AN: Hope you guys have been enjoying the fanfic so far. Here's chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Questions
The last thing Yang remembered was charging at the red-haired man after seeing him stab Blake. All of a sudden, she felt immense pain around her waist and could no longer feel the lower half of her body, but everything went black before she had realized what happened. The next thing she knew, she was in midair and quickly falling back to earth.
She landed with a loud crash, leaving a crater where she landed. She vaguely thought she heard a voice say "Who the hell are you?" But she was too disoriented from the fall to know for sure.
Clearing her head, she looked around to try to get an idea of where she was. She was lying in a crater in the ground in front of someone's house. The house had a large gaping hole in the side of it. She also saw two figures in front of her. One of them was a teenage boy with bright orange hair, black robes, and a massive sword in his right hand. The other one was a black-haired girl wearing white robes, with blood covering her left shoulder. What the hell happened here? She thought. And where am I? She heard a few groans behind her, so she turned around to investigate, and spotted two familiar faces.
"Blake! Pyrrha!" Yang said, happy to see her two friends. They looked like they were still dazed from the fall, but Yang's voice snapped them out of it. They looked at her, and Blake started tearing up.
"Yang?" Blake said, the tears starting to flow down her face. "YANG!" Blake leapt at Yang, wrapping her arms around the blonde and tackling her to the ground, tears of happiness streaming down her face. "I never thought I'd see you again! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Hey, it's okay," Yang said to the faunus girl. "You have nothing to apologize for."
"Yes, I do. It's all my fault."
"What is?"
"Hey!" The orange-haired boy called, but it went ignored, as Yang noticed Pyrrha regaining her senses, too.
"Hey, Pyrrha," Yang said to the red-head. "You're here, too?"
"Yes I am," Pyrrha replied. "Wherever 'here' is. You wouldn't happen to know what happened to Jaune would you?"
"No, why?" replied Blake, wiping her tears away and letting go of Yang.
"I sent him away in a rocket locker before I went to fight Cinder, but I don't know what happened to him."
"Hey!" the orange-haired boy called again, and again he was ignored.
"No, I don't know. Have either of you seen Ruby?" Yang asked, concerned for her sister's safety. The other two girls shook their heads. "Damn it. I've got to find her. She could be in trouble."
"HEY!" the orange-haired boy screamed right in their ears. "I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
"What?!" Yang screamed back, exasperated. Wait a minute, I've never seen him before. Could he be with the enemy? "You! Where's Ruby? What have you done with her?"
"Who?" the orange-haired boy asked.
"And where's Jaune?" Pyrrha asked him next.
"Who?" The boy asked again.
"Do you work for Cinder?" Yang asked him.
"Who?" The boy asked yet again, growing very confused.
"What happened to Beacon?" It was Blake's turn to ask a question now.
"What?" The boy asked, his confusion only growing.
"Where did Adam go?" Blake again.
"WHO?!"
"And where in Remnant are we?" All three of them asked at once.
"WHAT THE HELL IS 'REMNANT'?!" The boy screamed, having enough of their confusing questions. "What is happening to me right now?"
"Ichigo!" The black-haired girl said to the boy, now identified as "Ichigo". "We don't have time for this! Just perform the Konso on them already!"
"That thing you did to that spirit earlier?" Ichigo asked.
"Yes. Just tap the bottom of your Zanpakuto on their foreheads."
"Like this?" He asked, raising his sword and approaching Yang.
"Woah!" Yang exclaimed. "Keep that thing away from me!"
"Don't worry," Ichigo said. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"It sure as hell LOOKS like you're gonna hurt me! Back up, buddy!" Yang took a fighting stance, instinctively trying to activate her gauntlets, only to discover that they weren't there. "What the-?" She asked. "Where are my weapons?" When she looked down, she noticed the chain sticking out of her chest. "What is this thing?" she asked as she reached up to try to pull it out.
"No, don't!" the black-haired girl yelled, too late. Yang was suddenly hit by a paralyzing pain, and fell to the ground.
Ichigo took advantage of her momentary distraction to tap the pommel of his sword against Yang's forehead. To his surprise, nothing happened. "What the hell?" He asked. He tried again. Still nothing. "Hey, Rukia," he called to the girl. "It's not working." He started repeatedly tapping Yang on the forehead, and it continued to do absolutely nothing.
