Disclaimer – I do not own either Blazblue or RWBY. They are owned by Arc Systems and Roosterteeth respectively.

"Speaking"

"Thoughts/Flashback"

Aura/Semblance/Drive/Etc

"Izanami Mental Speaking"

Chapter 6 – Kindred Spirits [Part 1]

The echoing of metal clashing against metal resonated throughout the training room as two, first-year students clashed in frenzy of footwork and combative tactics in a race to deplete the other's supply of aura first. The two fighters glided around each other attempting to outmaneuver each other in a graceful dance of skill and precision that few their age could match.

Red and black darted and clashed against red and gold as the two battled for supremacy in the makeshift ring. Scythe striking against xiphos. Rose petals flashing around the golden and red wardrobe. It was a mesmerizing sight.

Saya smiled as she watched the fight between Ruby and Pyrrha. Ruby's cheerful and competitive smile took over her features as she fought utilizing her blazing speed against the elder prodigy.

Truth be told, the purple-haired girl was still astounded by the fighting skill of the students. While second-years like Coco Adel clearly had more skill and experience in the art the first years were pretty impressive in their own right. Certainly, far more than what she was capable of despite what apparent powers she may possess.

Saya shivered slightly at the thought. She hated the idea that her powers were almost entirely based on the fact she was the vessel for the Goddess of Death herself. It felt almost. . . wrong to use those abilities; almost like it left her open to Izanami to potentially try to retake control. She also knew though that leaving herself completely blind to such powers was an ill-advised tactic as well and by the same token experience with Izanami's powers might also give her an edge in confronting Izanami herself since it was inevitable and Saya knew that well.

Ominously, Izanami hadn't appeared in her nightmares since taunting her with the idea that she was going to let Saya stay in control; which was about a week ago. It was a bit disconcerting for the young assistant to say the least. Due to this, she had started practicing after class each day. Neither Professor Goodwitch or Professor Ozpin were there to observe her. Honestly, she didn't want them staring over her shoulder, at least not at first. She didn't know how different utilizing aura was to utilizing her own powers, but until she got a basic grasp of how her abilities truly worked she was going to attempt to do this on her own.

In addition to that little detail was also the much larger problem: these powers belonged to Izanami. She was still scared of the death goddess's power and rightfully so, and therefore came to the conclusion that it was probably safer that until she had a better grasp of what she was dealing with to not allow anyone to be there when she practiced and experimented. She didn't want to find out the hard way what happened if she lost control of the death goddess's powers with someone innocent in the vicinity.

The sound of the match ending rang in Saya's ears breaking her from her thoughts and returning her to reality. Pyrrha had won the match though with some difficulty. Ruby was a pretty unique opponent for anyone though didn't quite have the experience or skill to match with the older prodigy. Saya could imagine Ruby winning, or at the very least making the match much closer, if she was the same age as the red-haired warrioress, but considering that she had entered Beacon two years early the result was still pretty impressive. Well, to the doll-girl it was anyway. She'd never bothered to ask Glynda about her opinion and it hadn't come up in any conversation they'd had as of yet.

As Pyrrha and Ruby shook hands and shared a few, happy comments as they left the stage, the teacher, Professor Goodwitch, called the next combatants down.

"Jaune Arc. Yang Xiao Long. You two are up next," she said sternly, leaving no room for argument.

Even from the distance she was 'standing' at Saya could visibly see the blond-haired boy paled at the mention of his opponent. The regally-dressed girl frowned. She really couldn't understand how his transcripts could speak so highly of him. She was almost positive he was comparable to her in skill in combat and she hadn't had a day of combat training in her life. She didn't count her instinctual or conscious use of Izanami's powers. It hadn't really used them to fight anyone anyway.

Shortly after being called down, Yang and Jaune were standing across from each other in the arena, their auras proudly displayed as a meter below their faces on a screen to the far side of said arena.

Yang smirked confidently at the boy. Said boy was trying to steel his nerves for the fight at hand. Saya sighed. This was going to be pathetically quick.

And she was right.

After about 30 seconds of well-placed, powerful strike the makeshift-knight was sent flying out of the ring thus declaring Yang the victor in the bout. It was very underwhelming in comparison to all the fights she had seen thus far and what had grown to become the expectation she had of the students of Beacon.

Saya couldn't help but to gently place her hand on her face suffering to hold back a groan from the lackluster display. She honestly felt kind of sorry for the boy. This whole thing must have been nothing but humiliating for him.

Glynda herself was much more capable of control herself and professionally kept from imitating her assistant's gesture, but their thought processes were virtually identical. As Jaune painfully arose and Yang walked off, the bell signifying the end of class rang and students began making their way out of the room after some concluding thoughts from her teacher.

As the students were leaving, Saya turned to her boss and whispered, "Jaune's skills certainly leave. . . much to be desired."

"Quite the understatement," Glynda replied in an equally hushed tone. Conversations between the two of them had become quite frequent during their time proctoring match-ups between students usually discussing various things about the fights. But a conversation that had yet to come up, due to how little actually needed to be said about it, was Jaune's below average performance in combat class.

"Are we certain his transcripts are accurate?"

Glynda frowned, "I've been beginning to wonder that myself."

"Should we ask Ozpin about it?"

"I know him very well, Saya," Glynda sighed. "Even if something wasn't right with Mr. Arc's transcripts he would know about it. If he didn't think Jaune could make it here, he wouldn't allow the boy here."

Saya 'hmmed' at that before turning to leave. The professor inquisitively asked, "Where are you off to?"

The purple-haired girl stopped and turned her head around enough to look at the teacher, "I'm going to ask Ozpin about it if he's not busy. If nothing else but to satisfying my own curiosity."

Glynda nodded and motioned her to leave. Saya had only known Ozpin for just over a week so the Goodwitch knew she didn't have the complete trust in Ozpin's decision-making skills that she did.

The ding of the elevator roused Ozpin from the work he was trying to complete at his desk. He'd been dealing with the typical paperwork that his position required of him and had been making good progress. However, the unexpected visitor would put a bit of delay in that plan.

"So much for finishing early," Ozpin thought as he steeled his expression.

That thought process immediately changed when he saw who entered his office: the death goddess's vessel herself. Any chance he had to converse with the young girl was welcome to him. She was such a mystery to him despite everything he'd been through, everything he'd seen, everything he'd done. Never had he heard of a Goddess of Death before meeting her, but he had little reason to truly doubt her story.

