A beautiful ocean town was spread out for miles to the east and west. The sun disappearing over the horizon made the sky a stunning mixture of purple and orange. In the streets, people bustled about, out on their way to enjoy the night.
Sera sighed while she took in the sight. It was truly breathtaking.
Someday, she thought. I want to live in a town like this. In the very distant future.
She twisted the throttle on Bellona's handlebar and continued down the narrow path from the top of a cliff that overlooked the town. Neo's eyes were transfixed on the horizon, her eyes changing color to match the sky.
Sera's eyes swept over the many buildings of the town. Her team was here somewhere. She could sense it.
In no time at all, they were going at a slow and steady pace down the town's narrow streets. The crowd made way for Bellona, which was awfully nice of them. The last thing Sera wanted was to run over some brainless pedestrians.
Neo tapped on her shoulder and shoved the bright screen of her scroll into Sera's face.
What now?
"I dunno," Sera admitted. "Maybe ask around? Surely someone's seen a bunch of bizarre huntsmen around."
Neo withdrew her scroll and tapped on it for a minute, then put it back in Sera's face.
Ask where?
She was about to admit that she had no idea, but the distant thumping of a bass drew her attention. Further down the street, people crowded around a doorway with bright neon lights along the walls, and in large cursive lettering read "Neon Syndicate."
"Well, if you're looking for information in town," Sera looked back at Neo "First place to check is the bar."
She parked Bellona on the curb and shouldered her sword. There was a long line waiting to get in, but Sera didn't care. She walked right past the big, buff door man and into the club.
"Hey, you have to be on the list-!" he called after her, but she and Neo were already inside. Before the bouncer could get after them, they delved into the ocean of raving people, all bouncing and dancing with neon bracelets, necklaces, and sunglasses, and hats.
The sheer number of people caught Sera off guard. The bass pounded so loudly that it made her entire body shake.
"Find the bar! That's where people are usually the most calm!" Sera shouted to Neo. She was feeling pretty good about her instincts in this place. Being around Qrow and going on hunting expeditions with him really taught her a lot about these sort of settings, even thought Qrow's preferred setting is a quiet, rundown bar with cheap whiskey and waitresses with low self-esteem.
All that shattered when they actually found the bar. People shouted in excitement and cheered on their entertainment. The entertainment in question was three women on the bar, dancing. They wore skimpy outfits that showed off a lot of cleavage and made Sera regret ever wearing tube tops.
They danced to the beat of the music and put forth effort in showing themselves off, but they didn't dance like, say, prostitutes or something. There was a sort of style to it, as if they'd learned to dance in a biker bar than a nightclub.
Sera rolled her eyes and pulled Neo along to the center of the club—where the partying was the hardest.
The crowd of people seemed focused on something in the middle, on a raised platform. It was the DJ. A girl with large orange twin tails and an outfit that matched most of the partygoers stood behind the "instruments" or whatever DJs used. She pumped her fist in the air and held a pair of headphones on her head. The funny thing was that Sera recognized her. The girl was Neon, one of the Atlas students she and Yang fought in the Vytal Festival.
"Her," Sera pointed to Neon. "We have to talk to her."
Neo seemed to recognize Neon as well. She nodded in agreement, then the two made their way through the crowd. Sera figured it was best to wait for Neon to finish rather than storming up on stage, so they waited. She didn't want to draw security's attention, after all.
They stood at a second, smaller bar off to the side. Thankfully, this one didn't have dancing women. A tall man in a tailored vest, white dress shirt, and black tie served as the bartender. Black tattoos covered both of his arms, but his eyes were kind enough.
Sera and Neo stood by the bar casually, glancing back at Neon every now and again.
"Get you something to drink?" the bartender asked.
"Not old enough. Plus, that's a nasty habit," Sera responded.
The man's eyes narrowed, "What're you doing in here then?"
She pointed at Neon on stage, "Waiting for a friend."
"You know Neon?"
"Kicked her tail in the Vytal Festival in Vale."
