"What is magic? What truth sits at the base of the system that governs our lives. The power that the World grants us. What is the World? Is it God? Are we simply parasites feeding off of something much greater then ourselves? Perhaps-" He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the man's words.
Such a booming voice, it rung throughout the entire lecture hall. The room was darkened while the teachers board and desk remained illuminated in bright light, as if it were a stage and his words the performance. In front of him stood rows upon rows of seats, all of them forming a stairway of sorts leading back and up so high that you would have to turn your head up to see the back.
The front rows were all filled, the people down there seemed to be ready to clamber over the railing to try and make a dash for the man.
"I'm confident that if he threw his shirt into the crowd, there'd be a lethal brawl to fight for it."
Not that the professor was good looking. All of them were just enamoured because they believed him to be greatness personified. He wasn't exaclty denying it either, the way the lights reflected off of his eyes, it was almost certainly done on purpose to make them glow. The professor was definitly proud of those Platinum eyes of his.
"-So I ask you all-" Oh, he'd missed some of the mans lecture... oh well. "-What is this truth?? What is the answer we all strive for?? Why does it elude us so?? Is the answer so horrifying that we simply couldn't accept it, so the World keeps it hidden from us?? Or perhaps it's so obvious we've simply refused to accept it!"
"If you spent half as much time actually trying to figure it out as you do ranting about it, maybe you'd be closer to the answer." His words were near silent, a grumble that was meant to stay just to himself. He was all the way at the back for that exact same reason. There was only one person nearly as far back, they sat two rows in front of him and a few seats to the left.
Yet impossibly, she started giggling. It was certainly a 'she' just based off the sound of it. Had she heard him?
"You know, I can't help but agree." She stood and turned to him. Her outfit was... well... it was obvious enough to anyone that glanced at her that she didn't want to be seen... or perhaps recognised. A brown hood thrown over her head that connected to a cloak wrapped around her body, underneath that, not a single bit of skin was revealed.
She immediately crossed over the seats between them, his confusion wasn't hidden on his face as she approached, taking the seat two to his left. She plopped in the seat with a grunt and while her body faced straight she turned her head to him.
"So. What's your name?"
"Aren't you meant to introduce yourself first...?" He let out another grumble and returned his sight to the 'stage' once more.
"Well sure, but does my getup really give off the impression that I'm trying to give my identity away?" Her voice was almost teasing and he felt a vein form on his forehead. Frustratingly... she was complelty right.
"My names-" She let out another giggle and pushed his shoulder, it was probably meant to be playful, but he felt his whole body jerk as he was forced away. Only being stopped from being sent down a few seats by the armrests on his seat.
Turning to her after a groan of pain, she had both of her hands plastered over her mouth and a horrified expression in her eyes.
He had gotten used to people being way stronger then him over the years... so he could recognise a legitimate accident. Still, it did nothing to make him feel more comfortable around people.
"I'm so sorry. Are you alright??" Her whispers were full of so much concern he couldn't help but smile softly.
"Yeah... I'm used to it." That apparently hadn't been the right answer, as her light blue eyes immedaitly focused tightly on him.
"That's not a good thing." She reached a hand over and rested it on his shoulder. He felt a wave of warmth surge through his body as a green light started leaking through the gaps between her fingers. The healing magic worked wonders and he felt his hips start to dull in pain. They had been what had stopped him from being sent flying after all. "You're human."
"And you're not." He gave a small sigh, then shook his head. "You surprised?"
"To be honest... I've never seen a human." She looked away, almost like she felt guilty, and he shrugged.
"It wasn't your fault." She removed her hand as his body fully repaired and he gave her a small smile. "See? All better."
"You were actually going to introduce yourself first." Her hands returned to her lap and she gave him a small pleasent smile.
"Well... yeah." He wasn't sure why it was a big deal.
He glanced back at the professor... the lecture felt like a long forgotten memory.
"Why are you here?" A fairly innocent question... but he had definitely heard rude versions of it.
"To study magic. Like everyone else I guess."
"So why are you still a human? Surely you have some way to get a Formula... you can't use magic as a human."
"Kinda knew that already."
