A New Lease on Life.
Quick Note: So this'll be the last note at the start of a chapter for awhile. I'm going to be removing the "opening," I'd had included in the prior two chapters. I honestly didn't account for how it could break immersion, and I hope as to not make that same mistake in the future. I've seen some stories in the past that utilize music choices at different points and I thought to do the same knowing the beautiful music that these three franchises have, but honestly in a story like this, not breaking immersion with readers is key. If it didn't bother you, that's great, but in hindsight it was a silly inclusion that's better left behind. It honestly didn't belong in a story like this, and I feel it's best left gone. Once again, I say thank you for the support, suggestions, and recommendations you've given me, and I hope to continue hearing more of what you'd like to see happen in the future.
Chapter Three: The Fog of Lies.
The shining structures of Beacon Academy was among the greatest highlights for the Kingdom of Vale, one of the four capital kingdoms in the world of Remnant. Designed as the best of the Huntsmen academies in Vale, it was responsible for training the next generation of world guardians to go out into the world so they can combat the Creatures of Grimm. A literal beacon of hope, shining against the coastline, towering high, its brilliance almost reflecting the light of the sun.
"You cannot be serious," Yosuke said. "THIS is your school?!" Weiss proceeded to pinch his ear in response to his outburst! "Don't scream you dolt," she said bitterly. "We're all sitting right next to you!"
Yang couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the two of them. They had been practically inseparable since Team RWBY and the Investigation Team had all met back up in the heart of the woods. The lot of them had been forced to walk for a long while until they had proper signal in their scrolls that allowed them to contact the school for pickup.
Thankfully an airbus was capable of taking them the rest of the way to Beacon. They had been wandering for what must have been hours. Still, it was behind them now, and the Investigation Team was too busy being distracted by the design of the vehicle to bother complaining.
"This... this is ludicrous," Naoto said, her eyes tracing around the interior as she kept herself from rising from her seat and fiddling with everything she could find. "Such a vehicle shouldn't exist where we come from. What is powering it? How does it fly?"
"How primitive is your world?" Blake asked bluntly. "It's not so much that we're primitive!" Chie said. "It's the fact that you guys live in some crazy Star Wars world or some crap like that!" "We don't know what that is," Yang said plainly.
"It's not just them," Orie said. "Such technology doesn't exist where I'm from either. Such a craft is... hard to believe." Weiss couldn't help but hum thoughtfully.
The group had explained bits and pieces of their own worlds, but had failed to bring up things like culture or technology to each other. They had mostly explained about their abilities or what creatures they fought like Shadows, Grimm, or Voids. They didn't fully understand exactly how far off their worlds really were to each other and how hard it may be for those among them not native to Remnant to adapt to a new environment entirely.
They soon saw Beacon Academy closing in, which is what resulted in Yosuke's previous outburst. "Don't tell me," Yang said, "you don't even have anything like Beacon where you guys are from either?" "Not entirely," Yukiko replied. "We have buildings that are similar, but they aren't as commonplace as being something like a school."
"And you say you come here to learn how to fight monsters?" Kanji asked. "Of course," Blake replied. "Man I wish we had something like that back home," Yosuke said. "Would've made fighting the Shadows a lot easier."
"Clearly we still have a lot to explain to each other," Naoto said. "But I suggest we focus on finding our missing leaders before we dive into that." "Good idea," Orie said. "I'm still worried about what might have happened to Kido too."
"We'll find all our friends," Yang said. "We just have to stay positive." "That is what Ruby would do," Blake said thoughtfully.
The three-fourths of Team RWBY didn't say it, but they were truly fearful for what had become of their leader. The fact that the rest of them, as well as most of the others from the Phantom Field awoke so close to each other, left them somewhat confident she couldn't be too far away. But the fact that she wasn't seen anywhere close to the others left them all somewhat fearful at the same time. As a whole, this entire situation left them feeling anxious.
Concern was felt by all three of them for their missing leader. Worry about seeing her again, with her neverending confidence, surprisingly wise words, and adorable personality. All three of them loved her collectively, and wanted her back.
Similar feelings were had for the members of the Investigation Team for their own leader. All of them needed their leader's levelheadedness, and empathy in times of crises to return so they could function properly in this unfamiliar environment. Without him, they felt lost. None of them knew what they could do having been estranged from their home with no evident way back.
Orie meanwhile could feel nothing but guilt over what has happened between herself and Hyde. She had lied to him, something she knew arriving in Kanzakai she would have to do with everyone, but it didn't leave her feeling any less uneasy. He had trusted her, and they had become friends, and all for the sake of her mission she told him nothing but lies, including her own last name. The two met and fought during the Hollow Night, and she couldn't tell him a word of reason. She just hoped that by the time she saw him again she'd get a chance to apologize and explain herself.
Before long, the group touched down in Beacon Academy and began trekking through the campus. The faces of the Investigation Team plus Orie were still gobsmacked as they moved along, whilst Team RWBY tried to assess how exactly they break the news to Ozpin that they broke seemingly everything in reality.
"So this is your campus?" Chie asked, excitement in her tone. "Oh it looks so cool!" "Quite," Orie said. "It honestly reminds me of my time with the Licht Kries, it's so gorgeous!" "Guys, cool it," Yang said. "We get it. It's pretty. But we're trying to make a plan here... Am I really the one who just said that?" "Yes," Blake said.
"Well what's there to plan?" Yosuke asked, holding his hands behind his head. "You said that we were going to talk to your headmaster, and then we'd focus on looking for my partner and your leader and Mr. Hyde." "It's obviously not that simple!" Weiss said, getting in his face. "We have to organize more than that! Like, tell me, do you honestly think that our headmaster will believe the majority of what we have to tell him! Especially when we encountered things like robots, devil-men, human lobsters, cyborgs, and any manner of bizarre creature in that other world!" "Well when you put it that way it just sounds silly," Yosuke shrugged.
