After the opening, Lionheart sat in his office with his head in his hands. From off-screen, Watts opened the door to the room. "Are we ready?" The doctor asked. Lionheart lifted his head to look at Watts as he closed the door behind him and stepped into the room. A brief exchange of looks was made as Lionheart turned his head away from Watts, who smirked in response. The two soon entered a secret hallway adjacent to the office. At the end of the curved hallway was a circular room containing a Seer Grimm. "After you." Watts said and pushed Lionheart closer to the Seer Grimm.

"Your Grace, are... you there?" Lionheart asked fearfully.

The red smoke-like substance contained in the head of the Seer Grimm shifted to form an image of Salem and Cinder at their location in the Land of Darkness. "Hello, Leonardo. Do you have something to report?" Salem asked as she and Cinder were also looking through a Seer Grimm to communicate with Lionheart and Watts.

"Of course, ma'am. I would not waste your time, if not." Lionheart assured her.

"I'm still just so fascinated by this creature. Cinder dear, are we coming through?" Watts asked, getting right in front of the "screen", tapping the Seer. "Can you see us clearly? Well, as clearly as you can." Watts taunted.

"Shut... up." Cinder growled, annoyed.

"Oh goody, you've recovered." Watts said sarcastically.

"Your report. What is it?" Salem asked.

"I've... I've found the Spring Maiden." Lionheart told her.

"Is that so? Well done. Arthur, had I known how useful you'd be in expediting this process, I would've sent you long, long ago." Salem praised the disgraced doctor.

"As much as I'd love to take credit, ma'am, I can't say that either of us are to thank for this development. I guess you could say, a little birdie told us." Watts corrected.

"Explain." Salem ordered.

"You see, ma'am, Qrow Branwen arrived at Haven Academy earlier today. He believes Spring has taken residence with his sister's tribe." Lionheart explained.

"Is... the demon... with him?" Cinder demanded.

"Yes, Sai Blade was in attendance. And even a child supposedly sired by him... from the deceased Ms. Nikos." Watts confirmed, causing Cinder to look shocked.

"And you know of the tribe's location?" Salem asked.

"Yes ma'am! But you have to hurry! Qrow has 2 Blades with him and he is already at odds with my-" Lionheart started, but then Salem made a face of annoyed concentration and in response one of the Seer Grimm's tentacles shot out to wrapped around Lionheart's throat and choked him.

"Leonardo, do you remember the first time we met? I remember. I remember your fear. But, since that day, you've been extraordinarily brave. I won't forget all that you've done for me. Do not forget everything that I can do to you." Salem warned him.

The Seer Grimm slowly brought the point of another tentacle close to the face of Lionheart before drawing it back. Within the orb of the Seer Grimm, Salem made a gesture and the tentacle simultaneously released him from the chokehold. Lionheart coughed and gasped for breath.

"Cinder, you and your team will meet with Doctor Watts and together, convince Raven Branwen that the survival of her people depends on her cooperation. Once you have Spring under control, escort her to the Relic and contact Hazel. The White Fang was promised the destruction of Haven, and they'll have it once we have what we need." Salem explained.

"Understood." Watts agreed.

"Not you, Arthur. Tyrian will need assistance with his new body." Salem instructed.

"He.. has a new one?" Watts asked.

"Yes. Taipan retrieved his remains and I sacrificed him to the Grimm pits to restore Tyrian, similar to myself." Salem explained.

"Remains? What happened to him?" Watts asked.

"Guess." Cinder said angrily.

"The demon?" Watts asked. Cinder looked stern and grunted as acknowledgement. "It will be done." He assured them.

"Good." Salem said, before her image disappeared from the Seer Grimm to show the connection had ended.

"Seems Qrow was right, Lionheart. The students aren't pushovers." Watts said.

In the Land of Darkness, Cinder was clearly unhappy. "You're free to speak your mind." Salem offered.

"I don't understand. Working with bandits? Keeping Sai alive? What's the point? We're strong enough to take what we want by force!" Cinder snapped.

"And yet Sai was able to not only survive the fight between the two of you, but he was clearly the victor. And he is no longer your only threat. If Ruby Rose has learned to harness her gift, then you must take care to protect yours. There's only so much I can do to aid you." Salem explained. Cinder bowed to Salem and went to exit the room. "And Cinder, before you go, inform Tyrian..." She started, her smile turning to a frown. "That I wish to have a word with him." She finished.

