Apologies for the delay, as I mentioned earlier, I had a wedding to attend, ended up needing to go the next day to sort out and finish up some things too... Tired...
As always, if anyone wants to support me or just read 3/7 chapters ahead of my two stories, that's possible on my (P)(A)(T). If not, I still appreciate you reading my stories.
That said, good night and happy reading!
(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori
[...]---[...]
POV: Roman Torchwick
"I can introduce you to my tailor later, if you want. He's one of the best in all of Vale," I offered, speaking to the man whom I had seen destroy Tyrian as if he were a ragdoll.
Junior was smart not to offend the guy. Tyrian was someone who managed to hold his own against me, that coffee guy, the four prodigies, and Neo without being at too much of a disadvantage.
I don't think if Devas got aggressive, we'd stand a chance against the guy. Maybe a surprise attack from Neo while we distracted him, but that wasn't a bet I'd particularly put many chips on... None of them, actually.
The less said about the King Taijitu he killed with two blows, the better...
"I'll take you up on that offer. I have some suits stashed away, but none of them are tailored to my size, and I have a feeling I'll end up needing them one of these days," the man replied with a calm demeanor...
Well, things were going smoothly. Some small talk here and there, keeping the conversation away from the main focus, which was that Cinder cow, was good for me. I didn't want to think too much; my headache was killing me.
Planning heists for the red-dressed piranha, trying to organize those animals known as the White Fang to turn them into a somewhat functional unit, dodging Vale police, bribing some big shots to ensure everything goes smoothly... Damn, I just turned thirty and I already feel like I'm at least forty just from the stress of these past few months.
Fighting for hours yesterday and having my Aura depleted didn't help either, not to mention I couldn't sleep last night, covering tracks and creating false trails in case Cinder decided she wanted to start her to-do list by roasting me because I jumped ship...
I really needed to retire... Buy a house on some small island with few inhabitants and live peacefully until dying of old age. Maybe have a kid, a Mini-Roman, but depending on my luck with women, I don't think that's gonna happen.
I just needed to pawn off Neo onto someone else so I could truly have peace. I loved the girl like a daughter, truly loved her, but if I had to put up with her for the next thirty years, I don't think I'll last those thirty years.
"Tell me, Roman. Why out of all places did you choose to hide here?" Devas asked, his eyes scanning the club momentarily. The place was empty now after Junior had his goons toss the drunks out, leaving only the five of us in the place.
Six, actually, but Neo was still invisible, behind her Semblance's illusion.
"The music's good and the drinks too. Personally, I like the green apple cocktails here," I shrugged, ignoring the real meaning behind the question. "Even if the bartender and waitresses leave something to be desired, the place is still nice." I brushed off the three pairs of eyes I was receiving with nonchalance.
"Don't play dumb," Devas shook his head. "Didn't take me five minutes to see that you and Junior have some kind of friendly relationship..." I could hear brat one and brat two huff at those words.
"... Your modus operandi changed what? Six? Seven months ago?" Devas asked rhetorically, ignoring the twins. "I didn't delve too deeply, I'll admit, but that's probably when you turned into... 'Business partners' with Cinder. From what little I've discovered about the woman, I highly doubt she's unaware of this place and your relationship with Junior. It would be obvious to look here, wouldn't it?" He explained his thoughts.
A good deduction, nothing genius, but still a good deduction. He was right, Cinder knew much more about me and my contacts than I'd like, which included Junior. There was just one catch...
"Cinder thinks I'm a coward. At this moment, if she's looking for me, it's probably in Anima or another kingdom, where she thinks I might have fled." I wasn't the bravest person in the world. Many things scared me, such as women who had the weirdest fire Semblance I'd ever seen in my life.
But I wasn't the coward Cinder thought I was, who would run away and hide as far as possible... As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. My network of contacts and most of my hideouts were in Vale.
I wasn't going to lose everything I'd built because of that woman. So, as much as she knew more about me than I'd like, I knew more about her than she thought.
