Chapter 2: Phantom Memories.
Neo stared down at her scroll. Well, more specifically, she'd been staring at it for what felt like hours. She wasn't sure where she got this incredible piece of technology from… but was acutely aware of its various capabilities. She'd been scouring it for anything useful, but – aside from the news – had found extraordinarily little in the way of content. The only things she found to be saved on her scroll were a simple profile picture of her face and alias, and a small, obscure list of various abstracts.
- My combat skills.
- My current knowledge of the world of Remnant.
- My understanding of language and forms of communication.
- My current knowledge of technology.
- My personal details. (Name, age, birthday, etc.)
- Remember to tell Ruby Rose that I'm sorry.
- Be the best person you can be.
Her scroll had no other pictures, no dates scheduled on her calendar, no alarms, no contacts, and nothing actually useful. Oddly enough, she seemed to have no real memories but knew a decent amount about the world she lived in, her personal details and the various technological advances of Remnant. She just had no idea what she had done yesterday. Or the day before. Or the day before that.
All she had on her was the scroll, a peculiar parasol-based weapon which she somehow knew was called 'Hush,' a lien card, with enough currency to get her through a week, and the clothes she was wearing. Her outfit consisted of a chocolate brown jacket that started just below her shoulders and above her chest and had a pink interior, two brown belt shoulder straps and twin grey button seams. A grey neck scarf was wrapped around her throat and neatly tied off so only the two ends stuck out of the knot. A white button-up vest style top that was strapless and cropped exposing her midriff. She also wore a pair of chocolate brown detached sleeves with puffy tops and pink trim alongside a pair of white funnel cuffed gloves with grey button detailing. A white belted pair of slim-fitting trousers and black and white spat styled ankle boots with cut-out detail just above the ankle. The back of Neo's jacket had a small, coned ice cream key chain that was covered by her hair. In truth, she only felt it jingling around when she combed her hands through her hair on reflex. Lastly, she wore a stylish, black bowler hat with a red ribbon around the middle and a small, black feather poking out the side.
For reasons which she could not describe, she felt a little homesick when she used the camera to look at herself. It was something about the hat and neck scarf in particular which made her feel strangely melancholic. She didn't know why, though. None of her other clothes made her feel that way. In fact, everything else made her feel strangely confident, considering that her belly button was exposed for everyone to see.
Everyone? That's right. She was in the middle of a large, bustling metropolis, sitting outside a small café, and sipping a cup of tea. Where, specifically? Well, that was what Neo was trying to wrap her head around. Not because it was unfamiliar, but because it seemed…impossible. She was in Vale. Before everything was destroyed, that is. She was certain that this place had been hit hard by the pawns of Salem. Sure, they could have rebuilt it…but Neo couldn't find any evidence that it had been destroyed to begin with. No signs of damage, people were living peacefully and merrily, but the smoking gun was the lack of news coverage. Even searching back over fifty years ago, the biggest 'Fall of Beacon' was when a section of the infamous school went through maintenance and a section was bulldozed. Hardly what her memories suggested at all. This brought her to several conclusions, but all of them contradicted each other.
1: She was sent here from the future in order to try and prevent these tragedies.
2: She was delusional, and her knowledge was entirely fictitious.
3: She was some kind of oracle who could foretell the future at the cost of her past.
4: This was some kind of video game, and she was the so-called protagonist who had recently 'spawned in.'
5: None of this was real and she was actually dreaming.
Well…she could at least rule out that last one by pinching herself. Hmm…yep…that hurts. Definitely not some dream. And if this was a video game of some kind, it sure was realistic. But she definitely couldn't shake the feeling that she had just…appeared out of nowhere.
Let's see…her earliest memory was only a couple of hours ago. She'd woken up in an alleyway nearby. At first, Neo had thought she'd been the victim of a bar fight gone wrong, but she didn't have any injuries, let alone a head injury capable of inflicting amnesia. No indication that she'd been drugged, either. It wouldn't have made sense for anyone to drug her and then not take anything from her. As unlikely as it was, Neo had either taken a nap here and ended up with amnesia…or just appeared here, randomly. Unless, of course, she was bearing something so important that things like her scroll and money weren't of value to any would-be thieves.
She sighed, before taking another sip of her tea. All this thinking was making her head spin, and it didn't bring her any closure. What she needed to concern herself with right now…was how she was going to proceed with her life. This money wasn't going to last forever, and she had no home to return to, nor friends that she knew of. The way she saw it, she had three options.
1: Seek employment.
2: Resort to crime.
3: Attend Beacon Academy.
Let's go through them in order.