The rest of the group could only sigh as both Weiss and Yosuke continued to butt heads. This went on for several seconds, before Blake's keen hearing picked up on the sound of what distinctly resembled an explosion. Her cat ears flicked beneath her bow as she looked in the direction the sound originated to see a pink trail of smoke rapidly approaching!
"Incoming," she said simply, ducking to the side! Yang was the first to react, having been standing next to her, looking in the direction of the smoke and hastily ducking away herself! And slowly but surely, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, and the others dodged as well, the only ones not reacting being Yosuke and Weiss, who both got steamrolled by the pink explosion!
The two flipped end over end, with Yosuke landing flat on his face with his butt sticking in the air, and Weiss landing on her back, staring up at the sky! "Holy crap! What was that?!" Chie said. "Nora," Blake and Yand said.
Sure enough, the bouncy (and more than likely psychotic) redhead of Team JNPR emerged from the smoke, cheering happily! "Man I knew that new grenade was gonna pack a punch," she said, "but wow! I think I landed in Mistral or something!"
She flipped back on her feet and looked at the group of individuals staring at her. "Hey. How did you guys get here?" she asked. "You're not in Mistral you lunatic," Blake said, "you just tackled Weiss and Yosuke."
She looked over, and saw Weiss standing up and dusting off her skirt, whilst Yosuke stumbled back to his feet, nursing his poor face. "What the hell was that!?" he asked. "You could have killed us!" Nora merely scoffed. "No you wouldn't have," she said. "Your Aura would have saved you!" "I don't even know what that is!" Yosuke said.
The rest of Team JNPR rushed over, all of them looking nervous! "Sorry!" they all said. "We're very, very sorry!" Pyrrha said. "Nora was testing a new grenade!" Jaune said. "And we tried to stop her before she hurt somebody!" "Suffice to say," Ren added, "it didn't work."
"It's alright guys," Yang shrugged. "We've got better things to worry about right now." "But just be aware," Weiss said, "all four of you will suffer my wrath once we're finished." Team JNPR hung their heads in shame as Weiss dragged Yosuke and Yang away.
"So who was that?" Yosuke asked. "Team JNPR," Blake replied. "All four of them are a little bit... eccentric, but they mean well." "While I'm fairly certain we'd get award for most disorganized team," Weiss said. "But they certainly get the award for funniest," Yang added.
Team RWBY continued leading the way through Beacon's campus, making their way towards a particular wing of buildings. "So where are we going again?" Kanji asked. "We're gonna stop by our dorm first," Yang said. "We just wanna check there before we talk to our headmaster."
"Most of us were found in a relatively close space," Blake said. "But we are still missing Ruby, as well as you all vouching for your own friends being unaccounted for. We at least want to check the one place that she could be before we talk to him." "And if we don't find her," Naoto said, "or anyone there?" "Then we panic," Weiss replied.
Before long, the group arrived at the dorm room of Team RWBY. And on the other side of the door, the entire crowd got the shock of their lives! Laying on the floor were the unmoving forms of Ruby, Hyde, and Yu. The panic that gripped their hearts was near instantaneous!
"Ruby!" Yang, Weiss, and Blake all yelled! "Narukami!" The Investigation Team yelled. "Kido!" Orie yelled. The whole of them knelt down besides the bodies of their respective teammates or friends!
"Ruby! Ruby, wake up!" Yang said nervously, shaking her gently by the shoulders. Ruby's only response was to moan in what hopefully wasn't pain!
"Narukami-kun," Yukiko said gently. "It's alright now. You can wake up! We're right here!" "Senpai! Hey!" Kanji practically yelled, getting right in his face and gripping him by the collar of his shirt! "Kanji, that won't help. Let him go," Naoto said, gently touching his arms. "Narukami..." Chie said quietly. "I swear to God if you don't get up I'm gonna kick you to next week! Wake up!"
Too many questions were buzzing around the heads of everyone present. Too many unaccounted for variables that had caused their fear and anxiety to boil over. The sights of the people that they cared about gathered up in one place, and their unresponsive states was too much for many of them to bear.
Suddenly, a yellow blur shot over from the doorway! As Orie was kneeling down next to Hyde, she was shoved aside as Linne emerged at last and grabbed Hyde by the shoulders! "Hyde? Hyde?" she said nervously.
"Come on Ruby," Weiss said, "please get up. I'll do anything if you do you dolt! I'll let you call me Ice Queen, no argument! I'll let you put on BFF t-shirts with me! Just whatever it'll take to get you up!" "...you promise?" "Of course I promise!" Weiss said. "Just please wake - up?"
Weiss stopped in surprise for a moment, before cautiously looking up and seeing Ruby's iconic silver eyes had opened and were looking at her with an expectant gaze. The two merely met eyes for a moment, neither saying a word. Then, Weiss grabbed Ruby by her cape and kneed her right in the gut shouting - "You absolute DOLT!"
Ruby had the wind knocked out from her and collapsed to her knees from that brutal assault! "OH! I cannot believe you!" Weiss said, gripping her hair! "Of all the irresponsible, heart attack inducing, RUDE things you could have done, this takes the entire cake! No! Hold it! Not even the cake! It takes the buffet! God! I am so embarrassed to have you for a leader! WHY?!"
Weiss stomped in an angered circle as Ruby shakily got to her own feet, a pained smile on her face as she looked at her partner. "Good to see you again too Weiss," she said. Yang and Blake hugged her from behind, bringing an honest smile to Ruby's face.