Cinder smiled, nodded in acknowledgement of Salem's order and turned, leaving the room. A few seconds after she disappeared from view, the loud noise of the door immediately transitioned to the next scene.

In the interior of the Belladonna Family Home, Ghira, wearing glasses, paced back and forth looking at a piece of paper in hands, while his wife Kali, his daughter Blake, Nick and Sun all waited for him to be ready. Ghira then stopped pacing and took one last look at the speech he had written down, before sighing as his wife placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ready?" Kali asked.

"Yes. It won't be easy for the people to hear, but the truth often isn't. I know they'll do the right thing." Ghira confirmed.

Blake then came up and placed a hand on her father's arm, giving an affectionate snuggle. Suddenly, the three were taken by surprise when another hand patted on Ghira's back. He looked behind to see Nick, who was holding Sun back as he reached towards the chieftain, Nick's hand covering his face.

"You have nothing to worry about, sir. You're speaking the truth. You can't go wrong that way." Nick assured him.

"Come on! Let me just tell him he's got this! I promise it won't be weird!" Sun pleaded.

The four gave a brief look at Sun as he stood back and smiled. Ghira then opened the doors as his family, Nick and Sun stepped out of the home to greet the crowd gathering outside. Some people in the crowd were wearing press badges and holding scrolls up to record the event. Others in attendance included Corsac and Fennec, who were bowing their heads, as well as Saber Rodentia and other Menagerie Guards. Ghira stepped up to the podium and raised his hand to quiet the crowd down.

"Thank you all for assembling here. I wanted to take time to address some of the rumors that have been circulating around our island. I believe that it is important for the people of this territory to understand the truth. No matter how you feel about the human race, I think we can all agree that the event now known as the Fall of Beacon was a tragedy. A tragedy that will set both man and Faunus-kind back. While the main aggressor is still unknown, we do have official confirmation that Adam Taurus..." Ghira spoke, glaring at the Albains when he reached Adam's name. "... the leader of a powerful splinter group working inside the White Fang, was partially responsible for these attacks. His actions not only tarnished the reputation of an organization originally created to bring peace and equality to all, but to our entire race. With each day that this man remains unpunished, it becomes increasingly difficult to condemn those that look down upon us." He explained.

The crowd started murmuring among themselves. Ghira raised his hand again to quiet the crowd down.

"Recently, a spy from the same splinter group set their sights on this very home. My own daughter, Blake, and her friends did their very best to apprehend this individual. While they were unsuccessful after being physically assaulted and seriously injured, they were successful in obtaining the assailant's Scroll." Ghira explained and took out the Scroll from inside his coat. "With this, we have been able to ascertain that Adam Taurus has plans to overthrow the current leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan, and take over the reins himself." He told them.

At this, the crowd started to loudly murmur in concern.

"His radical plans do not stop there, the documents on this scroll proclaim his next target to be Haven Academy and its attached CCT Tower. Their plan is to strike on the last full moon before the beginning of the Fall semester, roughly two months from today. I have sent my swiftest messenger to the government of Mistral, but I believe we have a greater responsibility. My relationship with the White Fang has been... an interesting one. Years ago, I led the organization to help try and create a world where I, and every Faunus who wished, could walk alongside the human race. And while I believe we made great strides toward this goal, it was made clear to me that the people both in and out of the White Fang wanted faster results. So I stepped down, and Sienna Khan was appointed as my successor. It's true that I do not fully condone many of her methods. What I do condone is what Sienna fights for: the idea that the Faunus and humans are, and should be, equal. Adam Taurus does not seem to have that goal in mind. What he has done benefits no one but himself. I think it's time that the Faunus showed the world that we are equals! Time that we snuff out this splinter group, and restore the White Fang to what it once was!" He spoke.

The crowd began to cheer at this remark.

"To do this, I think the answer is clear, we must go to Haven and protect it at all costs!" He told them.

At this, the crowd suddenly stops cheering, showing some hesitance. Nicolas slumped at this and deadpanned at the group. "Seriously? You cheer until we ask for help, then you're silent? Typical." He said disapprovingly.

Ghira saw this and cleared his throat. "Before we proceed any further, I'd like to invite my daughter to come and share her story. Not only as a former member of the White Fang but also as a survivor of the Fall of Beacon." He told them as Blake stepped up to the podium and faced her father. "You can do this." He reassured her.

