Chapter 11

Nora woke up more slowly than usual. She was uncomfortable. Did she fall asleep on the floor again? Ren usually moved her to a bed when she did that. She only had to open her eyes to find out things were not so simple. Looking around she found herself on the floor of a spacious throne room. A pink carpet, lined with gold, led to an elevated throne. In the other direction the carpet led to a set of elaborate doors. Was she dreaming? Nora spotted Magnhild on the ground by her side and reached for it. Touching it was painful. She looked at her hands and found they were burned. The burns were already starting to heal with the help of her aura, but they still ached.

Then Nora remembered what had happened. That Adachi guy had shown up and shocked her unconscious. That explained the burns but not where she was. What happened after that? Where was she? Were the others alright? She saw something on the ground to the left of the throne. Was it a person? She got up, feeling a bit dizzy, and walked over to investigate. It was Ren! "Ren!" She shouted. He did not respond. "Ren?" She walked closer and what she saw made her sick. Ren's face was drenched in blood and he was clearly unconscious. She rushed to his side and shook him. "Ren, wake up!" But he did not. She sat beside him, grabbed him by the shoulders and rolled him onto her. "Please wake up!" She cried, hugging his head tightly to her chest.

"Now why would he want to wake up?" A very familiar voice asked. "To be bothered by you some more? This is his chance to escape from that suffering."

The voice seemed to come from everywhere. "Who…where are you?" She asked.

"You know who I am." The voice replied.

Ren opened his eyes. He had no idea what was happening. One moment he was fighting Adachi, the next he was here. But where was here exactly? His senses gradually returned to him and the world started to resolve itself. He was surrounded by shelves of books. They seemed to go on endlessly. He was seated at a simple wooden desk, more books piled up atop it. It was all very strange. He had the nagging feeling that this place was not what it seemed. He tried to stand but found that he could not move.

"Hello Ren." A voice said. Ren recognized it immediately. It was his voice. The voice seemed to know that he knew. "You do most of your talking to yourself anyway, so this should be easy for you to understand."

"Well, me, what is this place?" Ren asked. "What happened?"

A copy of him appeared across the desk. There was something strange and unnerving about it. Maybe it was the eyes or the way it smiled. "I think what happened is easier to explain, so I'll start there." His copy said. "You got kicked in the head pretty hard. Your brain got bounced around and on top of that you lost quite a lot of blood." His double was far more talkative than the original. "Right now, you're unconscious. Your body was thrown into another dimension by Adachi. This place is a product of the interaction between that world and your mind."

"Who are you?" Ren asked, knowing the answer he was likely to get.

"I'm you." The double said. "But you already know that. I think the question you're looking for is, 'why am I here?'" His double smirked. "I'm here to guide you to happiness. Happiness you'll find in this place."

Ren did not like the way his double had said that. "Happiness?" He asked.

"I'm here to grant your greatest wish." His double said. "You want to find the answers to life's great questions. You want inner peace. I am here to offer it."

"And how would you do that?" Ren asked.

"Around you is knowledge encompassing the entirety of the multiverse." His double said. "I offer you an eternity to study, absorb and contemplate that knowledge. So armed, the meaning of life will be at your fingertips, along with the key to inner peace."

"What's the catch?" Ren asked. The offer was too good to be true. At least too good to be free.

"You must sacrifice your contact with the physical world." His double explained. "You will exist as a being of pure thought. You will be alone, but you will be all-knowing."

"Why would I do that?" Ren asked.

"Don't tell me you really would prefer to go back." His double laughed. "The world is so full of strife, so full of distraction and annoyance. Do you really want to go back to your life of babysitting Nora? With everything she's put you through, everything she will put you through; you should be dying to escape. You have to keep her from hurting herself, clean up after her, apologize for her, and do all the things she can't be bothered to do herself. Surely you'd be happier here, freed from the burden."

Ren could not help but admit that his double had a point. Life was taxing, particularly with Nora. There was never time to meditate, to reflect, and to have some peace and quiet with Nora around. Maybe being free from that would make him happier. But that was selfish. What would the others go through? His friends would be crushed. It would be as if he died. Nora may never recover from something like that.

"You've spent your life thinking about others." His double said, as if reading his thoughts. "Now is that time to think about your own happiness. Do not let the feelings of others stand in the way of your happiness."

If his double had intended to sway him, it had the opposite effect. Now he was sure. He could not accept its offer, no matter how tempting it may be. Even if it made him happy, it was wrong. He would not be happy anyway, isolated from everyone. What was life without friends to share it with? Mustering all his strength and willpower, he shot his hands forward. His guns slid out from his sleeves and he grabbed hold, leveling them at his double. "I reject your offer." He said as he pulled the triggers. Bullets leapt from his weapons and slammed into his double. His double simply faded away, a frown of disappointment on its face. Then Ren's world faded to black.

"Well this isn't what I was expecting at all." Yang said as the group entered another large room. It was lined with bookshelves, like a library. "The only thing Nora does in the library is sleep."

