Chapter 1

Ozpin stood in the ruins of his fallen academy. The dust had finally settled, but Beacon was now little more than a pile of rubble. Most of the structures had collapsed, and those that remained bore scars that would likely never be repaired. Ozpin sighed in despair. The once great hunter school that was Beacon would likely never open its doors again.

It had been months since Ozpin had stood in these halls. His defeat at the hands of Cinder Fall had taken its toll. He had barely managed to crawl away from the battle, amazingly vanishing into the night before any could spot him or chase. All except for one, that is. Ozpin's eyes closed as the memories flowed back to him.

"Oz! What the hell are you doing here?"

"There is no time, Qrow! Get to the tower!"

"I can't just leave you here!"

"You will, or you abandon Ruby to die."

Ozpin eyes snapped open as the aching in his chest grew. His heart had not stopped panging since that night, only receding when he was distracted enough to forget the pain for a moment. One glance around him was more than enough to remind him of his failure. A destroyed school, a city in the midst of collapse, and a country held in the grip of fear were all the result of his failures. Ozpin had fled, not out of fear, but out of guilt. The events of that night had sealed his fate. Now it was merely a matter of waiting for the time of his judgment to arrive.

And so Ozpin had made the long journey back to Beacon, where his aching heart seemed to suffer the worst. He stood in the collapsed auditorium, the ceiling falling through to allow the dim winter sunlight to pour in. It seemed like only yesterday that he had welcomed the newest teams of future hunters and huntresses into the academy. His heart weighed heavier at the thought that he would never again have the pleasure of guiding pupils to become protectors of the world. It was not an honor he deserved anymore; the state of Vale was all too much proof of that.

The ground and air seemed to tremor as one, the entire world seemingly shaking in fear. Ozpin had long given up on fearing for himself, though, and he turned to face the arrival of the one he had been waiting on. A figure had joined him in the hall, concealed in a long, heavy black coat. The figure was vaguely masculine, with wide shoulders and powerful limbs that even the thick coat could not adequately hide. A massive hood cloaked the wearer's face in shadows, but Ozpin thought little of this. He knew he would not recognize the face beneath the hood, but the aura that now radiated in the room was unmistakable. The figure was as still and silent as a statue.

Ozpin eyed the figure painfully as the guilt that had built inside him for so long flooded through his being. "Oberon," he greeted the figure sadly.

The figure was silent and still for a long moment before reaching into his coat and throwing an object on the ground between Ozpin and itself. Ozpin's heart nearly gave out as he saw the golden tiara bounce across the ground and come to a halt, balancing itself on its curved points. Ozpin averted his eyes, struggling in an attempt to block out his most painful memory. If ever he had failed a student, it had been Pyrrha Nikos.

"Do you have anything to say in your defense?" The figure finally spoke in a deep, warbling voice that only barely seemed human. Ozpin recognized the voice, but was still surprised. The calm tone that Ozpin had heard in Oberon's voice when the hunter had first met him decades ago was gone, replaced by a forcefully even tone that barely managed to prevent fury from seeping into the figure's words.

Any normal person would have fallen over in terror at the sound of the voice, but Ozpin had seen too much in his long life to fear much of anything anymore. "I have no defense. My actions alone are responsible for this tragedy. I would not be here to meet you if I did not believe myself guilty."

Oberon's frame shuddered in rage. "You claim sole responsibility, but that does not satisfy me. The problem traces back to you, but the source lies elsewhere. The Maidens of the Seasons. Even now, you defend them. After everything that has happened, you refuse to admit their guilt in this!"

"Their mistakes are my mistakes," Ozpin stated firmly, his voice harsher than it had been in months.

"You say that like I am supposed to forgive and forget, like I am supposed to forget their role in your plans and punish you alone. You are asking me to forget the damage done here. You are asking me to forgive my daughter's murder!"

Ozpin's eyes drifted back to the crown, his heart crippled by guilt. Oberon's fury was righteous, but that did not stop Ozpin from protecting what he had guarded for so long. Ozpin was not ready to give up everything he had strove to build in Remnant. And yet, it was clear Oberon would not be satisfied.

"You promised me, Ozpin," Oberon said, fury practically emanating from him. "You promised me if the Maidens were ever corrupted, you would stand aside. I warned you that your gift could destroy them, and you promised me that you would not hesitate to tell me if the Maidens turned away from the light. But you did not warn me. Instead, you took matters into your own hands. You hunted a woman across all four kingdoms, intent on purging this on your own. All so you could keep your precious Maidens alive. Look at what your efforts have brought you!" Oberon gestured to everything around them. "The world has fallen into chaos. A Maiden has corrupted the power you created with the taint of the Grimm." Oberon stopped briefly, closing the distance between Ozpin and himself. "I agreed with you because I believed that what you had planned could benefit this world in its entirety. I gave you leave to come here because I believed that you could do as you once told me, that with the Maidens you could accomplish more in a lifetime than all of us had in centuries prior." Oberon paused briefly, and Ozpin could feel hooded eyes examining his own. "But it is clear to me now that what you have started is too much for the people of Remnant. All things come to an end, Ozpin. This must end now."

Ozpin looked up at the figure before him, accepting the truth he had avoided for far too long. "For what little it is worth, if I could have known what Fall was going to do, I would have died instead. I would have died rather than let her take your daughter away from this world."

Oberon's stance relaxed, though only slightly. "I know, but that only makes this all the more painful." Oberon's hand whipped through the air, grabbing Ozpin's throat and holding the man aloft in the air.

Ozpin did not struggle in the man's grip. There had been many chances to escape this moment in the past months, but Ozpin would never take them. There was no justice in running from his old friend, not after the pain he had caused Oberon. "I…am sorry…Oberon…" Ozpin choked out. "I promised to protect her here…and I failed you in that…Of all my crimes…your daughter's death is the worst…"

The cloaked man was silent and still again for a long moment. "My heart forgives you…but I require justice to put this behind me. The world requires justice for your actions."

Oberon's grip tightened around Ozpin's throat. Ozpin's lungs wanted to scream, but it meant little to him. He had asked for this fate when he refused to tell Oberon about Cinder's theft. His emotional pain had left him shattered. For all Ozpin had done, Oberon might as well be doing him a kindness.

Ozpin's eyes shifted to track movement on the outskirts of his vision. A black crow with red eyes perched on top of a ruined column. Even in its beady eyes, Ozpin could see remorse, uncertainty, and anger.

Oberon followed Ozpin's eyes. "Do not interfere," he stated, a commanding aura clinging to his words.

Ozpin eyed the bird carefully, conveying a message with his eyes. After a long moment, the bird nodded with solemn eyes before taking flight. Deep inside Ozpin, some of his pain extinguished itself. There was still one hope in this world that had not yet been snuffed out. A simpler soul. A silver-eyed warrior. A huntress who had the strength and determination to right all of Ozpin's wrongs. Ruby Rose…I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.

Oberon's grip tightened one final time as Ozpin's world began to fade away. "The source of the Maidens' power lies in you, Old Man. With you gone, their power cannot be reborn in others. So you shall fall first. Then…I will hunt your Maidens."