The Cosmic Cycle

Chapter Fourteen

Stranger Things Never Seen

"C'mon, Ruby..!" Yang muttered worriedly to herself. "Where are you..?"

She stood amongst her possible peers in the large Amphitheater room, all of which were talking animatedly amongst one another. A couple looked to be trying to start fights amongst each other.

In the beginning she had hoped that leaving Ruby out there alone would help her to make a couple of friends. You know, connect with people. Being with her was all well and good, and it wasn't like she minded the attention of her sister; let alone her company. She'd always love her. But she really needed to go beyond her family and find other people she liked. Which is hard enough with how shy the girl normally was! The first friends she made at Signal took years to make! No clue why that took so long!

Then she went and got moved ahead a couple of years. Leaving them behind.

A little frustrating, sure. They probably would've helped her make some more friends when they got here, after all. But Yang was one who took it in stride. It was her little sister, after all. Wasn't a problem for her to help her family through tough times.

She looked towards the door again, and bit her lower lip when she still found it void of Ruby's red motif.

Just what had happened after she left her on her own? Did she get lost? It happened a couple of times at her previous school when she started. Wasn't as if she couldn't find her way around, and she had quickly corrected herself by putting it all to memory at that, but it still happened every now and again. Worse yet, did leaving her there get her stuck with a few undesirables?

Yang's eyes flared red briefly at that. If anyone so much as touched her the wrong way...

She perked up at the sound of familiar chatter, head turning so fast that she could've gotten whiplash, to find much to her relief that Ruby had finally found her way here. Though funny enough, she wasn't alone.

With her was vomit boy; named so for that exact reason. Her shoes still smelled to her! What did that guy eat to make it that rank?

Trailing behind them stood a man with a scarf around his face, so she couldn't get a very good look at his facial features. If you ignored the armor on his legs and boots, and put him in some regular civilian clothes, you'd almost think he was an average guy.

Still, by a first glance, they were alright. She seemed to enjoy their company. But, more importantly, they enjoyed her company. Or at the very least, tolerated it. Which was good! Meant Ruby might have made a friend or two today! The guy in blue had a crinkle underneath his eyes, so it looked to be genuine there; which Yang was very hopeful for. And Vomit Boy was alright, too. Didn't react overtly in any way. But when her sister talked, she could tell he was listening.

With due luck, maybe they'd stick around. Help her get out of her shell. Both her and Ruby's other friends were certainly having a hard enough time managing that on their own.

Ruby's eyes wandered into her own, visibly lighting up as she turned to give them her goodbyes before shooting towards her via Semblance. The two guys blinked, looking between one another in stunned silence. Yang gave a small giggle at their reactions, but they couldn't blame them there. She jumped the first time she saw it, too.

The scarf guy started snickering, leaning forward enough that she could see the grin on his square-shaped face, while Vomit-Boy scratched the back in his head awkwardly. Eventually the former looked to the latter, saying something she had no hope of hearing this far out that the latter nodded to, looking around as he mumbled, and walking in a seemingly random direction. The average-looking man shook his head in amusement, looking at both Vomit Boy and Ruby.

And then stormy blue eyes met her purple ones when he found Ruby making her way towards her.

She couldn't say what she saw. Recognition? Interest? In any case, he popped a knowing look before turning and walking out the door.

'Huh... He not a freshman?' Yang mused to herself, understandably a little confused at the look he gave her. She popped a grin. 'Maybe it's 'cause I'm hot?'

Because yes. She was, in fact, hot.

Not that she cared much right now. Really she was just glad Ruby was okay. She had a semblance that let her get around fairly quickly, sure, but this place trained Huntsmen and Huntresses. Wouldn't surprise her if the more jerkish folks here had a skill or semblance to deal with it. Always seemed to come part and parcel with people like that.

It wasn't long before she was torn from her thoughts by said hyperactive younger sibling. She popped a small grin. "Heya, little sis."

"Yang! He's so cool!" Ruby started talking at her usual high-speed when she was excited about something. She gave an eye-roll at her enthusiasm.

"Oh? Who you talkin' about?" She asked "You mean Vomit Boy?"

"Who, Jaune? No, I mean Jonas!"

So those were the names of those two, huh? Good to know.

Also, ouch.

Ruby cringed when she realized that last bit herself less than a second afterwards. Guiltily looking towards where the other blonde once was in the hopes he wasn't close enough to hear it.

"I-I mean- Jaune's nice, don't get me wrong! He has a pretty neat sword and sheathe-shield family weapon that's been passed down for four generations. And it's been kept in awesome condition, too! None of the parts have ever been replaced!" She unsurprisingly gave a detailed description of the weapon and its background. She had a habit of doing that when the topic was about weapons. "But I was talking about Jonas!"

"You mean the other guy you were with?" The blonde brawler questioned.

"Yeah! He was the guy flying around on that hoverboard!"

Ahh. That would explain her enthusiasm then. "Yeah, that was pretty cool."