Yu was the next one to recover, being pulled to his feet by his own teammates. "You okay partner?" Yosuke asked. "Yeah," Yu said. "Just take it easy senpai," Kanji said. "I will," Yu replied.
"We're very happy you're alright senpai," Naoto said. "You had us worried there," Yukiko added, waving her hand in front of her face. Yu looked among the girls, and noticed Chie was looking at him with misty eyes. "You jerk!" she yelled, tackling him with a hug. "Why do you keep doing that!? Stop scaring the crap out of me like this! Ugh! I hate you sometimes!"
"Man. She and the Ice Queen have a bit in common," Yosuke said. The others in the Investigation Team nodded. "Hey!" Weiss said. Yu merely patted Chie's head, smiling down at her.
Back with Hyde, Linne's face was turning more and more from concern to anger as she looked over her partner! "Hyde - WAKE UP!" she shouted, stomping right where the sun don't shine! Hyde yelled in agony as he shot up to his knees in an instant motion! "Why...?" he asked pitifully. "Why would you ever do that?" "Well it woke you up didn't it?" Linne said. Orie could only pat Hyde on the shoulder as the Unknown Actor whimpered in pain and frustration.
"Now would somebody mind telling me how in the world the three of you got in this room?" Linne asked. "None of you even exist in the same world. Why would you of all people be dropped here?"
Everyone else in the room could only stare at Linne in wonder and confusion. "And you are?" Yang asked. "She's with me," Hyde said, stumbling to his feet as he was still nursing an injury unimaginable for men around. "She's my... partner you could say."
"Where the heck did she come from?" Yosuke asked. "I was spying on you," Linne said simply. "You were what?" Weiss asked angrily. "I didn't really know any of you," Linne said, "aside from those I had less than favorable encounters with in that Phantom Field," she emphasized this point by looking at Naoto and the others, recalling the fight they'd had back in the other world.
"Getting the facts straight, we were all brought here for seemingly no reason. Those of us who have discussed have come to the possibility that we were all brought here because of the fact that 'Team RWBY' here destroyed System XX rather than sealing it. Makes enough sense, doesn't it?" Everyone nodded in response. "But... what about these three?" Linne asked.
"Huh?" Yukiko asked, tilting her head. "I think I understand what she's getting at," Naoto said. "Everyone else was dropped in a relatively close space to one another. Yet our leader, Ruby, and Hyde were all placed here? But why?"
"Uh..." Ruby said, raising her hand awkwardly, "I think we have something that could help with that."
For the next few minutes or so, the three of them recounted how they awoke in a dreamlike state in a place that resembled Beacon Academy. However, their memories were altered, at least for Yu and Hyde. The way that place was coated in a thick fog, and how they met copies of one another, it was all very nerve wracking.
"Woah," Chie said, "that sounds freaky." "Dude," Yosuke said, "a place filled with fog? You don't think..." "I do," Narukami replied.
Truth be told he'd had that suspicion from the start. He just didn't want to acknowledge it. He didn't want to think that the same threat that had haunted him, watching from the sidelines and pulling on the strings of every action during his initial adventure in Inaba.
If that thing had somehow came back than he wasn't sure he'd be able to survive a second round. He didn't know what might become of this world during the struggle. But more than that, he was confused about why they were playing this game this time around? What did they have to gain in altering the memories of himself and Hyde?
"Think what?" Blake asked. "I'll tell you later," Yu replied. "Why?" Ruby asked. "Because we could die," Yu said plainly. "Say what!?" Hyde said. "Don't just drop a bombshell on us like that so calmly!" "Sorry. He does that," Yosuke said.
"Moving on past that," Blake said, a sweatdrop on her brow, "we should wrap this up and talk to our headmaster. It's a relief that we have everyone reunited, so we can instead focus on what to do next with all of you."
It was unanimous, everyone agreeing that the only thing they could do was report to the highest authority they could find. Everyone left the dorm room of Team RWBY, and set off for Professor Ozpin's office. As they left, Hyde was rubbing his head. He felt like the ordeal that had happened in that other world wasn't finished yet.
Still, he thought, at least it's over. I know who I am and where I come from. There's nothing to argue there.
Professor Ozpin was the wise headmaster of Beacon Academy, leading the school and teaching the next generation of Huntsman and Huntress to protect their land from the Creatures of Grimm. It was a title that he held with pride, not just for the sake of his students, but for his kingdom too. As the headmaster for his academy, the greatest and largest in the Kingdom of Vale, he had a relationship with those in the council that lead Vale. He had authority to protect and guide Vale just as much as those on the council.
True they didn't always agree with his decisions. He never enforced his own opinion before, in fact he was the first to admit he was a very flawed individual that often lead himself to destruction. But he always did what he felt was right for himself, and for the future.
This morning, he had been sitting at his desk watching the changing seasons outside his clocktower "window," listening to the repeated clicking of the clockwork in his office, sipping on his perpetual cup of coffee. Spring was leaving and Autumn would soon come. The chill in the air was like a subtle messenger of the grim things to come, he could feel it.
A ding in the elevator snapped him from his thoughts, as he turned to admit the newcomers entrance. The next moment, a total of thirteen teenagers came tumbling out of the door and falling into an awkward pile of limbs and hair on the ground! Teams RWBY had come to his office, accompanied by nearly a dozen newcomers that he didn't even recognize.
Linne shoved herself free from the ground of people, gasping for breath. "Hyde!" she said. "I told you that shoving all of us in that elevator was a terrible idea! It was much to small for us all to get in there!" "Me?" Hyde said. "Yosuke was the first one to suggest we go in the elevator together! I was just agreeing! Less trips back and forth, you know!" "Well it worked didn't it?" Yosuke said. "We all got up here at once!" "And we nearly collapsed our lungs in the process!" Weiss said.
