[||||=LEVEL 43= ||||]
[|| =!BONUS LEVEL!= ||]
Scales, fire, and the gleam of steel
Coral was angry. At her family and her new master and herself and the world.
But mostly herself.
Coral once more glared at the sleeping old fart. It was a little difficult since he was so big. Still, though, she managed it. The old lizard was huge, the size of her old house with her family. One of his talons extended would be as long as she was tall, though she was a little on the short side.
That said, Old lizard (he had forgotten his name long ago) wasn't too impressive looking. He was, as the name described, old. His scales were a dull grey that barely shined like Coral assumed they were supposed to. Dragons were majestic, after all. Everyone knew that. But he could barely stand, for all the good having four legs gave him. He had to dig through dirt with some sort of dirt magic since he was literally so old and worn down that he couldn't move himself with muscles alone.
Old lizard wasn't exactly normal. He was a dragon. One of the last ones left apparently. The only reason he was alive at all was due to something called a metal affinity and a stone affinity but quite honestly Coral didn't care about that.
What Coral cared about was the opportunities Old lizard had given her. She still remembered the words her mother had said to her when she and two of her sisters had arrived.
"You… you have potential, young one. But it is untapped, unlike your kin. What do you desire?"
"I-"
"My daughter is family, Old one. My apologies but she will be with us."
"Family, hmm? Very-"
"What do you want?"
"Hmph. To see growth, youngling, and to pass on with my deeds all finished. And you are not yet grown, are you? Perhaps we can come to an understanding…"
A smile almost bloomed on Coral's face at the memory but it withered when she remembered the price of leaving the family. She didn't think she could even look at her mother for years to come. It hadn't been pleasant for anyone, her decision to leave the family. In such a precarious situation too, the Villain having traumatized three of her sisters and their new alliance with Ozpin coming into full swing.
Maybe she should have waited a year. She wouldn't have hurt the family as much and her mother was right that family should stick together through thick and thin.
But that just didn't work for Coral. She never liked being a huntress. She wasn't forced into it but she just didn't find anything else that she enjoyed doing. From business to sciences she just found everything dull. Metalworking was almost a hit but she couldn't really do it. Learning weapon-making was a city craft and they were country folk. Fighting was something she was good at so she just did it.
Being able to fight would help her defend her brother too. He was the only one in the family she was close to anyways. If she couldn't find something that made her happy for herself she had her brother to rely on.
He was her purpose and that was okay for a while. Crimson and Azure certainly were able to make him their world. He wasn't deified, thank dust, but letting her life revolve around his well-being like mom and the other two just didn't fit quite right.
This did. When Old lizard showed her what he called the scale arts she just seemed to know that it was what she had been waiting for. Something to live for that was hers and hers alone. She went so far as to retire as a huntress, suspending her license. The arts fit her like a glove, ehh, most of the time.
Okay so maybe she struggled a little… or a lot. But she did it! Old lizard said that no human had wielded the scale arts for many decades, almost a century. Not many humans or faunus are fit for them and a lot of the training is intense.
Luckily being a huntress had toughened Coral up. Eight hours of practice a day? Psh! Her mother had her working twelve. She devoted fourteen to the arts every day. If she loved it, why would she stop practicing?
The things Old lizard taught her were weird. Filling a pot with holes in it with earth. It wasn't so hard. She just had to pack the earth together. Then she had to melt steel with aura and dust alone and not that much dust either. Like a thimble of dust for a solid square of steel.
She was getting it, though. It was obscure and strange training but Old lizard wasn't joking when he said it was all training. As it turns out, the fire dust had been getting less and less pure as she used the thimble. By the end of her training with that melting steel technique she wasn't actually using dust at all!
That's right! She, Coral Ferrier Arc, had done magic!
It was fucking horrible.
Sure she could melt a little steel but the strain on her aura was huge! It was ridiculous! Old lizard said something about training affinities but she seriously thought he might be a bit batty. A month of training and she could melt twenty steel sheets.
Three months and she was doing fifty.
Six months and she was doing a hundred twenty.
It was grueling and tiring and frustrating but she kept going on resolutely. Her mother had given her two things that she would always be thankful for.
Will and grit.
Arcs did not give up. Arcs did not break their word - not even to themselves. That, at least, was something that stuck. Coral had promised herself that she would stick with Old lizard and that was that.
She would be melting steel sheets around him until he finally keeled over and did whatever that 'awakening' thing was. Something about being one with the dragon within. Whenever that happened she would be ready but until then she had the most boring and grueling magic of all time to keep practicing.
When he had shown her to make aura solid as steel and twice as resilient to fire she had been even more shocked than she had been at being able to melt steel with her bare hands. Sure, melting steel and lighting things on fire was cool but this? This was actually useful.
Sure Old lizard took a year to teach her about the technique but she was patient and just a little obsessed. So she would wait and learn from the old fart.
At this rate, though, she would only be out of the dwelling when she was old and wrinkled, but damn if she wasn't going to laugh in her mother's face when she showed off her new tricks. Suck on them apples, mom! You can make blades? Well, I can melt them WITH MY MIND!
That'll be the day. Just one more stone to break bare-handed and Old lizard will teach her that there's some sort of cool move she can do. Like, make stones into gold or something…
But DUST could this be any more unpleasant?! It's nearly ninety degrees out! Screw Mistral. The place sucks and she can't even watch TV since Old lizard lives in the wilderness. More like stupid lizard…
[|||| =NEXT STAGE= ||||]
A rough start to a great friendship
"Hiya!" Nora said cheerfully. The girl in red, who looked entirely too awkward in a refueling station, startled easily. She couldn't have been older than fourteen, about their age.
"Um, hi!" The girl smiled while Ren looked her over cautiously. It wasn't that she was hostile to Nora's bubbliness, but she did feel uncomfortable and she was armed. Perhaps Nora should have introduced herself to somebody different.
"Sorry for her enthusiasm," Ren apologized. He stepped almost in front of Nora, acting as a buffer. "She gets hyper when she's had sugar."
"It wasn't even that much!" Nora protested. "Anyways, where'd you get those weapons? They look really cool!"
"I, uhm,-" the girl stammered and blushed in embarrassment. She took just a moment to collect herself and perked up a little. "My name's Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos. It's nice to meet you."
Definitely not a native to the area, as if the clothes she wore weren't enough to make that obvious. She was entirely too formal, which nobody in the seedier regions of Mistral was. That left the question of why she was in such a backwater village anyways.
"Cool! It's nice to meet you too!" Nora easily pushed Ren away a little to be more face to face to Pyrrha. Ren internally sighed and stayed a little off the side, looking over the snacks that they had come for.
"So why are you here anyway? You really stand out, you know!" Nora's smile, despite her warnings, was as bright as always.
"Oh, um, my father and I are only here for the contract on the crocus in the area." Pyrrha smiled, still a little nervous. Ren's eyes widened a little. She was a huntress?! Or one in training at any rate, but as far as he knew there was no huntsman contract on the crocus. Nobody was rich enough to put one up. Why would any huntsmen be here at all?
"Oh, awesome! That grimm's been sort of a menace recently. A guy lost his leg yesterday in his boat. So how do you fight a water-based grimm anyways? Explosions?"
A little twitch of Pyrrha's lips upwards helped show her amusement even if she was a bit too nervous to properly smile. "Oh you just, um, well shoot at it mostly but we actually got a harpoon to use on the grimm. My semblance is polarity, you see so I can pull the harpoon and the grimm upwards out of the water while my father gets a clear shot at the crocus' head. It should be easy but we think that there might actually be four to six crocus' in total since they're territorial and the local bayou is pretty big. Besides, the attacks happened in really different locations."
Ren nodded and brought Pyrrha's attention back to him. Nora went to a shelf and looked over some of the goods there. Best not to linger too long in this place.
"That seems like a tough job. Aren't crocuses at least meant for a team of four hunters or more?"