Cinder was paranoid, power-hungry, had an ego bigger than the White Fang's stupidity, as incredible as that may be, and wanted to always be in control of everything and everyone at all times.
So why couldn't I take advantage of that? If she wanted so badly to be in control, fine, I'd make her think she was in control.
Creating false trails to various locations she knew I had hideouts, some of them clearly false for her to notice, others not so much, to make her think that "she had me in the palm of her hand," when in fact, I was right under her nose...
"And she wouldn't think you'd hide right under her nose..." Devas spoke, as if he were reading my thoughts. The guy had a good head on his shoulders, nothing genius like me, but he knew how to think.
... After all, why would I hide at Junior's when she knew he was one of the few people in Remnant I had some trust in?...
"Exactly!" I raised my drink, toasting alone before downing the rest of the drink. It'll keep me awake, but when I doze off, I'll wake up with the mother of all headaches, more than I already am.
Well, whatever, that's a problem for Future Roman. I needed to drink if I wanted to have this conversation.
"But tell me, Devas. How did you find out about Cinder?" Discovering my relationship with her was easy, after all, I had "betrayed" someone on Tyrian's side, the problem was: "Who?" Who had I betrayed?
Cinder was paranoid, very much so. Her fake documents somehow had genuine documents backing them up. She had some very good contacts in Haven.
So how had he obtained this information? Tyrian, probably. As much as I didn't think he'd spill the beans, that was the only option I could think of.
Maybe a mind-reading Semblance or one that compelled truth-telling? I wouldn't be surprised if Atlas had some nonsense like that, that's the only way I could see that psychopath revealing anything, after all, if someone told me that Tyrian laughed and then fell asleep while being tortured, I'd believe it.
"Tyrian told me about her," Devas replied, confirming my theories. "He told me a few things before his head spontaneously detached from his body..." I could almost feel the amusement radiating from Neo with the way Devas spoke, even though she was invisible.
"...But even without that, I already had my suspicions about Cinder. After all, she has something that few people in the world have, that caught my attention." He shrugged without elaborating further. "One way or another, I would have found out about her, Tyrian just sped up the process."
"I see..." I didn't really see, what did Cinder have that few people have in the world? I thought he would elaborate a bit more, but really, that was it.
I could feel frustration emanating in waves from brat one with the lack of information, but Melanie was smart enough to swallow her own pride and not demand answers from the guy who was much stronger and nothing but cuts so far.
Seriously, where did this crazy guy come from? Why have I never heard of him before? No rumor, no whisper here or there, someone like him should be more well-known!
First Cinder, and now this guy, where the hell were these super strong crazies coming from? Come on, I need the location to stay as far away from this place as possible!
"Roman," Devas spoke my name, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'm not going to be an idiot here. What do you want for the information you have about Cinder?" He asked.
The silence that followed his question was instant.
"You're going to pay me?" I asked, my voice full of doubt. "You know I'm a fugitive, right?" I mean, I was until yesterday trying to blow a hole in Vale before switching sides as well. Wouldn't the right thing here be for him to just demand the information?
I had revealed myself to him expecting an interrogation, I wasn't even expecting to bargain for anything, let alone receive anything, just the simple fact that I would throw this guy and all his friends into Cinder was reward enough for me.
Cinder was strong, ridiculously strong, and had a totally ridiculous Semblance, but against dozens of Huntsmen and Huntresses? She wouldn't stand a chance, that alone would be enough, but I was getting paid?!
"Are you for real?" Brat one asked, voicing my thoughts aloud. Probably everyone's thoughts, actually.
"As far as I can remember. Yes, I'm real," Devas replied with a slight smile on his face before letting out a short laugh, as if he had remembered a joke.
"As for your question, Roman, yes, I will pay you, and I also know you're a fugitive, but to be honest here, I really don't care much about that fact." He shrugged, pausing in his speech before the tone of his voice changed.
"But if you want a real reason, take it as my thanks, a favor, if you will." If before the tone was something calm, the same tone used in a random conversation with an acquaintance not so close, now it was something more sincere.