Plus, the fact that someone legitimately turned her into what essentially was a doll to act as this being's vessel. That takes an immense level of intellect to pull that off, which made him all the more concerned with who would be behind the poor girl's transformation.

Even still, he still desired to know more about seithr and the art that utilized it to combine sorcery and science: Ars Magus. He hadn't had the opportunity since that fact had been brought up to speak with her on the subject, but he knew if anything could potentially save Autumn from her fate it was this seemingly-mythical art. He'd be damned before he gave up on saving her. Bar something completely immoral, he'd try anything he could to recover the poor maiden and not letting her die.

They had discussed transferring her power to another but that would inevitably lead to Amber's death and he wanted to avoid that if at all possible. This might just be the out he needed.

Still, he doubted Saya was here to discuss that so he'd have to figure out a good opportunity to discuss it in the future.

"Yes, Saya," Ozpin started politely as she approached him and stopped just before his desk. "How may I help you?"

"Just curious about something," Saya replied simply folding her hands together before her and hiding them in the step-shaped, three-piece sleeves she wore.

"What would that be if I may ask?" the headmaster asked, genuinely curious.

The purple-haired girl took a deep breath before bluntly asking, "What's going on with Jaune Arc?"

Ozpin mentally sighed though professionally kept his face neutral, "What do you mean, Saya?"

Saya's eyes narrowed slightly but it was almost unnoticeable. It was only his keen eye that managed to spot it. She took another, far less noticeable breath, and continued, "His transcripts don't match up with his performance. I was curious if you could shed some light on it."

There was a silence that prevailed over the two of them as they attempted to study each other. The green-suited man was about to speak when the girl across from him spoke up again, "I don't care what the answer is or what the reason is. I won't question the decision you made on allowing him here or spread rumors or lies about it. I just want to see if my thought on the truth is correct."

Ozpin had to stop his face from being taking over by the wide smile that was threatening to pierce his features. Even still, he couldn't help but lose some territory from the invading emotional symbol, "So she did figure it out. She was just looking for confirmation to her thoughts. She wasn't disapproving the decision; she trying to understand it. If only more people were like you, Saya . . ."

He had to give her credit; despite being isolated from the world for years she was a quick learner and very intelligent. Perhaps a bit fragile and ignorant but truthfully, he couldn't even begin to blame her for that. He doubted he would've fared much better than her, if at all better, if put in a similar situation as her current one.

"I believe you already figured it out," the headmaster said simply.

Saya nodded, "His transcripts are fake. They certainly don't match with anything Jaune has demonstrated in combat class. Other academics are passable but not on the level a good graduate of a previous, combat school would be expected to have. I would ask to look at other transcripts from the same school to compare them with Jaune's but I didn't think I had the authority to do that."

Ozpin nodded in agreement with Saya's conclusion.

"So that leaves the question, Headmaster. I know it's not my place to question how you run your school but this doesn't seem to me like it's a good idea at all. So, if I may be as so bold to ask, what part of all this am I missing?"

There was a pause before Ozpin stood up and walked to the left towards the windows on the sides of his office, "Have you ever compared yourself to him, Saya? To Mr. Arc."

She blinked in surprise at the question. She hadn't been expecting that at all.

"Um. . . what do you mean, professor?"

"Have you really stopped to think about it? I imagine you haven't," he continued, turning to face the much-shorter female. "Out of your element, blessed with immense potential, very intelligent, and both in a position in my school without going through the proper channels to do so."

Saya winced at the last one. She'd been annoyed with Jaune about his fake transcripts, but she hadn't exactly applied traditionally to be a part of Beacon's faculty either. Thinking about it more though, the job had been offered to her by Ozpin while Jaune had entered Beacon through seemingly-dubious ways. So, in a sense he was right but context could falsify that claim.

But she felt what the headmaster was trying to get at was that both herself and Jaune were underqualified in one field or another for the school. It was a fact she definitely saw.

"Despite how he attempted to enter Beacon I saw an immense amount of potential in him," Ozpin stated softly. "Just as I see with you."

If Saya could even blush anymore, she knew she would be. How long had it been since she had received a genuine compliment? It was kind of embarrassing to say the least.

"You are the vessel of the Goddess of Death, have been through terrible ordeals, and yet you still hold strong despite that. You haven't broken."

Saya practically gaped at that statement. Tears began forming in her eyes. Was that the answer? Ever since her. . . moment with Coco a week ago she had been trying several tactics to improve her mental strength. Had she really been blinded to the truth? Had she really hidden the actual answer of 'how' from herself?

"Strong?" Saya whimpered. "You mean mentally strong?"

Ozpin walked over and placed his free hand on the girl's shoulder, "Saya, mental strength is not about denying your emotions or refusing to feel sorrow for anything. It's about being able to overcome that which seeks to break you, to accept circumstances, and to carry on with a joyful smile to support those around you. Mental strength is not a constant, Saya. We all have moments of weakness, but consider all you've had to endure I would hardly consider yourself mentally weak. Would you?"

The words certainly hit home for Saya, and they certainly meant a lot to her but. . . something simply didn't seem right to her. What he said was true but it also raised her confusion. What was she trying to accomplish? What did she even mean by mental fortitude? Because if she was to be honest with herself, even she didn't really know what she was she trying to accomplish. She only had the vaguest idea of what she wanted.

To hid her doubtful thoughts, she smiled at the man before her, "Thank you, Headmaster."

He nodded and removed his hand from her allowing her to turn to leave. Saya proceeded to leave, her mind clouded by her current state of brainstorming.

Saya made her way down the hallway of the dormitories. She was silently cursing herself. Why hadn't she asked this question to either Glynda or Ozpin again? Was she embarrassed to ask about it? Afraid of their response? She didn't know. More likely she was unsure herself and wanted a second opinion before she went to the professors about it.

Searching for Team CFVY's dorm when she had never asked where it was painful to say the least. She could call them, but she still was getting the hang of using her scroll. As a matter of fact, without being guided by Coco she wouldn't have even known how to enter their contacts into the scroll.

Her frustrated musings were cut off by the innocent, childish cry of a young girl who suddenly appeared right in front of her without warning, "Hi, Saya!"

Saya yelped and jumped slightly, briefly losing her now-subconscious control over her levitation and fell straight onto her butt.

