Disclaimer:This is a work of fan fiction using characters and/or scenes from the show RWBY, which is trademarked by Rooster Teeth, and the video game Persona 3, which is trademarked by Atlus. I do not, in anyway, claim ownership over the characters, the world, the story, or any other aspect belonging to either one. This story should not be, in any way, considered canon. This story is written strictly for entertainment and not for profit.
Warning: This story will exhibit slight differences in character behavior since I will be taking the liberty to fill in blank points in the pasts of various characters. As such, expect that many characters will not behave exactly as their canon selves. I will attempt to keep their core personalities intact, but slight changes will be unavoidable.
Hi everyone.
First of all, thanks for all the Followers and Favorites. When I first wrote this I didn't expect it to be received this well. Already it's got more followers and favorites than my other story, It Wasn't Supposed to be This Way. Check it out by the way. Details on the story are on my profile if you wanna hear more about it beyond the limited summary provided.
Though I haven't gotten a lot of feedback, 11 reviews for the first chapter and the prologue as you can see, it was still fairly inspiring to see people following and favoriting (not a word I know) this story even two weeks after the most recent chapter. And so, I ended up with this. An extra-long chapter with 20k+ words, excluding the ANs.
This chapter will be dealing with SEES's arrival at Beacon as well as the RWBY cast's initial impressions of them. This will then set the tone for their future encounters with SEES. After all, first impressions may not be everything but they count for a lot.
Halfway through I had to edit quite a lot of details I threw in about the Shadows and stuff from the Persona-verse. This is because I found a translation of the Persona 3 Club Book's Q&A portion, which answers a lot of question regarding the true nature of the Shadows, the Dark Hour, and Nyx. Needless to say, that was a really interesting read. Those who've read it know what I'm talking about.
As such I had to make some changes to my story plan, and even a few details from the previous chapter. You can go back and take a look if you wanna try and spot the changes. Though in the end it actually made things easier for me since it provided a lot of details that I would have otherwise have to create on my own.
At the bottom AN will be a fairly big announcement regarding this story. Details will also be on my profile so you can check it out there instead if you want.
For now, here's the second chapter of Messiah's Legacy. Enjoy.
Chapter 2 – Welcome to Beacon Academy
September 5, XX13
"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"
Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, glared at the girl in front of her as she cringed and tried to disappear within herself. Sharp, critical eyes examined the girl who could have killed the two of them, especially if the explosion had been bigger and powerful enough to reach the rest of the Dust stored within her suitcases. Aura or not, an explosion of that magnitude was dangerous.
The girl had chin-length black hair that turned red towards the tips and wide, silver eyes. She wore a long-sleeved black blouse and a black skirt that ended halfway down to her knees, both of which had red trimmings on the sleeves and the bottom of the skirt respectively. Over the blouse she wore a black corset with red lacing, and a hooded red cloak pinned to her blouse by two cross-shaped pins. The girl was also wearing black tights and black combat boots with red soles.
'What is it with this girl and the colors black and red?' she couldn't help but think as she examined the girl's appearance.
Then again, if she was being honest about her own choice of clothing - which was not likely to happen - she wasn't much better since her own clothing was composed of a pale blue bolero that darkened in color towards the end of the sleeves with red interior lining, a strapless white dress top, a skirt with a similar color scheme, and white wedge boots, most of which matched her snow-white hair and pale blue eyes in coloration.
"I'm really, really sorry," said the girl, her fingers poking against each other as she looked up at Weiss with the most apologetic look she could muster.
Unfortunately, her best was nowhere near enough. "You complete dolt!" snapped the white-haired girl, face gaining a tinge of red. "What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"
"Well…"
Whatever the young girl had to say was cut off as someone else decided to join them. "Hey," a male voice called out. "Is everyone alright?"
Both Weiss and the girl in front of her turned towards the docks and saw a group of eight, three male and five female, running towards them. Running alongside them was a white dog. The first thing that Weiss noticed were their clothes.
The males of the group, including a young boy who couldn't be more than twelve years old, were wearing black suit pants, matching black jackets, white dress shirts, and black ribbon ties. The females, except for one, were wearing something similar. Black skirts, which varied slightly in length, black jackets, which they wore closed, and red ribbon ties, larger than the black ones worn by the males. And if she looked closely, she could see that they also wore white dress shirts beneath the jackets. Two of them, a blonde and a red-haired young woman, wore boots rather than shoes. The former wore an ordinary pair of knee-high boots, while the latter wore a more stylish and feminine pair.
On all their jackets, on the left side of the chest, was an emblem that she had never seen before. It was a red circle, with a smaller circle inside it, which was divided into four where two opposing quadrants were white, and the other two were black.
The only one dressed differently was a young woman with long red hair wearing a long white dress lined with ruffles in multiple places, white stockings, white platform shoes with black soles, and what seemed to be spiked manacles around both her ankles. On her head was a ruffled headband, a dagger-like accessory made to look like it was piercing through her head, and a similarly styled fabric collar with a black ribbon was around her neck. Hanging from her waist was a hand axe with a chain attached to it. All in all, she was the most strangely dressed person Weiss had even seen.
But the one thing they all had in common was a red armband on their left arms with the word SEES spelled out in large black print. And looking closer, even the dog with them had the same armband, though smaller, wrapped around its left foreleg. Another look revealed that the dog was also wearing a white shirt with two wing-like accessories on its back, and a strange looking metal collar.
The second thing that Weiss noticed, was their posture. All of them, even the boy and the dog, were on high alert. A few of them, the young man with a buzzcut and goatee, the young woman with brown hair, and the boy with brown hair, had their hands on their weapons. 'Is it because of the explosion?' she wondered. It was a possibility. After all, one of them had asked if they were alright.
'Could they be from the Vale Police Department?' She barely considered the possibility before discarding it. She had been to Vale a few times in the past and none of the policemen she had seen wore clothes like theirs. Moreover, the armband pointed to the possibility of them being from a different organization, a private one possibly. But more importantly, there was something in the way they stood ready. Something familiar.
"We're fine," the heiress replied haughtily, shifting her attention back to the girl in front of her. "Though considering this girl cannot seem to understand the dangers of Dust, perhaps she may need some help in that regard."
"Hey! I said I was sorry, princess."
Before anyone else could say anything, a new voice was heard from the side. "It's heiress actually." Walking up to them was a black-haired girl with a large black bow on top of her head. Unlike the group that had just arrived, she was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt beneath a black vest, white shorts, and black stockings that faded into purple closer to her heeled ankle boots. A fellow student then. "Weiss Schnee," she said. "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."
At those words, Weiss couldn't help but relax, the scowl on her face disappearing and being replaced by a small, satisfied grin. "Finally, some recognition," she said, while turning to glance, and briefly glare, at the other girl who had failed to recognize her.
"The same company infamous for their controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."
The grin on her face was immediately replaced once again by a scowl. "Wh-Wha… How dare…" Weiss sputtered out, even as the younger girl giggled at how the tables had been turned on the heiress. "You have some nerve if you think you can…"
"Perhaps," another voice chimed it, female once again. Unlike the other two she had been speaking with however, this one carried with it a tone of authority. "You should all calm down."
All three of them turned to the group that were watching them and came face to face with the young woman with dark red hair and a rapier at her side.
The moment her eyes landed on the young woman, Weiss couldn't help but stand straighter than she had already been. The younger girl had, for some reason, moved to stand beside Weiss and was standing at attention. Much like herself, Weiss realized. She belatedly realized that even the black-haired girl stood straight and unmoving and was now standing at Weiss's left side.
Anyone watching the situation might have thought they were recruits standing before their superior officer in an army, or, due to the uniforms, a private military company.
Looking at the red-haired woman who stood tall before them with arms crossed, Weiss couldn't blame the two at her sides. The woman's face was calm but her eyes held a certain hardness, and something about her posture, despite no longer being on high alert as it had been earlier, simply commanded respect and, on some level, even outright demanded subservience. Despite her youthful appearance, this woman gave off the feeling of someone used to leading, used to commanding respect.
Her father, CEO of the SDC, demanded respect. This woman commanded it. The difference was small, but to Weiss it was as clear as day and night. Her father was harsh, some might even say tyrannical, and it was that icy harshness and the unspoken threats of what he could do to someone that brought him respect.
This woman did not need such things. The way she held herself spoke of her confidence, confidence just below what one would call arrogance. Her father would say one thing and demand others agree and follow him. This woman could say nothing and people would follow her lead regardless, knowing she was right.
And whether or not they noticed all this, the two standing on either side of her understood one thing. Disagreeing with this woman was not a good idea.
The woman's eyes, a deep wine-red similar to her hair, gazed at the three of them in turn, as though evaluating them. "Now that you've calmed down, perhaps someone could explain what happened?"
Immediately both Weiss and the girl to her right spoke, both of them explaining what had happened from their perspective. Unfortunately, with both of them speaking at the same time, and also arguing about what happened when the other said something they disagreed with, it was only a matter of time before the woman grew impatient.
"Maybe you'd like to speak one at a time so that we could understand you?"
Again, her tone was calm but the undertones of authority washed over both girls and they froze. They glanced at each other nervously, their eyes trying to convince the other to be the first to speak and, thus, the first to face the woman.
"The explosion happened around here." The three girls glanced down to where Weiss suitcases still lay scattered after being knocked over. Kneeling next to the open one that Weiss had dropped during the explosion was one of the uniformed young women. This young woman had short blonde hair, reaching just past her ears. Sheathed at her lower back were a pair of knives, though the handle had a strange looking knuckle guard. Rather than one large opening, there were four smaller holes for the fingers.
Looking closely, Weiss realized she couldn't actually see her ears. They were underneath a strange, metallic, white and red disc connected to a wide black and gold band that went across the top of her head to the other side, presumably ending with another one of those white and red discs. Though they didn't seem to be connected to anything, they appeared to be headphones. A wireless kind perhaps?
'Still, they look like they're pressed quite tightly to her head. Almost looks like they're part of her head. Isn't that uncomfortable?'
"The explosion wasn't very strong, though from what we saw it was fairly large," continued the blonde as she seemed to look around for something along the ground. "Considering how fine the crystals in these vials are, I believe that…" the paused and looked around, this time raising her head to widen her search area, enough that they could see her crystal blue eyes when it stopped in their general direction. "Ah, I've found it."
She stood and walked the short distance towards them and stopped within arm's reach. This close, Weiss could tell that the blonde was just a hint taller than she was, even though Weiss was wearing heeled boots. "May I?" she asked, extending her hand towards the taller, black-haired girl to Weiss's left. The girl looked down to where the blonde's hand was reaching out to and saw the vial of red Dust still in her hand. With a nod, she handed it to the blonde.
The blonde held the vial with one hand and gave it a quick shake, a small puff of red coming from the top when she did so. "As I thought," she said, turning around to face the red-haired woman. "It would seem that this was the cause of the explosion, Mitsuru-san."
The woman hummed inquisitively. "How so Aigis?" she asked. This time, Weiss noted that the authority in her tone was softer. Perhaps because she was speaking with someone familiar to her?
"The cork on the bottle is loose." The blonde, Aigis, demonstrated this by shaking the bottle once more, releasing a small amount of red Dust into the air. "Since the bottle itself is still intact, I believe the bottle was shaken or agitated in some manner, releasing the Dust into the air where it was somehow activated or ignited, most likely by accident."
That was… Weiss had no words for the young woman's display of deductive reasoning. And unless her eyes were playing tricks on her, the two girls on either side of her were just as stunned. But looking at their surroundings, she couldn't believe that she had managed to paint an accurate picture of what had happened with so little clues.
"I see." The acceptance in the red-haired woman's tone surprised Weiss. Clearly, whoever this group was, they trusted each other enough to accept each other's words with little to no questioning. "Would you say that that was an accurate deduction?" she then asked the three girls.
"Y-Yeah." Weiss had to admit that the young girl who caused the accident to happen in the first place was quite brave for being the first to speak up, if nothing else. "I uh… I kinda knocked down her stuff. B-but it was an accident, I swear," she added hastily, clearly not wanting to be misunderstood as someone who went around knocking things down. "But then she got all mad and wouldn't give me a chance to explain. And then she was shaking the bottle around, making the Dust go everywhere, and so I uh…" At that point, she huddled into herself, as if trying to hide. "I uh… I kinda sneezed?"
"I see," she said once more, no hint in her tone of whether or not she believed the girl, or what she felt about the situation for that matter. "And is she correct?" this time she looked at Weiss for answers.
Weiss fought the urge to swallow at being addressed but ultimately failed. She was used to her father's harsh demeanor and his demands for near-perfection in everything she does. But the way the woman spoke, Weiss knew that she did not have to be threatened or cowed into telling the truth. There was simply a strange feeling that told her that something unpleasant would occur if she lied or misbehaved.
"More or less," she replied as flippantly as she could muster. "Although I resent the notion that this is, in any way, my fault. It's true that shaking the bottle around didn't help the matter any, but had she not knocked down my luggage then none of this would have happened in the first place."
"Hey! I said I was sorry," snapped the young girl as she turned to face the heiress with a scowl. "Why can't you just accept that it was an accident?"
"And why can't you just accept that if you weren't so clumsy none of this would have happened at all?" Weiss snapped back, matching the young girl's scowl with a glare of her own.
"You're the one who-"
"What is going on here?"