"It really was..." The little reaper giggled, sighing like one would sigh when they think about their crush. Good thing she knew otherwise! "He told me it was a prototype, so it doesn't have any weapons yet. But the other one he showed me?! Oh man, was that amazing!"

"Oh yeah? Was it better than yours?" Yang gave her a cheeky grin.

Ruby's eyes narrowed dangerously. Which was, in Yang's opinion, adorable. "Nothing is better than Crescent Rose, and you know it!"

The older sibling chuckled. In fairness to her, her weapon was pretty badass. Tied right up there with Uncle Qrow in terms of the complex designs used; though if it came down to skill, he used his better than she used hers. Not surprising since he was a Veteran Huntsman. Probably went through a lot more iterations than she's been through so far. She still had the adorable little sickle she started out with somewhere back home...

"So what was it?"

"A Great Sword!" She nearly drooled. "Yang, his weapon was gorgeous! It doesn't weapon-shift like ours, but oh gods, the detail put into it! A-and I can tell it isn't a showpiece or anything like that! I saw some old weapon damage that he's been taking care of perfectly. The guard almost looks like wings, and it even has a ruby in the center and on the pommel!"

Yang blinked at her sister, properly looking at her sister with interest instead of just an amused glance.

It was one thing for her to detail the weapon types and their histories. She'd often talk of just how they did it if she got the chance to look at it, too, since that was where most of her interest lay in. But even though she liked the still-form weaponry, it was no secret that she preferred the mecha-shift variants more than them. But having her talk all of a sudden about a former type? Along with all the knick-knacks and ornaments attached to it? Either that was one exotic weapon, or...

'Okay, hoverboarder. You have my attention now...' Yang thought determinedly, taking note to find this guy – Jonas, she remembered – after this when she had the chance. "So besides all that, everything else been going okay?"

Ruby calmed down shortly after registering the question, going from plucky, to staring at her sister with an expression of betrayal.

'Oh boy. Here we go...' She sighed inwardly.

"You mean after you ditched me?!"

"Hey, I did not ditch you!"

"You totally did!" Ruby half shouted, not stopping in her rant. "And right after that I ran into some crabby girls luggage and EXPLODED!"

"Eh- wait, really?" She blinked in response. "We talking hypothetical here, or-?"

"No, I mean I literally blew up!" The younger sibling threw her hands in the air in frustration, completely unaware of the stern girl in white that had quietly been walking up behind her. "There was a lot of shouting, and flicking dust in my face, and then I went BOOM! I lit stuff on fire! I froze things in Ice! And I think there was some... Lightning..." She stopped when she found her older sister looking over her shoulder. "...What?"

"Uh..." She pointed a finger behind her.

She went ramrod straight at the sound of heels clicking close by. Her pupils began to dilate as she slowly turned-.

"YOU!" Ruby flinched violently at her loud declaration, jumping into her sisters arms.

"OH GODS, IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!" She cried, her face a look of pure terror.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

"...Oh wow, you really did explode..!" She responded dumbly in stunned surprise.

That sounded awesome! How did she miss that?!

Considering how strong she said it was, the explosion had to have left a pretty big crater behind. Though she wondered how they didn't pull the professors or stationed police to them. It had to have been pretty loud when they detonated!

"I-It was an accident!" Ruby stuttered, shuffling out of her grip and standing on her own two feet. She was cut off from saying anything else when the girl dressed in nearly all white almost threw a small pamphlet in her face. She blinked in surprise, leaning away. "What's this?"

"The Schnee Dust Company is nor responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product-."

And of all things, the stuck-up bitch began to list the S.D.C. Disclaimer, of all things! She kind of tuned out the next few seconds... Or what felt like a few seconds, anyway. Her voice sounded as if it were playing on fast forward there as she yapped on, and she just barely held back a growl as she watched her treat Ruby like an idiot.

If it weren't for her being in the vicinity, she likely would have beat the little harlot within an inch of her life for that. The sole reason why she withheld what would have been karmic judgment was because she knew her sister wouldn't like it if she tried to start a beat-down, period. Let alone in front of an audience. She was never one to start a fight with civilians or potential friends and allies.

And that wasn't even including how the professors would react to it! Yeah, kicked out before her first day. Would've gotten her some brownie points with her dad, sure. Buuut she'd probably be grounded til she was thirty.

As much as it would satisfy her to see her out cold on the floor, it was better she allow it to slide to the back-burner for now.

Didn't mean she wouldn't have a chat with the girl later.

"Do you really want to make it up to me?" Ice Queen asked Ruby.

"Absolutely." Ruby quietly replied with regret in her tone.

"Then read this, and never bother me again."

Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She couldn't kill her.

That would be bad.

Who knows? Maybe she was as jittery as Ruby was with the whole Initiation thing. Maybe she'd calm down when they were done?

Doing her best to ignore it by focusing on anything but her, she noticed something a little odd had begun to build up right at the front of the stage. Namely a large group of folks with camera equipment and microphones.

