant… I had a health bar in the corner of my vision as well now. Hearing some growling behind me I turned around and came face to face with more Beowolves. Guess it would make sense that they were pack hunters.
Tightening my grip on Red Queen I prepared myself the best I could. While I didn't know how to fight, that didn't matter when I was basically on the same level as my opponent. From what I remember, the Grimm did things based on instinct. So, if I just did what Nero did and swung Red Queen around as hard as I could, I'd come out on top!
Gripping onto Red Queen with both hands I swung at the first Beowolf to jump at me. Cleaving the creature in two, I followed up and struck the next one. Hah! This was a whole lot easier then I thought it would be! Figuring I'd test out the Devil Bringer while I was at it, I got close to one of the Beowolves. Swinging my left arm in an uppercut motion, I grabbed while doing so. A bigger phantom arm brought the Beowolf I grabbed up into the air. Slamming it back down into the dirt I watched as it turn to dust. Okay. Looks like Buster worked. Now if only there was a style meter to tell me how I was doing. Oh well. I was satisfied with my findings, so it was back to cutting through their numbers. While I was doing my best to replicate Nero's fighting style, it was pretty difficult to get his exact move set down.
Eventually their numbers started to become a problem. It seems like I may have jumped the gun when I said this was easy… Beowolves surrounded me and I was outnumbered by a large amount. As I was trying to take on those in front of me, I was pounced from behind and thrown to the ground. Biting at my neck, the Beowolf was trying to snap my neck. My health bar drained as it did so. Before I could do anything gunfire rang out and killed the Beowolf on top of me along with a few that were close to me. Quickly hiding my Demon arm in my jacket as I stood back up, I looked towards my savior. It was a women I didn't recognize. She was holding what looked like two Bolo Knife's.
"Hey! Can you still fight!?" Giving her a nod I readied Red Queen. I'm guessing the lady who saved me was a full on Huntress. If I was right, my odds of survival just got a whole lot better. Letting her handle the ones behind me, I focused on those in front of me. Having to keep the Devil Bringer hidden, I was really fighting like Nero now. Surprisingly swinging Red Queen around with one hand wasn't that much harder then with two. Did I get some sort of strength boost as well? Due to my movement my jacket would flap up every now and then, giving off glimpses of the Devil Bringer in the process. Maybe I should've bought a glove or something before leaving Vale. For now, it should be fine. The only other person here was too busy fighting to notice my less then Human arm.
Fighting the never ending horde of Beowolves, I was tempted to use the Devil Bringer throughout the fight. It was because of the way I played Nero. Whenever I played Nero I liked to incorporate a lot of Buster grabs when fighting. I resisted the urge though and kept the Devil Bringer hidden.
Soon enough the two of us came out as the victors. What was up with there being that many… Ah shit. Could it have been the Devil Bringer? Grimm were attracted to negative emotions. How much more negative could you get than Demonic? If that was the case, then I was just one giant beacon for them. For now it would probably be best to ignore any settlements as best as I could. Sheathing her weapons, my savior walked up to me. Her trench coat fluttered behind her as she made her way towards me.
"Now that that's dealt with, are you okay?" She had a worried expression on her face. Heaving Red Queen onto my shoulder I gave her a smile.
"I'm fine, thanks for the save by the way." Hearing that I was okay, the Huntress relaxed and gave a smile of her own.
"That's good to hear! I feared the worst when I saw that Beowolf chewing on you." Seeing as how she didn't question how I was still okay, I guess she figured I had my Aura unlocked. "Oh! My name's Levina by the way. Levina Grimes. I'm a Huntress." Holding her hand out to shake mine, I had to stick Red Queen into the dirt to return the gesture. Didn't wanna reveal the Devil Bringer to her after all.
"I'm…" Shit. On top of not knowing how I got here, I forgot my name as well. I had to come up with something quick. "My name's, uh, Nero. Nero Angelo." Double shit. While it made sense to use Nero as my name all things considered, I didn't think any adults in Remnant had color names. "And before you say anything, no, I'm not a kid. I'm 23." Also, Nero Angelo? Black Angel? Really? People are gonna hear that and think I'm some edgy villain or something. If you gave me a long ass Katana, I guess you could call me the One Winged Angel as well. Once we finished shaking hands Levina laughed.
"I don't want to sound rude, but it wasn't your name that made me think you were younger…" She was talking about how I fought. Eh. It didn't bother me. After all, knowing how to fight wasn't necessary from where I came from. Especially not with a sword. Picking Red Queen back up, I shrugged the comment off.
"Yeah. I'm not exactly a Huntsman myself. I guess you could say I'm self taught." That's all she needed to know really. "Well. I uh. Really should get going. I've… got somewhere I gotta be." Before I could leave Levina spoke up.
"Are you heading North by any chance? If you are, do you mind if I tag along?" While I didn't really want anyone around just in case they saw the Devil Bringer, I had to admit having her around would be helpful. Though at the same time, I'd feel bad if anything happened to her because I drew in so many Grimm. Decisions decisions. Eh. Why the hell not? She was a Huntress. She could take care of herself.
"Sure. I don't mind. But you probably don't want to hang around me long." Not really understanding what I meant by that, Levina gave me a confused look. Great. Now she probably thought I was a criminal on the run. Why do I keep doing this to myself?
Turning away from Vale I continued on my way. This time with someone else at my side. As we walked I tried to wrap my mind around everything that had happened in just a few hours. With the sun starting to set, I guess it was more accurate to say everything that had happened today. Super strength. Demonic limbs. Memory loss. Teleportation… of some kind. All of this had to be a dream. That, or I had died and reincarnated or some shit like that. Whatever happened to me, I had to find out how to reverse it. If… it was reversible that is. Jesus. That was a scary thought. What if I was stuck here? Stuck like this? No. I couldn't think like that. There was a way to undo all of this. There had to be. I just had to find it first.