"Can it!" Blake said. She gestured to a very baffled looking Professor Ozpin, who was still at his desk not saying a word. However, after a moment, a smile formed on his face.
If there were a particular bunch of students he was always interested in, it was Team JNPR, and Team RWBY especially. These eight students always seemed to find themselves in the pit of circumstances that would have lasting affects on the future of the Kingdom of Vale. And in certain cases, the other kingdoms of the world too. Even if they didn't really know it yet.
"My students," he said, "what brings you here? And whom might these other children be? Some new friends?" "Children?" Kanji asked, sounding offended. "Yes. You could say that," Blake said.
"Well, what brings them all here?" Ozpin asked. "Do they want to become students?" "Well," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her neck, "that's what we're gonna leave up to you."
For the next several minutes, for what should hopefully be the last time in a long while, the different teenagers that had been a part of the Phantom Field event discussed their homeworlds, and what lead to them being taken to the Phantom Field and put into the "Keystone Scramble Tournament." As the group explained themselves, Professor Ozpin was stonefaced the entire time. He did not let on in the slightest exactly what he was thinking, merely choosing to remain calm the entire while.
"And that's when we just... woke up in our dorm," Ruby said. "I don't know exactly what happened back there. It couldn't have just been a dream, but if it was, how were we having the same dream?" "Yes..." Ozpin said. "Very confusing."
"So what do you say Professor Ozpin?" Weiss asked. "Do you believe us?" "I do," Ozpin said simply. His response happened so fast barely anybody could comprehend what they had just heard. They stood still as Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug.
"Wait, run that by us again?" Chie asked. "You believe us?" "Correct," Ozpin said. "I've actually been well aware of the possibility of alternate universes for some time. Something like this you could say I was half-anticipating to happen eventually."
"Well that's great," Yosuke said, "but what do we do now? I mean, we're kind of stuck here." "I can handle that," Ozpin said. "I don't doubt that all of you will find your way home one day. Until that time however, I feel that it's best that you all stay here."
"Seriously?" Kanji asked. "You're just gonna have us in your school?" "That's correct," Ozpin said. "Be aware you won't be receiving any special treatment aside from assistance in comprehending 'foreign' terminology. Aside from that, you will be like any other students, and will be required to attend classes and complete all work your teachers provide. Is that a problem?"
A slew of 'noes' came out from the group. Linne meanwhile was hugging her arms close. Something about this was not exactly agreeing with her.
"Good to hear," Ozpin said. "If that'll be all, perhaps Team RWBY and their friends Team JNPR could give you a tour around the school and help you understand a bit of what to expect in the future, whilst I work on your enrollment forms." "Perhaps that would be for the best," Naoto nodded. "None of us really have anywhere else to go."
The group prepared to leave, but Yu remained where he was. "Narukami? You coming?" Yosuke asked. "Forgive me," he said, "but there's something else I should discuss with Professor Ozpin. Something that I should discuss alone."
"Huh?" Ruby asked. "You don't want us here?" "Yeah, even us dude?" Yosuke asked. "Sorry," Yu said, "but this is something that is only for us." "Understood," Ozpin said. "Everyone, if you'd please give Mr. Narukami and I some privacy?"
Reluctantly, Team RWBY, the Investigation Team, Hyde, Orie, and Linne all left the office. "So what do you wish to talk to me about?" Ozpin asked. "Sorry Professor," Yu said, "but I wasn't totally honest earlier. Truth be told I have an idea of exactly why Ruby, Hyde and myself were all experiencing what seems to be the same dream. And it has to do with a creature called Izanami."
Ruby was tapping her foot in frustration outside the office. Soon that tapping became a bouncing on the bottom of her leg. Then it grew from that into a stomping motion. All of this came to a grinding halt when Weiss smacked her on the back of the head!
"Can, you, not?" she said angrily. "Come on Weiss!" Ruby said. "Tell me you don't want to be in there too!" "Just be happy that Ozpin believes us," Weiss said. "Everything that happens next is up to him."
Ruby put on a serious pout. That wasn't good enough for her. She wanted to be in there and listening to the situation going on. She wanted to know what was happening with one of the people that she felt responsible for.
"We need to find a way up there," she said certainly. "What?" Weiss asked. "Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" "You can't tell me you're not curious!" Ruby said. "Well what do you suggest we do?" Weiss asked. "There's no way that we can just sneak back in there. The elevator is the only way into his office."
Ruby eyed the building in front of her, tapping her foot once more as she pondered. "You start stomping that leg again," Weiss said, "and I'll hit you harder." Ruby came to a screeching halt, but suddenly got her idea!
"Okay!" she said. "Here's what we do!"
Not long later, Team RWBY and the Investigation Team were attempting the most ludicrous idea they would ever have! They had somehow managed to get up to Ozpin's office, from the outside, and had made a human ladder atop one of Weiss's glyphs in order to eavesdrop on what they were saying inside! Yang was on the bottom of the tower, standing on the glyph, with Kanji on her shoulders, then Hyde, Chie, Yosuke, Blake, Weiss, and finally Ruby at the very top top listening in just beneath the clockface window.
"Can you hear what they're saying!?" Yang asked Ruby. "Shh! I can't hear if you're yelling! Plus we don't want them to hear us!" Ruby replied. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" Chie asked, even her strength waning with from having four weapon carrying so many people on her shoulders, with sweat visible on her forehead. "I think what we should be asking," Yosuke replied, "is why nobody else is helping us! We've got like, four more people that could be helping! And yet we're the ones stuck up here!"
"Forgive me senpai," Naoto said from her vantage point on the ground standing alongside Yukiko, Orie, and Linne. "But somebody's gotta watch from down here to catch you in case you risk falling off that glyph." "That's a load of bull and you know it," Yosuke said.