The bartender's eyes widened. "You know what? Here, on the house." He slid a tall glass filled with pink and orange liquid that seemed to glow in the darkness of the club. A little pink umbrella sat on the rim of the glass. The bartender moved away from them, tending to his other customers. Sera hated alcohol, but even she had to admit that it looked appealing.
. . .
An hour passed. Sera and Neo still sat at the bar, waiting patiently. The glass of brightly colored alcohol was now empty, the little umbrella sitting at the bottom, turned upside down.
Sera looked over to Neo, who was leaning forward on the bar with her head down.
"You really shouldn't have drunk that," Sera told her. After the bartender had left them with the glass, Sera had pushed it away. But Neo took that as an invitation and scooped up the glass. Sera assumed Neo was twenty-one or older. At least, she hoped she was. But apparently, she was also a lightweight.
Neo waved her off, keeping her head on the table. If Yang were here, she'd be scolding Neo like a mom would her kid.
Sera shook her head with a smirk on her lips. She looked back to the stage. Neon was still DJing away. Just when Sera was about to fully lose her patience and go yank the Faunus off the stage, the song ended, and Neon raised two peace signs high above her head and leaped offstage.
The crowd cheered and body surfed her all the way to the back of the ocean, where they dropped her like a sack of potatoes right in front of Sera.
Neon groaned and got to her feet, dusting off her high-cut shorts. Sera blinked, waiting to see if Neon would see and/or recognize her. She got her answer when the Faunus's eyes widened at the sight of Sera.
"Sera?! Oh my gods! What're you doing here?" she squealed and hopped over to the amnesiac.
"Hi, Neon. That's what I'm here to talk to you about, actually." Sera stood. She shoved on Neo's shoulder to rouse her, but the mute girl only groaned in response.
Neon tilted her head in confusion. "Me? Why?"
Sera told her about her personal quest to find her friends, and that Neon was the first face she recognized in town. Neon was surprisingly a good listener.
When Sera was done, Neon put a finger to her chin in contemplation. "Hmm. Now that you mention it, I do think I've heard something about a group of huntsmen and huntresses around town. They went up to the Atlas base or something, trying to catch a ride on an airship."
Sera's heart sank. "Did they? Catch a ride, I mean."
"I don't think so. The woman in charge of that base is very un-groovy."
"Right," Sera said, unsure of what "groovy" meant. "So, they're still in town then?"
"Probably, but I dunno where."
"That's cool. You've done more than enough to help," Sera thanked. Neon nodded, then gestured to Neo.
"Who's your friend?"
"Oh, this is Neo. She's been helping me."
"Is she your sister or something?" Neon inspected Neo's messy white hair that covered her head.
"Officially, yes. Unofficially, no."
Neon quirked an eyebrow.
"Look, it's better if you didn't know. No offense or anything, but her identity should remain unknown." Sera drummed her fingers on the bar.
"Right. Well, okay then. What're you gonna do now?" Neon asked.
"I dunno. Go look for my friends, I guess." Sera admitted.
"Well, if you need a place to stay or something for tonight, or if you just wanna party, I got you."
Sera blinked. "Really? Thanks."
The Faunus shrugged. "Eh, no problem. Least I could do. No hard feelings about the tournament, right?"
"Right," Sera smiled and gave her a fist bump. "Come on, Neo. Let's get you outta here and find our friends."
Neo groaned when Sera pulled her to her feet. After waving good-bye to Neon, they made their way out of the nightclub.
Once the two stepped out into the blinding daylight, Sera winced and held her hand in front of her eyes for shade. Neo groaned and hid her head inside her jacket.
"C'mon, Neo. We have a military base to visit." Sera swung her leg over Bellona and kicked the bike to life.
. . .
Sera wove Bellona around pedestrians and through streets as quickly as possible, heading for the ocean. Once they had finally reached the beach, the Atlas base wasn't hard to find. It stood proudly above the water with boats patrolling the perimeter. Inside the tall fencing, guards made their rounds with automatic rifles in hand. A central tower dominated the rest of the base. Sera assumed it was the command tower.
She sped towards the gate and Bellona screeched to a halt, nearly tossing Neo off the bike.