Had it not been for the fact that the voice came from the opposite direction, the two girls would have thought that the red-haired woman had finally lost her temper. They turned to face the direction of the school to find a tall blonde woman marching up to them with a riding crop in one hand. It barely took them a second to recognize the woman. After all, they had seen her, or at least a projected image of her, not long before the airship docked.
The approaching woman had light blonde hair tied in a bun and was dressed in a pleated, white keyhole top with loose, long sleeves that tightened to a fit around her forearms then flare out into pleats at the wrist. Over this she wore a black corset that extended into a pencil skirt with a single row of bronze-colored buttons. Her legs were covered in stockings that went from black to brown as it went into her knee-high heeled boots. And clipped to her top, just in front of her neck, was a cape that was black on one side and purple on the inside, the ends of the cape designed to look like dancing flames.
Glynda Goodwitch, Beacon Academy's Deputy Headmistress. A tall woman - easily towering over everyone else there by at least half-a-foot - with a stern face, a tense posture, and a riding crop in one hand. All of a sudden, dealing with the red-haired woman was looking more preferable. At least she, most likely, could not prevent their entry into Beacon or expel them had they been students.
"Why are you children still here?" she asked them with a harsh tone, stopping not far from them. "Were you not told prior to disembarking to proceed to the amphitheater for the Entrance Ceremony?"
"We… uh… that is…"
"My apologies." Their heads turned around to face the red-haired woman when she spoke. And when she approached, along with the rest of her group, the trio of girls stepped aside to allow them to stand in front of the Deputy Headmistress. "We heard an explosion earlier and saw the three of them here. We were trying to ensure nobody had been hurt and also attempting to determine the cause of the explosion."
"I see," was Glynda's curt response. Her eyes glanced at the uniformed students, her gaze lingering when she came to the white-clad young woman and the young boy. "I don't recognize those uniforms. Who might you be?"
"We are the group from Iwatodai," said the woman. "I believe we were told to report to one of the staff after the Entrance Ceremony."
Recognition flashed through Glynda's eyes. The word was strange but, after reading it multiple times on the various entry forms from the prospective students in front of her, she easily recognized the name of the city which they had come from. A city which, according to Headmaster Ozpin, had recently been destroyed, leaving less than a dozen survivors. All of them children. The same children standing before her now.
"Ah, yes, I was actually looking for you," she said, her tone, despite remaining stern, was noticeably softer and less confrontational. She may have a duty to teach and discipline the students, but that did not mean she could not sympathize with them, especially after such an event. Though just by looking at them, she felt that they were surprisingly more composed than most people she met in similar situations.
And not only had they lost their homes but, unless the woman who came to them was lying, their culture was completely different from the rest of Remnant due to being in isolation for many, many centuries. It was one thing for their students to come from the other kingdoms such as Atlas, Vacuo, and Mistral. At least their cultures were fairly similar in many ways. But to come from an island, so far off the eastern coast of Mistral that it did not exist on any known map, to a land they themselves had not known existed… It was something Glynda couldn't imagine.
She had been curious as to how the woman, Elizabeth, had gotten to that island and back. Unfortunately, the woman did not answer, evading the question so skillfully that, most of the time, even Ozpin had not realized until it was too late to ask again. Regardless, she was grateful that these children had survived and had a second chance at life, as difficult as it may be to adjust to a completely alien environment.
That said… Glynda's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she took in the children in front of her. More than just how quickly they seem to have adapted to losing their homes, there was something in the way they had moved when they approached her that tickled her instincts. They were no ordinary children that much she knew. Then again, none of the children in Beacon could be considered ordinary. But these eight had something else that separated them from the Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training within the school.
At the moment, Glynda couldn't say for certain what it was. But going forward, she knew she would have to keep an eye on these children. Not because they would undoubtedly need help adjusting, not because she felt like they were here to cause trouble, but simply to sate her curiosity. No doubt Ozpin would be doing the same.
"I recall being told that the language you used in your city was vastly different from ours so I was concerned whether or not you had managed to make your way to the school without incident," she said to them. "Although asides from a light accent, you seem to be more than capable of using our language."
The redhead smiled. "English is not an unknown language to us," she said, much to Glynda's surprise. "It is simply that not many people take the time to learn it. As such, we merely needed to spend more time practicing in order to be fluent enough." Then, her eyes widened slightly as though remembering something. "Ah, where are our manners. I am Mitsuru Kirijo."
Then, angling her body to her right, she introduced her companions one by one. "To my right are Junpei Iori, Yukari Takeba, Fuuka Yamagishi, and Chidori Yoshino." When their names were called, each of them lowered their heads in a shallow bow, letting Glynda, and the three girls still watching from the sidelines, know whom Mitsuru was introducing.
"And to my left are Akihiko Sanada, Ken Amada, Aigis Arisato, and Koromaru." Likewise, the three to her left did the same, although they were surprised, one more than the rest, when the white dog at their feet barked at the last name.
And then, surprising the four of them once again, all eight of them straightened their postures, gave a shallow bow at the waist, and said, "Hajimemashite!" followed by another bark from their dog, Koromaru.
Glynda was speechless, not knowing what to say to the display in front of her. While she did not understand what it was they had said, something in their native language most likely, it was clearly some sort of greeting. After a heartbeat, they rose, each of them bearing small smiles on their face.
"I apologize if we startled you, Ms. Goodwitch" said Mitsuru. "We were uncertain what the customs here are so we decided to simply use our own traditions in the meantime."
"I see." Glynda nodded in approval, for more reasons than one. That they had considered what customs they might encounter showed foresight, and the way they greeted her in unison showed discipline. While their movements and posture in general were not like what one would see from someone coming from a military academy, it at least reflected the kind of training they had been given. Or what kind of teacher they had. At the very least it would seem that, one way or the other, she did not have to be overly worried with regards to them. That is, if they pass the initiation.
"Well, now that we've cleared that up I believe you should proceed to the amphitheater," she said with a quick glance at her scroll. "The Entrance Ceremony will be beginning shortly. Just follow this path, take a left, and follow that path to the end. Simply look for the building with a glass dome and you'll have arrived. Once the ceremony is done, you will need to meet with the Headmaster and myself so we can finalize the details of your admission."
"Admission?" It took Weiss a moment to realize that she had been the one to speak. When she did, it came with the realization that everyone was now looking at her. Fighting down the blush that she knew was beginning to appear on her face, she turned to the red-haired woman who had introduced herself as Mitsuru. "You mean… you're students?"
Looking back, Weiss realized that the idea that they were from a private company or organization were ideas, assumptions, she had formed in her own head. Moreover, she had assumed that Mitsuru simply looked young. Not once did she consider that she looked young because she was young. But then, she could hardly blame herself for that mistake. The way Mitsuru held herself exuded sheer confidence. Confidence that no one their age could possibly have, not even her, she admitted with a bit of shame. Though clearly that was not the case.
"That's right," replied Mitsuru. Behind her, the other students were sharing mysterious glances with each other. Mitsuru's tone had not changed, though now it lacked that of authority that it had earlier. Was it because Goodwitch, a higher authority, was there? Or was it because she was no longer questioning them? "I apologize if my actions earlier caused you to misunderstand. I was merely concerned due to the explosion." That answered her question at least.
Then suddenly one of them began laughing. It was soft at first but slowly grew in volume. It was the boy with the buzzcut hair. Beside him, a girl with brown hair reaching between her chin and shoulders groaned in frustration and rolled her eyes. Over her shoulder, Weiss could see a black, cylindrical object. Her weapon perhaps? "What now Stupei?" she asked as though it were an everyday occurrence.
"H-Hey, come on Yukaricchi," Junpei replied while trying to contain his laughter. "You gotta admit, that was pretty funny."
'Stu… pei? Yuka… richi? Weren't their names Junpei and Yukari?' Weiss thought, but then remembered that they had come from some place where they had a different language. Even the name of the city, Iwa-something, had sounded strange to her ears. 'I've never heard of such a place, nor of there being a different language anywhere on Remnant, but I suppose it isn't impossible. All things considered, perhaps I merely misheard her name earlier.'
The girl glared at the boy as he continued laughing. Unfortunately her glare barely lasted two seconds before her lip twitched and she found herself trying to hold in her own giggles. As though infected by her laughter, the other slowly began to show their amusement as well. Unlike the first boy, however, the rest held themselves back and kept it to chuckles and giggled. Everyone, that is, save for the other red-haired girl. The one wearing white. She simply looked confused.
"You have to admit, Mitsuru," said the same silver-haired boy who had initially called their attention. "It was pretty funny."
"I'm well aware Akihiko," replied Mitsuru, her mirth limited to her smile and the slight, almost unnoticeable, movements of her shoulders. Then she sighed mirthfully. "I suppose it takes more than willpower to suppress years of training and tutelage as the Kirijo heiress."
Heiress. That one word immediately caught Weiss's attention. In some ways it made sense to her now how someone so young could comport herself so confidently, could behave in such a flawless manner. But at the same time, looking at Mitsuru and the way she behaved with her companions struck something deep within Weiss. But why? Why did the scene before her bother her?
Before the white-haired heiress could think about it further, Glynda cleared her throat. "I do believe we've wasted enough time. If you hurry you should make it to the amphitheater just before the ceremony begins," she said to them all. Then, turning to the foreigners, she said, "Don't forget that you will need to meet with the Headmaster afterwards. His office is at the top floor of Beacon Tower. To make it easier for you, that would be the tallest building on campus."
Mitsuru, as Weiss had come to expect, quickly schooled her features, though a soft, congenial smile remained on her face. "Of course, I apologize," said Mitsuru, bowing slightly to the blonde woman.
"Just try not to make a habit of it. Now move along. I still have somewhere to be before I join the ceremony. I shall see you later." And without another word, Glynda turned and left, going back the way she came.
"I suppose we should do the same," said Mitsuru, glancing at the members of her group. "It wouldn't do to get into trouble before we're even official students after all."
"Whaaaat?" Junpei whined out loud as they began to walk away, though by the smile on his face he clearly wasn't being serious. "Come on senpai, you said it yourself. We aren't official students yet. Can't exactly get in trouble with the school if we aren't students yet, right?"
This time even Mitsuru chuckled at his words. "I suppose not. But considering we'll be here for the next four years I'm sure you'll have all the time to find ways to get into trouble, Junpei."
The laughter and jokes continued even as they walked out of Weiss's hearing range, evident by the smiles on their faces and carefree movements.
"Wow." It took Weiss a moment to realize that it had not been her who spoke and another moment to remember she was still not alone. Beside her stood the same young girl who had knocked over her luggage. The thought of that brought back some of her irritation but considering everything that had happened she simply didn't have the will to get angry at the moment. "Those guys were so cool," squealed the girl.
"Don't know about cool, asides from the one with red hair and the blonde," said the black-haired girl who had essentially bad-mouthed her family's company. "But they certainly were something. Pretty interesting too since they said they came from somewhere with a different language."
"I know right," responded the girl, her gaze still following the departing group. "I wonder what kind of weapons they use. I mean, I saw that axe, those knives, and that rapier, oh, and the spear the kid was carrying-"
"Aren't you a kid too?" Weiss asked, but was ignored by the girl.
"-But they looked pretty ordinary so that might not even be what they normally use. Oh well, I guess I can ask them later after the- oh crap! The ceremony." And just like that, the three of them remember what they had to do. "SeeyouguyslaterandI'mreallysorryaboutyourluggagebye."
All of a sudden, the girl to her right disappeared, red rose petals drifting around where the girl had been. And then the girl to her left dashed away, her speed clearly one of her strong points, leaving Weiss by her lonesome. A quick glance at her luggage showed that her family's servants had not been idle and had gathered them up and taken them where they need to be. 'Why did they even leave it unattended in the first place?'
With that taken care of, Weiss turned to the academy, specifically to the structure in the distance with a glass dome. With just a single thought, a bluish-white glyph with a twelve-pointed snowflake in the middle appeared beneath her feet. And with one last thought, 'I wonder if I'll get the chance to talk to them about forming a team,' she dashed away, her glyphs propelling her towards her destination.
"I'm definitely not getting used to this any time soon. But damn, I could get used to this."
This, from Junpei's perspective, was the fact that SEES was currently on board one of several airships headed towards Beacon Academy, Remnant's premier and most prestigious school for huntsmen and huntresses. All around the group, dozens of prospective trainees mingled and lingered as they awaited their arrival at the school.
Junpei's enthusiasm, it would seem, was infectious as Koromaru was barking excitedly, forepaws up on the back of the seat as he gazed out at the scenery through the window behind the seat. Beside him, Junpei could only chuckle as he stretched his legs out while relaxing into the seat. "Pretty cool, huh boy?" He chuckled again when the albino Shiba Inu barked in agreement. After a moment, he sobered up but still looked around the passenger area in amazement. "Man, I didn't think stuff like this actually existed even after everything Elizabeth-san told us."
"It would be more surprising if such things didn't exist," commented Aigis as she looked around the passenger area they were in.
It was a large room, easily capable of holding dozens, perhaps even a hundred, people without sacrificing comfort. Along the sides were long sofas, each one placed in front of a large window. And in the room with them were a few dozen other teenagers, all, most likely, prospective students like they were.
As her gaze scanned the room, Aigis noted that many were looking in their direction. And many of those who were had immediately looked away just as her gaze passed them by. It was not difficult to understand why they were staring at them.
Dressed in their Gekkoukan winter uniforms, the members of SEES certainly were a sight to see. Even Yukari, Akihiko, and Mitsuru, who normally chose not to wear the school blazer, were wearing them. And Fuuka, who usually wore a different shirt underneath, was wearing a white dress shirt.
