I own nothing.
MY NEXT LIFE?!?
Warmth and darkness. Was this what death was like?
My death was not a quick one as it took the combined efforts of Cinder and a freed and Grimmified Tyrian to take me down while RWBY plus Winter saw to Salem.
Tyrian was the first to fall to my blade, then I avenged my fallen teammates.
Oh well… At least it was over now. With Salem and Cinder gone, the world now had a chance at rebuilding with Team RWBY at the helm.
My only regret would be not getting to see that world.
It felt like I was in a nice, cozy bed. Almost like I had woken up, but not yet opened my eyes.
The sound of birds singing and the cool breeze was quite nice as well…
And I didn't hurt so long as I didn't move anything.
Wait… Am I not dead?
My eyes opened to reveal that I was, in fact, very much alive.
The room I found myself in was simple, rustic, and quaint. The open window to my left revealed the sun was just breaking in over the lush and verdant horizon. In the distance, I could hear the crashing of waves…
After going through what I have been, this was a very welcome sight.
But that didn't stop me from asking a very important question.
Where am I?
I tried calling out, but found my voice too hoarse and weak to carry far.
…So thirsty…
Eyeing a pitcher next to the doorway that led to a hall, I knew what I had to do.
I winced as I shifted within the bed. Sitting upright was a bit of a struggle as I lifted the bed covers in order to assess my current condition.
And my lightheadedness wasn't really helping matters, either.
Bandages covered my chest as well as my right arm, but it looked like I was in good enough condition to get up.
Doing so was immediately met with unsteady legs as I shakily moved to the wall to lean on for support.
Okay, I'm up… Now for that pitcher of water… On the far side of the room next to the open doorway…
On the wall opposite of me, I saw a mirror with a reflection of me in my eighteen year old body with a bandage wrapped around my head and bits of my still blonde and white-streaked hair poking out here and there.
That was odd, but I paid my reflection no mind, chalking everything up to my thirst.
'They probably just shaved my beard to make things easier…'
I bet Weiss really pitched a fit about that. She was very adamant about me growing it back out after our return from Ever After…
I guess I reminded her of her grandfather like that…
After a minute of wall-shimmying, I finally reached my destination and claimed my reward.
Cool, clean, refreshing water!
After quenching my thirst, my stomach made its needs known.
How long have I been out?
With no food in sight, I figured it was high time to check my Aura reserves.
After a moment, I could tell that while I had a little left, it wasn't much. Probably being spent on repairing the damage to my body. Even then, there was just enough to let me walk unaided for a little bit.
With my current physical condition largely being unknown to me, I didn't want to activate my Semblance and risk putting myself through even more pain unless necessary…
It's not like I'm in any danger right now.
Time to see about figuring out where I am…
As I staggered my way through the hallway, I eventually found myself in a larger room with stained glass windows, pews, and an altar with a statue of some motherly looking woman…
I must be in some sort of chapel…
That explained the lack of electricity being installed.
Looking around, I saw a woman in what I guessed was her late twenties to early thirties. She was dressed in deep blue robes cleaning a large set of bookshelves. Looks like she hasn't noticed me yet.
"Excuse me, Miss? Where am I?"
"AAAIIIIEEEEE!!!!"
The woman shrieked and backed into the bookshelves, causing it to topple over.
With a, by now, instinctive flash of what little Aura I had available, I skirted to the side to grab the shelf and stop it from falling onto the both of us.
With a grunt of exertion, I pushed the bookshelf back into place against the wall before slumping myself onto said wall.
"You… Okay, Miss?" I tiredly asked.
"Er… Um yes! Sorry Jaune, you startled me! We weren't expecting our prayers for your recovery to be answered so swiftly!" She explained with a smile. "Thank the Goddess you were quick enough to stop that shelf!"
Okay… Goddess? Must be a local tradition. Not important right now. I still have no idea where I am.
"No problem," I said.
"Now what did you say earlier? Before my little 'oopsie-daisy'?" She asked kindly, reaching down to help me back up.
I accepted the hand offered.
