Points of View
Ozpin laced his fingers together as he stared at nothing in particular, his coffee long cold before him. "Interesting."
"That is certainly one word for it." Glynda replied flatly. "Ominous, distressing, concerning, I can recite a dozen more if you wish."
"That will not be necessary." He replied, glancing over to where Qrow was leaning against one of the windows of his office. "Your opinion?"
His best agent was gazing at his flask, but for once had yet to actually take a drink. "I think we just figured out part of Raven's warning. Those kids are up to something."
Glynda let out a furious exhalation, turning and began to pace back and forth across the room. He knew that she had taken a shine to the young Mister Arc, though she had stringently kept their relationship professional on the outside.. and she had even begun to appreciate Miss Neopolitan's assistance when it came to her various courses.
Regrettably for her, and everyone really, the past week had proven to be very trying when it came to that trust and faith.
"They hear about the maidens from the redhead... and get her to tell her entire team about it." Qrow murmured, swirling his flask slowly. "But they don't confront you about it. Not until you call them and ask 'em to stay quiet. Which they agree to, but not before spitting fire and trying to kill you with their eyes. They were pissy as hell... but I'm not sure they were all that surprised."
"No..." Ozpin murmured. "They were not, and in hindsight they were curiously not curious. I expected far more questions than they asked... still, that was less alarming than young Jaune's engagement of your sister today. It lends no small amount of credence to James' concerns regarding the fall of the Academy."
Worse, Raven's ability to sense the location and moods of her bonded companions made Qrow all but useless when it came to observing the conversation. She would have noticed his approach instantly.
As a result, when she had arrived on the cliffs to drag her daughter away for training, and Jaune had seemingly confronted her about it for nearly thirty minutes... their conversation had been all but private while Miss Xiao-Long and Miss Belladonna had attempted to avoid Raven by returning to their dorms. He doubted it had done them any good, Raven had likely simply used her semblance to appear directly before them, but any tales she might speak to team RWBY had been suddenly and drastically lowered on his list of priorities.
Raven had warned them that there were four factions in play. The bandit queen herself had obviously been one of them, and Salem's agents had clearly been another. Now it seemed that the third group had become clear.
Glynda shook her head, her expression shocked. "You can't possibly believe that they were involved."
"Of course not, they were merely first year students at the time, and Jaune's records are very well established." He waved a dismissive hand. "And the Arc family pedigree is one of noble action and sacrifice. Unless he is significantly lying about his age or was not raised by his given family, and said family going along with the deception, he simply would never have had the time to fall prey to Salem's machinations."
Qrow grunted, finally tipping his flask back. "So what do you think happened out there?"
"I believe that Salem gambled that the Relic of Destruction was at the Academy rather than at Shade, or at the very least knew that the Summer Maiden was instructing there and that it was worth the risk. I believe that Arc and Neopolitan learned something, observed something during said attack." Ozpin said slowly, working his way through his various thoughts. "Something that lured them into this shadowy game, something that, in turn, led them here."
A sharp inhalation came as Glynda suddenly ceased her movements. "Their friendship with Bartholemew, he was gushing about an expedition they accompanied to ruins in outer Vacuo just this morning."
Ozpin nodded slightly. "If I had to hazard a guess, one or more of Salem's agents was present at the fall, and was particularly loose lipped about what they were searching for. That or Haley attempted to impart some last knowledge onto the best students in their year as everything fell, just enough to inspire them to dig farther."
"So..." Qrow sighed, "They spend three years digging around in the sand, and somehow figure out that there's a Relic here? I'd have thought you or Salem would have knocked that crap down by now."
"As much as I would like to, time and resources remain a problem." He sighed, "And it is in Salem's interests to preserve the knowledge, to inspire curiosity and desire that she might manipulate later."
Glynda, as usual, focused on the more pertinent data, "Did any of them hold the Relics?"
It was extraordinarily difficult to remember so far in the past, but he nodded all the same. "I believe so... I can recall at least one kingdom that held the Relic of Destruction for a time before the inevitable occurred, and though it is hazy, I believe at least one even older kingdom once held all four, though not all at the same time thankfully. If they were determined, and perhaps lucky, they could have learned at least the basics."
"Great." Qrow muttered,into his flask, "So we've got a pair of traumatized not quite-kids here looking for a Relic to do the gods know what with it."
"I believe," Glynda interjected, "That we can assume their goal to be fairly benign. They are not the types to work with Salem."
"True," He allowed gently, "But Salem has long been a master of concealing her true nature and goals. She may be manipulating them under the guise of conquest, or more likely given their past, justice for what happened."