Sera put the kickstand down and got off her motorcycle. Immediately, she was intercepted by a tall guard with an even taller hat.
"Halt!" he ordered. "Do not come any closer or you will be fired upon!"
Yay, Sera thought. I love being fired upon.
She raised her hands up to her head as a show of good faith, her posture was still relaxed and carefree.
"I'm a huntress!" she called back. "I've only come for some information." The guard relaxed slightly and approached Sera. The amnesiac glanced back at Neo still sitting on Bellona. She was doing her best to look nonchalant, but she kept averting her gaze as if to keep from being recognized.
Once the tall guard stood in front of Sera, she lowered her hands and looked up at the startling blue eyes of the Atlesian man.
"Greetings, huntress. What information do you come for? I hope its not that you wish to board an airship to Atlas."
"It actually had to do with that," Sera told him. In response, his posture stiffened, as if he were expecting an attack.
"The huntsmen and huntresses that came here for an airship—do you happen to know where they are?"
The guard's shoulders relaxed. "I don't, actually. They came here yesterday to board an airship, but our commander turned them down. Strict orders from General Ironwood—no one may enter Atlas except for military personnel.
"Great," Sera sighed. "What happened with the huntsmen?"
"They just left. Had Weiss Schnee with them, they did. But the commander wouldn't violate her orders. They headed back into town."
"Oh, joy." Sera mumbled. The guard smiled, as if he found Sera's attitude amusing.
"I apologize I'm not a bigger help. They may still be in town, but there's no way to be sure. People go in and out every day."
"The exact opposite of Atlas then," Sera crossed her arms. The guard laughed. It reminded Sera of Professor Port.
"Well, uh, thanks for the information. I'll be on my way now, unless that commander of yours is feeling generous today," Sera said.
"Not likely. She's in a mood over those huntsmen. Probably gonna be sour for a week," he sighed.
Sera chuckled, slowly backing away. "Yeah, well, what can you do?"
The guard waved her off kindly. "Goodbye, huntress."
Sera turned and mounted Bellona. After the guard went back inside the gate, she said to Neo, "Well that was basically a bust."
Neo rolled her eyes with an I can't even expression. Bellona roared to life, and soon they were riding back into town.
Great, Sera thought. Back to searching.
. . .
Before Sera knew it, day had passed into night. After deciding that they should take Neon up on that offer of a place to sleep, they headed to the nightclub. Neon immediately took them to her place—a rather expensive-looking apartment that was covered in brightly colored objects. The sofa was acrylic green. The carpet was bright orange. The curtains were so blue, they reminded Sera of Nuka Cola Quantum (don't ask).
Sera fell asleep as soon as her head hit the neon purple pillow. Before she knew it, she woke up to sunlight pouring through the bright green shutters. She felt like she'd sat up immediately after laying down to sleep. She'd had no dreams, which surprised her. Usually she was forced to endure some sort of live feed or past events.
Her dreams were weird.
After she got out of bed, Neon—being the gracious host that she was—allowed Sera and Neo to use the shower and freshen up. When Sera walked out with a towel wrapped around her body, the Faunus also offered some clothing for her to wear, since her current clothes were ripped to shreds. Sera immediately turned the offer down as kindly as possible. She didn't want to go out looking like a glowstick (no offense, Neon). So she was forced to put on the same outfit as before.
Neo was ready to go. She stood by the doorway with a black and red bowler hat on her head, which brought back memories. She hadn't seen Neo wear it since they first met in Mistral.
Then she remembered its previous owner. The hat had belonged to Roman Torchwick. Way back at Beacon, Ruby and the others had given her a description of the crime boss. Neo must have snagged his hat somehow, and now she was wearing it as her own.
"So, Neon," Sera set her glass of orange juice on the bright pink table that she, Neon, and Neo were sitting at. "If you were, oh I dunno, about eight or so huntsmen and huntresses, where would you go in this town to hold up?"
Neon bit off a corner of a piece of toast and brought a finger to her chin in thought. "I dunno. Maybe a hotel or something? I dunno, but I doubt that Weiss girl would stay somewhere, you know, peasant-like."