"A thanks, for what?" Before I even finished the question, I already knew the answer, the image of a girl with a red hood and a giant scythe coming to my mind. "Red..."
Devas nodded when he heard the name, nickname in this case. I had seen the end of the battle video, since Neo and I had disappeared from there a long time ago, he and Red knew each other, didn't they?
"I know you had other motives and plans, but it doesn't change the fact that you helped not only Ruby, but Yang, Blake, and Weiss, in that, you have my thanks." Devas inclined his head slightly in a sign of respect, a sign that I had seen some people from Mistral using a few times.
"Yang isn't the name?" Brat two spoke in the background, before being silenced by brat one's hand over his mouth.
Devas didn't pay attention to the interaction, preferring to stay silent as he waited for my response, the price I would give for the information.
"I would have given the information for free just to screw Cinder over. But I'm not one to throw opportunities away," I told the man. "A favor from you, that's what you said you're doing, isn't it?" He nodded, even though he knew my question was rhetorical.
"Well, that's the price. I want a favor from you, one that I can cash in on in the future." There was no other option for a price to ask for here.
"I figured you'd ask for something like that." Devas didn't seem surprised by my words. "You know I'll refuse if you ask for some kind of absurdity, don't you?" He asked.
"Of course I know. I'll ask for something reasonable, I promise." I even jokingly raised my hands, showing my crossed fingers... Wait, what?!
I could feel my fingers uncrossing, but why could I see them...
"Neo!" I turned around and, unsurprisingly, the brat was now visible and had a shit-eating grin on her face.
"What?" The words appeared in front of her. "I'm innocent, I swear!" She raised her hands, showing them open, with an even bigger smile on her face.
I needed another aspirin. Two, just to be sure.
"Why?" I asked, ignoring my headache. Neo understood the real question: "Why reveal yourself?".
Her pranks were something I had grown accustomed to, as long as they didn't involve any part of my body being damaged, it was fine, but why reveal herself now?
"He had already noticed me a while ago. He just didn't say anything." Neo wrote, pointing the umbrella behind me.
Devas had noticed her?
"Since when?" It was more of an instinctive question than anything else.
Neo raised her hands in the air, palms facing upward.
"I don't know, I just know he had noticed me." Neo's instincts were good, so I'll trust in this unreliable statement. "If I were to guess something. Hehe. I'd guess since the beginning." The words appeared quickly.
I ignored the joke in the sentence and massaged my forehead. Devas had noticed Neo from the start... Why the hell did she only inform me about this now?!
Three. Three aspirins at least...
At least he didn't seem to care about Neo's blatant, almost assassination attempt. Or did he not even consider it that?... Four, four is a good number.
When I turned to look at Devas, I thought I'd see an amused smile on his face, maybe arrogance or something like that, but no, he seemed... Surprised?
Neo... Didn't you say he had noticed you?!
Fuck it, a whole blister pack should do.
[…]
POV: Devas Asura.
I was surprised, not because someone had appeared out of nowhere; I already knew someone was there from the beginning, but rather by the appearance of the person who showed up.
The invisible gnome wasn't a gnome, even though she could turn invisible.
The invisible gnome was a petite woman, very petite. If I had to guess, she was about four foot six... That's me being generous, considering she was wearing high-heeled boots.
I say woman because even though she was undoubtedly the smallest person, who wasn't a dwarf, of any race I had seen in Terraria, or the genetic disorder that I had encountered, the curves on her body clearly belonged to an adult woman.
The invisible gnome, or Neo as Roman had called her, had hair that was half pink, with some white streaks here and there, while the other half was brown.
These were the same colors as the clothes she wore, which reminded me a bit of a magician's assistant.
A white long-sleeved jacket that reached to her waist, at least in the back of her body, like a little cape, since in the front the jacket was just a low-cut top with pink details, both on the collars near the neck, and she also had three brown necklaces, as well as on the sleeves folded at her wrists, ending in her hands covered by black gloves.
I wasn't good with fashion, damn it, not even close, and I had no idea what the name of the garment she wore around her waist was. It looked like some kind of corset, covering the belly, preventing exposure, just like the gloves, it was black.