It was one of the many things that made her so dangerous. Very few of the misguided souls who were lured to her side truly understood Salem's desire to erase all sapient life upon Remnant. She often disguised it as nothing more than a dream of conquest, of overturning old orders, of establishing a new world where her pawns might hold places of power.
It was why he so rarely attempted to expose her directly, such actions had backfired upon him in the past. People adored the winning side, especially one that promised hope and change... regardless of how false that hope may have been.
Glynda took a long breath, then shook her head. "I do not believe that."
"In truth, neither do I." He admitted, "But it is a possibility we should be prepared for. For now, I believe their most likely goal is simply more information. Perhaps on the Relics and Maidens' capabilities or how to utilize them."
"But," Qrow countered, "In that case why not approach you about it? You'd think that asking them to keep quiet about Nikos would have been the perfect time to confront you."
Ozpin pursed his lips. "The most likely reason is that they do not trust me, a mindset likely worsened by my request to their protege."
Both of his subordinates fell quiet at that, contemplating the implications.
Jaune was a young man who wore his heart on his sleeves, and had been quite infuriated over the situation. Neopolitan's perpetual silence was far harder to read, but her strangely blank eyes had seemingly betrayed her own anger. As Qrow had noted, if looks could have killed, he'd have finally been ended just from their expressions during the short conversation where he had requested they keep the information quiet.
Of course, if information was not their primary goal, than there were limited other options available. One, and clearly the idea that Glynda was attempting to convince herself of, was that all of this was simply paranoia on their parts, that the pair were the simple, weary young hunters turned teachers that they seemed.
The second option... was that they had a more base motivation and desire for the Relics.
"Regardless,"He continued, "Qrow? I would like you to pay closer attention to them, if and when it is possible."
Qrow grimaced, "Ain't gonna be easy. If they're talking with my sister... she'll probably tell them about my little trick."
"Do your best." Ozpin requested, "Especially when they depart for Vale on their evenings out, but do not overdo it. I do not expect miracles and would prefer not to provoke them. In either case, until we know more, I would prefer to keep this from James'. The last thing we need is for him to overreact to the situation."
Both of them nodded at once in agreement, seeing the wisdom in that course of action.
He took a slow sip of his cold drink, grimaced, and then set it aside. "On to the other matter... Miss Nikos' refusal leaves us with limited options, given Miss Schnee's current preoccupation with her sisters' condition. I would prefer not to approach her when she is in such a state."
Not least of all because if Miss Schnee approached Arc as Miss Nikos had tone, the eruption of anger would likely prove to be volcanic.
Qrow stopped his flask, crossing his arms. "Might be a bit before the ice queens are stable. Who do we have as backups, just the bunny?"
"Miss Scarlatina is likely the only other viable candidate left, despite our prior discussions." Her pursed his lips before ruefully admitting, "In truth I had begun contemplating Miss Neopolitan as an emergency candidate if it came to that, but recent events have rather put a damper on that concept."
"Well then." Glynda shook her head, planting her hands on her hips, "If you wish to delay on speaking with Miss Schnee, our window to have her properly trained in advance of the Festival will be narrow."
"Non-existent." Ozpin agreed, "But it may also work as a cover. It is not uncommon for students to strain themselves training for the tournament, and not rare for it to be severe enough that they must drop out. If her team did not choose her for the two on two rounds, we may not even need the excuse as classes will hardly be in session."
"Could work." Qrow nodded, "But she's gotta agree first, and we're oh-for-one on that front."
He fought the urge to grimace. "Quite. We will cross that bridge when we come to it, for now we must focus on stabilizing the city's mood, coordinating with James and the Council to ensure the White Fang is entirely dealt with, and learning all that we can about our associates."
Jaune sighed as Sable continued to bounce one leg slightly, the sheathed sword in her lap moving up and down with the motions. "You sure you're all right?"
"I knew you were probably into some shady crap." Sable replied, staring blankly across the ruined cathedral beneath Beacon. The lights from battery powered lamps threw everything into sharp relief, not helped when lightning cracked just outside of the cavernous stone windows. "But I didn't realize it was the 'possible interrogation and execution' kind of shady crap. I need a minute."
"It's been two days." He noted. "And we're kind of running low on time, she's supposed to be here any time now."
"I. Need. A. Minute."
He sighed, glancing to where Coral was surveying the ancient pillars. Sable's twin simply adjusted her glasses and shrugged, "She is impossible when she gets like this."
"Oh shut it." Sable growled, bringing her hands up to rub furiously at her face as more thunder rumbled in the distance. "Dammit. You really didn't think things through, using your real name, did you?"