"Impossible," Rukia said to herself. "I've never seen a soul have absolutely no reaction to the Konso before."
Yang had enough of the repeated tapping on her forehead. "That hurts, you jerk!" She yelled at Ichigo, kicking him in the stomach and sending him away from her. "What's the big idea?" She was thoroughly pissed off at this point, so she was expecting the usual rush of power from her Semblance activating, but to her surprise, it never came. In fact, she couldn't feel her Aura at all. "What? Now my Semblance won't work either?"
"Mine neither," she heard Blake say.
"Same here," Pyrrha said.
"You!" Yang shouted, pointing at Ichigo. "What did you do to us?"
"ME?" He shouted back. "I did nothing to you! I don't even know who you are!"
"Ichigo!" Rukia called out to him. "Just stop." She stepped in between Ichigo and Yang, making sure they didn't come any closer to each other. The last thing she needed now was for the two of them to kill each other over a misunderstanding. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, here."
Yang finally took a good look at her and noticed all the blood on her shoulder. "Hey," she asked. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, that looks bad," said Blake.
"I'll be fine," said Rukia. "That's not important right now. I'm Rukia Kuchiki. This is Ichigo Kurosaki. What are your names?"
Yang looked at her suspiciously. "Yang Xiao Long," she finally said.
"Blake Belladonna."
"And I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
"I'm sure you all must be very confused right now. If you come with me, I'm sure we can answer any questions you have. And I might get some answers, too."
"Why should we go with you?" Yang asked, still suspicious of the white-clad girl.
"I know you have no reason to trust me, especially after my associate's outburst."
"Hey!" Ichigo said indignantly.
"But believe me when I say I'm just as confused as you are. I just want to know what's going on."
The girls talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, trying to decide on what to do.
"Okay," Yang said, speaking for the other two girls as well. "We'll go with you, but no funny business. I've got my eye on you two."
"Oh, it'll be just me," Rukia responded. "Ichigo won't be coming with us."
"What?" he asked, feeling insulted at being left out. "Why not?"
"Because I imagine you won't be conscious for much longer," she answered. "The process of turning you into a Soul Reaper exacts a large toll, so you should pass out any second now."
"What are you talking about? I'm… fine," and with that, he hit the ground, unconscious.
"Hey," Rukia turned to the girls. "Could one of you help me get him back in his body?"
"What?" all three girls asked in surprise.
"You heard me right. I need to get him back in his body. I'll explain later. I also need someone to get his sisters back to bed. There's one on the ground over there and another one inside."
"I guess I'll help you get him in his body," Yang said.
"I'll get the sister out here," said Blake.
"I'll get the other one," said Pyrrha. They all separated to carry out their individual tasks.
_
"So, he let you stab him?" Yang asked Rukia after she explained what had happened that night. "So he could get your powers and save his sisters?"
"Correct. He became a Soul Reaper so he could keep his little sisters safe."
"I might have misjudged him." The girls had just finished putting Ichigo and his sisters back to bed, and Rukia had used some kind of spray on them to alter Yuzu and Karin's memories. She then used a healing kido on the twins to treat their injuries, shocking the three newcomers.
"How did you do that?" Yang asked.
"I didn't see you use any Dust," Blake added.
"And I've never seen Dust do that before," said Pyrrha.
"Dust?" Rukia asked, clearly confused.
"You don't know what Dust is?" Blake asked. Rukia shook her head.
"Then how did you use magic?" asked Yang.
"Magic without Dust…" Pyrrha said, thinking out loud. "That must mean…Are you a Maiden?" Pyrrha's question surprised the other three girls.
"What?!" Rukia asked, blushing furiously. "What kind of question is that? I don't see what my maidenhood has to do with anything!"
"Wow, Pyrrha," Yang said, grinning mischievously. "I didn't know you swung that way."
"No, no, no," Pyrrha said quickly trying to clear up the misunderstanding. "I didn't mean it that way. A Maiden is someone who can magic without Dust."
"Really?" Blake asked. "How is that possible?"
"Professor Ozpin told me about them," Pyrrha explained. "There are four Maidens that have the ability to use magic without Dust. I was actually supposed to inherit the old Fall Maiden's powers, but Cinder got to her first."