"Hey..." She turned to her present company, grabbing their attention. "Any idea why we have so many news guys here?"

The two of them looked towards the stage, only now just realizing they were there. Apparently, they had been too busy fighting to notice several groups of adults, clearly civilians with their lack of weaponry and more mundane outfits. Each bearing the logo of different news channels. Several people from different newspapers were there too, with significantly smaller photo cameras hanging around their necks while carrying about notepads and pens.

"Maybe it's for those new professors they were talking about?" Ruby guessed, head tilted in curiosity.

Yang cupped the back of her head with her hands, giving a small nod at the possibility. Seemed a little overkill in her opinion with them going gaga over some new staff. But hey! Not like she had a better idea.

And it wasn't just them that were interested either! There seemed to have been a build-up of an audience withing the bleachers located a floor up behind the stage. Rows of people numbering in the upper dozens that quietly yet animatedly mingled between one another.

Were they here for that too? Or were they booking some seats to get a good look at the future Huntsmen and Huntresses? Could've been either or. Though it'd be a long time before she got job offers, there wasn't much doubt some of them were getting a feel for all the potential candidates. Hunters were a hot commodity for guard duty, grimm slaying and whatnot.

Ice Queen gave a huff, crossing her arms and looking away from them. "You honestly don't know?"

Ruby and Yang looked to one another, looking back at her almost at once that felt unsettling to the girl in white.

"Know what?"

"I can't say I'm surprised that you haven't put two and two together yet. It's not glaringly obvious unless you really look into it." Little Miss Regal huffed pridefully. The blonde couldn't tell if she was trying to be friendly, or if she was once again belittling their intelligence. "Look, I'll put it as simply as I can so you'll understand."

Ruby winced as one of Yang's knuckles popped. 'Definitely belittling, then.'

"How much have you two heard about our two new professors?"

"Huh? Um..." The sisters thought about the sudden question for a couple moments, looking between one another in silent conversation, but eventually shook their heads. "Can't really say we have."

"Exactly! No one has! It's been the point of many a topic for the last two months!" She retorted pointedly, starting to pace around them. "When a Huntsman or Huntress become a staff member at any of the academies, they're often already very well known. On top of that, both they and the academy in question make it no secret of their imminent employment of the position either. Some enjoy the fame that's given to them for being given the arduous task of teaching the next generation, after all!"

"Um..." Ruby tried to get her out of her rant as both she and her sister saw Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch walking onto the stage, along with an unknown woman with brown hair and eyes wearing pieces of gold armor over her boots and jacket, which itself was over a frilly blouse paired with a brown corset. With a partial green skirt like her own covering her rear.

Not that it did her any good though. The snobby girl looked to be in her own little world now. "And yet here we have two proverbial unknowns who come from gods know where; with nothing to their names but a small announcement that turned into a massive media showing if for no other reason than the sheer intrigue for whom it was!"

Having been close to the front as it was, it wasn't long until they noticed. The Headmaster and Deputy-Headmistress briefly looked their way at the girls rant, but chalked it up to one of the many factors for the day that might've set her off as their eyes meandered elsewhere. Meanwhile, the woman raised an eyebrow towards them in curiosity. Yang gave her a shrug with a lopsided grin, shrugging mouthing an apology to her. She shook her head in reply, finding it funny, but focusing on other thoughts.

"I'll... make this brief." Ozpin spoke plainly. Almost instantly the chatter in the room died out as the attention of hundreds turned to him. "You have all come here in the pursuit of knowledge. To hone your craft. To acquire new skills. To make friends and rivals in order to further drive you forward, and advance yourselves to greater heights. And when you have finished... once your time here is done... you plan to dedicate yourselves to the protection of the people."

'More the fighting and adventure, for me.' Yang popped a grin, eyes jumping to Ruby and her smile for a second as the excitement and determination in the air surged. The students around them once again stood a little straighter. Puffing out their chests or giving their own expressions of determination.

"However, I look amongst you all... And all I see is wasted energy." It was quickly quashed as Professor Ozpin continued, his words cut through their liveliness. Confusion settled in its place, all the while the other two on the stage looked towards the man at his speech with varying degrees of befuddlement and exasperation. "Energy in need of purpose. Direction. You assume that knowledge will free you of this limitation. But in time, you will come to realize that knowledge can only take you so far." His eyes roved over the crowd, the kind but serious look in his expression attempting to convey his meaning. "It is up to you to take those steps. To find your way in the darkness; as we all have. And in time... You will come to understand yourselves in ways you never thought possible."

Yang blinked, a small frown on her face as he leaned away from the microphone. Not up and walking away like she expected him to, but rather giving her and the others time to think over his words; which they all apparently needed. The other guys and girls were looking between one another in uncertainty, and even the younger folks from the crowd above were of the same mind. She herself was no exception.

Like, yeah, she could understand what he was trying to say. No one was ever really the same day to day. But the way he said it was a little weird.