Ken, who had grown slightly taller over the past months, had to buy a new wardrobe, courtesy of some money given to them by Elizabeth, when they arrived in Vale the previous day. But even so, they had managed to find clothing similar enough to the uniform for him to wear. All they needed to do was tear off the Gekkoukan emblem from his old uniform and sew it onto the newer jacket and it was only distinguishable by the slight differences in style. And to complete their outfits, they all wore the SEES armbands on their left arms.
The decision to wear their full uniforms had been made in order to make a better impression, at least for their initial meeting with the school's staff. Because of this, more than a few students had looked in their direction, the question clear in their eyes, but none were brave or curious enough to approach the uniformed group.
Aigis's sharp hearing had even heard a few of them considering the possibility that they were an actual team of Huntsmen and Huntresses despite how similar in age they appeared to be. But regardless of what they thought, the tense expressions on most the faces on some members of SEES might have been the deciding factor on whether or not they were approached.
Aigis, along with half the group, remained standing in the corner that they commandeered for themselves instead of sitting on the provided seats. The seats were comfortable. Even as an android she couldn't deny that. However, the anxiety building up within her made it difficult to sit still. Despite knowing they felt the same way, she was surprised that Junpei, Mitsuru, and Fuuka could remain seated.
A flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye, a brighter shade than that of the Kirijo heiress, reminded Aigis of their other companion who was sitting right beside Junpei. It also brought to mind other events during that period of time between now and their awakening far beneath the Iwatodai Dormitory.
Chidori Yoshino, former member of Strega, a trio of artificial Persona-users who once stood against SEES. She, alone, looked out of place sitting beside Junpei as she was wearing her usual white dress rather than a Gekkoukan uniform. Her presence within the crystal room that sealed them all away had come as a surprise, especially since even Ryoji had not known she was there until he began guarding the room. But by then, Minato, their leader in all but name, had gone off into the new world, never to return to the dorm.
Even more surprising was the fact that she remembered everything. After her death, and her subsequent rebirth, she had lost all memories of the Dark Hour, including knowledge of Personas and the Shadows. Moreover, since her interactions with them tied heavily into those, any memories she had of SEES prior to her revival had also disappeared.
But in those ten days between her rebirth and their fight with Nyx, they, at least those who visited her in the hospital, had seen another side of the death-seeking girl. Her memories from before she had been taken by the Kirijo were clearer than before. This had worried them at first, considering the Kirijo had literally taken her from the streets at a young age.
But despite her past, she was kind and considerate, speaking kindly to them all despite not knowing them. And when Junpei had first broken down in front of her, she responded with understanding and compassion, despite not knowing the cause of Junpei's distress. Clearly her nihilism stemmed from her experiences as a Kirijo test subject and not necessarily her poor childhood.
Understandably, memories between then and her revival, the time period when she was aware of the Dark Hour, had gone completely missing. This caused another bout of problems for the Kirijo doctors. Despite her lack of medical knowledge, even Chidori would have found it strange that she could remember the first few years of her childhood but nothing else. Not even the more recent ones.
They could not tell her the truth. Now that she was a normal human, her transmogrification being the foremost evidence of this, there was no way they could explain the Dark Hour to her, never mind her previous role in the battle against the Shadows. And even if they did explain it to her, the nature of the Dark Hour made it impossible to prove it to her as she would never be able to experience it. Even if she did believe them, knowing what she had done despite not remembering would most likely only serve to cause her further distress.
Thus the doctors, along with Mitsuru, had then explained that the incident that landed her in the hospital, a fight between two small gangs that she had stumbled upon, had brought her close to death. They had even explained that she had been declared dead at one point before she was revived, only to fall into a coma for a few months before waking. That, they pointed out, along with her injuries, some to her head, was probably the reason for her vague memories. In time, they said, the memories should return and grow clearer.
It was an outright lie. They knew that her memories were not merely vague and forgotten. They were missing entirely. Gone alongside her Persona and the ability to enter the Dark Hour.
The Kirijo scientists speculated that, despite the Dark Hour only occurring for one hour between the start and the end of each day, the simple fact that she was aware of its existence at any given time was enough for her memories outside the Dark Hour to disappear.
After all, if only memories associated with the Dark Hour, Personas, and Shadows disappeared, then any memories created that had nothing to do with such things should have remained with her. And yet, the years since her forceful awakening to the Dark Hour and her Persona had all disappeared from her mind, regardless of when the memory was created. Even the most mundane of memories had not remained.
In fact, some scientist and doctors have claimed that it was a miracle her mind had not regressed to that of the child she had been prior to her forced awakening. It proved that, contrary to their previous words, that something had remained. They simply could not be sure of anything more specific.
They had no evidence, no way to prove their theory, but it made the most sense. Her mental growth into a teenager had remained despite the disappearance of her memories. And while her mental state had remained mature, she had none of the coldness and bitterness that she had displayed at a member of Strega.
And now, with the merging of the Dark Hour with the real world, along with the forceful awakening of every human's Potential, her memories returned completely.
The first few weeks were the hardest. She had awakened two days after SEES did. And, true to his word, Ryoji informed them, Junpei first of all, that the seal on her coffin was close to breaking. She was, much like them, confused when she woke. Not just from not knowing where she was, but also why she remembered things about them that she shouldn't have.
It turns out that her memories had become a mix of her two personalities. A part of her remembered everything with regards to the Dark Hour. The Kirijo experiments, the initial formation of Strega, her life with Strega, Strega's fights against SEES, her time in the hospital, the time spent with Junpei, and her eventual death.
Another part of her was the one that had awakened after her 'death'. She remembered her childhood, the few days spent speaking with Junpei, and sometimes Mitsuru, conversations with doctors who explained her condition, and then falling asleep one night only to awaken inside a crystal coffin.
The former saw the latter's memories as nothing more than a false life, a false self, one that she had been robbed of the moment the Ikutsuki's men had kidnapped her. The latter saw the former's memories as a nightmare, one that, perhaps, haunted her while she was in a coma.
Two sets of memories, one real and also the one SEES were more familiar with, and the other a possibility of what could have been had she never been taken by the Kirijo.
But that was where the problem lay. Who was the real Chidori? Was it the one who had lived her entire life believing that humanity was no longer worth believing in? Or was it the one that could have been had she never been exposed to the darkness of human hearts?
Chidori's case was unique in many ways.
It was not a case of someone with the Potential sleeping through the hidden time period due to the lateness of its appearance, never once experiencing it due to sheer coincidence. Not only had she lived ten years while experiencing the hidden hour, but she had been active during that hour. If the memories had simply been erased then she would have been a child in a teenager's body due to losing ten years of memories.
But that was not the case. Her mentality, despite being different from the one they were familiar with, was still clearly that of a young adult. So where had that new personality come from?
Nobody could give her an answer.
Ryoji could not. He was, after all, an inhuman being. Despite having had a human form, living a human life, for a brief time, he did not know enough to be able to answer.
Elizabeth, for all her knowledge of a supernatural world far beyond what SEES had been exposed to, was just as unknowledgeable. Despite her vast knowledge, not even she knew everything there was to know.
"But consider this," she had continued to say, "Who are we to decide for you what is true and what is fallacy, what is real and what is not? A fact is something that will not change, no matter how much we wish. But truth and lies are what we perceive it to be, what we believe it to be. And so, what do you believe to be the truth? What do you believe to be lies? More importantly, what do you wish to believe in? None can answer but you."
Chidori had calmed down somewhat after that, but everyone could see the distress and conflict on her face. Sometimes, when she interacted with them, it was Chidori Yoshino, the ill-mannered and ill-tempered ex-member of Strega. Other times it was Chidori Yoshino, the kind and understanding girl who returned from death. There were even times when she switched personalities multiple times in a single conversation. Neither personality was dominant, both were equally seen and spoken to. And this caused her further distress as she, both sides of her, had hoped to settle the matter by seeing which side of her was most dominant.
In the end, nearly a month after waking from her slumber, it had been Junpei who had come to her aid once again. He had gone up to her room one night to deliver her meal, with permission from the other female members of the team of course, as she had taken to staying in her room most, if not all, of the time. Instead, he had stayed longer than expected. Only Fuuka's assurances, with help from her abilities, stayed the hand of Mitsuru and Yukari as they attempted to ensure that Junpei had not done anything inappropriate despite knowing of his feelings for the girl.
Nobody, except for Junpei and Chidori, and possibly Fuuka, knew exactly what happened in Chidori's room that night. All they knew was that, after that night, Chidori was visibly calmer, more composed, and even more social. She still switched between her two personalities but, as the weeks and months passed, the distinction became less clear to all but Junpei, Fuuka, Aigis, and Koromaru.
Junpei, in his own words, just knew. Fuuka could sense the difference with help from Juno. Koromaru, after a quick translation by Aigis, replied much the same as Junpei. And Aigis's advanced functions as an android allowed her to notice the slight differences in Chidori's tone, movements, and overall behavior.
After that, the next few months were filled with constant training as well as lessons from Ryoji and Elizabeth. Although their stasis had not weakened their bodies at all – save for the weakness and exhaustion that carried over from their final battle with Ryoji – their physical abilities, even at full strength, simply could not compare with the people of the current age. While their Personas were their main weapons against the Shadows of old, in the time they had been sealed away, mankind had developed other skills and abilities to combat the creatures of darkness.
And just as mankind evolved with the awakening of their hidden potential, so too did the Shadows.
Shadows were stagnant creatures. While they had some form of intelligence, with the twelve Arcana Shadows capable of more intricate planning, they did not grow. One kind of Shadow was the same as the rest of its kind. There were Shadows with similar appearances, only with a different level of strength or with different abilities, but if two Shadows looked exactly the same then one could be absolutely certain that they would act the same way and were capable of the same things.
Only in the presence of a stronger Shadow, like the twelve Arcana Shadows, did the lesser Shadows change their behavior. But no matter how long they were left alone, Shadows did not grow. Though according to the Kirijo's Ergonomic Research Team, Shadows have been known to gather around a stronger Shadow and, eventually, form a larger Shadow. And, as proven by the research team's experiments, Shadows could also be forcibly fused together to hasten the growth of Shadows. But in terms of growth, that was the limit of the Shadows.
But the Grimm were different. They grew on their own.
One example they had been given was the Nevermore. While young, newly born into the world, Nevermores were as small as ravens and no more dangerous than an ordinary raven attempting to attack a human. A nuisance but, unless they were in large numbers, they did not pose a great threat. But in time, they would grow large enough that their wingspan surpassed the average human's height. They would continue to grow until they were large enough for one person to ride, though the weight may weigh down the Nevermore. Later, still, they would grow to be larger than small planes. And given enough time…
"I believe one of its talons would be about the same length as a human was tall… perhaps even longer," were Elizabeth's words.
Regardless of how much that thought scared them, they now knew that, without a doubt, the Grimm were far more dangerous than the Shadows. They were not to be taken lightly. To make things worse, the Grimm did not just grow in size but also in intellect. Larger Grimm often had an addition to their name to distinguish them from the younger, less intelligent of their particular kind.
Caution or, to be more accurate, a survival instinct, was often the first thing that developed as they aged. They grew intelligent enough to not only lead the younger Grimm, but they became capable enough to form basic plans of attack.
"There are even tales of Grimm that have grown so old that they rival human leaders in intellect and ingenuity," Elizabeth had told them near the end of that lesson. "Such Grimm are often given names of their own. If you should encounter such a Grimm… well... let us hope you do not. Not until you have grown much stronger."
But as the Grimm evolved, so too did mankind.
Aura, a manifestation of one's soul. A power that, when unleashed, provided both defensive and offensive capabilities to its wielder. It's most common use was as a passive form of defense that prevented an attack from reaching their physical bodies, and also a way to enhance the body's ability to heal. With more training, Aura can be used in other ways such as an enhancement of physical capabilities, or even the creation of a shield made of pure Aura.
It was not without its disadvantages of course. Though their Aura could prevent the attack from striking their bodies, it was more akin to wearing a thin but extremely sturdy piece of armor. Bullets, for example, would not injure or draw blood, but the one being attacked would still feel the force propelling the bullet forward. Similarly, attacks that deal concussive force, as opposed to those aimed at drawing blood, are more effective since the force behind the blows could still be felt.
And then there was Semblance, a more physical, and sometimes tangible, form of one's Aura. It was, as Elizabeth explained to them, the equivalent of their Personas. Although Personas were manifestations of their souls, much like Aura was defined to be, the fact that their Personas were more physical in form would place them under the category of Semblance.
"I suppose you could say that Personas are a primitive form of Semblance," she had told them. It was primitive in that they needed a catalyst, their Evokers, in order to utilize their power. But at the same time, the limitations of their Personas were different from that of a Semblance.
A Semblance was dependent on the user's Aura. The lower one's Aura levels were, the less stable or more difficult it was to utilize their Semblance. And once someone's Aura runs out, their Semblance would be inaccessible to them until they recovered.
Their Personas, however, relied on their physical and, more importantly, their mental well-being as the summoning of a Persona places a heavy burden on one's mind and body. Mitsuru herself did not understand it fully, but their Evokers were created in the form of guns for a reason. It was, as had been explained to her, because calling forth their Personas were easier when one felt the fear of death.