"Whoops," the girl, now whom Saya could easily identify as Ruby, blushed as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that, Saya."

"Please don't startle me like that," Saya nearly whined as she got herself up with a helping hand from Ruby. Saya smiled at the younger girl, "Hi, Ruby. How's your first week been?"

"Great!" Ruby said cheerfully. "I mean, yeah, it's had its ups and downs but it's going so much better now!"

"Good. Speaking of, that was a good match you had with Ms. Nikos earlier."

"Really? You think so?" Ruby said with sparkles in her eyes. Saya nervously chuckled at the displayed.

"Yes, I do."

Ruby smiled before her expression instantly jolted into a bit of a 'wait a minute' face. The doll-girl could almost see the exclamation mark appearing over the crimsonette's head.

"Hey, Saya, have you met the rest of my team?"

Saya thought back to the ceremony thinking about who was on Ruby's team. She remembered her sister Yang and the white-haired girl who Ruby had a confrontation with when Saya first arrived. The only one she didn't know about was the black-haired, quiet one.

"I think the only one I haven't met is the black-haired girl. Miss Belladonna I think?"

"Yeah, Blake," Ruby cheerfully replied with an innocent smile. "How about you come to our dorm and meet her?"

"Well," Saya started with reluctance in her tone. "I'm not entirely sure that's proper as a teacher's assistant to be hanging out in student dorms. Besides, I was in the middle of something. . ."

"Oh," Ruby said, her cute face falling into a downtrodden form. A pang of guilt rung through Saya as she tried her hardest not to give in to instinct and hug the poor girl to comfort her. The young prodigy then nervously grabbed her arm with her opposite hand and asked, "Well, um, do you need help?"

Saya was about to reply with a 'no' when she realized that maybe Ruby could help her with her current predicament. If nothing else, it would hopefully snap the adorable crimsonette out of her disappointment which was increasing Saya's guilt substantially every second she stared at her.

"Actually," Saya eyes widened as Ruby did an immediate 180 into a stare of hopefulness. "Do you happen to know where Team CFVY's dorm is?"

Ruby blinked, "Uh. . . whose?"

Saya quickly stopped herself from staring at the girl with an expression screaming 'seriously?' at the response, "Well that answers that question."

"They're a second-year team," Saya answered as tactfully as she could. "I'm trying to ask them a question?"

"Oh, maybe me and my team – er, my team and I – could help you!"

Again, the purple-haired girl went to respond with a negative until she again stopped herself. This time, however, it wasn't due to her guilty conscious. It was due to the fact that Ruby was right. She didn't need to go to Team CFVY for this question. Pretty much anyone who used aura could likely answer this question. But then there was the whole reason she was going to Team CFVY, Coco specifically, for it.

She was embarrassed to ask about it due to how it would affect her and people's opinion of her as an assistant at Beacon. She also wasn't sure how eager the professors would react to what she was after either. She had a good feeling they'd understand and even agree, but she didn't want to rely on them for everything. They were very busy after all.

There was also one other reason and it was perhaps the main one she was keeping her current plan very secretive.

But despite those thoughts and reasons, she still let out a breath of guilt. Ruby had pretty much been the first person her age that she had ever interacted with at Beacon. She dared to even say they had had a blossoming friendship at the time. Coco knew part of the truth, not as much as Ozpin or Glynda, but a darker part of it. If she was honest with herself, she knew she wanted – needed – more friends. Ruby and her team seemed like perfect candidates if she was to be honest with herself.

And if that was the case, she owed them some level of trust into what her situation was truly like.

"Sure, Ruby," Saya said softly, reluctant and worried to have the words leave her mouth.

As soon as those words left her mouth, Ruby latched her hand onto Saya's in a vice grip, "Alright, let's go!"

Before she could even protest, Saya was practically dragged off to the dorm down the hall. It was thankfully a short trip. Saya was very grateful that she no longer needed to eat because she was pretty certain that she would've emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor due to her nausea.

"Guess this doll body is good for something," she thought bitterly as Ruby opened her dorm and walked inside.

"Hello?" she asked as if to inquire if anyone was inside her dormitory.

"Yeah, Rubes?" came the voice of Ruby's sister Yang from inside.

"We have a guest!" Ruby said happily, moving out of the way to motion Saya inside.

"A guest?" came another voice that Saya recognized as the white-haired heiress, Weiss Schnee.

Saya entered and blinked in surprise. A nervous sweat fell down her head as she looked at the. . . interesting sight before her.

The room was virtually identical to the one she possessed her but to say a few alterations had been done to it would be a terrible understatement. The beds had been arranged into bunk beds but it must have been the most haphazard, rickety sight she had ever seen. One the left the bottom bunk was normal but the other was floating in the air, blanket and all, by ropes that hung it from the ceiling. The ones on the right were stacked right on top of each other with not but a stack of books under each leg to keep it up.

Saya kept blinked her wide eyes as she stood in the doorway to the room as if that would remove an illusion covering the room to show what it did currently. The trick didn't seem to be working.

"That has to be the single most unstable thing I have ever seen to date," Saya absentmindedly said. And all thing's considered, that was certainly saying something.

The three other occupants of the room looked up from what they were doing. Yang had been at a desk to Yang's right working on something involving school. Weiss was sitting on her bed just getting her shoes off, likely beginning to change into something a bit more comfortable for the evening. The third girl, Blake, was already dressed down into what Saya could only assume were her pajamas, a short, black robe and a black bowtie on top of her head, lounging on her bed reading something quietly in the corner.

"Hey Saya," Yang said smirking, waving at her.

"U-uh, Miss Saya!" Weiss, on the other hand, was surprised and caught completely off-guard by the sudden appearance of a member of Beacon's faculty. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Ruby insisted that I meet her fourth teammate," Saya said simply before floating gently over to the girl lounging on her bottom bunk. "Blake Belladonna?"

The girl looked up at her with amber eyes, "Yes, nice to meet you, Miss Saya."

Saya waved her hand dismissively, "Saya is fine, Miss Belladonna."

"Then called me Blake."

Saya nodded. It was then that Ruby asked, "So Saya, what was your question that you wanted to ask?"

"A question? For us?" Yang asked curiously.

"We, of course, will answer it to the best of our ability," the team's heiress said recovering from her earlier stupor.