On the lower part of her body, even though she was sitting, I could see what seemed to be two light brown belts, one actually being used to hold up the pants she wore, which were a darker brown color, snug on her legs, while the other seemed to be more of a loose accessory than anything else.
Finally, she wore two boots, with heels, I should emphasize again, white in color, with light brown detail on the tips and heels.
Everything about her was of the same color theme as the ice cream that appeared on the counter when she showed up, appearing when she appeared, Neapolitan. I would have to be an idiot not to see the similarity with the name as well: Neo, which was probably a diminutive for something with that color.
Damn, even her eyes followed that theme, with heterochromia, one of them pink while the other was brown... Why did I feel like it was her fault that my friend who always asked me to watch RWBY only ate Neapolitan ice cream?
"Are you real?" I couldn't help but ask. It was wrong to compare, but she seemed like some kind of shiny Pokémon.
This was a TV show on Earth, wasn't it?... Damn, if she appeared on the show, which I'm sure she did, her popularity must be kind of ridiculous, right?
She looked at me expressionlessly for a whole second before smiling playfully and pointing at me with the umbrella... Or would it be a parasol? It was small enough to be, and then to herself.
"I am real, so are you real?" I deduced, making her nod her head quickly... I don't think that's how things work, but okay.
And why wasn't she talking? Was she mute or something?... Maybe, but Roman seemed to have understood her well before, even without her saying anything. I turned to the man who seemed to understand my confusion.
"This is Neopolitan. My partner." Roman introduced the woman with an ice cream theme... And wouldn't you know it, someone like that showed up?... "She doesn't speak." He explained as if he had done it dozens of times before.
"I see..." I replied slowly, still looking at Neo, something she noticed and made quick hand gestures.
"Do you like what you see?" I spoke instinctively... Wait, what?!
"Do you know sign language?" Miltia, if I'm not mistaken, the one in the red dress, was the one who asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.
"I know..." I said slowly, avoiding showing the clear confusion I was feeling. I didn't know Earth's sign language, let alone Remnant's... Probably the stream's fault, it's almost always to blame in these situations...
I shifted my gaze from Miltia when I felt Neo move, even though she was visibly still in her chair. It wasn't invisibility then, but illusions?... A strong illusion at that, since the 'Neo' sitting in the chair was quite real, almost physical in fact.
I moved my eyes, following where I could hear the faint noises of her boots; it seemed she couldn't mask the sound, nor the faint smell of Neapolitan ice cream she had eaten...
It was lucky that I could regulate my senses; it would be hell to walk the streets if I couldn't.
I stopped moving my head when Neo stopped and turned to me, signaling with her hands quickly.
"Can you see me?" I couldn't, but I could feel the movement of the gloves she wore on her hands. It was a bit tricky to understand the signs using only the extra sense that the Voidbag gave me, but I managed to focus a bit.
"No, I can't see you." I spoke the truth, as the air around the 'Neo' sitting in the chair shattered like glass at the same time it happened around the real Neo, who was giving me a dry look.
Why did people always think I was lying when I told the truth? What an unfair and cruel world this was.
"Finished with your little test, Neo?" Roman asked with a weary voice.
Neo responded with a quick nod of her head, at least the 'Neo' standing there did, as the true one had returned to the bench behind Roman and was eating the remaining ice cream.
She even put her finger to her lips, or where I thought her lips were, signaling for me to be quiet while the 'Neo' sat on another bench, swinging her feet.
A complete package, that one, a small and complete package.
"As for your payment, Roman, as long as you don't ask me for anything absurd or monstrous, done." I turned to the man who looked much more tired than he did five minutes ago.
I almost feel sorry for him, almost...
Roman then began to tell me what he knew about Cinder's plans, or what little he knew, about the Dust thefts she wanted for something, as if she were building an army, about the alliance with the White Fang she had made Roman arrange, and about the plan to infiltrate Beacon.