Jaune grimaced. "In my defense, I wanted to be as minor of a criminal as possible, and changing a few records was a lot different than creating an entire fake ID. Plus how badly do you think our parents would have freaked when they found out?"
"Extremely." Coral replied, already back to taking notes for whatever book she was working on now. "It would have inspired far more questions that you would have had no good answers to. Using your real name was likely your only option given your plan."
Sable made a credible grunting sound. "His plan sucks."
Her sister shrugged, "Given what information they had at the time, I consider it a risky but logical action."
"Thanks Coral." Jaune sighed.
She turned, giving him a rather blank look. "I have said nothing worth thanking me for, I merely stated the obvious. Your original plan had merit, it was simply poor luck that saw it begin to fall apart and endanger our family."
The reminder of both Coral's odd thought process, and the reminder that his entire family was in danger, made him sigh again. Thankfully Neo's apparition in a shattering of glass distracted everyone, his partner shaking her head tiredly as she wandered in his direction. Her hands flicked in quick motions, telling him that their offices were locked and that a bruised and battered Yang had just dragged herself into the infirmary.
"Branwen will be here any minute now." He said, turning back to his sisters. "If you're not sure about how deep you want to be in this, Neo can get you back upstairs."
Sable scowled at him, hen shook her head once, "I think I'd rather be informed, little brother, regardless of what I decide."
Jaune stared back at her, then nodded once. "That's fair."
She nodded and fell silent, leaving him to glance aside when Neo gave him a rather impatient nudge. Rolling his eyes a little, he stepped behind her before massaging her shoulders, his semblance letting some of his aura flow through the contact. Neo seemed to exhale with pleasure, leaning back against him, turning her head slightly to regard the storm raging just outside.
They were far enough inside that even the wind couldn't quite carry the rain to them, and personally he found the gentle drone of it rather relaxing. Neo, naturally, didn't, and evidently neither did the large black bird that came flying in through one of the windows. The poor thing was soaked to the point where it clearly having a hard time staying airborne, and it wasted little time before diving to land on the same stone bench that Sable was seated upon.
Sable gave the bird a glance as it shook itself, then shook her head, "Weather sucks, right?"
Neo jerked away from Jaune as the bird abruptly began to glow with a brilliant scarlet hue, it's body... melting seemed to be the only word that applied. It took less than a second before, instead of a soaked looking avian, a soaked looking woman was sitting next to his sister and dripping water everywhere.
"Entirely." She grumbled, though it was barely audible over Sable's shriek as his sister fell off of the bench and scrambled back slightly.
Jaune didn't quite jump as much, mostly because the sight of the bird transforming had left him more nauseous than anything else, while Coral merely offered an intrigued sounding, "Fascinating."
The woman, clearly Raven Branwen just from her appearance, smirked just enough to make it clear she'd wanted to see their reactions, then got to work unbinding her giant mess of black hair. "This is not quite the meeting place that I expected."
Jaune... needed a bit of a moment. "You... can turn into a bird."
The woman's smirk widened slightly. "Obviously."
He shook himself after a few seconds, reaching up to rub at his face, "Right. Magic is real... have to remember that. Sorry, didn't expect that to include shape-shifting."
"I can well assume." Raven replied, wringing out her hair and grimacing as she did so. "In truth it was not a secret I would have liked to reveal, but I doubted that you would believe me without direct evidence."
"That's... true." He allowed, recovering his wits one step at a time. Dust style magic, just without the dust, was something he could wrap his head around. But if he was being entirely honest with himself, he'd thought that was the extent of magic. Maybe more efficient and powerful than what a normal person could do, but not much more than that.
Evidently he'd been very, very, very wrong.
"Right." Jaune shook himself and focused as Sable finally got to her feet, and Neo forced herself to relax slightly. "I guess that means you're not the only one with that trick?"
The woman smirked again, looking entirely too pleased. "You are clever, aren't you? Yes, it was... something gifted to myself and my brother by Ozpin when we were both his pawns. If we are to be allies then I would prefer it if you didn't simply reveal everything when that fool can hear you."
It took Jaune about three seconds to work through the implications of that and flinch. "...gods, he could just have been sitting at our office window, listening to us?"
"He could have, I did quite often." Raven said, making both he and Neo twitch once again. "I highly doubt that he has been paying all that much attention to you, in the grand scheme of things, but given recent events that is likely about to change."
"Gods..." Jaune repeated, reaching a shaking hand up to rub at his forehead. He'd thought they'd been more than plenty paranoid about keeping their conversations quiet and secret, but if people could turn into freaking birds and listen in then... gods. That was one hell of a trick that-wait. "Ozpin? You said Ozpin gave you that?"
