"I can't believe you! We're supposed to be a team! I'm supposed to be your partner!" Yang shouted, pacing angrily.

Blake shrunk even further into herself from where she was sitting on her bed, pressed into the corner of the room and hugging her knees to her chest. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"You could have died out there, Blake! There's a reason Beacon puts students into teams — newsflash, you're not a pro-Huntress yet!" Yang continued cutting into her partner.

"I know," Blake muttered, staring at the floor.

"I think—" Ren tried to interject from where he was awkwardly watching the one-sided argument with Nora, but Yang cut him off.

"Did you really think you could take on that many people by yourself? You're beyond lucky that Pyrrha got to you in time!"

"I'm aware of that," Blake nodded slightly, still avoiding eye contact.

"You two–" Nora didn't fare any better than Ren.

"And the only reason they got away was because they had you to use as a bargaining chip!" Yang went on, oblivious to the rest of her team.

Nora sighed and extended a clenched fist, held within her other palm, towards Ren. He rolled his eyes, but mirrored the gesture. Once, twice, thrice they bounced their hands, and then at the unspoken signal, Ren suddenly extended all of his fingers. Nora's hand remained clenched.

"Aww, dang it. I never get to try things my way," Nora pouted. She flexed her fist, joints cracking loudly.

"You always pick rock, Nora," Ren pointed out as he stepped forward to defuse the situation. "Violence isn't always the answer," he added for good measure.

"Can't argue if they're unconscious," Nora grumbled halfheartedly.

Ren knelt, and pressed his hand to the ground. With a ripple of pink Aura, he pulled upon his Semblance. Yang and Blake seemed to fade, the colors of their clothing suddenly dulling. Yang was cut off mid-tirade.

"Of all the stupid—" Yang paused for a moment as her brilliant hair suddenly lost its luster, and then she took a deep breath before continuing at a far more reasonable volume. "Blake, I'm upset because of how worried I was about you. If you'd been hurt, or worse, I would have been devastated. I thought you were avoiding me for the last week because of something I did, that you hated me — and it really hurts that you didn't trust me enough to even ask for help."

Blake's eyes shot up, making contact with Yang's for the first time since the shouting had begun. "I don't hate you, Yang, and I do trust you," she said, her tone not quite managing to convey annoyance. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get hurt either. I didn't want to drag you into my problems."

"Did you ever consider that you might hurt us by not telling us?" Yang asked. What could have come across as an accusation was said so calmly that it only seemed sincere.

Blake slowly shook her head. "I'm… not used to people caring about me that way. I've been through some stuff in the past, and I guess I have some insecurities. I'm used to just being able to fade out of people's lives. I'm sorry, Yang. All of you."

Ren dropped his Semblance, and the girls burst back into color. A tear began to slide down Blake's cheek, and Yang spun angrily towards Ren.

"That—!" She started to shout, before she paused and took a deep breath, relaxing slightly. "...was probably for the best. Thanks."

He nodded to her with a small smile. "You both clearly wanted to express how you felt, but your emotions were getting in the way of effective communication."

Yang nodded an acknowledgment and turned back to Blake. "Sorry for getting carried away," she said, a little sheepishly. "It's just… I care about you a lot, you know? I was scared sick."

"We all do, and we all were," Nora added for good measure. "Team RESN too."

Blake sniffled. "And… you don't care that I'm…" She pointed up at her ears — her other pair — which were free of their usual bow.

Yang snorted. "Of course not, silly. Who do you think we are?"

Blake hesitantly uncurled herself from her ball and made her way to the edge of her bed. The instant her feet touched the ground, Yang engulfed her in a hug.

"Thank you," Blake mumbled into Yang's shoulder as tears continued to silently flow down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I promise it won't happen again."

The two girls stumbled as Nora suddenly shoved Ren into them, before rushing forwards and wrapping her arms around all three. "Group hug!" she declared happily as she lifted all three of her teammates into the air effortlessly. "Next time we all get to beat up terrorists together!"

o-o-o-o-o

"Penny, the footage you submitted during your debrief of the incident has been fully reviewed. Both your father and myself find it… interesting."

"I thought so too, General!" Penny replied.

"First of all, you performed excellently. Your combat parameters seem to match or exceed all of our original simulations. Well done."

"Thank you, Uncle Ironwood!" She beamed. She could practically feel his proud smile through the screen.

"What we found most… intriguing, however, was the boy."

"My friend, Shirou?" Penny confirmed with a questioning nod, her head slightly tilted.