"Yeah, where am I?" I repeated my earlier question. "And, now that I think about it, who are you?"
She balked at that, and gave me a worried look mixed with concern before reaching out her hand to touch a bandage wrapped around my head.
"Oh dear… That smack to your head must have done more damage than we thought…" She muttered, more to herself than to me…" It's me, Sister Sara…You're home, Jaune… In Patch…"
Sister Sara? Home in Patch? What? I now had a lot more questions.
I don't remember seeing a church in Patch… Was this a new structure? That would certainly explain its more village-y style…
"Come, let's get you back to bed, you still need to rest and I bet you're starving!" A friendly, if not slightly sad look, appeared on the sister's face as she tried to move on to a happier subject.
I was too tired to resist as I was gently led back to the room I woke up in. After a couple of minutes, Sister Sara returned with a new carafe of water, and a plate of small portions of bread, cheese, fruit, and fish.
"The toilet is the next room down on the left, if you need it! I'm going to let your family know you woke up," the woman informed me before leaving me alone once again.
"...Those poor girls are going to be devastated…" She lamented as she left, thinking I couldn't hear her.
My family's in Patch? Poor girls? Devastated? Who is she talking about? Did the others make it out okay? Are they the ones who brought me here? Or was she talking about my sisters?
Those questions would have to wait as my stomach growled at me to hurry up and fill it now that there was food available.
Before eating, I decided it was time to answer the call of Mother Nature and use the bathroom.
With that done, I then began to eat.
'At least they have working plumbing…'
The food itself was good and filling. All fresh, even the bread was still warm!
*BANG!*
"JAUNE!"
For the second time that day, I nearly died of a heart attack.
I was just finishing off the last… I don't know what kind of fruit it was… Some kind of large, fist-sized berry? It looked like a giant reddish-pink Fruit Gusher. And was just as juicy inside. Well, whatever it was, it was sweet and tangy, almost like a cross between a strawberry and an orange. Either way, it was good and I had just finished it off when the door to the room I was in slammed open to reveal none other than Yang Xiao-Long The kickass member of Team RWBY, big sister to Ruby Rose (said team's leader), lover of adventure, and fellow blonde.
And she was wearing one of the most cottagecore outfits I had ever seen that was barely able to contain her assets…
I shouldn't have been, but I was so surprised that I didn't even get a word in before she leapt forward and buried my face in her generous bosom.
'Oh my goodness! She's not wearing a bra!'
"I'm so sorry, Jaune!" She sobbed loudly while squeezing my head between her melons. Everything else after that was a bit of a blur as she kept crying about what happened.
Too bad I didn't get any of it between Yang's uncharacteristic blubbering, and my trying not to suffocate between her boobs.
And while I had no real problems with this…
'Blake's gonna kill me if she sees us like this…'
How she would kill me was up in the air, considering her choice of "literature."
She might be into it and demand threesomes until I die from a broken pelvis, OR, she would skin me alive…
"Yang! Get off of him!" I heard a young girl who sounded a lot like Ruby call out as two extra sets of hands pried the very emotional blonde off of me.
'Sweet life-giving oxygen!'
"Thanks…" I panted, looking over to see Ruby who was also wearing a cottagecore outfit. Though hers was pretty much the same as what she wore after the formation of Team RNJR. She appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen, and instead of Crescent Rose, she carried a bow.
What happened to Crescent Rose?
Then there was their father, Taiyang, who was dressed in a white shirt with brown trousers and a lighter brown vest. He was accompanied by who I believed was Summer Rose, Ruby's mother.
They were the ones to pull Yang off of me while trying to calm her down.
Then I noticed the fact that Yang had both of her arms…
In the doorway, I saw Saphron similarly dressed to the Xiao-Long/Rose family.
Okay… What's going on? Don't tell me I've been… What's the word?
Isekai'd.
Fucking Hell… I've been Isekai'd… Haven't I?
That's when Sister Sara stepped in, red-faced from exertion and slightly miffed, to address Yang.
"As I was about to tell you, before you went charging off…" She began.
"Sorry…" Yang sheepishly muttered.