'Wonder what all that was about?'

"Now, an announcement before we let you go for the day." His words cut through their thoughts once again, although it took a little longer for it to return to silence. "As you all have likely heard, we have two new faculty members that will be teaching our students from this year onward."

The newscasters in the front row perked up. Their mutterings becoming just a little bit louder than before, but not wanting to interrupt the Headmaster.

"Their information and backgrounds have been kept hidden until now by their own request. But rest assured. ability has been confirmed by us and the council. As to the why, however... To be honest, there are many reasons as to why they were hired. Largest of which is the running of a new type of class. One of which that you all may initially find strange. And with good reason." Shortly after saying that, he gestured towards the brown-haired woman on his left. "First and foremost, allow me to introduce you to Professor Amber Tawny."

Cameras snapped their photos, while newscasters made quiet declarations into their own mics as she gave a small, stiff bow to the crowds. She didn't look comfortable being around so many people, it looked like, trying to hide her flushed face during the bow. Professor Goodwitch took the time to walk to the stage, Ozpin moving aside to allow her easier access.

"Her qualifications make her best suited to aid in this new class as an Assistant to our other newcomer." She stated. She adjusted her glasses, her eyes sharply looking between all those on the floor before her. "Make no mistake. Even though she has this position, she is more than equipped to become a professor proper of her own class. We expect you all to treat her with the utmost respect."

None had a response to her demand. They were smarter than that.

Ozpin once again took over the mic, Professor Goodwitch stepping back once she was satisfied she got her message across. "One of our own would have taken the reins, were it not for the fact that no one else could. The requirements for this class are, as you will understand shortly, uniquely tailored to them and only them."

The crowd gave a small murmur of curiosity, and it left the sisters wondering what it was that made it so special as he continued.

"Now, allow me to elaborate on a few points before we introduce our second newcomer." He stated. "Though it may sound like something out of a novel, everything you hear from this point forward was confirmed in its validity by the good scientists of the Atlas Military, Including the Atlas General James Ironwood himself. As well as myself and Professor Goodwitch. And our own Vale Council. All of it is the unmitigated truth." Ozpin gave a small smile. "Though I would not be shocked if there were non-believers despite that."

Yang tapped her foot on the ground as she crossed her arms in building annoyance. Both her and most everyone else in the room getting more than a little irritated at the roundabout play he was pulling. Skirting about the answer for some reason. None felt more so than the reporters and newscasters. though the onlookers from the balcony seats were a close second. Ruby herself had already gone beyond that point, shuffling her feet more and more in anticipation for whatever it was. Looking just shy of breaking her limit and telling him to get on with it; Headmaster be damned.

...That would've been pretty epic to see, actually.

Surprisingly, it was Ice Queen who looked the most calm between them. Still looking much the same as her to a degree, but hiding it under a veneer of controlled poise. Probably from her upbringing. Must be a pain to have to deal with so many snooty people. The blonde was glad she wasn't her.

Still a bit of a jerk though. Maybe she'd unwind after things died down.

Having realized, or realizing some time ago if his silent and minute chuckling were a tell, eyes wandering briefly to his right as he raised a placating hand to the audience.

"I apologize. I believe I may have wound you all up unnecessarily. I was just waiting for confirmation that our other new staff member had arrived, as it would be in everyone's best interests to have the one teaching these new lessons divulge this information himself." He explained. Now he completely focused to the same direction again, turning his head with a knowing smile at someone they couldn't see. "...Professor Everblue? If you would?"

There was a quiet chatter as they all confusedly looked in the same direction, trying to find the one he was looking at. Not that they could find him. Whoever it was, they were pretty well hidden from them.

It was a gasp from one of the onlookers from above that had them turning back towards the stage, doing much the same when they found a gloved and armored hand resting on the headmasters shoulder.

But that was all they could see. Everything below the elbow faded into nothing, with a small ring of blue energy crackling and circling around that point. Said ring slowly began to recede, revealing an arm garbed in a midnight blue coat with some more of that gray armor on the arm just below the shoulders. The moment it hit that point, other parts of his body started to reveal itself. The left of his torso and left leg slowly came into view. Similarly garbed like the rest, but showing varying states of water dust engraved into the silken long coat, intricately armored leather boots and similar plating like the shoulders on the outside of his thighs that seemed familiar to her, but couldn't place why.

The invisibility or cloaking or whatever finally begun to leave around the head, first showing the wolf fur around the collar and leather gorget around his neck.

Then it fully left the head. And she suddenly realized who it was.

Ruby, and unbeknownst to her a certain blue-eyed blonde, did too. Her mouth hanging open as the color in her face simultaneously tried to recede from and flood into her face, her hands just hovering a couple some inches from her mouth in dawning horror.

For who else could it be but the very same guy who had guided both her and the blonde to this very room not even a quarter of an hour ago. A strained, yet genuine smirk on his face as stormy blue eyes wandered about the audience around him. All cameras focused onto him in less than a second, and small scribbling noises could be heard if one strained their ears enough.