"You'll do great, babe." Nick said, blowing her a kiss, causing her to blush.

Suddenly... "TRAITORS!" A familiar voice yelled out from the crowd. Ilia uncloaked herself, wearing her Grimm mask and clenching her teeth angrily. Blake gave a surprised look before glaring back at her.

Sun glare at her intensely. "Ilia..." He growled.

"Cowards... After everything the humans have done to us, everything they've put us through, you're asking us to help them?!" Illia demanded.

"I know we haven't been treated fairly..." Ghira told her.

"Where was their help when the Dust companies treated our people like slaves?! Where was their help when Kingdoms hunted Faunus just for being who they are?! Where was my help when my parents were killed in a Dust mine?! WHERE?!" Illia demanded.

"Young lady, progress takes patience and cooperation!" Ghira tried to reason with her.

"Illia... Sometimes people can be bad. But that's why we need to be better than them. To show everyone else that they can become better." Nick told her. Blake was shocked at this, but smiled and held Nick's arm lovingly. "That or at least people won't think you're the assholes anymore." He added, causing Blake to roll her eyes and let go of him.

"The Belladonnas are the worse kind of Faunus! They want us to work with the same people that are trying to hold us down! If you truly, truly want to help your people..." Illia began. As she spoke, Sun snuck through the crowd behind her. "... now is the time to support Adam, not the Belladonnas! He will bring about the future that you deserve. And if you are unwilling to fight, know that the White Fang will do it for you!" She declared.

"SHUT UP!" Sun shouted and leapt out of the crowd toward Ilia, but she used her weapon to get out of the way and flee. When Sun landed, he looked around to see where she had gone, but no sign of her was found.

"Dammit, Sun! You tackle them first, then yell at them! You don't give them a warning before you attack!" Nick snapped.

"After her!" Saber ordered as he and the rest of the Menagerie guards moved to chase down Ilia, while Corsac and Fennec exchanged evil smiles. Blake, Nick and Ghira angrily glared from the stage, while Kali had a worried look on her face.

Oscar was seen sitting on a red armchair, nervously looking at the members of Team RNJR and Draco as they fawned over him.

"Did he age backwards?" Nora asked.

"He's possessed!" Jaune declared.

"Or reincarnated!" Ren countered.

"Or he has split personality disorder!" Draco offered.

"Draco, you already heard everything!" I snapped, smacking the back of his head.

"Oh! Isn't it weird?" Ruby asked.

"It is very weird, yes." Oscar confirmed.

"Actually, compared to the relics and Salem, this is only really the third strangest thing we've heard so far." Saphyra said, sitting on the nearby couch.

"Okay, okay." Qrow said as he emerged from the kitchen holding a cup in his hand. "Let's all just take a second and remember that this is very overwhelming for everyone." He reminded them.

Team RNJR and Draco all stepped back together and nervously chuckled. "Thanks." Oscar thanked the Huntsman.

Qrow then took a seat on the couch next to Oscar. Draco created a bean bag chair from blood as I pulled out a gothic king lion throne from my coat and sat in it. Ruby and Nora had taken a seat on the couch perpendicular to Qrow's, where Saphyra sat, while Jaune and Ren remained standing.

Oscar then shared a brief look with Ruby, who giggled, causing Oscar to blush. "Ah, sorry!" He said nervously as he briefly looked away. "It's just I've never really met Huntsmen and Huntresses before." He explained.

"Well, uh... we've never met a person with two souls! So, first times all around." Ruby explained.

"Hey! I have 3 souls!" I argued, before seeing Damion's spirit beside me. "Technically 4 now." I added.

"But yours can't transfer their conscience, Daddy. So only you can hear them." Saphyra said.

"Oh! The fire demon just got burned!" Draco taunted.

"She's got you there, babe." Nora said.

"Fair enough." I admitted.

Oscar smiled and chuckled at Ruby before he heard Qrow clear his throat. "Not to break up the whole 'getting-to-know-you' game, but we need to have a talk. Mind showing us your little parlor trick, kid?" Qrow asked.

Oscar groaned. "Yeah, okay. Just so you know, I'll still be here." He explained.

Everyone except Qrow looked at him in confusion. Oscar then lowered his head and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a green and white aura shined from his body for a moment, Oscar opened up his eyes, which were now glowing and he smiled. When he spoke, we all heard a familiar voice overlapping with a bunch of other voices, including Oscar's.