"Yes. He exhibits a number of very interesting characteristics. From the footage and your written report, I would just like to confirm the following with you one more time. He, or more specifically his right arm, emitted a neon glow — teal or aqua in color, for the record — when engaged in combat. He utilized a collection of multiple swords in said combat, which were manipulated without apparent physical contact and struck with near-perfect precision. They were seen to appear, disappear, and reappear — the phenomenon captured at least twice in your footage — in flashes of teal light. Your report also noted that on several occasions, he displayed eyesight far above the human norm, and that you detected no Faunus features."

Penny nodded. "Yes, General. That is all correct."

"Thank you, Penny. Now, your father and I were interested, and somewhat concerned, about the fact that many of the characteristics I just described bear a striking similarity to a number of your own characteristics. We were wondering if you had any further insights as to these similarities."

Penny nodded happily. "As a matter of fact, I do! During a prior conversation between Shirou and myself regarding our similarities, I pointed out that we share the same shade of hair color!"

There was a slight pause. "A prior conversation about your similarities? Tell me more."

"Shirou initiated the conversation," she reported, "by responding to a query his partner made about why he wished to be my friend. He said that he felt we were quite similar for some reason, and that I reminded him of himself. I responded, as I said, by remarking on our shared hair color."

"And then?"

"He said that he views me as something similar to a long-lost sister."

Another moment of silence.

"Thank you, Penny. You've certainly given us a lot to think about."

"Of course, General." Penny smiled.

"I'll be in touch regarding further assignments."

Her eyes widened in excitement. "You mean in addition to testing myself and winning the Vytal tournament?"

"Indeed. It is good that you have established a rapport with him and his team. We may require you to investigate this Shirou further."

o-o-o-o-o

Roman took a puff of his cigar.

Gods knew he needed it, after all that shit.

Neo was… around, somewhere. He was never really sure. He had sent Jaune home before delivering the crates to their final destination, a nominally abandoned warehouse. Wouldn't do for the kid to be disillusioned.

Also wouldn't do for certain other people to find out about the kid.

"Roman. I can't say I'm entirely pleased." A silky smooth voice sliced through the silence of the warehouse.

Roman sighed, using the inhale to savor another mouthful of smoke. Think of the devil, and she shall appear…

He spun around, donning the friendly mask he always used when dealing with his 'employer,' no matter his actual feelings on the matter.

"Cinder! Always a pleasure to see you drop in completely unannounced," he lied easily. "And you brought the kids… lovely."

"I can't help but notice that after your little stunt tonight, our fleet is down two airships," the woman noted, an undercurrent of annoyance simmering beneath her sultry tone. Behind her stood her two lackeys, arms crossed. He knew they were good, sure… but he also knew who the real danger was.

"You might also notice that we're up two containers packed full of Dust," he pointed out with a scowl. "In fact, thanks to the market shortage that I am responsible for, you could easily procure a couple extra Bullheads by only selling one of the containers I procured."

"I suppose it could be worse," she admitted, and Roman felt himself release a lot of tension that he hadn't even realized he was holding. "Still, Roman, I'm a little disappointed in you. I'm afraid you have a lot of explaining to do."

His scowl deepened. "It's hardly my fault those stupid mutts are incompetent."

"No, I suppose it isn't." She wore a casual smile, but her eyes flashed dangerously. "However, if we're calling competence into question… I expected you to be able to handle such a simple job."

"I was handling it!" he protested. "It stopped being simple when that Huntress showed up. She might still be a student, but she didn't fight like one. She implied she was ex-Fang."

"Interesting." Her eyes narrowed. "Our friends will have to explain that later. Still, nothing above your capabilities."

"Of course not," he said with a scoff. "I had her. And then her three friends showed up, and blew through two-dozen 'trained' White Fang soldiers like Beowolves through a kindergarten."

Her smirk grew a fraction, but he knew better than to mistake it for her being pleased. Casually, she lifted a hand, a ball of fire flickering into existence from nothing – no Dust. It illuminated her face from below, giving her sculpted features a sinister twist.

"Ah, yes. Them. Tell me more," she demanded.

Roman gulped.

o-o-o-o-o

"I was off duty," Qrow protested, a little sheepishly.

"Qrow, you're a Huntsman," Ozpin retorted. "You're always on duty. Your niece is fifteen, and she hadn't even been accepted into Beacon yet when she managed to foil a Dust robbery."

Qrow sighed. "Look, the whole thing was over too fast for me to do anything about it anyway, even if I had noticed. Besides, I snagged that girl out of the water, that's gotta count for something, right?"

"You didn't notice two Bullheads exploding?"

Qrow ran his fingers through his slicked-back hair with a sigh. "Look, Oz, I was out fishing, just having a good time with a friend. I was distracted, so sue me. Everyone got out alright in the end. It's not the end of the world."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed over his mug. "You don't have friends," he accused suspiciously.

"Screw you! What about Tai?"

Ozpin shook his head. "If it was him, you would have referred to him by name, not to mention that I'd have a report from him by now as well."