Employment. Sure, it'd definitely sustain her, but it also came with a lot of problems. First, finding a legitimate career path as a mute whose only talents lie with the art of violence would not be easy. Not because employers are biased against hiring the disabled, but because being mute limited her options quite severely. Almost any retail role would be impossible, and Neo didn't see herself being employable in an office or most any labour-based role. But the biggest hurdle was that a significant number of employers often take more than a week to contact applicants. The more Neo thought about it, the more the odds pressed down on her. The only job which she could imagine herself being able to pull off – and pull of well – would be some kind of modelling career, due to her semblance and its infinite potential. However, one does not simply just become a model.
Crime. Honestly, a tempting offer. One which seemed to solve most of her problems. With her skills and semblance, she could pull off a successful robbery at almost any building except a bank or a military base. And all she would need to do is adopt a different form during the robbery to keep any witnesses from accurately recalling any useful information. The police would be stuck hunting the shadow of a person which doesn't even exist. She could earn her wealth through felonies, and then use that money to sustain herself however she thought best.
However, the idea of becoming a criminal left a bad taste in her mouth. She may be incredibly suited for it, but for some reason…she just couldn't allow herself to do so. And then she saw why. She was staring at that strange list from earlier. 'Be the best person you can be' was staring right back at her. If it had just said: 'Be the best you can be,' she could have argued that she was trying to become the best criminal she could be. Alas, it said, 'best person' and good people don't commit crimes, let alone the best people. Neo knew that she wasn't some paragon of righteousness and, furthermore, she probably never would be. But that doesn't mean that she wasn't planning on at least trying.
The only choice which remained was attending Beacon Academy. It may sound like a terrible decision at first, but…it held merit the longer she thought about it. Getting in would be difficult without any records or transcripts of achievement and lineage. Not to mention the legal documentation. But she had the talent which they were looking for. In fact, she knew that people had been admitted to Beacon, bypassing the usual barriers, if they had skills worth nurturing. If she could prove that she had the skills, they might consider letting her in. As for her situation, she wouldn't have to pay for food at their cafeteria, would have access to dormitories and…perhaps…even make some useful contacts during her journey to become a huntress. It may not be a glamourous lifestyle, but the life of a huntress would certainly put her skills to good use and came with many different perks which would benefit her well.
All things considered, attending Beacon would be her best bet. Even if it didn't work out, she could always go for one of her other ventures. Maybe even go and live in the wilderness or something.
With her plan in mind, she finished off her tea and placed down the cup upon the saucer and rose from her chair, setting her heterochromatic eyes upon the lofty, castle-like academy of Beacon.
As she walked down the streets, she had plenty of time to think of her strategy. She was a bit older than the target audience. Typically, students would join at the age of seventeen, but Neo was twenty-three. However, though she was older than the average student, she was also shorter than the average student. Her looks were quite deceiving, and there was no paperwork in existence to disprove her if she decided to claim to be around the age of eighteen. It would make the situation much more plausible.
As she mulled this over in her head, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and accidentally ploughed right into a passer-by who was just as lost in thought as she was. The two of them quickly became acquainted with the floor.
Neo clutched her head and quickly stood to her feet, before reaching down to offer the stranger her hand. A firm grip took that hand and pulled upon it as the stranger used it to stand up, themselves.
"Oh, how clumsy of me! I'm so sorry." They said with a feminine but resolute tone which somehow managed to sound almost whimsical or songlike. When Neo looked up, she beheld a corpse. At least, that was her gut reaction. Her eyes flashed white for a moment in her panic, but Neo quickly blinked and hid her fear. However, that sudden response did not go unnoticed by the supposed cadaver.
As a top, she wore a brown over-bust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the centre. It seemed to almost glow golden in the light. Additionally, the girl wore an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt, a pair of brown opera-length gloves on both arms and a red sash that wrapped around her waist. Long, flowing crimson hair was neatly bundled into a ponytail whilst her bangs attempted to veil a golden circlet beneath them. Upon her back was a red and golden spear and shield combo. That spear was just as sharp as the gaze she was giving Neo with those emerald eyes of hers.
"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost!" She chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. Neo took a deep breath and dusted herself off, before reaching for her scroll and hastily typing a message for the girl to read.
'Are you Pyrrha Nikos?' She typed, trying to play off her shock as some kind of idolisation.
"Oh, are you a fan?" She asked, looking down at Neo. Pyrrha was six feet tall, whilst Neo was a little under five feet, whilst wearing heels. In that sense, it was like a celebrity were meeting a young enthusiast of theirs…except Neo was older than her by over a third of Pyrrha's current age.
Neo nodded quickly in response to her question, just wanting to give a favourable first impression. It also explained why she would have recognised her. Though she was not exactly a fan of hers, she did know of her. In fact, her death was news worldwide, alongside the fall of Beacon. A statue was made of her in the city of Argus, where she trained. So, whilst Neo was not a fan of hers, she did hold her in some high regards for her fame, and knew quite a bit about her, despite never meeting her in person. It felt very strange to Neo; knowing someone whom you'd never met before. Even more so when you only knew about them because of their early death…which hadn't even occurred yet.