"It is so very good to see you again, students." Ozpin said.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "I mean, I knew it was coming, but I still didn't see it coming." I said.

All of Team RNJR shared brief looked of confusion. "Wait, what just happened?" Jaune asked.

"Professor... Ozpin?" Ren asked.

"Correct. And though I may be the one speaking, Oscar is still present mentally. He's merely handed over the control, so to speak." Ozpin explained.

(Just don't make us do anything embarrassing...) Oscar mentally pleaded.

"What kind of black magic is this!? It's the end of days!" Draco screamed, panicking until I sprouted and smacked him in the head with my demon tail.

"Dude, chill out, this is our average Tuesday." I told him.

"I'm afraid this all must be very perplexing." Ozpin continued.

"And alarming, and bizarre, and just really kind of hard to believe overall!" Nora said.

"Excellent use of vocabulary, Auntie Nora." Saphyra praised.

"Aww, thank you!" Nora said, hugging her.

Ozpin chuckled at this. "It's good to see you children still have your sense of humor." He said, before he started to frown. "I know you've all been through tremendous hardship already. I'm sorry." He apologized.

"I mean, it's not your fault." Ruby said.

"Well, a few DOZEN more guards around the Fall Maiden couldn't have hurt..." I said.

"Daddy..." Saphyra said, deadpanned.

"I suppose that's just another of my many mistakes." Ozpin said. As he continued to speak, Qrow got up and went back to the kitchen to get something. "I told you once that I made more mistakes than any man, woman and child on this planet, and I wasn't exaggerating. I'm... cursed. For thousands of years, I've walked the surface of Remnant, living, dying, and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul. The Professor Ozpin you all met was not my first form and clearly wasn't my last. It's... an extraordinarily strenuous process on everyone involved." He explained.

"That's so tragic. I'm sorry..." Saphyra said sympathetically.

"So who... what... are you?" Jaune asked.

"I am the combination of countless men who've spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant." Ozpin explained. Qrow walks back into the room and hands him a cup of tea. "With every rebirth, my soul is eventually merged with another and I am changed, but my memories stay with me. This curse was bestowed upon me by the gods because I failed to stop Salem in the past. But we must stop her now." He told us all.

"Well, I mean, you're talking to two of the greatest killing machines in the world." I said, gesturing to Draco and myself.

"Let's do it!" Draco cheered.

Ruby started getting hyped at this. "Yeah! So how do we do that?" She asked.

"We start... by ensuring the safety of the Relic of Knowledge." Ozpin answered.

"Aww, lame." Draco said.

Back at Menagerie, Corsac and Fennec were walking back to their homes as Nicolas silently followed them along the rooftops. "I guess Sai was right. These stealth lessons did come in handy." He said as he continued to follow them.

"This is perfect! We were stuck at a dead end, but now, we can just take little cute boy Ozpin to Lionheart and have him set things straight!" Nora said, gesturing to the de-aged professor.

"Please don't call me that." Ozpin explained.

"We're not sure that's the best idea." Qrow explained.

"Good call. There's something about that guy I don't trust." I said.

"The headmaster's decisions did seem a bit suspect." Saphyra agreed.

Nora pouted and groaned and goes back to sit down next to Ruby and Ren. "But I thought the headmasters all took their orders from you." Ren questioned.

"That was the intention. Four lieutenants I can trust, especially during times of reincarnation. But Qrow told me about your meeting with Leonardo." Ozpin began as he got up and walked towards a painting of Mistral. "He isn't just behaving irrationally, he's disobeying specific instructions I had left him. Something's wrong. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I don't want to rule out any possibilities, either. No one outside of this room knows that I've paired with Oscar, and I think it may be best to keep it that way." He explained.

"Play things close to the chest until we get a better hand." Qrow added.

"One of my best weapons is based around that principal, so I can understand that." I said, pulling out Asmodeus and shuffling the demonic deck of cards.

"Precisely. Now, we have two steps ahead of us." Ozpin began as he turned around to face us. "The first is enlisting the aid of more Huntsmen." He finished.

"But the Mistral council-" Ren started.

"Doesn't own every Huntsman in the Kingdom, and I've been here enough times to know where we can find some more." Qrow interrupted.