"I don't know what that woman was looking for in there, but she was definitely searching for something." The man with eyeliner stated.
"Do you have any idea what it could be?" I asked. I'll ask Ozpin later, after all, the school was his.
"No idea... Actually." Roman paused, scratching his chin. "I overheard a conversation of hers with that green-haired girl saying she would finally get something that belonged to her by right, but that's the most I know." He affirmed.
Something that belonged to her by right? It wasn't particularly useful information, at least not to me, but it was good information.
"And about her powers, do you know anything? What is her Semblance?" I asked. About her magic, Ozpin had explained a bit, saying he would explain everything to me tonight, as he wanted to show me something and ask me a favor.
"Fire, lots of fire." Roman had an unmistakable fear in his eyes as he spoke. "The woman is a major-league bitch, but she's strong, her Semblance is the most absurd thing I've ever seen in all my life,"
"Control or generation of fire?" I asked.
"Both, and she can do both very well." He didn't hesitate to respond.
Okay, this could complicate things. I wasn't sure how strong this Semblance could be, and from the way Roman spoke, she probably used magic to enhance her powers...
Looks like I'll need to bump my fire resistance armor to the top of the priority list.
"And her team, do you know anything about them?" Emerald, Mercury, and Mint, if I'm not mistaken.
"Emerald is a complete fanatic, treats Cinder like she's her mistress, I'm sure those two have the most hardcore lesbian sadomasochism role-play that Remnant has ever seen." Roman threw the information out there, making everyone turn to him.
"What? If you saw how those two acted, you'd think the same." He scoffed. "The other guy, Mercury, he's sarcastic and knows how to fight from what I could see." Roman paused before adding, "He also doesn't have both legs and uses prosthetics, it was funny to tease him." He laughed.
"Have you been told you're rotten? Because you are." The twin in the white dress spoke. Melanie, if I'm not mistaken.
"A few times, you're not special." Roman retorted instantly.
Everyone seemed more relaxed with my presence after a while, which was good.
"And the last one, well, she's right there." Roman pointed to the illusion of Neo eating ice cream sitting on some chairs. "Mint is the fake name Neo used, since Cinder didn't have the fourth member for her team, having those two is the real surprise, actually." He laughed before grimacing and putting his hand to his head.
"Headache?" I asked. He nodded confirming.
"I'm not going to die. Much to many people's disappointment." He asserted.
"Your love disappointments?" Junior asked.
"I don't remember being a mirror." Roman scoffed. "No, those would be sad about my death, not being able to have a last piece of all this." He waved his arms toward himself.
"Cannibalism is a crime, just a reminder, since that's the only way I see someone wanting a piece of you." Junior wasted no time in responding.
"You two seem like an old married couple." Both of them flipped me off for my words. They really had become more relaxed with my presence.
Well, that's better than before, as it seemed they were expecting me to jump and tear their throats out at any second.
"Here. Take it." I tossed a headache medicine to Roman, pretending to take it out of my pocket, pulling it from the Voidbag. "It'll help with the headache." I used to take a lot of these.
"I've never seen one of this brand." He spun the blister pack. "The letters remind me of Mistralian, is it from there?" He asked.
"I spent some time in a place near there." I lied smoothly. Mistral was the equivalent to Japan in this world? Probably.
Roman looked at the blister pack for a while before shrugging and dumping all the pills and washing them down with vodka that Junior had served earlier.
"I don't think that's healthy." There were ten pills, and he drank them with pure alcohol.
"As I said, I'll survive." He grimaced, finishing the rest of the vodka. "It's getting late. Are we done here?" He asked.
Interestingly, no one asked or seemed to think that the pills might be poisoned. I thought they would be more cautious than that, but oh well.
I looked at the time and saw that it was getting close to the time I needed to return to Beacon to teach my class... I never thought I'd say that in my life.
"I think so. Saved my number?" I asked. I had given my number to Roman for him to call me to cash in that favor.
"I saved it. But your Scroll is kind of weird, not gonna lie." He pointed to the phone in my hands.