"Shouldn't we have just asked to stay inside?" Blake asked. "Nah. This is easier," Ruby replied. "Easier?" Kanji said quietly. "Just hurry up and find out what's happening before my spine telescopes!" Hyde said. "If you all don't shut up I'll lose my concentration on that glyph, and than we'll be in serious trouble!" Weiss said behind grinding teeth.
Ruby listened in on what Ozpin and Yu were discussing. Meanwhile, down below, Linne tapped Orie on the arm. "Listen Licht Kries," she said, "you have no reason to trust me, and I surely have no reason to trust you, but there is something that I have to talk to you about." Orie looked skeptical.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I am," Linne replied. Orie would've said to wait until Hyde got back, but saw something in Linne's eyes. Linne was very unhappy, but not angry. More like sad. Orie nodded a yes, and the two left the rest of the crowd.
"So you say this, Izanami is some kind of god?" Ozpin asked Narukami inside his office. "Something like that," Yu replied. "She claims to have the best interest for humanity, and acted out of their own desire, but was attempting to shroud our world in fog in response. This fog would have turned all the people in our world into Shadows, and left us as merely echos of what we were." "Woah," Ruby said quietly.
"She's the one that gave me my... uh, powers. She sat on the sidelines and watched, believing herself to be acting in mankind's true desire as people killed or tortured each other with this power." "I see," Ozpin said. "So what became of this creature?" "We destroyed her," Yu replied. "At least, we thought we did." "Thought?" Ruby asked.
"Izanami acted by playing on the mind and perception. She could create dreams or illusions, even fake worlds. That's what I felt when Ruby, Hyde, and I were in that dream world. I think she was the one manipulating our minds."
"If this is Izanami," Ozpin said, "what do you think should be done?" "I don't know," Yu said honestly. All was quiet in the office for a moment.
"She's incredibly powerful," he said finally. "I don't know if we'll be so lucky a second time around." "I understand," Ozpin said. "Do keep me posted on these things if they do in fact develop. I'm greatly concerned for what this might entail given your description. Thank you for your time Mr. Narukami, and I promise I'll ensure everything that can be done to prevent this threat will be."
Ruby could hear Yu's footsteps as he left Ozpin's office. She tried to comprehend what she had just heard. "A god?" she asked. "Holy-!" She pushed herself back away from the window in shock! The force caused the entire tower to sway in that direction! "Ruby! What are you thinking?!" Blake said, as she and the others proceeded to right themselves. "Sorry!" Ruby said. "But we've got bad news!" "Well let's get down and maybe find out what that is," Hyde said, his body beginning to feel sore. "Please," Kanji uttered.
After a trying ordeal, group of teens had gotten back on solid ground with minimal injury. "Aww! Sweet terra firma!" Yosuke said in relief. "Now... ugh... what was it that they were saying?" Hyde asked, stretching out his sore joints.
"Yu says that some... thing called Izanami is what was twisting our dreams," Ruby replied. The entire Investigation Team all looked shocked. "I was worried about that," Yosuke said.
"The way that Narukami-kun described his dreams," Yukiko said, "it did sound just like what happened with her." "But how is that possible?" Naoto asked. "We killed Izanami!" "Yu says that our dreams felt just like what she could do," Ruby replied. "Or something like that. I'm not the one that was talking about it!"
"Is this Izanami really that bad?" Blake asked. "However bad you think she is, she's worse," Yosuke replied. "She's practically a god. We just barely escaped killing her. She nearly turned everyone in our home into Shadows. Everyone in our world."
"She gave people the power to enter the TV," Chie said, "and did nothing while people were dying! She created two lunatics just like that!"
Concern began to flood over Team RWBY and JNPR as they listened to what the Investigation Team had to say. "If what you say is true," Hyde said, "and this Izanami is coming back, we have to do something to stop her!" "But what can we do?" Chie asked.
"Well," Hyde replied, "looks like we might just have to figure that out as we go." The others looked at him in confusion. "I've handled a psycho, she-demon that called herself a 'god' before," Hyde said, "this shouldn't be too bad." Everyone looked at him with even more baffled looks now. "What he hell-?" Yosuke began.
The next moment however, Yu exited Professor Ozpin's office and saw the group gathered up. "Did I miss something?" he asked. "We were eavesdropping senpai," Kanji said simply, "and we heard what you said about Izanami. If you really think she's coming back, we have to know what we should do!"
"Well if you wanted to see me..." a voice said. What appeared as gusts of wind suddenly solidified and everyone saw a figure emerge from the fog to stand before them! It appeared as a woman with long gray hair, and pale white skin, with bloody red eyes wearing a long white robe. She smiled as she looked at them all. "All you had to do was ask."
The large team were all standing back, horrified or confused looks on their faces! "Izanami," Yu said quietly. "That's her?" Ruby asked. "That's her," Yukiko confirmed. "Good to know," Ruby said.
In a red blur she suddenly shot towards Izanami with her scythe extended! She slashed at Izanami across the chest, however, her attack as well as her own body went right through the figure! "What?" she asked. "So sorry to break it to you," Izanami said, "but I'm afraid that I'm not really here. In fact, I'm not really anywhere."
"What are you blathering about you sick freak?" Yosuke said angrily, holding his kunai. "It's a rather sad story," Izanami said. "After you all succeeded in defeating me, my physical body was destroyed. But a god is not so easily killed. I continued to exist as a psychic manifestation. A thought, to put it simply. Flowing between dream and reality."
Those words, "dream and reality" paired together like that gave Narukami a few flashbacks. But he was able to stave them off as he looked directly at Izanami. "So you were the one that attacked our dreams," he said. "Attack is such a strong word," Izanami said. "I prefer 'played.' I was merely curious if you'd be strong enough to break away from the illusion that I had made for you."
