章 1951: 181
My name is Jaune Arc. I am alone.
I didn't come here alone- I was with my loved ones, my Team when we landed in the Ever After. We fell into the ocean, found ourselves ashore, and…
It was my fault.
I told them that we should find a place to dry off, find a place to get some food, find shelter for the night.
It was my fault.
I…
There was a fruit. On that tree.
I've looked for years now, so many years… I… have never found that tree again. I was right there … that tree never came back. It just… vanished.
That fruit is the reason why everything fell apart. It's the reason why I don't know if I'll find anything- anyone else ever again.
I've been wandering for so long…
Somehow, along the way, I've been able to find more armor. As if the world itself wants me to wear it. I had to change my clothes, had to wear the armor, had to cover my face. I became the Rusted Knight.
They called me a hero, when all I did was find myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, when I couldn't even slay the Jabberwalker, when all I could do was drive it away temporarily.
I've been wandering a long time.
I don't even know how long I've been doing it- I barely age these days, and no matter how I try to count the days nothing seems to match up.
They tell me that I've been a fixture of the land for almost two hundred years now. They tell me that I've been here as long as they can remember. They tell me that I've been their hero for ages.
I got tired of it all.
I couldn't get the hang of handling the weather of the Acres. All I could do was wander aimlessly, solving what problems I could, when I could. There just never seemed to be enough hours in the day and…
I miss them.
I miss Pyrrha. I miss Ren. I miss Nora.
I miss mom and dad.
I miss Cerise and Sapphron and Verde and Skye and Azure and Lapis and Violet.
I miss Team RWBYP. I miss Team CMNE.
I miss our friends.
I've been all alone for a long time now.
I don't want to be alone.
I don't know how long I've been wandering. There's this tiny village I keep coming back to, though- the closest thing I have to home.
The people there are… nice. Small. They're…
The Ever After is weird. It's like a mishmash of things that are supposed to be in Remnant, but they're here instead. They say that the Ever After is older than Remnant, but then why are there beings made of origami? Why are there so many things in the Ever After that seem to have been around longer than they have been on Remnant?
The Paper Pleasers are the closest thing I have to home now. I wanted to try and name them, but it just didn't feel right. Trying to name them after friends and family just felt… wrong. Like I was trying to replace them in my head when I…
I have to keep saving them.
The Paper Pleasers, I mean.
They're still trying to make their village, they're trying to make this Acre truly theirs, but their bodies are weak and they struggle to make headway. It's the most I can do to make sure that the goose doesn't get them, or that they don't accidentally blow away in the wind or catch fire or… a number of things.
I hope they're not mad at me. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really doing the right thing. They say death in this world is only the cycle that brings them to the next step in the purpose they find for themselves. I ask again and again, but they always say they're thankful for my help, and that they can't die before their purpose is complete.
Sometimes it helps, sometimes I just can't help but wonder if they're not just saying that when they've already done so much- when I've already started making sure that they can do that much.
I always wanted to be a hero, but… I think I'm starting to go insane.
Maybe I've already gone insane.
There's not really a coherent thread to my thoughts anymore, I'm skipping around and losing time, losing days, losing myself.
I don't really remember the last time I took off my armor anymore- I wonder why it seems to fit me better than it ever used to back at Beacon? Even with Ruby's help…
I'm getting sidetracked.
What was I even talking about before?
The fruit.
That fucking fruit.
I…
I don't know what I should have expected when I picked up that stupid clock fruit, but I didn't think I'd be the one watching my team disappear like that. I…
It shot me back in time. I don't know why they disappeared the way they did. All of us were scared and screaming and holding onto each other and freaking out and I just didn't know what to do and by the time I broke the damn thing I was the only one left and…
I'm tired.
I wonder if I'll ever see them again?
It's likely that I have to wait for Alyx to arrive. It's… becoming exceedingly clear that I've been shot back even before the story itself. To a time that no one's ever recorded. Not in the Ever After, where they don't need to record anything, nor on Remnant.
Does that mean Pyrrha is the Tarnished Lady? Is Ren the Lotus Rogue? Is Nora the Wild Valkyrie?
I hope so.
I've asked around a few times in the past, wondering if anyone had ever seen a red haired warrior in green or bronze armor. They always say no, though. I'm starting to lose hope, I think… but then again, I haven't gone very far. It's hard to traverse the Acres on foot. Most of them are overgrown, the terrain is extremely treacherous, and… it's just hard to move around.
Regardless…
It matches up too well. The descriptions. The attitudes. The way the four acted in the book, as false as some of it may have been. It was said that once the four heroes had found each other, they never parted again, that they worked together immediately and with perfect synchronicity. That the four knew each other on such a deep level that their souls glowed together and shined with the bond they shared.
It matches up to how they disappeared.
I wonder what it looked like for them.
All I saw was them vanish from my sight one by one- Nora, Ren, Pyrrha… one after the other… did Nora see all of us vanish at once?
Gods I hope not.
It's been so long since I've seen them. I almost feel like I've forgotten what they look like by now. I try to keep them in my memories, but… it's starting to blur together with time. I remember Pyrrha's red hair and green eyes and the way she holds herself like she's invincible. I remember Ren's black hair and pink eyes and the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles. I remember Nora's orange hair and turquoise eyes and the sound of her cackles.
I miss them so much.
I have no idea how long I've been alone.
I have no idea how long I've been helping the Paper Pleasers.
I have no idea how long I've wandered in the Acres that I've found.
I have no idea how many Acres I've been in.
I have no idea why the tree keeps calling to me.
Something about it is important.
Something about it is dangerous.
Something about it is…
Something.
No one ever gives me a straight answer. I've seen their Ascension before. When they lose their purpose…
Afterans are weird.
Strange.
They live forever unless they're killed by the Jabberwalker.
Sometimes when they lose their way, they drop into a hole and vanish for good, and everyone else cheers and says it's a good thing that the Tree has called them back for a new purpose. A new state of being.
Does it kill them?
Does it result in ego death?
Are they still the same people afterwards?
Probably not.
I feel like I've seen beings who used to be other Afterans. I feel like I've seen them before, but they don't recognize me, like they're entirely new people.
It's terrifying. What happens if a human Ascends?
Would I forget my team? My girlfriends? My boyfriend?
I don't want to forget. I can't go to the tree, no matter how much it calls to me.
I've ignored the leaves this long. I'll keep ignoring them.
I can't let it get to me. I can't let the years get to me. I can't let this aging body get to me.
I need to keep moving forward as much as I can. They'll find me one day, right?
They have to find me one day.
I'm going to get back there one day.
I just need to have faith. Faith that my team is there waiting for me.
I don't know how long I've been helping the Paper Pleasers. It feels like months but it could be years now.
Days don't work normally. Time doesn't flow normally.
I-
Wait… what's that? I hear… people? Outside the village.
Is it time?
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