"They're ranked that way because they're really big," Pyrrha explained. "I can counter them and my dad bought a few really big weapons to use against it so we shouldn't have much trouble. If we have to we have a few sort of secret weapons we can use against the grimm just in case and a jar of white sap to get them out of the way if we're REALLY desperate."
"Sounds like you're prepared," Ren observed.
"Ren! I got it!" Nora said with a smile. She came back to him and Pyrrha with a mostly fake smile and a box of breakfast bars and snack food. Ren nodded and took the bag of snacks from her before showing them to the bored looking cashier and paying while Nora invaded Pyrrha's personal space.
"It's been a pleasure meeting you," Ren said to Pyrrha with his bag over his shoulder. Nora was shoulder to shoulder with Pyrrha gesturing out the shop's window to the bayou not far away. "I hope to see you again but Nora and I have to set out tomorrow morning and we need our sleep."
Pyrrha nodded uncomfortably. Nora might have gone a little too far this time. "I, ah, goodbye to you as well." Ren took that as his cue and grabbed Nora as he went outside.
"Bye P-buddy!" Nora said happily as she was brought away from the store. Pyrrha weakly waved back.
"She seems nice," Nora said to Ren. He nodded in response.
[|||| =+= ||||]
Nora was quieter than usual in the mornings when they had to travel. After a long time travelling she understood that they had to conserve energy for later on in their hikes from town to town. That meant that as much as she obviously wanted to bounce along the path she had to stay and walk at a moderate pace like Ren was.
Even so, she could certainly distract herself.
"Do you think they have cool stuff at Greygrass? Like sloths! I'd take an elephant personally but sloths would be awesome! From the name you'd think they just have grass that's a boring grey but of course they have to have something! I mean, it's the third largest town around northern Mistral! It's practically a city! Do you think we can go see Mister Lute when we get to Kissam? That's next on our never-ending road trip, right?! It totally is! Ooh! I bet they have tons of candy and explosions at Greygrass! The name is a lie!"
"That sounds unlikely," Ren said calmly in response. Nora grinned widely.
"But it's totally possible!"
Ren's eye caught at a particularly solid looking portion of the marsh by the path. He stopped and looked at it intently. Something about it felt off. Be around dangerous places often enough and you tended to start listening to those feelings. More often than not they were right.
"But of course they've got pancakes! This sucky place didn't even have that! I need my fix, Ren! I NEED MY FIX!" Ren saw as Nora turned to her right, where he should have been, and looked back to see him looking between the marsh and her.
Suddenly, Ren noticed the black part of the marsh move slightly. He whipped his hands down at his belt, where his weapons were. Nora immediately turned a little more serious and reached behind her to grab Maginhild, the hammer extending to full length in just a moment.
The strange looking marsh reared upwards and Ren almost gulped as a large black shape showed itself. It looked like a huge crocodile except for the long mask over its eyes and a bony spiked ball on its tail like a mace of some sort.
The crocus, because clearly it was a grimm, was big enough that it could probably eat Nora or Ren whole… combined with it's armor there wasn't much they could do for now.
Ren turned to run but then saw another bunch of black shapes. Of course. Beowolves. Fantastic. They were sandwiched between a pack of beowolves and a crocus. With the wolves they couldn't quite run or hide. Despite being weak individually they were fast and numerous enough to catch them. The crocus was too strong and armored for them though. Maybe if they had an electric dust crystal for Nora's semblance… but no. They had run out a few days ago and hadn't had a chance to restock.
So fight enemies they were VERY unprepared for or run hopelessly.
Ren used his semblance to clear his emotions and thought quickly through their options as he and Nora drew close and the beowolves began closing in. The crocus let out a sort of hissing noise and drew itself out of the muck of the marsh.
"Use maginhild to scatter the beowolves," Ren said softly. Nora nodded silently, seeing the situation was dire. "After that we run through-"
*BOOM!*
Ren flinched as an explosion tore through the area. He glanced at the crocus and nearly gasped. The grimm was missing a head it seems. A trail of flame led away from it to a figure wearing red on a small hill behind them.
Ren heard the beowolves howl and he turned his attention from his and Nora's strange rescuer to them. His stormflower submachine guns pointed themselves at the grimm and he began letting loose, causing the grimm to howl in pain as the small bullets wounded them.
Nora rushed into the pack swinging maginhild around like it was made of plastic, shattering ribs left and right. Ren quickly joined her, slashing away. He and Nora could handle just a single beowolf pack.
It was to Ren's surprise that the figure in red was suddenly among the grimm stabbing with a short spear at them as they came. A pilum? Ren ignored the weapon and turned to his own task.
It wasn't long before the pack was finished. Nora personally smashed maginhild down on the alpha's head, cracking it's mask in the process. It was only then that he turned to their savior and paused.
"Um, hello again!" Pyrrha said with a somewhat nervous smile on her face. Ren just blinked at her blankly. This was an odd coincidence. "You're heading to Greygrass, right?"
"Yup! We're going to see so much cool stuff!" Nora said happily, unflappable as always.
"My father and I just finished hunting the other crocuses. Now we're heading to the same place. Maybe you'd like to come with us in our wagon? We've actually been behind you for a while now. We only just caught up when we saw that you were in trouble."
"Sure!" Nora decided for them. She looked over to a wagon approaching them with a scraggly but well-built man waving at them. She waved back.
And so the friendship began.
[|||| =NEXT STAGE= ||||]
Remnant in metamorphosis
Sampson Woods tended to be pretty normal as far as a faunus in Vale could be, which was pretty damn normal. He used to be a dockworker for the Vale shipping service, or VSS as it was called. It was big business, dealing in both air transit and sea transit.
It was a quiet life most of the time. There wasn't much trouble around the docks. Even the companies with more racist tendencies didn't extend that viewpoint to their grunt labor. The SDC troops and laborers that often worked alongside them to load dust to and from the transports weren't bad guys. Sampson personally attributed the good treatment to a sort of camaraderie among the working class.
But the docks weren't exactly the place to work when you wanted to move up in the world. Sampson still lived in the slums and wasn't quite content with his lot. So he looked for an opportunity. Job opportunities, that is. As he was, he could move up the chain of command in the docks little by little until he was a manager for life. Not exactly appealing in the grand scheme of ways a life could be spent.
It took three years of sweating every day moving cargo and having Saturday night poker that Sampson found a new opportunity. What he had been looking for.
"They're called Nature's Bounty," his buddy Vert explained, "they're hiring out of Patch mostly and a minor operation in Vale. They're big news in both faunus rights and shipping. You know that sap you can get in Forever Fall? They monopolized it. Somehow they've got a way to farm it like maple syrup but better. But the thing is that the sap is refined enough that it attracts grimm. They love the stuff. Huntsmen use it all the time now since… well, they can. It's useful."
"More importantly, though, is white sap, as they call it. It repels grimm. Don't ask me how. They just don't like the stuff and so they avoid it. They've even got the stuff in aerosol so you just spray a bit and the grimm fuck right off. It's worth almost as much as gold, though."
"You said something about faunus rights? And they're hiring?" Sampson asked, getting a little excited. Opportunities like this didn't come around often.
Mark nodded. "They hired faunus off from wherever at first. It's cheaper but mostly nobody wants stuff handled by faunus so they made a company settlement at Patch. They terraformed a ton of land, hundreds of acres apparently, and set up two orchards. They need workers to handle the machines and build the town. But the thing that makes them special is that they're co-owned by a faunus and a human, though the faunus guy, some guy named Mystic, is cavorting around the higher-ups and causing ripples. Every bigwig is in a fit over their potential or something like that. Point is, they're hiring and they're hot in the market."
Sampson looked into it with high hopes and he wasn't disappointed. People were making out the company and the guy leading it to be visionaries and entrepreneurs of the highest order. The guy leading it was a success story from the bottom to the top and a badass to boot. Even his nephew, some sort of prodigy huntsman, was a complete badass that could whup asses from Vale to Vacuo.
It didn't take long for Sampson to pack his things and talk to the union about changing jobs. It was so simple. He just took an interview to see if he was fit to work in the town, signed a few sheets of legalese that was clear and to the point, and he was off on a ship with a hundred other hopefuls. A train ride later and he was at what looked almost like a dust boomtown but… cleaner.
