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Lewis Carroll wondered how it all went downhill. As he stared his Turning in the spiralling eyes, he remembered how it started.
Quite a while prior…
Lewis and his sister Alyx had begun their journey in the Ever After with wonder, meeting all the wacky inhabitants as they went.
The Jinxy Peddler and the Red King were two annoying ones, but they got past them easily enough. Alyx sacrificed her happiest and saddest memories to get her dagger back, but Lewis knew her happiest memory and would remember it for her. Who needed her saddest?
Things got even weirder when they met the Rusted Knight and his Jackalope, Juniper apparently. The duo were in the midst of the strangest tea party the siblings had ever seen. The Knight had his helmet on and the Jackalope couldn't really drink tea out of a teacup. She certainly tried though. They were “drinking” some odd approximation of tea that was likely juice from the Jungle Acre that the Carrolls had passed through.
Upon gaining their attention, the Knight had been surprised at seeing them. Not that they could tell, as his face was hidden, but by his words.
“Humans? In the Ever After?” he had asked, looking them over before coming to some conclusion. “You don't belong here. I'll help you out.”
Alyx and Lewis had figured that the fact he recognized them as humans was odd, because the rest of the Ever After didn't know what humans were. They may not be the first humans in this place. And wasn’t that an idea.
The Rusted Knight, who didn’t actually introduce himself but agreed to being called that easily enough, had led them through some of the Acres, closer to the Tree. They had encountered the Curious Cat along the way, and they had joined their party, out of curiosity of course.
Then the Knight had unlocked the Carroll siblings’ Aura, in the hopes that it may help them. That started the downfall of everything.
Alyx had unlocked a terrifying Semblance, one that changed reality as she willed it. It manifested as blue ribbons that spread from her dress and would affect and warp whatever they touched. Lewis was already worrying about their mental states as the Ever After was truly strange, and adding in this Semblance seemed to just accelerate her deterioration. She already believed it wasn’t real, that it was consequence-free, and having this power just made her more able to act on that idea.
He had ended up pursued by the ribbons, and that began a terrifying hunt through the various Acres as space distorted in his wake, changing the scenery.
It meddled with the Afterans’ purposes, and even managed to transform the Jabberwalker into a harmless doll of its former self.
That was when the Cat realized they too could be affected and fled. Losing themself was perhaps the one thing they weren't curious about.
The chase had gone on and on, until he could see the Knight and the Jackalope back at their tea party where they first met. Alyx had already altered their reality to the start of their meeting.
Lewis had run up to them, in an effort to get the Knight to help him, only for the ribbons to get there first. His form had contorted into a horrifying mass of spiked, rusty armor, and the helmet had gained antlers not unlike Juniper’s. His size had grown to an even more towering height, taller than his mount.
Juniper had reared up in alarm, before she too was bent out of sorts, with her size also growing and antlers branching out ever farther. They tangled like a bramble and became wickedly sharp.
Lewis had been too scared to truly process it, and had turned tail and fled.
Attempting to lead his too-far-gone sister anywhere uninhabited was difficult, as pretty much every Acre had some form of life or existence.
In the King’s Acre, he had witnessed the Red King be beheaded and turned into a spiked red behemoth, still headless of course.
In the Garden Acre, the Jinxy Peddler was unceremoniously just straight up killed. The other merchants had tried to flee, only to be transformed into more horrifying caricatures of themselves.
In the Jungle Acre, the poor Hunter Mice had been transformed into carnivorous nightmare mice, akin to Beowulves, hunting in packs and attacking any who entered their Acre.
Lewis didn’t even know if his sister was present at all anymore in the Warper, as the few survivors had dubbed her. They had also named her Semblance as the Turning. It was a fitting name, but did nothing for them.
The Cat had all but vanished. Lewis was perhaps the only thing not yet affected by the Turning.
He figured it was inevitable, and as he stared up at Alyx, atop the Twisted Knight’s shoulder plates, hoped that maybe the Tree could fix this.
He quickly knew no more.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lively Carpenter, the current Avatar of the Tree, gazed out at the terraformed, mixed up, Ever After that she called home. The human interloper had changed it, beyond recognition. She wasn’t quite sure any of the affected Afterans could Ascend, and the Semblance didn’t seem to be wearing off. Something was keeping it fueled. It should have run out, but hadn’t yet.
