As everyone sleeps, resting from the long trip, you decide to open Veritas's gift. You had thanked her for it and she had been quite cordial about it. She had also asked if she was in the lead. When you asked what she meant, she replied by referencing the cheek kissing competition. You then apologized about that and had told her you hoped that she didn't feel bad about it.
"No, it was an accident, it's fine. Can we do it again?" Was how she replied.
Unfortunately for her, your team leader dragged you away with the rest of your friends, she was saying how you'd all be late.
Veritas had given Ruby a frustrated look as you waved goodbye.
In any case, you stare down at the nicely wrapped box. The edible tentacle wrapping is very nice, it tastes like bacon. Opening it up, you see a few things inside. A photo, a note and a small bag of chocolates.
Starting with the photo, you see that it is a picture Veritas took of herself. Overall, you find the dress quite colorful and soft looking. Also, the picture smells like food....it makes you want to eat it...
Checking the note next, you see that it lists her scroll number and a small message
"Here is my contact information. You don't need to contact me, knowing you have it is enough. I made chocolates, I hope you enjoy them."
Quite a short message, you think.
Moving on to the chocolates, you opened up the small bag and noticed that is was sealed with a little heart shaped paper sticker. Looking closer, you see that all the chocolates are also heart shaped if a bit far from being anatomically correct. Well, while you might have liked anatomically correct heart chocolates, these will do fine.
Taking a bite, you find that they don't taste that good, though you still eat them all. Veritas made these, thus, it would be rude to not finish them all.
Anyone that makes you food is perfectly alright in your mind. Still, you're a bit surprised she guessed correctly on your favorite body part, no....this is probably because she wanted to court you. If you recall, heart shapes are also commonly used when attempting to attract someone.
And so, you enjoy your not anatomically correct heart chocolate as everyone else sleeps.
As for the picture, you-
[] Keep it in Your Pocket
[] Keep it in Your Album
[] Write in?
------------------------------
"So, Mr. Solus, what can I help you with this time? And you, Ms.Talitha was it? Would you care for some coffee?" Ozpin says as he motions Talitha towards the coffee machine.
"Ah, no thank you." Talitha says with a nervous smile.
You make sure to go and grab a cup for yourself, speaking of, you take out Ozpin's gift from your pocket and place it on his table.
"I must say, that is quite a nicely themed coffee mug you have there." Ozpin says with a glint in his eye as he looks over his gift.
It's a gift you bought for him.
"For me? Why you didn't need to do such a thing" He says with a smile as he takes the cup and inspects it.
You didn't? Does that mean he doesn't want it?
"No...i quite like it, I think I'll be keeping it." Ozpin says as he subtly moves the cup away from you.
You blink, and his old cup vanishes and is replaced with your new one. He takes a sip from the cup and compliments the taste of his coffee.
"Truly, coffee tastes better when drunk from a cup someone else has given you." Ozpin says with a tiny smile.
How did he fill the cup with coffee? You didn't see him get up.
"Now, now, some mysteries are best left unanswered." Ozpin says with one of his "I know something you don't" smiles. You had only recently realized what those smiles actually meant.
"So, have you spoken with the scientific staff yet? They nagged me quite a bit once they realized you'd be gone for three days" Ozpin says as he takes a sip from his new mug.
No, not yet.
"Understandable. Now, Ms.Talitha, I have heard that your life depends on young Mordin here, is this true?" Ozpin asks as he looks Talitha in her eyes.
"Yes, had he not saved me, I would surely have perished, and would soon perish if he were to stop sustaining me" Talitha says with a calm look.
"I see...." Ozpin says in thought.
A few minutes pass in silence as Ozpin thinks.
Eventually, you get a bit hungry and take out a pizza from your pocket. As you begin to eat, you offer Talitha a slice.
"Ah....thank you for the offer, and I feel quite sad to say this, but I cannot eat it." Talitha says with a downcast look.
Ah.....does it have to do with her condition?
"Yes.....I would be quite happy if I were able to eat such things." Talitha says with a small sad smile.
The clearing of Ozpin's throat attracts both of your attentions.
Oh, does he want a slice?
"Actually, I was simply informing you that I was ready for your explanation, but now that I think on it, yes, I will have a slice." Ozpin says as he grabs a slice and slowly begins to eat it with his coffee.
You-
[] Tell Nothing But The Truth
+ You saw a magic tree that ate souls in the future.
+ You got lucky and undeaded everyone.
+ Talitha is a synth!!!
[] Tell Some Truth
+ You accidentally walked into the future
+ You're "semblance" saved Talitha.
+ You chopped down an evil tree thing.
[] Lie Like Your Pants Are On Fire
+ You accidentally found a time rift and were sucked inside.
+ Talitha did some weird thing and bonded your souls.
+ Grim killed everyone in the future.