Raven's lips curled as she leaned forwards, and the tale that followed seemed to both entirely justify his concerns over Ozpin and create entirely new ones. Sable seemed to spend most of the history lesson in a kind of shocked state, while Coral's fingers were flying over her scroll as she took notes.
By the time it had ended, he'd sent Neo to grab a towel and drinks from their little lair farther in the ruins, the bandit queen was dry, and everyone was seated with plastic cups in their hands.
"So Ozpin's goal is to kill this Salem woman, and the pair of them have existed for centuries, or millennia maybe." Jaune shook his head. "The maidens were some kind of attempt by him to finally get some competent help, and it blew up in his face when the power transferred in ways he didn't expect."
Raven nodded, "From what I know, when my brother and I die what little power he granted us will return to him. He expected the maidens talents to do much the same, but something went wrong."
Interesting. "What's your goal in this?"
When she merely lifted an eyebrow and took a pointed sip of her beer, he elaborated, "I mean, why abandon Oz, why tell me this morning that you want to work with us, why tell us all of this?"
A finger tapped a slow rhythm on her plastic cup before she shook her head, "Because Ozpin cannot win, he cannot kill Salem, yet Salem must not be allowed to achieve their current goals. Right now her agents seem to be drawing far too close to the Relic and Maiden, and I do not trust Ozpin or his little cabal to handle it."
Sable exhaled, "So... what? You want Jaune... want us to do what? Kill them, steal the relic for you?"
"If possible, yes." Raven nodded, "In return I am willing to offer you intelligence beyond what I already have, and when the time comes, safe harbor among my tribe."
Jaune swallowed slightly. As basic as it was... it was an entirely tempting offer. As terrified as he now was of Qrow being able to listen in on them and report their conversations to Ozpin, the notion of Raven doing the same to Cinder or even Oz was almost alluring. Even more attractive was the second part of the offer.
Sure, he didn't like criminals and bandits much, but they'd had to spend short stints among them in Vacuo before. If nothing else they'd be capable fighters, and would probably be the sort to be migratory. It would be hard for anyone to track them down for quite a while in the aftermath, assuming flight ever became necessary.
"And what do you get?" He asked. "The Relics when we're done with them?"
"Yes." She answered simply.
"Why?" He pushed. "What do you intend to do with them? Bring down Mistral? Become a queen?"
"I already am a queen." Raven snorted, "The only thing I desire is the protection of my tribe, and the possession of the Relics would ensure that no one would be able to harm us. Even if Salem attempted such a thing, it would become child's play to deal with anything but a direct attack by the woman herself, and she has not left the Grimmlands in living memory."
Neo glanced at him, her hands moving. She was entirely in favor of this deal, there wasn't much of a down side in the short term, and if he didn't like the idea of giving the Relics to bandits... well, they'd have time later to reconsider.
Jaune exhaled then responded silently, pointing out that she probably would be on alert for that kind of betrayal.
True, Neo allowed, but that was a long term problem and they were in dire need of help right now. The bandit queen was obviously well informed, and from what they knew, incredibly strong. She was exactly the kind of ally they needed.
Yeah... that worried him. It seemed too good to be true.
His partner huffed and rolled her eyes, maybe it was... but if they refused it was increasingly likely that their only other options were to side with Ozpin, Cinder, or try and turn Cinder, and Neo refused to even consider any of them.
...he thought at least one of those had merit, but he could understand the point. "Why wait this long to approach us, if you've been listening in for so long?"
Raven had been watching their silent conversation with narrowed eyes, but only shrugged. "I was hardly going to back someone incapable of victory. Recent events proved your strength and resourcefulness to my satisfaction."
Jaune pursed his lips, then glanced at Sable. "What do you think?"
His sister rubbed a hand through her hair, blowing out a breath. "I think I'm not drunk enough for this kind of shit, little brother. I barely know what these Relics are, much less if turning them over to a bandit queen who can turn into a freaking bird is a good idea... what's this Salem's goal?"
"So far as I know it is extermination." Raven said.
Everyone winced, and Sable cautiously spoke again, "As in... everything?"
"Sapient life at the very least." There was a careless shrug, "She shows no favoritism between Humans or Faunus, all are equally prey in her eyes."
Coral hummed as she typed out another note, "If she truly is the Queen of the Grimm, it would seem that she is winning this war. They control the majority of Remnant."
Raven snorted, "Consider how much of a threat the Grimm truly are to the Kingdoms as a whole."
