The Cosmic Cycle
Chapter Ten
A Greeting From Two Terras
A Few Days Later...
It was a pretty decent day out when they got the message.
Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin were attempting to finalize the budget for next year, which was in a little less than four months, which she wisely decided not to sit in on. Decision making between the both of them could run on for a fairly decent while; something she accidentally realized when she sat in on one of their rough-drafting sessions. Sat there for over three hours, though she fell asleep somewhere around the middle when they entered in an argument for deciding on if Professor Port could do with fewer classes for what she heard was an entire hour in and of itself.
She personally sided with Headmaster Ozpin on that one. If he had nothing to do, lord knows he'd probably wander the halls of Beacon, chatting the ears off of passersby for potentially long periods of time. It happened once apparently, before Glynda had started working here, and he wasn't very keen on it happening again if he could help it.
He was a good man, but he had the unfortunate curse of gab. An unfortunate lullaby for most; even some of the older staff.
She was pretty sure he would have called it a gift instead, and everyone bar Professor Goodwitch would have played along. A pouty Port led to more than a few issues, as she so aptly learned herself.
She herself had taken refuge in one of the many parks that the school owned. They were quite expansive, and gave rather beautiful scenery for her, in both relaxation, as well as her drawings. The one she currently resided in happened to have a cherry tree that was in the process of losing its petals that fell on the winding walkway, giving an incredibly picturesque view.
Unfortunately, while she did enjoy the sight, her mind kept wandering onto other subjects. A quick flipping of a few pages revealed several pictures of her savior. Drawn down to the last detail, she used this to give a better portrait of the man. The picture Qrow took wasn't bad, but it didn't give them all a thorough look at him.
What were all those terms he was talking about? She certainly hadn't heard such things before, and neither did Ozpin or the others. Not to mention his abilities, too. Being able to materialize objects out of nowhere? Creating or finding what he called 'Holy Water' just to cleanse that awful taint from her system?
Having the very same powers that made her a Maiden?
It'd be a lie to say that it didn't shake her or the others to the core. Professor Goodwitch became more paranoid since the attack, and she often found her eyes wandering out through windows and throughout open areas with a small degree of caution when she thought no one was looking. Ozpin and Qrows were a lot more subtle, but ever since then she'd find a small bird following her wherever she went. Not that she didn't mind the company, but having someone watching your every move for your own protection always made her chafe.
Ozpin himself became a bit more subdued than normal, pouring his energy into looking through old, worn down texts to look for any mention of another group that Jonas might have been a part of, to no avail. Often, his brows were more furrowed than not, a rather clear indication of how he felt about their current predicament, and he had a few more mugs of caffeine in attempts to relax, however the heck that worked with coffee.
It worried her, to see how much this affected them.
It had been over two months since that man came to her rescue, and the questions he posed only served to deeply confuse her. She wanted answers to her questions just as bad as the rest of them, and considering he said it'd take him as long to make his way down here pretty much drove her up the wall in anticipation.
Was he already here? Was he close? Her mind wandered to the man more often than not lately. She would've thought she was smitten if it wasn't for how little she actually knew of him.
She didn't consider him an enemy though. It was pretty hard to when he put in the effort to cleanse that black muck from her body, even in spite of his threat. It sounded more like a promise actually, what with his tone at the time.
Honestly, this whole thing just served to leave her confused more and more with each passing day! Hopefully at least part of this would be done with soon, or she might just have an aneurysm from the stress.
"Miss Tawny?" A voice called out from right next to her. She jumped slightly, nearly slipping off of one of the many large tree roots currently layered out from one of the trees that had been on the cliff from before Beacon itself had been built. Looking over, she found Glynda peering down just off to her right with a small hint of both worry and curiosity. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes, sorry...just got lost in my thoughts." She gave a sheepish smile back to her. Looking a little more closely, she noticed that her hands were clasped around her large work scroll a little tighter than usual, her knuckles bone white. "...Is everything okay?"
Her mouth opened for a moment before her eyes wandered throughout the area. Quickly but subtly she leaned herself forward, next to her ear.
"We just received a letter." She spoke quietly. "...From him."
Oh.
Oh.
That would explain her attitude.
"What did it say?" She replied quickly.
"We haven't opened it yet." The green-eyed professor shook her head. "Ozpin wants you on hand in case something happens."
She nodded, quickly flipping her book closed and standing.
"Show me."
"Have you opened it yet?" Amber asked Ozpin as both she and Glynda walked off the elevator. The Headmaster gave her a long look.
"Not as of yet, no." He said finally after a few moments silence. "I thought Glynda told you we were waiting on you?"
"Yeah, she did." She nodded. "Its just that, after seeing how antsy you've gotten since everything that's happened, I wouldn't have put it past you to open it on your own."
"Come now, I'm not that bad."
"So I haven't seen you trying to be sneaky and have another couple cups of your coffee a day during your searches?" She grinned.
"...Touche." Ozpin replied, doing his best to ignore the glare he was getting from his deputy. Her eyes briefly roamed over the front of the closed letter.