There were actual streets as opposed to dirt paths. Houses rather than hovels. There was an administration system already in place that sorted everyone out to communal housing based on their job assignment.
A whole two years passed and Sampson had no doubts that the town was the right place to be.
He had been a little freaked out by the White Fang presence in the town at first. They kept on the down-low but they weren't exactly subtle. They brought discouraged faunus from all over to tend to the growing town. They also had a recruiter in town although most people didn't care to leave the town when they got there. Taxes were light, utilities and necessities were fair, and the town even encouraged people to start families.
The whole 'stay and start a family' angle had confused Sampson a lot at first. They wanted people to… huh? Company towns usually brought people in from elsewhere to fill out the town's population. Having kids was costly and kids couldn't often work what with the laws about child labor. So why would they have kids in the town?
But the town didn't have racism among humans or faunus (apparently significant work had been put into stamping out anti-human or anti-faunus sentiment either way). It didn't have the high city taxes or pollution. It was almost a paradise in a way. Work wasn't even harsh, though it was still work at the end of the day.
It had hit Sampson after six months in the town. Administration. They had an administration in the town. Not for just sorting people out but for doing the taxes, keeping PR settled, as though it was even necessary, and all manner of desk jobs were becoming available at the little company town. Buildings started going up to three or four stories and a few offices began to appear. Districts had begun to form.
This wasn't just going to be a town dedicated to an orchard. This was going to be the HQ of Nature's Bounty.
Sampson dedicated extra effort every day to work when he realized this. The company was a rising star and Sampson was sure as hell going to ride it all the way to the top. The SDC and White Fang were somehow both on good terms with the company, the goods the company were selling were monopolized and expansive, and the name was known throughout Remnant.
Oh yeah. Nature's Bounty was going places.
So he worked. Two years in and he was vice-manager of production, meaning production of all the white and red sap in the orchards. The guy above him was an old guy named Hill that was seemingly there to stay but damn hard work paid off well when your job wasn't dead-end.
That said, change was coming again.
The conference. It was practically mythical in the town. The SDC and Nature's Bounty discussing a huge expansion to the company and a joint deal that was being televised internationally. People from all over would be listening in. He even got a letter from his mother in Menagerie and people there were bouncing off the walls too.
And, of course, Sampson worked. He worked like a devil. He actually scared his boss a little at how hard he worked but why wouldn't he work? There were a rumored two new crops coming in and by dust or death Sampson was going to be spearheading it. White sap changed Remnant from the ground up. The huntsman community was still adjusting. What would this new deal bring in?
He nearly had a heart attack when Hill handed him the invitation to attend the conference in his stead.
"I'm old, Bee," Hill said with a grin, "I got this little town moving though. Don't get me wrong, I'm here to stay but I won't delude myself that you're less important than I am. You've got this place working like a well oiled machine pumping out sap like we're made of it. Get in there and make an impression while your blood's still hot."
And of course it didn't work out like expected.
"You're… Sampson, eh?" the boss asked, a large man. Mahogany… he was here at the top with people like him. Sampson swore that he was out of place here at such an important conference - he was only thirty four! - but here he was with the boss of paperwork himself talking to him.
"Yes sir." It took all of Sampson's training to not stutter and to remain calm.
"Hah!" Mahogany barked in laughter, "An up-and-comer! Old Hill is a smart one and a big help getting set up to boot. Definitely one of the more competent workers. If I recall he said you were hard working. That's you, right?"
"Yes sir," Sampson said again. People always did say he was hard working over everything else.
"Hm. Well go impress people or whatever it is you care to do at this dinner. I'm off to see where Sienna got to."
It was… weird. Definitely weird. Mahogany was the co-owner of the whole company but the man was so casual. His entire time at the formal dinners and such was spent with Sienna Khan, as in international terrorist Sienna Khan, and messing with the rich people. He did a bare minimum of socializing (except with Khan and a few employees) and was clearly not taking the whole meeting too seriously. At least he didn't outright insult Jacques. He was pretty competent all in all.
But the Mavros' on the other hand…
"And of course the fiscal reports of last year are a mess in the R&D department," one higher up in the SDC criticized, "the full report was filed away by accounting incorrectly and several inconsistencies were observed. That said, we straightened out the problems. You can find the full report under section 2A of your packet and corresponding articles in the other lettered sections of the packet's second section."
"Mahogany do you want some cookies?" a voice asked. Everyone looked blankly towards a scroll at an empty seat. The screen showed a kid with dark hair and strange eyes in a kitchen. More noticeable was the apron he had on with black birds and roses sewn onto it's purple cloth. It was a little stained with cookie dough.
"Sure," Mahogany said casually. Businessmen were silent and more than a little baffled while the kid - Abyss Mavros that is - dished up a platter with five cookies.
With a little clatter a plate suddenly appeared in front of Mahogany, who calmly picked up a cookie and took a bite. A wry smile came onto his face.
Dear dust those smell incredible.
"Do you think I could have a few of those?" somebody asked. Everyone was looking towards Sampson… he just said that didn't he?
"Sure, kid," Mahogany said easily. He pulled out a handkerchief and put two of the cookies away before handing the cookies over the businessman next to him to Sampson.
Feeling incredibly self-conscious with people like Jacques Schnee and his boss of all people staring at him Sampson did all he could.
He took a bite…
"Anyone else want some?" Abyss Mavros asked casually. He nibbled on a cookie absently. Was this really the guy who fought Pyrrha Nikos to a standstill and took out most of her aura in one hit?
"Abyss are the cookies ready?!" A cheery and high pitched voice called from the scroll.
"Yes, Ruby!" Abyss called off-screen. A red blur passed through the screen and a plate of cookies was missing. Then he looked back to the scroll and took another bite. Sampson felt strangely like Abyss was mocking everybody with that bite.
"No takers?" hee asked them.
Long story short, everybody had at least one cookie.
Nature's Bounty really didn't make sense sometimes. At least Sampson could retire in his fifties with his salary the way it was.
[|||| =NEXT STAGE= ||||]
Rose tinted world
"This brings back memories," Raven said airily. Ruby's eyes darted almost greedily around the architecture of Beacon.
The school almost looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was bigger than one might think. The tower took precedence in the center but surrounding it was almost a small town of student dorms, teacher housing, and classrooms. A large field took up half the plateau the school was built on.
Faintly, Ruby remembered what she had read about Beacon. It was built on a plateau, lending a view to the Emerald Forest in the south and Forever Fall in the north.
She was a little disappointed that she wasn't able to ooh and aww at the view with other students but Ozpin didn't really give her another option. Well, there was a road constructed up the plateau half a century ago, (at great expense to Beacon) but nobody in her family had a car.
Who needed a car when you could use puppy eyes on your teleporting brother?
"Over there," Auntie pointed down at the field's edge, "there's a slope down the cliff to the border of the two forests. Follow a path and you'd find a tree house that we often used."
"A team tree house?" Ruby asked a little excitedly. Raven nodded.
"I wonder if it's still there, " she mused. "it might be in disrepair or some irritating brute might have abused it somehow."
"I wonder if me and my team can make our own clubhouse." Ruby smiled pleasantly at the thought. It could have a super secret entrance. Ooh! There could be a radio and hammocks and everybody would wonder where they went. But it would be super secret and hidden and-
"We're here," the pilot announced. Ruby came back to herself, saw her Auntie walking off the bullhead and ran back to her.
The campus was mostly empty but there were a few students around. While Raven ignored them Ruby looked critically at all their weapons, not noticing the small amount she was drooling at them.
With a little disappointment, Ruby stepped into an elevator, which was a bit boring.
Then she snapped out of it.
Beacon was great and probably a great place to make lifelong friends and make a life for herself beyond family and a light social life but right now she wasn't really in Beacon. She was on her way to meet Mister Ozpin.
On her way to get grilled on everything she knew about her brother most likely.