Qrow deflated a bit. "Fair enough. But yeah, I made a new friend, is that so hard to believe?"

Ozpin simply stared at him, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything," the headmaster pointed out calmly.

Qrow grumbled.

"Well, let's hear it then. Who is this new friend of yours?"

Qrow shrugged. "Just a guy I met. Goes by the name Lancer."

"Like the Grimm?"

"Don't think so," Qrow said with a shake of his head. "I think it's because of his big red spear that he showed me."

Ozpin suppressed a smirk. "And?"

"Well, picture me, right? He's a lot like that, except better at fighting, and with a better alcohol tolerance."

That garnered a reaction. Ozpin actually put down his mug. "Impossible."

Qrow preened. "Yeah, I know, I'm a badass, but it's true."

"No, not that. I have literally never met a human who can drink more than you."

Qrow chuckled. "Then you haven't met Lancer."

"He's a Huntsman as well, then?" He began to type a quick search into his Scroll, but Qrow cut him off with a wave.

"No use looking him up, I've already tried. He's not registered as one, at least. It's possible he's changed his name, but my gut says that's not the case. I get the feeling that he's not from around here — just a bit too unaware of what exactly Huntsmen were, before I explained. He mentioned he was trained one-on-one on some island by a woman, but that's about it."

Curious. "I'd like to meet him."

Qrow snorted. "Thought you might. Already kind of organized everyone for a debrief at the bar Lancer works at. He'll be there, obviously."

"The students as well?" Ozpin mused. "Perfect. When?"

"As soon as I send out the address," Qrow said with a casual wave of his Scroll. He fell silent for a moment, his left hand flicking unconsciously for his flask before he managed to control the nervous tic. "Oz… Ruby's only fifteen."Ozpin allowed his features to settle into a small scowl. "You know as well as I do what this string

of robberies means, Qrow."

"I know." Qrow sighed. "I know. Not quite enough Dust stolen to destabilize the economy, and too much for one group to pawn off on the black market without being noticed."

"She's making a move, Qrow. Even if it's only through pawns…"

"It still needs to be addressed. I know, Oz. But… she's fifteen."

Ozpin affixed his former student with a bemused glare. "She also happens to be a part of one of the most skilled teams I've ever seen pass through Beacon's halls," he noted wryly.

Qrow chuckled darkly. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Oz. Not this time. I trained her myself. She's good, but she's good for a fifteen-year-old. She's not ready for this."

One corner of Ozpin's mouth twitched upward, and he began to tap at his Scroll once more. "Oh, Qrow. Has it been so long since you were a student that you've forgotten what Beacon is capable of?"

The dark-haired man snorted. "She's been here for, what, a couple of months? Sure. You took two bandit kids, and turned us into some of the best damn warriors on Remnant. But that kind of training takes years."

Ozpin's smile grew, and he expanded his Scroll before spinning it around on the desk to face Qrow. He gestured invitingly.

Qrow rolled his eyes, but leaned forward to pick it up. "What's this, then?"

"Well, Ms. Rose and her teammates were occupied, last night, with some rather serious matters – as you know. Unfortunately, that left them unable to attend a training session they had scheduled with another team — one that they rescheduled for tonight."

Qrow's eyes widened as he watched the camera feed.

o-o-o-o-o

Ruby glanced towards Shirou, flashing a slight smile. No surprises there — he made a beeline straight for Velvet as soon as the match started, as he often did.

Off to her left, Pyrrha advanced steadily through a sudden stream of bullets, both hands up to support her shield against the onslaught. A wave of magnetic interference flickered out before her, subtly influencing the trajectory of the bullets headed her way — drawing them towards the exact center of her shield. She could have directed them away from herself, at the risk of sending them towards her allies, but while they packed a hefty punch, Akoúo̱was up to the task.

Behind the cover provided by Pyrrha, Weiss followed. She waved Myrtenaster like a conductor's baton, already starting to shape the arena to her will. Walls of ice sprung from the ground, restricting Coco's movements, even as bolts of multicolored light carrying more esoteric effects burst forth to suppress her. Weiss' eyes moved constantly around the battlefield, assessing the situation, but Ruby knew that the support she'd be getting would be minimal until her teammates managed to take out Coco.

The plan was fairly simple. Coco's minigun, Gianduja, was too great of a force multiplier to be left alone. Pyrrha, arguably their strongest fighter, would move to take her out with Weiss' support — and even then, it wouldn't be easy. The second-year girl was wickedly skilled.

Shirou and his strange abilities were a perfect match for Velvet's Anesidora, and they were confident that he could lock down the versatility and support that she provided her team for as long as necessary. They would lose the same type of versatility while Shirou was distracted, but Weiss was just as useful as a support combatant.