Ozpin
From Jonas Everblue
The letter itself looked pretty normal, with exception to the small blue four point stars that were scattered around Jonas' name, of which they could see rivers of pale blue light flowing between them.
"Have you come across Qrow by any chance?" The recipient of the letter broke her chain of thought.
"I'm afraid I haven't spotted him." Glynda shook her head in the negative. "Do you want me to go-?"
"No need, I'm here." Qrow cut in from their right, having seemingly made his way in through the open window. "I hear we got some mail?"
"From our mysterious benefactor, yes." Ozpin confirmed. "Be ready. Anything may happen."
Quick nods came in reply. Qrow quickly pulled and extended his blade, while Glynda and Amber readied themselves with crop or hand to use their semblance and magic immediately. The Headmasters eyes wandered between them before he started pulling the letter open slowly from one of its corners.
The tension in the room was palpable. Each scratching sound from the paper being torn open served to wrack their nerves.
A quarter of the way open. Halfway. Still, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. At about three quarters, the pressure slowly began to ebb.
It was when he got to the other corner that they noticed the building light coming from inside the envelope.
None could utter so much as utter a word before said light shot out from inside, and into the air. Ozpin dropped it open his desk, taking a few steps back as more flew out like bullets of varying colours. They flew about like comets; bouncing off of whatever surface they hit with the sound of small chimes. One skimmed across the bottom of Qrows forearm before he had a chance to move, yet to his surprise, all he felt was a little tingly.
Slowly, they began to spiral into the air, still reflecting off of any materials, before meeting together in the middle and Coalesced. Small flecks came off and popped; crackling like fireworks before a single word became legible, surrounded by fanciful lines; enhancing its grandeur.
Sup
...
...
...What?
Yet Another Couple Days Later...
It had been over two months now. Nine since he got here, but only two since he had begun to devise the best plan he could come up with; which was a bit sparse considering how much information he still lacked in the current age.
He planned out for every detail he could given his circumstances. Every possibility that might occur during his talks with Qrows boss, both verbal and otherwise. He planned for possible escape routes if they failed, which he didn't really think it'd come down to. He planned as far ahead in to the future as he could feasibly guess towards; since life isn't as great as it is without surprises at every corner. And he made damn well sure to repair his clothing and remove any dents from his armor before making his way down to Beacon.
He planned for everything he could.
So why was he so bloody nervous?!
He was currently aboard a large airship called a Skybus. It was a transport vessel meant for carrying a great many passengers all at once. The area he currently lounged in was a long rectangular room with several large, semi-circular windows giving you a pretty gorgeous view of the city beneath. Four holo-televisions, which frankly still boggled his mind, not to mention made him geek out immensely, lay separated two to a wall. Ventilation was wisely installed throughout to keep the air from getting stale.
Jonas leaned on the wall somewhere within the middle of the room, periodically walking up and down the long corridor as his mind began to wander once again.
He knew why he was acting like this. Have to be pretty thick not to. After all, he was committing to the one thing he always tried to avoid doing: placing himself center stage in front of them and what would eventually become all of Remnant. Sure as hell wouldn't have done this if it wasn't to this worlds, as well as his own benefit. Not just for Humanity and Faunus kind, but for a few others who were waiting on it.
And man, didn't that just instigate some crazy stage fright.
He had cleaned himself and his clothes to perfection, fixing any dents in his armor to look as prim and proper as he could in his regular attire, and replaced his old leather gloves for ones layered with some proper armor; mainly fancy bracers and a large ovular plate that covered most of the back of his hand.
His choice in clothing shouldn't stand out too much since he was heading to an academy meant to train warriors, though he kept his weaponry stored in his inventory for the time being. Hopefully they'd realize he wasn't there to fight, despite both Qrow and Amber knowing about his inventory, even if it was to a minimal degree.
As far as he was concerned, he did as much as he could in preparation for all this. He even took a day or two to read up on certain customs and cultures now that he was here. And for the most part it was pretty similar, despite a few noticeable exceptions. Weapons were a thing that civilians could have as long as they had a license for it. What was glaringly different from his world though, was that there wasn't a limit on what kind of weapon they could have.
It was actually funny learning that rocket launchers were legal to sell. But hey, when you live in a world of monsters...
Obtaining some of the more powerful items required a separate test and psychiatric check though, which was probably wise. Criminals would already be dangerous enough as it stood. Last thing they needed was a nutjob running around with high-yield weapon. And that wasn't even considering dust on top of that!
He had calmed down considerably, having his blessed mind wander somewhere else for the moment.
"We will arrive at Beacon Academy shortly." An announcement began from some hidden speakers. "Please grab all your bags and items before departing. Thank you."
Idly, his eyes wandered out one of the windows, taking in the growing visage of the school.
He had to admit, it was a beautiful view. With large, swaying rivers that poured over the edge of a massive cliff and into the sea, along with docks both at the top and beneath for variety of transportation, their addition only added to Beacons visage. Beyond the long main avenue and large gates were many towers of various shapes and sizes, at the center of which was the tallest among them. Often said to be above the clouds, which considering where it was wouldn't have been far-fetched, the seven differently sized orbs served to light the way for sailors.