+ You didn't meet Dove's descendant.
[] Write In
Also, Do you try and prank Ozpin? Last time you failed, maybe his new cup will act as a distraction?
[] Yes
[] No
[] Write In.
--------------------------
After talking to Ozpin and showing Talitha around quickly, you and your friends hung out for a bit. Felicia took you to a karaoke bar she knew and everyone got to sing. It was quite odd, but fun. As you all went from place to place, though, you sported someone following you.
Had you not noticed the shifting eye color and odd feeling emanating around their body, you would have never suspected that you were being followed.
Thinking about the feeling, you realized that the feeling was "aura", this person was constantly shifting their soul around their body, almost as if they were wearing a costume.
Quickly thinking of something, you told your friends you were going to the bathroom. No one suspected anything, and you quickly found an empty bathroom to wait for your pursuer. Taking up a comfortable position on the ceiling above the door, you took out your scroll and decided to play some of those fun games while you waited. Eventually, your [pursuer] walked in and started looking around for you.
Thinking of this as a good opportunity, you silently dropped behind them and put your hand on their shoulder. No sooner had your hand touched their shoulder that the person's had gripped yours like a vice and crushed all of your fingers.
Ah...it's Neopolitan!
You greet her the same way. She turned around and gave you one of her trademark savage smiles as she rubbed her fingers.
So, how has she been?
Taking out her scroll, she sends you a small message.
"How did you know it was me?" It reads.
Simple, no one else knows your secret handshake!
She gives you an odd look, but then she giggles.
Ah! This is the perfect time to give her the gift you bought!
She tilts her head and smiles
"Did you get me a new punching bag?" is the message you receive on your scroll.
Punching bag? No, it's a little scroll strap thing. You say this while taking the little ice cream cone out from your pocket.
Neopolitan takes it with her good hand and inspects it with her eyes. Giving a quick nod, she straps it on her scroll and gives you a smile.
She then grabs your hand and begins pulling you out of the bathroom.
Does she want to go somewhere?
Neopolitan nods and once more tries to pull you, she's quite strong, you think.
Unfortunately, you're out with your team and other friends, so you can't go with her right now. Would she like to join you?
Neopolitan thinks on it for a few seconds, she rubs her chin and taps her feet. Finally, she shakes her head and points at her scroll.
Taking yours out, you catch her text message.
"Later, then. I'll pick you up, unless you're busy? :C" Reads her little message.
You-Hide Yo girls In Your Album
Looking at Veritas's picture, you decide to stash it in your album.
Quietly, you grow a tentacle and grab it from your bedside table.
Really, others might say your part of the room is quite bare, but you still think it's fine.
All you need is your framed photo of Hazel, Brick and you. Thinking on it, you should probably add your team photo as well.
Yes, you'll go off and buy a frame sometime and place your team photo inside it, maybe get another frame for your other friends.
And so, after sliding her picture inside your album right beside the picture of Brick's wife, you quietly cover yourself with your blanket and try to sleep.
Aside from acting as a great storage space, your pocket is also a great trash disposal area, so, you throw out the used plastic bag in a far away corner of your pocket.
---------------------------
Be A Headmaster They Said
Wiping away the nice and cheesy flavor from your mouth, you tell Ozpin that finding Talitha was actually a rather nice coincidence.
He raises and eyebrow and motions you to continue.
Well, when you had arrived at Spring's End with the rest of your class, you felt a very odd feeling in the air.
You weren't exactly sure what it was, so you ignored it for a few days.
After enjoying your friend's company and finishing your assignments, you got quite curious.
"Yes, we all know how your curiosity is, Mr. Solus." Ozpin says as he takes a sip from his cup.
What does he mean?
"Do you remember the incident in which you tried to see what happened when you mixed too much potassium and water?" Ozpin asks with a raised brow.
"Ah, wouldn't that cause a highly reactive and sudden-" Talitha begins to say.
"An explosion, yes" Ozpin says as he takes a sip from his new cup.
That was an accident. You accidentally placed 16 grams instead of the required 1.6.
"Yes, and no one can prove otherwise...quite a coincidence. In any case, you cleaned it up, so no harm was done" Ozpin says with a small smile.
Right, you'll just continue our explanation then!
"Please, do go on." Ozpin says with a small amused smile.
Yes, at any rate, you decided to go out for a walk in the middle of the night. As you walked, you followed your weird feeling to what appeared to be a distortion in space.
You see Ozpin slightly narrow his eyes.
Being quite curious, you moved closer to inspect the rift and in doing so, you walk through and found yourself in a rather dark place.
"Mr. Solus, I highly suggest not walking through what appears to be a rift in space, for all you know, it could be a trap set by someone to capture you." OZpin says.
A trap, how?
