Heroes: paragons of might and virtue risen above the flock. Mankind has become quite taken with recounting their tales, often forgetting that there are two sides to every story. Heroes, fighting on behalf of the people, are brave, wise, and resourceful, but so too are the villains. Villains who, by nature of the genre, are oft portrayed as mere fodder for the heroic legends. But the best of us are so much more than that, and even when we lose, the history books will remember that we brought mankind to their knees. But this world has never had to face a villain quite like me. So you may take a stand, cling to your ideals, take comfort in the precedents set forth by history. But take heed: A war is coming to Remnant, and there will be no escaping it.
Volume 1
Chapter 1
Immersion
Part 1
It was a Saturday evening, during the winter, years ago, back when the only thing I truly had to worry about was my job. And it was not a very exciting one either; mixing different color inks together for a printing house tends to lose its' luster in a very short period of time. But it paid the bills, and promised advancement so long as I performed, so I stuck with it, even to the point of allowing myself to be moved to cold and distant lands. Though to be fair, after a single winter of living in Atlas, I can't truly complain about this place having been cold. You see, I was born and raised in a desert region that was closer to the planet's equator than it was to the polar regions; the place I am speaking of was several hundreds of miles to the North of that. It was cold enough that it snowed for about 4-5 months of the year, and heavily enough that there was usually at least a couple inches of it on the ground.
Why is this important?
Imagine, for a moment, that you've never even seen snow in person before, much less had to drive in it. Now imagine that you have ten minutes to get to work, and you're about ten minutes away... In clear weather. But the weather isn't clear; while it's only been snowing for the last several minutes or snow, all it takes is one look outside and you can tell it's going to be a blizzard the likes of which even life-long citizens of Atlas can't fully shrug off. Visibility is already shit, the roads are gradually getting impassible... And you're still stuck outside in this, driving a little two-door front-wheel-drive with no chains on the tires. The only options are to either park, call for rescue, and wait it out... Or risk driving the rest of the way to work where you'll have food, warmth, and companionship. You can see why I did what I did, right?
I regretted it only a few minutes later when my car went right over the edge of the hill. Yeah, I was that stupid. By all rights I should be dead, my frozen corpse splattered at the bottom of a ditch somewhere, right? Well, obviously I'm not. And again, I'm not expecting you to believe any of this, but at least it'll be one helluva story... and it's not like we've got much else to do here. So... Here I go.
Day 1
Warmth. That was the most prominent thing the man could feel upon waking up... And that in and of itself convinced him that he couldn't still be alive. Afterall, he had presumably just driven himself off the side of a cliff in the middle of the worst blizzard his home country had ever seen. If he was still alive, he should have been cold... And in pain. Lots and lots of pain, seeing as he drove a relatively new car, with a mostly plastic frame, rather than an older metal-framed one; it would have crumbled upon impact, and if he had survived, he most certainly would have had something impaled through him or crushing him or... something, with cold air blowing in from all the holes in the car. Instead, he was warm and lying on something soft...
A bed?
Warily, wearily, and just the least bit blearily, the man opened his eyes, and was greeted with an unfamiliar ceiling... And it didn't appear to be tiled either.
So, probably not a hospital...
Now curious, the man cautiously began to sit himself up in the bed... And frowned when he found it was too easy. Of course, that isn't to say he was complaining. However, he had just been in a rather terrible accident, so shouldn't he have had at least some sort of injuries? He could tell he wasn't on any sort of anesthetics either, seeing as he didn't have an IV drip and he didn't even feel sluggish or dizzy...
Things just keep getting stranger and stranger...
A brief glance around the room summarily confirmed that he was most definitely not in a hospital. On the opposite side of the room, a full-sized bed took up most of the wall. He himself appeared to currently be on the top bunk of a bunk-bed; in between the two beds was roughly four or five feet of clear space. One of the other walls had a pair of chests set up against the base, beneath the room's sole window (currently closed), set into center of the upper half of the wall, with another chest on the opposite wall, next to the door.
A barrack?
The man supposed that was the intended use of the room, but he wouldn't find out anything else by simply continuing to observe the room. So, with an annoyed sigh, he settled back to wait; somebody had deposited him here at some point. It stood to reason that that somebody would eventually be by to check on him.
Fortunately, the wait was not long. After what felt like only five minutes later, voices could be heard approaching.
"So could you tell me again why you decided to put him on the top bunk?"
Sounds female, mid to late teens... Probably a nag, too.
"Oh, did the thief forget to steal a brain today too? It wasn't me!"
Then again, this guy's voice already makes me want to punch him. Same age, liberal dose of sarcasm with just the wrong amount of drawl.