Many had said it was a shining monument – pun probably intended – to Vales progress. And really, he was entitled to agree with them. Quite a few in town bore a shocking amount of common sense, despite having been technically locked inside a small area of land for god knows how many generations. Mistral sounded more like the business-oriented people back home, while what he heard of Vacuo reminded him more of the Dwarves he knew back in the day; caring very little for your race, with the exception of High-Elves, and any who earned their place in their book of grudges.
Atlas... well, the less said about that, the better.
But Vale was actually pretty surprising, considering the treatment he saw some Faunus folk were going through in the outlying towns. It wasn't as bad here obviously, since its centralized government was located here. It served to mitigate the damage to varying amounts depending on whatever authority figure was dealing with those instances, but even then it was still poignant enough a problem. There was more than a little discontent among the Faunus population as he learned, though the more belligerent of them left well enough alone after spotting his armor.
Hopefully, after he was done, it wouldn't last for much longer.
His eyes wandered around just as they began to pull into the dock, and he idly noticed one of the vents. Narrowing his eyes and looking a little more closely revealed a near colourless mist pouring in from the bottom, vanishing as it fell to the floor.
Warning bells went off in his head, and he quickly created a green runic circle. The fog abruptly stopped in place, before immediately flowing in reverse after with great gusto. With careful movements, he materialized and threw on his helm, and formed a black runic circle in his off hand that bore a moon half covered in darkness. The moment the circle faded, so too did his body blur out of existence. To them, it would appear as if he wasn't even there, but he could still faintly see his body, though it was pretty blurred.
Jonas speed walked towards the front of the hall, keeping his footsteps as quiet as he could as that fog began to make its way back in now that his magic was gone. Taking one ear out from his mask, Jonas laid it upon the door, listening for anything out of the ordinary.
And summarily hid himself in the corner at the sound of a great many footsteps thundering down in his direction.
The heavy doors abruptly swung open, and at least a dozen men and women, all armed to the teeth, stormed into the room. All of them wore a cross between a combat outfit with armor stylized like a futuristic knight, with certain parts shaded in different colours between each of them. It covered nearly every inch of their bodies save for their mouths, which were also currently covered with gas masks. Along with that was a utility belt that had small white pistols placed at their hips, along with what he guessed was a retractable blade behind their backs. All of them were aiming down the sights of their rifles, twisting and turning to look about the room.
Deciding he'd rather not see what exactly their weaponry did if they pointed it at him, he quietly left the room, slipping past several more that remained to stand guard at the entrance. Taking a right and walking past a few more found him at the exit ramp, standing right across from individuals wearing unrelated clothing from the soldiers, save two individuals. Both looked as if they were following a military dress code. At least, the man was following it to the letter, and two insignia that indicated his rank; which were general, if what he read up on was correct.
Though the one with the white hair which covered one of her two icy blue eyes looked a little more flamboyant. He supposed including the dueling sabre made her look more like a fencer, but the garters were a very odd addition to the look. Add in her bust poking out from her jacket, and one would've thought they might've had a weird kind of fetish going on back home.
Only on Remnant, eh?
{Atlas General and Headmaster}
[James Ironwood]
(Cyborg)
Health:
100/100
Aura:
400/400
Current Buffs:
[Cybernetic Limb]:
Increased strength and reaction time.
{Atlas Specialist}
[Winter Schnee]
Health:
100/100
Aura:
280/280
'Huh...never met another cyborg before...I think.' Jonas thought leisurely. Quietly he walked around them, taking in their companions.
The other two he didn't recognize stood a ways off from the first two. One looked older than the rest, with messy silver grey hair and brown eyes behind small shaded spectacles. They wore a black suit, along with a green shirt under a darker green buttoned vest, and a cowl that hung around his neck, with a small cross placed at the forefront.
The one standing next to him was the textbook definition of strict-yet-sexy school teacher, now with cape! A pleated top with a huge keyhole neckline that gave a rather decent view of her assets, and a high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and brownish-black stockings along with black boots with bronze heels. A black and purple cape with bronze diamond beads that ended with arrow tails ran down past her hips. Her blonde hair was parted in the front, and a pretty large ringlet fell down the side of her face, with the rest tied in a bun at the back. She held a collapsible riding crop in her hand, which hilariously added on to her dominatrix teacher look.
Honestly, after living with a dryad for over nine years, he couldn't say that look was way odd.
Still funny though.
{Ozmas Incarnation}
[Ozpin]
Aura:
455/455
Health:
100/100
Mana:
{ERROR}
{Deputy Headmistress}
[Glynda Goodwitch]
Health:
100/100
Aura:
394/394
Wait a minute, this guy's used magic?!
The man stopped in place, his mouth hanging open until he was brought back to sense when a patrolling soldier nearly ran into him, having just barely moved out of the way before he blew his own cover.
'Time for questions later.' He ended that line of thought quickly in his head. His eyes quietly wandered to the last two, of whom he already knew from two months ago. Qrow looked just as shabby as ever, though he would admit he looked a bit cleaner than he did before.