All Ruby had to do was face down the remaining two members of team CFVY until Coco was dealt with.

With a spin and a flourish, Weiss slashed downwards, a burst of fire erupting from her blade and tracing a line across the entire arena, neatly blocking Yatsuhashi's path as he moved to shatter some of the icy barriers surrounding Coco, and causing him to stumble backwards in surprise.

Ruby fired. The large man managed to recover in time to block the shot with the layered sode protecting his shoulder, but let out a quiet grunt as the bullet burst into a chunk of ice at the point of impact. It would buy her a little time.

It paid to have the heiress to the world's largest Dust company on her team.

No pressure. Just Ruby Rose, fifteen-year-old first year, facing off against two eighteen-year old second years from one of the best teams at Beacon.

Crescent Rose shifted into its familiar scythe form — Fox was almost upon her.

No time for doubt or indecision. Her team was counting on her — they believed in her. Her smile grew.

She had this.

Her weapon blurred into motion, spinning and slashing in a whirlwind of parries, sparking against the blood-red blades of Sharp Retribution as she dashed backwards to keep her distance.

It had taken her a while to get used to Fox's style. At first glance, he was a lot like Ren — both were expert martial artists, using a pair of twinned blades that were no more deadly than the rest of their bodies. She leaned back, dodging under a high kick, and fired at the floor beneath her to turn the movement into a backflip even as the recoil brought the tip of her scythe's blade up towards Fox's chin.

He jerked back as well, before spinning around to drive a bladed elbow at her as she landed. That was the main difference between him and Ren — Ren was graceful, flowing like water around attacks and lashing out with limbs like whips in their fluidity. Quick and unpredictable.

Fox was all knees and elbows, relentless and brutal. She'd taken more than a few hits from him before, and she could say without a doubt that he was stronger than Ren. In fact, due to his relative experience, he would probably beat Ren in a fight, especially since her fellow team leader didn't have the best stamina or durability for an all out brawl.

She ducked under the strike easily, driving the butt of her scythe into his stomach as she did. Fox barely flinched, and she had to backpedal again as Crescent Rose spun to deflect the flurry of counterattacks. None of them landed.

She was used to unrelenting and brutal. They had their differences, sure, but it wasn't all that different from Yang's style, at least in mindset.

She blocked an incoming knee with the haft of her scythe, the head of the blade next to Fox's head, and fired again. The sharp retort of the high-caliber bullet just next to his ear caused him to wince, disorienting him enough that the recoil-boosted blade slammed down against the back of his shoulder uncontested.

Ruby whirled out of the way as he stumbled forward past her. The blind boy had incredibly sensitive hearing, to the point that his lack of sight wasn't an issue, but that just left him vulnerable in other ways.

She ran forward to meet Yatsuhashi as he rushed to help his teammate. The ice hadn't held him for long, but she hadn't expected it to.

Fox was strong, but Yatsuhashi was strong. His greatsword, Fulcrum, was little more than a sharpened slab of metal. It's point of balance was halfway up the blade, and yet he still managed to swing it around easily with one hand if needed. She'd been hit by it once, and that was more than enough of a lesson that she shouldn't let it happen again.

Easier said than done, of course. His size, and that of his weapon, belied his speed — but Nora was faster. And Ruby was even faster than Nora.

She dropped to her knees at the end of her run, sliding forward under a horizontal swing that could have cleaved an Ursa Major in half. A backwards shot towards Fox helped drive her scythe into his leg, but the man's stance was rock solid, and he barely budged despite the drain on his Aura.

She shifted Crescent Rose back into its rifle form to untangle herself and used what was left of her momentum to roll forward, barely getting out of the way as he brought his greatsword down in a strike that shattered the floor of the arena. She came to her feet facing him and fired as rapidly as she could, a few bullets managing to land before he was able to angle his sword up to deflect them. Predictably, he looked as though he barely felt them.

Yatsuhashi was tough as nails. There wasn't much she could do to hurt him, and the invincible bulwark he provided was an incredible asset when he had someone like Coco to unleash overwhelming firepower behind him. Team RESN had learned the hard way that it was best to separate those two early.

He had one glaring weakness, though.

Compared to her, he was slow.

She went on the offensive. After spending so much time sparring with her teammates and team RVBY, anticipating his oversized sword was easy.

One strike landed, then another. His defense was good, but as she blurred faster and faster, drawing on her Semblance, they started to connect more rapidly. Slowly but surely, she was chipping away at his Aura.

Unfortunately, he had a lot of it. Fox was approaching again.

She'd seen enough of CFVY's fights to know that Fox was incredible at coordinating attacks with the rest of his team. Weiss suspected it was Semblance related, but whatever the case, he was most dangerous with a partner.