'Sorry for bumping into you. I should have been looking where I was going.' She typed in, quickly, continuing to try and play off her stupidity as merely being some kind of klutz.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I wasn't paying attention, either." Pyrrha replied, smiling warmly. In truth, she actually felt quite bad for knocking Neo over. She wasn't sure how old the girl was, but she guessed that Neo was younger than her, purely because of her size and baby face. Maybe around the same age at most. "So…if you don't mind me asking…are you mute?" She inquired. Neo just nodded again. "Ah, that explains the typing." Pyrrha nodded back, before stopping to watch Neo type out a message with only one hand. Her fingers sure were pretty quick. The warrior supposed that they would have to be if they were her primary method of communication.
Neo, however, was beginning to panic a bit. She was using her semblance to maintain a gentle, warm smile and hide the fact that she was using both hands to type because she was hurrying in order not to let this incredible coincidence not slip her by. In front of her, right now, was the star pupil of Beacon's first year students. But to Neo, this was her ticket into Beacon. All she had to do was play her cards just right. Her next message had to be perfect.
'You attend Beacon Academy, right? I was hoping to join up, too.'
Mwah~ Perfect. Brief, to the point, didn't come off as creepy and even continued to play the 'I'm a fan of yours' card. Hopefully, Pyrrha's caring nature will make her want to try and help.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm on my lunch break at the moment but I was actually in the mood to go for a walk." She clarified. That explained why she was outside the school grounds. "I'm planning on going to a café. Did you…want to come too? We can talk about Beacon if you'd like?"
Neo nodded with a delighted smile on the outside but, on the inside, she was just repeating the word 'crap,' over and over with increasing levels of volume. Sure, the situation was not unsalvageable – in fact, it wasn't even bad at all – but it wasn't the quick and easy solution which she had in mind. It had played out much differently in her head. Neo was, frankly, just being dramatic.
And so, the two began to walk down the street. Now that Neo had stopped thinking for a moment about the weird, contradictory situation she found herself in, she took a moment to look around. The streets of Vale were quite busy, but everyone seemed too self-absorbed in their own matters to pay them any mind. She'd only noticed now that these places, which she had never been to, were rather familiar to her.
'So, this is déjà vu…' she thought to herself as she looked at a dust store called 'From Dust Till Dawn.' It was currently closed off with police tape and the large, right side front window had been shattered from the inside, judging from the glass shards on the pavement and massive hole in the glass.
Unlike the other familiar sights which she'd been exposed to, this one was more potent; like when she had seen Pyrrha. Not quite in the same way, though. It was because…this was a particularly key moment in time, as opposed to a fact contrary to her knowledge. According to her memories, this store was closed for roughly a month whilst the scene was investigated, and the repairs were made. It had been very close to the start of the school year for Beacon at the time. And that meant…if everything lined up correctly…that the school year at Beacon would have just started recently.
There were pros and cons to this. The pros were…
"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked. Neo blinked as she snapped out of her thought-induced haze, to find Pyrrha looking back at her after noticing that Neo had stopped following her. The shortstack nodded and jogged to catch up. "Terrible tragedy, that." She spoke as they walked together once again. "It never ceases to amaze me how people can be just as bad as the Grimm. If anything, worse. I'm just glad that no bystanders were harmed. That poor old man…" She murmured.
'How long ago was that?' Neo asked, typing out her question and holding it out for the golden girl to read.
"Umm…I think it was about a week ago." She replied, before counting on her fingers and mumbling the days of the week to herself. "Five days ago, to be precise."
Now it was Neo's turn for mental gymnastics. The crime was five days ago, and the school year began a couple of days afterwards. That meant…the school year had begun about three days ago. Annoyingly, that was sliiiiightly too late for the Team Initiation. That being said…they go through a lot of students. Maybe it was possible that they couldn't go through them all in one day. Or maybe there are some late entrees? Maybe she was just being overly optimistic.
It was times like these that she felt bad for Pyrrha. Here she was, trying to make conversation and be friendly but here was Neo, being lost in thought and also mute.
"So…what's your name?" She asked, trying to keep the one-sided conversation alive. Neo put a hand over her mouth in shock. How rude of her!
'It's Neo.' She wrote, before adding more, making the full message read: 'It's Neopolitan. You know, like the ice cream.' She then gestured to her two-toned hair and mismatched eyes.
"Neo… That's such an adorable name!" Pyrrha smiled, looking at the aforementioned coloured hair and eyes. "I see the resemblance, too." She continued but couldn't help wondering whether the hair came first or if the name did. Like…was it dyed? It had to be, right? Was Neo just a pseudonym? And lastly, the most important question. Which spelling of the ice cream was correct? Because she was pretty sure it was 'Neapolitan,' not 'Neopolitan.' But now she was doubting herself. Then again, 'Neo' was undeniably a cooler name than 'Nea.'