Amber looked significantly better, the colour having returned to her skin. The black scarring was barely even there anymore, having very faint lines one could only find if they looked hard enough. Most likely, it was just leftover markings from the taint that would leave in time. Not to say he wouldn't keep a bottle of Holy Water on hand just in case.
Now that he got a better look at her, she looked rather nice when she cleaned up. Her shoulder length hair wasn't an absolute mess now, falling around her head like a curtain, with her bangs ending around her eyebrows. A brown vest with a feathered pendant and Leather corset covered her off-white blouse a bit, with a small shoulder strap that had a few small pouches on it, and bore a gold pauldron on her left shoulder as well as a bracer on her right forearm while two bracelets were on her left wrist. Black pants ran under leather leggings, which also made their way under golden greaves at her knees. He would have said something about their weight, but with Aura and everything...
{Crow of Misfortune}
[Qrow Branwen]
Health:
100/100
Aura:
413/413
Current Ailments:
{Misfortune}:
Bad luck follows you.
[Drunk]:
Perception and movement are affected.
{Fall Maiden}
[Amber Tawny]
Health:
100/100
Aura:
486/486
Mana:
50/50
0/0
Current Buffs:
[{Hermits Blessing}]:
Gain 50 separate MP.
Gain mastered control over magic.
It was as if his HUD was progressively evolving as he went. Taking in every little thing about Aura he read up on and applying it. Ever since he had started looking into it the thing had begun updating every now and then. It even learned to display certain information about a persons Semblance, though it varied depending on if it was an Active Semblance or a Passive Semblance; meaning that if ones ability simply ran in the background like Qrows did, then it was considered Passive, while an Active required them to be in immediate use in order for them to pop up for him.
Though, what Qrow had was more than a little worrying. Just how strong was its effect? Was that why he looked like such a mess?
Shaking his mind out of there, he focused on the task at hand. Looking at the six' faces, it appeared as if only two of them, namely the ones in uniform, had intended for this to occur. Both Ozpin and Glynda looked quite peeved at him, their eyes flicking in his direction every now and again, while Qrow looked to have expected it, but wasn't any happier about it than they were. Amber herself instead appeared worried; whether it was for him or for the soldiers, he couldn't say, but it told him that she did not see this coming either.
At least they sided with him on the thought that this was too much.
Hopefully anyway.
But what could he do right now? He could reveal himself right now. Probably scare the pants off of them too.
Buuuut that might end up with him surrounded and having guns pointed his way. And while he could probably deal with said problem, he really didn't want a cause for escalation.
His eyes wandered around the area, anything that might've gave him a bad idea, and his vision stopped upon a directory.
He couldn't keep the grin from popping up behind his mask.
"Honestly, what did you expect when you pulled that stunt?!" Glynda was irate with the General, laying into him with a ferocity only seen when she disciplined rowdy students. The man in the line of fire had a large grimace on his face, but no one save possibly Winter seemed in the mood to intervene on his behalf. "We could have at least taken the time to hear him out, but there you went and scared him off by flooding the vents with sleeping gas and storming the ship! And now the students are asking questions we don't have an answer for!"
Amber was just doing her best to tune out the noise as they made their way back up to Ozpins office. The elevator was a little packed though, but at least Ironwood couldn't hide from her.
Really, she agreed with her. Jonas seemed pretty reasonable, if a...little eccentric. If they asked, he would've more than likely told the truth. Hell, he admitted that he knew what she was when they first met. Even showed her he was exactly the same, too. Given the time, he probably would have explained everything that he knew of, and largely hadn't done anything wrong enough to warrant such a reaction. Wouldn't have been surprising if he was long gone.
'Will we ever see him again?' She sighed, sparing a look at Qrow, who gave her a nod of understanding before Ozpin cut in.
"While I don't condone the choice James made, there's very little we can do about it now." He said firmly, giving the General a disappointed glance, which he opted to simply look away from. Ozpin sighed. "The best we can do is to wait and see if he attempts to contact us again. Hopefully, considering what both Qrow and Amber told about him, he will be forgiving enough to give us another chance to talk."
Most of them could only nod to that. There wasn't much else they could do. Hell, the guy vanished from the ships cameras just before the soldiers boarded. It would not have been odd if he could skip town the same way.
The elevator gave a small ding as it hit the top floor, and the doors parted open.
To their surprise, they found out they weren't alone.
"You know-" Jonas said, leaning back in Ozpins chair with his feet on his desk and a hand under his chin. "-If you don't mind my personal opinion, greeting a guy with knock-out gas and soldiers armed to the teeth isn't exactly the smartest move you could make. I mean, it's kind of a turn off, isn't it?" He gave them a grin. "Good thing I'm willing to hear ya out, yeah?"
A familiar shiver ran down her spine. He looked a little different from the last time she saw him. His gloves were armoured now, and she thought his hair grew out a little bit, too.
Winter moved to draw her blade, but was stopped with a motion from her superior. Professor Goodwitchs mouth hung open slightly while Professor Ozpin stared at him with minimal surprise.
