"Ah crap. No, no, no."
There was that big explosion after the fight blah blah blah. The important thing is that I'm falling towards the ocean, fast.
"Aaaah! Why couldn't I be in Vacuo?"
This is probably Menagerie or something. No time to think. I need to do something.
"Craaaap!"
But there's nothing I can do. Pyrrha would have figured something out. But as for me?
"Time for the floaties."
I fall down on the water and activate the floaties. They inflate around my forearms and waist, the latter having a distinct duck shape. The yellow clashes with my outfit, but I won't complain for now.
I'm very glad I bought these, otherwise I'd be very dead right now.
"Okay, I'm alive… barely. Now what?"
We were in a mountain town just now and then something exploded and then I'm in the middle of the ocean. This is not normal and the fact I'm freaking out about it is perfectly reasonable.
"Well, there's land over there. I guess I can go that way… somehow."
I can't swim, so I'm kinda stuck here in the ocean… where grimm could show up at any moment. I've thought of using my Semblance to propel myself before… but it's impossible. It just is.
People like to say I have an illogical fear of water… but that's ridiculous. Fearing the ocean is perfectly logical. If anything, someone who isn't afraid is the weird one. More importantly now, I need to make my way towards land… somehow.
"I'm really screwed, aren't I? No, stop that. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts. At least I'm close to land. If I fell in the middle of nowhere I'd be super dead. I just need to… wait, I got it."
I pull out Tri-Hard and aim it upwards.
"I just need to shoot some lightning bolts and make them see me; like a flare."
And hope it doesn't fall back down on the ocean and shocks me.
"Worth the risk."
Maybe. Actually, I'm having second thoughts now.
"Mixing electricity and water isn't exactly the best idea. I guess I could use Tri-Hard as a paddle… well, it's the best I've got."
I got the floaties to save me in case of emergency but that doesn't really help me get out of the water. So I'll just have to paddle.
…and paddle…
and paddle… and paddle… finally, I think I might be getting closer to land… but it might just be my mind; it's hard to tell distance when you're in the water.
And then I hear some noise.
"What is this?"
I turn around and, yep, it's a boat. Or is it more of a ship? No, definitely a boat. Just a big one. Coming towards me.
"HEY!"
Good thing I bought this red jacket. Stands out a lot. And thanks to that, I'm brought into the boat. A shirtless monkey faunus extends his hand and pulls me up.
"Sup."
The first thing I do when I get on the boat is push that water away from my body.
The second thing I do is give Sun the biggest hug ever.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You saved my life. Oh, man. I have no idea what I'd do if you weren't here. Probably die."
Sun smirks.
"All in a day's work, cutie."
"...Cutie?"
That's weird. Sun never flirts with me, ever. Even though I kinda wished he did sometimes.
There's a woman next to him giving him a cold glare and he smiles and shrugs his shoulders. Wait, she looks familiar. Her outfit is different, especially that long white jacket but the face and hair… that's the girl he was flirting with earlier; also she's a terrorist who we fought with, which is probably more important.
"Hey, Sun."
"Hmm?"
"Not that you seem to care but I'm pretty sure she tried to kill us. Remember?"
They both look at me like I grew a second head.
"Uh… what?"
Wait, did I do something wrong? No, can't be.
"The mission just now… in Kuchinashi. Fought the White Fang, then the Wave, then there was a big explosion… ring any bells?"
Sun just shrugs in confusion.
"Seriously Sun? Did you finally fry that monkey brain of yours?"
The woman frowns.
"Sun, do you know her? Because otherwise someone treating you like this is very rude."
I roll my eyes at that. Who does she think she is?
"Says the woman who tried to shank us."
She frowns.
"I did no such thing. Are you mistaking me for someone else?"
"That depends," I say. "Do you have a twin sister? Come on, back me up here, Sun."
Sun looks at me, closes his eyes to think, then looks at me again.
"Sorry, don't know you. How do you know my name?"
What?
"What?"
No words, just confusion.
"Maybe because we're friends? Best friends, in fact."
He scratches his head.
"I always remember cute girls, and while you look familiar, I'm pretty sure I don't know you."
Once again, what!?
"Keep the compliments coming, but also: what!?"
Sun makes a dumb(er) face.
"No, seriously. Who are you?"
"Ugh."
My mind fills with annoyance… which quickly turns to anger. Although nearly drowning to death might have put me in a bad mood in the first place.
"Neptune Vasilias, first year Haven student and your Team leader. Ring any bells?"
Now it's his turn to be completely confused. And the woman joins in on it.
"That's just not possible, cutie."
I cross my arms.