In this case, it was the instinctual fear of the sound of a gunshot coming from a gun, whose barrel was resting right at their heads. It didn't matter if they knew the gun wasn't a real gun. Logic and emotions were two different things. Logic dictates you wouldn't die by being shot by a fake gun. Emotionally, the sound of a gun being fired awakened a primal instinct found within all living beings, to fear that which could claim your life, the instinct to survive.
And repeatedly experiencing this feeling, in addition to whatever mental and physical demands the fight required, placed a heavy stress on one's body. As such, once they reach their limits, it becomes impossible to summon their Persona until they have rested enough. All they could do was adapt. Like a muscle, their bodies, their hearts, would grow used to the demands placed by the repeated summoning of their Persona. All they could do was train to heighten their limits.
But in the end, the differences in limitation between the two types of powers was very distinct.
Those who utilize Aura would not necessarily be tired by the time their Aura was expended. Meaning they would still be able to fight under their own power even without access to their Semblance. The lack of Aura as a defensive measure, however, made this a dangerous choice. In Elizabeth's words, many Huntsmen and Huntresses, as she had noticed over time, have grown dependent on their Aura as a defensive measure, even if just a little.
"Those who are cornered will fight harder to survive," she told them, many of them familiar with similar phrases and, as such, understood immediately what she meant. "When a living being knows they could die at any moment, they will fight with all they have to continue living. Those with Aura do not have to fear such a swift, unexpected death. For even unaware, their Aura is present provided it had not been expended already. As such, reckless actions that one would not normally consider became easier to consider, more enticing."
"That is not to say that they do not know how to avoid danger. After all, Aura or no, they are still living beings. That instinctual fear of anything that can claim one's life is still present. It is simply that those who are used to such situations can afford to be more, shall we say, careless. Still, that will be for you learn and experience once you leave this place and experience the world for yourselves."
Persona-users, on the other hand, would not only be unable to utilize their Personas, but also unable to fight. Or at the very least, their combat capabilities would be incredibly debilitated due to reaching their physical and mental limits by the repeated summoning.
It was why Elizabeth's training focused on their physical capabilities, followed by summoning their Personas until they could no longer do so. If they could increase the limits of their stamina and willpower, they could increase the number of times and the length of time they could summon their Personas. In addition, the training would further increase their own combat abilities, which, as Elizabeth had told them repeatedly, was far below those their own age due to their early training to become Huntsmen and Huntresses.
Even Mitsuru, who had been training to fight the longest amongst SEES, was not trained exclusively to fight.
Still, Elizabeth and Ryoji's harsh training, combined with Akihiko's extensive knowledge of various exercises and how to develop specific muscles based on their individual needs, brought them closer to where they needed to be. If they were to be judged strictly by their physical capabilities, they would possibly be in the lower third of their age-range, close to the middle at best, which Elizabeth admitted was not very likely to happen. In truth, they were most likely to be the weakest provided those their age trained regularly. With their Personas, they were well above average, perhaps even in the upper-tiers depending on how well they fought.
Though it struck their pride, they agreed that it didn't matter in the long run. Ultimately, their strength lay in their abilities as a team, rather than as individuals. And while having Personas granted them a wide-range of abilities, Huntsmen and Huntresses trained in ways that complemented their Semblances more often than not. Each one was often highly specialized in one form or another. Unless one of them had abilities that completely countered the other's Semblance, they were not likely to dominate a fight one-on-one.
By the end of nearly seven months of training even Fuuka, the sole non-combatant of the team, was capable of defending herself. Her combat ability was still the weakest among them all, but at least now she did not have to rely on hiding within Juno's body as her only means of defense. Even if she could not defeat an opponent on her own due to the highly defensive nature of her training, she would still be able to defend herself long enough to find help or for help to arrive. Not to mention her own special abilities.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon."
Aigis was pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of an unknown voice. A quick glance around showed that an image of a woman with short blonde hair had appeared in front of every window. Those who were seated quickly stood and walked in front of the image before turning to face it.
"Who's that?" she heard someone nearby ask.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch." Judging by her greeting, the woman was clearly someone of importance within the school. With that knowledge, Aigis searched her memory to see if the name was among those that Elizabeth had mentioned as important or well-known. "You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being given the chance to attend this prestigious academy."
"Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses it will one day be your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task. And now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." The woman's image faded soon after and the excited chatter of those around them returned.
"So she's the Deputy Headmistress of the school," commented Mitsuru, her own mind remembering the woman's name not long after Aigis did. "I suppose looking at it from their perspective this is a time of peace."
"As peaceful as can be when there are Shad…. Er… Grimm out there I suppose," added Yukari, catching herself before she referred to the Grimm with a name the rest of the world would not have been familiar with. "It's gonna take me a while to get used to all these new terms."
"I agree," said Ken, looking around at all the other students in the passenger area. "Not just that though. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that people are allowed to carry their weapons so openly." At that, everyone nodded in agreement, some of them taking in the strange, yet familiar looking weaponry carried by those around them.
"That's true," came Fuuka's soft voice. "Our Evoker may not be real guns, but the fact that they look real enough would have been enough to have us arrested back home."
"Well, at least it means we're not likely to be caught unarmed," said Akihiko, the silver-haired boxer looking at the various weapons with a bit of excitement. "Still, looking at all these weapons make me feel a little unprepared."
Junpei chuckled. "I know what you mean senpai. It's like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Almost makes me wish I had one myself."
"I'm sure that can be arranged Junpei," said Yukari, her tone part teasing, part resentful. "Maybe we should call up Elizabeth-san and see what she find for you."
"Jealous Yukaricchi?" he replied, grinning at her with a single raised brow.
Yukari groaned. "Why are we stuck learning how to use something new?" she complained in a lower voice, a complaint that the other members of SEES had heard before. "I mean, I get Fuuka needing a weapon, and Aigis needing something to hide but why am I the only one who has to get a new one too? Even if it wasn't my old one, an ordinary bow would have been fine. I didn't need something like… like…"
"Sharanga?" Fuuka provided helpfully. Though the way the corner of her lip twitched upwards indicated her amusement.
"Ugh… Who the hell even names their weapons?" she asked out loud as she began to pace, unaware of the few nearby students who turned to stare at her. One, in particular, seemed like she wanted nothing more than to march up to Yukari to give the brunette a piece of her mind. Yukari let out an exasperated sigh and looked at everyone with half-lidded eyes. "Any chance we could convince Ryoji-kun to help us kill her?"
Both Junpei and Fuuka laughed out loud, thought Fuuka's was more of a loud giggling, at Yukari's complaints. Even the others couldn't hide their amusement at the situation.
"Sharanga, the bow of the Hindu God Vishnu," recited Aigis, drawing upon her limited knowledge of myths and legends. Even she, it would seem, found Yukari's distress amusing. "One day, Brahma wanted to know who was a better archer, Vishnu or Shiva. So he created a quarrel between the two, which led to a duel of unimaginable proportions. Their fight was so terrible that the balance of the entire universe was disturbed. But soon, Vishnu was able to paralyze Shiva with his arrows. All the Devas, led by Brahma himself, begged them to stop, declaring Vishnu the winner as he was able to stun Shiva."
At the conclusion of Aigis's tale, Junpei turned to Yukari with renewed laughter. "Hear that Yukari? Nothing to be ashamed of. You've got the bow of a God! No way you can lose now."
Yukari growled in frustration as she stopped pacing, whirling around to face Junpei as he came close to collapsing on the seat in laughter. "Oh yeah? Maybe you'd like a first-hand demonstration of my bow then, Stupei?"
"Bring it on Yukaricchi!" came his reply as he patted the sheathed katana lying on the seat beside him. "I'm pretty sure I can take you on up close."
Yukari's left hand slowly moved to her thigh, where her new bow was resting in its compact form, her face showing that she was honestly debating whether the consequence of fighting Junpei then and there was worth it. In the end, she was saved from making a decision she might have come to regret by Chidori's words. "It seems we're here."
Everyone turned to Chidori and found her gazing out the window, a hint of awe in her expression. Walking up to the window, everyone followed her example as the airship turned, allowing their side of the ship a direct view of Beacon Academy as the ship docked.
"It's… almost like something out of a fairy tale," Fuuka breathed out in awe as she gazed upon Beacon.
While the buildings were certainly more modern in appearance, even compared to Iwatodai, the multitude of archways and the many towers and spires were reminiscent of castles, especially, as Fuuka had noted, those found in fairy tales and fantasies. And as they gazed up at the tallest structure, they couldn't help but be entranced by the bright green glow coming from near the top of the tower.
"Oh wow. This place put Gekkoukan to shame." And then, as though realizing what she had said, Yukari cringed and turned to Mitsuru with an apologetic look. "S-Sorry senpai."
Mitsuru chuckled, amused by Yukari's reaction. "There's nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I agree. Even the Kirijo would have been hard-pressed to create a school of this magnitude, never mind the aesthetics. Still, best we get accustomed to it. We will be attending this school for the next four years after all."
"I know," Yukari sighed with mock resignation. "But still… isn't four years too long?" she asked, catching everyone's attention. "I get that we don't know a lot of stuff, but can't we just study up on that while searching for a way to finish all this?"
Mitsuru glanced at the group, taking in their reactions to Yukari's words. "I assume you all feel the same way?" she asked but knew the answer even before she received nods from everyone, and a bark from Koromaru that sounded like agreement. "I see."
There was a lengthy pause as they waited to hear Mitsuru's opinion. In that time, the motions from the ship began to settle as the ship finally finished docking. "Believe me," said Mitsuru. "I would rather be searching for a way to make things right just like the rest of you. But as Yukari pointed out, there's far too much we don't know. If we are to be able to do anything, we first need to know what we are dealing with. And that means relearning everything we know about the world."
"And even after studying all those books that Elizabeth-san brought, she herself admitted that she only brought books on things that are common knowledge. The few additional books were helpful, but not enough. Moreover, we cannot expect her help from this point on, nor Mochizuki-san's. As they've said, Elizabeth's priority, now that she had helped us this far, is to search for a way to help Arisato-kun. Mochizuki-san also has his own agenda to see to."
"And that's another thing," interrupted Yukari. By now, the other students were making their way off the ship but SEES paid them no mind. "Shouldn't we be helping her out with that? I mean, he is our leader after all. It doesn't… feel right leaving it up to her."
"Again, I understand Yukari," said Mitsuru. "But if she were to be believed, then he is beyond our reach for the moment. In addition, all we know is that he is still fighting. Neither Elizabeth-san nor Mochizuki-san know what he is doing now or how, just that he is still fighting despite no longer being physically present in this world."
The reminder of their reason for being at Beacon was a sobering thought for them all. Despite the prospect of exploring an entirely new and foreign world, to them at least, the thought of their ultimate goal, the eradication of the Shadows and the Dark Hour, no matter what form it took, was still their top priority. She wouldn't begrudge them the chance to enjoy themselves, certainly not. Even she found this new world they had awakened to fascinating. If anything, all of them needed to remember why they were fighting. To live. And there was little point in living if they couldn't enjoy that life.
"Uh… guys?" Everyone was pulled from their thoughts at Junpei's call. Looking at him, they saw him looking around as though he were lost. "I uh… think we should get going. Looks like we're the only ones here."
A quick check of their surroundings showed that, indeed, the other prospective students had already left and that the nine of them, Koromaru included, were all that remained behind.
"We should go," said Aigis, the blonde android moving towards the door. "I believe we still need to meet with one of the staff after the Welcoming Ceremony."
The group disembarked from the airship and most of them couldn't contain their awe at the sight that greeted them. Walking along the stone pathway leading away from the loading docks seemed to make it more real that, despite appearances, the sight before them was no mere fairy tale or fantasy. And despite all the stone used in the school's architecture, the abundance of green brought a sense of serenity to them all.
It was only Chidori and the two seniors of the group whose outwards appearances were calm. But even so, the way their eyes roamed over every little detail they passed told of their fascination with their surroundings. And it was understandable.
Beacon was a school unlike any they had ever seen in their time. Even Gekkoukan High School, a private school owned by the Kirijo family, could not compare despite the family's efforts to create a school that would not only provide a high level of education, but also an environment suitable for learning. Moreover, to see that there were places such as this, places that seemed to radiate a sense of peace despite the existence of the Grimm, was nothing short of astounding.
At least until something exploded.
They didn't blink. They didn't hesitate. They didn't even look at each other. Even before the sound of the explosion died away, the members of SEES were already in motion. It was only Chidori who lagged behind but even she had not taken long before acting. They had seen the explosion itself just ahead of them, not far from where they were. The explosion itself hadn't been big, nor had it been powerful, but in a world where Shadows, Grimm, no longer needed the Dark Hour to be present, they couldn't take any chances.
"I'll keep this brief."
The members of SEES ended their conversation at those words. Looking forward, they saw a tall man with messy gray hair standing on the stage. He was wearing an open dark-green suit, a buttoned vest of the same color, and green pants, just a hint lighter than the rest of his clothing. Around his neck was a leaf-green scarf and in his left hand was a dark gray cane with a silver handle. Some of them immediately recognized his face from the profiles that Elizabeth had provided. Ozpin, a famed Huntsman and also the current Headmaster of Beacon Academy.
"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft, and acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you… and all I see is waste of energy in need of purpose… direction."
At those words, a few people around them broke out in whispers while some looked at the Headmaster with questioning gazed. Even amongst SEES, some of them could not contain their curiosity at the Headmaster's choice of words.