Qrow and Amber though? Well, Qrow rolled his eyes and sighed, somehow having guessed things might've turned out this way. And Amber couldn't stop the small childish smile from growing on her face.
She had only known him for a couple of hours at most, yet seeing him pull this was not all that shocking to her. Her laughter was barely held back.
"Hope you don't mind, I kind of let myself in." Jonas pulled his feet of the desk and moved to stand. "I mean I would have greeted you when I got here, but I didn't feel particularly safe with a bunch of guys running all over the place searching for me. Figured here would be the better bet. Less people."
"...Fair reasoning." Ozpin said after a moment with a nod. "Apologies for putting you through that. We ourselves hadn't known until James came with a small squad."
"Jumping the gun much?" He retorted with a raised eyebrow. Said general gave a narrowed stare. "Dude, you don't even know me, why the hell did you feel the need to pull that stunt?"
"I only wish to maintain peace."
"Makes me wonder if you know the difference between Peace and Quiet." He gave him an unimpressed expression, slowly making his way up to them. "At any rate, I'm not here to argue with you on that. I only came here to talk, just like I said I would."
Jonas stood in front of Ozpin and held his hand out.
"I apologize for not saying my name sooner. My name is Jonas Everblue. It's nice to finally make your acquaintance."
The Headmaster took the proffered hand with a small smile. "Likewise. I am Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. And again, I apologize for these unfortunate circumstances."
"Ahh, I've dealt with worse. Don't worry about it." He said with a grin.
"Is this another one of those 'You don't want to know' type deals?" Amber cut in, giving him one of her own smirks.
"Depends on which ones I decide to talk about." Jonas dryly replied, meeting hers with one of his own. He gave her a quick look over. "You're certainly looking better."
"I feel better." She laughed. The warrior gave an expression that said 'I'll bet'. Slowly, he made his way towards her, standing a fair distance away from her for the comfort of her friends. His arms raised a bit before freezing, hesitance briefly flashing on his face.
"...If I may?" He asked for permission. She nodded despite the small, unwarranted amount of trepidation in her stomach. Slowly he reached up, gently cupping her face in his hands.
A blush broke out as he examined her; turning her head in one direction or another, looking for seemingly anything out of the ordinary. His eyes lingered on the fading markings on her cheek for a few moments longer, before he gave a small nod and grunt of approval before letting go.
"Looks like its clearing up nicely..." Jonas mumbled quietly to himself, barely being heard by the rest of the rooms occupants. His eyes met with hers. "You been sleeping alright?"
"Yeah. Aside from the weird dreams I got in the beginning, no problems."
"Nothing unexpected there." A couple of eyebrows from the others were raised in curiosity. Jonas rolled his eyes at their reaction. "Look, lots of weird shit tends to happen with magic. Wouldn't even know where to start."
"Maybe you could start by telling us how you knew of hers?" Ironwood cut to the point, his sharpened gaze never leaving the magician.
"Like I told her before, I get a feeling in my eyes." He shrugged.
"What kind of feeling?"
Jonas stared at him unblinkingly for a few seconds. Slowly, another one of his smiles grew on his face; one that seemed glad at the question.
"Not bad, kid." The magician replied in genuine respect with a good natured chuckle. His tone became more serious as he began again, walking in the direction of one of the few stone pillars that accentuated the room. "To be more specific, I can see the current state of someones being just by looking a them. That includes numbers; whether they be Health, Aura, or Magic. This also lets me see an individuals Semblance, as well as any current benefits or ailments one might be suffering from at that point in time. Added to that, I can see titles as well; which are usually something meaningful to the person in question. It was partially due to this ability of mine that I knew what I needed to fix the damage they did to Miss Tawny here."
"That's... quite hard to believe, don't you think?" Professor Goodwitch finally cut into the conversation. "Do you have any proof of this?"
"Yup." He said without pause, ending with a popping sound. The man gave a quick glance to Ozpin. "I could say one word, and I imagine one of you might accept what I say almost instantly."
"And that would be?" Winter said with no little edge in her tone.
Jonas grinned a smug grin as his eyes latched fully on the headmasters own.
"Tell me something Ozpin." Jonas began, walking behind the pillar. "Do you prefer to go by Ozpin, or Ozma? It's honestly a tricky thing with Reincarnators."
The clatter of his cane echoed in the room, a tension that once was only there in varying amounts now serving to choke some of them. Amber looked over towards the Professor in confusion at some of their reactions, and found that his words had managed to get a full reaction out of the man. Winter herself seemed just as lost, which slowly morphed to concern at the sight of her commanding officers face turning chalk white and his pupils shrinking to pin-pricks.
Ozpin himself wasn't very far off himself, looking honest to god terrified. Or at least what she could best assume would be terrified for him. He had managed to mostly regain his composure, but his eyes had hardened, a far cry from the soft gaze he had carried day to day, and his hands trembled at his sides; showing just how badly he was shaken by a few words
"H-how?" Was all he could say in response.