The four pairs of eyes were focused on the teacher's aide as she hesitated a bit before she moved further towards the window and turned around to be able to at least face in the general direction of the four females who occupied the room.

"Um, well. . .," Saya nervously began. "I was curious as to how you unlock someone's aura."

The question certainly wasn't what any of Team RWBY were expecting. They traded glances, confused on how to respond.

"Hey, uh, no offense, Saya," Yang said slowly as if she were carefully choosing her words. "But that doesn't seem like something an assistant teacher at Beacon would be asking students about."

"Yang!" Weiss hissed. "Did you have to word it like that?"

"It's fine, Miss Schnee," Saya said gently. "Ruby could you please shut the door? This conversation is about to get. . . a bit personal. . ."

Ruby stared at the purple-haired girl in surprise but nodded and went to do so. Meanwhile, Saya turned to the white-haired girl sitting down next to her and asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Weiss nodded and motioned for her to sit, "Please."

Ruby walked back over after shutting the door and sat down in front of Saya. At the same time, Yang got up from where she was sitting and sat down next to her sister. Blake got up and sat on the edge of her bed. The vessel of death now had the team's undivided attention.

Saya was quiet for a bit before she, ever so slowly, began, "I know I haven't known you all long – one of you not more than a few minutes – but there are so few people I know and trust as it is. . . what I am about to tell you is very personal and does not leave this room. Do you all understand?"

The four girls nodded silently letting Saya continue. Even Ruby was watching her friend with a worried expression. Saya took a deep breath and continued, "Now, please try not to interrupt me."

Another pause.

"Contrary to what you may think, my aura is not unlocked."

Looks of confusion and alarm immediately arose from the four, however, the remained silent and did not voice their emotion-born responses just yet.

"My life is very. . . complicated. Let's just say that for the last decade or so I've been a prisoner within my own body and leave it at that."

The quartet didn't know how to respond. This whole thing had come right out of nowhere for them and they hadn't had time to mentally prepare for it. A prisoner in her own body? Each of the girl's imaginations suddenly went full throttle from the idea; all of them coming to their own conclusion about what she was talking about. None of their results were good.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, Saya," Yang said carefully. "But if your aura isn't unlocked, how did you do that thing with the chains?"

Word of what happened during Saya's first class had spread quickly among the second-year students and as a result the rest of the school itself. None of the school had doubted for an instant that Saya earned her place in the faculty of Beacon. After all, one does not simply just completely halt an attack from a second-year student like it was nothing. So to hear straight from the girl's mouth she hadn't even unlocked her aura yet was certainly a shocking revelation.

"Like I said. . . it's complicated, but it involves what I said about being a prisoner within my own body."

Yang nodded in understanding. It was then that Weiss spoke up, "So I'm guessing by asking the question about how auras are unlocked you want yours unlocked then?"

Saya turned and smiled in an amused fashion at the heiress, "So much for not interrupting, huh?"

Weiss had the decency to blush in response to that as did Yang who also chuckled awkwardly as she grabbed the back of her neck with one hand.

"But," the purple-haired girl continued. "You are correct, Weiss. I know due to my. . . circumstances. . . it's not necessary. But it doesn't feel right to me. I don't think I can effectively do my job as an assistant for Professor Goodwitch, the combat instructor no less, if I'm incapable of fighting in the same fashion as you students are and the professors themselves are capable of."

"Understandable," Blake spoke matter-of-factly.

Ruby had been quiet up to this point, her mind trying to compute the implications of everything Saya had said. Truthfully, Ruby had an inkling of how deep the darkness in Saya's words went. Something terrible had happened to her, but Team RWBY's leader couldn't figure out what it was or how she could even tell in the first place.

Nevertheless, this little tidbit was all she needed to solidify her resolve to help someone she did consider a friend, even if she hadn't spent a lot of time with her, "I can unlock your aura."

The other four girls in the room all gazed at the youngest of the five of them in surprise.

"Wait, you've been trained on how to do that?" Yang exclaimed. Apparently, even she didn't know her sister knew how to do that.

"Yeah, Uncle Qrow showed me how," Yang's little sister said as she stood up taking Saya's hands to stand her up as well. "Now, Saya, just close your eyes and concentrate."

Saya nodded and followed Ruby's instructions. Her teammates sat back and watched as Ruby moved a hand to Saya's face. Saya began to glow a soft purplish color while Ruby began to glow a gentle crimson. Thus, Ruby began the chant:

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Ruby was exhausted by the act, but she had felt it succeed. That was when a sudden shock jolted her body. She didn't even hear her sister yelling her name in fear at seeing her collapse.

Silver eyes shot wide open in shock. Something had happened the moment she had unlocked Saya's aura and she did not know what. But soon that question fell incredible low on her list of questions. She was far more concerned with what was happening now.

All around her was not but a mass of swirling darkness. Silence reigned over her ears except for a low, eerie sound of the churning black encompassing all space surrounding her. Needless to say, Ruby was terrified. Her head darted back and forth; her fifteen-year-old mind unable to comprehend what was happening to her. Where was she? What was going on?

It was then that a giggle caught the young ears of the huntress-in-training. It sounded like Saya but. . . it sounded very wrong. It was emotionless and. . . sinister.

"How interesting," came Saya's voice from behind the crimsonette. Emotionless and taunting in its tone. Ruby turned around and saw what appeared to be Saya but dressed like she was when she had first met her after she had. . . exploded. This Saya had an amused look on her face; almost like she was enjoying the girl's plight. "I must thank you. The effects of unlocking this 'aura' within my vessel will certainly be quite interesting to discover. I dare say they might even be beneficial to my cause."

"Er. . . Saya. . .?" Ruby nervously asked with a tone that dripped with dread of her current situation.

An empty laugh echoed from 'Saya' lips at the comment before her look turned sinisterly predatory. Ruby shrieked in fear as the Saya lookalike suddenly appeared mere inches from her. She tried to flee but her body simply would not move. She was frozen in place and forced to face this evil version of Saya. She could see the darkness behind her start rise quickly in a mass, flame-like motion with dark, screaming face forming in the shadowy abyss beyond her sight. The far-distant screams of suffering and fear echoed through her mind as she began to tremble in absolute terror. The first time she had ever done so in her life.

"Oh, so close to the truth and yet so far," the 'imposter' chuckled darkly. "Make sure you keep entertaining me. . . silver eyes. . ."