"So, what, you're saying Neo willingly gave up her own bed?"
Definitely don't blame her for being annoyed...
"Why are you complaining? If anything he should have been put in your bed!"
Okay, this is their room.
"True, but st- Oh. You're up."
The door opened just then, and the owners of the voices were met with a curious face greeting them. The man took a moment to study the new arrivals; the male had a pale complexion, a laid back expression, and the curtains seemed to match the windows with a silvery-gray color. The female, at about 5'8" or 5'9", was a few inches shorter than the male and seemed to both contrast and complement him at the same time; minty green hair, red eyes, and an expressive face on dark tanned skin. Both wore outfits that seemed a little strange to the man, but at the same time trendy. Black, silver, and brown for the male, with what appeared to be armor on his upper arms and shins, and something that instantly had the man thinking thief or acrobat for the girl, the way it was both skin-tight and revealing.
"Are you done checking me out, or do you need another minute?"
The man raised a brow in incredulity... And smirked somewhat condescendingly. "I barely looked you over; kind of a habit when meeting someone new. But while we're on the subject, nice rack. Based on your annoyance, I'm assuming that rather than enjoying the extra attention your outfit calls to your assets, you choose to display them so prominently in order to distract your marks while you pick their pockets?"
That shut the girl up rather quickly, while also getting the boy to chuckle.
"You got that from just a glance?"
The man shrugged. "You also called her a thief on your way in. You, on the other hand, strike me as the type who gets a kick out of purposely annoying others... And pretending to be completely nonchalant about it. At least around your girlfriend here-"
"See! Even he knows you want me!"
"Who... currently looks like she wants to shoot one or both of us with those guns her hands are twitching towards. Okay, Cowgirl, shutting up now."
Again, the boy just laughed, while his partner pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to stave off the annoyance.
"Why don't we start over?" The man offered. "My name is... My name is..."
The duo raised a brow each in sync as the man trailed off, waiting for him to finish; they probably didn't care in the slightest whether he gave his actual name or an alias. But the man himself was more than just a little bit disturbed; he couldn't remember his own name! He could remember the accident just fine, but his own na-
That's probably why I don't remember. I probably sustained some blunt force trauma to the head, and the bruise and cracked skull have probably healed by now. But come on, amnesia? Why do I remember everything else, but not my own chupping name?
"You seem a little panicked there, my friend."
The man glared at the boy.
"Well excuse me for being slightly amnesiac at the moment."
"Merc, he did have a rather nasty looking lump on his head when Cinder brought him in. It makes sense that he'd be a little disoriented."
The man groaned in frustration. "I don't suppose I had any form of identification on me?"
The boy smirked. "Nope," he replied, popping the 'p.'
"Well, crap. I guess for the time being, I'll need an alias..."
"Cerulean?"
The man blinked... As did the boy.
"Where'd you get that from?"
Facepalm. "Your eyes?"
Blink. "What about my eyes?"
Second face, meet second palm. "Your eyes are heterochromatic, dude. Green with blue sections."
... "Whaaaaaaaat? You can see that from down there?"
The girl shrugged. "Your eyes are pretty bright; they may as well be glowing."
Okay, this situation just went from highly improbable to damned-near impossible. My eyes are supposed to be hazel... And I've never been told that they glow before...
"Yo, Remnant to Cerulean? You still with us, bro?"
The man started, having retreated into his own thoughts.
"Yeah... I, uh, apparently forgot the color of my own eyes too. Cerulean, huh? Hmm... Let's change the pronunciation on that. Say-rue-lee-on? Care-oo-lee-in? That one. Caerulean, with an A after the C. Yeah, I can live with that for a while. What should I call you guys? I heard her call you Merc earlier, but I feel like it'd be rude to call you that when I don't really even know you, and I assume that offense would be taken if I simply called you Green, Minty."
The boy, Merc, grinned as the girl frowned. "You'd assume right, Caerulean... Emmy here's actual name is Emerald, and Merc is short for Mercury. Merc is fine though, so long as you're cool with me calling you Lee."
"Caerulean is a bit of a mouthful in normal conversation."
"Fantastic, we're all friends now!"
The newly dubbed Caerulean rolled his eyes. "I can see how he annoys you so easily, Emerald."
"Hey!" "Thank you!"
"Moving on... Could you guys perhaps tell me why I'm here? I remember there being an accident, which I assume is related to my amnesia and the lump on my head you mentioned earlier, Emerald, but I don't remember anything between that and waking up in this room."
Emerald gave him a look of slight pity. "Sorry, all we really know is that the boss brought you in here a couple of days ago, mentioning that you'd helped her out of a sticky situation."