"Again, it's one of my abilities." They all turned their heads to find him walking out from behind another pillar on the opposite side of the room. He looked at the faces of the rooms other occupants. "...Sorry for outing you if I did. I don't mean to shunt you into the open like that, but I needed you to understand that I'm not exactly what you'd consider a regular person."
"That is very much clear, thank you." Ozpin sighed. "...Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?"
"Yeah, I'm an alien."
There was a significant lack of reaction from anyone, other than looking at him as if he were a loon.
"...Come again?"
"Can't really say I'm surprised by that reaction." He chuckled, though retaining his serious attitude. "I am not from this world, Ozpin. I hail from a place with no Dust, or Aura, or Grimm. It's rather nice, actually. A lot more populated though."
"And you think we should take what your saying seriously?" Winter asked incredulously. "You look exactly like the rest of us, not to mention the fact you're speaking to us in the same language!"
"Nothing saying I couldn't have learned it, you know." Jonas rolled his eyes. "I have been here for over nine months at this point. And that's not even considering other factors."
"Oh please." She scoffed. Her eyes turned toward her superior. "Sir, I respectfully ask we arrest him for questioning. If he thinks he can just wander in here and start spouting such wild declarations without consequences, then he's a damned fool."
"Granted." The General allowed, his own hardened glare focused on the man in front of them all. "I'm rather interested in how he knows all this himself."
"You will not be making a war-zone on campus grounds, James." Ozpin intervened as he moved to pick up his cane, giving the two of them a hard look. "The current situation is already tense enough. We don't need to add to it anymore than we already have."
Ozpin turned, giving their visitor his full attention now. "I assume you intend on telling us everything about you, correct?"
"Every juicy little detail." He nodded.
"And what, leave him free to spout secrets our group has been keeping for how many generations now? We have little reason to believe him other than on his word, which is incredibly unreasonable given what he has just said. It is better to keep this situation under our control until we can confirm its validity."
"Would you just wait a second?!" Glynda shouted. The man gave her a cursory glance, but looked to be listening. "Can we not resort to incarceration and interrogation as our first option? Look at him! He's not even doing anything remotely hostile! The only reason I can see that you'd want him locked up is because you don't like the lack of control you have right now! Do you know what kind of picture that paints you in?!"
Both Amber and Qrow looked to agree with her, staring them in the eye with no small amount of disappointment.
'Seriously?!' Amber mentally ranted, airing her frustration the only way she could at the moment. It wasn't like they'd listen if she said anything right now. 'The guy says one odd thing, which is weird and hard to believe, yes, and suddenly you want to lock him up?! What the heck is wrong with these two?!'
Ironwood merely shook his head with a sigh. Without saying a word, he flicked his head towards Jonas.
"Sir." Winter saluted, reaching for her sabre. When she couldn't immediately find its hilt she looked down, and to her surprise, she found the blade missing from its sheath. "What th-"
"If you idiots are done?" Jonas called out. To their shock, they found her blade in his hand. He was looking over it in great detail, marveling in its design. He muttered in awe to himself for a moment before focusing back on them in slight embarrassment when he realized where he was. "Er- anyway, there's a better way to tell, if you have the tech for it. Just test my blood."
"...What?"
"Yeah, you know what I mean, right? Just do a DNA test between me and several people on Remnant. If it's too different, you'll know I'm not lying."
"How do you..?"
"A friend of mine from back in the day was a nurse. She knew a thing or two about protein counts between species, especially considering just how many she had to work with back then. Look-" He gave them all a gaze of understanding. "-I get that its hard to believe a word I'm saying, I really do. So how about I try to give some credence to the possibility?"
"By what method?" Ozpin asked, his expression genuinely curious.
Jonas sent them a small grin, before turning himself enough so they could see his back. Confused expressions turned to stupefaction as six bulges started growing on his back, before bursting forth as six long white tendrils, with small flecks of light flaking off of it like starlight. The tendrils extended fully outward for a moment, and then flung forward with enough force to blow a small gust of wind their way; sending their hair into a dishevelled state.
"Does this help?" He questioned them with a smirk, giving his wings a small wiggle.
They looked at him and then each other for a brief few seconds until they all moved closer together for a private conversation.
"Right, okay, does anyone know any Faunus who might have those?" Qrow asked the obvious question. Both Glynda and Winter merely shook their heads, clearly still trying to process what they just saw.
"Not that I know of." Amber shook her head.
"In all my days, I've never once encountered a being with anything remotely similar. It is possible that he might be a heretofore undiscovered sub-species but..." The headmaster confirmed. "I believe it would be safe to say that this may give traction to his story. Would any of you like to say otherwise?"
Eyes wandered towards Ironwood, who bore a look that seemed more than a little constipated. Amber would have giggled had she herself not been here to witness his bullheadedness.
Thank god it didn't turn into a brawl. The mess would have been catastrophic.
The General sighed, giving them a small nod that he too hadn't seen anything like this before either. Silently, they broke off, turning their attention back towards their guest.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd still like to have a sample of your blood to test." Ironwood asked, though it still sounded more like an order in her opinion.