"Why not?"
The black haired woman answers for me.
"Because Neptune is a man."
"..."
My brain has used this word so much in such little time that it's starting to hurt; still, there's no better word for the current situation.
"What!?"
And now all three of us are confused.
"I am very much a woman. And no, I won't take off my clothes to prove it."
The black haired terrorist narrows her eyes.
"Well…" she starts. "The hairstyle is similar, if longer… and the clothes are the same. That jacket is very distinct."
Sun nods.
"Yeah, I remember him taking me shopping with him and how expensive that jacket was. Very limited stuff. But still, there's more than one. She could just be a fan, we have plenty."
As it happens I am a fan of myself, but I'm pretty sure that's not what he means so I pout and pull out my weapon.
"How about Tri-Hard? Pretty sure this is one of a kind."
That gets their attention. Sun furrows his brow, using whatever brain power he has left.
"Yep, that's definitely Tri-Hard. I named it myself. Meaning you had to take this from my buddy… did you steal it?"
I facepalm.
"Maybe this will convince your monkey brain to actually work."
I pull out my scroll, thankfully a waterproof model, and show him some pictures of the two of us.
"See? I'm not lying. Here's one with the whole Team."
A look of recognition on his face.
"That's Sage."
"And… Pyrrha? That doesn't make any sense. I know Pyrrha; you're not in her Team. She's from Beacon."
Said the black haired woman (I should really get her name) without missing a beat.
"Yeah, no. You guys aren't making any sense."
And now we're at an impasse.
"Look, I don't really believe you but I also don't really care. You wanna join up with us?"
I sigh.
"That has to be the most Sun thing of all time."
Frustrating yet familiar.
"Hmm, I also think you should come with us." she says.
I raise an eyebrow at the woman. She didn't seem to be the trusting type.
"I saw you push away the water when you came in."
"It's my Semblance."
She nods.
"And the Neptune we know has the same Semblance. Sun told me about it."
Sun hits his palm with his fist.
"You're right. He can control water yet is still scared of it."
Excuse-me?
"I'm not scared of water; you hear me!? I'm just… er… concerned. Yeah, that's it. I have a very normal amount of concern about water."
"..."
"..."
The two look at each other before the woman speaks.
"Same outfit and hair, same weapon, same name… those could be excused. But even the Semblance and the… attitude towards water. This warrants closer investigation."
I send a wink her way.
"You can investigate me any time."
She sighs. It's okay, she's not my type… she's also not not my type. But Sun is clearly interested and I won't get in the way. It's like they say, 'kitties before titties'... although that's kinda weird when she's a… never mind..
Sun sends the kitty a knowing smile.
"Blake, you're not doing this to escape visiting your family, right?"
"..."
"...Right?"
"..."
Sun puts an arm around her shoulder.
"Oookay, let's all go meet your parents then. Sounds good?"
The woman, Blake, takes Sun's arm off her shoulder. Monkey brain just slaps his hands together.
"I'm not sure what's going on; but it's going to be fun."
The woman facepalms.
"If I didn't have enough headaches before…"
And so the boat arrives in what has got to be Menagerie… It's a little too wet for my tastes but it does have plenty of faunus; which I approve. Besides, I already met Sun, so maybe the rest of the Team is around here.
One thing I can say for sure is that the scenery is very pretty. All the tales of a tropical paradise don't seem far from the truth. The houses are small wooden affairs, more like cabins, although there is one large mansion up the hill. There's a market, a beach which has plenty of people so it's probably safe from the grimm, an entire flooded section of the town with aquatic faunus hanging out… gotta say, not a fan of those last two but even so everything here is pretty.
"Beach, sun and pretty women. What's not to love about Menagerie? If I knew this place was so great; I'd have come here before."
Blake narrows her eyes, a biting comment at the tip of her tongue. I suppose if anyone knows this place's flaws it would be her. As far as I'm concerned though, it's a great vacation spot. Although people who like to swim would probably enjoy it more. Damn, Jupiter would love this place.
"This looks like a good place to take the family on a vacation."
"Right?" Sun raises his fist and I bump it. "What about you, Blake?"
He turns to the black haired woman and she's clearly uncomfortable. So he puts his arm over her shoulder yet again, making her annoyed at him and forgetting about her worries for a moment.
"So… where do your parents live?"
She pushes his arm off her and points towards the big mansion up the hill.
"Follow the only road in Kuo Kuana."
Only road? I can't help but whistle.
"Oh dang, are you the princess of the faunus?"
She frowns.
"My father is Chieftain but it's not an inheritable title. I'm not a princess."