She giggled gently, but it felt sort of forced this time.
"What do you want to do once you've studied magic?"
A more on the nose question... he probably shouldn't avoid it.
"I want to become the strongest there is. As a human." He glanced at her and her surprise was obvious, to which he simply chuckled. "Most people would have called me stupid by now."
"I'm more... curious, to be honest." She had fully turned to him by now, apparently deeming his life's ambition more interesting then there teacher. "How do you intend to achieve such a goal?"
"Magic items probably." He had the tool he needed to make it that far with them... though, he wondered if she knew what his Silver eyes meant.
"I actually don't know too much about magic weapons." He smiled a bit... she was a terrible lier.
He pulled out a bit of paper and began to draw her some examples.
"Magic items can be divided into five categories. Common, Rare, Gilded, Legendary, and Relic. It isn't really a measurement of straight power, rather a measurement of the power they contain. So, while a Relic will always have more magic inside of it then a Common, a Common could technically be stronger. So long as the person that made the Relic was an absolute moron."
"Like him?" She gestured to the teacher, and he laughed. He... actually laughed. It felt... really good. When was the last time he had laughed?
He blushed lightly after he stopped, glancing at her with an apology ready but...
She had... quite possibly the purest smile he had ever seen. He had to rethink the concept of beauty in his head as he stared at her with awe... she was... amazing. Breathtaking. That expression was more beautiful then any art he had ever seen or ever could see... and it was pointed straight at him.
"You have a beautiful laugh." Her comment sent the last arrow through his heart and he had to cough into his hand and look away to try and hide his now much brighter blush...
He was sure she noticed it anyway.
She gave another small giggle, but it wasn't a teasing one.
"So, you want to make a Relic?"
"No... i couldn't possibly hope to achieve that goal." He pointed to the paper again. "See, nearly every magic item in existence is in these first two categories. It would take an absolute master at the craft to make anything higher then Rare... as far as I'm aware, there are only four Relics in the whole world."
"I believe I've seen Gilded items before..." Her comment only solidified his suspicion that she knew more then 'some' stuff about magic items and just wanted a better explanation... or maybe just wanted him to talk about it...?
"You probably have. Magic items up to Legendary can be made with incredibly complicated Rituals that can take years to cast and consume more mana then any one person could ever have. But, there is another way to make better items... it's like how you cast better spells."
"An Affinity?"
He nodded.
"Yeah. Basically, in order to make a Gilded item, you need the Affinity of Technical Magic. For Legendary you need a double Affinity for it, and Relic-"
"A triple... but how is that possible? Only Elemental Affinites can stack that high."
"Actually, that's not true." He gave her a small smirk. "There is one method i know of... A Harbinger title. Specifcally the Harbinger of War... it dosent grant an Affinity, but rather it applies the Berserker curse to your current one. Not only that, it also doubles the effectiveness of the curse."
"So you'd have the triple Affinity... but that would leave you only able to use it while your emotions were-"
"Another effect of the War title. It will automatically trigger the full power of your Berserker curse if you tap into the Titles mana."
She poked his cheek.
"You dont have many people to talk to, do you?"
His blush returned.
"That's...! Really rude..." He couldnt exaclty deny that her words held truth.
She shook her head and waved her hands in front of her.
"No I'm sorry it's just... you just told me a lot of information you probably shouldn't share with a stranger."
He blinked... once again, she was completely right. He let out a low groan as he leaned back in his chair, and her giggle sounded once more.
"Here, I'll return the favor." He raised an eyebrow and looked over at her as she pulled her hood back, dropping an illusion that had been casted over her hair.
It changed from an unremarkable brown to a perfectly clean and luscious pure white. That combined with her nearly glowing Light blue eyes and he realised why she hadn't introduced herself earlier.
"It's nice to meet you. My name is Eirwen Schnee... and since you already introduced yourself as a Human, ill also tell you that I'm a Dragon." She held a light smile, though it now held an aura of intimidation, simply because he now knew what she was.
He managed to swallow his fear and speak.
"Rory. Rory Rose." She let out a light snicker and his blush reawakened as she stared into his Silver eyes.