A small sigh escaped her at this revelation. It was nice to have that small moment of blindness. Maybe in another life Beacon would be overwhelming and awesome. It was more like she was walking to take a test right now.
With a small ding the elevator opened up a little grandly. Professor Ozpin was behind his desk already ready for them, hands clasped. It struck a little annoyance in Ruby that there was another person in the room. A tall lady with a white blouse and a purple cape. Oh! That's Miss Goodbitch apparently. Auntie had told her all about the strict teacher, though Ruby felt sorry for her that she had such a terrible name.
"Hello Miss Rose, Miss Branwen," The headmaster said calmly. "You're here for the review on your admission I presume?"
"Of course we are," Auntie said snappishly. Miss Goodbitch's hand drew near her waist, where a riding crop was. Was that her weapon? Mmm… nope. Her weapon affinity said that while it was a weapon it was more of a school weapon than her actual weapon. Like how her brother used that shortsword all the time rather than his gloves.
Auntie took a moment to glare at Miss Goodbitch, who glared back. It barely took a second before Miss G, who was to be called that until she says otherwise, backed off and drew her hand away from her crop. Auntie turned back to Ozpin with a scowl firmly in place.
"Could you just get to the point for once? Or do we have to dance around it for a few years before you decide to actually face an issue."
Mister Ozpin raised an eyebrow slightly at her Auntie's bluntness. She had learned it from her brother. It tended to work well when you just showcased your brute power apparently. "I can assure you that this will be over within a half an hour. However if you wish to avoid the pleasantries I will oblige."
"You make that sound like you're doing us a favor by ignoring social pleasantries. As far as I'm concerned I don't owe you a thing for inconveniencing us very slightly less." Auntie strode forwards and Ruby tagged along at her side, watching the displays closely.
"Of course you don't owe me anything," Ozpin said consolingly. Raven looked a little flatly at him and he continued on uninterrupted. "However, a check of your credibility as Miss Rose's family member is required."
"Ugh," Auntie groaned, "could you just ask already?"
Ruby privately thought that her Auntie was acting a bit too much like her brother right now. Then again she didn't want to be around the headmaster too much either. She sort of had to pack.
Mister Ozpin frowned for a moment. "Alright then," he conceded. "Firstly, Miss Rose do you feel you are properly treated in your residence?" Everyone looked towards Ruby, who blinked at being so suddenly addressed.
"Um, yeah. I mean, I don't really have to do much other than training and not being in the way so…"
"I'll take that as a yes then," Mister Ozpin concluded. "Do you feel that you are properly prepared for Beacon?"
"More like over-prepared," Ruby admitted. Ozpin nodded and looked down at a sheet of paper.
"I suppose you seem fine right now. If you feel that your wellbeing is safe then I can't do much about it." Ruby frowned at that. That makes it sound like Mister Ozpin wanted to do something but couldn't since she was happy.
"Well then now we have to focus on you, Miss Branwen," Ozpin looked neutrally at Auntie, who met his stare evenly, "considering that you're a criminal and a formerly S-ranked huntress the kingdom would be well within its rights to take Miss Rose into custody, although since it's Mister Mavros that has custody of Miss Rose he could be tried for negligence due to your association with his sister. However, we both know that he could just throw money at a lawer until that issue is fixed. Not to mention that Miss Rose seems stable."
"Are you going to grill us about Abyss or our maidenhood soon?" Auntie asked dryly. Mister Ozpin sighed lightly at her bluntness.
"Fine." Ruby felt a sudden change in the conversation, like it had taken a much more serious tone compared to the sterile and bureaucratic one Ozpin had tried before. Not that the pace Ozpin had tried was working anyways.
"Your maidenhood I can understand," Ozpin looked towards Auntie. Then he turned to Ruby, "but how exactly did you become a maiden, miss Rose? And how are you planning to deal with such a burden?"
Ruby would have squirmed if she hadn't been standing. As it was she curled her toes in her shoes. Mister Ozpin's stare was piercing. It made her uncomfortable. "I… I killed Miss Null."
Miss G's face darkened a little with anger. Ozpin seemed neutral. "I see," Ozpin said, "and what events led up to this?"
"Icmant," Auntie interrupted coldly. "We met that monster and the first thing we had to do was hide in Abyss' soul space. Ruby saw how powerful the things he was one day going to face were and determined that she had to grow stronger just to keep up. Being human was no longer good enough. I was of the same mind. I tracked down Dianthus and subdued her. Ruby executed her and received the maidenhood. From then on we trained under Abyss daily to control our power. Ruby began learning while I continued my own training."
Ozpin looked to Ruby and she nodded meekly. Auntie's answer was spot on. "I see." He took a moment to think before continuing. "While I can't truly punish you-"
"Ruby is not under your authority on this whatsoever," Auntie interrupted. Ozpin glanced towards her. "You have no grounds to punish her at all. Dianthus was not working with you and Ruby isn't either. When Ruby is in Beacon you can tell her off for missing homework or so on but you can't punish Ruby for doing something you don't like. You aren't her employer or authority in any matter other than schoolwork."
Ozpin frowned. "I see. I had hoped you would allow me to grant you protection from Salem."
"Unnecessary," Auntie said shortly.
"Apparently Salem isn't as terrible as you've told everyone she is," Ruby said quietly, "Abyss talked to her."
"And that leads us to our next topic." Ozpin sighed. "You brother is allied with Salem."
"Bullshit," Auntie scoffed, "he's talking to her. He hasn't been corrupted or whatever you care to say about it. He's talked to you once before and he isn't spinning drivel about being the heroes of humanity. He can talk to Salem without trying to destroy the world. Now that he's told me and Ruby a little about her I don't think she's much like what you've described her as at all. Even magic is far less dead than you would have had me and the team believe. 'Gone from this world', you called it. I've seen for myself that it's plenty alive in a good many places."
"Exactly what do you mean Miss Branwen?" Ozpin asked.
"Maidens. The reserves. The managuard. Was all that work I did for you to erase the managuard?" Auntie asked.
"The managuard?" Miss G asked.
"An organization in the government that sought to understand mana." Ozpin explained. "And yes, Miss Branwen. Much of the work you did under my employ was to stop them from revealing magic to the world. Such a reveal could be catastrophic."
"I'm starting to doubt that too," Auntie muttered. Ruby glanced towards her aunt curiously but she continued on. "Will there be anything else?"
Ozpin looked neutrally at Auntie. "Send Mister Mavros in when you next see him."
[|||| =NEXT STAGE= ||||]
Cake makes everything better
"Jaune," his mother said sternly, "you're heading out for Vale next week." Jaune didn't really have a response to that. Sure, he was heading out to Vale with big sis but it would take about a month travelling on foot like they planned. He nodded respectfully and waited for his mother to continue, as he should.
"That means in all likelihood that neither I or the rest of your family besides Crimson will see you again for over six months and even so she'll be busy teaching."
Jaune saw where she was going with this. She was going to ask him to… to…
With a sigh Argent stepped back from the mirror. This had to be, what, the fifth time she had practiced this speech? With a glance at the digital clock on her left it showed over half an hour had passed.
Honestly she normally practiced for longer.
It was such a conundrum. How do you tell your kid that he's going out on his own? That he won't have anybody to coddle him? That for the first time he was going to have nobody to rely on but himself?
It wasn't like he was getting a job and moving out but it was close. Beacon might as well be a job in and of itself. With Ozpin there it might be a slight bit easier. He might be able to skip a little homework here or sleep in a class there but even so the school was hard. Reportedly it was harder to be in the school than be a fulltime huntress. It was preparation for the world. Swords had to be in fire before battle, after all. Beacon was like that. A trial by fire.
Except that it was more like a flood of papers and teenage hormones that you faced.
Perhaps the worst part of sending Jaune off was that she couldn't really help him. She had spent her teenage years being taught by her grandfather in the art of the sword and her years as a young adult wandering around a little and finding Vert.
