Yang stared at the three headed bear and it stared back at her, the store had grown so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Before Yang eventually broke the quiet with what Ruby thought was the single worst string of words her Sister could have said in that moment. "Y'know this was beary unexpected!" Yang was barely containing her laughter at her own pun, Three bears disappeared in a flash of blue energy and Ruby limped her way over to her sister. Yang turned and saw Ruby limping, there was no physical damage but she was moving as if there was, she put Ruby on her shoulder, supporting her. She was breathing heavily but managed to squeak out a response "It was, but can we leave now." "Oh yeah... but how do we leave, I don't really know how I got here." Yang replied as she adjusted Ruby so she was more comfortable on her shoulder. "Follow me" Ruby said pointing towards the changing rooms, the two girls made their way into the fairly cramped space, a large mirror dominated one of the three walls. "Don't freak out and just do what I do. Ok?" Ruby instructed as she pushed her hand into the mirror, the glass rippling and distorting as she did. She pulled her hand out and directed Yang to walk through, the yellow haired girl was hesitant but she walked through the mirror, the feeling was strange, it felt like she was walking through wet sand.
Coming out the other side Yang found herself back in the changing room, Ruby was standing behind her having just exited the mirror. Confused Yang looked at her sister and asked "Did we leave?" Ruby simply nodded in reply, she seemed too tired to speak. In fairness to her Yang thought she had just fought a monster and Yang herself felt quite tired not physically but mentally which was strange for her. Ruby pushed her way out of the changing and Yang followed, she felt her scroll buzz and checked it. There were nearly two dozen messages from Weiss alone asking where she was! She texted back a simple sorry and that she was caught up in something. The two of them left the store and made their way to a nearby cafe, a waitress came and took their order. Now sat at a table with a pair of hot chiclets in front of them the two sisters sat in silence. Yang had a dozen questions for Ruby about what had just happened but she couldn't think of where to start. Thankfully Ruby started for her "So... I guess you probably want to know what just happened back there." She said somewhat apprehensively. "Uh Yeah, like what was that thing, it wasn't a Grimm and then it turned into Three bears and you had one too." Yang replied taking a sip of the hot chocolate, almost burning her tongue as it was quite hot. Ruby's brow furrowed in thought and she said "I'm gonna be honest I don't know much and what I do know is weird. I suppose though I should start from the beginning." Ruby proceeded to explain the past two days and what had happened, how she had awoken to Holzfäller after entering the mirror world for the first time, saving Velvet and what she knew about the other world. She didn't mention Igor or the Velvet room though, she felt it best not to try and explain that place.
"So let me get this straight, you only got your persona yesterday, that's why you didn't show up for class, you were in this mirror world fighting a monster." Yang said less for Ruby and more to make sense of it for herself. "Yeah that's the basic gist, I thought that maybe it was just me but now you have a persona too and well I was thinking, you said your reflection pulled you in right and then there was the weird shadow in Velvet's photo." Her sister replied, her finger tracing the edge of her cup. "Wait a minute. What are you getting at Rubes?" Yang said as drank from her cup, "Well what if other people are getting pulled in. We can help them !" Ruby replied excitedly, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of helping others. Yang however didn't share her enthusiasm, she was still shaken from the encounter with her other self and this was moving too fast for her. "Rubes... Maybe you should slow down, that world is clearly dangerous from what you've said and from what I've seen. I know you want to help people but..." She stooped midway as honestly she couldn't think of a reason not too, yes that world was dangerous but how much more dangerous was it than there own. Ruby started to look downcast, Yang bit her lip and started to talk again "Seeing as it's you, you're probably going to go in no matter what I say right?" Ruby nodded in agreement before guzzling down the rest of her hot chocolate. "So how about we make a deal? We'll investigate this mirror place but you never ever go in without me ok." Yang continued, putting her hand out to Ruby.
Ruby wiped the excess chocolate away from her mouth before taking her sisters hand and shaking it vigorously. As she did so the voice of Julius echoed through her mind "Congratulations Wild card. Thou hast acquired a new oath. It shall be the foundation for which a story is told. With the birth of the Strength arcana. I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to the advent of legend." The voice startled her but the words felt reassuring in a way. With their deal made the two sisters moved the conversation away from talk of personas and mirror worlds and instead discuss much more normal topics for the both of them. The latest weapon releases from various manufacturers was the most prevalent for a long while. The two girls were enjoying themselves so much they failed to realise how much time had passed and were hard pressed to not miss the airship back to Beacon. Hurriedly paying for their order and setting off at a breakneck pace they managed to arrive just as the airship was about to leave, getting in at the last minute.
Out of breath and now sitting the sisters allowed themselves a moments respite that was sadly short lived. A familiar voice called out to them, the thinly veiled irritation revealing the owner to be Weiss Schnee "And where have you two been all day?!" The two turned to look at her, a look of annoyance on her face, behind her was Blake and the members of team JNPR. They didn't share Weiss's look of irritation but Jaune and Ren had a mutual look of exhaustion, their arms were laden with a multitude of bags from a myriad of clothing stores. Yang answered Weiss's question calmly "Oh me and Rubes got distracted, sorry." The answer seemed to further irritate the white clad girl but she didn't continue the conversation, instead the two groups sat together, the girls save Blake discussing their various purchases. The journey was quick and uneventful, the group of students arriving without any issue.