"And to my satisfaction, you were. You were of no surprise of course Yu Narukami, you've broken from my illusions before, and Hyde Kido had to be saved by you. Quite an unfair advantage." "But what about me?" Ruby asked, having cautiously returned to the side of her companions. "My mind wasn't changed." "That wasn't the game," Izanami replied. "I was only seeing if these two could discover the truth. It was your world Miss Rose, and there was nothing left to try."
"Despite being obscured by fog, the three of you were capable of sticking close to the truth and working together to try and save yourselves until your friends and companions could free you from the dream. Very well done all around. You'll all be more than capable of the game to come."
"So if you're playing," Yang said, "what's your game?" "Good question," Izanami said. "For starters, I'm here to warn you. Something far nastier than I am took control of System XX and is threatening to use it to conquer different worlds."
Weiss and Ruby shared a horrified look. "That's impossible," Weiss said. "We destroyed that thing." "System XX appears to be suffering from the opposite problem I am now," Izanami said. "Whilst my physical body was destroyed I continue to exist as a mind, but System XX on the other hand had its mind destroyed, yet the body still exists."
"All the power that machine had, sitting at the heart of the Phantom Field, waiting to be used." "And now somebody is," Naoto finished. "That is right," Izanami said.
"Who?" Hyde asked. "I'm afraid that isn't for me to say," Izanami said. "Oh don't give me that crap," Hyde muttered.
"Well if you don't mind me asking," Weiss said, "why are you telling us this?" "Because," Izanami said, "I certainly don't want to lose such unique individuals such as you. While this entity threatens the good of all things, something that I stand against, we do have common beliefs and I hope to be the player on the opposite side of the board to move our pieces in this game and see what ending might come."
"Don't give us that!" Kanji said. " 'Something that I stand against,' " Yosuke spat. "You nearly turned everyone in our world into Shadows! And don't you even dare say that was 'what humanity wanted'!" "It hardly matters," Izanami said. "The past is the past, and this is now."
"So that's it?" Blake asked. "You come here to warn us and then you just vanish?" "Oh hardly," Izanami said. "I have my own game that I wish to play while this all goes along."
"The mind is such a vital thing, but what can happen when one can no longer ascertain the dream from reality? So while you go charge valiantly on, I will be watching from the side, analyzing the layers of your minds piece by piece. Taking things apart, and putting them somewhere else. Then when you can no longer remember which world you belong to, how shall that affect which one will you end up saving?"
"What-? That's sick!" Yukiko said. "Don't play with our minds Izanami!" Yu said. "You have no right!" "I don't need it," Izanami said.
"Until another day, my heroes. Don't keep the villain waiting." Izanami vanished from sight the next instant.
"So... that's it?" Yang asked. "This lady is just gonna try and play with our minds this entire time? And what did she mean by somebody else taking control of System XX? Who else is there?"
"I don't know," Yu replied. "But for the time being, we should focus on other things." "He's right," Blake said. "This Izanami is gonna be toying with our minds? What does she mean?"
"Actually that's not what I meant," Yu said. Everyone looked at him with questioning looks. "Am I the only one that is seriously hungry?" he asked. Everyone comically fell on their faces!
The kitchen in the Beacon Academy dorm rooms was constantly kept up to stock with delicious food, and this couldn't make our heroes happier! Despite the tension of what Izanami told them, they still found themselves able to smile as they gathered around to come up with a meal. "So what should we make?" Yosuke asked. "Not sure," Kanji said. "They've got beef, pork, chicken, just about any protein. Not to mention veggies every color of the rainbow."
"How can they stay so calm?" Weiss asked Blake. "That psycho goddess just told us she's going to be playing with our minds from behind the scenes, and they're more worried about what to eat." "I suppose they're just keeping positive?" Blake said. "Just look at Ruby and Yang." She pointed to another corner of the kitchen, where the sisters were arguing with one another. "And I told you, that we're having something with protein!" Yang said. "But why should we wait when we could have something sweet!" Ruby said. "It's not filling!" Yang said. "Who said it had to be?" Ruby asked. "We can eat that now and worry about something else later!"
"Everyone," Yu said, "there is something of crucial importance that I must ask you now!" Everyone was expecting something else nowhere near as important as he was making it sound. "We should discuss who will be our leader," Yu said. Everyone else stopped what they were doing at that declaration. Mainly because it was actually... unironic.
"He's right," Kanji said. "If we're gonna be stuck here, we should think about who's gonna lead us next time we have to fight something. But, isn't that you senpai?" "I may be the leader of the Investigation Team," Yu said, "but Remnant is not my world. I have no idea what threats might lurk here, so I may not be the best candidate to lead us into battle."
"Don't beat yourself up like that partner," Yosuke said. "I'd follow you anywhere, and I'm sure the others would too." Yu shook his head. "I don't want to take that risk," he said. "So... does anybody else have any candidates?"
"Well," Yang said, "Ruby is the leader of our team. Maybe she could lead everyone else too?" "Yang! Hush!" Ruby said. "Don't say that," Blake said. "She's lead us into battle against a criminal organization, and we managed to not die."
"I'm okay with that," Yu said. "Not dying is the first step on leading an effective team." "If you say so," Yosuke said. "Huh!? W-wait!" Ruby said. "I don't know if I can handle leading all of you!" "Of course you can!" Yang said. "And if you need help, I'll be willing to offer my guidance," Yu added.
Ruby felt herself sweating. She thought she could barely just lead her own team, but now she had to deal with nearly a dozen individuals from other worlds that were all depending on her as leader? What did she do to deserve this? Oh that's right, she thought, I'm the one that killed System XX and caused all this to begin with!
