The middle of the afternoon was setting in, as the students of Beacon Academy where enjoying their weekend. At least most of them.
As the cold wind entered through the area, Ruby and Yang walked the road to Carlisle's house.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea Yang" Ruby told her half-sister worried.
"We want proof right, so we find it" a self-assured Yang told her.
Ruby gulped, Yang was always the punch first ask questions later kind of women. But breaking into someone's house was going a bit too far even for her. She had tried to contact Jaune about it but got no response from him. She instead messaged Nora about her plan, but ultimately got no response there either. Like they didn't have their scroll with them.
As they reached the foot of Carlisle's residence Ruby got an uneasy feeling, more uneasy then before.
"Yang I'm still not….wait!" she screamed at the end as Yang had her fist balled and ready to slam the door in.
"What we need to get in!" Yang said almost enthusiastically.
"Yes but breaking down the door will alarm him if he's home and we don't exactly need more trouble at the moment" Ruby said as she walked past her sister to the front door, knocking on it. "Professor Carlisle are you home?"
No response.
"See he's not home so let me just…" Ruby pushed her sister back from the door.
"I know you haven't let go in a while sis but this is not the place nor the time" she said trying to hold her adrenaline rush sister back.
"You're no fun" Yang bemoaned as she stepped back.
Ruby pulled a hairpin from her hair and put it inside the lock. Wiggling around for a bit until the door finally opened. "See easy as that" Ruby smiled.
Yang grunted as she moved ahead and entered the house, beholding the kitchen location as Ruby stood behind her and closed the door behind them.
"He doesn't live very big doesn't he" Yang noted looking around the kitchen.
Suddenly footsteps could be heard coming towards them.
"Sir are you home, I hope everything went…" the voice stopped as the small man Vadim turned the corner and instead saw the two sisters instead of his employer. "Who….who are you two."
Yang immediately lunched forward, fists balled and hitting Vadim in the chest, knocking him against the wall before he slumped down and fell face first on the floor.
"Yang you didn't need to hit him!" Ruby yelled as she walked over to the man to see if he was still breathing. Yang smiled to herself "well it was either that or he was going to rat us out. I think he is that assistant of professor Carlisle, he's always hanging around him."
Ruby turned Vadim around and felt for a pulse. He still had one, but he was knocked out cold.
"Weird. His aura should have cushioned the impact but you knocked him out cold" Ruby said. Yang gave a confident smirk "I guess your big sister is just that strong" she replied as she winked at her younger sister.
Leaving the unconscious Vadim on the floor, the sisters explored the house through the first hallway. On the left opening the door to his small bedroom.
"I'm guessing this is where Weiss wanted to end up" Yang said jokingly, causing Ruby to laugh alongside her.
Ruby looked around the hallway but did not see much. But she felt there was something in the air, a feeling she couldn't place. She was against Yang's idea to break into the professor's house but Yang was truly like a runaway freight train, hot, fast and unstoppable.
Ruby for her part didn't want to think that professor Carlisle was behind anything, she had always liked him as much as the others did, not in the way Weiss or Blake did but she respected him for his vision and talents. But she always did notice that he was very much introverted and kept to himself.
As they passed another door Ruby opened it, revealing the professor's study.
"Yang over here, perhaps we can find something here" Ruby quietly said as her sister joined her in the study. Like the bedroom it was small, only a desk with some documents and a framed picture, with one shelve of books on the side along with a small dressier against the wall with a couple of items on it.
"Yeah this seems like the right place" Yang said.
The sisters walked into the study and looked around curiously. Yang checking the shelves as Ruby went through the documents on his desk. "This man has so little possession for someone who is so knowledgeable" Yang observed.
"Yeah it's weird you expect an intellectual like that to have books on every subject. But even the documents here are just weird designs I don't get" Ruby replied.
As she continued over the document her hand bumped into the picture frame before her, knocking it over and crashing it on the floor, where the glass broke into pieces.
"Oh no!" Ruby gasped as she went over and grabbed the broken picture frame "if he sees this he knows there where people in his house" she said worried.
Yang bend over and tried to calm her sister down as she grabbed the broken picture frame and looked at it. Through the crack in the glass Ruby saw a photo of what appeared to be professor Carlisle only a bit younger, and he was holding a white cat in his hands with a black spot on its forehead.
"I didn't know the professor had a pet?" she asked curiously. Yang took the photo and looked at it curiously. As she did Ruby glanced at the dressier and noticed a small collar on it. She looked back at the photo and then back to the item on the dressier.
Placing the photo on the ground and walking over to the dressier, she gently picked up the collar and examined it, until she saw the name inscribed onto it.
"Milena"
Ruby looked at Yang in confusion, until Yang's face turned into one of shock.
"What are you two doing here" a voice boomed.
