Note: Separate story from what I'm doing. And yes, Rei is me.
| Fan Fiction: | |
|---|---|
| Encounters | |
| |
| A sad fate awaits... | |
| Author | Shingeki no Kyojin |
| Genre | Slice-of-life, tragedy |
| Perspective | Third person |
| Official Characters | *Team RWBY
|
| Fan-made Characters | *Rei |
Description: Can fate be changed? Rei has given up on it, and repeatedly dies in every universe, yet wakes up in another, only to die again. He expects the same thing to happen in the world of Remnant, but something unique happens...
Past Remnant
One might call me… a normal being.
In a field of tall grass and blooming, fragrant flowers, the wind blew gently, caressing the flora, like a mother would with her child. Air gently breezed through the mountains of Vale, speckling the grass-covered hills with waves.
I don’t know how I got into this world, or why I’m here.
The spires of Beacon Academy stood massive among the could-spotted blue sky. Far below, the chatter of the crowds of students echoed off the granite walls. The chatter of many conversations rang through the halls.
I don’t even know if I’m supposed to live anymore.
Far outside the walls of the academy, in the lush greenery, suddenly appeared a boy. In the once peaceful skies appeared a Nevermore, its wings blacking out the heavenly blue behind it.
All I know are two things. My name is Rei.
The boy opened his eyes. He drew twin swords, one laced with lightning, the other fire.
And I am fated to die once more.
He charged at the Grimm.
~
“Ruby, you dunce!”
“Weiss, it isn’t exactly serious.”
“A fight with a Boarbatusk without Crescent Rose isn’t serious?!” Weiss put her hands on her hips. “You have got to pay attention, Ruby. I don’t want you dying on me.”
“Weiss, trust me. I know what I’m doing.” She gave her teammate a reassuring grin, patting Crescent Rose on her hip. “Wanna go to town?”
“Don’t you try to change the subject on me!” Nevertheless, the heiress followed her team leader out of Beacon.
“While we’re at it, race ya!” Ruby sped off in the direction of the docks at near warp-speed, sending a swift gust through the ponds that decorated the front of the institution. Weiss rolled her eyes, then followed suit with her own semblance, jumping off a glyph.
A teenager wrapped in a mottled green cloak watched nearby, along with his teammate, a blonde girl, dressed mostly in white, with her hair tied up in a ponytail.
“Now that I think of it, I do need to buy some more Dust. Maybe an apple, while I’m at it,” mused Grayson, fiddling with his green cloak.
The girl beside him giggled. “Do you always think of apples?”
“What? I like them.”
Angela laughed a bit harder. “Also, I noticed Hope Primordial getting a bit softer,” she remarked, gesturing to his weapon.
“Is that so?” The Hunter took out his weapon, turned it into the string instrument, and played a short tune. “Huh. Looks like you’re right. Might need to get more rosin, then…”
“That’s the thing about you I don’t get. You’re always saying things like ‘maybe’ and ‘might’.”
“Just a habit of mine. One can never be too sure of what’s going to happen…” Grayson said. “It also applies to people. They’re unknown variables.”
“Now you’re starting to sound like Yara,” she grumbled.
“She’s often right, you know. Not that I’m saying that she’s perfect, but you can learn a thing or two from her.”
“I know, I know…” she sighed. “Anyways, want to go to town?”
“Sure.” The green Hunter sped off with his own strength semblance, followed closely by Angela.
~
So these are the slums...
Rei had barely got through the encounter with the strange bird, suffering a large wound in his side just as he was beheading the bird. It was slowly seeping blood away from his body. His body hurt like hell, and it was all he could do to keep the blood from dripping from his shirt. His feet limped weakly in the dark, dirty alleyways of the strange city.
He drew his hand, which was holding his wound, from his side, revealing an alarming amount of blood dripping from his midriff. A large, crimson stain on his shirt slowly grew bigger as he continued to lose more and more blood.
The boy looked at his wound for a moment, then sighed in resignation. He looked up to the ironically bright blue sky. In the shadows of the buildings, he shivered.
No use now… Why am I even here… Rei’s face took on an interesting blend of despair, relief, pain, and loneliness. He sat down in the dirt of the alley, and his head slumped down, ready to give up.