"This boss," Caerulean pondered, "Is she the same as the Cinder person you mentioned earlier? Do you have any idea what she wants from me?"
"Yes, and no. All she'd tell us," Mercury chimed in, "Was that she'd like to speak to you when you woke up. You feeling up to it?"
Caerulean shrugged, before hopping down to the ground.
"Sure, beats loitering about all day. Lead the way."
"So... Nice place you got here."
A blank stare from Emerald was the only reply Caerulean received for the inane comment, and rightfully so; the place seemed like a normal enough two-bedroom apartment. Which seemed a little small for four (or more) people to be sharing, but Caerulean had already gotten the impression that these two didn't spend too much idle time here. While they did have a rather easygoing demeanor to them, Caerulean had already observed from their body language that they were quite active individuals. Probably criminals of some sort as well, judging by the guns on that he'd noticed on Emerald earlier. But that didn't faze him much; they'd been nothing but helpful so far, and they had already mentioned that their boss all but owed him a life debt... Not that he could remember how such a debt was incurred. Still, the fact that she'd seen fit to see to his health was enough assurance that she didn't want him dead, so Caerulean was completely relaxed around Mercury and Emerald, at least for now. No, what had him nervous, was the Neapolitan themed kid (who might actually be close to Mercury and Emerald in age, based on her proportions, and just happened to be a midget) currently staring at him like he was the most fascinating thing on the planet... And had been doing so for the last ten minutes, ever since she'd delivered a note from Cinder mentioning that she was out 'making a few acquisitions' and wouldn't return until later in the evening. So Lee had been polite and attempted to make conversation with the new girl, but so far had yet to elicit a single sound from her. And he was finally about to crack.
"You know, if you'd just tell me just what it is you find so fascinating about me, I could probably explain it to you so you wouldn't have to wonder."
... "Got it! Phew, that was tough. It normally only takes me a few moments to either establish a link or fail. I wonder why you were so difficult?"
Caerulean felt like he was justified when he jumped backwards against the nearest wall, and most certainly did not yelp. He also most certainly did not pout when both Emerald and Mercury started howling with laughter.
"Oh man, the look on your face right now!"
"You knew?! Wait, what am I saying, of course you knew... Douchebags. Not cool, guys! And you," Cerulean changed targets, rounding on the offending half-pint. "Give a guy a little warning before invading his head!"
Said half-pint was bouncing around in her seat while wearing a shit-eating grin. "I saw my opportunity and I took it." The girl's expression quickly became thoughtful, however. "Seriously though, I wonder why your mind was so different? And why you actually seem to be able to understand me?"
"I would have to know how your ability works in order to give you any sort of logical answer... Not that I can think of a logical reason for how telepathy is even possible in the first place. Whatever. Hardly the strangest thing to happen so far, and I'm sure things will only continue to get stranger from here on out. May as well accept it, am I right?"
"On all counts," The literally little girl replied with an amused smirk. "My name is Neopolitan, by the way, since the lovebirds seem to have forgotten to introduce me."
Cerulean took one look at Emerald and Mercury, who were indeed sat next to each other on the couch but seemed to be awkwardly uncomfortable about it, then looked back to Neo before both threw their heads back in laughter (one of them louder than the other, of course).
"They're laughing at us, aren't they, Em?"
"No shit, detective... Stupid half-pint..."
Neo, of course, calmed down enough to stick her tongue out at Emerald for the remark before turning back to her new friend.
"I think you and I are going to get along just fine..."
"Caerulean. But you can just call me Lee."
"Only if you call me Neo. Oh, and also if you tell the lovebirds that they're terrible hosts."
"Deal. Merc, Emerald, Neo says that you two are terrible hosts, and I can't say I disagree. 15 minutes without any sort of introduction? Seriously?"
Mercury, as usual, looked like he could care less. "I don't see why it was necessary."
Cerulean just stared blankly at him. "She's a mute."
Emerald returned the expression. "She's also more than capable of communicating in a fashion others can understand."
Caerulean and Neo face-palmed in unison. "You're still supposed to introduce guests when they meet new people..."
The rest of that afternoon went by in a similar fashion; for hours, the four of us just sat there and talked, swapping stories and just getting to know each other... And just like that, I had three new friends. The only three friends I had, actually. They had also explained that I was on a world called Remnant, in the Kingdom of Vale. You see... I'm not originally from this world. You call this planet Remnant... But many who live on it couldn't even tell you what it's a Remnant of. But as soon as I stepped outside and saw the shattered moon, I knew... Remnant, while different in many ways from the home I knew... Well, it still was. Was. You see... I'm pretty sure that Remnant was once known as Earth...