Sera nodded. "You're absolutely right. Anywhere fitting for the heiress of the SDC to stay around here?"
"Hmm, there's not really anything that's up to snuff for that." She sipped from a glass of milk.
"Great," Sera sighed and laid her head on the table. Someone tapped on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Neo holding her scroll towards Sera.
Someone they know in town? Neo had typed.
A lightbulb flashed in Sera's mind. She immediately grabbed Neo and kissed her forehead. "Neo, you're a genius!"
Neo's face turned tomato red, but she managed a smile. She made a sign with one hand that looked like she might've been asking to be handed something, but Neon voiced exactly what the mute was thinking.
"How?"
"I remember Jaune mentioning that he had a sister who lived here. They're likely staying with her!" Sera grinned.
Neon pounded a fist into her open palm, so it looked like she was trying to smash something in her hand. "That's gotta be it!"
Sera flashed a smile and pushed herself away from the table before standing. "If you don't mind, Neon, we'll be going to find our friends now." The Faunus smiled and gave a nod.
"Good luck! And if you're ever in town again, you know who to hit up for a good party!" She stood, presumably to walk them out.
"You got it," Sera grabbed her sword. Neo placed Roman's bowler hat atop her head and rested her parasol on her shoulder. After they were ready, the three of them headed outside with Neon staying in the doorway of her building.
Sera mounted her new motorcycle, then Neo hopped on behind her. After Sera kickstarted Bellona and revved the engine, Neon grinned.
"Again, good luck, you two," Neon leaned against the doorway.
"Thanks, Neon," Sera lifted Bellona's kickstand. "And thanks for everything else."
"No problem. It's just nice to know that more people survived Beacon."
Sera's expression faltered and her eyes dropped. "Yeah. Yeah, you too." Then the amnesiac twisted the throttle, and Bellona shot off down the street.
. . .
Six hours later, Sera and Neo still haven't had any luck finding Ruby and the others. It'd probably help if they had a better description to go off of than "probably a blond chick with the last name Arc." But hey, what can you do.
She figured someone must have at least seen some members of RWBY or JNPR around, but maybe the whole lot of them have been lying low or something.
Sera and Neo were currently walking down a sidewalk in a rather beautiful park, taking in the scenery and asking anyone they could find about their friends. Well, they were more Sera's friends than Neo's, but whatever.
"I don't get it," Sera groaned and let her arms hang limp in front of her. "An entire city full of people, and no one has seen any of them?"
Neo raised her hands and shrugged. A stray hair was wild from under her bowler hat, and Sera had the protective urge to fix it. Gods, she thought. Was this how Yang felt when stuff like that happens with Ruby?
"Come on, maybe someone's seen them on the other side of town," Sera motioned, pretending as if they hadn't checked all sides of town already.
Neo's eyes widened, and she shook Sera's shoulder.
"Huh? What is it Ne—Oh," she followed where Neo's finger was pointing. Standing thirty feet away from them, standing at about twenty feet tall, was a statue of her. It looked brand-new, without even a speck of dust on it.
The statue was a perfect replica of her. It was designed so that she had her old red leather coat, a tube top, and her black pants. Silver Linings sat proudly in its holster, and it was resting a stone sword that looked exactly like Crimson Eclipse on its shoulder. Her right shoulder was exposed so Sera could see that whoever had sculpted it had even included her flower tattoos. Sera's eyes drifted to the wrist of the hand that held stone Crimson Eclipse. Peeking out from the carved sleeve was a stone replica of Ember Celica. The statue also wore a confident expression on its face, with the same teasing smirk that Sera saw every time she looked in the mirror.
Sera staggered, and Neo had to catch her. "What's…" she muttered. "What's this doing here?"
Neo pointed at a bronze plaque at the base of the statue. It took a few seconds for Sera to get up the nerve to read it. But when she did, she covered her mouth with both hands.