“Mister, whatcha doing?” A sprightly young girl with big, bright eyes bounced up to him, her brown pigtails jumping seemingly with energy. Rei slowly looked up towards the youngling. He gave a bit of a smile.
“Just… resting here for a bit…” he whispered. The boy could clearly tell that the girl had no idea what was happening in front of her. At the very least, he could protect her from the spectacle of death.
“Where’d ya come from?”
Rei answered her. “Truth is… I’m a person that came from all kinds of worlds…”
The girl’s eyes widened as she took in a breath of amazement. “Wow! Really?”
He smiled. “Really. The most recent one I visited had all kinds of magicians and espers.” He laid back as the pain grew, resisting the urge to wince. “There was this one girl who was stubborn all the time, but she had the power to control electricity. Another, a boy, had the power to cancel any supernatural ability his right hand-” Rei stopped himself as he realized the girl was getting confused. “Oh, sorry. Was I getting too far ahead of myself? Let me go back.”
“What’s elect… electr…” The girl struggled to form the word.
“Electricity. E. Lec. Tri. City.”
“E. Lec. Tri. City. Electricity.” The girl grinned as she succeeded. “So what’s electricity?”
A shock of pain racked Rei’s body, but he again held back a wince. “You’re a sharp one, aren’t you? Electricity, like many other things, is good and bad at the same time.”
“Good and bad?” She seemed bewildered.
“Like a sunny day. It’s warm and relaxing, but too much of it, and you’ll get a sunburn. Electricity has the power to light.” With some effort (which took quite a toll on Rei’s failing body), he sent a current through an abandoned neon sign, which began to light with brilliant colors. Yellow, orange, red, blue, and purple lights flashed ostentatiously. The girl had a big grin on her face when she saw the spectacle, then grew calm as the lights faded away. “What’s the bad?” asked the girl.
“The bad is the ability to kill.”
“Kill?”
“Laura!” A slender, tall woman in a thin dress and a red cardigan sweater appeared in the alleyway and took the girl’s hand. “I’ve been looking all over for you! You know better than to run away like that!” she scolded. The woman took a glance at Rei, who was still sitting on the ground, looking quite beatdown. She immediately took him as a nomad, and taking her daughter’s hand, she briskly walked away, the girl protesting.
When, all of a sudden, several strange men appeared in the dark, narrow space. They wore strange gray masks that covered all of the face but the mouth, and slits were cut into them to give eyesight. The men also had various animalistic features on their bodies, like tails, ears, and fur. One even had feathers on his arms. On their backs, they wore the same logo: a ragged, red wolf head with three slash marks of the same color running through.
The men approached the woman and the girl ominously, drawing out what looked like to be guns and swords.
Don’t get involved...
“Mom, what’s going on?” whispered the little girl, frightened.
Don’t get involved…
“It’ll be okay, Laura. I’ll deal with this,” said the woman. She drew her own weapon, what looked like to be a cross between a sickle and a boomerang.
Don’t get involved, dammit!
~
It was a hopeless situation, to be honest. One woman against 50 men? A bit overkill, I thought, but it was still looking bleak for her. My sides ached with pain. My head felt like hell put a demon in it and started messing around, and I could hardly stand up. I thought to myself then, this is what it was like to be dying. But then, I’ve died a thousand times over.
“Still doesn’t make the pain any better,” I said bitterly to myself. One of the guys heard me and notified the squad. Another man then walked over to my nearly-dead corpse and kicked it.
That kick felt like a lightning strike. I doubled over in sheer pain, gasping out loud. The ground thumping hard against my body was an unwelcome feeling. Everything hurt now. My stomach, my head, my lungs, you name it.
Despite my overwhelming pain, though, I heard a few words come from the one who kicked me. “This one’s nearly dead!” was what I barely registered.
But that wasn’t what really bothered me right now. It was the thoughts in their heads that did.
You see, I have the ability to read minds.
The woman was named Maria, and the girl I just talked to, Laura, was her daughter. Maria was 27, while Laura was 9. Maria had been a Huntress (that’s what they called people who fight in this world, apparently), but not a very skilled one. She would always mess up something in Beacon Academy (the school that she was trained in) and get detention. She was constantly reminded of her mistakes and failures.