"I know of a certain someone that has a similar looking teleportation semblance. If there is one person with such a semblance, there may be more with similar semblances that may wish you ill." Ozpin says as he stands up and refills his cup.
You'll keep that in mind. In any case, the rift took you to an abandoned facility with destroyed metal automatons or "robots".
"Hmmm, did they perhaps have any relation to Atlas?" Ozpin asks.
Not that you could see, actually, you think the facility was in Vale, probably.
Either way, after exploring the facility, you discovered that everyone inside was killed by rogue robots, Grimm, and a giant tree.
"I see, a giant tree you say?" Ozpin says as he rubs his chin.
Yes.
"Do you perhaps have any evidence of this "facility?" Ozpin asks you with an odd look.
Yes, you took pictures.
Taking out your camera, you show Ozpin all the pictures you saved.
"These.....these are quite gruesome. There are a lot of skeletons and dried blood...." Ozpin says as he looks at you.
"If you require further proof, I also have some data I wouldn't mind sharing. It's nothing that impressive, just 70 years of recorded security footage." Talitha says with a small smile.
She has that?
"Yes, I took the liberty of making a copy before we left, something to remember everyone by." She replies.
"Sadly, I don't have 70 years to spend watching videos, a few hours will suffice." Ozpin says as he adjusts his spectacles.
"I will forward them to you at my earliest convenience" Talitha says with a smile.
"So, can you please enlighten me about this tree?" Ozpin asks.
Sure, though, you'll save that for last. Anyways, after discovering all of that, you explored a bit and found a hidden room. Walking down the stairs, you found Talitha sleeping inside an odd capsule.
At this, Ozpin shifts his attention to Talitha.
After a few minutes of contemplation, you woke Talitha up and discovered that she was, in fact, a synthetic life form.
Ozpin takes a rather long sip from his cup.
"So, if I understand correctly, you are, in simple terms, a robot?" Ozpin asks Talitha.
"Ah...if you were to simplify it, then yes. I am a very sophisticated life form made of metal and wires. Oh, and yes, I do have a soul" Talitha says with a neutral expression.
"I....see. I highly suggest keeping such information to yourself, I'm quite sure many would want to know how to create more of your kind." Ozpin says with a small frown.
"Sadly, I doubt it would be possible, after all, I was made at least 70 years into your future." Talitha says.
"....The footage, yes, I was wondering about that. I suppose this makes sense." Ozpin says as he quickly downs his cup of coffee and refills it.
"Now, the tree?" He asks.
Yes, it turned out the tree was some form of sentient life form altered by what appeared to be an extraterrestrial life form.
"An alien?" Ozpin asks with curiosity in his eyes.
Probably, you weren't sure. In any case, the life form gave the tree great power and a task. The tree's task was to absorb souls and transfer that power to its master when the time was right.
Aside from the tree's power over souls, it could also influence the minds of others. Using this power, the tree drove everyone inside the facility insane or highly aggressive. By your understanding, the facility used the juice from the tree's fruit, which was actually a highly concentrated clump of souls. They used the juice to power all of their devices.
"....This would make it much easier for it to assert its influence" Ozpin says with a look of realization.
Exactly, with nothing to stop it, the tree killed everyone and harvested their souls.
"Then how did you escape?" Ozpin asks with slightly narrowed eyes.
Simple, you tricked the tree into giving you all of its gathered souls. With so much power, you tossed the tree into a very far away place and then used the remaining power to revive everyone in the facility.
For a second, just for a second, Ozpin releases the grip on his coffee cup. You think it's going to crash and spill its contents, but faster than you can blink, the cup is back in Ozpin's hand.
"Can you elaborate?" He asks in a very serious yet disbelieving tone.
Yes. So, once you gained the souls, you just knew] ow to use the power to do exactly what you wanted. Perhaps it had to do with the weird tree? Either way, you don't know.
So, having that much power, you did what you thought was best.
"I have it all recorded if you wish to see" Talitha interrupts.
Silence
"Mr. Solus, if what you say is true, I want you to know that you made the right choice. I require time to think over this.....revelation." He says placing his empty coffee cup on the table.
Understandable.
"As for you, Ms.Talitha, could you please forward everything you recorded while you were in the facility to me?" Ozpin asks.
"Yes, though, some of it may have been damaged when we returned through the rift, I haven't had the time to review it." Talitha says with a smile.
Ah! You understand, she'll be removing the most incriminating parts before she gives the videos to Ozpin.
"Thank you. Now, I assume your continued survival does, in fact, require being close to Mordin?" Ozpin asks with a tired tone.
"Yes, Mordin is constantly funneling a small amount of his aura to keep me alive. My power core was damaged, so he awakened my soul and somehow managed to link them together." Talitha says with a smile.
Thinking this as the perfect chance, with Ozpin being so overwhelmed and distracted, you attempt to poke his nose once more!