He looked upon Professor Ozpin, wiggling his eyebrows at him in an unheard joke for a moment before giving him a nod, the older man rolling his eyes in amusement as a retort. He backed away from the microphone, moving to stand next to Professor Tawny.

"...It is a pleasure to formally meet with Remnants next generation of Hunters. I would have done so sooner, but... Well. Unforeseen circumstances had grabbed my attention." Professor Everblue's eyes subtly, yet unmistakably to Yang, wandered over to the two girls standing next to her. Much to the confusion of one and the mortification of the other. His head bowed slightly in greeting. "My name is Jonas Ray Everblue. And as the good headmaster has stated, I am to be given the eternal honor to be the professor in an unusual and prodigious new class starting this year. Though my name may understandably be unheard of, some might better recognize me as 'The Indomitable Warrior of Vale'."

A small chorus full of realizations danced about the room, the chatter picking up noticeably. It was only with the deputy-headmistress smacking her crop into her hand did the noise die down.

"Yeah, I know right? Hard to believe, considering how old I look!" He got a few bouts of laughter out of people with that; Ruby included, though she couldn't be sure if it was her genuinely finding the joke funny, or if she was just that embarrassed. "But nonetheless, I am the warrior who has been travelling throughout the kingdom of Vale. Such has been ratified by both the Vale Council and Atlas Military, as have my achievements in dealing with problems of a... peculiar persuasion." He stated after a seconds thought, giving a small chuckle. "Though some information has been hidden for the sake of certain individuals, most of it that pertains to me is now public. You should have no troubles looking it up over the CCT after this meet-and-greet is over."

Yang and the other girls looked toward where a hand was suddenly raised in front of them. Holding a small notebook and pen in said hand, the man wearing a pale yellow three-piece suit grabbed his attention; only speaking when the new professor nodded in assent.

"Yeah, Daron Brimstone of The Remnant Daily." The man announced his name and workplace. "No offense in saying this Mister Everblue, but aren't you and Miss Tawny a little young for the positions you're being offered?"

"No, that's pretty fair conclusion, in all honesty." The new professor snorted. "Main reasoning for that is as the good headmaster had said earlier. Being that there's quite literally no one else who has any training in this field to be its presiding professor."

"And what is this field, by chance?" Daron asked. Asking the question that Yang and pretty much everyone else in the room was probably thinking. "Putting aside other less but just as capable teachers, he is one of the few with the largest degree of experience as a Huntsman. Having been at this job for the last four decades, that is a given. So how is it he couldn't handle this class himself if he wanted?"

Professor Everblue closed his eyes and shrugged, shaking his head a bit with an expression of understanding. Then he opened his eyes.

It was around that point that things had started to get weird.

She heard Ruby give a squawk of surprise at him, and she noticed how his eyes had changed. The white sclera had shifted to a glowing blue, while his stormy blue iris turned an eerie snow white.

Normally, that within itself wouldn't have been so weird. There were a few well known Huntsmen and Huntresses that had something similar. Yang had thought it to be something akin to invisibility. And maybe the eyes played a part. Like you had to be looking at the people in question in order to be invisible to them.

That was thrown out in short order when a circle made of purple light pulsed into existence in front of him. Having a bunch of squiggly lines on the outer rim with eight four point diamonds surrounding it, with another symbol of an eight point star in its center.

Then, to everyone's surprise, he slowly began floating in the air, the microphone seemingly forgotten on its stand in favor of the apparent spectacle.

All of the sudden, more colored circles flashed into existence around him like a rainbow, which were both colored differently, and had icons on each that depicted the various elements. Fire, Water, Earth, and she could make out the wind as well from how breezy it had gotten, had begun making large revolutions around his floating body. Yellow lightning crackled all around him, and she saw specks of purple flecks that were almost like snowflakes dancing about the room.

Just as abruptly as they had appeared, a flash of light surrounded his person for a scant second, blinding them all for a moment. When they had managed to blink out the spots from their vision, they had found his clothing had been replaced with what could be best described as an armored, and if you could believe it glowing robe of two light shades of blue she couldn't name that you'd find on a wizard from those new fantasy novels from Mistral. It came with a horned full helm, those things that hung from his waist and down over his baggy pants, reaching to just below the knees. And the torso even had four glowing white crystals sticking out from his back.

A large blue being formed from behind him, masked by a faceless, eyeless golden helm, a golden wreath behind him styled like a sun or star, and having a golden cap below its waist in place of its legs. The being, whatever it was, crossed its arms as it stayed floating behind them.

Another moment, another flash, and now, along with everything else, several weapons of different types and styles spun much closer around him. There were fiery spears, a nasty black cleaver-looking great-sword easily as big as him, along with another, larger hexagonal blade, two black and green assault rifles, a simple sniper rifle, what looked to be a dolphin – no clue what that was – and what appeared to be a pyramid shaped prism.