That was true until she met her future husband. She had met him first in the second year of Beacon, a transfer student. He was brash, funny, a prankster, and a bit annoying at times. But he was kind. Their relationship, at first, didn’t go so smoothly, but as time went, they grew close together. With his help (and sometimes his companionship in detention), she was able to get through the rest of her education. At the end of all that, they got married and went out into the world, slaying Grimm (apparently, the creature I killed, a Nevermore, was one of them) and saving people from the White Fang. From the emotions, I could tell that they had a good time of it.
Eventually, they did settle down after a few years or so, and had their child Laura. They still did their Hunter jobs, but they were fairly limited to the kingdom of Vale, as they had to take care of their child.
Until one day, when the White Fang started pursuing targeted Huntsmen and Huntresses for slaughter. They would gang up, then mob the victim until he or she was completely eliminated, then cruelly dismember the corpse and get rid of the evidence. The police, of course, tried to investigate, but found nothing to prosecute the suspects of. As such, the White Fang ran free to eliminate the best of Beacon’s Huntsmen and Huntresses. Maria’s husband was one of them.
In the minds of the White Fang, as they were called, they were all harassed by the human race, being all Faunus. After years of punishment, they couldn’t take it anymore, and decided to take their revenge out on their fellow race. War and strife followed, and the hate flowed even more. I could feel their want for vengeance, their pain dripping horribly like my own blood.
Don’t get involved…
At this point, Laura was being taken away, screaming. The mother was being apprehended by the White Fang, separated from her child, and yelling for her.
Don’t get involved…
My hand twitched, seemingly of its own accord. I looked at it blankly. It went to my sword, the crimson-coated fingers grasping for the familiar feel of the elemental weapons.
At that moment, I remembered why it was doing that. Or rather, why I was doing that.
The girl. Laura.
She had lived a relatively peaceful life, free of the knowledge of Hunters. Her parents, I could feel, didn’t want her to kill other living things. Yet the White Fang, the monsters, dragged her into this. All of it was stupid. All of it was ridiculous! Why couldn’t they just leave those who didn’t have anything to do with the fight and pull them into it?!
I thought of the many people before me who died in this way. Their smiles, their laughs, their voices. And the pain when they left. When I left them.
No. I have to get involved.
I gritted my teeth and stood up, ignoring the sudden dizziness I felt in my head. I gripped my swords harder, piercing my palm with my nails. Pain was hardly a factor for me, as adrenaline coursed through what remained of my blood. The White Fang started to notice me. I charged at them with a manic yell, seemingly in desperation. Grinning, they drew their weapons towards me.
They were in for a surprise.
My body suddenly radiated lightning and flares of fire, scorching most of the Faunus where they stood. I could feel my eyes glow white with energy. In a fury of flames and bolts, I quickly sliced through each of the remaining White Fang members with my two swords. In each of their deaths, I could feel vividly the agony, the pain, and the desperation in their minds as they fell. I saw children, mothers, friends, laughs, tears, rage, vengeance, and finally… a sort of numbness from them as they began to murder without mercy. Like I was doing right now.
These people all had a story behind their covers. And each of them was a tragedy that I saw with my mind.
As the last corpse fell to the ground, the blood spilling from the stump of a neck, I looked around and saw exactly what I expected to see.
Fear.
Everyone had their eyes wide open. Everyone’s minds were frozen. Held in place by power. They did not trust me. And in that moment, I saw that I had did it again.
What I did was not a battle. It was a massacre.
I finally set my eyes on Laura. She and her mother were both looking at the Faunus I struck down. In their heads, I could see them replaying the vortex of bolts and flames. The child then slowly turned to me, her face the same as everyone else around her. I sheathed my blades and looked her in the eyes.
“This… is what electricity can do.” I could feel the strength sapping away from me.
“This… is what killing is.” My voice cracked in the middle, and the tears were flowing down my face. I could sense surprise and disdain.
“Just promise me that you’ll never do the same as I did…” I fell to the ground, drifting into unconsciousness as my mind said four words.
Goodbye, sweet, cruel world…
~
Ruby, Weiss, Grayson, and Angela stood shocked as the rest were, trying to comprehend what was going on.
