It was currently five in the morning, almost a day had passed since Team RWBY had miraculously ended up where they were at. The first night was rough, silent worrying between them all. They had only gotten four hours of sleep, and it were at the same hour they did wake up. There was an awkward silence for the next ten minutes, everyone seemed to know they were up, but they didn't bother speaking... atleast, that was until Weiss broke the silence.
"In the case that we don't... make it back, what are we supposed to do?" Weiss asks with a tremble in her voice.
"Try to live our lives here I guess. There's not much else to it. Really not a two way-street for it." Blake says bluntly, although she too had a hint of uncertainty to it all.
With Blake saying her piece, everyone went quiet again. So quiet that the distant ring of Balamb's bell could be heard. A reminder that although the knowledge of Vale's safety was unsure, this world seemed rather safe. If it were anything like Remnant, it had yet to be seen.
"Do-do you guys think Vale is alright?"
"There would definitely be a lot of huntsmen and huntresses sent there, all of those Grimm can't handle that many can they? We were doing pretty well against them before." Yang replies with immediately, mostly sure of the strength of the huntsmen and huntresses they knew.
"I don't know..." Blake says in her voice that sounded like it had been hurt emotionally.
"What do you mean?" Ruby replies hastily.
"There was a lot of them, and the impact probably lead them all into the streets, enough time and they'd likely spill out across the entire town. Maybe Goodwitch fixed up the hole after they dealt with the situation but we can't be sure. We have no way of knowing." Blake's skeptical way of looking at the situation sent chills down everyone's spine. In specific, Ruby, as through technicality she had contributed to the chain of events that lead to the train getting set off into escape in the first place.
"What about Zwei?"
"Oobleck cares too much for him, only way Zwei would get killed is if Oobleck died. I doubt Oobleck died..." Yang responded with her own bluntness, she wasn't so much scared of the situation as she was angry. Not too long before the train crashed she had seen that woman... she had felt a pull to her, that woman had saved her for whatever reason, now it was unlikely she would ever find out. It was far-fetched but... what if it was her Mom she had been searching for? Her hair... it looked similar to her own. The only difference being the colour...
*DUM* *DUM*
There were two loud poundings on their door, the force of which was inhuman in its strength. It rumbled the floor and left some vibration that they could feel.
"H-hello?" Ruby asked.
"It's Instructor Trepe, your course on the world in its current state has been scheduled at 0550 hours, I'm here to escort you to the class as well as be your instructor for the day." Quistis said as Ruby opened the door. Quistis was looking at her omni-meter, checking the time.
"That would give us thirty-five minutes to get to the lecture hall. Get dressed if you need to." Their response was immediate, they were already in the Balamb Student attire... although Yang in specific had one complaint to voice.
"Are there any larger sizes for the students here?" Yang asked while looking at her chest, which looked constricted to put it bluntly. Quistis responding with a chuckle as she went ahead and adjusted the uniform to fit more comfortably.
"We do apologize, we haven't had any students that are quite as... top-heavy as you are." Quistis said between a muffled laugh, finishing the fastening on the back. Yang responded with a sigh.
"Is that better?"
"Very much."
"Alright then, let's get going."
Walking throughout the vast expanse that was Balamb Garden, they passed a multitude of shower rooms and rest rooms.
"You won't have to worry too much about clogged up bathrooms and the like, we have quite the clean reputation." Quistis added as she saw the same boy from the infirmary she visited earlier walking about, she rolled her eyes, sighing as they walked up near him.
"Squall, what are you doing?"
Now that they were up close, they could see why he was bandaged up yesterday in the way he was. He had a rather fresh looking scar that looked to be done from a blade, his gloves looked to be burnt black, as if there was some kind of fire he had been involved in.
"What does it matter?"
"You're supposed to be in the infirmary recovering, you're lucky you're alive."
"...Whate-"
"Whatever?" Quistis finished it for him, letting out a small laugh. Squall responded by looking to his side, clearly annoyed by her finishing his sentence for him.
"Well, Whatever, would you mind coming along and helping these four out with me? You still need your leadership credit before you're eligible for the Fire Cavern, as well as the Field Test. If you do this we can get that done and you can relax until then."
"Fine..." Squall responded, as Quistis and the four began to walk, Squall following closely behind.
