Ozpin found Argus to be a rather quaint city and imagined that if Mountain Glenn had survived that the two cities would have similar feels to them. The people of Argus could easily be registered at a glance as a durable bunch, their location necessitating that, even with a strong Atlesian presence and the Sanctum Academy the people kept a certain edge to them that those who lived within the Kingdoms capitals had lost over time.

His traveling companions and bodyguards necessitated the longer trip to Argus rather than the direct route to Mistral, Clover Ebi, and Harriet Bree needed a full medical before placed in field action as well as a rendezvous point to meet with the rest of their squad, plus Argus was where James had also requisitioned some additional forces to assist if the retrieval of the Spring Maiden if Raven choose no to cooperate.

As he gazed idly out one of the many windows of the Atlas base to take in the city view he heard behind him a soft mechanical whoosh of a door opening and then closing, and being at least marginally familiar with Atlas protocols Ozpin stood perfunctorily and turned to greet his guest.

"Headmaster Ozpin, I am Sir Nigel Thornberry, Caroline Cordovin would like for me to pass on her expressed remorse for not being here to greet you herself but the news of your travel plans arrived unfortunately too late for the Base commander to be here to greet you appropriately. In her place, she has sent me to express her regrets as well as introduce myself as the Commanding officer of the Wild Thornberries, the additional accompaniment assigned to assist yourself and the Ace-OPs if necessary."

Ozpin smiled at the man's introduction, feeling a strong sense of energy and excitement from the man. "A pleasure to meet you, Nigel." Extending his hand the Atlesian grabbed it immediately and shook it energetically. "Forgive me if this seems rude or overly forward but I have had a long friendship with James Ironwood and I am somewhat familiar with the naming vernacular for Atlesian squads and yours, well it stands out from the few I have been introduced to throughout my life."

"Your question is neither rude or forward. Myself as well as my Squad while Atlas military, originate from the Kingdom of Mistral, we were recruited by the good general to originally be a training force for Atlas specialists set to operate on Anima, when training of the Atlas forces finished I imagine a recommendation was issued as we had barely boarded the train to Mistral proper before receiving a permanent invitation to Join Atlas and function as both a training unit for new squads as well as an operational unit that Mistral would be more comfortable to accommodate."

"That is a pleasure to hear, how much have you been told about the operation?"

"Dreadfully little."

Internally Ozpin felt some gratitude that James hadn't had to share any sensitive information to access the additional personnel. "I have passed along all pertinent information to James and I'm sure Clover will go over all relevant information at the briefing."

"I would expect nothing but from the ACE-OPs. With my introduction complete I must excuse myself and gather my team."

Ozpin smiled and returned to his seat once more looking over the City of Argus's scenery, his scroll lighting up after a few minutes, notifying him that Clover and Harriet were both cleared for duty as well as a short message from Leo Lionheart appearing.

~Final arrangements have been completed, Haven Academy will be cleared of students and staff on the day you requested.~

The message from Lionheart raised Ozpins mood even further, his request to have the school emptied of prying eyes hadn't been unreasonable as accessing the vault had him traveling through a high traffic location inside the academy and it wouldn't do to have people asking questions why the Beacon Headmaster was accessing a hidden room no one even knew about at the Haven Academy. Knowing that that was taken care of his mind drifted to considering how to approach Raven in the coming days.


An explosion of dust, cutting the path he walked down alone in half stopped Ozpin in his tracks, the explosion kicking up a wall of dust and debris that pelted his clothing and left him covered in a small coating of dirt. The explosion hadn't been an attack, and it certainly wasn't an invitation to proceed further yet it didn't deter him in the slightest as he calmly brushed aside some of the dirt and once the dust settled to a reasonable level and no one presented themselves to obstruct him he calmly continued his pace down the path.

He knew that somewhere behind him the ACE-OPs and the Wild Thornberries were tailing him quite masterfully as even with his lifetimes of experience he couldn't pick up any trace of out of place noise coming from the forest that surrounded him on either side of the trail.

Winding his way through the forest, following the path without err, and gradually being able to see small trails of smoke, the kind that comes from multiple cooking fires and not of burning structures he knew that he was close to his destination and soon those watching him from the forest would move to impede his progress, as the Dust explosion from earlier he had discovered and triggered had warned the camp in advance that someone was approaching.

He was uncertain if Raven had every developed enough of a relationship with him to develop a bond and a portal connection through her Semblance if she had he knew she would have felt his presence closing in on her for a few days now if she did not have such a connection he didn't want to catch her off guard and cause her to panic, so a few hours notice he figured would be enough for her to learn who was approaching her and allow her time to prepare how she might want to handle the situation.