“A… boy… channeled that much Dust? All by himself?” Weiss finally exclaimed, eyes wide. “But he shouldn’t have! He’s only…”
“What age is he anyways?” said Ruby.
“That doesn’t matter.” The four turned around to see Blake walking furiously down the street, her amber eyes dark with fury, and yet bright with tears. She shoved her way past her own teammates and laid down next to one of the corpses. The Faunus cradled a woman with a wedding ring on her hand. Blake’s tears came down harder, and sobs escaped her mouth. After several minutes of grief had passed, she eerily stopped.
“Blake, is that?...” asked Ruby, trying to comfort her, only to be met with a glare.
“She. Was. MARRIED! She had kids to take care of! Yes, I knew her! And I’m not going to let her die in vain!” The black cat Faunus suddenly got up and rushed at the dying boy laying on the ground, yelling a prolonged “Raaaaaaaaaah!” as she swung down, Ruby and Weiss trying and failing to stop her.
A cane met the midnight-black blade.
“Professor. Let. Me. Through,” growled Blake, glowering at the headmaster, sparks flying between the two weapons. He simply pushed her back and struck her down with a well-timed blow.
“Ms. Belladonna, listen. If you do that now, you’ll be no better than him. You’ll be no better than us,” Ozpin said, gesturing to everyone in the vicinity. “And you won’t grow beyond your past if you kill him.”
“THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN WHAT HE DID?! WHY HE KILLED ALL THOSE PEOPLE?!” yelled Blake. She was struggling to get free of Ozpin.
“Easy.” A girl with raven-black short hair came down next to the Beacon headmaster, wearing a blue overcoat. “I saw it all.” Yara looked towards a pair of mother and child. The mother was bearing wounds. “The two over there were being abducted by the White Fang,” she said, gesturing to the Faunus on the ground. “I was about to intervene when he went into the fray.” This time, she pointed to the boy. “Even before that, though, he looked like he was limping, for some reason. The fact that he used that much power in that condition…” She looked at the boy in amazement.
“Indeed, Ms. Aeriver.” Glynda walked over from a nearby alleyway. “Though, I myself don’t think it was Dust. He doesn’t appear that he has the discipline, power, nor the Lien to buy, much less use any type of Dust.” By this time, Blake had calmed down considerably, although her face still showed signs of rage.
“I’ve still got one question left, though,” Blake muttered, still shooting nasty looks at the boy on the ground. “Why did he kill?”
Nobody could formulate a direct answer, but Ozpin provided a response.
“I don’t know why, but perhaps after we treat him, we’ll know. What matters is that they are safe.” The headmaster took a glance at the mother and child, being treated by the police.
“Treat him?!” said Blake, disbelief replacing her rage.
“Yes, Ms. Belladonna, treat. I could lend you a dictionary if you want,” retorted Glynda. Professor Ozpin picked up the boy and left, along with the Hunters. Blake, muttering darkly, followed suit.
Fate/imprisoned
What I expected was eternal darkness. Instead, I woke up to temporary brightness.
I blinked my eyes as the light burned my retinas. When my eyes adjusted, I looked around the room. The space I was in was clean and white, shining so brightly that I could see a reflection. As for where I was, I was laying on a simple bed, fresh sheets laid over me. Next to it were many contraptions, which I inferred were to keep me alive. I tried to move, only to find that my wound from the Nevermore weren’t healed yet.
“I see that you’ve awoken.”
I turned my head to look at the old man sitting next to me. His hair was oddly spiked, but still gray with age, and his face seemed young and elderly at the same time. In one hand, he held a mug of what smelled like coffee. My nose twitched at the bitter scent.
“Oh? You can smell my coffee? I have more, if you want.” I kindly denied his request with a slight shake of my head. Even that hurt.
“It’s good coffee. You sure?” I silently declined again, wincing.
“Well, that’s not what I’m here for, anyway. I’ve heard you’ve taken out 50 fully-armed and fully- trained men with a nearly bled-out wound, and managed to kill them in the process, albeit quite horribly. Would you care to explain why you did so?” That, I was willing to answer with words.