I nod, hiding a knowing smirk.
"Oh, okay. I thought you had been raised in that mansion while everyone else lives in small huts and that you had been groomed to one day lead the country or something… glad I was wrong."
Wait, no, she's pissed. It must be true. Sun gives her a wink.
"You'll always be a princess to me."
"UGH!"
She walks forward, ignoring the two of us. Sun and I look at each other then shrug and follow her.
"So, Neptune. What do you plan to do exactly?" asks Blake; perhaps trying to distract herself from her own problems.
I scratch the back of my head, still smooth since I shaved before the mission.
"I dunno. Find my Team? Sun doesn't recognize me and I have no idea what's going on. All I know is that things are weird."
To say the least. Ideally everyone else would be in Menagerie too but of course I'm not that lucky.
"There are boats out of the island every week or two. It shouldn't be too hard to find transportation back to Mistral."
Sun stretches his arms.
"Yeah, I'll have to go back to Haven eventually. Can't abandon my friends forever."
Blake looks away, clearly with something in her mind. It's not my business to pry though so we continue walking. Eventually we make it up the hill and are met by a duo of robe wearing faunus brothers in front of the mansion.
"Ah." They say.
Blake holds her arm, clearly uncomfortable… more than before anyway.
"Hey Corsac, Fennec. It's been a while."
They look at each other and bow as if they're talking to royalty… which I guess they kinda are?
"We were not expecting to see you."
"Yeah." says Blake. "It was a spur of the moment thing."
These two are weird, they have no expression at all. And they're both fox faunus but one has the ears and the other a tail; how does that work? They're identical otherwise. Does that mean the faunus trait isn't genetic? Is it something like fingerprints? Can there be identical twins where one is a human and the other is a faunus?
Probably better to stop thinking about it. Don't want to overheat my brain.
Back to Blake.
"Can I see my parents?"
They share another look with each other, probably doing that twin telepathy thing, then nod.
"Of course. Welcome back to Menagerie."
She gives them a shy smile.
"…thanks."
Then she takes a deep breath and enters the mansion…
"Home, sweet… home."
…and is instantly downcast.
"I can't believe I'm actually here. I thought I'd never come back and-"
"Blake?"
The three of us follow the voice to find a beautiful woman (and a buff guy) just entering the living room. The woman looks almost identical to Blake, curvy figure, bright amber eyes, black hair; the only differences are that her hair is quite short and her cat ears are longer and pierced… and she's got a friendly smile of course.
The man is big… and I do mean big. Tall, broad shoulders, thick arms that can probably snap my spine in half… something I'm not entirely opposed to. Sun is probably not going to have a happy time with this guy but at least now I know where Blake got her good looks from.
"Mom… dad... I…" Blake starts to tear up. "I'm sorry for abandoning you for so long, I…
The duo embraces her while shedding tears, much to Blake's confusion.
"You're not angry at me?"
"Of course not." said her mom. "If anything, we're angry at ourselves for letting it happen in the first place."
"We're just glad you're safe." said her father.
Then a whole bunch of hugging and crying and apologizing happens that I try to ignore because I'm too cool for emotional stuff like that.
"Nep, need a tissue?" asks Sun.
"Nope." I lie.
Eventually they invite us for dinner; though I have a little moment to myself before the food is served.
"…and the protagonist was kind of a dork and the prettiest, smartest, strongest and most popular girl in the school had a crush on him, but he thought she was too good for him."
I stop typing and put my scroll down. I made good work on my novel today. Surely it will be popular eventually.
"Wazzap?"
Sun shows his face after the silly greeting.
"Hey, monkey man. How are you doing?"
He leans his back against the window.
"I'm doing okay. I'm more worried about you."
I roll my eyes. I didn't really expect him to come and talk to me in private.
"I'm obviously fine. I thought you'd be more interested in the cat. I mean, I'm not blind. I can tell where you're looking most of the time. And it's not her face."
He grins. The same grin that caught my heart when we first met.
"Yeah, Blake's the type to close herself to people even when she needs help. So I'm here with her. But you kinda look lost too. I mean, you know me but I don't know you. You're Neptune but also not. And you say you just showed up out of nowhere when you had just been in Mistral? And without your Team? Anyone would be scared."
I guess even when he doesn't know me, Sun is always Sun.
"I'm not scared." I say rather forcefully. Sun is unconvinced.
"Well, if you're anything like the Neptune I know; you're freaking out."
I blow my bangs out of the way.
"I saw your photos; that guy looks like a weenie. I'm totally cool."
Just for effect, I pose with Tri-Hard on my shoulder.
Sun just grins.