A second later, Yatsuhashi wound up for an incredible diagonal swing, from the ground up. She'd have to jump it, but she could already see Fox sprinting up behind, ready to meet her in the air.

She had to be faster.

She drew deeper from her Semblance, and time almost seemed to slow down as it filled her entire body — and then she flowed.

It was a strange sensation. Rushing forward in a stream of rose petals, she could feel Yatsuhashi's sword, sense the way it split the air as it swung towards her and… through her.

It swung cleanly through her… body? Did she even have a body? Had she ever? It didn't hurt, as she split in two and rode the air currents to either side of Fulcrum, or as her two halves reformed and then coalesced back into her body in a sudden surge of consciousness, tinged heavily with relief.

She was still getting used to the fact that her Semblance went beyond simple speed, and it didn't always work the way she wanted it to. More than once, her concentration had slipped and she'd darted straight into an attack instead of flowing around it.

She shot Yatsuhashi in the back, the recoil only adding to her speed as she blurred past Fox just after he leapt for a flying kick. Her blade hooked around his chest and pulled her into a spin to bleed off her excess speed — carving away Fox's Aura at the same time.

She flung him towards Yatsuhashi, dropping to the ground and firing towards the two of them once more, and was rewarded by a crimson burst of color as Fox's Aura finally gave way.

She paused for a moment as Yatsuhashi dropped his sword and caught his teammate before gently lowering him to his feet.

Fox turned to her and nodded with a small smile before limping towards the edge of the arena. Yatsuhashi slid his foot under Fulcrum and deftly kicked it up into his hands before turning to face Ruby and nodding as well.

She burst forward once more, petals streaming in her wake.

Try as he might, Yatsuhashi couldn't hit her as she dashed around like a bladed whirlwind, somehow always seeming to be behind him. Even if he could withstand the heavy blows of her scythe, each of which could have felled a lesser man, they slowly whittled away his defenses.

It was only a matter of time. Ruby wasn't sure exactly how long it took, as now that there were no other distractions, she fell into a trance of dodging and attacking. Eventually, however, Yatsuhashi sank to one knee and held up a hand. Her eyes flicked up to the screens above, and saw his Aura was firmly in the red.

For a moment, she was confused. She'd only been supposed to distract the two of them until her team could help her out, not just beat them. But…

"Yeeeeesssss!" she exulted, throwing both hands into the air and jumping in place. "I am the best! Whoo! Weiss! Shirou! Did you see that? Pyrrha?"

"Shut up and help–" Weiss' voice came from behind the barrier of flame that still divided the battlefield, halted abruptly by a metallic thump and a squawk of pain that Ruby thought sounded suspiciously like a designer handbag with approximately the same weight as a minigun smacking her partner. Just a guess, of course.

"On my way!" she called back, chambering another round into Crescent Rose and flying up past the flames in another burst of petals.

o-o-o-o-o

Qrow didn't say anything.

"Quite," Ozpin agreed with a nod.

His agent was silent for a moment more before responding. "Beacon, huh?"

"To tell you the truth, I was as surprised as you are."

"You didn't do this?" Qrow asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly puzzled.

"I can take no credit. It was Ruby's own drive and the positive influence of her team that led to what you just saw."

"This is live footage," Qrow noted, a hint of a question in his tone.

"Yes," Ozpin acknowledged. "I had no way of knowing how good of a showing she would provide. Does it not count for something, that I was confident she would impress?"

Qrow tried to laugh, but it quickly turned into a sigh. "Yeah," he said simply.

"Qrow, your niece… she is exemplary."

"Always has been," he muttered.

"And her team is no less so," Ozpin added.

"Arena champ and Dust princess, right?"

"If you were only watching Ruby, I can see how you might come to that conclusion," Ozpin said. "But I can promise you that her fourth teammate is, perhaps, more extraordinary than even the others."

Qrow snorted. "I need a drink."

Ozpin leveled a slightly disapproving glare at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, after the meeting. But…" he trailed off.

"She is ready."

"Is anyone, really?" he countered half-heartedly.

He looked up, meeting Ozpin's gaze, as the rhetorical response garnered far more of a pause than he'd been expecting.

"No," was Oz's definitive answer. "But that does not affect what we must do."

"...Yeah."

Qrow understood. He really did. There was a lot at stake here, and like it or not, Ruby's performance set her apart.

Maybe he shouldn't have trained her as well as he did.

"I'll send them the address," he said in the tone of a man who was already defeated.

"I'm sorry, old friend," Ozpin said.

That was the damnedest thing about Oz.

He was sincere.

"Yeah. Me too."

If she was good enough… maybe he should have trained her even harder.

"You're about to kick things off, aren't you?" Qrow asked.

Ozpin smiled sadly. "I'm afraid I don't have much choice in the matter. She's already made her move."