“Two reasons,” I said, wincing again from the pain. “The White Fang would’ve just made more people suffer. I could see that in their mi- I mean, eyes. Even though they had their own lives to worry about, I still couldn’t stand that they would hurt others just to get their freedom. I can understand why they would do that, but to do it in that way…. It’s wrong to me.”
“And the other reason?” the old man asked, leaning forward. My eyes lowered in sadness as I told him.
“Because I wanted… to… disappear…” I said, the last words fading out quietly.
The old man leaned back and scratched his chin. I could see that he was thinking hard about what I said. After a minute, he leaned back forward.
“Well, another interesting thing. You don’t appear on any records in Vale. In fact, when I contacted the other kingdoms, they said they didn’t have any records, either. So, basically, you don’t exist in the planet of Remnant. Which is obviously a paradox.” He leaned back again. “I’m curious as to how you got here, and why you have that power. I’m curious as to WHY you’re here.” At this, he leaned more forward than he had done before.
“I do know about that Nevermore outside Beacon. It has scorch marks all over it, which is similar to what I’ve heard you do. It was you, wasn’t it?” A nod. “But back to the matter at hand. Since we don’t have you on records, we can’t find your parents, so I don’t think you have anywhere to go, do you?” Another nod of confirmation, as I was painfully reminded of memories already long past.
“Then, I will adopt you.” I looked at him with shock, ignoring the pain that hit my head for a moment. His next words surprised me even more. “And I will train you as a Huntsman. You will be staying at Beacon Academy, as well as attending its classes. All other information that will be needed, I will provide to you. Is this okay?”
I sat on the bed in disbelief. A man, and an aged one at that, was able to trust me? Even after I killed so many men and women? Me attending a school like that would certainly cause some sort of negative reaction. I could still see that he was serious about doing that. His words sounded more like an order. Even so, I was unsure of only one thing. “Why?” I asked. “Why do this for a killer? When I’ve likely hurt so many people?”
For that, the old man turned around. “True, you have hurt a lot of people. But then, that would make me just as guilty, wouldn’t it? Besides, I trust there’s more to you than meets the eye. What was your name again?”
Still suspicious, I answered back. “Rei.”
“Hmm. I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster at Beacon Academy, the most prestigious academy for training the top Huntsmen and Huntresses in Vale. We have one mission at my institution: to counteract the evil that has sprung up against humanity, and eventually eliminate it. I ask again: Will you join us?”
The first thing on my mind was to refuse. Getting involved in worldly matters would just create more conflict with mankind itself. That was what I had learned over the thousands of years and the hundreds of universes that I had traveled through. Humanity was imperfect; therefore, it can be stupid at times. And sometimes, it can be stupid enough not to forgive itself. Thus, the circle of hatred continues. Many people either don’t realize that or refuse it outright.
Yet, it was why I wanted to save it. Humanity being imperfect didn’t mean that it was all bad. It had some good. Those good times I spent with my friends… laughing about the littlest of things, all those slip-ups, all of the most petty of things. Therefore, I had one objective to protect that everyday life: make it seem like all of it was my fault. It wasn’t easy at first, manipulating people. But then, I got experienced. Told lies. Killed even more people. All for the sake of protecting others. It hurt, betraying my friends and being hated all around. But I got used to it. Even so, there still were idiots that stayed loyal to me and themselves.
Including myself. Or, at least, my own set of morals.
All the time, there was a few people who trusted me, loved me. Yet they still fought. There were wars that were still not started by me, people with vendettas other than me. It was comparable to children fighting over a worthless toy. It was stupid. But people I knew - and cared for - were dying for no reason.
Therefore, I died for them.
It still hurt when I saw the looks on their faces, though. Those eyes of shock, then turning into sadness and regret as they registered what happened. But it was because of that good that I could die for them. True, I was lying to them by not telling them who I really was. But it was to protect them from dying.
Therefore, I accepted. Because I resigned to my fate. My fate… of being sacrificed to humanity’s foolishness once again.
“I will enter the academy on one condition. If anything… unique happens while I’m attending your academy, I will take full responsibility alone.” I put emphasis on the last word.
The professor nodded. “By that statement, I’ve begun to understand what kind of personality you have. Very well. You will start attending as soon as your wounds have healed.”
I nodded, and prepared myself for what I expected was a future of despair and strife.