"I kind of assumed." He grinned, and began walking towards a shelving unit that had a few drawers and a coffee machine. Pulling some of the drawers open, he reached in and grabbed a coffee cup, placing it on the worktop. He messed with one of his bracers for a second, eventually prying off his glove, before taking Winters weapon and slicing his hand open without hesitation. The red blood began to pool into the cup, only stopping when it was half full as his Aura healed the wound, leaving behind no noticeable scarring.
Jonas reached for a couple of napkins, wiping off both his hand and the blade of her weapon, and abruptly tossed it towards her. She caught it in a slight fumble while the man returned the glove onto his hand and arm.
"Here ya are." He said after a few seconds, holding it aloft in front of Ironwood who took it with no small amount of disgust.
"I rather liked that cup..." Ozpin mourned, much to everyones slight amusement or annoyance.
"Should've said something sooner then. Now if you all don't mind, can we kindly move this conversation along?"
"Of course." He replied, more than willing to get to the point. "Though if you don't mind my saying so, I'm surprised you were so enthusiastic to speak to us. As I've come to hear, you're a man with a great many abilities at your disposal, if what you said to my colleagues is to be believed. So why come here at all?"
"For two reasons, actually." Jonas stated. "The first of which was to give you, and by extension the Vale Council, an offer that would be mutually beneficial for the both of us."
"And that would be?" Professor Goodwitch finally cut into the conversation.
"You'll understand in a moment." He said. His eyes wandered back to Ambers own. "Apologies Miss Tawny, could you aid me in a small experiment? Nothing too intrusive on your part, I just need you to do something for me."
"...And that would be what, exactly?" She asked, obvious caution in her tone. To her comfort, Qrow stood close by her, eyes directly focused on their visitor.
"Relax, you don't even need to move." He laughed. Raising his hand, the man closed his eyes in concentration. It was after a couple of seconds that a strange object, much like a hologram, formed just above his hands open palm.
It was quite a sight to look at, now that she had a better look at it, though outlined with red instead of coloured a full purple this time. In the center was the symbol of a burning flame that was surrounded by a circle. Beyond that was these strange letters she couldn't understand, along with another, larger circle. At its edges were eight diamonds that encircled the rest, laying just beyond its borders.
"It's a simple fireball spell." He said, announcing the answer to the question she, and no doubt the others, were just thinking of. "One of the most basic spells you can learn. What I want you to do sweetie, is to take a very close look at it. Memorize its features; every little thing that you can."
"Alright..."
"Now, once you think you've gotten everything in your head, I want you to close your eyes." She gave him a little look at that, but followed along anyway. "Focus on nothing but the image you saw and every little detail."
"Is there a point to this?" Ironwood asked, annoyance clearly laced in his tone.
"Ignore him, he's a distraction for the moment." The Generals face turned a few shades redder, but remained unnoticed by all except his subordinate. "Now, I want you to hold your hand outward, with your palm open and facing the ceiling, and imagine that the spell is floating just above it. You have to believe that its there; that it being there is reality."
"Okay, what next?" Amber said tiredly. She really hoped there was some good meaning in doing all of this. She liked the man a little bit, but the emotional roller-coaster they were all dealing with was leaving her too drained to deal with this crap.
"This is the important part, alright? I need you to remember the feeling of your magic. Remember how it feels when it moves across your body and out into the world."
Well that wasn't too hard. She still remembered the feeling she got when she first received them. That electric trill that ran from the deepest parts of her soul, down her spine and into her arms and legs. She still felt it every time she made herself fly into the sky or fired an attack.
"Now, pour some of your magic into your palm, and into the spell. And remember, you have to believe that it's there."
She let out a small sigh, but followed his instructions. The believing part wasn't that hard to do. Her magic itself operated partially on that. She was just a kid when she became a Maiden, so she had a habit of using it at the most random times imaginable.
One time when she was tending the fields, she often imagined she wasn't sweating in the sun when she was baking alive. Then came the electric feeling, and she ended up getting douse with water out of nowhere. Another time she pretended she wasn't cold in the winter, got that feeling again, and the house spontaneously combusted.
She only realized it for what it was when Ozpin came and explained to her. Her parents, bless them, had feared what was occurring was Aura-related, and hastened to find an expert in that field.
She shook her head to get her mind out of her memories and focused on finding that feeling again. Slowly, ever so slowly, that tingling sensation returned to her from her heart. She willed it to move, and it quickly made its way from her core up to her shoulder, flowing down her arm like a flood much to her shock.
"Whoa-kay, too much, TOO MUCH!"
*FWOOSH!*
"Oh my-!"
Ambers eyes shot open at the exertion she was feeling, and to her shock she found a flamethrower spewing from her hand and into the glass ceiling above. Qrow had just dived out of the way when it started, the ends of his cape covered in embers that he quickly stamped out, while the others quickly backed up in complete shock. Jonas himself held a face of regret and worry.
A red glow surrounded her arm, very similar to the Jonas' own back in the cabin. Trepidation grew into full on fear, as she realized just how little control she had over her powers.
