I entered my dorm room and instantly Shinoa manifested on the bed, hugging her legs and visibly depressed, "Hey..." I mumbled as I closed the door and approached her.
"I couldn't help..." She mumbled, "I didn't do anything to help."
"Shinoa don't beat yourself up for it..."
"You could have died... When he stabbed you... I thought it was over..." She whimpered.
"Hey. It's not your fault. I wasn't prepared enough that my omniscience lead me to that. Any other possibility failed completely." I said.
"I might have changed that if I actually did anything." She argued. Her eyes beginning to tear up.
"Did you try to help?" I asked.
"Of course I tried... But every time I saw him... His eyes I froze and remembered how you died... You might have forgotten but I didn't... I remembered... All of them." She choked, "Every slash, burn, cut, tear, rupture, break, every single death." She grasped her hair as tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"Shinoa..." I mumbled as I gently grasped her hands, "It's okay. I'm not mad." I said as I moved her hands away from her head and held them together in my grasp.
"But why? I didn't help you at all?" She pulled away from my hands.
"You have PTSD. Why would I punish you for suffering from a traumatic experience put on you by that bastard?" I asked, "I care for you and I love hearing you laugh. Yeah you annoy me from time to time, but I think I have grown to like it." She giggled a bit.
"What... you a masochist now?" She sniffled.
"Oh god no. I just like it when you are yourself." I replied as she smiled while she wiped her tears away, "Now take a break. You need it after all that happened."
"Okay." She said as she played with her skirt. I stood up and attempted to leave, but she grabbed my arm, "Don't leave me alone..." She said, "Can you just stay for a moment?"
"The team ceremony is about to begin." I said.
"Just for a minute." She pleads.
"Alright five minutes." I said as I sat on the bed. She instantly laid her head on my lap.
"Very comforting." She mumbled. I began to pat her head as she relaxed. After a few minutes she got up and stretched, "I feel better."
'You sure? After the ceremony we can come back and you can rest some more." I said.
"It's fine. We should go." She smiled. I stood up as she vanished from the bed.
***
I made it to the ceremony to see the formation of team RWBY and Ruby is leading them, "Is that really the best option?" I questioned as I watched.
"Hey boss." Ember said as she approached me with Aqua and Star.
"Hey. So what did I miss?" I asked.
"Team JNPR is made of the other four students. Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyre, and Lie Ren." Star said.
"Pyrrha Nikos? That sounds familiar." I replied.
"Didn't you fight a girl named Nikos in a tournament a year ago?" Ember asked. I began to remember that tournament and how I dressed as edgy as possible to avoid detection from Sanguine.
"Oh yeah... Luckily we fought in the evening or I would have felt bad." I said.
"Thank god you dropped the edgy look." Ember mumbled.
"Hey, I needed to lay low." I said.
"Doesn't mean I have to like your choice." Ember shrugged, "Anyways, the blonde boy Jaune is leading them." Ember added.
"Okay..." I said scratching my chin, "Don't know them very well so I can't guess if he is leader worthy..." I mumbled.
"Also we have some people talking about us." Aqua said pointing behind her.
"Great..." I sighed, "Really wanted to stay off the radar..."
"I'm curious to know which girls are willing to breed with you..." Shinoa cooed.
"Here we go again..." I chuckled to myself.
"How's Shinoa?" Ember asked.
"She's fine for now, back to her usual self... much to my sanity..."
"Leader. Sorry about... We didn't know what she went through." Star said.
"It's fine. She'll probably do something to make it even." I said.
"So many ideas. What to do, what to do..." Shinoa mumbled as I hear Star and Aqua shutter to themselves. The ceremony ended and I noticed Ozpin looking at me.
"Let's go. We have to talk with him." I said.
***
I arrived at his office and to my surprise team RWBY and JNPR were there, "Didn't think we'd have an audience." I said as Ozpin looked at me.
"Considering the fact they saw... it. I believe they have a right to know. They agreed." He said as I saw my eight classmates nod in agreement.
"Fair enough. Names F/N L/N. I know of team RWBY, but you four I have yet to have the pleasure to speak with you." I said.
"I'm Jaune Arc, and I have to say that fight was pretty amazing." He said, "I mean it was terrifying to be in the same area but you..." The blonde began.
"Easy. I wanna know your team before we get into specifics." I said as I took a vial out and drank its contents.
"I'm Pyrrha Nikos." She said nervously.
"I remember you." I said. She seemed slightly dejected, "Remember that tournament about a year ago?" I asked.
"Huh?" She questioned confusingly.