"It's ready!" Chie's voice said. "It?" everyone else asked. Suddenly, Chie and Yukiko came out of a side room with a kettle in their hands. "We thought that we'd surprise you," Yukiko said, "and whip something up while you all were talking."
"Huh!?" all the boys yelled. "No way! Hold on! Have mercy!" Yosuke said. "What's wrong?" Yang asked. "You don't want them feeding you," Kanji said. "It will not be pleasant! And on some occasions, it will be painful!"
"Oh get over yourselves!" Chie said. "What were you talking about?" Yukiko asked, setting the pot down. "We... uh... were assigning Ruby as our leader," Yu said. "Oh really?" Chie asked. "In that case, you get the first bite new leader!" "Okay!" Ruby said happily.
Before the boys could stop her, Ruby took a bite of the stew. She suddenly convulsed and fell over on the ground! "Ruby!" everyone yelled. "The return of Mystery Food X!" Yu said in fear.
The girls all began frantically trying to revive Ruby, as Yosuke could only sigh on the sidelines. He looked around, but a confused look came over his face. "Hey, where're Hyde and those girls of his?" he asked.
Hyde was sitting outside with Orie, watching as the sun sat in the middle of the sky. It felt like the day had only just begun and yet already it was on the cusp of setting. However, Hyde wasn't worried about the time as he was more concerned about his absent partner.
"She left?" Hyde asked. "That's correct," Orie replied. "Unfortunately I couldn't stop her, as she was rather adamant." "Let me guess," Hyde said, "she didn't tell me to my face because she knew that I'd try to stop her." Orie nodded. "Right," Hyde said.
Hyde pulled his legs up and put his chin against his knees, a thick pout on his face. "She said that Waldstein would be with her," Orie said. "Apparently she had found him in the woods and told him to wait for her somewhere. They'll take care of each other." "It's not that," Hyde said. "It's the fact she doesn't know anything about this world."
"Whatever she's looking for, I doubt she's gonna find it out there." "We can't worry about that Kido," Orie said. "All we can do is just hope for the best." "I suppose," Hyde replied.
The two made eye contact, bloody red meeting deep purple. The contact was brief, but Hyde's face turned red. He didn't admit it, but he found Orie as a really beautiful girl. And she was exactly his type too. Long hair, and well toned body.
He shot up to his feet, not wanting to dive down that rabbit hole! Things were bad enough after that twisted vision Izanami gave him, making him believe they were 'partners.' He even knew what she had confirmed to be her last name, "Ballardiae," when he had never even knew it. He had only ever known her as Orie Harada, which he had since learned was a false name created by the Licht Kries.
He still didn't really know what the Licht Kries was. They hadn't had the time to talk about that. But the heat in his face was telling him that now was not the best time.
"Kido, are you alright?" Orie asked, grabbing his hand. "Well, no sense dwelling!" he said, taking his hand away. "Let's go meet up with the others, eh?"
Hyde hastily went towards the dorm. Ugh! Why does our relationship have to be so weird? he asked. I meet a girl that I think, "Hey! Maybe we could start dating?" And of course she turns out to be some kind of a superpowered nun or some crap like that!
Now I don't know if we should go out. She's the only girl that I ever really thought was in my league. You know except for -
"Ruby!" Hyde perked up from his thoughts as he saw Ruby sprawled out on a sofa being looked over by everyone else. "What the heck happened?" he asked. "We just tried to give Ruby something to eat!" Yukiko said.
Hyde would've questioned how that could have incapacitated Ruby in such a way, but recalled what he had seen from Yukiko's side of the kitchen back in the Phantom Field. So, suffice to say, he decided not to question it. "Okay," he said, "do we have anything in here that's actually edible?"
"Unfortunately no," Yosuke said. "How in the world did Ruby get so incapacitated," Orie said, "just by eating something?" "Mystery Food X is a cruel mistress," Kanji replied. The other two were just left baffled.
"Alright whatever," Hyde said. "If anybody's gonna get fed over here I might as well be the one to do the feeding." "You can cook?" Yosuke asked. "Yeah," Hyde replied. "I cook for myself all the time and have even made food for Linne and Waldstein. Is that a problem?" "So long as I can eat it," Yosuke said, "then no."
Hyde proceeded to enter the kitchen and saw Chie and Yukiko guiltily standing on the sidelines, having been shooed away by Ruby's teammates. "So what exactly did you two do?" he asked. "We just tried cooking," Yukiko said. "We were gonna surprise everybody while they were busy deciding on something to eat." "Well you definitely succeeded there," Hyde said.
"Why does it always happen to us?" Chie asked. "Uh... what exactly happened to Naoto?" Kanji asked. "Huh? Hey, yeah," Yosuke said. "Where the heck did she go?" As if on cue, Naoto herself exited from the background, putting her uniform jacket back on.
"Sorry," she said. "My stomach couldn't handle the ordeal that went down back in the other kitchen." "What do you mean?" Yu asked. "Did they feed you that?" "No," Naoto said. "I only saw... everything..." "She was supposed to be giving us some extra directions," Chie said. "But she left midway through!" "I've never quite seen anything like it," Naoto said, horror in her tone.
It took a few minutes, but Ruby was soon able to recover after some water and a mint. First few minutes as joint leader, she thought, and I'm nearly killed by food!
"Are you okay Ruby?" Chie asked. "We're really, really sorry again for what happened!" "It's fine," Ruby said, attempting to sit up. "Just please, never put me through that again."
"Here. Maybe this will help," Hyde said. Ruby looked up just in time to have another spoon shoved in her throat. Hyde too had used the ingredients the girls had left untouched to produce his own stew, but unlike the last one that hit Ruby worse than a Grimm slicing through her Aura, this one actually tasted good! Great even! It was like her entire body was suddenly filled with lights!