[DC:??? - 15(Info Overload) Your Roll 88 + 5 (Experienced Combatant) + 2 (Faux Vessel) + 1 (OWWWLL) = 96 FAILURE!!]
Your finger once more finds nothing but air, though, you actually saw Ozpin put forth a bit of effort this time.
"I see, I understand. Now, it is far too late to enroll you as a student, so, how do you feel about-"
[] A Janitor
[] A Teacher's Assistant
[] A Nurse's Assistant
[] Write in?
-------------------------------------
Salty Ice Cream
Looking at Neopolitan, you nod and say you're available later during the day. You have the time, so she can come pick you up, her dimensional movement is quite fun.
She gives you and odd look, smiles and flicks your nose. With the sound of shattering glass, she vanishes and you're left alone.
Soon enough, you return to your friends and enjoy their company for a bit longer. After returning to Beacon and spending time with Blake and Talitha, you receive a text message from Neopolitan saying she'll be waiting by the airship port. Informing everyone that you're going for a walk, you step out and go meet up with Neopolitan.
You arrive at the airship port and let her know you're there. A few seconds afterward, she appears behind you, taps your shoulder and grabs your hand as you turn. You once more feel the odd pulling sensation as she drags you with her semblance towards a different part of the city. Your arrival is heralded by the shattering sound of glass. Looking around, you see that you're inside a somewhat disorganized and small living space. Old clothes, socks, and other things lay around the room, a few packed boxes lay here and there, you even spot a few umbrellas by what you think is the entrance to the rather cramped room. It really looks like she'd be ready to grab anything important and leave at any moment, at least with the stuff in the boxes.
Releasing your arm, Neopolitan gestures for you to sit. Doing so, she goes off into what you assume is the kitchen and comes back with a heated pizza. You thank her for the food and begin eating.
As you eat, you ask her where you are.
"Home :p" her message says.
Oh, so this is her home? Why is it so messy?
">:C It's not messy, I know exactly where everything is!" Her next message reads.
Really? Perhaps this is just an advanced organization technique you don't know about.
"Sure, wtv" Her reply reads.
You both quickly finish your pizza, Neopolitan excuses herself and comes back in what she says are more comfortable clothes.
Grabbing your hand, she leads you away from the living room and into her bedroom. Inside, you spot what appears to be a large TV screen and gaming console.
What follows is a short but brutal experience in which you play a large selection of violent video games. She utterly destroys you in any fighting games, making sure she finishes of your character with the most brutal and dramatic finishing moves. When you play racing games, she deliberately crashes into you and makes you lose. Rather than win, her goal was to make sure you lost.
After the racing game, she introduced you to her favorite game, "Born In Blood". It was a game in which you played a hunter and followed his or her story as they slew a bunch of Grimm.
It was very bloody and violent, her usual vicious smile never left her face while she was playing. She then introduced you to the online multiplayer aspect of the game by attacking under-leveled players and using one shot tactics with an oversize canon. Overall, you found the game to look quite fun. The final boss, which she showed off, was quite cute looking. Unlike you, She found the "Sun Presence" to be quite ugly, but you think the tentacles and bones made it look really cute!
Finishing with video games, Neopolitan sent you a simple message.
"I'm bored, let's play truth or dare >: )"
Not having a reason to refuse, and being quite curious, you agreed.
The second you did so, she asked if you wanted to liven it up a bit more.
Not certain what shew meant, you asked.
"Loser has to do what the winner says. You can refuse to do anything, but then you owe the winner a back rub :p" Was her simple reply.
Seeing no reason to refuse, as you wouldn't mind giving a back rub if her request was too much, you agreed to her wager.
With a savage smile, she explained the rules to you and allowed you to go first.
Not being sure what to do, you asked what her favorite color was.
"Red :p" Was her answer.
As her turn came, her smile actually got wider and she dared you to let her break your thumb.
Seeing no reason to refuse, you extended your hand and watched as she slowly bent your thumb back until a large cracking sound signaled that it broke.
Once more, she smiled widely and informed you that it was your turn.
Still being somewhat confused, you followed her lead and dared her to let you break her thumb.
She complied with a smile and it was once more her turn.
With an even more savage smile, she dared you to let her punch your face.
You agreed and her savage grin got even wider. A broken nose later, it was your turn.
What followed was a long list of similar events until Neopolitan couldn't move her arms, though, you couldn't either(You didn't regenerate to make the game fair!)
Though, you did manage to ask one question in between all the weird violent dares.
it was-
[] Where Does She Work?
[] Is She A Hunter?
[] Write in?
For her final dare, Neopolitan dared you to kiss her.
You made sure to ask her why she wanted you to do it, as you were under the impression people normally only did that with lovers.
In response, she gave you a somewhat disgusted look and just told you to give up if you were a coward.
You-