"She sleeps?!" Rise asked with genuine surprise. "I guess no one can keep up all that energy all the time."

"It could be Ren's influence." Blake posited. "He is very serious about his studies."

"Wasn't there supposed to be a shadow in here?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, but I don't…" Naoto started. Suddenly, a black glob rose from the floor and coalesced into a featureless humanoid figure. "Never mind."

The shadow reached out its arm made a 'shush' sound. Yu reached out his own arm to shock the shadow, but nothing happened. He tried again but was unable to produce any electricity. Yosuke likewise was unable to blast the shadow with wind as intended.

"I think the shadow's suppressing our abilities." Rise warned. "I can't tell for sure, because, well, it's suppressing my ability to scan it."

"Looks like we'll have to take it down the old-fashioned way." Yosuke said. He grabbed his twin blades and charged at the shadow. He attempted a leaping, spinning slash but the shadow easily sidestepped his attack. It punched him hard in the back of the head, slamming him face-first into the ground.

Naoto raised her rifle and took aim at the shadow. She pulled the trigger. Click. She was sure there was ammunition. She tried again. Click. "Well that's annoying." She sighed. "Looks like we can't shoot either." Seeing Naoto's confusion and distress, the shadow charged, driving her into the ground with a running tackle. Yang rushed up behind the shadow to assist but it spun around and met her attack, blocking perfectly as Yang launched a series of punches. Yang reared back for a more powerful strike, but the shadow preempted it by kicking her in the stomach. As Yang doubled over, the shadow slammed an elbow down into the back of her head, sending her to the floor hard.

Blake threw half of Gambol Shroud, extended on its ribbon, and hooked the shadow's shoulder. She tugged hard, pulling the shadow off balance. Weiss rushed in and stabbed at the shadow with Myrtenaster, but the shadow dropped to the ground to avoid the strike. Weiss stabbed down at the prone shadow but it rolled out of the way, kicked her in the wrist to knock her sword out of position, the grabbed her leg and tripped her. Weiss went down but Ruby was there to keep the shadow occupied. She slammed the blunt side of Crescent Rose into the shadow's chest, sending the shadow flying into a bookcase. The bookcase collapsed, spilling books onto the shadow as it stumbled to its feet. Rise was there in a flash. She planted her spear against her foot and fired it into the shadow's chest. The blade found its mark, pinning the shadow to the wall. Yu came in to finish it off, severing the shadow's head with a single swift strike. The shadow melted and evaporated.

"That was irritating." Weiss said as Blake helped her to her feet. Nearby Yang sat up, looking more embarrassed than injured. "Do shadows usually play tricks like that?"

"Some of them do." Rise said as she and Yu helped Naoto up. Naoto looked like she was in pain. "I guess you just get used to it."

"At least this one didn't one-shot any of us with darkness or light." Yosuke said as he struggled to his feet. He grabbed a bookshelf to pull himself up but it gave way, sending him tumbling back to the floor. "I'm alright." He groaned.

"You just have to be careful." Yu said. "Shadows are capable of almost anything, but they all have a weakness. You just need to find it."

Jaune was close to falling asleep. After hours of waiting at Pyrrha's bedside, even the bright lights and beeping of the monitors was not enough to keep him awake. He was worried about her, but there was nothing he could do. When he first arrived, he watched the doctors closely to see if he could get a feel for what they were thinking. Their seeming lack of confidence filled him with dread. Pyrrha had stabilized and her vitals were improving, but head injuries were tough. The one thing the doctors were happy about was how fast she had been brought in. They said it had only been an hour or two since she was injured. That seemed impossible. The two of them had been missing for over a day. All Jaune could figure was that time worked differently in that other world. Either that or Pyrrha worked differently.

Just as Jaune was starting to feel unable to keep his eyes open, Pyrrha moved. It snapped him to full alertness. She had not moved since she had been brought to the hospital. Was it just his imagination? No, there it was again. It was subtle but her facial expression definitely changed. Then her eyes opened. "Pyrrha?" Jaune said hopefully.

Pyrrha blinked furiously as her eyes struggled to adjust to the bright light. Squinting, she turned her head ever so slightly in Jaune's direction. Her mouth opened as if to speak, but no words came out. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "J-Jaune?" She said weakly.

"I'm here." Jaune said. He leapt from his chair to her side, grabbing her hand. "I'm here."

Pyrrha found herself having trouble focusing. She felt no pain, but she felt nothing really. Whatever medication the doctors had her on was strong stuff. Her mind was hazy. "Jaune, are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm the one who should be asking you." Jaune said. "I'm fine, a little sore, but fine."

"What happened?" Pyrrha asked. "Where am I?"

"Team RWBY and Team YYRN rescued us." Jaune said. "We're in the hospital."

"I don't like hospitals." Pyrrha said. "They're too sterile." It seemed her mind was drifting. Then it snapped back. She looked Jaune in the eyes. "Where are Ren and Nora?" She asked with concern.