Her eyes shone brighter than usual as she enjoyed the heavenly flavor, Hyde putting the bowl right in front of her. The moment it sat down, Ruby grabbed the spoon and began taking more and more scoops! "Well," Yang said, "looks like she likes it! Way to go!" "Let me try! Please!" Yosuke said. He grabbed his own bowl and spoon and took a huge bite. The moment the spoon entered his mouth, he too was put into a state of euphoria!
"It's glorious!" he said. "Finally something that tastes delicious!" Everyone else eagerly got their own servings and were delighted by how good it tasted! "Dude. What did you put in that?" Kanji asked, standing aside. "Just some extra herbs to give it a bit more kick," Hyde replied. "It's really simple. If you want, I can show you some time." "Hm? Me? Cook?" Kanji asked. "Sure," Hyde said. "Comparing you to your competition, I'm sure you'd do great." "We heard that!" Chie and Yukiko said.
"Truth be told Kido-kun," Chie said, "this is really delicious! Thank you so much for making it!" "Yes!" Yukiko said. "And maybe you could help teach us sometime too!" Naoto was in the back waving her head 'no!' over and over again! Hyde could only chuckle awkwardly, unsure how to respond.
The time spent between the group dragged on late into the night, until they all finally got to bed. Nobody was entirely sure what fate would have in store for them in the future, especially knowing that Izanami and some other individual were lurking in the shadows. But whatever it was, hopefully they would be able to handle it.
The bright blue room that sat within the heart of a big limousine of some kind, continuing on its never ending ride was a sight that Yu Narukami had grown ever familiar with. And sitting behind a table just in front of him, sitting comfortably in his seat, was the master of this place - Igor. The elderly, almost gremlinlike form of the man's long, long nose, bloodshot eyes, and cheshire grin gave him a frightening look, that clashed with his oddly silky voice.
"Welcome to my Velvet Room," he said kindly. "Ah~, it seems you've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? Estranged from your world, with no clear way how to get back."
"In this new world, you will form new bonds that will ultimately lead you to your goal. You must cherish these relationships and hold them close, and not take them for granted. They will give you strength, and help you succeed where you have failed before."
"Only together can any of you truly triumph over the darkness. For separated, nobody will ever have the strength to succeed. Do you understand?" Narukami did have an idea of what he meant, but he had a different question to ask.
"Why are you here? How are you here?" Igor merely chuckled. "This place exists between dream and reality," he said, "mind and matter. It is the same in every world. Never different, no matter where we go."
"I will be watching from the sidelines, awaiting your next arrival. Until then..." The sight of the Velvet Room fell away, and Yu felt a slight pang of annoyance as he saw that there was yet another figure merely watching them go. Just how many of these people were gonna be watching them like puppets?
Author's Note: Phew! This one took a lot longer than I thought it would! But thankfully we're over and we can move on now!
As I mentioned already, I took out the "opening theme" I used in the last chapters so it would not break immersion. I did this because, in all honesty, I can see just how silly it is and I do somewhat regret doing it. I don't want to give the wrong impression when I say that, but I honestly do think that it was not a good idea in hindsight, for a story like this which does focus more on keeping the readers invested.
Knowing all three franchises, with all the great music there is in all of them, incorporating music was a natural idea, but one that I think is not to be included. Another thing I will ask, because of this, is if I should go back and edit the first two chapters and take those out. I thought it'd be best to leave them as is to remember how I started, but if I want this story to be great for new readers I think that something like that is just plain awkward.
Anyways, on to the chapter itself, this is the last one that acts mainly as groundwork to get the story going. The next few chapters will be the start to the more slice of life aspects. First things first, we now know what became of Yu, Ruby, and Hyde, which is none other than the final boss of Persona 4, Izanami. The idea I had was to incorporate villains from the different franchises, and Izanami was the best fit for this one. She will be more of the puppetmaster style of villain, operating mostly from the sidelines to twist the heroes around. I felt it was going to be a really rough way of bringing her into this, but I feel I did it okay.
But the biggest thing that I was thrown off with, was the way of bringing these characters together. This opening went completely out of control, and was definitely a trip to go down to try and bring things together coherently. And all I can say is that I cannot thank those that have followed this story enough for believing in it. Truly I could've wasted even more years of my life never publishing anything like this, and figured it'd just be best I jump into the deep end and finally get something out for people to see that I was at least halfway confident in.
So to give you guys another idea of things to come, mainly the characters that will be focused on. Something that I did not know how to handle, were so many characters that I loved so much and wanted to focus on all around! So, I figure the easiest idea will be going for more of a Persona Q idea and give each character their spaces for the main protagonists to encounter during strolls.
To explain a little bit more of my thought process, the "main characters" of this will be Ruby, Hyde, and Yu. They will be the ones that have the spotlight on them for the most part, and be the ones that often will have the chapters focus on specifically.
The strongest "supporting characters" will be Weiss, Blake, Yang, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko. They are the characters I find the most engaging of the other characters and are the ones that deserve a lot of focus on. However, it will be regulated enough to the point this story is going into an identity crisis.
Other characters will be regulated to somewhat minor supporting roles like Kanji, Naoto, Orie, and Team JNPR. They will be featured, but not as strong as the others like Weiss, Yosuke, or Chie. Once more, I feel that a part of me doesn't like that idea, but so long as they come about and have their opportunity to shine, I think it'll be okay.
Once again, let me know things you'd like to see our heroes do, and what you'd like to see more of in the future! I love hearing suggestions and ways I can improve the story, and I hope to continue to satisfy! And as always, I hope you have a great evening and thank you for reading.