"Sera Purpura. Always willing to put the world before herself. Lost in the Battle at Haven Academy. Memorial contributed by the Xiao Long and Nikos families"
"Nikos…?" Sera murmured. "Why would Pyrrha's family…? You know what, questions for later." She gazed up and met her statue's eyes. It was a perfect replica of herself. Whoever built it was either paid a lot, put a lot of heart into it, or was perhaps "persuaded" to do a good job by a certain temper-tantrum-prone blond.
Sera smirked at the thought of Yang threatening some poor sculptor with her red eyes and prosthetic arm. It was almost enough to lift her mood from seeing her death memorial statue.
"I keep forgetting," Sera chuckled. "They think I'm dead." She leaned onto the plaque and stared at her own name engraved in the bronze. A single teardrop fell onto her first name. Then another. She wiped her eyes and tried to collect herself. No use in getting emotional in front of the tiny assassin woman.
It was too late when she realized that her vision was blackening. Her head swam, and her body felt weightless.
Not now, she thought. It's been months, why now?
Then she collapsed.
The scene of a beach filled her vision. Ocean waves the color of sapphires lapped against the coast calmly. Teens splashed in the water and laughed while others suntanned on the beach. Sera was suddenly sitting in a lounging chair on a beach, under the shade of a large umbrella.
She looked down at herself. Her clothes were gone. Instead, she wore a purple two-piece bikini with a semi-transparent white cloth tied around her waist.
"Hello, Remnant to Sera?" A girl's voice said. Sera turned to see a tall girl with blue hair and blue eyes that matched the color of the ocean. She wore a similar get-up as Sera, except blue instead of purple.
"What?" Sera asked. The girl rolled her sapphire eyes.
"I said aren't you excited for our mission coming up?"
Sera ignored her. She inspected her own hands, turning them over to see the fronts and backs.
What? She thought. This is another flashback, but…
She then kicked some sand with her foot.
Something's weird. This has never happened before.
"Sera!" the girl waved a hand in front of her face.
"Huh?"
"What's with you today?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," a boy with black hair and red eyes leaned forward. "You're acting weird."
Then it hit her. She recognized these two. They were in her past dreams. Except the last time she saw them… They got vaporized by Salem.
"I don't know what you're talking about, uh, Red." Sera said. Better to play along until she figured out what was going on with this weird flashback.
"You like, just blanked out for an entire minute," the blue-haired girl, Sapphire, said.
"I was not," Sera playfully shoved her shoulder. They looked at her like she was crazy, and Sera wasn't surprised. "So, uh, what're we doing out here on a day like this?"
They looked out at the beautiful blue sky and sparkling ocean.
"What're we doing on the beach?" Red asked in a monotone voice.
"On a hot, sunny day?" Sapphire finished.
"Uh, yeah." She said uncertainly.
Sapphire and Red looked at each other like Sera was crazy.
"Hey, what're you three doing?" A new voice called out. They turned to see a blond guy with green eyes walking towards them.
Magnus, Sera thought. My other old teammate that found me during the Vytal Festival.
He grinned and sat on the chair besides Red.
"We're trying to talk some sense into Sera," Sapphire answered. "She's acting weird."
For a split second, Magnus's eyes narrowed and his face hardened. Then, just as quickly as it changed, it relaxed into the carefree expression he had before.
"What's wrong with her today?" Magnus chuckled. "Obsessing over that buff blue-haired dude again? The one from that show?"
"What was his name again?" Red asked.
"Jonathan," Sapphire smiled at her. "But no, that's not it. Besides, she already has someone with blue hair to focus on." The girl then took Sera's hand and interlaced their fingers.
Uh-oh, Sera thought.
Red chuckled lightly and folded his arms behind his head. "Whatever. Can we just enjoy the day for once, before we have to go back and work on our project for Demos's class?"
"Ugh, don't remind me," Sapphire rolled her eyes. "The project is so dumb. I mean, why do we have to make a scale model of a Deathstalker? I know we had that, ahem, close encounter a few weeks ago on that mission, but jeez! What's the point of this?"
So, this is after that fight, Sera thought.