"You don't?" I sighed, "We fought in a tournament together." I said. She began to think to herself, "I dressed like some wannabe emo kid?" Aqua and Star looked at me with the most worry some glance I could imagine.
"Oh right! I remember... Seems you grew out of that phase." She smiled.
"It was a disguise..." I sighed as I held my nose.
"You definitely look better without it." She said trying to restore my pride.
"Moving on..." I said.
"Hi! I'm Nora. He's Ren. I wanna say you and I need to train together. With that body you can seriously lift some crazy things. Oh we should see if you can lift a bullhead."
"Nora... Sorry she gets... easily excited about things." The black haired guy said.
"Yes... I am familiar with that personality. A... Friend of mine might get along with you..."
"You talking about me? Cause I feel like you are talking about me." Shinoa teased.
"Anyways. Ozpin." I said, "What do you want to know?"
"Where have you been?" Ruby began, "You haven't called us for three years."
"Like I told Pyrrha I had a disguise. I was lying low and needed to make sure I didn't bring any danger to you." I said as I took a drink from another vial of blood.
"Were you hiding from him?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes. At the time I wasn't as strong as I am now and I wasn't sure if he could track me. So I cut ties with everyone I knew for a bit and did everything I could to get stronger. Like enter a tournament." I said motioning to Pyrrha.
"How did you get acquainted with that man?" Ozpin asked. Ember glanced at Blake for a moment which made her freeze as I pat her should.
"Not a pleasant experience to talk about, at least from what I remember."
"You don't remember how you met?" Yang asked.
"I didn't say that. I remember how we met, very, very well. I just forgot 90% of the things he did to me. I remember he cursed me." I said.
"Cursed?" Ozpin asked with an unusual interest.
"My semblance is complicated. An ability I have from my semblance is called Sunshine. As the sun rises my power grows reaching its peak at Noon. Normally I would return to my original strength at night, now I actually get weaker, with midnight being the time where I am at my most vulnerable." I said.
"How weak we talking?" Nora asked getting uncomfortably close to me.
"I'm basically useless." I said.
"Don't worry. Anyone picks on you... Your old pal Nora will snap them like a twig." She announced.
"Yeah... Thanks..." I said.
"Who is he F/N?" Ozpin asked.
"I'm honestly trying to figuring that out myself Oz." I said, "I just know he isn't human and he has a lot of power. I prepared for a year and he still got away."
"What can I do to help you?" Ozpin asked.
"What about your school?" I asked.
"You said it yourself. You prepared for a year and still couldn't finish him. My best chance to keep my students safe is to help you in anyway I can." He said.
"I honestly have no idea. Unless you have some crazy powerful artifacts or access to technology that I can train or use, I highly doubt anything will help substantially." I said. He sat there pondering for a moment.
"I'll see what I can do." He said, "You may leave."
"We will speak again Oz." I said turning around and moving towards the exit.
"So we just leaving like that?" Aqua asked as we waited for the elevator.
"I'm really tired and that fight really drained me." I exhaled heavily entering the elevator.
"You sure you don't wanna talk with them?" Ember said pointing at RWBY as the doors closed. I noticed she was having issues keeping her eyes open. Bags under her eyes as though she stayed up for 24 hours.
"You're barely keeping yourself awake. We need some rest." I mumbled. After what honestly felt like an hour walk we returned to our dorm. I opened the door and walked in.
"So we just taking the day off?" Aqua asked as I sat on my bed. Ember sat beside me and instantly fell asleep on my shoulder.
"Yep." I replied as Star fell on the bed beside me.
"Sleep..." She mumbled.
"You guys really used up all your energy." She noted, crossing her hands and sitting across from us.
"Yeah." I exhaled.
"Get some sleep master. I know you are tired." She said.
"How you been these last few years." I asked looking at her as Ember and Star shifted in their slumber.
"Been well..." She paused, "How... How have you been. Does any of it..."
"I don't remember much about that world. If that is what you are asking." I said.
"Ember changed... She doesn't really argue back with me much." She said as I felt Ember grab my arm very tightly.
"Yeah. She had quite the experience." I said.
"I heard." She replied, "Wish I could have helped."
"It's not an issue. I got you all out of there. None of you were at fault. We just need to get stronger." I said.
"Aside from doing the usual what else is there?" She asked.
"My system has changed since we escaped. All my dice changed. They have changed into two different types." I said as I held two different types of Dice. One was glowing like a gem and the other looked to be made out of wood.
"What do they do now?" She asked.
"Fuck if I know..." I sighed, "I'm too tired to think."