"Jaune is awake and with us now, but…" The sister paused, likely trying to find a way of putting whatever she wanted to say gently. "He appears to have lost his memories…"
"WHAT?!"
(--)
It's been a week since I woke up in the local chapel here in Patch, with my Aura fully restored thanks to a whole lot of rest and those Goo Fruits (apparently that's what they're called but I don't care, I love them), I was able to walk around the village freely.
"It's okay if you need to sit down and take a breather, Jaune…Or at least I could help carry that for you?"
Almost freely.
Everywhere I went, Yang or Ruby weren't far off. Seriously! They were following me around like lost puppies! It was kind of sweet at first, but now? Now it was a little worrisome.
At first it was because everyone was still worried about my well-being the day after my "return." And considering how the rest of my family had been wiped out by monsters when I was just a child, Saphron didn't want me going anywhere without supervision.
Which was understandable.
When Sister Sara revealed that I was apparently suffering from amnesia, I felt it would be prudent to play along.
Because in a sense, she wasn't wrong…
According to Taiyang, I was caught up in a surprise thunderstorm while fishing at sea with some of the other villagers when I went overboard and washed up on the shoreline surrounded by a few dead "wooper troopers" and a "salamarauder." The working theory is that they ambushed me and I killed them in self defense as I had a deathgrip on one of the monster's bronze swords and had buried it deep in the salamarauder's chest. Which was now hung up in my room at Saph's and my place, when I wasn't carrying it with me like right now.
As it turned out, Grimm don't exist in this version of Remnant. Neither does Dust or Aura. Instead, we have monsters and magic.
Yeah… That certainly made my recovery a lot more perplexing for everyone as nobody had used any healing spells on me since I was found bleeding out on the beach.
I just played dumb and everyone just went with my recovery being a miracle by "The Grace of the Goddess" to explain my unnaturally quick healing and the new white streaks in my hair.
"I'm fine, Ruby," I reassured my friend, the weight of the crate of linens in my arms were barely registered due to my Aura enhanced strength. Even when I wasn't actively using it, let alone my Semblance, my Aura vastly enhanced my physical attributes to superhuman levels.
With the fishing boats getting repaired, I kept myself occupied by running errands for my sister at the general goods store she ran.
Right now, I was making a delivery for the village's local seamstress. Mrs. Pins.
"Besides," I continued, "Mrs. Pins's place is just over there."
I nodded my head at the house just ahead.
"Oh. Right…" Ruby conceded my point rather awkwardly.
Since the older woman had already paid in advance, (my new clothes being the price since my old ones were ruined) it was a simple matter of dropping the box off and letting the client know the delivery was made.
"Okay, that should be the last one… Was there anyth-!" I was cut off by the ringing of bells. "What's that?"
"Monsters!" Ruby exclaimed. "We're under attack!"
Villagers were rushing back and forth into their homes. Some came back out holding various tools of their trades or even weapons in some cases.
I immediately drew my sword and Ruby readied her bow as we followed after the men and women that were rushing off to the village gate to see who or what was coming our way.
Racing to the top of the watchtower at the gate, we met up with Yang and what we saw was several boats of strange, humanoid salamanders armed with leather shields and swords of bronze like the one I carried making landfall and marching towards the village along the beach.
Instead of Ember Celica, Yang was armed with a pair of iron gauntlets that had three sharp blades protruding from the knuckles, giving my fellow blonde a wicked set of claws on each hand.
I returned my attention to the gathering force outside our village.
These must be the so-called "wooper troopers" I had fought on the shoreline last week before losing consciousness.
I noted three variants. The blue ones were the most common as the rank and file, then, for every ten blues, was a pale one. Finally, the rarest were the orange ones. Of which there was one for every three pale ones.
Judging by those numbers, there were sixty-eight woopers compared to our twenty defenders.
But considering how I handled myself before waking up in the chapel, I'd wager things were looking fair enough for us.
Yang looked like she didn't share my sentiment.