"I've been told that before. But the technology makes up for it." I shrugged. The phone must seem strange to people in this world, only Ruby and the girls were already used to it.
I said goodbye to everyone quickly with a wave to each, including Neo, who surprised Roman by appearing behind him.
"See you guys around. Probably tomorrow." I informed Junior, who waved. I had some other information that I didn't have time to get.
"Tomorrow is Tuesday, we open later, just so you know." He shouted as I passed through the door. I raised my arm, signaling that I had heard, and left.
It didn't take me long to hitch a ride to Beacon; I got a Bull-Head about five minutes later, about twenty, I was back at the school.
"Waiting for me?" I asked Ozpin as I got off the aircraft.
"Miss Winter informed us of your return. She said you got some important information." He nodded, walking back to the school alongside me.
She had been watching me all day?
"I'll tell you what I got later, some things I think might be important." Especially Cinder wanting something inside Beacon. "Am I late for class?" I muted the stream audio to ensure that the four didn't hear the conversation.
Ruby and the others didn't know I would be Assistant Professor to Glynda, I wanted to see their surprised faces, even though they probably already had some kind of deduction.
"Actually, you're early." Ozpin replied. "About five minutes. Excited?"
"Not at all." After some things I had been through, being anxious about a class was something that wouldn't happen.
"That's good. Want a tip?" Ozpin offered. "I used to be a combat professor, I have some wisdom if you want it." I nodded in agreement.
"Even with the little spar you and Team RWBY had yesterday, the students will still doubt your ability, especially since you're young, close to their age." Ozpin nodded, putting his hand on the doorknob to the classroom Yang and I fought in yesterday.
"My advice is, show what you're capable of. Don't hold back as much as you did in yesterday's spar." He paused and thought for a moment. "But hold back enough not to maim my students, Glynda will complain to me if you do that." He opened the door, preventing me from responding.
"Students, I have an announcement to make." Ozpin spoke, without needing to shout, grabbing everyone's attention in the room.
The place was crowded; all the students from Beacon were here? Was this a mixed class from the first to the last year?... I doubted it, but that there were second-year students here, I was sure.
"Do you have paper and pen?" Ozpin turned around, asking me out of nowhere. "A paper clip too, if possible."
I pulled the items from the Voidbag and handed them to the man, not understanding what he wanted to do. He tore the paper, taking a small piece and quickly wrote something on that torn piece and turned around, putting the paper on my chest and clipping it to my shirt.
It was written: Teacher Devas.
"Is there a budget shortage here by any chance?" I asked.
Ozpin ignored me and went back to talking to the students, some already realizing what the news was, whether because they were able to read the paper on my chest or because they guessed right, I couldn't say.
"I want to introduce you all to the newest member of Beacon's faculty. Devas here will be assisting Glynda in combat classes in the near future. Please welcome him." Ozpin waved, introducing me in an almost theatrical manner.
It took about two seconds for the information to sink in and the room to explode with screams and questions.
"You seem to be having fun." I remarked to the man beside me as the chaos began, Glynda trying to contain the students.
He had done this on purpose to cause confusion.
"Impression's on you, impression's on you..." The smile on his face said otherwise.
Well, my grandfather said that in old age, you had few things to enjoy, it seemed that Ozpin was enjoying where he could.
[...]---[...]
Finally, the 'presentations,' so to speak, are over. I'm going to pick up the pace of the story a bit, as I found these last few chapters a bit slow in my opinion.
Well, as I mentioned before, I'll be focusing on some characters in RWBY, obviously, Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Blake are the main ones I'll focus on (I don't need to talk about Devas here, I think). The others are Ozpin (I'll fix what they did to the guy...), Qrow, a guy who turns into a crow, drunk, and is a damn strong Huntsman? I'll make use of the character.
The JNPR team to a lesser extent than these, since I couldn't ignore them, and finally, Roman and Neo, the two who in my opinion were also underutilized.
I'll delve into a few others as well, but that's to a much lesser degree and well... No spoilers.
I won't drag on much longer here. As always, good night to everyone and happy reading!