~
Nearly a few days after the incident, things had finally seemed to quiet down. Teams GRAY and RWBY were talking in class, a few minutes before the classes were scheduled to start. JNPR was screwing around, with Nora at the helm, and Cardin sitting smugly in his own seat. The news of the murdered White Fang had created mixed feelings among the students of Beacon, with some saying that the world was better off, while most of the Faunus sympathized with them. More bullying of the Faunus resulted, though the staff was trying to enforce it.
Ruby noticed Velvet looking down in shame. Her tall ears, usually stout, were drooping with sadness. She walked over to the Faunus and sat down with her.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look like your usual self.” The Faunus slowly looked at Ruby and was just about to answer when the bell rang, signaling the start of class. Ruby, assuring that she would talk to her later, returned to her seat along with the rest of her team. Blake was the only one on RWBY who hadn’t moved an inch since they got to class. The cat Faunus had stayed up all night researching the Roman Torchwick incidents, determined to catch the criminal. She even had the willpower to stay up in the morning, reading books all the way through midnight, like she was doing now. Her eyes had noticeable black bags under them, and she was occasionally falling asleep, then waking back up to read, and then repeated the process. Her fingers kept on moving the pages as her worn out eyes kept on reading the words.
Professor Port came into the classroom from a separate door, his portly frame bumbling about as his legs moved. "Well, students, a very good morning to you," he said as he settled in the center of the space. He looked up at the various teenagers sitting in the wooden benches. "I see most of us had a good night's sleep," noting Blake. "Remember, children, getting sleep is an important part of growing up. Otherwise, how will you fight the big, bad monsters out there?"
"In other news today, we have a new student! Not a transfer student, but someone completely new! Please welcome him!" He gestured to someone standing outside the classroom.
~
While I was standing, I watched the mind of Professor Port. He was certainly... interesting to hear. Flamboyant and proud. Yet, he was also an old man, like the headmaster. He had deep, sad memories. Like me.
When he signaled me to come, I hesitated for a moment. I knew that it was already too late to turn back, but maybe it wasn't too late for me to stay where I was: not getting more involved than I already was. I stayed where I was, thinking.
The professor called out to me. "What's wrong, my dear boy? It's okay to come out now!"
Well, can't turn back now.
I slowly walked into the wide, clean space. Several students sat above in wooden benches and desks. Not all had books out, but most of them were sitting, bored. I walked to the center of the classroom and stood next to the professor.
"This boy here is Rei. He's shown impressive skill as a fighter-"
"You mean murderer." A young girl with black hair and a bow suddenly stood up. Her eyes were dark with hatred. I didn't remember seeing her from anywhere, yet she looked intensely at me. I mentally retreated inside, lowering my head in shame.
Mr. Port had a response, though. "Then may I ask why he was personally accepted by Professor Ozpin himself?" he inquired.
"I don't know, but I don't agree with him. All I know is that he is a murderer." The other Hunters murmured nervously. A girl with unusual white hair pulled the her back into her seat, scolding her with angry words.
She was right, though. I killed people. Took away lives. For the sake of others. But the fact that I saved a few people didn’t really matter, for I was still was what she said. A murderer.
I grew even more anxious as a result. Why would they accept me if I was someone who actually killed people? From my experiences, I didn't think that they would.
"Since you volunteered so kindly, Ms. Belladonna, I will have Rei sit next to you." I could see she was protesting silently as the professor pointed me to my seat. The girl glared at me, brimming with hatred.
At that moment, I replied.
"If you hate me so much, then why not just kill me now? It'll be easier for you," I said quietly as I sat down next to her. I could tell my voice cracked again. It was a habit I gained when I fell into my depression long ago. My eyes water up whenever I remember, so I try to keep the past in the past. It doesn't work all the time, though.
I looked at her while Professor Port started his class with distinctly joyous words. "I'm a murderer, a liar, a hypocrite, and a double agent. But most of all, I'm a monster. Tell me why I'm still living. Why God hasn't put down his divine punishment on me. Otherwise, I don't think I'll ever rest anymore..." At that point, my mind couldn't take it anymore, and I just shut down. Like a city in a power outage. I retreated inside my shell.