The last thing Ruby saw before the darkness enveloped her was Saya's red, ringed eyes staring evilly into her own.

A quick, desperate intake of air and silver eyes widening in a panic alerted the other four girls that the team leader had awoken from her brief unconsciousness. After unlocked Saya's aura, Ruby had jolted in pain and collapsed unconscious much to the dismay of her team and horror of both Saya and Yang. Before she had awoken, Yang had been resting her baby sister's head on her chest and had been holding her with both hands for support. All four girls had been staring at her in worry.

Ruby struggled violently to sit up but Yang's strong grip kept her steady. It took several attempts to stop herself from hyperventilating.

"Ruby. . ." Yang worriedly said in as comforting a tone as she could muster. "Are you alright."

A few more deep breaths and the crimsonette had finally managed to regain complete control of her breath. Ruby responded hesitantly, "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Blake asked. "I know unlocking aura can be a bit exhausting but this seems a bit extreme to me."

"R-really, I'm fine," Ruby assured them awkwardly. "Maybe I wasn't quite ready for it."

Yang could easily see through her little sister's lie but chose not to bring it up. It was then that the heiress's sigh caught their attention, "You dolt. That was foolish to do if you didn't know you were ready for it."

"Yet it worked," Saya stated. "I can tell it did."

Red, ringed eyes locked onto silver ones. Ruby quickly suppressed her new-instinctual urge to panic at the sight of those eyes. Saya's worried look faded into genuine, beautiful smile as she knelt down and pulled the younger girl into a grateful hug, "I'm sorry doing so hurt you, but know I am very grateful for this."

She released the hug and held her at arm's length, "If you need anything please let me know, okay Ruby?"

Ruby forced her usual cheerful smile onto her face, "Sure."

Saya returned to full standing position and said to all four of the girls, "I think I should leave Ruby to rest. Besides, I think I've caused enough problems for you all tonight. . . I will see you all in the morning and sorry for the trouble."

"Don't worry about it, Saya," Yang said dismissively. "Wasn't your fault. Good night."

"Yes, good night, Miss Saya," Weiss said respectfully as Blake simply waved farewell to the smaller girl. With that, Saya made her exit; the door closing gently behind her.

After Saya left, Yang turned to her sister a more serious face masked upon her, "Okay, sis, tell me what's wrong. What's actually wrong."

Ruby was silent for only a moment but to the team of first-years it had seemed like an eternity. To Ruby, she knew there no point in trying to play dumb. She knew she was a terrible lair and that her sister could quite easily see through her. Besides, after the ordeal she had just had, she found herself lacking the usual energy she possessed to try that tactic anyway. Between that and unlocking Saya's aura, she was utterly exhausted.

"Something happened. . . when I unlocked Saya's aura," Ruby started unsurely. That immediately caught her three, older teammates attention. "I'm not sure I can explain it but. . . I felt a shot of pain run through me and when I opened my eyes I was surrounded by darkness. . . after a bit Saya appeared. . . but it wasn't Saya. . . it looked like Saya and sounded like Saya but her voice. . . it was dead, emotionless, heartless. . . she taunted me and said how I interested her. . . how me unlocking Saya's aura might benefit her in the future. . ."

The WBY of the team swallowed hard at the description. Chills ran up their spines. They had never heard of an actual experience of anything like it. It sounded like something out of a horror movie. Carefully, Yang wrapped her arms protectively around her sister and with each passing word held her closer, "Ruby, I'm—"

"Wait!" Ruby exclaimed suddenly jumping up and out of Yang's grip causing her teammates to tense.

"What Ruby what?" Weiss exclaimed, worried about her partner's sudden action.

"I just remembered something! Remember what Saya said earlier? About being a prisoner in her own body?"

"Yeah. . . ?" Yang replied, unsure where her sister was going with this.

"That Saya I saw. . . that fake Saya. . . she called Saya her vessel."

"Her. . . vessel. . .?" Blake inquired, pupils shrinking at the term.

A cold chill ran down Team RWBY's spines as the two pieces of Saya's story immediately made a connection. The implication of what was happening to their new friend suddenly becoming overwhelmingly dark.

"Why-Why do I get the feeling were uncovering some very dark territory here," Weiss asked, more to herself than to her team, though they all silently agreed. In the end, they all agreed they wouldn't bring up what had happened to Saya. At least not yet. The purple-haired girl had side-stepped the issue earlier and likely wouldn't want the subject brought up at the moment.

Needless to say, however, with that terrible revelation dominating their minds, none of the team would be sleeping well that night. Especially not their leader.

"Team JNPR please remain after class," Saya calmly voice spoke out after the bell rang calling an end to class for the day in a tone as close to authoritative as she could muster. "I have something I wish to speak to you all about."

To say everyone in attendance was surprised would be quite inaccurate. Even Professor Goodwitch had her usual strict persona was temporarily shattered by Saya's sudden act of authority. In her time as assistant thus far, Saya had rarely exercised the power of that title and certainly not without provocation as it seemed to be this time. Before Glynda could respond with any sort of acceptance or denial to the idea another voice spoke up.

"Well then, go on everyone," all eyes turned to the voice and were surprised to see the headmaster, Ozpin himself, entering the room behind Saya and his aide. "I do believe you all have homework I'm certain you'd like to complete to have some free time tonight."

With that, the students began to leave, with Team RWBY stopping to have one last glance at their closest friends before returning to their dorm. Team JNPR sat nervously wondering what they had done to draw the usually-quiet and fair assistant's ire. Indeed, even Ozpin and Glynda were curious what Saya's aim was, though Ozpin certainly had an idea if his conversation with her the previous day was any indication.

Saya smiled at the four, first-year students, "Don't worry. I'm not mad. There's just something that needs to be discussed between us. Please come down here. I'd prefer not to stare up at you the entire time."

The four nodded and made their way down to the arena. In the meantime, Glynda turned to the headmaster and asked in a hushed tone, "Ozpin do you know what's going on?"

"No," he answered nonchalantly, taking a sip of his coffee. "But I do believe I have an idea."

Soon, Team JNPR was standing in front of Saya, and she finally got a chance to view the boy's red-haired partner in full detail: Pyrrha Nikos.