If she had wandered a bit more then perhaps she could help. She never learned higher mathematics or studied poetry. She was a country girl at heart and never quite possessed the cunning and sense to live in a city. Managing the Arc estate and collecting rent from the lands they owned kept the family afloat and sure she could do that decently well but only with a lifetime of practice. Even now it was mostly her more civilian daughter that kept the ledgers and such.
Her son, on the other hand… it was hindsight that screwed her now. She had never taught him social etiquette like you might learn in a typical school or how to treat others who were different than you. Sweet dust he still wore that pumpkin Pete's hoodie with sports shorts! Teenagers would tear him apart. He's be dead meat if they ever saw him in his onesie. He had been with his family all his life and never really met others and you could tell. Not going to primary school had stunted him somewhat.
In a way he had been taught like she had. Education took a backseat to learning combat and survivability. It was only thanks to his sisters that he wasn't hopeless at academic matters.
With a resigned smile Argent reached over to the old family photo on a nightstand next to the bathroom mirror. She still remembered when things were simpler. When things weren't all sword drills and wizards and turning her most innocent child into a war machine.
It left her empty, in a way. Even so, she knew Jaune would be targeted either way. Perhaps she should have drowned him as a child like her father had said…
No. Her child wasn't a mistake. Even if his life was hard he would be better off living than not.
With a small tension lost Argent set the photo down, ignoring how happy Lavender was in it. She had to get ready for the day and talk to Jaune about Beacon. He would be leaving tomorrow, after all.
Grimly she supposed that she'd have to improvise her talk to Jaune. Oh well. She had done so plenty of times before.
[|||| =+= ||||]
She wasn't wearing armor to practice tonight. There was little need. With sharp eyes she inspected her son on his usual stump by the storehouse. He was looking at his naked sword with an odd expression. Something like sadness but different. "We're learning something special today," Argent began. Jaune's head snapped up and he sheathed his sword.
"Something special?" He stood from his seat with starry eyes, all previous melancholy forgotten. "Is it that Arc secret technique?!"
"Not even close. And I'm telling you that there is no 'secret' technique," Argent said plainly. This only seemed to make Jaune more excited. Dust knows what fantasies were going on in his head. "We're going to talk."
Jaune's excitement seemed to slip away to confusion. "Uh, huh?"
"Sit down, Jaune. We aren't sparring or training today." Even if it was more out of confusion that her son actually obliged, he sat down, moving blanc lumiere onto his lap. Not that he needed to sharpen the damned thing with how stupidly durable it was.
"We haven't ever really… talked." Argent almost winced at how awkward she sounded. Not that her son noticed. "About what you're going to do now that you're to going to be away from home."
"I'll be fine," he said with a flippant smile, "I'll have big sis with me anyways and schoolwork can't be that hard."
"I'm more worried about safety," she said, "not to mention that you've never really met anybody outside of the family. Getting to know other people…"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jaune said reassuringly. "If the people in the city are anything like the people in Ansel I'll be better than fine, even. Sis can keep me out of most trouble and I'll learn as I go. I won't have much time in Vale alone anyways. I've got people to meet."
"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet," Argentum recited. The corners of her mouth crept upwards a little at the memory of her telling him that. It really had shaped him, that saying. She had hoped that Jaune would never go beyond Ansel, where the saying held true. Everyone in Ansel really WAS a friend he hadn't met, not that there was anyone he hadn't met in town, but out in the city the saying held much less weight according to her daughters.
Conmen, gangsters, hoodlums, criminals, and nasty people of all sorts were focused in cities. Her poor, innocent, and immensely powerful son could be tricked for all sorts of things.
Some of the stories Olive, Crimson, or Azure had told her about were quite telling on this. Olive lost all of her money within a week because some asshole befriended her and robbed her place. Crimson had some man sleep with her and run off into the sunset the minute she said 'long term relationship', and Azure had probably fallen for a hundred things without knowing it.
She was worse than her brother in how innocent she was, almost, and one of her duller children, though she had incredible luck due to her semblance, which caused convenient coincidences for her so long as she acted on some sort of gut feeling she had sometimes. How she accidentally joined a gang and cleaned them out through poker was just unfathomable but that semblance of hers was probably the most useful one she had ever seen, if not the most combat oriented.
"Worst comes to worst I can ask a teacher for a little advice," Jaune continued, "I'll be fine."
"I hope so," Argentum said, a little worried now that she considered how her daughters had fared. "Are you sure that you'll be fine without Azure? She's open to going to Beacon rather than Shade."
"Shade seemed nice to her. She had her gut feeling," Jaune explained.
"Your sister's semblance isn't always right," Argentum said with a frown. It wasn't always good for everyone, that is. Azure always came out on top somehow.
"Mom, I'll be fine," Jaune repeated, "and if I have some troubles I'll have help. I'm not alone in this."
"Alright." She conceded. She wasn't done worrying, not by a long shot, but he was right that he wasn't alone. "If ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING gets to be too much for you - from classwork to supernatural matters - I want you to call and tell me."
"What if the dustnet is down here?" Jaune asked. It was a valid question. Ansel didn't have a great connection to the outside world, being mostly a farming and trading town, albeit a prominent one.
"Send a letter or get the wizard to open a portal," Argentum said easily. She had made Ozpin make what he called a portal gate to their basement and even though she didn't trust it she would prefer that they had it and not need it rather than need it and not have it.
"Oh. Okay." Jaune looked a little sheepish. He forgot about the portal gate hadn't he? Of course he did. Argentum sighed softly at her son's foolishness but didn't say anything.
"Come on. I'm making dinner." Argentum turned around and got walking while her son hopped up.
"What are we having?" he asked, a little excitedly.
"Pasta and a salad and then we have two ice cream cakes your sisters made." Argentum nearly smiled at the thought of dessert. Her daughters, manipulative as they were, could make her favorite dessert like masters.
"Yes!" Jaune whispered with a fist-pump. He then immediately looked embarrassed. When Argentum gave him a look out of the corner of her eye.
Nevermind all that reassurance he had just given her. Teenagers were going to tear him apart.
[|||| =NEXT STAGE= ||||]
Gangsters and terrorists
"I don't care," Roman said bluntly. "I'm not going up to Mountain Glen to manage some of your pet terrorists. For one thing I'm a racist and I don't bother hiding it for anyone except the boss, who doesn't tolerate that shit from me so I don't give it. If you want supervision up there send a clan member."
"That's fine," Cinder said, a subtle growl in her voice. Not a sexy kind but the angry kind. Normally it worked to intimidate men a little. Then again, she wasn't used to working with anybody. Roman was… difficult. He was clearly used to being the boss and she was too. The only way to work with him was to appeal to his pride and arrogance or compromise with him, which was often to his favor. He was cunning enough that you didn't often realize you got the short end of a deal.
She chose to compromise and appeal, which made their forced partnership somewhat work. It wasn't pleasant but she had to admit that Roman was useful. He was worth having as an underling if only for his capabilities with his gang.
That said, while she was the superior combatant to Roman by a wide margin Roman also had Raven behind him. Well, not quite behind him but rather acting as the moderator between the two of them and doing a good job of it.
It was obvious that Raven had conditioned Roman. Training was just subtle reinforcement of superiority while keeping him up to par. To communicate with her he had to send a message through her clan members, eliciting a delay and making it clear her time was more important than his. There were other ways she reinforced her superiority as well from the way she talked to him to the way she managed his empire from time to time. He was conditioned to be her subordinate completely. Mavros either didn't know or didn't care.
Not that she could say for certain. He was with her mistress learning the things she wished she could learn.
That changes today.
"The White Fang will be at the glen. They have a camp there," she began, considering how to present this. As needing his help? No. That implied need for cooperation. As a request for cooperation to appease Raven gives comradery of a sort and will work so long as he doesn't bring her actually into the movements at the glen.
"I will allow several of the clansmen into the operation," she said, specifically saying allow so as to show that the glen was her operation. "They will supervise the fang with Adam Taurus at the proverbial top of the pyramid." There. Adam would enjoy feeling important and allowing more cooperation between herself and him would adhere her to him, which was important in case the backup plan was needed.