Personally, he hoped she would be polite enough to at least hear him out and hopefully see the sense of the proposition he would offer to her and her camp rather than simply attacking or worse using her Semblance to leave the area entirely, taking all her forces with her. The last option concerned him the most as at least if she chooses to fight first he would be able to at least talk while fighting if she simply left then he would have no way to follow or know where she was.

As he was idly considering the three most likely outcomes the clear blue sky that had persisted throughout his entire visit to Mistral so far, and still remained impeccably clear even now suddenly unleashed an elemental bolt of lightning that stopped him firmly in his tracks. Both in a wave of relief that the Maiden was clearly present as no Semblance every recorded had that type of ability, but also a brief moment of panic.

Panic because Lightning was a rare form of power to be displayed by a Maiden, only those who had either been trained by him specifically or had a certain natural affinity for the powers were capable of Lightning. Fria, the last Maiden he had a true relationship with crafting her abilities could call forth some lightning but her natural affinity for the colder elements made lightning appear paltry in comparison.

"Headmaster Ozpin, to what do I owe the pleasure."

The voice that he couldn't see dripped thick with venom, or he imagined it that way, the anger displayed by anyone outside of Salem had seemed paltry and lacking and had ever failed to cause the desired effect that people hoped when dealing with him. He opened his mouth to respond but found himself cut off before he could even begin.

"Don't waste your breath Ozpin, I know why you are here and I know you won't leave unless you have had your moment to speak so how about I save the world some hot air and speed things up. VERNAL!"

What was shouted was clearly a name, not one he recognized and to match the name he also did not recognize the young woman that seemed to appear from thin air in the middle of the pathway. It was a clever display of ability, someone within the Tribe or the Vernal girl herself having a Semblance that either concealed her presence or produced illusions that allowed it to appear as if the girl had been waiting in that spot this entire time, which she likely had been. With his attention so focused on Vernal it took a moment to register that she was not alone, stood behind here a few paces was an individual that could only be Raven Branwen, even with the Grimm helmet covering all her feature that mane of Black hair was a dead giveaway.

Raven had put him on the back foot immediately with how she chose to initiate this meeting, a fact he could respect as he kept his gave floating between the two women for a few brief moments before ultimately settling on Vernal. "Young lady." Ozpin was not sure what social convention would be best to use and chose to use the most neutral one he could, simply addressing his intended individual in a polite manner, making no other gesture. "I am Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy, Vale. I have need of the Spring Maidens powers, once my task is complete I will reimburse you in however a manner you deem appropriate and will then proceed to never bother yourself or the Branwen tribe again, so long as I live."

A long pause held the air still as he kept his expression and stance neutral, as Vernal looked at him with an expression that felt like a mixture of contempt and boredom.

"Is that it? Raven is that it?" Vernal looked over her shoulder to where Raven stood.

"This is the great and powerful Ozpin, it most certainly is not it, simply because he's not telling you everything," Raven spoke with a confidence born from experience as she moved to stand side by side with Vernal, though her own posture was far more relaxed. "He's neither gave any indication why he needs your powers nor how long he would require them, not to mention the other thing."

Ozpin could feel the pointed look from Raven even through the mask. "The Spring Maiden is the key to open a vault that holds an item of importance, I have chosen to remove the item from the vault and relocate it elsewhere, I only require the Maiden's presence for as long it would take to reach the city of Mistral and access the vault." Ozpin finished his carefully phrased rebuttal and paused for a moment, considering his next words wisely. "As for the other thing, IT has met with a setback and I hope to accomplish this while IT is distracted." His words had a reaction.

Raven leaned toward Vernal, the mask hiding her mouth making it impossible for him to ready her lips and get an understanding of what response might be coming. Ozpin wondered what relationship the two women had as Raven while being the less powerful of the two clearly had the dominant role, and not through any false power, rather Vernal seemed to willingly follow, a clear respect in her actions.

"You're assuming the loss of one agent if enough for her to be so distracted that she wouldn't notice you acting in Mistral. See I would expect the opposite, if someone kills one of my men, I tend to find out who and how, and then I make them pay when it hurts them the most, and yes, I know what my brother told me, it wasn't him and he was confident it wasn't you but do you really think that would stop IT from focusing solely on you?"

He understood Ravens argument, everything she said was accurate, if Salem was aware of Tyrian's death, so close to Vale, then her full attention would be focused on himself, but even if for some reason knew she was not responsible that would mean she has knowledge of a second enemy and she might take a risky Gambit of her own and the weakest position he had right now was the Spring Maiden. "The knowledge of my journey here has been limited to only a select few that would panic if I was away mysteriously, and among that number are only those who I trust completely."