My memories really were that painful to me. Over the past few thousand years, I turned from an orphan to a monster. I couldn't even remember my real name; it was one of the many things that died in my lifespan.
For the rest of the class, I was quiet, near catatonic. I knew the others already had a bad impression of me. It wasn't like I was trying to make it better. More like, I just didn't care anymore. I didn't want the illusion called friends, nor did I refuse it. I just went with what the others wanted, because their happiness mattered more to me.
More than my own life.
And the only way to ensure that I don't get in the way of that was not to get involved. Which I already broke.
I kept my eyes down the whole period. When class was over, I was immediately approached by a tall boy. He had auburn hair arranged neatly, and had an aura of charisma about him. I could tell just from his eyes that his personality was anything but pretty. The thin eyes held a trace of cruelty in them, and from that, I could tell that he was one of those stupid people, like the ones that killed my friends many years before.
"So. You're the new kid." He smirked, as if he was looking at a peasant. "Name's Cardin Winchester. Yours?" I replied softly with "Rei". "You look like you're raring for a fight." I wasn't. "But you don't know how to spar yet, do you? After all, you're just a kid, compared to us burly Huntsmen." He chuckled. " Don't worry. I'll teach you. I work well with the quiet types." He snuck a glance at a nearby rabbit Faunus. "5:00, at the arena. Be there."
He just wanted to beat me up in a fight, I could tell that much. He had his team with him as well. Could most likely fight with them on his side. But if he wanted a real fight, I would give him one. After all, I was alone.
I had just stood up when another person approached me. A tall girl with red hair, tied in a ponytail. She had a regal look, one of Greek origin.
"He's just looking to fight you in an unfair way," she said, a worried expression on her face. I nodded. "Oh, my name's Pyrrha. Your name's Rei?" Another nod. I could tell she was much kinder than Cardin. Her eyes showed it. "Anyways, I don't tink you should fight against him. He's a bully that doesn't fight fair." Another silent nod. However, I next answered her with words.
"If it's a fight he wants, I'll give it to him."
I expected her next response. "But he'll beat you! You're just a boy!"
I scoffed, then replied again. " You're just the same as him. I appreciate the concern, but I'm going to grant his wish."
She visibly took offense to my first sentence. Nevertheless, she tried again. "You'll only get yourself hurt." I shook my head. "If I don't show up, that would make me a liar. Nobody wants to lie," I said, looking at the girl who had glared at me before. She noticed, and looked back in open defiance.
"That's Blake. She can get emotional sometimes, but she can be fun to be with."
"...Can I ask you a question?" I said after a moment of silence. She nodded her consent, and I continued. "Why are you talking to me? Even after you know what I've done?”
"Done ? Done what?" She apparently didn't know, so I took the liberty to inform her.
"I was the one who killed those White Fang members. The incident they called a massacre."
"Oh," was all she said. I could see the familiar fear on her face, the same fear that accompanied me in every person I met. I could see that she was no exception.
Then something unique happened. Her eyes cleared and she smiled again, although her eyebrows showed hints of sadness.
"Well, I can't really say anything about being a killer, but if you did it for a reason, a good reason, then I don't think it matters. As long as you want to forgive and forget, I think they'll do the same." Her face was reassuring, almost that of a mother.
Thousands of years had hardened me, though. "You think I haven't heard those words before? I already forgave, and while it worked sometimes ...most of the time, other people didn't forget. All they had on their minds were revenge." She looked a bit surprised at what I said. Nevertheless, I continued on. "I can tell that he's not a good person. But before I go on... I have a question." Pyrrha perked her ears. "Do you want Cardin to disappear?"
Her response was just as I expected from her. After a moment of thought, she said, "I don't want him to disappear. I want him to learn."
"Then I'll fight him." I wouldn't hear anymore of it. Pyrrha protested, desperate to turn me back, but to no avail.
She thought I was only a kid. Everybody in this school did.
That was the biggest lie of all. And I would settle that lie today.
~
“Blake, what in the name of Vytal were you doing back there?” Weiss, outraged, looked at her accusingly. The black Huntress glared back.
“Weiss is right, Blake,” said Ruby, looking worried. Her sister, Yang, also looked between the two of them nervously. “You shouldn’t call someone new to our school horrible things right away.”