"Then sleep master. I'll wake you incase anything happens." She smiled at me.
"Yeah... Sounds good to me..." I yawned as I laid Ember down on the bed.
***
"Dear, oh dear. Someone underestimated their target." A voice spoke.
"What do you want?" Sanguine asked as he sat on a throne with tubes injected into his arms and legs pumping viscous coagulated blood into his body.
"I told you. Not to underestimate your prey." The voice said as Sanguine looked away, "Do I have to clean up your mess for you again?"
"No. I just need to heal and I'll kill him. I can do this myself." He said still avoiding the gaze of his guest. He approaches Sanguine as his footsteps echoed throughout the room. His guest leered over him, Sanguine kept his gaze to the side.
"Look at me." He said. Sanguine slowly turn to meet his eyes, "One chance. You got one more chance. After that I'm taking over."
"I don't..."
"This is not a debate, little brother." He said bringing his face closer to him, "This is your last chance. Don't fail father." He stood up and walked away from him a bit.
"Yes brother." Sanguine begrudgingly mumbled as his only arm gripped the chair tightly. His sibling stopped and looked back at him.
"I'll send some aid. It should help you with that bastard. Take care Sanguine, if you need me don't hesitate to asked." He said vanishing from the room.
"That bastard... I'll..." He began to grumble. Sanguine paused and took a deep breathe, "Relax... think this through, just like he taught you." Sanguine looks at the tubes and slowly stands. He grabs the tube attached to his shoulder and pulls it down tearing it from the wall. Blood flows from it as the scent of iron fills the room, "I need to heal quickly and kill that son of a bitch." He mumbled as the pool of thick liquid began to flow into where his arm was torn off, "But first... I need to make sure he stays vulnerable." His eyes glance up at the sun, "Dad wants this world, but he definitely would prefer that boy dead. If this world dies at the cost of it... Then I will earn the right to be called his son."
"My lord Sanguine. I was sent-" A voice spoke as Sanguine finished his thoughts.
"I have a plan. This world will end in a year. That's how long it will take to eradicate the sun."
***
I woke up gazing at a vast sky. I sat up and looked around the floor was whit and completely empty of anything but one other person. Shinoa was gazing up at the sky as she sat in the ground hugging her legs, "Sup." She said not looking away from them.
"What happened?" I asked.
"We are inside your soul. The sky has all your skills." She replied as I glanced up and saw a massive yellow sun, "That represents your gamer skill."
"Weird..." I replied as I glanced at it, "Isn't it bad to look at it?"
"Well it's your skill you can't blind yourself from that." She said.
"Why is it like this?" I asked.
"You are half primordial, So its normal that a world gets created for your use, like Eden." She said.
"Cool." I said as I noticed a sapling on the ground, "That?" I pointed at the plant.
"World Tree for you. Its growing slowly, but it can be sped up." My father voice came from behind me. He took the form of a pure blue spectral wolf, "Your wooden dice. Use them." He said. I complied to his suggestion and pulled out one wooden die and tossed it. The die landed on six.
World Tree age sped up by six years. So my wooden dice are used for the tree, how many do I have?
"Your luck makes it impossible to get anything less than five with them and you have 1,000 wooden dice after they were split in half. The other ones are used to grow your system." He said as I glanced at Shinoa who was petting the sapling.
"Shinoa can you spend all my wooden dice." I said.
"Sure." She said and opened a console.
World Tree age sped up by 5,850 years.
At that moment the tree shot up by about 200 feet. Its roots spread out through the white floor. Grass grew across the floor as a flowers bloomed from the tree. They were transparent and glowed a dim cyan color. Other trees have sprouted from the ground as I looked at Shinoa.
"Son." My father called.
"Yes?" I said looking at him.
"I cannot interfere too much, but I have to tell you." He began, "The world will end in one year. I know everything, but I cannot see your future. Though I can tell a few things based on news that aren't tied to you. There will be a lot of troubles. This will be your last peaceful rest, you will be pushed to your limit and remain there. Sanguine is going to throw everything at you. You need to get stronger or you will not survive." He said.
"Everything?" I asked.
"Yes and you will be exhausted nearly constantly. You need to hide your curse as much as possible only let those you trust know." He said.
"Okay father... Can you tell me what happens tomorrow?" I asked.
"Sanguine will send..."
***
Sanguine walked away from a burning village. Blood trickled away from the village and towards him, "A nightmare should be enough to start..." He mumbled as a monstrous roar filled the air, "Hunt him."
***
"....A creature that will destroy a quarter of Vale." My father finished.