The two women's heads came together for another moment before separating again with Vernal stepping forward. "Say that I am willing to help what is it that you are offering?"

Eyes flitting between the Spring maiden as she spoke and back to Raven as she stood beside her indifferently a small measure of relief eased into his mind knowing that at least for the moment a fight wasn't about to occur. "I am unfortunately unsure what a community such as this actually requires but I have a considerable number of assets at my disposal if Lien is all you desire as for other requests that do not directly revolve around monetary reimbursement for your time I would be more than happy to discuss what may or may not be within my power to provide."

"Lien has little value out here, we take more than we can realistically spend, all things considered." Vernal looked at Raven and a single nod was exchanged. "Dust, on the other hand, is far more useful and much harder to obtain."

Lien or Dust, both meant very little to him if in return he could access and remove the Relic of Knowledge without a fight. "That can be arranged quite easily." It was unfortunate that the Dust would be put to use to further harm the Mistral countryside and no doubt remove a few budding villages but he took solace in the fact that if he did supply the Dust he could also help the villages in the immediate vicinity as well, prepare them against the Threat Raven would pose in the weeks and months to come.

"Keep heading to my camp, we will discuss things further there."

Few things in life caught him off guard anymore but when not only Raven but Vernal both fluttered and shimmered for a moment he was left with an impression of shock at the ingenuity.


Raven turned her head, removing the helmet in one fluid motion as the man's Semblance faded and her surroundings were brought back into focus, a smile crossing her lips as Vernal likewise adjusted near her. The bandit who's Semblance that had allowed the meeting was already moving, having heard the entire exchange and left to help the other bandits organize there welcoming party. As one figure left another arrived, breathing rapidly and only taking the bare minimum of time to gather his breath and thoughts, keeping Raven waiting was not something anyone in the Tribe did.

"How many?"

"Eleven, plus the man on the road."

"Mistral?"

"No, Atlas by all appearance, dressed to appear Mistral though."

"Aggressive?

"Not currently. all Huntsmen though, armed to the teeth and move like they are accustomed to fighting Humans more than Grimm."

Raven considered what her tribe was capable of, everyone having Aura and Semblances was enough to threating your average village, even if it had protection from a Huntsmen or two the numbers gave her a definite advantage and usually the villages would simply capitulate. Eleven Atlas trained and equipped Huntsmen with Ozpin himself on top of that was more than enough to run roughshod through her entire force with little effort, only Vernal, herself and a few others would be able to provide any real resistance.

The battle, if it came to that would be unwinnable, and it had the unfortunate circumstance that it would very likely reveal her true identity as the Spring Maiden. Cursing inwardly at her current predicament she wondered how exactly she could make this situation work for herself while exposing nothing if at all possible.


Pouring a cup of tea from a set that had been graciously laid out before his arrival Ozpin sipped at it politely as he relined into what could be considered an extravagant seat amongst what he had observed during his brief walk through the encampment. The tea, however, did little to match the surroundings, the blend being a fantastic blend he had never before tasted and was no doubt a spoil from a raided village, he wondered idly as he sat if the village still existed and if so could he locate it and add this fine blend to his personal collection back at Beacon.

His errant thoughts of Tea and nearby villages came to an end as Raven and the Spring Maiden, Vernal, both entered into the tent he had been told to wait for them inside. He stood respectfully as both entered, lowering his cup to waste height and giving each a partial incline, a show of respect and decency, that his effort went ignored by both did not both him as both moved to differing positions, Raven reclining into what he had assumed had been a discarded pile of hides and bedding but now looking at the way she sat so comfortably realized it was actually a large chair buried underneath the mess as Raven leaned back with ease and rested an arm comfortably on a concealed armrest. Vernal, on the other hand, choose to remain standing though she did pour a cup of tea for Raven, handing it to the seated woman who accepted the steaming cup and gave the Spring maiden a single nod of affirmation and thanks.

The interaction was curious to behold as he knew Vernal was clearly the more powerful of the two, and if she so desired could usurp Raven's position. The fact that she hadn't and showed more respect toward Raven than one would expect meant that this relationship was built on more than simple power and currently it was obvious that if he wanted to accomplish his goal that it would be best to not infringe or cast doubt on said relationship, right now the Relic was more important than a temporary Maiden.

"You said you are interested in Dust as Payment?"

"Yes, certain types and quantities, nothing overly difficult to procure either, we have very little use for the more exotic types that the 'Great Kingdoms' rely so heavily on upon."