"Woah, that's so cool!" Yang exclaimed. "So you were supposed to become this badass magical warrior instead of just a regular badass warrior? Sucks that you couldn't do it, though."
"Yes, I suppose it does."
"Well, this just raised even more questions," Rukia said. "Our work here is done. Come on, you three. We have to go pay someone a visit."
The four girls walked out of the Kurosaki household, and Blake took a look up at the sky, having made a startling realization. "The moon," she said to herself. "It's not shattered."
The three girls had followed Rukia to a small shop on the edge of town. The outside of the building was an old-fashioned classical Japanese structure. The sign above the front door read "Urahara Shoten". The four girls stepped inside, and were surprised to find that they were standing in what appeared to be just an ordinary candy shop, if very old-fashioned. The girls wondered what Rukia could possibly need from a candy store that was so important. Especially since it was late at night, so the store was definitely closed.
"Hey, Urahara!" Rukia called out. "I need to talk to you!"
"Just a minute!" a voice called from the back of the store. A few seconds later, the rice paper door slid open, revealing a man, who was likely this "Urahara". He looked to be in his late thirties, with shaggy blond hair and stubble. He was wearing a dark green jinbei underneath a black haori coat with white diamond patterns along the bottom. On his feet were wooden clogs, and he wore a white-and-green striped bucket hat on his head. In his hand was a paper fan.
"Oh, Miss Kuchiki!" He said pleasantly. "What can I do for you? Wait, what happened to you?" he asked after noticing the state she was in.
"I was inured fighting a Hollow and had to give my powers to a human. I need a Gigai while I wait for my powers to come back. I also need to talk to you about something."
"Oh?" Urahara asked, unfolding his fan and placing it over his face. He looked at the three girls with Rukia. "And who are these three?"
"That's what I want to talk to you about. They just appeared out of nowhere, started talking nonsense about 'Dust', 'Maidens', and 'Remnant'. What's most worrying is that the Konso won't work on them."
"The Konso won't work?" he repeated, his face impossible to read behind his fan. "Interesting. Why don't you four step into the back? We'll discuss this in there."
The five of them were now sitting in the back room of the store, sitting around a short, round coffee table. Yang was anxious to get this started. She needed to know where the hell she was.
"So," Urahara finally said, looking at Yang and the other two girls. "Let's start from the beginning. Where are you from?"
"We're from Vale," Yang answered. "We're students at Beacon Academy."
"I'm not from Vale, though," Pyrrha added. "I'm from Mistral. But I am a student at Beacon."
Urahara closed his eyes, looking like he was thinking about something. "Never heard of them," he said.
"What?" Blake asked. "How could you have never heard of Vale? Or Mistral? Or Beacon?"
"Where in Remnant are we? How did we end up this far in the sticks?" Yang asked, dumbfounded.
"I also don't know what 'Remnant' is. As for where you are, you're in Karakura, Tokyo. In Japan. On Earth."
"Earth?" Pyrrha asked, confused.
"Why don't you start making sense?" Yang demanded, starting to get angry with the blonde man.
"I think I have a good idea of what happened," Urahara said, again placing the fan in front of his face.
"Then, please," Rukia said. "Enlighten us. Because I am just as lost as they are."
"I imagine 'Remnant' is the name of your world?" Urahara asked.
"That's right," Blake answered, not liking where this was going.
"Well, putting it simply, the three of you somehow managed to cross dimensions in order to get here. You're not in Remnant anymore."
"What?" Pyrrha gasped. "But that's impossible."
"Yeah, right," Yang said. "You expect us to believe that?"
"I believe it," Blake said, surprising the other two girls. "I took a look at the sky earlier, and the moon is in one piece here."
"No way," Yang said. She then looked at Urahara. "Well, if you know how we got here, can you send us back?"
"No."
"Why not?" Yang was starting to lose her patience.
"Because I don't know how. And even if I did, I wouldn't."
"WHAT?!" Yang screamed, throwing the table to the side and walking up to Urahara. "Why wouldn't you?!" She grabbed Urahara by his shirt and lifted him up in the air. "I have to get back to Ruby! She needs me!"
"Even if I could get you back to your world, it wouldn't do you any good."
