Chapter 2. A Tale Of Two Souls

After having my little episode in Mr. Donahughes bathroom, I awoke again on the same bed with him leaning close by.

"How long was I out?" I asked groggily.

"About an hour, give or take."

"...So if I look in that mirror again am I still gonna see white hair?" I asked hesitantly

With a smirk he replied, "With blue streaks, can't forget those."

"Oh Monty above, how could I possibly forget the fact that I now have blue streaks to accommodate the hair that I should not have." I replied rather snidely.

"You know, they say sarcasm is the lowest form of humor."

"Nah, that spot is saved for puns. Nothing worse than puns." I said, all the while rolling my eyes. Suddenly I shivered.

YANG'S P.O.V

Suddenly lifting herself upright in her bed Yang senses something amiss. "I feel a Distur-Punce in the force! Someone has dared to blasphemy the sacred art of punning! This shall not go unPunished!

Ruby throws a pillow directly into Yangs face, "Yaaaaaaaaaang, go to bed."

"For once the dolt is right, shut it or we'll shut you!" Weiss said angri/drowsily, her face buried into her pillow.

"Ahh put a cork in it Ice Queen." Replied, before another pillow attacked her from below. "Et tu, Kitty?"

The normally unperturbed cat fanus simply replied, "Yang. Sleep. Quiet. Now."

"Fine, I know how you like your Cat naps...hehe."

*Grooooooooooan*

SEBASTIEYN'S P.O.V

"That was weird, anyways. So. Based on your line of questioning, and the fact that this is most definitely not my body, I'm going to assume that I have somehow come into the possession of the body of someone you know?" Becoming serious once more.

Maes took a moment to gather his thoughts, then sighed heavily. "I honestly don't know. I had thought it could be a case of amnesia but you wouldn't create a brand new persona if that was the case, and it most definitely isn't a case of multiple personalities, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to describe so many things in detail especially the fact that what you said should be your body would look nothing like the one you currently inhabit, so it seems, as unlikely as it is, you have somehow crossed the continents and taken over Eton's body."

"Eton? You said that name during your line of questioning. Is that the name of the..."owner" of this body?"

"Correct, Eton Crescent. He's 17, a bit of a wild child, always trying to find some new way to get stronger. He was training to become a hunter like me so he could get into one of the combat academies."

"I see...were you two close?"

"Yeah, you...I mean he, was like a son to me. His parents were hunters as well, on the same team with me in fact, however they died in the line of duty, and so I took Eton in. I wouldn't let my best friends son be alone like that." As he was talking, Maes was becoming misty eyed.

"I'm sorry, I wish I knew what happened."

"I'll be fine. Plus, the date you gave me, it was correct. So whatever happened to you and him, it was instantaneous, so if your in his body, then that might mean-" Maes began.

Catching on I finished the thought, "Then chances are he may be in my body." Maes nodded. "So it's simply a matter of getting to Atlas and track him and my body down. But even if we find him we would still be stuck on the original problem. And considering the heart problem I have in my old body, I doubt it'd be good to leave him alone to long, assuming he hasn't already given himself...err, me, a heart attack."

"That's right." Maes nodded, reverting back to his thinker pose. "Honestly, I may be a doctor, but I haven't the foggiest as to how this could have happened."

"Hmmm well, first we should find the similarities."

"Similarities?"

"Yes, me and Eton have absolutely nothing to do with each other, and I'm somehow doubt he is some long lost cousin or something. I think the first thing to determine is whether it was simply our minds that transferred, or if it was the entirety of our souls."

"Excellent point, that could give us some sort of clue as to what happened. And I know just the way to find out." Maes, becoming increasingly excited at his "Ah Ha" moment.

"Through aura I imagine?" Sebasiteyn asked, having deduced what the older man was thinking.

"Correct, no two souls are alike, each is different, even with the closest of twins, there are always differences. That means, that by simply checking you-er Eto-...man this confusing. Either way, checking the aura currently in body, we will know what kind of transfer took place. Do you know how to use Aura?"

"Hmm, it's been a while, I haven't been able to use it since the Ursa incident since too much stress on my heart was liable to give me an attack, but the basics were drilled into me so it shouldn't be to hard." Though my face was a mask of stone, even I was beginning to feel a bit excited. I knew that this was more than likely a temporary arrangement, but still, the chance to use my aura again after all these years was exhilarating to say the least. And with that thought, I began the process of feeling for the aura in this body. I closed my eyes, and willed my soul/Etons soul? Man he was right, this is confusing. Well I willed "The" soul forward, beckoning for it. Surprisingly it came easy. In fact, a little too easily, as though I had never stopped using it at all since the day of the accident, for it all came rushing out at once.