"You assume knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Mitsuru and Akihiko nodded slightly, agreeing with the man's words. The rest of SEES simply showed looks of understanding. When he began to walk off the stage, to be replaced by Glynda, those in the crowd who were confused knew they wouldn't be getting the answers from him.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. For now, you are free to explore the academy but note than most buildings will be off-limits to you until you pass the initiation. Asides from the ballroom, the Dining Hall will be open to all until 9 PM this evening, and the armory will be open until 5 PM if you need to purchase supplies or simply require a workshop for your weapons. We expect you all to be in the ballroom no later than 10 PM. You are dismissed."
Many students immediately left the amphitheater to explore the campus while some lingered behind, either to wait for the crowd to thin out or simply to spend time in the amphitheater with friends or new acquaintances. SEES, however, had other plans. Almost as soon as she had finished speaking, SEES turned and exited the amphitheater. Having been one of the last to arrive, they were situated near the exit and thus did not have to join the crowds who had to fight to leave sooner.
Finding the tallest building, as they had been advised, was not very difficult. Not only was it at the center of the campus, but the large, glowing green orbs near the top was impossible to ignore, even during the day. At the base of the structure, the group couldn't help but marvel at the size of the structure. The large, cylindrical structure stood taller than any other building they had ever seen. Save, that is, for one.
The Tower of Demise, Tartarus, a massive labyrinthine structure that only appeared during the Dark Hour. Even without knowing the details of the structure before them, Tartarus was, without a doubt, the tallest structure they have ever seen. Possibly even the tallest they ever will see.
"Unbelievable," Fuuka gasped out in a breathy voice. "Asides from Tartarus, I've never seen a building this big before."
Junpei chuckled. "Yeah. Though I'll take this over Tartarus any day. What's it for anyway?" he asked, noting all the people constantly walking in and out of the building. "These guys can't all be here to see the Headmaster, right?"
"This is the Cross Continental Transmit System," explained Fuuka as they walked into the building. "Though it's often just called the CCTS or CCT. It's pretty much what replaced our forms of wireless communications. There are four all in all, one in each kingdom. The communications area within is the only way to communicate directly with someone on another continent. Should even one of them be taken down then the entire system goes offline."
"Glad we divided some of those extra books," said Akihiko. "With all the things we had to study up on in such a short time it'd be hard if we all had to remember everything."
A laugh came from the youngest of the group. "Try looking at it from my perspective Akihiko-senpai. I had to study just as hard and they're going to expect me to know just as much as the rest of you despite my age. If anything they might be harder on me to make sure I can actually handle myself here."
"Guess they'll be in for a surprise then," the silver-haired teen replied with a laugh of his own. "After Tartarus, the Shadows, and the training we had, you're easily as good as we are in a fight despite your age. And don't worry too much about your grades, you'll do fine." Then, with a mischievous grin, he added, "I'm sure you'll do better than Junpei at any rate."
"Heeeey." Junpei turned on the chuckling duo behind him with a mock pout. "Come on senpai, can't you give me a little more credit than that? I'm not that bad."
"Yeah, right." Beside him, Yukari was giggling. "You just barely passed our last exams, Stupei. And now we've got to study up on stuff we've never even heard of, all in English."
"I'm speaking English aren't I?" he countered with a grin.
"Yeah, but you can barely read it," she responded, her grin turning smug when Junpei showed signs of defeat. "If you ask nicely, maybe I'll help you out."
"Don't worry Junpei-kun," said Chidori, speaking for the first time since they left the airship, raising one hand to pat Junpei consolingly on the shoulder and giving him a smile. "I can use some help with it as well so we can work on it together."
Junpei swiftly straightened up, one arm wrapping around Chidori's shoulder, and pulling her in lightly, causing a faint reddening of her cheeks at the contact. "Aw, thanks Chidori-chan! See that Yukaricchi? I've got all the help I need right here."
"Ugh, get a room you two," she said, all the excitement leaving her body at the display in front of her.
"Or better yet," said Fuuka, her voice sounding slightly farther away than they expected. "Maybe you'd like to come into the elevator with us?"
The trio blinked before realizing that everyone else had already stepped into the elevator and were holding it open for them with teasing grins. The trio hurried into the elevator, their discussion forgotten as the doors closed.
"Hello." The members of SEES were startled, some going as far as jumping back in surprise, when a voice spoke. "And welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?" came the question. The voice that was speaking was female but had a mechanical quality to it.
Mitsuru glanced at the panel to the right of the door. She noted that there were no buttons, only three columns of lights. None of the lights were currently on. "We're here to meet with the Headmaster," she said out loud.
Given that a voice had asked them a question, it was a safe assumption that they would need to answer verbally in turn. Perhaps, rather than having the passengers select the floor themselves, they had someone controlling the elevators for security purposes? Mitsuru couldn't be certain but it did sound plausible.
"Absolutely," came the response. "Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?"
"Scroll?" she found herself asking. Mitsuru turned to the rest of the group but found them gazing at each other with confusion as well. She turned to Aigis and Fuuka, the obvious question written on her face.
Contrary to what one might expect from an android, Aigis was not designed to store vast amounts of knowledge. She, like the rest of them, had to study about the new world they were now in. But due to being optimized for combat, certain things came easier for her such as weaponry, tactics, analysis, and other similar subjects. Fortunately, in this case, Mitsuru was fairly certain Aigis would know.
"They are referring to the devices which they use to communicate," she responded almost as soon as Mitsuru's gaze landed on her. "From what I understand, Scrolls have essentially taken the place of cellular phones, smartphones, tablet computers, and, in some ways, even notebook computers."
"Woah, you serious?" Junpei asked, as he and the other went wide-eyed. "Wait, when the hell did even you learn about that?"
"Please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity," the voice said, repeating its earlier request. The request went mostly ignored though due to their curiosity.
"It was in one of the books Elizabeth-san brought with her," replied Aigis. "Though since she had grouped it with the other books she deemed optional, I do not believe anyone else read it."
"Oh, I think that's the book I'm reading now," exclaimed Fuuka. "It's about the history of Remnant's technology. I only just started so I haven't gotten to the more recent developments just yet."
"I see." Turning back to the terminal, Mitsuru said, "Unfortunately we do not have a Scroll."
This time no immediate response came. And after a few more seconds it became clear that no response was forthcoming at all. At that, a worried look appeared on Mitsuru's face. And looking around, she saw that it was not only her who felt that way. "So… what now?" asked Yukari. "Should we go back out and see if we can find someone who can help?"
The red-haired heiress nodded, though the worry on her face didn't decrease. "It seems that would be for the best. There's little point in-"
The elevator suddenly whirred to life and, though just barely, they felt it moving. Despite being in an elevator car, they began looking around, wondering what was going on. Mitsuru, being the closest, was the first to see the change that had appeared on the terminal. One of the lights had switched on. The very top one. She pointed this out to the others.
"Assuming that's where we're headed, isn't that where we needed to go?" asked Akihiko, remembering Glynda telling them that the Headmaster's office was at the top floor of Beacon Tower.
"It is," responded Mitsuru. "While convenient, there is a part of me that can't help but worry."
"Not much we can do about it either way. Even if this doesn't lead to his office we can always just explain what happened," said the boxer. "Besides, Ms. Goodwitch will be expecting us so if we need to we can always just ask someone to contact her or something if this is somehow a security measure since we didn't have a Scroll with us."
Nobody could find any flaws in his reasoning so they simply settled down to wait for the elevator to reach its destination. Still, they were impressed by the elevator once they actually paid attention to the ride. The whir of machinery was soft, softer than they were used to at least. And if not for that, they would not have known they were moving at all. Unlike the elevators they were used to, they could barely feel this elevator moving.
Not long after the sound of the machinery faded and a chime sounded, letting them know they had reached their destination. The doors slid open and they were met by the sight of what seemed to be a waiting room. They stepped inside the room and glanced around, taking in the details of the room itself.
The wall where the elevator was located was curved, most likely following the outer wall of the building, which was cylindrical in nature. On either side was a rectangular coffee table with chairs along the wall. Directly to their right was a countertop with a coffee machine, presumable for guests and such waiting to meet with the esteemed Headmaster. Right across from them were the arched double doors that no doubt led to Headmaster Ozpin's office.
And standing beside the door was Glynda Goodwitch.
"Ah, there you are," she said upon seeing them. The group stepped out of the elevator and approached the woman, who was tapping on what seemed to be a transparent pad with a white edge on the sides. "I apologize for the oversight. We hadn't considered that you would not have a Scroll. Fortunately, we were alerted when you were unable to present a Scroll to the AI so we were able to override the need to present a Scroll."
"An… AI?" SEES, for what felt like the hundredth time that day, looked at one another once more. "You mean…" Mitsuru paused, somewhat unsure as to what to say. "That voice that spoke to us… that was…"
"An AI, yes." Glynda nodded, taking in their reactions. "I take it AIs have not been developed where you're from?" she asked. But the moment she did, she noticed the uncomfortable looks that appeared on most of their faces. Only the red-haired girl in white standing near the back did not openly react. Then again, she did not seem to have said or done much even during their first meeting less than an hour ago.
Still, she couldn't help but notice the reactions of the majority. One, in particular, seemed more apprehensive than the rest. The blonde standing just behind and to the left of Mitsuru. Aigis Arisato, unless she was mistaken. Moreover, the others seemed to be glancing at Aigis now and then. Did she perhaps know something in regards to the development of AIs in Iwatodai?
"That…" Mitsuru began and then paused, once again unsure as to how to proceed. "I believe it would be best to discuss that with the Headmaster present."
Glynda raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing else. It was a reasonable request after all. "Very well. He is waiting for us inside." Glynda tapped something on a translucent green pad beside the door. A second later, the door slid open, allowing them entry.
The first thing they noticed upon stepping inside were the gears above them. Massive gears, some longer in diameter than a car, could be seen rotating through the glass ceiling. They weren't sure what they were for, as some were not connected to other gears, but it was certainly another thing to take notice of the first time it was seen. To either side of them were more gears, though smaller than those above them, and limited only to a small space.
Directly in front of them was a desk with eight chairs in front of it, four on each side angled towards the center. And sitting behind the desk was, undoubtedly, Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Glynda made her way to the desk, standing in front of one corner.
"So you are the students from Iwatodai," he began without preamble. And while his pronunciation was slightly off, there was no mistaking the name of the city they had come from. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've been looking forward to this meeting since we spoke with Ms. Elizabeth. Please, have a seat." He gestured to the chairs in front of the desk with a hand holding a mug. Judging by the smell wafting from it, it was filled with coffee.
"Thank you, Headmaster Ozpin," replied Mitsuru. Even before arriving at the school, they had agreed that Mitsuru should speak for the group unless the question was directed towards someone in particular. Not only was she the most accustomed for such a role, but she was the best person to rely on should they be asked a question about their lives that that they had not accounted for. "I must say, this school is impressive. Not just for its size, but also the design. Functional yet pleasing to the eye."
"I'm glad it meets your approval," Ozpin responded with a smile. "Although I can hardly take credit for it. I was not, after all, the one who built or designed the school."
"But as the current Headmaster you do play a part in maintaining it and, more importantly, improving it," the, now former, Kirijo heiress replied without pause. "I doubt everything here is exactly the same as it was when the school was first build 80 years ago."
Ozpin chuckled. "It seems you've done some research before coming here. Or was it Ms. Elizabeth who explained things to you?"
"A little of both in this, and most other, cases. Elizabeth-san was helpful in providing books to enable us to study about Remnant as a whole."
Glynda then chose that moment to join in. "Pardon me, but I'm quite curious about something you just said." Mitsuru turned to the deputy and nodded. "What was it you called Ms. Elizabeth? You added something at the end. And as I recall, you were doing the same with your friends."
For just half a moment, Mitsuru seemed to be confused but then suddenly realized what Glynda was speaking about. "Ah, that would be our equivalent of referring to someone as Miss or Mister. Although it's quite a bit more complex than that."
"Would you mind if I asked some of you to take some time to explain more in future?" Ozpin asked, taking a sip from his coffee before setting the mug down on his desk. At SEES's questioning looks, he elaborated. "Call it curiosity. As far as we were aware our maps were complete. So I'm sure you understand that it was quite the surprise for us to learn that not only was there an island we had not known of, but that there was a thriving city, one with its own culture distinct from ours. If you are open to it I would certainly like to learn more about your home."
"What do you all think?" Mitsuru turned her head to ask the members of SEES. "Our studies will have to take priority but if everyone agrees then I see no reason not to."
They all took a moment to consider the request by the Headmaster but none of them found any reason to decline.
"Good, good. I'll contact you once you've gotten settled in and accustomed to life here. Provided you pass the initiation of course. And on that note." Ozpin paused as he took a small stack of papers and handed them to Glynda before taking a sip from the mug on his desk, who then proceeded to divide the stack and pass a smaller stack to each member of SEES along with a pen. "The first two are your admission forms. Although Ms. Elizabeth took the liberty of filling in a form for each of you, I would rather have you fill them in yourselves to avoid any inaccurate or outright incorrect information. I'll need you to fill those in and return them before you leave otherwise you will not be able to participate in the Initiation tomorrow."
"The rest," he began to explain as they started filling in the first two sheets, "Are forms you'll need to fill in so that we can enter you into Vale's system so we can procure IDs and such for your group. You can hand those in at a later time but I don't recommend waiting too long. Though I was assured of your combat capabilities, there is still the possibility that one or more of you will fail tomorrow."
"That said, you can rest assured that you will have our assistance with whatever you choose to do should that happen. If you choose to try your luck at another academy, or even choose a different path entirely, we will do our best to assist you up to a certain point."