Ruby turned around to see the face of a seething and angry Firen Carlisle stand in the doorway. In his hand he was holding a strange device. She heard Yang move forward as the professor held up the device, emitting a red light that caused Yang to fall back and Ruby to drop to her knees as a choking feeling overwhelmed her.
She saw small metal balls hit the floor and Ruby felt a shock going towards her as the small balls emitted a light, essentially keeping her tied to the ground. She saw Yang enduring the same fate.
"Why do Beacon students feel the need to always snoop around on someone else's property" Carlisle huffed annoyed as he stepped in the room.
Ruby looked up at the young professor, anger in her eyes as she tried to stand up but a force was keeping her down.
"Don't waste your effort you two, my semblance inhibitor has turned off your Semblance as long as your within its vicinity and these small metal balls create a force field that prevents you from standing."
"When I get lose you're going to get it!" Yang spouted angrily.
Carlisle kneeled in front of the older sister and smirked "don't make promises you can't keep goldilocks" and he turned over to Ruby, seeing the collar in her hands.
"Why do you have that!" he shouted angrily as he walked over to her, and forcibly snatched the collar from her hands as Ruby was powerless to get up. He then walked past her, seeing the picture frame on the ground.
He slowly bend over and picked it up, taking the photo out of the damaged frame and looking at it with a somber expression.
Ruby was quick to notice the emotional expression on the professor's face. It was a mix of sadness and happiness.
"Who is Milena?" Ruby asked softly.
That question got Carlisle's attention as he turned to her, not in anger, but in confusion. He then turned his face back to the photo in his hand and showed it to her.
"Milena is my closest companion, my port in the storm, my everything" he said as he held up the photo. It then got through to Ruby as she eyed the collar in his hands, the name that was on it. The photo in his hand, the photo of him and his cat.
"Milena is your cat" Ruby spoke.
"Correct Miss Rose. And she is the only reason that I'm here" Carlisle said as he got up, not sparing a single glance at the sisters as he walked towards the door.
"What does that even mean? The reason you're here, what kind of vague nonsense is that" Yang yelled. Carlisle turned to her with a stoic emotionless look plastered on his face "you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me" the older sister replied scoffing.
Carlisle sighed as he turned to them, clutching the collar and photo in his hands.
"Very well girls," he said shortly as walked back into the study as both girls where bound to the ground "first things first you should know. I am not from around here, I'm from another dimension, a world beyond Remnant. I came here through a gateway of my own creation, but as I tested it out….something went wrong."
Flashback:
The metal gateway boomed with energy as it was connected to the giant power source, a blue light orbited in the middle as it expanded into a bigger field, creating a beautiful vision of a grassland within it.
It had worked. The portal had worked.
Firen Carlisle took off his working glasses and admired the scenery before him "it worked! It actually worked Milena" he said as he turned to his feline companion sitting on his desk. She purred affectionate and jumped into his arms.
He hugged Milena tightly as they looked at the still function gateway.
Minutes later, he had grabbed a robe and was ready to depart into the portal, giving a look over at Milena who was standing next to him. He kneeled down to pet her.
"You stay here Milena, it is far too dangerous" he said.
The cat purred in response.
"I know but I can't let you do it, the risk is far too great. I'm not losing you, you know that girl" he said as he petted her face again.
Carlisle turned back up to look at the gateway, swallowing nervously as he took a few steps forward only to be stepped as Milena ran past him, the end of the rope in her teeth as she jumped forward into the portal.
"No!" Firen yelled as she jumped through it.
But he saw her on the other side of the portal, unharmed, she was standing in the grassy forest field and the cat looked back at her owner. Carlisle's eyed lit up "It works, unbelievable it works. Quick Milena, come back" he said.
The cat turned to the portal opening in front of her. Only to be stopped by an invisible force.
Carlisle's heart sank as he saw Milena head-butting the portal in front of him, but she wasn't passing through, instead she remained stuck, rope between her teeth, and her green eyes almost sad.
"No…No!" Carlisle yelled as he pulled the rope back at him, only for a burned end to reach him. He saw Milena still at the other end, clawing at the portal desperate to return to him.
"Hold on Milena I'll get you!" he yelled.
A roar could be heard in the distance, it caused the metal frame of the portal to clatter, the energy within the portal began to spiral. In the portal he saw shadowy creatures make their way towards his beloved companion, who in turn desperately clawed more at the portal.
He ran towards the portal but was pushed back by the energy as it collapsed in on itself. "Nooo!" he yelled as in the final moments of the portal he saw Milena fleeing from the creatures as the portal collapsed and the energy flung him to the ground.
"Milena! MILENA!" he cried out, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the destroyed gateway. His beloved companion gone, lost and alone.