Pyrrha was a girl more fit to be an amazon than pretty much any other female Saya had met up to this point. Striking emerald eyes, which were made all the more striking due to the green eyeshadow she wore, and vibrant, red hair still didn't detract from her warrioress visage despite showing off me that she was a very beautiful, young woman. Her hair was tied in a ponytail that went down to her waist which was held in place by a bronze circlet.

Her attire seemed to greatly emphasize her combative background as well. Her top was dual-layered: the top was a light-brown, strapless, and stiff piece of leather split divided vertically with some bronze patterns along with some studs along the outside while the bottom was a low bronze V-neck. She wore an elastic, black, A-line miniskirt and a red, ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt. In addition to that, she also wore brown, opera-length gloves on both arms, a small, circular, bronze plate bearing her symbol by her right hip which was opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt, and a large bronze gorget around her neck.

Completing her entire outfit were bronze, armor-plated leggings and brown, heeled boots with bronze trimmings.

From what Saya understood, Pyrrha was the combat champion of a whole kingdom. A very skilled warrior with experience in the arena to match. She frowned. She was his partner. Had Jaune not realized he had a valuable source literally within arm's reach. It annoyed her even more than the circumstances had been.

It didn't matter though; all this was about to change today.

"So, uh, whatcha need, Miss Saya?" the orange-haired girl asked in a semi-disrespectful tone though considering what Saya had seen of the girl over the past week she didn't see it as an offense. The girl was very hyper and random. "I mean if it's about that whole thing with the gum and feathers I can totally explain—"

Saya blinked and tilted her head in confusion, "Uh, what thing with the gum and feathers?"

The girl stood as stiff as a boar. Her eyes opened wide. Her partner, the black-and-pink-haired boy put a hand to his face and groaned quietly. Immediately after, the girl started change nervous possess literally every other second, "Gumandfeathers? Inevermentionedanythinginvolvinggumorfeather? Don'tknowwhatyouaretalkingabout! Nope! Notatall! Nada!"

"Miss Valkyrie," the combat professor of Beacon spoke up causing the girl to stop dead in her tracks. The girl-turned-doll was very great. She was certain she was starting to get a headache from the amount of information her brain was trying to process due to the girl's fast talking. "We'll discuss this later. Saya, please continue."

"Thank you, professor," Saya said professionally before turning back to the now awkward and embarrassed team. "Jaune, I want you to get into the arena. We're going to have a bit of an exhibition match."

Everyone, including Professor Goodwitch, blinked in surprise as if what she had just said hadn't fully registered. Before the female professor could protest or even recover from the blatant surprise of Saya's order, however, the hushed tone of her boss stopped, "Glynda, don't interfere. Let's watch and observe what she does."

Glynda gaped slightly at him but nevertheless silently agreed.

Finally, the four students recovered themselves as Jaune made his way over to the arena before anxiously turning to ask who'd he'd be fighting. Ozpin and Glynda were curious themselves. Who did she have in mind?

Seemingly ignoring the question, the purple-haired girl asked him, "Mr. Arc, in terms of combat I've noticed you seem to be rather. . . lacking."

Jaune blushed red in embarrassment but didn't comment. She wasn't wrong.

"In fact, to me, it seems that prior to Beacon's initiation you bare only enough to know how to use that sword and shield you use," she continued approaching him slowly at the center of the arena. Glynda stared in surprise. She knew her assistant had gone to Ozpin the previous day to ask about Jaune. Was she. . . outright telling them what she had learned? That was. . . actually a brilliantly subtle to get Jaune's attention if so.

"If that's the case, Saya," Glynda thought. "Then you've definitely gotten his attention now."

It also occurred to her that if this indeed was the case then Jaune's transcripts were pretty much confirmed to be terribly inaccurate. She held back a sigh and mentally inquired to herself why Ozpin would let boy attend Beacon if that was the case.

Nevertheless, her assessment seemed to be correct as Jaune immediately went ghostly pale after Saya mentioned that little detail, "D-do they know? But if that's the case why wouldn't they have expelled me already?"

"If so I came to a very logical conclusion," Saya said floating away from him to give them some distance between each other. "To more accurately assess you, you need an opponent more your experience level."

Without facing away from her student across from her, said asked politely, "Professor Goodwitch, could you please set the next match?"

Now, Professor Goodwitch actually was gaping even Ozpin was clearly taken aback, "She couldn't have possibly. . . could she. . . ?"

Glynda hit the button for the next match. Typically, unless they had something special planned or the class went on a bit of a tangent, she and Saya would program the matches for each class in succession. They entered in a blank slot between each match and at the beginning and end to ensure that the screen was blank between matches and before and after class started. It was far more professional that way.

After one or two days in class, she had simply begun telling Saya what the matches were to be and Saya would autonomously enter them in herself thereby allowing Glynda to get other work done in the meantime.

And there it was, the next match: Jaune vs Saya. Her assistant had this whole thing planned out. She was speechless, "But. . . why didn't she tell me?"

That question, however, was immediately overshadowed by something else the female teacher had just noticed, "Wait, I thought she didn't have her aura unlocked? How is it displaying?"

While confusion and dismayed dominated the usually-unbending professor, Ozpin, despite being somewhat confused himself, decided to hold giving credit to his opinions until afterward. After Saya finished whatever she was trying to do and after she explained herself to them. A shared glance between the two was all that was needed to convey that message to Glynda as well who in turn attempted to quell her inner turmoil on the matter. With that in mind, she made her way up to arena herself to proctor the match. Saya had given her no reason to doubt her yet so, for now, she'd trust her with whatever she was trying to do.

Jaune readied his weapon and his shield, but before Professor Goodwitch could begin the match Saya managed one last comment, "This is my first time fighting another person, Mr. Arc. Please make it memorable for me."

The boy barely had time to register his surprise upon his face when the teacher shouted, "Begin."

The moment the match started, Saya thrust her right arm forward. A red, portal-like ring from behind her just outside the arena and a black, ethereal chain with a crimson glow darted outward wrapping around Jaune's waist. He barely hard time to shout when Saya dragged her extended arm back towards her side and the chain began dragging him right past her towards the edge of the arena at a very fast speed. In desperation, Jaune planted his feet and drove his sword as deep into the arena floor as he could. The sword got stuck thus stopping himself right before he fell out of the arena though he was still struggling against the pull of the chain.

Glynda couldn't help but be impressed with her assistant. Her first match and she pulled off a move that in some cases might have given her an immediate victory. If nothing else, it would've caught many opponents by surprise.