Whatever all of this was, Professor Everblue made it very clear that this wasn't a Semblance. The others surrounding them seemed to agree, too. Their jaws hanging low to the floor as their eyes bulged in absolute shock.

"To answer your question-" He said, able to be heard despite the lack of a microphone, and the noise of the flames and water. But what really sent shivers down her and everyone else' spine was his voice. It was like it had an unnatural echo to it. Sounded like a couple people talking along with him... "It is because the area in which I'll be teaching the students... is Magic."

Despite all the noise he was making, he was quickly overshadowed by the shouts of disbelief and shock from the crowds. People began to talk animatedly about whether or not it was true, and the camera crews and reporters for newspapers were frantically scrambling to get all this down.

"The ability to cast lightning. To throw balls of fire. To control the very elements and beyond. To wield weapons imbued with such magics. And much, much more. I intend to teach it to the defenders of life; no matter their gender or race." He responded gently, but pointedly in the last part of that sentence. It did little to calm them from the oddity of his voice. "I would not blame you if you did not believe a word that's been said. But, as the good headmaster has confirmed himself, everything you see here was proven to be magic. Both by the Vale Council, the previously mentioned Headmaster, Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch, Atlas General James Ironwood, and the Atlas Science Division. Everything that you currently see and hear at this moment is the unmitigated truth."

People gaped like stranded fish, staring at him with honest disbelief. Looking on at the strange man – for he could only be called strange, if not possibly insane – floating in the air, and holding aloft the many weapons and elements about him with what looked to be apparent ease.

Not that she couldn't understand. She was just as skeptical as the rest. Ruby, while being enthralled at the sight, looked at all of it curiously, thinking it to be some form of tool that was causing it; as did Ice Queen next to her. And who wouldn't? Magic was a fairy-tale. Nothing more than fantasy in a storybook to amuse children and enthusiasts. Having someone claim they actually use it, let alone is willing to teach it to them? Yeah, good luck with that.

Slowly, the man made his way back to the stage floor, the weapons and 'spells' vanishing before his feet hit the ground behind the plinth, his glowing eyes fading into the black of the helmet.

"...By your silence, I can already tell that there are many among you who still do not believe me." He said, his voice blessedly regular again. "Again, I understand, and accept your skepticism and hesitance... So why not show you otherwise?"

She and others heard the mirth in his tone as he silently, without a single word, turned his head turned towards Professor Tawny. She gave a small nod, walking up a couple of meters on his left, and held a hand out; her palm pointed toward the ceiling. Jonas himself took a few steps back, as a red circle, or rather a red triangle of her own appeared.

There was a notable difference between the one he used and the one she currently had out. Beyond the differing shape, anyway. The squiggly lines he had still remained in hers; though it wasn't as detailed and rigid. The diamonds were traded out with a single triangle at the top. There was another triangle on the inside, though upside down and with a symbol for fire in its center that was closely surrounded by an outline of a circle.

Then, just as suddenly as his own, hers shot out aflame geyser straight into the air with a low but loud crackling noise that, combined with the heat, gave them goosebumps.

She looked towards the other professor, finding him forming a circle of his own completely separate from hers, and much, much bigger that did the same thing.

"I would like to note-." He shouted over the flames. "-That myself and Miss Tawny share no blood relations. Everything she is doing is of her own ability, based on the lessons that I taught to her, and with no interference on my part."

The do allowed the flames to dissipate after a couple of moments, to let everyone absorb what they saw and heard. A few began to show either some acceptance to it, pure denial; which she couldn't chide them on, or the first coupled with varying degrees of what Yang would call brain freeze. Frankly, she was of the latter side herself. Still trying to come to terms with everything.

It wasn't everyday someone told you magic really existed, then proved it beyond doubt. Helluva difference between crazy people on the streets yelling about magic, monsters the end times and the guy in front of her using abilities that seemed way too versatile to be a semblance!

One that could use fire, water and the like? That was fine. There were multi-elemental semblances that she knew of; all of which having different methods to call upon them. Being able to summon creatures made of god knows what along with the first? Not too out there. The Schnee family – Yes, she knew who Weiss was. It was pretty much in her face, with her fancy outfit and upper class attitude – had a family semblance that did just that, if what she read up on one particular Winter Schnee was true.

Being able to manifest weapons from god knows where? Not to mention Professor Tawny mimicking the first thing with shocking similarity?

Once was nothing. Twice, a coincidence. Third and fourth time? More than a few questions started popping up.

That was a lesson dad had taught the both of them. Once of the first. So deeply ingrained in them when he realized how adamant they were in becoming Huntresses. And this? Was like a patch of poppies in a field of dandelions.

The silence slowly faded, instead replaced by animated chatter. She could understand. If what he was saying was actually true, then Hunters in general were about to get a lot more badass!

Another hand was raised in the front. This time, from a familiar face that she'd seen every time she went to watch the news. With piercing yellow eyes and lavender hair, it'd be hard to miss. That, and the purple suit of hers that she always wore was pretty much a constant.