End Flashback:
"And that's when I lost her," Carlisle said as a tear rolled down his cheek "lost and alone in an unknown world with those vicious monsters…I needed to get to her so I spend weeks working in secret behind the back of my Superiors to recreate the portal and I succeeded. I created a device to make two portals, one way here and back, to find Milena and bring her home again. I spend weeks searching all throughout Remnant until ending up here at Beacon where I took the teaching position in order to cover myself as I searched here. Nothing will get in my way, nothing will stop me from finding her."
As he finished his long speech and stories, Ruby was left feeling conflicted. Noticing the tears dripping down the man's face she couldn't help but feel sorry. As unbelievable as his story sounded, talking about other worlds and dimensions…he had lost something dear to him, his closest friend.
"I'm so sorry you lost her. But why didn't you just ask us for help, we would've helped you look for her."
Carlisle laughed sarcastically "yes sure. A man claiming to come from another world with technology unheard off just to search for his lost cat, yes that wouldn't draw suspicion, that wouldn't make the authorities go after me and question me for all I have, all the while my Milena is out there, a subject to the elements and surrounded by those vicious Grimm!. Yes you would take such a man seriously."
"So it was you," Yang suddenly said as Carlisle gave her a look "you did do it didn't you. You put Pyrrha and Cardin into that state?"
A silence befell the room for a quick minute. Until he said.
"Yes. It was me goldilocks, happy now," he said scoffing at the blonde bombshell of a fighter "the device I used to trap Mr. Winchester and Miss Nikos in their catatonic state traps them within their own subconscious, making them relieve their worst experiences and insecurities. I was planning to return them to normal after I found Milena. I didn't want to use it but Winchester got on my nerves and dear Miss Nikos was too noisy for her own good. It's nothing personal but as I told you, I would let nothing stand in my way."
Yang looked down at the ground, but Ruby could see the anger in her eyes.
"You put them through that torture…all that pain," Yang was shaking, her anger visible "all that pain JUST FOR A CAT!"
The following response shocked them both as Carlisle backhanded Yang across the face, the sound of it echoing through the room.
"She was more than just a cat!," Carlisle spit angrily "she was everything to me, everything I had. I found her when I was your age, I had nothing but the clothes on my back…and then I found her on a dark stormy night behind a dumpster, cold and alone, left behind…so I took her with me, I stole food and medicine to keep her alive, to keep her strong, and in return she has shown me nothing but unquestionable love and support. Milena and I saved each other at our darkest moments…so don't you ever dare to claim she is just a cat…she is more than that and if you knew what we had gone through you would have done the same."
His outburst stunned both girls into silence as Carlisle's face was filled with many layers of emotions, from anger to sadness to complete desperation.
"I've entertained you two for long enough" he said as he snapped his fingers, the metal balls lifted in the ground and levitating Yang and Ruby with them. Carlisle stepped out of the study and walked towards the door at the end of the hall, opening it.
With another snap both sisters where flung through the door and down the stairs, landing on the cold wet floor.
"Just a note of information Goldilocks and Red riding hood, my Semblance Inhibitor still works as long as you're in the house. So good luck trying to break out, but don't worry you have some company" with that Carlisle shut the door behind him.
Yang immediately stood up and began hitting at the door, before recoiling in pain as her hand hurt from crashing on the hard wooden panel.
Ruby grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her back "it's no use Yang. He is right our Semblance doesn't work" she said.
"Hmpff Hmpff"
They heard a sound from behind and turned towards the end, in the shadows they saw a silhouette and as they moved closer they recoiled in shock.
There was professor Oobleck, tied to a chair and his mouth was gagged.
"Professor Oobleck!" both sisters shouted in unison as they ran towards the professor and removed the gag from his mouth, causing the professor to breathe in.
"Thank goodness Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long I am so glad to see you both, although I wish it was under different circumstances" he said, a bit less hyperactive than normal, possibly because of lack of caffeine.
"What's happening professor we were told you where sick?" Ruby asked.
"Ha, if only, I would welcome that now Miss Rose. No I was attacked at my home by that man you were fighting and I woke up here and I've been stuck here for who knows how long, being fed once a day by that short little man. But why are you here."
"Well…we kind of snuck into professor Carlisle's home and discovered all he did and….well basically a lot has happened since you left professor" Ruby said nervously, clasping her fingers together.
"We'll catch you up to speed professor, first we need to get out and then I will let Firen Carlisle feel my fist" Yang said determined.
Oobleck looked up at her "wait a minute miss Xiao Long…did you just sat Firen Carlisle?" he asked.
Yang and Ruby looked at him with surprise.
"Yes. Do you know him?" Yang asked.
"Well yes, Firen Carlisle was my mentor back when I studies in Astral, lovely man, very wise" Oobleck said.
"Well he is the guy that put us in here" Ruby said.
"Impossible!" Oobleck half shouted, causing Yang and Ruby to look at him in confusion "I know Firen Carlisle. And unless he has suddenly become fifty years younger…then that is not him."