As the knight-hopeful's mind was occupied by not allowing himself to lose so quickly into the match. Saya herself swiftly spun to her left to face her opponent again, her left arm extended out. The huntsman-in-training hadn't even realized a second chain had wrapped around him until the first vanished and he founded himself being jerked the opposite direction. Saya, using the force Jaune was using to resist her initial chain, had pulled him back at a much quicker speed than he had moved initially. She figured he had barely had enough reaction time to stop himself the first time, however, this time, despite having to cover more ground, it would be too fast for him to react to it. And even if it wasn't, he was still facing the wrong direction.

What she hadn't been expecting, however, was for Jaune in his panic to twist himself allowing his left foot to strike the ground. In an instant, he saw his chance and used his foot coupled with the momentum of the chain pulling him to take a swing at Saya.

Her eyes widened as she bent over backward to avoid the strike; her levitation preventing her from falling flat on her butt from the angle she took to avoid the strike. However, her concentration was broken and the chain faded. Jaune landed awkwardly and fell over, but quickly got back on his feet and charged his royal-haired opponent who was still recovering from the bend she made to avoid his wide swing. He swung several times at her, but she continuously dodged them. She had gotten very used to her levitation over the past week. No matter how she contorted her body to desperately avoid the incoming sword swings, she subconsciously always stayed in the air.

It was about this time that the rest of Team JNPR began to notice something off with Saya.

"Um, is it just me or is Saya not moving her legs?" Nora asked the two teammates standing next to her.

"It. . . doesn't appear so," Pyrrha said, a bit confused by this observation.

"Come to think of it; I don't think I've ever seen Miss Saya ever move her legs like she was walking," Ren replied, hand to his chin in thought. "It's almost as if she's simply—"

Their eyes widened as they turned to each other, "Floating!"

Nora's face suddenly shifted to extremely gleeful as she cheerfully exclaimed, "Ooh! I wonder if she can teach me how to do that! That's so cool!"

"It's definitely making it hard for Jaune to land a hit," Ren observed.

Pyrrha couldn't help but agree. While certainly not as fast as Ruby, not having to use your body or even your legs to move certainly made Saya's reaction time very impressive. Considering if what the assistant said was true and this was only her first bout as well, Pyrrha could only imagine how hard to hit she would be after some practice and training.

Practice and training though was something Saya wish she had considered before going forward with this plan. She, at the moment, had no means of offense and could only really drag Jaune out of the ring. But right now, she couldn't even think as she desperate avoided swing after swing. She had been hoping to avoid a straight up fight as she had no real means of combating her current predicament. She cursed silently inward and made a mental note to fix this glaring weakness of hers before she tried something like this again.

Jaune, meanwhile, was getting frustrated. No matter how many times he swung at his foe he just could not hit her. She moved too quickly, too smoothly for him to combat as he was. But he did think he was starting to notice a pattern in her movements. He lost his chance to act on it, however, when Saya quickly darted backwards before thrust both arms outward. He braced himself for another chain but found himself completely immobile.

Everyone present at the very least recognized the description of what was happening. Four, spiked chains pierced shallowly into a translucent, crimson orb Jaune found himself trapped in. Maintaining her concentration, Saya moved towards her opponent and to his dismay grabbed his sword from him. She then quickly darted back as she released the immobilizing ability. Before he could react, she thrust her free arm forward and another chain darted out from behind her to try her out-of-the-ring tactic again. As she grasped her arm back, she spun her body moving it in an arc away from Jaune's path out of the ring to prevent another attempt to break her concentration.

In a last-ditch attempt to stop her, Jaune threw his shield at her and it hit home straight into her forehead. It worked and the chain faded, but inertia got the better of him resulting in him being unable to stop his journey to yet another loss.

Saya's aura protected her from the blow but having a shield smack her in the face still disoriented her. She barely registered Glynda calling the match in her favor. She silently thanked and cursed her time as Izanami's prisoner for the incredible pain tolerance she now had.

Jaune, despite not having suffered a single, offensive hit, looked beaten down by the loss. The idea that he lost to someone who had never fought another person before today was just depressing to him.

Finally recovered, Saya made her way over to her fallen foe, picking up his shield on the way, and kindly handed them back to him. He took them though he was clearly disheartened.

Saya took immediate note of this, "Why do you look so downtrodden, Mr. Arc?"

It was pretty much a rhetorical question. Everyone knew the answer to that, but he answered anyway.

"It was your first match and yet you still wiped the floor with me," Jaune sulked. "I'm starting to really doubt I'm cut out for this—Ow!"

His hand went to his forehead. Saya had just flicked him in annoyance, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Jaune, and stop kidding yourself."

Jaune stared at her eyes wide as she continued, "Wiped the floor with you? Is that what you think happened? Truth is it was far from it. I just got lucky at the end there."

"Uh. . ." Nora spoke up from where she had been standing. "Not to be a jerk about it but, uh, are you sure about that? It looked pretty one-sided to me."

Saya shook her head, "Miss Nikos, how many offensive options did I use?"

Said champion thought about it for a second before answering, "I only really saw you using your chains, really. Did I miss something else?"

"No, and that was my main weakness: other than the chains I had no offensive capability to use."

She turned back to Jaune, "You had me on the ropes there for a bit, Jaune. I had no means of actually bringing down your aura effectively. My only hope was to catch you with my chains. In fact, immobilizing you was a risky gamble I took. I've never used that ability with an opponent right on top of me. I wasn't even sure if I would have been able to pull it off. I was lucky that I did."

Jaune stared in shock. His first week at Beacon had been nothing but him getting kicked around in combat class and struggling through the rest of his academics. For the first time, he felt hope.

That he felt like he actually did have a chance.

"You know, it has come to my attention that your partner is an arena champion," Saya said simply causing Pyrrha's eyes to widen. "She's your partner and you are supposed to help each other. If you were struggling so bad with this aspect of Beacon, why have you not asked her for help? I'm certain she wouldn't mind, would she?"

Saya's red eyes locked onto Pyrrha's green. She hastily shook her head, "No, of course not!"

She nodded and returned her attention to her recent opponent, "Well, why not then?"

Jaune was silent for a moment, guilt-ridden in his eyes. He took one very deep breath before he spoke. The tone he did so seemed empty and scared, "I. . . have a confession to make. . ."