"Thank you," she began as Ozpin picked up his coffee mug once more. "But I doubt that will be necessary."
"Oh?" Ozpin's mug stopped just as he was about to raise it to his lips, intrigued by the tone of Mitsuru's voice.
"We have every intention of passing the Initiation, after all," Mitsuru replied with confidence. "It would be a waste of all the time we spent studying and training if we were to fail now."
Looking at the rest of SEES, Ozpin and Glynda could see the same confidence and conviction in their eyes. Even Ken, who they had been hesitant to accept due to his age, showed a determination that they knew many of the initiates lacked at that age, or even when they entered Beacon. 'Clearly their experiences have done nothing but harden their determination, rather than break their wills. Whether or not they pass, they will certainly achieve great things.'
"Then I suppose there's nothing left to say on that matter," Ozpin replied after a brief pause, tilting the coffee mug up for another sip.
Once SEES had finished filling in their forms and returning them to Glynda, Ozpin then addressed the next issue. "Now, I'm sure Ms. Elizabeth has informed you, but I will ask again. Mr. Amada." Ken perked up and looked to the Headmaster upon hearing his name. "Are you certain you wish to enter Beacon Academy?"
"Yes," Ken responded with a resolute nod, barely taking any time to think about the question.
"You seem quite certain," commented the Headmaster. "Most children your age would be just beginning their formal training at a combat school. And even then, many of them choose not to be huntsmen, sometimes even dropping out before they graduate. And yet here you are, five years younger than any other applicant and attempting to gain entry into the most well-known Huntsman academy in Remnant."
"It's because there's something I need to do," came another resolute response.
"And is it something that cannot wait?" Ozpin pushed on, wanting to know just what it was that drove the young boy. "Is it so urgent that you would skip five years ahead of those your age?"
"It's not so much that it's urgent." His response surprised Ozpin. Ken then glanced at the rest of SEES before turning to the Headmaster once more. "It's just something that I need to do with my friends. If it means skipping ahead, then I'll work as hard as I have to so I can attend with them."
That was not what Ozpin had been expecting. And judging by the look on Glynda's face, neither had she. SEES, on the other hand, did not seem surprised and barely reacted to the boy's words. Although Junpei had taken to placing his hand on top of Ken's head and messing up his hair while teasing him.
'I had expected him to want revenge on the Grimm for the loss of his home and family, or perhaps a strong desire to hunt them down to prevent another tragedy from occurring,' he thought, watching the boy interact with the teasing young man. 'I see no hint of such dark desires within him. Or even a rush to become strong. Simply a want to remain with his friends while he works towards his goal. Interesting.'
"Well," he spoke with a nod, "If you are so determined I suppose there is little I can do to stop you. While it is not something normally done, it would be hypocritical of me to turn you away due to your age when I personally invited and accepted a fifteen year old girl just yesterday."
"Headmaster?" Glynda asked.
Ozpin nodded, letting his deputy know that he was certain about his decision. "Now then, I believe there is still the issue of your lack of Scrolls." He opened one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a white object that looked vaguely like a small tongue depressor and placed it on the desk close to Mitsuru. "For now you can borrow a spare Scroll that I keep in case of emergencies. After the initiation, or perhaps the day after, either Glynda or myself will accompany you into Vale to help you purchase your own."
Mitsuru picked up the Scroll and then turned in her seat to offer it to Aigis without even looking at it. "Here Aigis. You're the only one who's read about them so I believe you should hold on to it for us. Between you and Fuuka, I'm sure you'll figure out its functions in no time."
Aigis nodded wordlessly and took the proffered device. It was small, only as long as a finger and just barely wider than two of her fingers. Unlike the communication devices she was used to, this one did not have a visible keypad or screen. That was to be expected. Remembering what she had read about it, she pressed the yellow diamond in the middle of the device.
The moment she did, the white casing slid open and revealed a touch-sensitive panel that appeared to be made of light. Looking at it now, it was more reminiscent of the smartphones that were just beginning to grow in popularity in their time. There were several icons on screen, labeled to be self-explanatory such as 'Mail', 'Contacts', 'Call', and 'Search'.
"It's a fairly old model," Ozpin explained as he watched Aigis explore some of the Scroll's features. "Not as sophisticated and useful as those most people use now but it should suffice for the next day or two should we need to contact you."
"Thank you," said Aigis, shutting the scroll and placing it in her pocket for the moment.
"Now, I believe that was all I needed to speak to you about. Is there anything you would like to ask?"
"A few things, yes," began Mitsuru. "First is about the school fees."
Ozpin frowned a bit when he heard those but the raised eyebrow showed his confusion. "Since you are asking I'm assuming Ms. Elizabeth did not tell you."
"Tell us what?" Now it was Mitsuru's turn to be confused.
"On her… second visit, I believe, she inquired about the same thing. Even though I told her that it may be better to wait and see how many of you pass the initiation, she insisted on paying your all school fees for the next four years."
"She… what?" Now every member of SEES was confused, some of them turning to one another to ask questions.
Ozpin simply nodded, confirming his own words. "She paid for all eight of you up front. She must be quite confident in your abilities if she is willing to do so. Since she did not give me a choice, I set up an account using that money to pay for your schooling. The money will be transferred to Beacon's account every year. That way if any of you should fail, whether tomorrow or in the future, the excess can be returned to you."
It took the group a moment to process the Headmaster's words but Mitsuru simply smiled with confidence once more, a look that the Headmaster was beginning to suspect was normal for her. "I will have to thank her the next time we see her. Though, just as we have every intention of passing tomorrow's initiation, we also have every intention of graduating from Beacon without fail."
Again, there was that look in their eyes. That look that said they can and will do anything they claim to do, that nothing they encounter can stop them from achieving their goals.
"We'll just have to see then, won't we?" he asked, not expecting an answer.
"The second," continued Mitsuru, "Has something to do with what Ms. Goodwitch mentioned earlier."
"You mean, about the AI?" asked Glynda, to which Mitsuru nodded. "What would you like to ask? Though please note that neither the Headmaster nor myself are well-versed in such things."
"It has less to do with the AI itself and more on the level of technology in Remnant." Mitsuru paused, and Glynda noticed the same hesitance she noted when the issue was brought up earlier. "Aigis," began the red-haired teen, confirming Glynda's suspicions that the blonde had some connection to the issue. "Please show them."
"Are you certain, Mitsuru-san?" Aigis asked, although she did stand and step closer to the desk, keeping her face turned to face Mitsuru the entire time. At the former heiress's nod, Aigis faced the Headmaster, one hand undoing the ribbon around her neck and pulling it away. "Please, do not be alarmed. I merely wish to show you something."
Both Ozpin and Glynda wondered why she gave them a warning but froze when the blonde's fingers went to the buttons of her jacket and began undoing them as well. Aigis had gotten more than halfway down by the time Glynda recovered from the shock. "Ms. Arisato!" she yelled, her voice coming out louder than intended due to her shock, especially once Aigis finished unbuttoning the jacket, revealing snow white skin. "What do you think… you're…"
Glynda never finished her sentence, her voice trailing off as Aigis pulled off her jacket. What Glynda had initially thought was the blonde's skin was now revealed to be something else, something clearly not skin. But what caught her attention were Aigis's arms.
The girl's shoulders were completely and clearly mechanical while the arms, starting roughly midway down the upper arm, was covered in a white material, most likely to cover the mechanical parts. Her wrist had a thick covering of metal wrapped around it and the tips of her fingers were gray, unlike the white of the rest of her hand. Moreover, the way her shoulder was attached to her body was unlike any prosthetic she had ever seen before. Unless she was mistaken, the girl was completely mechanical.
"As you can see," Aigis began to speak, almost as though what she had revealed as completely normal. Which, to her, would be considered normal. "I am completely mechanical."
Glynda belatedly realized that Aigis had also taken off her skirt and boots at some point. The removal of her skirt revealed that her upper thighs had a similar design to her shoulders while the lower half of her thighs down to her feet were, like her arm, covered in a white material. She then noticed Aigis's feet, or the lack of it. The end of her legs, gray much like her finger tips, were completely cylindrical but flared out slightly towards the front near the end. If she were being completely honest, the first image that popped into her mind were hooves.
"Astounding," they heard the Headmaster breathe out. "And I assume this is why you brought this up after hearing about our AIs?" Behind Aigis, Mitsuru nodded. "I see."
"We felt it was best to conceal Aigis's true nature since we were uncertain of how well she would be accepted," explained Mitsuru. "But we did agree that, if we felt you could be trusted, we would inform you of the truth."
"Well, I certainly feel honored that you decided to trust me with this. You are not the first to come to this school bearing secrets, but I assure you that, unless it becomes absolutely necessary, I will not divulge your secret without seeking your permission first." The leader of SEES nodded her thanks as Ozpin returned his attention to Aigis.
"Still, this is quite amazing. I believe I heard that the Atlas Military was attempting to develop androids with the capacity to use Aura. On that note, are you capable of generating an Aura?" For more than a few reasons, Ozpin was disappointed when Aigis shook her head. "A shame. Since she is the only one you brought here with you, does it mean that there are no others?"
Mitsuru shook her head. "Aigis is the last of the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons, androids built for the sole purpose of eliminating Shadows, what you call the Grimm. The rest were destroyed in an incident over ten years ago. Even Aigis herself sustained heavy damage at that time. She only reactivated last year in fact."
'She?' Ozpin had noticed that Mitsuru never once referred to Aigis as an object. True, it may have something to do with her female appearance. Not even Atlas's androids had such clear gender-defining features beyond the roughly masculine physical appearance, or even an actual face for that matter. Still, the way Aigis was addressed was quite telling.
"Well, so long as she can play the part of a student I see no reason to deny her entry." Glynda glanced at Ozpin questioningly at his decision but didn't say anything. "Though I do believe it would be quite unfair to the students if she were to be given a proper rank in terms of academics."
"That should not pose a problem," said Aigis, drawing interest from the two staff members. "Contrary to what you may believe, I am incapable of assimilating knowledge in the same manner that an AI would. As such, it is still necessary for me to study like everybody else."
The two teachers looked at one another, slightly surprised by that piece of information. In some ways, that made Aigis even more advanced than any other AI. AIs that could learn just by being given the knowledge were common. Incredibly so. But an AI programmed to replicate the human learning system? Even with their limited understanding of programming, it was obvious to them that setting such a limitation on what was essentially a living computer was much more difficult that allowing it to use its full processing power to learn.
Eventually, Ozpin smiled and said, "Then I suppose we shall see how you rank alongside your future classmates."
"Thank you, Headmaster. And as to the third thing…" Mitsuru paused and the two teachers were curious as to what other issue they had to discuss that could cause her to pause like that. "Well, it concerns Koromaru."
'Koromaru?' thought Ozpin, not noticing the curious look Glynda sent the dog even as he looked down at the admission papers, more specifically the names listed. 'I don't recall there being a Koromaru here.'
At that moment he heard a loud, lively bark. Looking up from his desk, he saw that Aigis had stepped behind the group to put on her clothing again. Standing, or rather sitting, in her place in front of his desk was a white dog, looking up at him with expectant, red eyes. Shifting his gaze from the dog to Mitsuru, he only asked one thing. "Koromaru?"
"Koromaru," she replied with a nod. "We have nowhere to place him while attending the school so we were wondering if he could stay with us here. We will, of course, take full responsibility should he cause any trouble. Though that is highly unlikely."
"Unfortunately, Ms. Kirijo, we do not allow pets at Beacon," Glynda replied.
"Very well," Ozpin replied at the same time, causing Glynda to turn to him with a glare. "I'll have it noted that he will be allowed into your dorms and only the dorms. If he is to accompany you into the other facilities you will need to bring up the matter with Glynda or myself before doing so. And, as you said, we will expect you to take responsibility for any incidents he causes."
"Again, you have our thanks, Headmaster." This time, Mitsuru bowed while in her seat, the others behind her following suit.
"Will that be all then?"
"I believe so," she replied, but looked back to the rest of her group just in case only to receive shakes of their heads, indicating that they had no issue they needed to bring up.
"Well then, I suggest you take this time to get settled in, perhaps explore Beacon or visit the armory. As Glynda has mentioned already, many of our facilities will be open to the initiates so you can prepare for the initiation tomorrow."
"Thank you, we'll be sure to visit the facilities once we've secured our belongings."
As one, the group of eight rose from their seats, offered the two teachers another bow and a chorus of 'thank you's' before leaving. Once they were notified that the elevator had begun its decent, Glynda turned to the Headmaster. "Ozpin, are you sure about bending, and even outright breaking, so many rules for them? Certainly, I do feel sorry that they lost so much and are now in a completely foreign world, but is this all really necessary?"
Instead of responding, Ozpin turned to the computer on his desk and began typing in commands on the console. "Do you not find it strange?"
"Which part, precisely?"
"All of it," he answered just as a map of Remnant appeared on the screen. Then numerous black lines appeared. All of them started at one major city or another, moved over the sea, then returned. Others simply went on towards the end of the map, never turning back. "They, or rather Elizabeth, claimed that they come from an island far off the east coast of Mistral. And yet, many expeditions have set out in the past. Most went to seek out more land, a few thought to seek out the source of the Grimm, if it was even possible to find it. Many such expeditions have traveled east from Mistral. And though not all of them returned, not one of those that did have ever reported seeing another island in that direction, even from a distance."