"Yes, Lisa Lavender of the Vale News Network." Said person grabbed professors attention. "If what you're saying is correct, you intend to teach the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses how to wield magic?" She paused until she received a nod from him. "Assuming everything you have stated is the truth, why is it you would wish to have it, in a form, militarized so quickly?"

"Not so much militarized as I'm trying to make sure my students don't take my lessons lightly." He replied honestly. "You have to understand, the amount of necessary control required here is immense. The payoffs may be grand in a great many ways, but even the slightest screw-up can prove to be deadly. Almost everyone here does not realize that, with fair reason, so I figured Beacon was the best choice to avoid such recklessness. Not only to avoid harm to ones self, but to others as well. It'll make a good place to test the waters, so to speak."

His words did their job in grounding them, the excitement at the possibilities had faded a bit under the subtext of reality. Which she was inwardly glad for. Anymore excitement, and Ruby would've been fit to pop!

The newscaster gave a small nod of understanding, having come to the same conclusion as others looked to be. That was swiftly replaced with a small grimace and drawn eyebrows as a hand went up to a black earpiece, silently mouthing some of the words with a look of brief memorization and contemplation before she went on.

"Apologies Professor Everblue, but allow me to be frank with you. There are people who want to know why it is you took this position in the first place. Would you care to comment on this topic?"

"There's two reasons for that particular topic, actually. First of which is simply because I believe it to be a good time to return magic to the world. And more importantly, the people."

She blinked, looking more than a little confused. "...I'm sorry, but that implies we had magic at one point."

"You would be correct."

The room went off at that affirmation. Ruby had jumped when the volume change from silent to rock concert in all of a moment. Weiss, ever the lady that she was, looked more poised, though Yang could tell she was fairly interested in the topic. More likely, she was wondering how much of what he was saying was actually the truth.

Yang was much the same, though she was more relaxed about it. Like, sure, they might be able to learn magic. Okay. Great. But having it previously? All the history books she'd been forced to read had nary a tale related to it. Not to say they didn't have the ability, but the likelihood of them having had it before was very low.

It seemed to be just that. A fairy tale.

The new professor simply rolled his eyes at the sight, likely having assumed this would be their reaction. He stood there, simply allowing them to get it out of their system.

"I've been travelling this world a fair bit in the last several months." He clarified. "And during those travels, it had become apparent that magic had turned into nothing more than myth and legend. Admittedly, I don't know what caused this phenomenon. Either the annals of time swallowed the methods and memories of it, or an outside force had removed it from play entirely until now. I couldn't say. Not without some solid evidence to work with."

"I... I'm not trying to sound rude Professor, but that-."

"Yeah yeah. I get how much it sounds like total malarkey." Jonas stated dryly, giving a small smile as he rolled his eyes. "Whether you choose to believe it as fact or fiction is at your discretion."

"Er... yes. That is... probably for the best." Lisa ended that line of thought right there. "...And the other reason?"

She raised an eyebrow in curiosity when he grew a smirk. Turning his head, he looked over his shoulder towards Professor Goodwitch in silent request. She gave a nod in reply, reaching to her scroll, and after a few moments the screens based around the amphitheater lit up in activity, switching over to one of the news channels.

Rather than seeing the news desk itself, the current view was of the main hall that lead towards the entrance to the council chambers. Closer to the opposite end of said hall was a small stage, of which stood a small part of the residing council.

Standing at the front was an older fellow with a skinny build and a slightly gaunt face; his silver-white hair in a loose ponytail that hung just past his shoulders. Wearing a suit with varying shades of blue, mostly dark with a lighter shade on the tie and edges of his clothes, and taking a pose of someone of high-standing, Yang could've been excused for thinking that the man thought he was better than everyone else.

Flanking behind him were two others. A middle-aged lady with beige skin and frankly voluminous black hair, much like hers. A nice looking red dress that was currently in style as she read up on just a few days back that hung lower on her right than her left. With deep green eyes; one of which was covered by said hair.

On his right was short, balding man with an ovoid face and graying brown hair cut short along with small square stash on his upper lip. He wore a suit much like the other man, though colored a more normal shade of grey, with none of the accents like he had besides the same little pin depicting their seat on the council; which he wore on the lapel of his coat. He wasn't portly, but he wasn't exactly skinny either. Somewhere in between.

None of which she recognized. Though she probably needed to know the leaders of political figures of the kingdoms for the sake of her future occupation, Yang wasn't one who was afraid to admit that she wasn't a fan of them. They did some good, sure, and some of them could be okay folks, but the others were just shy of being crooks; if not more so if one considers black market dealings for assassinations or the like.