"Yeah! Screw the council! We'll get our own guys! No one tells us what to do!" Draco cheered.

"So long as they're trustworthy." Ozpin said.

"You can trust them to put up a good fight. I'll throw together a list tonight." Qrow explained. He put his foot on the table, but his Semblance caused one of the legs to break and spill his cup of tea.

"Good luck with that." Nora said.

Qrow groaned as he cleaned up his mess. "After that, we can move on to step two." Ozpin said.

"What's step two?" Nora asked.

Suddenly, Ozpin had The Long Memory in hand. "Getting you all into fighting shape." He explained.

We all once again exchanged looks of confusion. "But, uh, we already know how to fight." Ruby explained.

Ozpin pointed to Ruby with his cane. "You can only fight so long as you have Crescent Rose, but you're still lacking in hand-to-hand combat." He countered.

"Well, uh, yeah." Ruby admitted.

Ozpin then pointed to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, I'm glad to hear you've improved, but sorry to say, you've yet to unlock your Semblance. All of you still have a-ways to go before you're ready to pose any real threat against Salem and her forces. I'm sorry to say, even you demons may not be enough to handle them all." He explained.

"You doubt my skills?! I'll kill you again!" Draco snapped, rushing at the former headmaster turned farmhand.

"Draco, no!" We all shouted, but Ozpin amazingly dodged Draco's attack and hit him in several places with his cane in quick succession, causing the blood demon to collapse to the ground, snoring.

Ozpin smiled at this, but still had more to say. "And though Oscar can give me temporary control, he'll need to strengthen his body and his Aura." He explained.

(Wait, what?) Oscar asked mentally.

"He'll inherit my muscle memory in time, but practice will expedite the process." Ozpin went on.

"But if Qrow's out looking for Huntsmen, then who's going to teach us?" Ruby asked.

"Am I a joke to you?" I asked.

"YOU could train US?" Jaune asked.

"Of course. We've only been here for a day and look how much I've already taught Saphyra." I said, pulling several combat robots from my trench coat.

Saphyra looked at them fiercely before creating a pair of nunchaku, rushing in and effortlessly annihilating the robots with supreme speed and unmatched skill. She effortlessly dodged all their attacks and destroyed their limbs with lightning-fast strikes to their joints from her weapon. Soon enough, they were in a pile on the floor and she bowed in respect.

"And that was only one weapon. Daddy showed me how to use at least 10. And how to quickly, yet brutally eliminate my target with them." Saphyra explained.

"Jaune? I'm scared of that little girl." Draco said, hiding behind Jaune.

"I must admit, that is impressive. But a single day of training is not nearly enough. And your focus would be best spent solely on your daughter's training. And preparing for the birth of your next child." Ozpin explained.

"Wait, you knew?!" I asked, shocked.

"I can. Although I can't say I approve." He said, glaring at me.

"Hey, it wasn't exactly my say. I wasn't complaining, sure, but it wasn't my idea." I said defensively.

"So, then, who will train us?" Ren asked.

Ozpin then propelled himself into the air with his cane, spinning counterclockwise into a barrel roll before landing onto the seat of the armchair, twirling his cane. "Well, I believe I was the headmaster of Beacon Academy." He answered,

We all had various looks on our faces. Jaune looked fearful, as if he was going back to combat class with Goodwitch, Ren and I were questioning how this was possible, Nora was strangely unimpressed, Ruby and Saphyra looked awestruck and Draco looked a bit grumpy. "Show-off." The blood demon said.

"With your help, I'm sure they'll be able to thwart any attack Salem can make!" Saphyra said.

"Thank you, Miss Nikosade. But it will be a difficult road ahead. We have approximately one month before classes resume at Haven. If Salem were to plan an attack, it would make sense that it would occur prior to students' return. It's not much time, but it's better than nothing." Ozpin explained as he stopped twirling his cane. "Just don't expect me to go easy on you."

Suddenly, he glowed green and white again, switching control back to Oscar. He had a hard time keeping his balance on the armchair before falling backwards. "You've gotta be kidding me." Oscar groaned.

We all looked on with various expressions again. "Yeeaahh, we're fucked." Draco said.

Back at the bandit camp, the two bandits had fallen asleep. Weiss noticed this and silently used her Semblance to create a small summoning Glyph. A small Arma Gigas appeared in her hands, sword at the ready. Weiss smiled before nodding at it as everything went black.