"Power and ammunition?"

"I'm glad to see that you can be direct when needed Ozpin. Yes, crystals for power and ammunition, so few villages we raid have anything of the sort, and what they do have is either expended fighting against us or idiotically destroyed to prevent us from obtaining it."

Idiotic it might be from Raven's perspective but it was a near-global precaution on Remnant that if a town or city is to fall to human or Faunus invaders to destroy their dust and ammunition stores, a carryover from the Faunus war. "Yes, I imagine it would be. However I don't have time to discuss the intricacies of Mistralian village protocols and I doubt you would care if I did, I am on somewhat of a precise time table and I don't have the luxury of time to bargain so please inform me of the quantity and type you desire and I will arrange for delivery."

"Direct and in a genuine hurry for a change, and not only that, desperate it feels."

He watched as Raven made a motion and for Vernal to bend down obediently so that her eye was placed directly beside Ravens mouth, unlike the previous interaction he had observed on the trail leading to the camp this interaction had far more personality, with Raven speaking quietly and Vernal taking in whatever was said and responding in her own hushed tone, both turned away enough that again he couldn't read their lips but after a short exchange they separated with Vernal leaving the tent.

"Vernal will return shortly with a list detailing everything we want. The amount will be more than I fear you can provide on such short notice though, what assurance can you provide that you will honor your side of the bargain if as you say are on a timetable that limits you?"

"I would hope that you would trust me at my word but I feel that that would only end with a sarcastic rebuttal yet realistically I have nothing else to offer outside of my word, I had hoped that you would take the offer of Lien as I have a not at all insignificant amount that I can use as I see fit without anyone being the wiser. While I did consider that Lien would be meaningless I did prepare an amount of Dust that can be here within the hour, and I don't see having the rest here in time before my necessary rendezvous in Mistral being outside the realm of possibility, although I would need to impose upon your camp for some accommodations for myself."

"I don't want you anywhere but outside my walls, and as for trusting you I'm fairly certain you cannot afford to not be trusted right now, Vernal is firmly on my side, not yours and," A red rift of light opened up and Raven's hand vanished for a moment before returning through with a scrap of paper. "I have ways of making sure that I feel you're not willing to honor your end of the deal then your little retrieval operation will be far less successful than you imagine."

He was neither surprised or shocked to see that Raven had a connection with Vernal, the level of understanding between the two made that so clearly obvious that their would be the connection Raven needed to form her bond and portals. "Very well, since we are being so trusting at the moment then once my Bullhead arrives with the first offering of Dust I shall depart with the Maiden if you have no objections." Ozpin stood and sipped the last remnants of the tea tried to remain calm as his excitement built.


Raven heard the roar of the bullhead well before it could be seen over top the canopy of tree, her men also listened to it with interest, each and every person in the camp waiting at the ready, following orders no one had given but each understanding that what was heading there way might very well be a doublecross. Raven personally doubted that Ozpin was many things but he was hardly one to strike a deal then stab the person in the back, but regardless of that, she let her men entertain that belief, keeping them at the ready and their edges sharp never hurt.

"Are you sure you want to do this Raven?"

"Sure, no. Do I feel that I have to, not really either, I could simply take the camp and move them somewhere else then pull you through once everyone is safely relocated."

"Then why not simply do that? Why take this deal from a man you make no effort to hide your dislike for?"

"I could do that Vernal but Ozpin's presence here means that sometime very soon the rules that the world lives by might be changing. Ozpin represents the status quo while the one he struggles against represents... something else, don't ask me what because I don't really know what the one Ozpin fights against represents for Humanity but I can tell you one thing. I might hate Ozpin but the other one, I'm afraid of what she could be capable of if she gained any advantage." Her words trailed off as she felt Vernal's gaze travel from her to the Bullhead that lightly touched down and several cases were unloaded in a hurry, one of her men opened each case and nodded each time and that was confirmation enough as Ozpin strode past and boarded the Bullhead with Vernal following along behind by a noticeable distance.


His mind refused to accept this, that Cinder was so much stronger than himself that even fighting at a disadvantage in numbers that she was able to toy with him. The one who killed Pyrrha, who he spent any he could spare, training to defeat, or better yet kill was so for above him that she toyed with him, with his emotions.

His feelings, emotions, drove him to attack continually, even as he felt himself easily rebuffed time after time, only for in one exchange Cinder paused, or hesitated, in a way that gave him an opening,

He had lunged forward, closing the remaining distance and driving his blade forward like a spear, the hesitation, or pause that gave him his opening was too short though, as he lunged Cinder returned to her senses and with a look of fear, narrowly escaped the path of his blade.