It'd be stupid to say that she couldn't notice something was up, though. Both men looked as if they wanted to be anywhere else. With the taller, more regal gentleman scowling with narrowed eyes, hands twitching like he wanted to clench them into fists while the balding dude next to him was sweating non-stop; wiping away at his head with a damp looking handkerchief as he kept looking at the other man worryingly. The woman meanwhile looked between the two of them with clear amusement. Doing little to hide the enjoyment of the scene with a hand on her hip. Maybe the large group of rowdy reporters had something to do with it?

Though rowdy could've been an understatement. These guys were literally screaming over one another on something that everyone here missed. So much so that she couldn't make out anything they were saying because of it. Went on long enough that the regal man looked to have become more frustrated at that than whatever he was stewing on.

"Please!" The old and soft, yet deep voice of the regal councilman worked to soothe them from their near-hysteria. To seemingly little effect. "I understand that this announcement may be chocking to all of you, but I must ask that you remain calm!"

"Councillor Dei-!"

"-Extremely atypical circumstances-!"

"-Against the status quo-!"

"What will some of your voters-!"

"Well. Looks like we missed the big reveal." Yang heard Professor Everblue whisper loudly to his assistant. "Shame, really. Wanted to see what look he gave when he announced it!"

Professor Tawny snickered quietly, batting him on the shoulder before the news drew their attention.

"Councilman Deimos! A word for the press, please!" Another reporter managed to speak over the crowd. Probably after repeating himself multiple times! She couldn't remember the name. The loose green jacket and pants were familiar, but she couldn't place it. "Between the dust store robberies that have been occurring for the last six months, and now this... you have to admit; this is all rather sudden! Could you inform the people to the details of what caused this abrupt change?!"

Said Councillor looked like he was sucking on a lemon, but had the grace to answer the question in spite of it.

"Yes, well." Deimos coughed lightly behind a fist. "After much... discussion, we believed that such a course of action was for the best. As you all well know, there have been high tensions between the local Faunus populations and the Kingdom of Vale. With the constant attacks by the White Fang as of late only further aggravating these two groups, it would not be remiss to admit that a second Faunus Revolution could very well occur."

'Okay, that's a little odd.' Yang and Co. blinked at his admittance. She didn't know any of them, but she wasn't dull enough to not know what they had been doing to them. Said in a way that placed little blame on any group or individual of course, which was no surprise to anyone, but finding them willing to admit to it was a big step for them. Probably wouldn't be big all the same. Gods know these guys were chronically arrogant and greedy at times. There was a lingering curiosity about what it was in her mind to cause those reactions he was giving off. That, and the lingering question of what exactly it had to do with Beacons new male professor.

"Thus-" He continued. "in order to diminish any further friction while helping to build better relations, we had decided that this was the best possible action to take."

"Okay, but that doesn't answer why the Council went through with this out of nowhere." The man in green commented. "Could you deliberate?"

"I can understand why you all would come to such a conclusion. But despite what you may think of us we are not, in fact, immoral savages. And neither would I, nor anyone else on the Council, ever allow any of what has occurred if we were able." He proudly stated. Yang couldn't help but roll her eyes at his overly grandiose declaration. "However, we are but civil servants who work towards the public order. If we were to change one thing without the word of the citizenry, we would run the risk of directly causing unrest, or even riot amongst the populace! We must always put their choices before our own."

Or, to put it in commoner speak, they didn't really care one way or another.

"Would this have any connection to the two new professors who just so happen to be-"

Almost immediately after stating that did his face immediately sour, going from polite to slightly irritated in a couple of seconds.

"I deeply apologize for this, but me and my colleagues should be getting back to work. There is much work to do, you understand." He bowed slightly as the balding man winced and the woman in red muffled her laughter behind her hand. "It is not every day that we make such a grand change, and so there is just as much paperwork in proportion, to our ire. Good day, ladies and gentlemen!"

Well he was in a hurry! Yang cupped the back of her head with her hands as they walked off the stage, making their way towards the doors leading into the council room though the voices of all those reporters reaching ear-breaking levels again.

"Uh... well then!" The reporter in green stammered "You heard it here first, folks! Starting today, the Faunus populations across the Kingdom of Vale now have equal rights with Humankind! Gerald Greenhorn from the Vale News Network. Back to you, Cyril!"

Yang's pupils shrunk as her mouth dropped, her arms falling to her sides in her shock. Gasps and squawks of a similar make going off behind her went unnoticed, her vision snapping towards her possible new professor. Who had at some point switched back to his regular clothes, and bore a massive grin on his face.

"Okay, so uh..." Jonas shrugged, pointing towards one of the screens. "Basically that."

This one took longer than expected.

Apologies for that. But again, if you've been looking onto my profile, I've been dealing with a whole host of other problems.

Being poor sucks, don't you know?

Though admittedly, it was in part everything else, and this last scene that I was really struggling with. A politician I am not.

So I just tried to make them sound as fancy and noble as possible while sounding as mechanically bureaucratic as was possible; what with most folks on the council apparently being either rich and/or influential individuals. Hopefully it works, otherwise I'll need to come back to this chapter once I have more practice in writing under my belt.