"Rose?"
"Yes..?"
"Your name is Rory Rose."
"Yes."
"Did your mother have a stutter?"
He threw the paper at her.
Silver eyes fluttered open and studied the roof above for a moment... it was wooden. The beams that crossed over were stable yet beautiful. There were carvings in them... what an odd place to put detail... how often would one be staring at a-
That wasn't the ceiling. Thats just the roof of the bed. Thats right... she slept in a fancy bed now...
She...?
Yeah... she. That felt right.
Her brain felt... mushy. Like she was stuck in a fog, being pulled in two different directions and unsure which one to journey into. These fogs... they weren't just fuzzy... she could recognise that they were memories... lives... two different lives... two different choices...
She needed more information before she tried to work it out...
With a grunt of effort she tried to sit up, only for something crossed over her body to keep her pressed down. She could make out the soft breaths of someone next to her, feel there arm crossed over her body... they were hugging her?
She turned her head to try and get a look, but all she could see was white hair, the face of whoever it was was buried into her side.
"No help there... that lines up with both sets of memories..."
She knew her mind naturally wanted to call herself a girl... but her body felt so tired... it was barely functioning. She couldn't discern where she ended and the blankets or mattress beneath her ended. She couldn't actually tell whether her body was male or female for the moment.
She concentrated... look for a clue... any clue.
The moonlight leaking In... she could barely catch a glimpse, but the moon seemed too bright to be anything but full... no help there.
Glancing around the room, there was a cloak hanging nearby the bed... it was either red or brown, she couldn't tell in this light... once again, no help there.
She could just take a leap of faith and assume the memories of the girl were correct... but if she was wrong... would she ever be able to get her true self back...?
No... she had to be sure first. She needed to find some information... any information...
"If the male set of memories are right... then I'm past the point I can remember... if the female memories are right... then I think I'm nearly caught up..."
What could separate them...? She either had to find a reflection... or talk to someone.
If she could move her body, maybe she could wake this woman and ask her...
But, no such luck. She was stuck like this maybe until morning... She needed to either find something to do to pass the time, or take the plunge and guess which memories were right.
"...Ruby..." Her bed partner whispered out the name and the girl sighed in relief as she finally had her answer.
She allowed her soul and mind to settle as she made her decision... and it all hit her at once.
She immediatly took deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating, and slowly moved out of Weiss's grasp as she regained control of her body... she could feel it now. Female. She had definitely been right.
She checked over Weiss and made sure she was still asleep. Satisfied with her still resting wife, she gently kissed the scar over her eye before standing and rising from the bed, grabbing her cloak as she moved past it.
She needed some air...
The balcony had a beautiful view of Vale. So beautiful it was almost enough to distract her from what had just happened... huh, she could see Yangs place from here. Focusing her eyesight, she could clearly make out the tower at the top of the property.
"That was too close..." It was getting worse... she hadnt been able to access her real memories of after the wedding, she had been missing about a month of memories that were slowly returning to her now that she had accepted them as true... and the other set... now that he had met that woman... it was getting harder to differentiate.
"Eirwen... she looked so much like Weiss... she sounded so much like Weiss..." The only real difference Ruby could see so far was the scar... it didn't help that Eirwen's clothes had hidden her body's proportions.
She took a deep breath of the midnight air as she remembered what Glynda had told her.
"Repeat it..."
"My name is Ruby Schnee... I'm married to Weiss Schnee... I live in Vale..." It wasn't helping... she knew all this... it was only difficult in the moment when both sets of memories were foggy.
When she was stuck in that state... the one between her dreams of his memories and real life... both sets of memories fought for control... she couldn't access all of either in the moment, and her body would lose nearly all function.
Now? The longer it was after the whole event, the more his memories faded from her head... like a distant dream that she hoped it would remain. It shifted from less like actual memories, and more into dot points of information she could recall.
"Rory Rose... your memories are leaking into mine because we share the same title..." She looked down at her hand and clenched it tightly, needing to feel the pain from it to keep herself grounded while she rode through the shock of nearly losing herself again... she wished it had been the first time she had seen his memories...
"The First Rose Dragon..."