"Perhaps one of those that went missing found it and were unable to return," offered Glynda. "They did mention earlier that our language was not unknown to them. That could have been how they learned about it."
"Perhaps. But the timing of it all is simply too much of a coincidence." The map disappeared and was replaced by a list of dates, beginning from roughly seven months ago. "Did you notice that Elizabeth first visited us several days after Amber was brought into our care?"
Glynda's eyes narrowed, immediately understanding Ozpin's line of thought. "You don't think…"
"That she and these children are related to that event?" He finished her sentence, receiving a nod in return. "I do not know for certain. It could be mere coincidence, or it could be that they are responsible for her current state, or simply just agents of the one who is."
"Would that no be too obvious though?" she asked him. "By claiming to be from somewhere previously unknown, they only bring unnecessary attention to themselves. They would not be able to act, to search for Amber, if people pay too much attention to them."
"And what if that was precisely their role?" he asked in return. "To draw attention, to play the obvious spy, while someone else slips by unnoticed. Either way, we will need to keep an eye on them. Even if they have nothing to do with Amber's condition, they are still hiding something."
"What makes you so certain?"
Wordlessly, he gestured to the screen and Glynda watched as a recording played, beginning with her and the Iwatodai group entering the room. She knew better than to ask. She simply watched to try and see what it was Ozpin had seen. And when the group finally stood and left, she saw it. Or rather, she didn't see it.
"That's right," Ozpin began when he saw her eyes narrow in thought then open in realization. "Somehow, someone hacked into the system and managed to erase the footage of Ms. Arisato revealing her secret."
"But how can that be?" asked Glynda, an incredulous expression on her face. "Security for your office is only accessible through this computer alone. How could they have done that?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot say. Though I suspect Ms. Arisato may be capable of it considering she is an android. Though there is still the possibility that she was the only one they decided to reveal to us, and that one of the others is an android as well, a more advanced one with a more human appearance. After all, Atlas has already delved into researching the possibility of robots capable of generating an Aura. Who's to say nobody else has done the same? Or even taken such research further."
Glynda watched Ozpin's face, seeing the way his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly in thought, eyes watching the recording as it played again despite the missing scene. "There's something else, isn't there?"
Ozpin nodded. "It may potentially be the most incriminating evidence I have at the moment, even if I have no way of being certain just yet. When she first came to us, Elizabeth mentioned that there were only eight survivors… and one Shadow."
"A Shadow? But didn't Ms. Kirijo say that Shadows-"
The Headmaster nodded once more, his eyes never once leaving the screen. "Are what we call Grimm, yes. Elizabeth did not strike me as someone to make such a careless mistake. So either she mentioned this Shadow on purpose, or she did not expect the children to mention that little detail to us."
"Perhaps she simply meant that the Grimm responsible was still alive?" Even to Glynda's ears her words sounded weak. And so it came as no surprise when Ozpin disregarded her statement completely.
"What worries me is that, if we include Koromaru, there are nine of them here. Eight survivors, which may or may not include Koromaru, and one Shadow. One Grimm."
"And yet they look human. Even Ms. Arisato looked human when she is properly clothed."
"And that," he began, eyes watching the recording as it looped back to the beginning once more, "Is what worries me."
Night had finally come to Beacon. And high above them sat a full moon, the only time the moon hid its shattered form.
It had been quite a shock when SEES had first seen Remnant's shattered moon when they left the safety of the Iwatodai Dormitory for the first time. None of them could make any sense of it. How did it happen? Who or what caused it? How has it affected the world? Why were the fragments still orbiting the Earth?
Some were answered, such as the how and who. But neither Elizabeth nor Ryoji knew enough to answer the rest. It was strange to think that, due to his actions, Minato had shattered the moon. The moon had been Nyx's true form during the Dark Hour. So when it merged with the moon of the real world, it shattered. No one knew for certain why, of all the possibilities, it had shattered.
And now, for the first time since leaving the dorm yesterday morning, they could finally look up and see the same sky as they had always seen without worrying about being attacked by Grimm.
"Am I the only one still getting kinda twitchy here?"
"Probably not. It's the full moon after all."
"I think we all still feel a little bit on edge when the full moon comes even though we've been here for seven months already."
"Yeah, I thought so."
Currently the quartet consisting of Junpei, Yukari, Fuuka, and Chidori were outside the ballroom where many of their fellow initiates were beginning to get settled in for the night. The four were lying on the grass, forming a cross with their heads towards the center, all still wearing the clothes they had been wearing earlier, and their focus entirely on the sky above them.
"Man, looking up at the sky like this almost makes everything else feel like a dream, y'know?" said Junpei, his voice soft, almost breathy.
"I… think I do," replied Yukari. "It doesn't look that different. Lying here… it's almost like… we're still home."
"If only that were true," Fuuka added with a sigh. "You know, I've only just realized that we've been so busy these past months that I've barely had time to think about it all."
"Does that mean you're thinking about it now?" asked Chidori.
"Heh, I think we're all thinking about it now," Junpei admitted with a short chuckle. But soon after his face turned serious, somber. "Been thinking about what must have happened after Minato put us to sleep. 'Bout Kenji, Kaz, and all the other kids at school." A bitter chuckle escaped his lips. "Even been thinking about my dad."
"Your dad huh? You mentioned that he was your only family left before everything," commented Yukari.
"Tsk… guy's nothing but a lousy drunk," he replied, his derisive tone shocking Yukari. "But you know," he continued in a softer tone, "He was getting better at the end. Even got to talk a couple of times. Last time we spoke was around New Year's so I can't really stop thinking about what might've happened to him. Or how he might've... you know."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about my mom actually," said the brown-haired girl. "I mean, we haven't been on good terms for years but we were planning to meet up once school ended to talk things through. But now…"
Yukari just sighed and shut her eyes, not wanting to finish that line of thought. Nobody spoke for a while. The four teens simply laid on the grass, lost in their own thoughts. That is, until they heard a loud voice coming closer.
"-me on Ren! You're too slow!" Someone shouted, the voice clearly female.
"I was getting ready to sleep Nora," replied another voice, this one male.
"But it's too early. Besides, the moon's full tonight. Doesn't it look beautiful? It looks just like a pancake."
'Pancake?' The four persona-users couldn't help but glance at each other, despite the difficulty of doing so in their position. One look was enough to convey to each other that they were wondering the same thing. 'Why a pancake?'
"Oooh, lookie Ren, there's somebody else here."
The sound of rushing footsteps came closer to their location, another set following at a slower pace. "Nora," the boy called out to the girl, his voice clearly tired. Whether from running or from dealing with the girl they couldn't say. "Don't disturb them."
The girl didn't seem to have heard him, or possibly just ignored him, as Nora was already standing beside their heads, looking down on them with a beaming smile. "Hi there," she greeted cheerfully. "I'm Nora, and that's Ren. Mind if we join you?"
Asides from her honest grin and wide expectant eyes, the first thing they noticed was her orange hair and green eyes, both bright and vibrant like her personality seemed to be. Again, the four persona-users glanced at each other. Three of them just shrugged at the others while one just had a flat look on her face that clearly said 'no'.
"Sure, why not?" said Junpei.
"The more the merrier I guess," said Yukari.
"I don't mind," said Fuuka.
Chidori just sighed, resigned to having the loudmouthed girl joining them, even as the other three adjusted their positions to make space for the two new arrivals.
"Yay!" cheered Nora, throwing her hands up into the air before turning around to face Ren. "Come on Ren, they said we can join them. Hurry up lazy butt!"
"I'm coming Nora, just calm down," Ren replied patiently. Clearly he was used to dealing with his friend already. Once he reached the group, Nora immediately lay on the ground next to Fuuka while Ren lay on the spot between Nora and Junpei. "Sorry about this," he said to Junpei. Already Nora was chatting with Fuuka, the words flying out of her mouth faster than an automatic rifle and definitely faster than the teal-haired girl could follow. "I hope we're not a bother."
"It's cool," responded Junpei, taking in the boy's features. Black hair roughly chin to shoulder length with a colored streak of hair that matched his eyes, a somewhat lighter shade of purple that Junpei couldn't name. There was a small but friendly smile on his face that was a tad apologetic, most likely because of Nora.
In addition, Junpei couldn't help but notice the Asian features on the boy. While the countries they once knew of no longer existed, it was somewhat calming to see that there were those like Ren who had clearly descended from an Asian family. It at least made Junpei feel less like he was talking to a foreigner, even though Ren spoke fluent, unaccented English unlike their slightly accented English. "Besides, if we didn't want anyone joining in Yukaricchi'll definitely let 'em know."
"You wanna say that again Junpei?"
Despite not knowing the girl, Ren could tell that she would have been glaring at the boy beside him. Junpei, however, just laughed. "Anyway, I'm Junpei. Nice to meet ya."
"Ren. Nice to meet you too."
"Beside me's Chidori," Junpei continued, the aforementioned girl humming in response from Junpei's right. "Next up's Yukari, and Fuuka's beside your friend."
"Hey Ren, I'm hungry" Nora suddenly said, surprising Fuuka with the sudden switch in topic from sloths. "Can we go get pancakes?"
Ren just sighed. And around him, the four persona-users wondered just what they'd gotten into.
Inside the ballroom, Mitsuru and Akihiko were searching for a spot for their group to settle down in. Already, many students had laid down sleeping bags, claiming a place to rest for their own. While they didn't have any problems with splitting up the group, such as when they explored the campus earlier, it went without saying that they would rather be close to one another for a variety of reasons. Especially tonight.
Thankfully, despite the large number of students already in the room, it didn't take them long to find an area large enough for eight people. Moving quickly, Akihiko made his way there, several sleeping bags hanging over his shoulder. Without further delay, he set them down on the open space by the wall, setting up the four sleeping bags they were given for the night to mark off the area while they waited for Aigis and Ken to bring the other four.
"You didn't have to carry all four Akihiko," Mitsuru said as she approached.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it," he said, waving off Mitsuru's comment. A quick glance at his friend, though, showed that, unlike him, she wasn't fine. He had known her long enough that he could recognize when she was feeling uncomfortable. And her tense posture, nearly unnoticeable save for the most observant and those familiar with her, along with the way her eyes darted around the room despite the calm look on her face were definitely signs of her lack of comfort. And he could guess why.
Unlike the other four outside, both she and Akihiko had changed into more comfortable clothing. Akihiko wore a plain white shirt and loose black drawstring pants. Mitsuru, on the other hand, was wearing red, silk pajamas. Anyone could have seen the quality of her clothing with just a glance.
But even though her clothing covered more of her body than Akihiko's did, she still looked uncomfortable, especially when she noticed a few people staring, both boys and girls. Though the fact that it was sleepwear, something usually seen only by family and intimates, most likely had the most to contribute to her discomfort.
When the team found out that they would be sleeping with the other initiates in the same room, all of them had voiced their complaints, though only to each other. Considering Japan's culture, nobody was surprised. While times have changed, many things still remained the same, their more conservative beliefs being one of them to some degree.
Having the male initiates in one room while the females in another was one thing. But all in the same room? Even Junpei, surprisingly, voice his discomfort with such an arrangement.
The only two who had differing opinions, in some way, were Aigis and Chidori. Aigis's complaint had more to do with the visibility of her mechanical limbs, her feet especially. Despite the length of her 'sleepwear' it was incapable of hiding her lack of feet.
Chidori's opinion, on the other hand, was debatable since half of her didn't care while the other half clearly did. And it certainly made for an amusing distraction when she tried to put her contrasting feeling to words. Her personality wasn't as… disunited as it used to be, but she mentioned on more than one occasion that she would often find herself having two different opinions on the same thing. Such times were happening less and less as she came to a compromise with herself, but it still happened.
In the end, they had little choice. Unfortunately for Mitsuru, her upbringing made her feel far less comfortable with the situation than the others. Especially since she would be in her nightclothes. In fact, hers covered more of her body than anyone else's and yet she was still the most uncomfortable of them all.
"Don't worry Mitsuru," he began, drawing her attention. He sat down on one of the sleeping bags, leaning his back against the wall. "It's just for one night. We'll probably have our dorm rooms by tomorrow once we pass the test."
"I know," she replied, some of her anxiety bleeding out as she sat beside Akihiko, folding her legs beneath her. "I'm just not comfortable with this situation. And while I'd still be uncomfortable with it to some degree, even just sharing a room with the rest of SEES would be infinitely better. Still, I'm surprised you're alright with this."
"I'm not," he admitted with a small smile, surprising Mitsuru. "Though unlike you it's not that I don't like being seen like this. I did grow up in an orphanage after all so I'm a bit used to having to share a room with others. It's mostly the fact that I'm sleeping in a room with girls our age. That and I'm just not comfortable with what the girls around here are wearing."
Glancing around, Mitsuru spotted a well-developed girl with long, slightly messy, waist-length blonde hair. She was wearing an orange tank top that showed a hint of her cleavage and part of her midriff, and short black shorts that were just a step more decent than wearing just underwear.
Mitsuru blushed, somehow feeling the shame that the girl didn't seem to feel at wearing such revealing clothing amongst strangers. "I uh… see what you mean," she managed to say. A glance at Akihiko showed that he was carefully keeping his gaze aimed at the floor, something she felt was a good idea.
All of a sudden, there came a sing-song voice from in front of them. "Hee~llooooo~!"