"Alright, but if you wanna talk, well… emotional support is the reason I'm here. And I can do that for more than one person."
I smile nonchalantly. Guess I needed that, with everything being so weird.
"Thanks, monkey brain."
Part of the reason it feels so weird is that Sun acts exactly the same. Not to mention-
"HA!"
He pushes me out of the way as a chain hits the ground near where I was. At the window is a familiar woman wearing dark clothes, a mask and a ponytail.
"Wait, I know you. You're with the Fang."
The same lady who attacked us with Blake back at Kuchinashi. Mind entering combat mode, I twirl my weapon towards the intruder.
"Did you seriously follow me all the way to Menagerie?"
The woman frowns.
"Human intruder… you must die."
She whips her, err, whip towards me but Sun jumps in front of it and twirls his staff to ward off the attack.
"Heh, my weapon was getting kinda bored."
I flip my hair out of my face in a cool display of… uh… coolness. I look at my friend and grin excitedly.
"Let's see if you can fight like the Sun I know."
The two of us are fighting White Fang whip lady inside one of the mansion's rooms on the top floor. Which isn't that good. Fighting inside a bedroom is hardly ideal, especially with a weapon like a whip. Granded, Tri-Hard doesn't do well in cramped spaces either but given that there's two of us, this is hardly an advantageous situation for the faunus girl.
But I have a better plan.
"Sun, go wake up the cat and tell her about our intruder."
The woman's eyes widen, as does Sun's grin.
"Gotcha."
And then he heads into the house. Why bother fighting when there's a much better way to deal with the intruder? Clearly she realizes her mistake since she tries to hit him with her whip but sadly for her, I whack her weapon out of the way with mine.
"Let's dance, faunus girl."
She frowns and looks outside… before jumping up into the roof. Crap, I can't let her escape. I jump out the window after her but she catches my leg with her whip and tosses me onto the roof… painfully.
"Yeesh, no need to be so harsh."
I can't tell for sure with the mask but I'm pretty sure she's frowning.
"No need? She brought a human here! After everything we did, everything we suffered, she abandoned us and brought along a human? Unforgivable."
I get her whip off my leg before shrugging.
"Human, faunus… who cares? Why does it have to matter so much? Tell you what, if I win, I get to take you on a date."
She responds by swinging her weapon in a figure eight pattern as I step backwards awkwardly to avoid the electrified whip.
"As if I'd ever be with a human!"
I send her my most charming smile..
"I'd love to be with a cute faunus. You'd get a lot more people to help your cause if you used a smile instead of a whip… though I'm sure some people would like that too-ack!"
This time I fail to parry the blow and the whip gets tangled around my arm and shocks me through my aura.
"Uwwwwaaa…. That'z a bit too rough for foreplay for me."
I wonder why more people don't use lightning Dust? Even if aura protects the body, it still hurts. Never seen it used on a whip before though. Speaking of which…
She pulls her weapon back but I purposefully tangle it with my trident, then give her a taste of her own medicine as I shock her by sending electricity through her whip. I pull Tri-Hard back, pulling along the chain and the girl with it and punching her stomach, causing her aura to flare for an instant.
I was never one for punching but it works as the girl is stunned after a moment; that's a neat little trick I learned from Pyrrha. And I don't waste it as I sweep her leg with mine and punch her wrist, causing her to drop her weapon.
She glares at me from the floor (well, roof) and slowly stands back up, hatred in her eyes very visible after her mask fell off the roof after my leg sweep.
"Filthy human."
Rude.
"I'm not filthy. I'll have you know I take very good care of my appearance. Or did you think this was all natural?"
I blow her a kiss with a wink.
She looks down at the ground, probably thinking about escaping, but that's when Blake shows up, accompanied by Sun.
"I…Ilia!?"
Ilia looks at Blake and shakes her head.
"You betrayed the Fang, you abandoned our cause, you befriended a Schnee… and now you bring a human to Menagerie."
"It's not against the rules." she counters. "It took me a while, but I learned that just destroying things won't change anything. We need to be able to reach a common ground."
Blake extends her hand.
Ilia shakes her head again.
"That's not the Blake I know. You're just… a cheap copy."
A cloud of smoke erupts from nowhere as a smoke bomb appears and everyone starts coughing. I can't see anything but I've dealt with something similar not too long ago; that kid whose Semblance could make everything dark… so I know what to do. I use Tri-Hard to sweep the area I feel Ilia is going to be and feel my trident hit something. Once the smoke cloud clears, the woman is gone; though her scroll remains, most likely having been dropped after my masterful attack.
"Crap, where did she go?"