"That's a lot of woopers…" She muttered before turning to Ruby and I. "Mom and Dad are doing what they can to organize a defense, but we don't have enough people to handle that many wooper troopers, plus those salamarauders and axolhotls… These people aren't trained for a fight of this scale… None of us are…"
Yang's voice almost trembled with fear and worry.
"I'm guessing those two orange lizards in the back are the commanders," I surmised. "Right?"
"You mean the axolhotls? Yeah." Ruby nodded. "Why?"
"I'm guessing these guys operate on a rule of the strongest mentality, so if I hop the wall and use the treeline, I should be able to get past the main force unnoticed," I explained. "Then I can take out those two by surprise and cause a bit of chaos in the ranks. That should help our morale while destroying theirs."
"Jaune, we know you're tough, but axolhotls are a completely different level from their lesser cousins," Yang reasoned, clearly not too thrilled by my apparent suicide mission. "And it's not just because they sometimes have cautery swords!"
Oh, so they could have a firesword with them. That'll be a nice upgrade from what I've got.
"And even if you succeed, that'll leave you surrounded when the others catch on!" Ruby added.
"No, we'll have them surrounded." I countered. "With everyone's attention on me, the 'bigger threat', our force will be able to attack them from behind and level the playing field."
I then turned and made my jump into the forest's edge.
Allowing my Aura to absorb the shock of my landing, I immediately made my way along the treeline while keeping an eye on the enemy.
Once I was past the main force and behind the orange anthropomorphic salamanders, I began to creep up behind the first one with my Aura-infused (for good measure) blade poised to strike.
The monster was dead before it hit the ground as its head flew free from its shoulders.
The other axolhotl turned to face me with a squawk of surprise before lashing out with its weapon. A fine, well made, and ornate looking sword.
Thankfully, my Aura-enhanced reflexes, combined with my experience as the Rusted Knight, meant that I sidestepped the downwards strike with relative ease while noting the unusual glint of fire dancing along the ornate sword's edge.
The monster wasted no time in catching me off guard by spewing a gout of flames from its mouth as its beady eyes locked in on me.
My Aura protected me from most of the damage as I powered through with a thrust to the creature's head.
The monster parried my attack with its shield, causing it to bounce off to the side. Then, it followed up with a slice to my midsection with a blazing blade.
I jumped back just in time to avoid the sword and its small blast of fire. I responded by kicking some sand into the axolhtol's face, blinding it.
With its guard down, I gathered my Aura along my sword for a downwards strike, bisecting my foe in a single blow.
'That takes care of the commanders, now on to the rest…' I thought to myself, looking down at my now ruined bronze blade. Warped and bent, it simply wasn't meant to handle the intense strain I had just put it through.
Thankfully, I had a new upgrade sitting right before me for the taking as my ambush had not gone unnoticed by the main force. Who, as I predicted, now focused their attention on me.
Grabbing the (what I guessed to be) cautery sword, I prepared to recreate the burning slash that was used against me just moments earlier.
Channeling my Aura into the weapon, I performed a horizontal swipe and extended my Aura outwards in a broad sweep of an Aura-slash now coated in fire.
For some reason, my Semblance activated as soon as I released the attack, greatly amplifying the power of the sword's fire and the end result was a wall of flame that incinerated every monster before me in an instant.
There was nothing but ash and glassed sand between me and the village defenders that were rushing out to aid me.
They stood stock still as the shock of what I had just pulled off.
I was surprised too.
Not the battle I had expected or was prepared for, but I'll take it.
Now I need a nap.
(--)
(Ruby and Yang's 3rd Person POV)
"Ruby?"
"Yes Yang?"
"What did we just watch?"
"Our amnesiac boyfriend opening up a great big can of whoop-ass on a small army of monsters without breaking a sweat?"
"Okay… Good thing to know I'm not just seeing things…"
AND SCENE!!!
And there we are, the first chapter of "Dragon Quest: Remnant's Righteous Hero" !
This story idea had been bouncing around in my head for a while but never felt like working on it until I heard about the passing of the legendary mangaka Akira Toroyama, creator of Dragon Ball, and lead character designer for the Dragon Quest games.
This is my tribute to him.
May he rest in peace.