Both of them looked up and Akihiko immediately looked back down, a light blush spreading across his cheeks. Walking towards their direction was the same blonde girl that Mitsuru, and no doubt Akihiko, had seen earlier. She was pulling another girl along by the hand, clearly against her will. This girl was shorter and had short, chin length black hair that turned red towards the tips. Her choice of clothing was a bit more conservative, a black tank top with a heart shaped design in the middle and white pants with roses printed on them. Looking closely, Mitsuru felt that the girl looked familiar.
The blonde stopped in front of them but was looking at the person situated beside them. "I believe you two may… know each other?"
Glancing to her right, Mitsuru spotted another familiar looking girl, this one with long black-hair. Though what caught her attention more was the girl's clothing. It was hard to see since the girl was sitting and she was looking at it from the side, but it looked vaguely Japanese. A yukata perhaps or at least something with a similar design.
The black-haired girl lowered the book she was reading slight upon being addressed. Glancing at the two standing in front of her, her gaze landed on the girl that the blonde had dragged with her. Recognition flashed through her eyes. "Aren't you that girl that exploded?" she asked bluntly.
'At least that confirms it,' thought Mitsuru, knowing now for certain who the two girls were. Although she still didn't know their names. She probably should have asked them earlier. As it was, she only knew the white-haired girl's name and only because the girl beside them gave out the name.
"Uh… yeah," the girl responded, leaning forward and stretching a hand out to the other girl. "My name's Ruby." Instead of shaking the hand, the black-haired girl simply returned to her book. Seeing this, the girl, Ruby, pulled back, a hint of dejection on her face. "But you can just call me… er…" she paused, smiling nervously. "Well… just call me Ruby."
The girl simply continued to read her book. Not ever bothering to glance up at the two in front of her. "Okay."
Counting their first meeting that morning, Mitsuru could safely say that the black-haired girl could certainly use a lesson on manners. The way she had outright badmouthed that white-haired girl's family's company along with the way she had just snubbed the girl just now definitely did not earn her points in Mitsuru's eyes. And glancing at Akihiko, who was watching the situation out of the corner of his eyes, she could tell that he felt the same way.
"So," the blonde began to say. "What's your name?"
Then again, Mitsuru couldn't say that the blonde was that much better. It was clear from the start that it was her idea to approach the black-haired girl. And even if she had good intentions, perhaps she should have known when to back down rather than charging on ahead. Especially when she was clearly aware that the other girl did not want to converse with them.
"Blake," replied the girl, barely sparing the blonde an upward glance.
"Well Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister," she said, filled with confidence. Or would that be bravado? Mitsuru could clearly see the nervous, uncertain smile on Ruby's face. "I like your bow."
"Thanks." And she could now hear a hint of irritation in Blake's tone.
"It goes well with you're… uh… pajamas."
"Rrright."
The siblings glanced at each other nervously, making Mitsuru wonder why it was exactly that they had approached Blake in the first place.
After an awkward pause, Yang seems to have found her voice again. "Nice night don't you think."
Beside her, Mitsuru heard Akihiko lightly palm his face while groaning as though in pain. She could certainly understand why.
"Yes, it is. It's lovely," Blake responded with a slightly strained tone as she looked up from her book. "Almost as lovely as this book." She paused, looking up at the sisters meaningfully, who continued to grin nervously. "That I will continue to read." Another pause. "As soon as you leave." This time she didn't bother to hide her frown.
"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause," Yang declared, facing Ruby.
Mitsuru wondered whether she realized her own fault in that situation.
"What's it about?" Ruby asked, still facing Blake. The former heiress couldn't help but notice that Ruby's tone was decidedly less nervous.
Blake looked up, surprised by the question. "Huh?"
"Your book," clarified Ruby. "Does it have a name?"
"W-Well, it's about a man with two souls," was Blake's answer, her tone less hostile. "Each fighting for control over his body."
"Oh yeah, that's… real lovely," Yang said unconvincingly.
"I love books," Ruby said with a small smile. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories with heroes, monsters… They're one of the reasons I wanna be a Huntress."
"Why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"
"I'm hoping we all will." Mitsuru was surprised by the honest sincerity in the girl's tone. "As a girl… I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."
"That's very ambitious for a child," responded Blake, a small smile on her face. But her face grew dispirited and was matched by her tone. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."
Ruby, however, didn't seem affected by Blake's pessimistic view. "Well that's why we're here. To make it better."
Glancing at Akihiko, Mitsuru found a small smile on his face, one that mirrored the one on hers.
"Aw, I'm so proud of my baby sister," Yang announced, wrapping up the shorter girl in a hug and lifting her off the ground.
Ruby growled and said, "Cut it out." Then, much to their surprise, she cocked an arm back and punched Yang in the face.
The smiles on their faces were replaced by looks of disbelief as they watched the two siblings begin to fight.
"Well, Ruby, Yang," Blake began, watching the fight as well. "It's-"
"What in the world is going on over here?!" shouted another girl as she approached the fighting siblings. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"
Glancing up, Mitsuru recognized the third girl from earlier. Only instead of her white dress, she was now wearing a faded blue, short-sleeved nightgown that reached to mid-thigh. And rather than the off-centered ponytail, her hair was loose.
"OH NOT YOU AGAIN!" both the girl, Weiss Schnee if Mitsuru remembered correctly, and Yang yelled at the same time, glaring at one another.
Between them, Ruby jumped at the shout. "Shhh, guy's she's right," she urged them both in a softer tone. "People are trying to sleep."
"Oh, now you're on my side," came Weiss's mocking tone.
"I was always on your side," Ruby defended.
"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?" Yang joined in.
"She's a hazard to my health."
"Perhaps you should all simply agree to disagree and let the matter, and us, rest?"
The voice that interjected spoke no louder than a conversational tone. And yet, both Weiss and Ruby froze, startling and confusing Yang at how quickly they seemed to snap to attention. Glancing at the speaker, even Yang found herself freezing at the cold look directed towards her. And beside Mitsuru, Blake froze as well despite not being in Mitsuru's line of sight. Mitsuru's presence was no less prominent now that she had chosen to let it be felt, even while sitting with her legs folded beneath her.
Beside the former heiress, Akihiko had to hold in his laughter. It was always funny to see someone else being subject to Mitsuru's glares. He remembered the girls they met that morning and how quick they were to behave. And that had just been through Mitsuru's tone of voice and her posture. Now though, they had to contend with Mitsuru's pre-execution glares on top of everything else. Of course, he knew that this was as far as she was going to take it.
The girls' argument was annoying, true, and some definitely did not behave in a manner that Mitsuru would have found acceptable. But in the end, she knew that it was not her place to punish them or correct their behavior. That didn't mean she couldn't give them a little scare though and hope that they corrected their behavior themselves.
"Excuse me. Coming through."
Unfortunately for their amusement, and fortunately for the girls, someone broke the spell. Stepping around the two siblings, Ken came into view, wearing an orange shirt and brown shorts. What caught everyone's attention the most was how he was struggling to carry four sleeping bags with his small frame.
"Ken?" Akihiko shot to his feet, relieving Ken of his burden. "What happened? I thought Aigis was going to help you with this. Is she alright?"
"Everything's fine, Akihiko-senpai," Ken began, looking up to face Akihiko while replying calmly. "Aigis just had a problem with her boots so she sent me on ahead. She also said she was going to take Koromaru for a quick walk around campus for a while since there's still a bit of time."
"I see," he replied despite not really understanding. While thinking, he moved to slowly set the sleeping bags down on the floor. It took a moment for Akihiko to understand what Ken had really wanted to say but couldn't due to the lack of privacy. "Well, as long as everything's fine," he said, to which Ken nodded back, confirming that Aigis didn't need their help at the moment.
"Um…" Ken and Akihiko looked to the side and were met by the girls with uncertain looks on their faces. "Aren't you… a little too young to be here?" asked Yang.
"And your sister isn't?" Weiss retorted despite not being the one Yang had addressed.
"Hey, don't start you two," said Akihiko, quickly intervening before the two started up again.
"But she-"
"Hey," he interjected, his tone firm. "Calm. Down." He gave them both stern looks, alternating between the two, as though daring them to try anything. He wasn't like Mitsuru whose very presence could affect people, but he was used to dealing with rowdy, uncooperative children from his time at the orphanage before the fire claimed it.
He hadn't been that much older than the other kids but it had given him a little experience dealing with those younger than himself. True, Yang and Weiss weren't that much younger than him, only two years if he wasn't mistaken, but the way they were acting were similar enough. Cut them off firmly before they could build up momentum to argue and they'll stop trying and just listen.
Once he was certain that neither was going to start anything, he turned to Yang. "To answer your question, yes he is." It was a credit to Ken's understanding that he did not react negatively at that statement as he began to unroll the sleeping bags on the floor while being directed by Mitsuru. "But the Headmaster allowed it. That should be enough."
"Oh, so I'm not the youngest one here then," said Ruby. She, Yang, and Weiss watched Ken work while speaking with Mitsuru about something.
"Obviously not but I wouldn't suggest looking down on Ken just because he's young or treating him like a kid who needs to be taken care of." Akihiko's words caught the three of them off guard, surprised that he picked up on some of their thoughts. The silver-haired boxer saw the looks they were giving him but just shook his head, choosing not to answer the unspoken query.
"Yo, Akihiko-senpai, what's whoa…" Akihiko and the girls, including Blake, turned at the sound of the voice. Standing there were Junpei, Chidori, Yukari, and Fuuka, all of them now wearing their sleepwear of choice.
Junpei had changed into a black tank top and shorts. Yukari was wearing a pink tank top and white shorts, looking clearly uncomfortable showing as much skin amongst strangers. Of the members of SEES, she was the least covered up due to the lack of other sleepwear. Fuuka was wearing a pale green nightgown, similar to what the white-haired girl, Weiss, was wearing. And Chidori… Akihiko blinked. Chidori hadn't changed her clothes at all. The only thing that had changed was the lack of hair accessories and shoes.
"What's with the air here?" asked Junpei as they finished their approach. "We miss something?"
"Nothing much," Akihiko replied. The four girls were quick to notice the change in his tone and demeanor when he spoke to Junpei. Though it had just been a greeting, a small smile graced Akihiko's lips and his body was less tense. "Just trying to settle an argument before it got worse."
"Wait, you kidding me? You had to stop a fight?"
For some reason, Junpei's words made the three girls feel a bit of shame. They were at Beacon to become Huntresses and there they were getting into an argument that could have been resolved peacefully. Even though Yang had not seen them like Ruby had, the way Ruby described them from that morning only highlighted the fact that she had not behaved as a proper Huntress would, in-training or not.
"Why'd you go and do that senpai? That would have been a hell of a catfight to watch."
And the shame was gone.
"Catfight?" Yukari turned on Junpei with a look of half-disgust and half-anger. "Seriously Stupei?"
"Whaddya expect Yukaricchi?" asked Junpei, looking as though he had done nothing wrong. "I'm a guy."
"Ugh, seriously? That's your excuse? And what about Chidori? Isn't she supposed to be your girlfriend?"
"I don't mind," came the unexpected reply from Chidori. Even Weiss, Blake, and the siblings turned to the red-haired girl in surprise. "It's not as if he's going to do anything but watch anyway."
"See that Yukaricchi?" Junpei crowed victoriously, wrapping an arm around Chidori's shoulders. "Chi-chan knows she can trust me. So it's fine."
"Don't call me that," Chidori muttered, a hint of red dusting her cheeks.
"It's one thing for her, but it's another for the rest of us Stupei," Yukari shot back, undeterred by Chidori's support of Junpei. She groaned in frustration. "Why do you have to be such a perv?"
"Hey, it's not like I'm touching or anything. I'm just the guy watching from the side," he replied casually before a leering grin appeared on his face. "Not my fault if they start tearing clothes off or anything like that."
"You… You are such a-"
"Alright, that's enough you two," Mitsuru cut in gently but firmly, a clear contrast to how she had gotten in between Yang and Weiss's argument. It simply drove home the point that she was friends with them despite how different they all seemed to be. "We have a long day tomorrow so I suggest we all get some rest." And then, turning to the girls who were watching them, she added, "That goes for you three as well. Try not to get into any more fights. At least, not here where we're all trying to sleep."
While her words weren't as harsh as earlier, none of them wanted to test her, especially not after seeing her when she was not in the best of moods. With a hastily called out goodnight, the three returned to their own sleeping beds to tuck in for the night.
The members of SEES climbed into their sleeping bags as well, heeding their leader's advice to rest. Beside the group, Blake, already nestled within the folds of her own sleeping bag, watched as the group of seven chatted amicably with one another even as they got ready to sleep for the night. There was still some bantering and a bit of playful roughhousing but someone, usually Mitsuru or Akihiko, always made sure to interrupt before it got too far or too loud.
She did wonder for a moment where the last member was. Hopefully she didn't bring the dog in with her. The last thing she needed was to not be able to sleep because it was nearby or worse, wake up with the dog right beside her.
When the lights were finally switched off, she watched as the group settled down as well. She could still hear some whispered conversations among them, however, and she felt a little bad for overhearing it, even if unintentionally. But as none of it sounded personal, she didn't let it bother her too much.
Soon the voices around her settled and nothing but the sound of even breaths and snores could be heard. With nothing left to disturb her, Blake shut her eyes to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day. And the beginning of her, and everyone else's, new life at Beacon.
And that the end of this chapter. Almost 24k words just to get through a single day in the story. And we're still just at the beginning.
Anway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.
As always, please let me know what you think about the story, the characters, the writing style, grammar, spelling, or anything at all. I love hearing what you guys think.
Until next chapter everyone.