"And you're certain that this operation won't permanently harm Vale?" Roman clarified, and rightly so. Letting grimm into the city? His city? He was against the idea but booting Ozpin from his seat required a public incident. Roman would have the more elite gang members, mostly comprised of the clan, at the site to combat the grimm, dressed entirely in his colors.
The obvious display of power and a suggestion to the local news stations would reflect badly on the huntsmen and huntresses. What does it say about the huntsmen and huntresses when a gang had to do their job for them? Securing the city was a huntsman job. That the gang could and would do it reflected badly on Ozpin and well on Roman since people will compare his gangers to huntsmen.
That was just the beginning. This? This was the prologue. It was tedious and simple but managing the man's pride was grating on her patience, though her sister had similarly tried her patience and was far better about testing it that this gang boss.
"The only way this operation could harm Vale is if your men fail to contain an incursion of weak grimm, which I expect will be easy for you." There, placing potential blame on him and agitating his pride.
"Fine," Roman growled a little snappishly. "They'll be there. And Neo for good measure."
The midget at his side grinned with a little bloodlust in her eyes. Cinder turned her eyes from her. She was completely loyal to Roman and for what? Ice cream? That and a loose leash. A favorable deal for one with such tastes as she.
She was almost as deadly as Roman. Should she care to she could be more than simply his enforcer but that she chose not to was almost impressive to his displays of leadership. She was strong too. For a gang enforcer that is.
"Select which clansmen you wish to send to the glen. I will arrange for transport tomorrow night."
"Fine," Roman said again. "You go do whatever it is you do. I've got work to do."
Once more Cinder's patience was tested. Once more she came out better for it.
"Enjoy your cigars and pleasantries. Don't grow fat on your success or you will be butchered like the pig you act as."
Roman rolled his eyes at her as she turned to leave, easily making her way out of the building and downtown, where she and her two underlings were staying.
It was a simple affair to pick them up. Mercury and Emerald both knew what was happening and all the risks.
Now to the actual work. Briefly Cinder wondered if Roman had ever gotten his hands dirty. From Raven's talkings she had done most of the work after Abyss introduced her as his second in command and thus above Roman. Roman was the cleanup crew and manager of territories.
How sad that the so-called ruler of Vale was a janitor and paper-pusher. The true ruler, though, was almost admirable…
[|||| =+= ||||]
Abyss Mavros had placed Roman in the line of fire and reaped all his successes. He did no work and instead conversed with her mistress and dealt in arts far above those like Roman.
He was a manipulator. A chessmaster. A wizard. All traits that seem to be intrinsically bound almost. He ruled Vale from the shadows easily, facing almost no opposition since he had killed almost all in his way. He was so cautious so as to have three backups in case Roman should fail. Raven, That Cesium child, and Neopolitan. Such caution was admirable.
Despite his skill in manipulation and nearly absolute power over the city there was something he had that was far, far more intimidating.
Power.
Abyss Mavros was a wizard. No maiden or charlatan but an honest (or as honest as a wizard can be) wizard. Perhaps beyond that.
He was powerful. Greatly so. By her mistress' estimates he could destroy Vale within days if that. Acting on his own that is. Were he to release his followers upon the cities he would collapse remnant in a day, perhaps less. It would be destroyed in a week.
Of course he was not stupid. He wouldn't do that. Why destroy when you can control? She would prefer to rule Vale herself but that power was easily taken away. Uprisings, revolutions, natural disasters, and more could take a kingdom away not to mention how you had to 'serve' the people. She preferred the maidenhoods. The power to summon a fire, flood, gale, or storm was so alluring and you did not have to be beholden to anyone. The power was unequivocally yours with no competition.
More recently that plan had changed.
Branwen had the spring maidenhood and Abyss' sister the winter maidenhood. That changed things. The original plan had been to become a sorceress on par with Salem, at least in power, through the fragments of Ozpin's power scattered in these women. Now that only two of the maidenhoods are available she had to improvise.
Luckily there were options. Magic was versatile and there was always another path to power.
Mavros was the solution. She had seen the clansmen. What they could do. Flight, invisibility, nigh-invincibility through an impenetrable armor, strength and durability beyond most huntsmen, powers from lasers to a localized earthquakes to aerokinesis and more.
He could grant power. He could… dish it out. Like a gift to his followers.
That Mavros could do that meant he was smart. His mistress had learned of these gifts of magic and demanded she researched it.
So she did.
Her mistress had laughed. Laughed.
She had seen what she called a bodily runic matrix and smiled with glee of all things. Then she had begun to explain.
She had summoned the entirety of her subordinates with a smile on her face and slowly, meticulously, explained exactly what Mavros had done.
A runic matrix for collecting mana.
A system for using said mana.
It was so simple.
He put them on his follower's bodies.
This was impossible.
Her mistress had said so. It had been tried hundreds of times in the past. People had tried everything. Runes on an individual leaked the smallest amount of mana, letting it breach in and out of the runes as the ambient mana was agitated.
For example, the mana could, through a small imperfection in the runes, leak into the system. This mana would activate the system, causing its effect to occur.
This could cause the runes to be unpredictable and fire off randomly. Were one to have, say, a pyrokinesis runic set they would have burned skin and clothes all days not to mention heatstroke. Affinities protected their users as much as they caused destruction. Fire created through affinities did not harm it's creator.
This is why Mavros' runes were perfectly made every time to the point where there was no breach of mana at all. All on a biological surface with a tattoo gun of all things. Her mistress had even commended his runic matrixes for being ingenious. Even had they not been on a person of all things the runes would be that of a master of the craft. These were simply mass produced runes too, according to her mistress.
What did Mavros have hidden in his bag of tricks? A master of runes. A manipulator at the national level. A bringer of ruin had he just the whims to be so.
He was, for all intents, a living god. He granted boons, commanded the heavens, and was so far beyond everybody else in power. How could such a being not be more than human?
He held the keys to divinity for her. The maidens alone were not enough to grant her power absolute as she intended.
And from there her mistress' goals could be accomplished. A new breed of humanity. A new wave of archwizards. They would be the start. The forerunners of a new empire spanning the world. Humanity at its greatest.
This was not her dream. Yet it was her goal, one of them. But who would bring in the new wave? A new population could not be simply poofed into existence. Childbirth was a necessity for making a soul. It was a ritual of sorts. Her mistress understood it better than she.
It came down to but a few. Mavros was the only wizard in existence willing to support her mistress' goals.
She was the only woman supporting her mistress' goals and soon she would be as a sorceress. A higher state of humanity.
It was natural that she would bring in the strongest wave of humanity with the strongest male in the world, besides Ozpin. The man was weak in magic but his bag of tricks was endless. Abyss was a more suitable choice on all fronts.
Her mistress agreed fully. She herself was not quite suited for childbearing in body or mind. Cinder herself was young still. For this purpose her mistress had changed her boon. The grimm parasite in her arm was different now.
It would not take her arm as it was to do before. Rather, it would be devoted to spreading throughout her body, slightly strengthening her entire being with the power of grimm. As being beautiful was more useful now it was necessary. Having the better weapon of her entire left arm being of grimm was less useful now that the maidens were less viable as a path to power.
She had but to ascend to nearly goddesshood and seduce the strongest man in existence. Not that seduce was quite the word. She was attracted to power and Abyss Mavros was beyond powerful. He could grant her power provided she prove herself worthy of it, of that she was certain. Power one was not worthy of was not their power at all but simply a borrowed gift free for the taking by the strong and worthy.
Were she to be his wife she didn't believe she'd mind at all. The benefits were far worth the duties. She might even fall in love according to her mistress. That was not so important to her as the fulfillment of her goals, however.
The first step, however, was up to her to take.
With a fond smile she recalled Abyss Mavros' first step to power. The slaughter of Vacuo, in which so many gangs perished. Human trash all of them. She would be a little quieter but no less impressive. Perhaps more so in the size of her prey.