There wasn’t much she could do, and Ascending the Jinxy Peddler to their next form would be pointless as long as this Turning ran rampant. What to do…
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two words. Simple instructions that they failed anyway. “Don’t fall.” Real helpful Ambrosius.
Team RWBY had found themselves in some bizarre realm, one that defied logic and thus drove Weiss nuts just a little bit. They were all wary, even more so when they found Neo.
Preparing to fight hadn’t gotten them anything, and Neo just looked defeated. So they took her along, because this place was a mess as it was. The new Team RWBYN had encountered some reality-defying things in their time on Remnant, but this place took the cake.
“I don’t get it. This area is a jungle, and the one next to it is literally a frozen wasteland. That shouldn’t work!” Weiss exclaimed, pointing at exactly what she described.
R_BYN glanced at it.
“I mean, is that really a surprise?” Yang asked. “The rest of this place is like that too.”
“I don’t know why you’re still complaining, Weiss.” Blake stated. “I’m wondering more about how we’re gonna find food.”
“Well, we’ll probably find something, eventually.” Ruby said, trying to look optimistic.
Neo shrugged, before signing out a sarcastic comment. Ruby glared at her.
“Not helping.”
“The Tree is the only thing that resembles sanity here, so maybe we should head there.” Blake offered, raising a good point. “Besides being massive, it’s pretty normal looking.”
“Yeah, I see your point.” Ruby told her. “I guess we’ll head there.”
With a goal in mind, RWBYN embarked there. The whole realm was ominously empty of life and that just fed into their unease. It was quiet, except for the weather that occasionally occurred. Which was connected to feelings, so they tried to not set off any meteorological events unless they felt they needed the water, in which case they got Ruby to cry. Thankfully, the rainwater was drinkable and looked like normal water, so this method got them through to find any safe looking fruits.
As they got closer to the Tree, the latest Acre they found was overtaken with greenery, reminiscent of an untamed garden. There were wild fruits there that they took advantage of, and after eating noticed there wasn’t a bridge to the Tree like the other Acres had to connect to each other.
“So, how do we get to the Tree?” Yang asked, glancing over the Acre’s edge into the void.
“I doubt we can build a bridge there, and it’d be a hassle to try to use glyphs. This is a massive chasm, and I’m unsure if I’ll be able to make that many glyphs long enough for all of us to get over.” Weiss confirmed. It’d be a long drop if anything went wrong.
Luckily, they didn’t have to try to find a solution for long, as they suddenly found themselves in a forge and workshop. A massive metal blacksmith was waiting for them there.
“Welcome to the Tree, travelers. I am the Blacksmith, and I will assist you.” they said.
“Nice to meet you?” Ruby tried. “Can you tell us what happened out there?”
“I suppose you wouldn’t know. This realm is the Ever After. It used to be more inhabited, more functional, with different rules. With the Turning, however, it has changed from how it was.”
“What’s the Turning?” Blake asked.
“The Semblance of one Alyx Carroll, unlocked quite a time ago, one that was nicknamed the Turning by the former inhabitants of this realm. It warped this place to her will, in her belief that it was a dream of sorts, and wouldn’t have consequences. It did, and the Afterans paid the price for it.”
The Blacksmith gestured, and a section of the workshop opened up, displaying wooden figures.
“I’ve encased all those Turned in wood in order to preserve them until the Semblance can be dealt with. I was uncertain that Ascension would do anything to solve this, and an unaware stasis seemed kinder than letting them run amok, without their purposes to guide them.”
The Blacksmith pulled a sword from the wall. A perfectly intact Crocea Mors, which prompted them to really register the weapons on display. Penny’s Floating Array sword, Sundered Rose, Alyx’s dagger. Replicas, yes, but powerful reminders.
“Wait, why do you have Jaune’s sword?” Ruby questioned.
“The one you refer to was affected by time, sent back, and fell victim to the Turning.”
The Blacksmith indicated a wooden knight-monster, of sorts, twisted beyond human proportions. RWBY gasped, horrified that this is what became of their friend.
“As they can’t yet be restored, here they will stay. I am not a destroyer, and although culling the Semblance user would fix it, is against my purpose as a creator. However, balance is necessary, and the Ever After can only be returned to its original state once Alyx has perished or her Aura drained. But due to the nature of it, she established a connection to the Twisted Knight’s Semblance, keeping her boosted.” The Blacksmith finished, gazing at the group.