"StopstopstopstOPSTOP!" Jonas shouted in a panic over the flames, reaching out and forming a green circle. Almost immediately after it vanished did the fire begin to shrink rapidly, ending up the size you'd find on a lighter. Amber quickly let the feeling go, and the fire quickly followed suit, petering out with a small whimper.
Silence quickly returned back into the room. No one said anything, bar the occasional swear coming from the scythe-wielder at the charred end of his cape.
Then, abruptly, as if to add to the feeling of dumbstruck surprise, the sprinklers in the room began to spray water on everyone in the room. For a moment, everyone looked at each other with wide eyes. Some for different reasons than others.
It was Amber who broke the silence first. Her mouth trembled silently, which then broke into quiet giggling, and escalated into full on raucous laughter. Most everyone stared at her like she had grown a second head.
She didn't care though. That was hilarious!
A Few Minutes Later...
"Apologies for that." Jonas said regretfully. "I expected something similar to that to happen, but I didn't count on how much strength was being put into it."
"You say that now." Amber snorted, again standing by Qrow. "What, have you never taught anyone how to use magic before?"
"The most I had to go on in that regard was how my master taught me. And he's...A little weird." He sighed after a moment. "To be fair, you're a pretty irregular case for this considering your abilities."
"I take it that was unusual?" Professor Goodwitch asked, wiping down her lenses with a cloth as she stood next to Ozpin, who had filled up one of his mugs and taken his seat. Qrow himself was leaning on the desk in front of them, looking more than a little lost in his head.
The room had become absolutely soaked before they could manage to turn the sprinkler system for the office off, thoroughly destroying any paperwork that happened to have been left out during the talks, which wasn't many to begin with; what with it being a Saturday. They all would have needed a change of clothes, had Jonas not had the ability to quickly dry clothing and deal with the puddles that had built up in the room.
Seeing Professor Goodwitch with an Afro would forever haunt the dreams of everyone there.
And there they would stay. Because if anyone said anything, she'd probably kill them all before dying of embarrassment.
"Pretty much, yeah." He admitted. "Normally, when one uses magic for the first time, it wouldn't be all that powerful when it came into action. By the looks of it, while she had the Mana Control, by which I mean the ability to pump out the most power in a spell for as little mana as possible, the ability to properly direct that power was mitigated when she attempted to control it directly herself instead of allowing the powers she carries to do it for her. Thus, when it came down to her own abilities, it was abysmal."
"Hey!" Amber shouted indignantly.
"Hey, no offense intended to you, sweetheart. It's not unexpected. Your powers did it for you up until now, so your own ability to feel out and control and direct it yourself was bound to be on the poor side. In the future, I intend to fix that."
Even still she continued to grumble. It was pretty cute, actually.
"It would have been preferable if you could have done so somewhere better suited for it, wouldn't you agree?" Ozpin sipped his coffee.
"True, I probably should have accounted for the factor. But, again, the troopers wandering around outside were making me less inclined to consider such actions."
"A fair point." He nodded. "Still, I would ask that all further attempts be done in a better location. My paperwork is hard enough to deal with as it is."
"If you all are done?" The General cut in, standing with his subordinate a little ways from Ozpins desk. He glared at Jonas. "What was the point in doing all that? She could have burned down the building or caused serious harm! Possibly both!"
Amber felt like she could agree with him for once there. It was incredibly dangerous to attempt it in such a cramped space. There was a good deal of potential fuel in the room, and while they all had Aura to protect them, none of them wanted to waste their time needlessly on something that could have been easily prevented.
"The point, my friend, was to prove that the magic I use is universal." Jonas pointedly replied. "Tell me, what do you think it means if both Amber and I can use it?"
Everyone considered the events in muted silence, lost in their heads.
"...That not any one individual of a specified race or gender can use it?" Winter guessed.
"Yes! Exactly!" He smiled in response, clapping his hands as he did a little spin where he stood in the middle of the room. "Everyone can use it; not just the Maidens! The only reason she's able to wield it the way she does is because of her position. But the fact that I showed that her abilities are in fact the very same ones I myself wield, A guy who's completely unrelated to Maidens entirely to the point that none of you knew about me. A guy who, by your own account, shouldn't have magic at all says a great deal. I imagine it'd throw a great deal of information you guys have right out the window!"
"...Oh my god." Amber said, the answer dawning on her. And by the look of both Glynda and Winters features they had just come upon the answer themselves.
"Yup." He grinned.
"Could you fill those of us who don't get it yet?" Qrow asked, looking between them all with building tension.
"Qrow, I built up my magic on my own." Jonas lied. They didn't need to know he cheated on his mana pool, not when he was telling them an important truth. "I had a teacher who got me started from zero, and grew me into the Magician I am now. Hell, I have a book detailing every discovery made over several millennia!"
That got the reaction he wanted. Realization dawned on the rest of them, followed by what looked to be surprise, terror and excitement.
"Oh. Oh shit, so you're saying-"
"I know magic." Jonas smiled a toothy smile. "And I can teach it to your students, if you like."
Right, so ya'll probably noticed I redesigned the character sheets.
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