Sun grabs the scroll and his eyes widen.
"Blake, you gotta see this."
He shows her the scroll and she puts a hand on her mouth as her eyes widen.
"I can't believe this… the White Fang plans to attack Haven Academy… in one month."
I cross my arms.
"So what? They're not really a threat. We Haven students are strong."
Blake makes an angry expression.
"After what they did to Beacon?"
What? What is she talking about?
"What happened to Beacon?"
"It fell." says Sun. "Lots of stuff happened, lots of people died; that kinda stuff, you know?"
I'm furrowing my brow so much that I feel I might get early wrinkles.
"No, I don't know. What the hell are you talking about?"
Sun and Blake again make a strange expression.
"You… don't know about how the city of Vale was destroyed during the Vytal Festival?"
I scratch the back of my head in confusion.
"The Vytal Festival is still a month away."
***"…So you're saying I'm in the future somehow?" I ask, more than a little confused. "That's kind of crazy. I'm not saying you're crazy… yet, but it doesn't make much sense, you know?"
Blake sighs, looking very tired.
"I'm sorry Neptune, I just can't worry about that right now. I need to stop the Fang." Blake's eyes look determined. "They already destroyed Beacon… I can't let them do the same with Haven. I can't. It's my fault that they've been able to cause so much trouble… I should have stopped them."
Sun gives her a stupid grin, perhaps a little more stupid than usual.
"You're not alone. I'm going to help you; whether you want it or not."
I twirl Tri-Hard on one hand.
"Obviously I'm gonna help. I'm a Haven student too."
Blake gives back a shy smile.
"Thanks, you two. But I'm not sure what three people can accomplish. Any ideas?"
Sun points at me.
"My buddy Neptune was always the idea guy."
I was already expecting that of course. I'm very much the ideal gal of the Team.
"Yeah, I'll think of something."
They don't exactly have classes on how to prevent terrorist attacks, but if there's one thing I know is that information is king. Can't exactly plan without knowing what to plan for.
"Information is the most important thing. We need to warn them as soon as possible."
Haven Academy is strong; and Mistral has a lot of huntsmen. As long as they don't have the element of surprise, the White Fang can't win.
"Do we know anything else?" I ask, pointing at the scroll. "How many fighters do they have? Do they have a particular target? Any strategy?"
Blake fiddles with the scroll again.
"Just the date and… apparently their target is the main CCT tower."
"Towers. Plural." I correct her. "Mistral has two. And if one of them goes down, the kingdoms won't be able to contact each other anymore."
"Too late for that." says Sun. "Beacon's tower is toast."
I furrow my brow for a moment then discard the thought. It's not important now.
"Then we need to be in range of the Mistrali CCT network to send a message."
Blake puts her hand under her chin to think then it comes to her.
"There's… there's a village not too far from here; at the edge of Anima; they should have a CCT relay tower."
I fold Tri-Hard and put it away.
"Great. Then let's go grab a boat."
"Right now?" asks Blake.
"Of course. Time is of the essence."
She frowns.
"I know that. But the boats only leave once a w-"
"You're the Chieftain's daughter, right? Find a way. We only have a month, we can't afford to waste time."
She glares at me briefly but then relents.
"You're right. We need… we need to go. I can't, won't, run away from this anymore."
Sun grabs her hand in support (sneaky bastard) and we all go talk to Blake's parents. They're understandably confused after so much happening in the middle of the night but they hug their daughter anyway.
It's almost touching, almost.
Asking around for a boat in the middle of the night for any that would hear isn't easy. Most people don't have a boat just lying around; and those who do need a better excuse than 'It's an emergency'. Thankfully the two weird brothers provide a boat to the three of us.
"You guys want to come with us? I know you can fight." Asks Blake, but the brothers simply shake their heads.
"Someone needs to protect Menagerie."
Makes enough sense, I suppose.
"Please take care of Adam's rebellious faction. They sully the name of the White Fang with their actions."
The brothers bow while Blake nods. Me? I'm just wondering who the hell is Adam.
"Thank you."
And so, the three of us set sail towards the mainland; though Blake still has a frown on her face. Sun decides to do a handstand and eat a banana upside down as if he wasn't a walking stereotype already..
"…"
Blake doesn't react.
"I know you're worried but you should relax a little. Be more like me."
I chuckle.
"No one should be as relaxed as you."
Blake seems deep in thought as the wind ruffles her hair.
"I was just wondering something… We just asked them for a boat and said it was an emergency… How did the Albain brothers know we're going after Adam?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
I sigh.
"Ah, dammi-"
And then the boat explodes.