Neo raised her hand. I could kill that girl, she signed. She was the more dangerous one of her duo with Roman. Killing a person who wouldn’t be alive anymore on Remnant wouldn’t really do anything to her conscience, unlike these goody-goodies she was stuck with. The non-color name obviously meant if Alyx had stayed on Remnant, she’d likely be dead now.
The Blacksmith nodded. “Alyx may be ascended afterward, perhaps. This Semblance would be removed, but she’d live again.”
Context clues, no more need to wonder about Ascension.
RWBY found they couldn’t really disagree with the logic, despite it being distasteful. They also wanted their friend back, and not as the monstrosity over there.
Neo swiftly beheaded the wooden Alyx, and everyone watched as the forms of the statues changed to how they were originally. It was instantaneous, and the Blacksmith let the wood recede from the Knight and the Jackalope. She felt their reunion was long overdue.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaune-The-Rusted-Knight-Arc-Huntsman-Time-Traveler blinked, disoriented. He was now suddenly aware of a lot of things, like that he had no idea where he was or why RWBY was there with Neo alongside. He did notice that Juniper was also looking as confused as he was, which was nice.
He felt like he’d been confined to his helmet for way too long, and reached up to remove it. He pulled it off, remembered he had a beard and a warrior’s wolf tail, and ran a hand through both, before granting Juniper chin scratches.
Then he refocused on RWBYN, who were staring at his “definitely older than they last saw him” appearance, and waved.
“Hello, Crater Face.”
Ruby snapped out of her shock and rammed into him, at full Semblance-enhanced speed, sending him not quite stumbling back, but definitely on his back foot, as he reached around to hug her. She returned it, before remembering that he was kinda all armored up.
Ruby pulled back and gazed at his white hair streaks and definitely aged face. He blinked down at her.
Yang, Blake and Weiss all joined in on the hug, awkwardly, and Juniper nosed at each of them. She wasn’t used to new people.
Neo spectated this, and when they pulled apart, the Blacksmith presented them with their options.
“I can send you when you’ll be needed most, back to Remnant. I can Ascend you, if you no longer want to live this life and would like to change. I can age you back to your arrival, Knight.”
Jaune nodded. “I would prefer to be in my younger body. Be kinda awkward regardless, but I won’t look old.”
Weiss took a moment to mourn his mature appearance, then reckoned she could wait.
The Blacksmith nodded, handing him the replica Crocea Mors. It reverted him to his 19 year-old self. Juniper investigated his much younger look, having only seen him with the longer hair.
Neo held up two fingers. I would like option 2, she signed.
The Blacksmith nodded, presenting her with a replica of Melodic Cudgel, Roman’s cane. Neo vanished, to be remade Afteran.
“The rest of us would like to go back to Remnant.” Yang told the Tree’s Avatar.
“You’ll appear when you’re needed most, and continue there.” The Blacksmith opened a portal, and RWBY-J glanced at each other. They were ready to leave this insane place.
“What about Juniper?” Jaune asked. He didn’t really want to leave her, but she may not be able to survive on Remnant.
“She can join you, or she can stay.”
Juniper nosed further into Jaune’s face.
“I think she’d prefer to go with you, Knight, so it shall be.”
Jaune nodded, petting his companion.
Ruby led the way into the portal, and the rest followed.
They emerged in Vacuo, and saw the numerous ships above it, preparing for the final stand against Salem and the forces of Grimm.
“Well, let’s go!” Ruby exclaimed. The group smiled at each other, before beginning the trek there.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Blacksmith gazed upon the rook piece that Lewis was Turned into. He wouldn’t belong on the current Remnant either. The kindest thing would be to Ascend him, give him a second chance alongside his sister. Perhaps they would reconcile, without Alyx’s toxic mentality to sour it.
A chance to heal, to grow, to be more than a child in a strange world. Yes, that’s just what she’d do for him. As she would for the rest of the Afterans, who wouldn’t remember the events prior, and would begin again, as they were meant to. No more interference that could be that destructive would ever be allowed to occur again. She supposed, sometimes, interference was necessary.
A new start, for the entirety of the Ever After. Only the Cat would remember, assuming the Warper hadn’t erased them. The Jabberwalker wouldn’t be needed, this time. It would stay encased in wood, and perhaps she’d Ascend it too, much later.
Everything deserved a second chance, and it wasn’t the Jabberwalker’s fault the Brothers left it not quite to its purpose as the Tree would’ve done it.
First, though, the Acres needed to be remade, and then the cycle could continue.
A fitting resolution to the chaos of the Warper.
The Blacksmith set to work.