"So... what happened to you?" Ruby asked the scarred SeeD candidate who stood roughly six inches taller than her.
"..."
"I'm sorry if I wasn't speaking loud enough."
"Don't worry about him, he's generally a reserved and introverted person. He usually doesn't speak to anyone unless it's required of him" Quistis butted in, assuring Ruby she wasn't being too quiet.
"Isn't that right Squall?"
"...Sorry for ignoring you." Squall said with a palpable impertinence.
"I was injured in what was supposed to be a "friendly" sparring match, my partner decided to fight dirty. We were supposed to be using just our Gunblades but he ended up blasting me with chi fire, it knocked me on my a*** and then he struck me while I was still getting up. That's where this scar came from."
"He sounds like a jerk." Ruby responded
"That's putting it nicer than I would, I've had to deal with him ever since we were enrolled here." Squall said as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Seifer certainly has attitude problems, likely due to a difficult upbringing." Quistis added.
"Does he treat everyone like that?"
"He usually pays no respect to anybody except those that can compete with him physically. Squall here is the only student that can, outside of instructors like myself."
"Why hasn't he been expelled?"
"This is a first offense for him, he usually doesn't try to seriously injure his training partners. I would take it as a compliment personally Squall, he fought dirty in order to get the upper hand... maybe you can defeat him at this year's festival..."
"...Wh-"
"Whatever?" Squall this time stopped where he was and held a hand to his hip, shaking his head slowly. Quistis and the entirety of Team RWBY couldn't help but let out genuine laughter.
Entering one of the many lecture halls on the second floor after some time walking and using the elevator, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang find themselves unsure of where exactly to sit. Quistis soon instructing them.
"Take a seat anywhere in the front center row." Almost immediately the four zipped into proper sitting position, next to one another. Quistis raising an eyebrow at the speed they had shown off, clearing her throat before beginning.
"Welcome to today's lecture on the essential information you'll need in order to not be under a rock. My student Squall here will be offering examples or clarification depending on the material. With that said, I must start off with a question for you. As a citizen of anywhere, what is essential to get by?"
"Money?" Weiss answered.
"Correct, I do not know the currency you may have used where you're from, but here we use a currency named gil. Short for gold coins. Squall?" Quistis said as she looked to him, Squall digging into a pocket and pulling out a single gil coin.
"These coins are made of 18 karat gold, they're quite valuable but they're also a pain to carry in large amounts. That is why we usually store them in banks and use cards to represent our amount. Although students here use their omni-meter for that as do the faculty." As Quistis finished her sentence, Squall puts away the gold coin. Immediately Weiss had a question.
"Are there any other currencies that are used?"
"Outside of tribes that use material trades, no. Gaea has a near universal economy that allows for countries to strive ahead of others given they play their cards right." Squall responded.
"Correct, Squall." Quistis said as she made a slight change to the subject.
"Speaking of tribes, one in specific that have a very important role in this Garden itself is the Shumi Tribe. Not much is known of them unfortunately. After the Sorceress War twenty years ago they secluded themselves from most of society, heading to the frozen tundra of the Trabia continent, taking many of their works of culture along with them. What is known is that they have two physical forms. You've already seen them actually, the staff that were in front of most of the pathways are actually Shumi Tribesmen. They're known for being incredibly artistic and dedicated to their work." This struck a chord somewhat with Blake, who butted in.
"Was the reason they left because they felt persecuted by humans? Were they not treated equally?"
"Blake..."
"No, no, it's a valid question. To answer it, in the region of Galbadia they were using Tribesmen slave labor in order to cut production costs for the Galbadian military's excessive spending. The violation of their civil rights was likely a contributing factor to the rest of the Shumi deciding to leave most of humanity. That, and many of their settlements being razed to the ground by both Galbadian and Estharian forces. To answer what I think may be another one of your questions, we here at Balamb Garden enforce a strict no tolerance mindset towards racism of any sort. Be they Human, Shumi, Alien, or in your case, Faunus." Immediately Blake and the rest of her teammates were struck with confusion at just how Quistis knew she was a Faunus.
"H-how did you know?"