After her arrival at Beacon, she'd had a flashback of a fight against a large Deathstalker. It was her, Sapphire, and Red fighting it in the snow somewhere. Her last memory was of being caught in the Grimm's vice-like grip, its claw squeezing around her waist. Then she had blacked out.
"It's to teach us how to fight them better, remember? To show us their weak spots," Magnus said.
"Still," Sapphire groaned.
Sera looked out at the ocean, its dazzling gleam catching her eye. She wondered where she was in this flashback. Then she wondered what was happening in the real world. Was Neo trying to wake her up? Was time passing faster, so when she'd wake it'd be nighttime? Or would it have only been a few seconds?
"Sera?" Sapphire shook her shoulder. Her hand glided over her purple tattoo.
"Huh?" Sera shook her head.
"You keep doing that," Red noted.
"Sorry, just… a lot on my mind."
Magnus's eyes lingered on her for just a second too long. He averted them as soon as her eyes locked with his.
Something's off about him, Sera thought.
"Right," Red said.
Sapphire squeezed her hand, and Sera jolted. She'd forgotten that she was holding onto it. Sapphire looked at her with concern, and she resisted the urge to let go. Holding this girl's hand felt…wrong. She knew that she used to know this girl, but… they had dated? Apparently so. But still… Sapphire was gone now, and all the feelings she may or may not have had for her, were also gone. Hell, she barely even remembered her. As horrible as that sounded, it was true. But she couldn't help it. She's had amnesia since the start of this hellish adventure.
Her new team's faces flashed in her mind, all smiling at her. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or a memory, but they were all sitting at a table in Beacon's cafeteria. Ruby's silver eyes gleamed with delight in that way they always did, as if there wasn't a problem in the world and she was just enjoying life. Weiss rolled her eyes in a playful manner. Blake smirked at her, her ears twitching from within her bow. Then there was Yang. The blond girl grinned and waved her over with her right arm. Her normal, non-severed right arm. Her lilac eyes dazzled in the light and Sera found herself smiling.
"What're you grinning at?" Red's voice asked. Sera looked over at Sapphire's face, filled with concern.
"Just…" Sera smiled. "Thinking about the people I love."
Sapphire smiled then, and it made Sera feel a bit guilty, but just then her vision began to darken again. The last thing she saw was Sapphire leaning towards her, her eyes closed, and lips puckered.
Sera gasped and sat straight up, her vision filling with sunlight. Neo scrambled back and looked at her with wide eyes. Sera looked down to find herself back in her ratty and ripped clothes. The statue of her still stood beside her.
She sighed and got to her feet and steadied herself on the plaque. Neo appeared at her side as if approaching a bomb about to explode.
"How long?" Sera asked. Immediately, Neo brought out her scroll and began typing on it. Within seconds, she turned the screen towards Sera.
Ten minutes.
Ten? It felt like three or four in the flashback, or whatever that was.
Sera rubbed her temples. "Ugh. I need a drink after that." She heard something uncorking, then turned to see Neo holding out a silver flask.
"Where did you-? You know what? I don't want to know. Just put that away, you little alcoholic."
Neo frowned, corked the flask, then stuck her tongue out at Sera. The amnesiac snickered, then looked up at the statue once more.
"Come on," she turned away from it. "Maybe someone knows where Pyrrha's family lives."
Here's just a little more to the story. I didn't want to have a chapter this short, but I'm learning to actually have my chapters about the length as actual chapters. Plus this seemed like a good point to leave off at until the next chapter. It's easier to do that than just end the chapter in the middle or something or try and rush to type up a quick chapter ending. Basically I'm still working on ways to improve things, like I said last chapter. Plus, this way, I can put out more chapters more frequently rather than typing up a 15-20 thousand word monster that you guys waited a month for.
Also the new kind of flashback thing was a test idea I had. Dunno how I feel about it yet, so I dunno if there are gonna be more like that or not. Also, on that topic, Magnus was acting kinda funny, wasn't he?
Song: Don't Bring Me Down by Electric Light Orchestra. Don't ask me why I named the chapter that, because I have no idea.