His bespectacled sister did so, as seriously as she typically did, then nodded. "I see. From what I recall, Grimm deaths have declined rapidly over the past century, aside from the Great War and Mountain Glenn. Still, they are outliers to the general trend. Atlas and Mistral have both made great strides in reclaiming land, particularly in the last four decades."
"It is a rough stalemate." Raven rolled a hand, "Perhaps tilted towards humanity thanks to technological progress, but a stalemate that is in humanity's best interests."
Sable blinked. "Uh... why? Wouldn't killing the Queen of the Grimm be a good thing?"
The woman let out mocking laugh, "She and Ozpin have been attempting to murder each other for at least a thousand years, if it was even possible I would think one or the other would have succeeded by now. No, the Grimm are a threat only to the weak and the foolish, the strong have nothing to fear from them. Salem's agents should be fought only when the consequences so dire it is warranted."
Like now, Neo noted silently, leaving Jaune to translate. "That's why you left, isn't it? You think Ozpin won't stop poking a sleeping Ursa, and I doubt he could even guarantee that the Grimm would just go away if Salem was killed."
Raven's expression became cold and serious almost at once. "Those were a few of several reasons."
Her tone screamed that it would be best to drop it, and he quickly shifted the topic, "If we agree, if we become partners, would you help us in battle or just with information?"
She seemed to consider that, "It would depend upon the situation and the timing. As I stated, my priority is my tribe, and I cannot constantly be in Vale assisting you. I would need advanced warning."
"Fair enough." He allowed, "What about the Relics themselves, do you know which Relic is where, and do you know the identities of any of the other maidens?"
"I do, and I do." Raven smirked slightly, "But that is not information I will give away for free. Do you agree to my terms? My aid in exchange for the Relics, to be given over once your Academy has been avenged."
Jaune bowed his head slightly, glancing at Neo and seeing her quick nod, then to Sable and receiving an almost helpless shrug. That left him looking to the last person present, "Coral?"
His sister tapped her finger on her chin once, then said, "The long term risks have to be weighed against the immediate need for aid. You've given the impression that you are behind and losing ground. This woman is dangerous on many levels, but currently offers what you need."
"That's not an answer either way, Coral."
"I thought that it was." She replied with a little shrug. "If your concerns are moral ones I can't claim to understand them. Given what I know of your situation, it seems logical to accept the deal before it is rescinded."
Raven began regarding Coral with far too much interest for his liking, "You are an interesting one, aren't you?"
Coral merely returned to her note taking, not bothering to respond. It left him to huff out a tired breath and rub at this nose.
Dammit... she and Neo are right. I don't like the idea of giving a Relic, especially Destruction, to someone with this woman's reputation... but she's got information and is offering help, and we're in dire need of both right now.
And, though she hadn't mentioned it, the woman had just as much if not more blackmail over them than Roman did. If she'd truly been listening in to conversations between himself and Cinder, and he had to assume that she'd done so at least once, she could blow up everything with just a casual scroll call to her brother. Privately he doubted that she would, but the fact that she could was the problem.
"All right." Jaune sighed, standing and holding a hand out. "Partners then, Raven Branwen."
She regarded it, then smirked and shook it once. "Partners, Jaune Arc."
Author's Notes
All right, originally I wasn't planning on having a second break chapter, but after some thought and a few reviews I agreed it would be best to show at least some of the final reactions to recent events. Here we have Pyrrha's almost instant refusal of Ozpin's offer setting off alarm bells when combined with a few other facts, and we have Raven approaching Jaune while Sable and Coral are being dragged into things as well. I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter... but it's rather important information all the same.
The next chapter is currently planned as a time-skip, right to around the end of the hunt for Roman (as much as I'd like to write a crime investigative thriller, this story is already long enough, and so most of the detective work and time spent there is going to be skipped). Unfortunately I can make no promises as to when that chapter will be out.
For those not aware, my personal situation remains less than ideal due to a combination of work stress and pending divorce, the latter causing me to need to sell my home forcing me to constantly come and go for showings, and a bunch of other factors that I won't bore you with.
Suffice to say that updates to this story and to Another Realm: Twilight could be irregular at best for the next month or two. Hopefully what does come out will be high quality enough that you all can enjoy it, writing remains my main source of relaxation and escapism right now, so I'm not about to give up or stop. Right now the issue is that my muse is all over the place and I can't plan for shit. I have tons of scenes (such as Pyrrha's parents showing up, Yang at the tribe, etc) that are either entirely written or partially so that I have NO IDEA where they could even fit or why I spent time on them... so yeah.
Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
Thanks, Kat