"I wish it didn't have to be them," he said.

"You saw it for yourself. She's…"

"Yeah. Like a young Summer."

"They're ready."

"...Yeah."

o-o-o-o-o

Hey! My apologies for a longer break than I was anticipating. I spent a couple months completely away from any way to write, and it was more disruptive to my writing flow than I thought. I can't guarantee that there won't be similarly long breaks in the future, but that's just the way life goes – still, I promise I'll always be back eventually!

Anyways, I've had a lot of messages and reviews asking me about how exactly I'm handling the mechanics of the two worlds involved in my crossover. In order to answer some of those questions, I present a special, explicitly non-canon omake: Rin's Q&A Corner!

Let's just be clear, nobody has to read this, of course. But, if you find yourself interested in just how the world I've imagined works, and will work, or if you just want a bit more content, please read on!

o-o-o-o-o

"Hello, everybody, and thank you for joining us today!" the girl with black hair, worn in a pair of long twin-tails, exclaimed cheerfully.

She was sitting behind a fancy desk decorated with gears, which was rather incongruously placed in the middle of what appeared to be a dojo.

"I'm your host, the brilliant Tohsaka Rin! And please welcome our guest, the esteemed headmaster of Beacon Academy – Professor Ozpin!"

She gestured to the tall, silver-haired man sitting next to her and paused for a round of non-existent applause.

"Thank you for having me," Ozpin said, taking a sip from a steaming mug of cocoa. "This is… certainly an interesting setting for an interview," he noted.

"It's tradition to host non-canon meta conversations here," Rin said with a shrug. "The most this place gets used is whenever somebody dies, so people can tell them how to do better next time. Illya's distracting Taiga for the moment, so we should have the place to ourselves. "

"I see," Ozpin said wisely, clearly not seeing at all. "At the very least, I certainly seem to be getting a fair amount of screentime, this chapter."

"Now, I'm sure you all must be wondering what this is all about," Rin said to her imaginary audience. "Frankly, I put this together because our adorable protagonist, Shirou, is an idiot," she explained.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow mysteriously. "He's doing well enough in his classes," he pointed out.

Rin scoffed. "Nobody cares about that. He's an idiot about magecraft. He never asks the right questions!"

"He did ask me if I blew up the moon."

"Believe it or not, that was one of his more insightful ones," Rin said with a sigh. "Anyways, today we're here to actually answer some of the questions that I'm sure you all have about how our two very different worlds interact on a metaphysical level! Since Shirou probably isn't smart enough to ever ask about any of this in the actual story, I've brought Ozpin on today to help us clear some things up."

"I'm not usually in the habit of admitting my secrets," Ozpin admitted.

"Yeah, but it's not like this is real, right?" Rin asked.

Ozpin frowned.

"Besides, I'm not going to ask you anything about your secret plots or anything. Today I'm going to ask the questions that I would have asked if I was the protagonist, instead of the dense one."

"I suppose that's alright," Ozpin agreed.

"Our main topics of conversation today are going to be Magecraft, Aura, and whether or not you're actually a Wizard," Rin said happily. "Let's start with the last one first, because I think it will give us a pretty good foundation for the rest. So, Professor Ozpin: are you a Wizard? Or just a Magus?"

Ozpin steepled his fingers. "Well, first of all, I'm not sure that I should really be aware of all the different terminology of your universe. Since this is non-canon, should we just assume that I am?"

"Of course," Rin laughed. "This would take forever if we had to explain every little thing to each other. You can also assume that we're all familiar with the general history of Remnant, and the fact that you can reincarnate."

"Very well. I started, obviously, as a Magus. Back in my original time, Magecraft was common, known the world over and used by all. In fact, I believe you would have called it an Age of Gods. I was particularly skilled with it, of course, but it was not for many, many lives that I finally became a Wizard."

"Very interesting," Rin said as she nodded along. "So, which Magic do you wield?"

"I should think that would be obvious to a self-proclaimed genius like you," Ozpin teased.

Rin huffed, but her smile widened a moment later. "Of course. Every time you reincarnate, your soul is transferred to a new body. Being able to witness the Third Magic, Heaven's Feel, every time you die must have given your research into it a huge advantage. The Einzberns would be jealous."

"Very good," Ozpin acknowledged with a knowing smile. "That's correct. The magic that I perfected was the materialization of the soul – although, my own use of it seems to be quite different from that of the Einzberns." He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "You're familiar, obviously, with Mystic Codes?"

Rin nodded, before smiling out at the audience. "Obviously. But for those who aren't, a Mystic Code is a specialized tool for Magecraft. Put prana in, and get Magecraft out – the same Mystery every time for a given Mystic Code. They're typically more prana efficient than casting the same spell using Magecraft normally."