"We here at Balamb Garden specialize in the use of magic, one specific spell that we use is called Scan. It tells us of shown physical capabilities as well as a brief rundown on what or whom something or someone is. Why the scan spell picked up on your specific race I don't know, how it knew is a mystery. As long as our world's magic has witnessed it, the scan spell will know." Quistis said as Squall nodded.
"This lends more credence to the theory that you four were brought here by a Sorceress or a Witch."
"Then if one was capable of taking us out of there..." Weiss said, before being cut off by Quistis.
"Then they should know how to put you back. But, we're getting off topic. The chances of us finding this specific Sorceress or Witch is incredibly unlikely, due to the association of them with fear. Most decide to keep their latent abilities secret, we've had a few found here at Garden, at which point they are given two options. They can be open about their status and continue to train as a SeeD, or we must turn them over to Esthar in order to prevent public panic. I am one of the open witches. If that gives you any sort of grounds to sympathize Blake." Quistis says as she nods towards Blake.
"Speaking of Sorceresses and Witches, the origin of their power is not known with a hundred percent certainty. All religions however point to a monotheistic or polytheistic head god or great magician named Hyne. Hyne, according to most religious texts, created the universe, sealed the monsters on the moon, and gave half of its body to humanity. This body would come to be known as magic. So far, the only people that inherit this power that we know of are females. Sorceresses and Witches are immortal until they pass on their power. Based on past observations, they still share the same life span as normal humans and if at the age or above it, will die upon passing their powers. However, the reason why we here at Balamb Garden look out for Sorceresses and Witches is because the power of pure magic will corrupt the bodies and minds of those that possess it if not trained properly and given the necessary exposure to society and thus the full spectrum of emotions such as love and friendship. Mutations we've observed range anywhere from elongated fingertips, to loss of fatty tissues in the breasts, to all around masculinarization. This is not taking into account the multiple accounts of possessors developing schizophrenia. As one can imagine, someone with that amount of power whilst being in a damaged mental capacity could do catastrophic damage, as the Sorceress War proved. Many children were orphaned, including myself and Squall here. In fact, roughly forty-five percent of students in attendance here at Balamb Garden, and thirty-five percent in all of the Gardens are orphans. All of that damage, was the work of one sorceress." Quistis spoke with a matter of fact tone. She could not remember much of her parents, she couldn't remember much of her childhood at all. Neither could Squall remember his own. As a result, they both spoke without hesitance on the matter whenever asked.
"What happens to Sorceresses and Witches that are not students, that get caught?" Yang asks.
"Well, we usually only go after those with reports of magic violence being used, once we track them down we usually find a way to convince them to come with us or we sedate them. From there, we usually give them therapy and try to reintroduce them to society in a fashion that allows them to experience love and friendship and the like. We've made considerable progress, with effects of the corruption subsiding, or even completely disappearing. Once they're rehabilitated we ask them to act as an active member of our council regarding Sorceress and Witch activities. Of course, we also do tell them that if they do refuse that we must send them to Esthar."
"What do they do to them in Esthar?"
"We don't know unfortunately, Esthar went quiet after the Sorceress War. A coup against their Sorceress leader took place, they managed to overthrow her, her name being Sorceress Adel, and ended the war shortly after. Ever since then we have no feasible way of making contact with them other than sending them to the location we knew they were last at."
"Why would you send them to Esthar if you don't even know if they're still there?"
"I've brought this up to the council many times, but they assure me that they do gain entry into Esthar. I'm personally not sure if I buy into it, but they're my superiors."
Just then, Headmaster Cid walked into the room. He sighed as he looked to the girls.
"Unfortunately, we were not able to identify any location on this planet known as Vale or any of the other kingdoms you spoke of. As it stands right now, you're outside of where you're supposed to be..." Headmaster Cid could feel the souring mood in the room.
"But..."
The four girls looked towards him, what was there to be added to this solemn note?
"I am extending my personal support towards you four by offering you the chance to enroll here at Balamb Garden and thus the opportunity to become SeeD members, as well as dedicating resources towards finding the Sorceress or Witch that has displaced you."
The room was quiet for almost a minute before Headmaster Cid spoke again.
"I can give you time to consider the offer, your residence here, student or not, is open to you until you find somewhere to stay. If you do decide to become students, you will be given your own personalized dormitories." He walked out of the room afterwards, Quistis waiting for some time before continuing.
"Let's see... where was I?"