"I…I don't know." Jaune admitted. "We were separated." Pyrrha frowned and lowered her head. Jaune had to do something to cheer her up. "Don't worry though. RWBY and YYRN know where they are. They're getting them right now."

"Oh, that's good." Pyrrha said with a smile. "That's good." She drifted back into unconsciousness.

Nora looked up to see someone sitting sideways on the throne, her legs bent over the armrest. It was hard to believe, but it was clearly another Nora. This one was dressed regally, like a queen. Aside from the disturbing nature of facing her doppelganger, something about its appearance made it even more ominous. "Come on Ren, wake up." Nora said, still holding his bloody head tightly to her chest.

"He's not going to wake up." Her double said. "Ever."

"No, he'll be fine." Nora protested. "He has to be."

"That's the crux of it." Her double said. "You need him. You can't live without him. Even if he never sees you the way you see him, you can't stand the thought of not being with him. The problem is he doesn't need you. The only reason he hasn't just left you is because he's too nice. He doesn't want to hurt you, but you cause him so much trouble. Now that he has the chance to escape, why would he ever come back to that? Deep down, he hates you."

"He can't hate me." Nora said. She was starting to cry. "Can he? We have fun together, right?"

"You have fun." Her double countered. "He has to clean up after you, apologize for you, and make sure you don't hurt yourself. Hanging around with you is so much work for him. No wonder he's so lethargic. He has to use all his energy just to deal with you."

"But I…we…" Nora started but she could not finish. Tears streamed down her face. "Please wake up."

"He's never going to wake up." Her double said. "You're alone."

Just then Teams RWBY and YYRN burst into the throne room. "Leave Nora alone!" Ruby shouted.

"Intruders?!" Queen Nora boomed. "In my throne room?! Guards, eliminate them!" With that a number of black globs dropped from the ceiling, each resolving into a mannequin-like being wearing leather armor and carrying a longbow. The shadow archers lined up, forming a barrier between Queen Nora and the group. They readied their arrows and fired a volley that sent RWBY and YYRN diving for cover. Queen Nora looked on; a satisfied and menacing smile on her face.

Yu landed on his side after his evasive dive. He reached out his arms to blast the archers with electricity. It arced from his hands to the shadows then arced between them but it had no effect. Naoto tried fire, but her incendiary attack broke over them without doing any damage. They fired another volley and Yosuke broke it up using wind, knocking the arrows out of the air.

"This is bad." Rise said. "They seem immune to everything."

Yang charged at the line of archers. They fired another volley, the arrows deflecting off her aura. She reached one and punched it hard in the face. The shadow stumbled back a few steps but almost immediately regained its balance. It lifted its bow and fired a shot straight at Yang. She punched it out of the air and backflipped away as the other shadows fired on her, their arrows just missing her as she desperately tried to avoid the onslaught.

Ruby fired sniper shots at the shadows but the shots bounced off harmlessly. Weiss slid in using her glyphs and stabbed at a shadow. Myrtenaster glanced off the shadow without leaving a mark and then it countered by hitting her in the face with its bow. Weiss was pushed back, almost tripping as she staggered away. The shadow fired an arrow at her. She dodged to the side as quickly as she could and the arrow passed through her combat skirt, just missing her body. She used her glyphs to make a hasty retreat back to the others.

None of their attacks were working. They needed to buy some time. Yu began building a wall of ice between the shadow archers and the group. Soon he was joined by Weiss and together they constructed a frozen barrier to hide behind. The shadows aimed high, letting their arrows arc over the barrier and fall behind it. RWBY and YYRN rushed to the ice wall and got as close to it as possible to avoid the incoming fire. The shadows split their strategy, some firing high to keep the group pinned, others firing straight at the barrier to chip away at it.

"Wake-up-wake-up-wake-up-wake-up!" Nora cried, holding Ren tightly and rocking back and forth. "You have to wake up!"

Queen Nora cackled as her shadow archers launched volley after volley at RWBY and YYRN. "Yes, kill them!" She laughed. "Kill them all!"

Ren opened his eyes and coughed. His head hurt badly and he felt weak. "Ren?" Nora said through her tears, holding him at arm's length and looking him in the eyes.

Ren looked back. Nora was covered in blood but did not look hurt. He assumed it was his blood. She looked hysterical but not nearly as insane as the other Nora sitting on a throne nearby. If this was anything like his experience, the queen was a monster. "Nora, I'm here." He said weakly. He struggled to turn, wanting to see what the other Nora was laughing at. He saw inhuman creatures firing arrows at an ice wall. Behind it he could make out several figures. He listened carefully for their voices. It was his friends. They sounded desperate.

"Ren, I'm so glad…" Nora started.

"Nora, you need to help them." Ren cut her off.

"But what about you?" Nora asked, sniffling.

"Forget about me." Ren said. "I'll be fine. Right now, you need to save the others." He put on as brave a face as possible, knowing he was in fact not fine but not wanting Nora to know. "Go!"