"What do you mean?" Yang was out of patience for this man.
"The chains attached to your chests," the man said, pointing at Yang's chest. "That tells me exactly what happened."
"What?"
"Those are called the 'Chains of Fate'. If you have those, it means you're dead."
"What?" Yang practically whispered, dropping Urahara.
"The three of you got here when you died. Somehow, instead of going to the afterlife, you ended up here. That's why I wouldn't send you back, even if I knew how. You wouldn't see this 'Ruby' again. You would just go straight to your world's afterlife."
Yang could only stand there, in total shock. "I'm dead?" She asked. "But that's impossible. I'm standing right here."
"Think about it," said Urahara. "Have you taken a single breath since you got here?"
Yang tried to breath, but found that she couldn't. "But how? Guys, do you know what he's talking about? There's no way we died." She turned to the other two girls.
"I think he's right," Pyrrha said. "I was shot in the heart. I fought Cinder, and I lost. The last thing I remember was her firing an arrow at me."
"Yang," said Blake. "Don't you remember what happened?"
"No," replied Yang. "The last thing I remember from Remnant was charging at that guy that stabbed you."
"That was Adam," said Blake. "We used to be together. In order to hurt me, he came for you. After you charged at him, he…he…" Blake was beginning to choke up at the memory.
"Blake," Yang urged. "What happened to me?"
"Adam, he," Blake said. "I watched him cut you in half."
Yang's eyes went wide. "No. What about Ruby? What's my baby sister gonna do without me?" Tears started to flow down Yang's face.
"Yang, I am so sorry," Blake said to her partner. "This happened because of me. Adam killed you to hurt me. This is all my fault."
"Wait," Pyrrha said to Blake. "How did you die?"
"Adam killed me too," Blake replied, looking down. "Or, rather, I let him kill me."
"What?" both Yang and Pyrrha asked, absolutely shocked by what the black-haired Faunus said.
"Why would you do that?" Asked Yang.
"Because I was sick of people I cared about getting hurt because of me! You and Ruby will never see each other again, and it's all my fault! If I escaped from him, it would only be a matter of time before someone else got hurt! Ruby! Weiss! Sun! They're all better off without me!"
Blake was silenced by a slap to the face, courtesy of Pyrrha.
"Don't you ever say that about yourself!" Pyrrha yelled to Blake. "Yang's death was NOT your fault. There is no to blame but Adam. It was a privilege to know you in our last life, and we are so lucky to still have you now. So don't say anybody is better off without you, because our lives are better for having you in it!"
"Pyrrha," Blake said quietly, starting to tear up. Suddenly, she was swept up in a hug by Yang.
"I'm happy you're still with me," Yang said to her. "It's going to take me some time to process what happened, but we can get through this together. I know we can. It would mean the world to have my partner here with me."
"Yang," Blake finally let the tears stream down her face, falling to her knees, still in Yang's embrace. Pyrrha kneeled down and joined them for a group hug.
"So, Urahara," Rukia said, letting the girls have their moment. "Why won't the Konso work?"
"I imagine that has something to do with their souls not being originally from this world. The Konso sends souls to the Soul Society, but their souls don't belong there."
"That's a problem," Rukia said, gripping her chin to think.
"Yes, it is," said Urahara. "We have to assume that they'll become Hollows."
"Unless we put them in Gigai's."
"Miss Kuchiki," Urahara said playfully. "You know putting an unregistered soul in a Gigai is against the rules. It's bad enough you shared your powers with a human, but now this?"
"It's the only option we have. If they can't go back to their world, and they can't be sent to the Soul Society, then it's either we let them become Hollows, or have them reside in Gigai's until we can figure out a way to help them."
"Very well," Urahara said, hiding his face behind his fan again. "I'll get right to work on making them."
He walked into the very back of his store to do what he needed, as Rukia looked down at the three girls from another world, still comforting each other over their mutual deaths.
This mission just got a whole lot more complicated.
AN: Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 2. I would like to answer a question from the comments last chapter,
To treyalexander63917: First off, thanks for the fave! As for your question, without spoiling too much, I can say that all three of them become Soul Reapers. I won't say any more than that. I don't want to give it away.
Thank you guys again for reading! The next chapter will be available on Friday, March 29.