"Exactly. Using the Third Magic, I discovered a way to create Mystic Codes that are autonomous, self-defensive, and self-repairing. They generate prana naturally, and most importantly, they're self-replicating. Also, each new Mystic Code has a semi-random, semi-unique spell built in, typically with a strong application for combat."

Rin's eyes widened. "Impressive. Not just impressive, impossible. Unless…"

Something clicked. "Ah. You're talking about people."

Ozpin nodded. "That's right. Aura is the physical manifestation of the soul – I was the first person to awaken another's Aura, turning them into what is, in effect, an extremely powerful Mystic Code."

"So, a person's Semblance is the spell engraved on the Mystic Code made of their soul…"

Ozpin nodded once more before taking another sip of cocoa. "When the gods removed magic from the world, it would be more accurate to say that they removed magic from humanity. Humans are no longer born with Magic Circuits – the discovery of Aura was the best tool that I could find to help humanity fight back against the Grimm. Especially considering that Gaia no longer permeates the world with Mana – the gods were able to seal all that magical energy into Dust – so even if we did still have Magecraft, we would be limited to fueling our spells with Od. My ascension from Magus to Wizard is entirely secondary to the benefit that humanity as a whole has received as a result."

"And because Mystic Codes are so much more energy efficient than normal Magecraft, you get more out of having people using their Od to fuel their Auras," Rin extrapolated. "More power, anyways, at the cost of versatility. And Shirou hasn't really thought about it because he always uses his Od instead of Mana anyways."

"Quite so."

"So," Rin said as she shuffled a small stack of notes, "can anybody be turned into one of these Mystic Codes? Or are there limitations?"

"Unfortunately for Shirou, as he correctly assumed, having active Magic Circuits would preclude the ability to unlock an Aura," Ozpin confirmed. "The ritual to unlock an Aura involves pushing a bit of the awakener's own Aura – their Od, technically – into the recipient to jumpstart the process, not too dissimilarly from how Magic Circuits might normally be activated. The details are more complicated, obviously, but the ritual I designed was built from that simple starting block. The magic resistance granted by having active Circuits is enough to overwhelm this foreign Od easily and halt the process – not to mention that Aura, as the manifestation of the soul, would interact poorly with the Magic Circuits that reside within a Magus' soul and are specifically made to channel prana."

"Poorly? How do you mean?" Rin asked.

"Well, assuming you did manage to get the process to work in the first place, that person's Aura would be hyper-concentrated just above the physical manifestation of that person's Circuits," he explained. "So, in Shirou's case, for example, his Aura would trace a jagged cage over where his Circuits are spread through his body. The concentration would make those areas incredibly defensive, but the defense would be full of holes and it wouldn't cover his entire body. Not to mention that with all his Od being concentrated outside of his body as a defensive barrier, he wouldn't be able to use his Magecraft – it's definitely possible that his Semblance would be something similar to his Tracing, but it could just as well be something completely different."

"So, even assuming it was possible to awaken his Aura in the first place," Rin summarized, "It would be like wearing a wire-frame suit of armor instead of being covered in solid plates like most Aura users, and it could potentially lock away his most powerful tools."

Ozpin smiled and nodded along. "That's correct. If only all my students grasped things as quickly as you."

Rin preened under the praise. "Of course, that raises the question of you," she said pointedly. "If you started as a Magus, and Magic Circuits are a part of the soul that materializes every time you reincarnate, then you should have Magic Circuits instead of Aura, right?"

Ozpin smiled wryly. "Very astute, and for a time, yes, you would have been correct. No longer, however. My magnum opus, Aura, was not discovered without a price. It was only by using the powers of the Relics that I was able to re-shape my own soul – turning my own Magic Circuits into the first manifestation of Aura."

Rin paled. The idea of losing her Circuits, by her own hand no less… it would be anathema to any Magus.

"It was a gamble, perhaps the biggest I've ever made, but I was confident that it would work – and I think it was worth it." For a moment, a hint of sadness crossed his features. "My Circuits are far from the greatest sacrifice I've made in the fight against Salem," he finished somberly.

"Professor Ozpin…" Rin started, uncharacteristically hesitant. "At the risk of turning this interview into something a little more serious than it was originally intended to be, do you mind if I ask you one last question?"

Ozpin let out a sigh. His posture slumped, almost imperceptibly. "Very well. Ask away."

It made Rin a bit sheepish to ask, but she did so anyways. "Professor… you chose to describe the users of Aura as Mystic Codes. I have to ask, now that I have the complete picture… You could have explained it in terms of a Marble Phantasm, and gone into detail about how a Semblance is essentially the will of the natural soul imposing its viewpoint onto the world. If you were willing to stretch, you could have even described it as a limited form of a Reality Marble, considering that's probably something a lot of our viewers are more familiar with. So, why…?"