Amber Parsian stood in her way. She would be the first step on her path to what could only be her destiny. The moment she kills her and takes her gift for herself she became something greater. Something closer to perfection.
Just one step.
[|||| =NEXT STAGE= ||||]
The sides of the coin
Ozpin glanced over the forms for the new school year mechanically. It was a practiced routine and doing it was nearly effortless at this point.
What many people didn't realize about Beacon was how precarious it was bureaucratically. Managing the school required immense amounts of paperwork and a solid foundation of experience. If there was to be an inexperienced headmaster for too long the school may very well crumble.
It was for this reason that Ozpin had personally taken care of the school and it's intense standards of paperwork for almost four generations of new bodies now, though this changed dramatically recently.
He always had to make a replacement for the position so that while he and his new body got acquaintanced the school didn't fall to ruin. Glynda was already a fantastic administrator for the school but she was extremely stressed while managing only three quarters of the paperwork full-time.
Were she to be the headmistress of the school she would also have to conduct interviews of promising new students, keep an eye out for the real talent that didn't have the resources to truly shine, conduct meetings with the council of Vale to satisfy their irritating political endeavors, and more yet. Just eating had to be done quickly and efficiently.
Even with his mastery of administration he could only spare four hours every other night for sleep. Aura and coffee kept him sustained enough to be alert and capable. Any longer than those forty four hours of work and he began to drop in efficiency, which led to a backlog of work and him falling asleep anyways.
This all changed roughly four or five years ago. Glynda did much of the paperwork now. He could sleep every night nowadays with her help and he had the added benefit of a better combat class instructor (Miss Crimson's focus on physical combat rather than her semblance allowed her to better criticize the student body's fighting), the easing of Glynda's paperwork, and his own free time being truly free.
He was so flush with time, the rarest commodity of all, that he could teach a class next year. Students would be able to choose between Doctor Peach's dust studies class or aura control class with himself, which was truly a joy to teach. Aura was such a personal power that controlling it was greatly up to the individual, making it quite esoteric to teach and not to mention difficult. It could be done but it wass more often an individual pursuit.
That simply made it more fun. If it were easy and predictable he would be a master at teaching aura control as he's mastered so many other skills over the years.
With his workload so diminished one might wonder what he did with all that time. Did he spend it taking greater command of his war against the grimm? Or training new warriors in his eternal quest to preserve humanity? Not in the slightest.
He spent it composing music.
It was such a strange and baffling idea that humanity's stalwart protector and the worst yet most dedicated workaholic of all time could do something so mundane. Composing music? Why that specific hobby, exactly?
It was his semblance, in fact. Eidetic memory was as much a curse as a boon, considering his infinite lifespan. A song lasted but a minute and to the trained ear it was unique every time, no matter if the song was the same or not. So many factors might change the result from the infinite amount of acoustics possible to the personal flair of every musician. Nobody played an instrument in quite the same way as somebody else. Pressure was always a little different, a voice leaning towards the louder side a little more or less.
Remembering everything made repeated experiences beyond stale. Music, though, was always fresh and different when played in person depending on so many factors. Even written music could be interpreted differently depending on the musician. It was for these reasons that Ozpin considered music to be the most personal of all art forms and the most valuable to him.
It was to this scene that Abyss Mavros saw the headmaster. In his room drawing on a musical staff.
Ozpin's first impression of him was that he was nearly unchanged. His eyes, at least, were no longer imitating those eyes. There was some sort of intense affinity for purity in him. It seemed like an untapped well of sorts. A magical artifact, then. Somehow it's affinity felt strange to him. Like it was aimed specifically towards Mister Mavros.
Mister Mavros was mostly unchanged physically. A sleek build dedicated to flexibility and lithe muscles designed to react quickly. Not an uncommon build among huntresses but less so among huntsmen. Huntsmen were usually a bit more muscled while huntresses were faster. He seemed to have perfect control of his body now, shown by a perfectly steady heartbeat and no involuntary movements.
He had grown up. Not drastically but to the point where it was noticeable. He was still unforged, however. He was a teenager and a vicious one at that. Looking into his eyes Ozpin couldn't help but feel that Mister Mavros' first look was to consider a person's worth.
He himself had been like that once. He still is, in a way.
"Composing?" Mavros said with some fascination. "Not quite what I expected from you but I suppose everyone needs a hobby. Come to think of it it's rather fitting somehow. Kind of old fashioned."
"Mister Mavros," Ozpin greeted curtly, "how was your trip?"
The corners of Mister Mavros' mouth twitched upwards for just a moment. He had the gleam in his eyes of someone who had heard some amusing inside joke and wouldn't tell.
"It went… rather well," he said with that gleam again, "I learned a bit and saw some very interesting things. I do think I'll visit your ex-wife again."
Ozpin paused at that. She truly told him… of course she did. She never was one for slowly pulling back the curtain. She was more of the type to control by fear or some desire.
"Ah. How much did she tell you, exactly?" He kept his voice impeccably calm, as always. Nevertheless he felt that Mister Mavros saw some of the unease creeping into him. Salem and her actions did that to him.
"Most of the story apparently," he said casually. He glanced around and his eyes landed on a chair. With a seemingly casual movement he pulled it to him and sat down.
An interesting move. Sitting down indicated comfort and while Ozpin didn't exactly cut the image of authority the casualness with which Mavros acted could be called disrespectful rather easily.
Not that he ever seemed to give respect to anyone but those close to him, or so Crimson told him from her surveillance.
"To sum it up you and Salem were married in a fairy tale ending of sorts. Storm the tower, save the princess, and get the girl before marrying and happily ever after."
Ozpin openly winced slightly at the summary of his entire first life. Yes, it did seem to be that way but it was more complicated than that. In that simplified lineup he seemed to have forgotten the political scandal of a major noble's daughter running off and the reveal that she was locked away in the first place. There were plenty of misadventures they had after the tower as well. Salem was a prodigious mage and rose to the rank of archmage very quickly in their time together.
Overall, though, it was rather like the simplified lineup Mister Mavros suggested.
"That is… not an incorrect retelling of events," he admitted, "though it was more complicated than that." Not that the rest mattered so much now.
"It's overall rather unimportant," Mavros dismissed, "though seriously, dungeons?" He sent a judging look to Ozpin, who frowned.
"They were the proving grounds of the light and dark gods. They were a place for the gods to rain gifts down on those they felt worthy of them, proven through combat and skill in crafts," he defended. Nowadays it may seem odd but the dungeons were perfectly normal back then.
"Of course." A slight drawl in Mavros' voice irked him. It was like sending a judgemental look towards him without actually doing so. This was likely the influence of Raven Branwen. She was an expert at getting on people's nerves.
"Anyways, dungeons and dragons aside-" Ozpin's lips briefly pressed together before he righted them, "-Salem went to the gods, the light god was a right bastard that went on about balance, the dark god was quick to judge her as a deceiver, and they cursed her. She built an army and they cursed her again, destroyed the world, dropped the relics, and left you in the body of some hapless teenager. Then you built a kingdom, you spilled the beans about the relics and that the gods sent you to Remnant to kill her, and then you tried to take the kids, failing horribly. Am I missing anything?"
That she had told him so much… how disturbing.
"That's all correct, yes," Ozpin admitted. He needed to return this conversation to his stay at Salem's tower. It was in Mavros' control right now. "What else did she tell you of?"
"A few things," Mavros seemed unconcerned with the other knowledge, "aether, the fallacies in your books, and we have an agreement of sorts now."
"An agreement?" This could be bad… catastrophic, even.
"She will continue her operations and I will not interfere. I hold dominion over Vale through Roman and will continue my expansion of Nature's Bounty. We agreed that fighting each other is pointless. I am a well of potential yet and I'm not adverse to her beliefs. This makes me an asset of sorts. A contact at least. Both of you are equally interested in me. You for my ability to combat Salem in ways you are currently unable to and Salem for my ability to have children with magical potential."
A smirk crossed Mavros' face. "Not to mention a few other factors in the works. I agreed to not tell, however. You'll have to figure out my secrets yourself. Salem is simply too big a presence for me to keep secret." A strange look entered Mavros' eyes.
