The Bird and the Garden 2: Restart!

Chapter 48: Evil's Reality

"... Where is Salem?"

Immediately Y/N regret asking Weiss anything. She let out another high pitched screech, bringing the katana-wielder to wince and cover his ears. Weiss seemed to realize he couldn't understand her, and pulled out a notepad. It quickly scribbled something down, turning the pad so he could read it.

[Salem is deeper inside. Since you're here, I'm guessing you went and fought it after I told you not to. Dolt.]

So that was what Weiss was trying to tell him before she died. Y/N felt guilty. "... Sorry..."

[Don't be. You made it this far. That's what I like about you - you always push through.]

They walked further down the halls, passing by their monstrous schoolmates. As Y/N looked, he noticed that some were different from the others. One was even a duck wearing a hat, and another a frog leaning on a cane like a gentleman. He looked back at Weiss. "... Is Vao here too?"

Weiss shook her head. [I haven't seen him. At least I don't think I have. Everyone's hard to recognize. I did see Jaune, though.]

"Jaune?"

Weiss nodded. [Jaune Arc, the boy who was eaten when Salem was possessing Ruby. He looks like an egg.]

Now Y/N remembered. He hadn't talked to Jaune very much. Weiss stopped at a door - Team RWBY's door. She twisted the handle and pushed it open, revealing the swirling purple mist on the other side. Without hesitation, she stepped through it. Y/N bit his lip, following after her.

To his surprise, when the mist cleared he found himself in a completely different area. Instead of RWBY's dorm, he was at the Vale Mall. Furniture and potted plants hovered in the air, and the escalator was nonoperational. When he looked through the store windows, he could see everything on the opposite side of the glass was upside down, defying gravity. The walls were purple, and the floors were pink, and every time he moved his body left behind a blur that faded away. It was as if Y/N had taken drugs. "Why does everything look so..." Y/N struggled for the right words. In the First Timeline, Vao's Reality had a hellscape of blood, gore, and the tortured Souls that lived in his schizophrenic mind. He had expected Salem's Reality to be equally, if not more horrifying. "... Strange?"

Weiss shrugged, scribbling down something in her notepad before turning it to show him. [I don't know. This place doesn't follow any sort of realistic pattern; doors lead to weird places, and everything is weird, like the stores and the colors.] She tilted her head before turning the page and writing something else. [But it's not so bad here. Some of the Souls have even found peace in this odd place.]

"Peace? In Salem's Reality?"

Weiss nodded. [I guess when you're here long enough, you just... Grow used to it?]

It seemed Weiss didn't think too much about it. Which was probably for the better. Trying to comprehend what was going on in Salem's Reality was incredibly difficult. As they took their first step on the broken escalator, the step shifted, breaking away from the main system and floating through the air, carrying them to the top. Y/N was both startled and amazed.

The second floor was busier than the first floor. Souls in all sorts of strange shapes and sizes moved about in conversation, some walking into shops, others lounging about. Y/N followed Weiss into a restaurant, letting out a gasp of surprise when the world flipped. Now everything outside was upside down, and he was upright.

[Don't panic. Let's just grab some food, okay?]

"Y... Yeah..."

Weiss walked up to the counter, waving at a lizard wearing a jacket standing behind the cash register. Y/N guessed it was the store owner. Weiss let out another high pitched, unearthly whine that nearly gave Y/N a headache. But the lizard seemed to understand.