The opportunity passed, failure was all he was greeted with once again, failure to be strong enough to help Pyrrha so she sent you away, and now failure to capitalize on the best opportunity to he had to kill Cinder.

Cinder played with him, taunting him with his failures, any words he said were twisted back on him, twisted into truths about his failures, until he said something, something wrong that gave Cinder pause. He regretted those words the moment he saw the idea forum behind Cinder's one cruel eye.

Weiss died that day in Haven, this was his second life, the death of Pyrrha couldn't be prevented, he was too weak again, Pyrrha had still sent him away. Not yet realizing the extent of his Semblance he had chosen to live with his guilt, help his friends as best he could protect them as best they could, he wasn't important but keeping them alive was, only as he remembered watching Weiss die he knew he was still too weak too powerless.

He hadn't even been worth the effort to kill after that, Cinder had let him go running as quickly as he could across the room to where Weiss lay, her body pierced and barely breathing.

No, that wasn't right. Weiss was dead before he could reach her, before anyone could reach her, her heart pierced by Cinders spear.

The spear hadn't pierced anything vital but her Aura was already spent and her body was weak from the fight already that she could do nothing herself to mend her wound. He reached her and placed his hands over the wound, with Ren arriving moments after, taking her pulse.

No, Weiss was dead, the wound was higher and impacted with her heart, Ren wasn't by his side, he and Nora were fighting somewhere, he didn't know, he only remembered Weiss's blood.

The wound beneath his hands began to close, mending together as Weiss began to recover somehow.


Jaune woke with a start, his head pounding in pain as his body contracted forcibly into the fetal position. His head was on fire with pain so fierce that he had no idea how long his body curled in upon itself in pain or if any of his teammates were attempting to help him.

Time was a blur to him while the pain lasted but eventually in an instant he felt like himself once again, the pain in his mind gone in an instant and the only obvious sign he could feel that he had been in any sort of pain at all was he was drenched in sweat, as was his bed and sheets.

Throwing his bedding off himself he quickly stood and looked around his shared room, sighing in relief that his team wasn't present and he wouldn't have to explain that weird occurrence to anyone.

The clock was his next point of focus and he found it to be only a little bit past nine in the morning on Sunday, his team no doubt letting him sleep in as they went for breakfast, not an uncommon occurrence for any team, let alone his.

A quick shower and change and he was out the door of his dorm in minutes, his bizarre dream that would have been easily ignored sticking with his simply because of how he had come to wake up from it.

Distracted by his thoughts he took a few moments longer than he should have to realize that Beacon was not simply quiet but unnaturally quiet, and as he banished the thoughts of his dream from his mind he noticed that no students or staff were anywhere to be seen, or at first, it seemed that way, in the distance he heard footsteps, only enough for one person but rapid enough that whoever it was was running at a full sprint.

Not long after the sounds of running started they faded into the silence as the moved out of earshot, and once again Beacon was abnormally quiet.

The lack of usual sounds and the distant running had him considering gathering his weapons as the longer the silence lasted an air of danger filled his mind, that something had occurred out of the ordinary that he was unaware of because he had overslept.

He found himself running, he wasn't sure why but he sprinted through the corridors of Beacon finding doors to other dorm rooms left haphazardly open, and bags discarded along the walls. The scene, to his mind, was one of nightmares as he could remember lives filled with similar occurrences and his feet carried himself forward faster and faster until before him he finally saw not simply a single other student but a gathering that could easily be close to the entire population of Beacon academy gathered together.

He did not feel relieved at the sight as although the gathering of people was so large he could not hear anything but a few muffled sounds he could not place.

He reached the crowd, those closest to him not even turning to register his arrival as their eyes were focused elsewhere on a massive screen broadcasting a scene Jaune hadn't seen in thousands of lifetimes.

On the screen was a simple headline with the alive video feed.

Haven Academy has Fallen

Below the headline, the video feed showed Haven Academy consumed in a fire with hundreds or maybe even thousands of Grimm crawling all over the buildings.


So, uh, 1 day late as I had hoped to have posted this in February, but I feel I will be forgiven or considering the cliffhanger, maybe I will have everyone cursing my name until the next chapter comes out, either way, I hope everyone enjoys the monkey wrenches I just threw into the story.

What happened to Ozpin?

What happened to Raven?

What happened at Haven?

And what is happening with Jaune? This is the second time something like this has happened to him in this life.

Anyways, as always, lemme know what you think, even if it is to just tell me that I suck at words.