Saya already had an idea what it was but tilted her head in interest nonetheless, "And that is?"

Jaune slowly turned his head towards his team and then towards the two professors before he let out another deep breath. He was beginning to tremble, "I. . . shouldn't be here. . . I. . . my transcripts were faked."

Three gasps echoed from his teammates; Jaune couldn't bear to look at them at the moment as he dropped his head in shame. He was expecting yelling. Expecting outrage. What he wasn't expecting was Ozpin's calm reply, "We are already well aware of that, Mr. Arc."

"What?"

"Uh?"

"Excuse me?"

Those three responses came from Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora respectively. Jaune's eyes bugged out as he gazed mouth wide open at the headmaster. Ozpin smiled slightly, "Give us some credit, Mr. Arc. Do you really think you're the first person to try and get into Beacon under false pretenses?"

"B-b-but then wh-why. . .?"

"I do believe your match with Saya has proven why," Ozpin said sipping his coffee. "I see great potential in you. I saw past the fake transcripts and saw what you could be. I believe I told you all in your commencement speech when you arrived that it was up to you to take that first step?"

"U-um. . . yes, sir."

"Well, I do believe Saya has shown you a means to help get you on track."

Jaune nodded and for the first time since his confession, he gazed towards his team. He didn't see what he expected: disgust, horror, anger. What he saw instead were three faces smiling at him supportively. He couldn't help but smile in return, "Hey, uh, Pyrrha. Would you mind, uh, spending some time helping me out with my fighting skill?"

The red-haired amazon smiled, "Of course, Jaune."

She jerked downward in surprise as a weight suddenly flung itself onto her back. It was Nora excitedly pointing towards Jaune, "Don't forget about me and Ren! We'll help you get into tip-top shape! Don't you worry about that!"

Jaune chuckled awkwardly as he joked to Saya, "Is it bad that I kind of am worried about it now?"

Saya giggled a bit, "Nope, not at all."

"Well then," the headmaster stated walking up to stand next to his aide's assistant. "I do believe we've held you all up enough. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, headmaster," Jaune said and with that left the room with his team, the hyper, hammer-wielder describing how they were going to help Jaune out with his training as they went. Saya couldn't help but smile and breath a sigh of relief.

"So, his transcripts were faked," Professor Goodwitch bluntly stated as she walked up to join the two. "I take that was what you went to ask Ozpin about yesterday."

"Yes, it was. He told me it in confidence so I didn't really want to give it away to you. . ." Saya said feeling a tad guilty about the whole thing. "I know you said you trusted Ozpin's decision-making but—"

"And I trust your reasoning, Saya," Glynda said reassuringly. "You don't have to explain yourself. What you did certainly did wonders for the boy's confidence. I expect quite a bit of improvement from here on out."

"If he puts the effort in, of course," Ozpin commented before taking another sip of his coffee.

"I have little doubt we have to worry about that for now," Glynda said in a satisfied tone before turning to Saya. "I am curious though how you have your aura unlocked, Saya."

"I am curious about that myself," the headmaster added.

Saya gulped, "Well, I tried to find out how to do it from Coco last night but I couldn't find their dorm. Ruby found me instead and took me to ask her team where she ended up unlocking it for me."

Both professors blinked, "Miss Rose unlocked your aura?"

"Yes."

"I didn't even know that she knew how exactly to do that," the female professor commented.

Ozpin shook his head, "I'm pretty sure I know how she does though."

"Qrow?"

"Qrow."

Saya was enjoying the bantering until a pulse rang straight through her body. She felt it surge through her body with immense force almost as if her heart stopped beating. Then she felt another. And another. What was happening to her? She'd never felt anything like it before? Was Izanami trying to escape? It didn't seem so.

That is when she felt it. A presence. A presence so familiar to her. She recognized it. It reminded her of happier times. Of days gone by. She had felt it before, but what could it– Saya's eyes widened when she realized why it felt so familiar to her.

And where it was coming from.

"Headmaster!" Saya shouted in sudden distress quickly gaining their undivided attention. "We need to get to the Cauldron! Now!"

Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter took a while but between work and me getting stuck in a few spots. . . anyway, Saya's first fight. I figured that this was the best way to do it so I hope you all are pleased with it. On top of that, this is easily the longest chapter to date. Hope it wasn't too overwhelming for you all.

I'll try to take as few liberties with the lore of both stories as I can but with fanfiction I feel it's inevitable that something like that will happen. I'll do my best to keep it to a minimum and allow the source materials to shine through. Any liberties I do take, rest assured, will have logical reasoning behind them.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Please review!

~Omniczar

Response to Reviews

Shirozaki Kizuro – You're welcome.

Lazruth – Yep, that was pretty much the idea seeing as how her last experience with the outside world was over a decade or so it makes pretty good sense that she has much to learn.

Student – I feel most of the review was simple fact explaining rather than a review of the story. Seems to be a common theme I see. Either way, thank you.

Imp Slap – You people have this joint talent of thinking of a plot point literally the chapter before it happens. You all psychic or something? Or is it some sort of instinct?

Ihavenonamingskillwhatsoever – Oooo eeee ooooo. . .

Supernobody – Alrighty then, that's something I just read. Guess you'll have to wait and see for my interpretation of that. Still was fun to read and imagine your take. Thanks!

Shadowedge27 – Thanks again for pointing out that piece of the lore to me. Rest assured it's been fixed now.

Gabe. .1997 – Indeed.

Furukawa023 – See my response to Imp Slap.

Ragna317 – Well. . . I kinda agree with you but at the same time I feel you missed a couple of plot points. For one, in Central Fiction, the reason Ragna starts destroying everyone towards the end is not because Ragna has gotten significantly stronger. That is part of it, he is indeed growing way stronger over the course of the final game, but one key thing mentioned after Ragna beats Hakumen is that everyone else is growing weaker. Everyone with a Drive is being drained and fading into the Boundary. It happens to Kokonoe, Kagura, everyone. That's why Ragna is so immensely powerful at the end. Not just because he gained strength due to his Soul Eater ability but because unlike every other character, he doesn't possess a Drive, and thus is not subject to the fading of the world.

I could go further with this but I don't think this is the proper place for it. If you want to continue feel free to PM me about it.

Glad you're enjoying the story though. Hope you like what I do in the future.