Opening my eyes, we found our answer, the aura was Cinereous, or ashy gray. That meant it was,"It's my aura" I said aloud. Well we figured that one out...and I haven't really learned anything from it. Back to square one.

"It is indeed not Eton's aura, his is a bluish gray...but..." Maes hesitated.

"This brings up another problem. What kind of semblance is able to transfer entire souls between bodies? And even then, semblances often reflect their user, so why would someone have a semblance like that?" I finished.

"Well, it might be the semblance of someone who is not happy with their life, and rather pose as someone else or even for immortality, extending ones own life span by switching into a younger body." Maes offered as an explanation

"Then why switch two completely unrelated people, and now that I think about it, the amount of aura needed to do something like switching souls alone would more than likely take a ridiculous amount. To switch souls between continents, that goes beyond impossible."

"You're correct in those regards, but somehow, it still happened. I think I have an idea though," Maes said, brightening up,"Back in Vale, there is the Beacon Combat Academy, the Headmaster is a friend of mine, and he is easily the most brilliant man I've ever met, with his help we might be able to get to the bottom of this, and either way, we would need to head into Vale to find transport to Atlas so I say that's our best bet."

"Hmmm, well it's all we got. How soon can we leave?"

"That...is actually a problem. Recently, the village has been getting more Grimm activity. I'm currently the only Hunter here, meaning I'm the only line of defense. Some of the villagers have some experience fighting Grimm, but not enough to stand a chance against a large attack. However we were supposed to be getting reinforcements from Beacon soon, they were supposed to send a team of students to help clear out the area. They got held up due to a recent White Fang attack on Vale, but that has been pretty much cleared up at this point so I imagine we'll be getting that team soon. Once they, arrive with the Professional Hunter they are suppose to shadow, we'll be able to arrange a way to get you to beacon."

"Just me?"

"You seem to have a damned good head on you, and you know how to use aura so you should be able to protect yourself should anything occur, and as much as I want to track Eton down, the team they are sending wont be here more than a week, and that's not nearly enough time to get to Vale, then Atlas, then all the way back, assuming nothing happens in between."

"A good point. Well then, I guess that's our plan. How long do you think it will take before they can get here?" I asked.

"Hmm, I sent out another request the day before yesterday, so I imagine they'll be here some time tomorrow morning."

*Grooooowl*

"Seems all this talking has given me an appetite, is there anything I could possibly have to eat?"

"Sure no problem, my wife is out of town for a bit, visiting family up in Vale so she made alot of freezer meals, so we got a whole selection. Let's go grab something and see what catches your eye." He gave me a smile and helped me off the bed. "Oh, but don't say anything about your current...situation to anyone, especially the kids, it'll break their hearts. They really loved-" He stopped himself short. "love Eton."

"I understand. I'll just keep quiet and say my "injuries" really exhausted me should they ask me any questions."

Maes nodded in agreement, "Sounds good. You know, you are taking this very well considering the situation."

I hesitated a moment before deciding to answer. "I'm alive and that's all that matters. I have no right to complain or be distraught, especially with the fact that your adoptive son was somehow caught up in this."

At this, Maes raised a eyebrow, but said nothing more on the subject.

It was then I suddenly remembered something, "By the way, speaking of Eton, how did he end up in that meadow you talked about before?"

"Eton usually goes to that area to train by fighting Grimm, when my kids found them there, he apparently was fighting an Ursa Major, from the description they told me. They got worried and ran back to let me know. By the time I reached him, the Ursa was already dead, however there was a large gash in his chest. Actually it was exactly where you said your scar would be. Thinking about it, with an injury of that extent, he shouldn't have had enough aura to survive, even if he was at full, he always had a low amount of aura reserves. I think it was due to your soul moving in and the amount of aura that you have, which is an impressive amount by the way, that saved his body. What are the chances?"

"...Odd for such a lucky coincidence...but I guess no more odd than the rest of this day." I shrugged.

At this, Maes laughed. "You got that right, now lets get the tykes together and get something to eat!" And Maes marched out the door, calling for his children.

As much as my hungry stomach wanted me to stop thinking about the issue at hand and get food in my belly, I couldn't help but wonder about all these coincidences. The fact that Eton had nearly died in the same way I nearly did 7 years ago, and the fact that it was my soul moving in exactly when his body would need more aura than it currently had to be able to heal. And of course, what was it that had happened back at my own home, what was that shadow and the flash of light? Something deeper was at play here, and I needed to find out what.

Afterword

Sorry this came out a bit later than expected. Life and all that jazz, amirght? But no fears, it shant interfere to much...unless it does. *Shrugs*

Now then, that is pretty much it for all the explanations and backstory! (for now anyways o 3o). Onto ADVENTURE AND GLORY...or was it tragedy and Gore-y...always get them mixed up. Ta ta for now.