The two teams separated soon after arriving back, each heading to their respective dorms. The members of team RWBY entered and made themselves comfortable on their makeshift bunks, each girl resigning to a different activity. Blake took out a book reading by herself, Weiss wasted no time and started to study while Yang simply lazed on her bed. Ruby was about to join her sister in lazing when her scroll buzzed. She looked at the small screen and saw a notification from an unknown caller, excusing herself she stepped out into the hall and called the number back. It rang for a moment before she was greeted by the voice of Julius "Ms. Rose? It's Julius, your presence is requested in the Velvet room, I will be waiting for you outside." Ruby couldn't even reply before the call ended, surprised by the fact that she got a call from Julius she set off to find the Velvet room. She was wandering around for about ten minutes before she saw the bespoke, blue suit of Julius leaning against a wall on the first floor of the dorm building.
The white haired attendant turned to her and for a brief moment a smile crossed his features before disappearing just as a quick. "This way Ms. Rose." He said motioning to the blue door next to him. Ruby made her way over, he opened the door for her and she walked in. A flash of light and Ruby found herself in the now familiar Velvet room. Julius passed her and took his place next to Igor who greeted her "Welcome, I would like to congratulate you on your marvellous performance today and for your newly formed bond." Ruby felt her cheeks go red, she always felt embarrassed when praised "Thanks but can you explain what that thing was?" She asked, looking at the long nosed man. "I can explain that." A girls voice said from behind Ruby, she turned on her heel to see a girl around her height, dressed in a white cloak, her face covered by the hood sitting on the normally empty blue couch. "Who are you?" Ruby asked baffled by the sudden appearance of the newcomer, "I am Philemon, a dweller in the rift between consciousness and unconsciousness of all souls and master of this Velvet room." The cloaked girl said pulling her hood down, revealing her masked face. The mask was a pure, brilliant white save for a golden butterfly wing over the right eye, their pitch black hair pulled back into a pony tail. The girl Philemon continued to speak "The being you encountered was a Shadow, they are the parts of the human sled that they reject and hide away from. They seek to take the place of their true self in the light." "So that thing was what Yang actually thought of me." Ruby said her voice shaking, she hadn't even considered that the shadow was what Yang thought. "No and yes, your sister loves you but she on some level resents you for your success." Philemon said a hint of empathy in their voice.
Ruby nodded in agreement, looked at Philemon and asked quite bluntly "Why is this happening, what is that other world?" Igor answered instead of Philemon "That other world is a mirror of your own, a place where the distorted reflections of others manifest. There the soul and the physical are closer than they could ever be." The answer was still vague but Ruby left it, she turned back to Philemon who was now standing. "I wish you luck in this game." They said, pulling their hood back up, with that they turned and left through the door. "Ooook, chalk one more thing up to confusing things I will just accept." Ruby whispered to herself as she turned to Julius and Igor. The two men were silent both seemingly in shock from the appearance of Philemon. Julius spoke "Ms. Rose I feel it best for you to make your leave now." Ruby was about to speak up when she saw the visible worry on Igor's face before she turned away and walked back out the door. With a flash of blue light Ruby found herself back in the dorms and made her way back to her room. Along the way she passed a mirror mounted on the wall and for the briefest moment she though she could see a Beowulf form the corner of her eye in it. She blinked once then twice before writing off as exhaustion and continuing on her way.
Meanwhile in the city of Vale, a group of masked Faunus were walking down an alley, boisterous and loud, celebrating what they thought was a job well done. The lead one, a lion Faunus with a bottle in his hand stopped and turned to his fellows, clearing his throat he began to to speak. "My dear comrades tonight we have struck a blow against our oppressors, so let's get shitfaced and party!" His companions cheered but soon stopped when a laugh rang out in the cramped alley , followed by a condescending voice "Oh you guys crack me up! You know that." The lion Faunus spun round looking for the source of the voice, his eyes landed on a man dressed in a white suit, a bowler hat in his head and a cane spinning in his hand. "Torchwick?! The hell do you want human." The Faunus said with venom dripping from each word. "Well my magnificently maned friend I've just heard of your little raid on the ole police station and well I'm afraid that just won't do." Torchwick said taking out a cigar and holding it out to his left, a small girl with an umbrella lighting it for him. The Faunus were confused and on guard, they had all heard stories of Torchwick, none good for people who angered him. "Well I think it's time we wrapped this up. Neo my dear if you would." He said as he took a drag on his cigar, savouring the woody flavour. The girl to his left who he called Neo flourished her umbrella and there was a sound like cracking glass. The Faunus all looked around and felt themselves be dragged downwards, the lion looked at the ground and found his reflection staring back at him, it was smiling as it pulled him down. He called out for help, begging for forgiveness from Torchwick, the hatted man and his umbrella wielding companion simply ignored his pleas and walked away humming a jingle as he did so. A moment passed and there was silence, no bodies or blood, nothing left in the alley save a half empty bottle of cheep booze.