“But he is. Ozpin has gone too far.” Blake’s voice began to crack again.
“Has he?” Grayson stepped in. His emerald eyes burned with a different fury than Blake’s, one that had more conviction. More… spirit. “Do you know him? Do you know what he’s gone through?” The cat Faunus glared back, challenging him.
“As if you know anything about him," she scoffed.
"I don't. Do you? I'm waiting for an answer." Blake didn't respond. Grayson continued.
"We still don't know much about him yet. And we never will if you keep acting like that. If you do keep doing that, you'll be no better than the humans who mock the Faunus." He could see that his sentence struck home, as Blake responded angrily. "How does this relate to humans and Faunus?!"
“You never heard of metaphors?” By this time, a crowd had formed, watching the argument unfold. “Basically, not everything is at it seems.”
“Killing people certainly seems like a way of doing it,” Blake muttered.
Before the two could say any more, though, Ms. Goodwitch burst through the crowd, looking very annoyed. “What is going on here?” she demanded, glancing between the arguers.
“Just a misunderstanding, Professor,” said Ruby quickly, jabbing Blake subtly in the ribs. The neatly dressed woman narrowed her eyes, then said, “Make sure this doesn’t happen again.” She emphasized the last word, then briskly turned to walk away. While she was doing that, Blake saw a glimpse of Rei leaving the area. Without a word to her team, the Faunus slipped away, determined to finish it once and for all.
~
In a deep undersea trench, there lay a metal door. Through those doors lay the majority of Vengeance Moon. They were a secret organization dedicated to finding the secrets of Remnant and using them to find new ways of combat. It was made up of both Faunus and humans working together in harmony, brought together by tragedy and the motivation for revenge. Inside this large complex of dense steel, a human scientist in a lab coat was about to make a discovery of a lifetime and forever change the course of history in Remnant…
The professor’s name was Momo Fersken. She was a woman who had her child taken from her a long time ago, and had joined Vengeance Moon out of desperation in trying to find her daughter. The professor was actually quite intelligent in the mixing of Dust, having graduated from several years in college with a degree in Dust studies. Her job in the organization was to experiment with Dust and see what she got. In exchange, her clandestine leader would put effort into searching for her wandering child.
The professor wiped beads of sweat from her forehead as she examined the newest form of Dust in front of her. It was glowing with a strong, bright indigo light. The professor had spent endless hours developing the Dust, mixing hundreds of crystals together, and after recording the required steps, had come up with her newest discovery. She could just feel the power radiating from the crystal. Pulling up her Scroll, she messaged her leader a few words, telling him to come down, and put her device away again. After a few minutes, a figure in a dark black cloak came through the stark white doors. The edges of his cape ruffled softly on the laboratory floor. The leader of Vengeance Moon nodded at the young professor and inspected the new piece of Dust.
“Think it’s good enough?” said the professor. She put her hands on her hips.
In a surprisingly young and husky voice, he replied, “It’s certainly quite powerful. Let's test it." Gingerly picking it up, he put it in a clear capsule and pushed a button on a screen nearby. The monitors displayed a missile carrying the new Dust sample into the deep water. In big, pixelated numbers, the screen counted down the seconds to the explosion.
The missile was several hundred miles away when it detonated. For a moment, the brightest amethyst flash dominated the underwater view, flooding the laboratory room with purple light and a very loud boom. A shockwave roared through the complex. After the light subsided, there was a huge semi-spherical indent where the Dust missile exploded, extending hundreds of miles across the seabed.
The professor’s eyes were wide with terror. “What… " She looked over to her leader and got even more of a shock. The man in the black cloak was visibly shaking, and when he spoke next, it was clear that he was shaking out of horror.
"That… is something I’ve seen before,” he said, steeling himself again. He continued to look at the undersea crater, then whipped around and began to walk out of the lab.
“Ms. Fersken, you’ve just discovered Antimatter Dust, one of the most powerful types of Dust in Remnant. Congratulations are in order,” was his last words as he exited the lab, leaving the professor behind. At that moment, part of Remnant’s destiny was determined by a simple test, and fate placed in her hands. Ms. Fersken had only one emotion fill her soul.
She was scared.