"I want to be perfectly clear here that Salem and I are amicable associates. We are not allies. I haven't been corrupted by black magics or whatever you might imagine. I am a neutral party in this domestic spat of yours and Salem's. I want my family safe and I'll try as hard as I can to keep them alive. That's all. What else are we here to discuss?"
Ozpin's face was perfectly neutral but he was scowling inside. He was under no ideas that he and his party was stronger than Salem's. He would go so far as to say that he was the weaker party due to his need to be defensive. Salem couldn't be killed, for example. If she chose to she could wander into a major city and slaughter everyone. Her immense magical might could not be bound by a curse and her inability to die permanently left her as a walking force of nature beyond any magic user before save perhaps the archmagus of soul.
That Mavros was not going to be an ally to him was a setback. Hopefully a team with Mister Arc will draw ties between them strong enough that he is swayed. Such an emotional weakness, not to mention miss Rose, creates an emotional chink in Mavros' armor, which he could use to draw him into favorable relations with his faction.
As hard as Mavros was resisting his attempts to recruit or befriend him to the side of humanity he was still nearly unshaken.
Perhaps Glynda was right… but as of now he was too powerful. Pushing hard will result in not only alienating him but allowing Salem to further sink hooks into him. He knew how she worked. She had ideas for a greater humanity, an enlightened humanity, that sounded great at first. But then slowly she turned you towards darker methods. Turning the world to war and genocide to bring magical humanity to supremacy being the one he himself had been drawn to. Perhaps she was doing the same to him.
The idea of Mavros turning against humanity… 'a strike against humanity now for a brighter future' she'd call it. Genocide and slaughter to 'uplift' humanity. A pain today for a brighter tomorrow. He'd fallen for all this and simply turned the world to war. No. Salem's way was not the right way. Peace could be brought through peaceful means. The kingdoms were a testament to that. Seventy years without war they have stood and they'll go without war a hundred more.
If Mavros were to turn against humanity he could easily incite the White Fang to war. So very easily. Call a scandal against the Schnees, rally the Fang to impact the SDC supply lines, undercut the SDC, and engineer public scandals of racism.
It was so very easy to gather racists and make them a threat against the White Fang. Simply drop a few armaments here, a pile of lien there, and mercenaries would kill anyone. Bombings were simple for the dedicated terrorist, magic making it beyond trivial, and beyond the White Fang scene he could easily assassinate the world leaders. It wouldn't even be an exercise. It would be a small chore. Blame it on the White Fang, then, and a race war breaks out.
This is all assuming, of course, that Mavros doesn't simply make an army of invincible magical golems and bring ruin to the world. Actually that sounded more like him. A massive storm over Vale ruining the city would be equally trivial for someone like him.
An if… if he were to acquire the relic of destruction… could Ozpin even bring him down then? … Yes. He could. But the costs…
He shook the thoughts from his mind and refocused himself. Only a second had passed but Mavros seemed to notice his pause.
"Your attendance to Beacon," he started, his voice somewhat colder than before. The idea of Mavros laying waste to Remnant like a child and a sandcastle stained his mind. That future was too close to being reality for any sort of comfort. "You are attending, yes?"
"I am," Mavros confirmed.
"Why?"
He seemed to consider the question for a moment. "I prefer to respect any deals I make," he started, "but that's just a courtesy. Easily bypassed. I've pulled a lot of strings. Pyrrha, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao-long, and several others. My presence at Beacon will assure a number of things. Attending your school is also a way for me to assure you that I don't intend to burn all your work to the ground. And I'll be honest, the school is prime for recruiting agents of my own. Qrow and Raven came from here, hm? School, for me, isn't about the education. It's about the people. That and the reputation I'll earn in the huntsman community."
Ozpin looked hard for any bit of dishonesty in Mavros. There wasn't any. He did have a strange sense of candor didn't he? And his motives were all reasonable and even relatable. Pulling all those strings and leaving them loose? Nobody sane would do that.
Still, though…
"Strings you've pulled?" Ozpin began. "Like the Arcs?"
The effect was instantaneous. Mavros stiffened. His eyes trained on the immortal with laser focus. A tension in the air that had never been there before erupted full force.
"You know," he accused.
"That you ruined a family, traumatized all of them, especially their young child, and broke their home?" he asked rhetorically. "That you incited them to train their male heir to war? That you took away a happy childhood? That you utterly convinced him that there were monstrous people in the world?"
"Yes," he ground out. Mavros glared at him. "You want me to open up, hm? Show a moment of weakness or more honesty?"
Ozpin was silent. He was confused. Mavros had never acted this emotional about his exploits before.
He breathed out in irritation. "Fine. I fucked up. Screwed the pooch. Call it whatever. I learned of the Arc family and I went to investigate. A little digging told me of their heart-of-gold male child and I figured out what I wanted to do. I wanted them to stop coddling him. Another good person in your spat could save lives. Help children and hold you to not get tunnel vision dealing with Salem. He's to be a moral compass for your group of a sort. It makes you less dangerous."
Mavros had only a trace of deceit in his talk when he spoke of Mister Arc saving lives in his side. He did what he did for something else. Someone else? Interesting.
"I was stressed," Mavros continued, "I had a lot of issues, mainly Summer and trying to raise Ruby, but things felt like they were collapsing around me. I had no body for the longest time and that leaves a mark. I was in a bad state. I won't say I should be excused because of that. That would be ridiculous. I did what I did. I simply wanted to investigate them though. When they discovered me I had a sort of snap. I could have - should have - left. I didn't. I reacted with hostility because that's how I was met. Then it escalated. I wanted the Arc heir strong. So I made him strong."
Ozpin considered that for a moment. The Arc heir was strong. Absurdly so. He was a perfect storm of training, blood, and magic. He was simply naive due to his own nature.
"Do you wish to make amends?" Ozpin asked. Mavros looked into his eyes.
"I want to never touch that kid's life again. I just know that I will."
Ozpin reconsidered his plans. He's heavily suspected that Mavros was the so-called Villain, a strangely apt yet childish alias to use. He hadn't been certain that it wasn't one of the few cells of so-called magicians around Remnant. Not that they were anything more than pretenders and hobbyists. Summer, even as an amateur, was a hundred times their best mage without even her skills as a huntress and not even due to her silver eyes.
The cells aside he was fairly certain it was Mavros the entire time. But what of pairing him with Mister Arc?
Perhaps… he could simply stay away from him. But that would be more akin to leaving a problem for later, would it not? And even enemies are able to be friends with enough time and empathy. Mister Mavros was by no means a bad person. Misguided, surely, but not bad. Mister Arc was naive and lacking the greater view of the world Mavros possessed.
Opposites attract in their own way. Mister Arc was not a child to hold grudges, the only one he had belonging to Mister Mavros.
They could balance each other out. Work through their differences. The worst case scenario was that they hated each other and separated. But that was only the case if they were improperly managed. If he pulled a few strings they could meet in a way that wasn't without safety nets of a sort.
Forgiveness wouldn't come easy. But time and the seemingly endless empathy of Mister Arc would prove him right. If anyone could fix Mister Mavros' darker tendencies, reign him in, it was Mister Arc.
No. They were going to be volatile but with the right touch they could be something wonderful. True teammates weren't two people in complete agreement on every point. The best teammates were those who would cover the deficiencies of their allies.
They had to trust one another.
This could be done. It simply took time.
"I believe that is all Mister Mavros." Ozpin decided. Mavros nodded and stood.
"You have a plotting face," Mister Mavros said casually. "I have one too. Whatever you're plotting I suggest you think it through ten times. If I and Arc never speak again I would have no troubles whatsoever."
Ozpin nodded. "Of course." This wasn't anything more than an acknowledgement on his part. Mavros looked at him suspiciously but turned away.
"Goodbye Ozpin. I'll see you in two days."
"I will see you then. Do be excited. Initiation is a very important day in every person's life, should they attend Beacon. I hope you are prepared."
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