"Why choose to make an analogy to an inanimate object, instead? A tool for magecraft, instead of a living being?" Ozpin finished for her sadly.

Rin nodded.

Ozpin turned his head away from Rin, locking his eyes on a spot just to the left of where the imaginary camera was filming them from. Considering that it didn't actually exist, where he chose to look was actually an incredibly accurate guess — but not quite on the money.

That's what Oz was good at, after all. Making guesses. Usually close ones, but… not always right.

In any other setting, he would probably have deflected — it was an easy enough question to do so with. He certainly wouldn't bare his soul, pun slightly intended, the way he was about to. But, after all… this wasn't even canon. Nobody, anywhere, would ever know what he had to say on the matter. So… he had might as well be honest.

"I've made more mistakes than anyone else in the history of Remnant ever has," he began. "Everybody makes them, I know. But… most people only have a single lifetime to make them in."

What was left of his composure began to deteriorate.

"It is… unimaginably hard. I mean that, not at all as hyperbole. A normal person literally cannot imagine how hard it is, to form relationships that might last for years, decades, an entire lifetime… and then see that person ripped away from you, in the most final of ways. To watch people that you have grown to love die. Over and over again, and to eventually forget their names, their faces."

His eyes, somehow noticing something off, readjusted — landing, this time, slightly off to the fake camera's right — but slightly more on point than they had been before.

"There have been those who have called me… 'manipulative.' More than I can count have cursed my name in their final breath. Still, though... None have ever managed to condemn me more than I already blame myself. With every lifetime that has gone by, met only by loss, I am reminded that everything I have done has been for naught."

His eyes adjusted once more as he finally broke. His eyes began to water ever so slightly, a single tear threatening to slide down his cheek as his gaze fixed onto the exact spot that his nonexistent camera was filming from, locking eyes with his audience.

"I cannot save them. Any of them. I care for each and every student I have ever taught, and to the last I have been forced to see them die."

He took one last breath before releasing it as a rattling sigh.

"It is far easier for me to look at them as tools. Mystic Codes, chess pieces… Whatever the metaphor, it doesn't matter." He closed his eyes as a second tear nearly broke free from his other eye. "Everything I have done has been for the good of humanity, Faunus included. It is far easier for me to write off those that I care for — those that I love — as tools, rather than acknowledge that I am willfully setting them onto a path that I know will only lead to misery and defeat. But… I will not, cannot, stop. Admitting defeat would mean that it all truly had no point."

Rin smiled sadly. "You remind me a lot of someone I know, Professor."

Ozpin regained his composure enough to chuckle lightly. "Is that so? For some reason, I imagine that my own circumstances are rather unique."

"You might be surprised," she said. "Even beyond the silver hair, and being really attractive, for an older man–"

Ozpin spat out his latest sip of cocoa and started to cough.

Rin ignored him and continued. "I know a man who wanted nothing more than to save everyone, who spent his entire life chasing that dream – and then, when he died, he found a way to keep trying anyways. He spent more lifetimes than I can count trying and failing and killing, and eventually grew bitter. He tried to go back in time to kill his younger self before he ever set down that path in the first place."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "He was a Wizard too, then? The Second or the Fifth?"

Rin frowned. "Not quite. Gaia was involved, as was the Holy Grail…"

The ancient professor sighed. "Regardless. So, is that to be my end as well? Eventually I will break?"

Rin began to smile again, which swiftly grew into a smirk. "I doubt it. He went back in time, but when he found his younger self… Well, let's just say that really strange things tend to happen around Shirou."

Ozpin's eyebrows shot back up at the implications.

Rin nodded with a laugh. "Exactly. Trust me, if he's crazy enough to survive an assassination attempt by the time-traveling semi-immortal Heroic Spirit-Counter Guardian of himself and still manage to hold onto his dream, convince said Counter Guardian that the dream wasn't that wild after all, and then get himself accidentally sent to another dimension for the sole purpose of saving people… I wouldn't give up hope just yet, Professor Ozpin."

Ozpin allowed himself to smile faintly. "Thank you, Miss Tohsaka. I don't believe I shall."

"Well, that concludes our interview for the day!" Rin exclaimed, back to her usual cheer. "Let's have a round of applause for Professor Ozpin!"

The dojo was silent.

"It's a shame this isn't canon," Ozpin said. "I would have liked to remember this."

Rin shrugged and smiled. "Just because it's not canon doesn't mean things won't bleed through. After all, this is Carnival Phantasm, not to mention fanfiction. This interview is at least the third step away from canon. Goodnight, everybody!"

Ozpin frowed, trying to avoid having an existential crisis.

The curtains fell.

o-o-o-o-o

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