"Do you realize how bad your situation is?"

A special room had been requested from the woman the minute that she brought them back to the orphanage. Naofumi hadn't been too familiar with the room that was given since it had been one of the staff offices. Paperwork had still been neatly stacked on the desks as the woman had forced the three friends to sit down on the chairs before it. She crossed her arms, standing right behind the desk.

Motoyasu, in some twisted sense, had been lucky. Considering his current condition, the woman had someone else, most likely another hunter, to take the orphan to a hospital. They were told that he wasn't in any life-threatening situations, but he'll be unconscious for a bit longer than they would expect. The hospital was going to help manage his health during that length of time.

On their ends, bandages and medkit items were provided for those who needed it. In particular, Naofumi had one wrapped around his forehead.

"Y-Yes, ma'am…" Naofumi dipped a lowered head, shyly speaking up in the midst of the woman's stern tone. "W-We apolog—"

Her response was to cut of Naofumi and hit the table with her crop.

"I don't remember allowing you to speak."

Naofumi tried not to make any eye contact, but he could still feel her piercing gaze striking into his soul. It was hard to help themselves out in this situation, only being able to sit in silence as the invisible weight had buried their shoulders.

"Let's see… First, you run away from the orphanage without any permission or supervision. Second, you trepassed an area in which it was clear to be forbidden for any normal people to enter. Not only that, but you opened up a hole along the perimeter that could have been used by a smaller grimm to escape. Third, it's clear that you encountered some grimm and took your own measures, causing one of your members of the escapade to be rendered unconscious. Fourth—"

Holy shit, she's still going. We really messed up.

"—you managed to start a wildfire that practically destroyed almost half of the forest. There will be expenses in recovering parts that can be recovered and clearing up the ashes and charred remains. Not only that, but the grimm that had been hiding out within the forest relocated due to the fire and we currently have no idea where they could have gone as of this moment."

Naofumi could only feel his unrestless heart as the woman kept listing out their sins. All of the issues she had brought out made it seem like they went out and broke laws—which might not be far from the truth, considering all of the damage that they caused. Saying that he was nervous to know the aftermath of their fates had been an understatement, to say the very least.

The woman sighed with a deep breath.

"Really… You boys don't even realize how lucky the four of you are."

"Yeah…"

Ren looked at his sword, prompting Naofumi to glance at the shield that was still on his person. No matter what they did, they wouldn't go away. They simply remained once the threat had been gone and it still felt unreal to them that weapons came when they were in need. If they hadn't unleashed the shield and the sword, none of them would be sitting in this room right now.

Even the heads-up interface of the three bars had remained in their vision. It appeared like they were going to have to live like this for an indeterminable length of time, most likely tied with their summonable weapons.

"If these weapons never came to us, we would have been too weak to even defeat the beowolf and then…"

"That's not what I meant in particular, but I suppose you're lucky in that sense as well." The woman shook her head as she looked over at the clock, ticking down to what would have been around the time they should have been waking up. If it weren't for the fact they were being scolded, Naofumi would have been impressed by the fact that they essentially pulled an all-nighter. "He should be coming in around this time."

Naofumi raised his eyebrow.

He?

Naofumi started to hear the familiar voices of the caretakers echoing through the halls. They were becoming louder, but among the midst of the voices, there had been another that was also familiar, but Naofumi was surprised to hear his voice. He couldn't mistake it for anyone else.

That voice belongs to…

The door opened up behind them as the caretakers made way for a middle-aged man with gray hair and brown eyes, hidden behind slightly tinted glasses. His black suit gave a professional atmosphere to it, if not for the offset of his cosy cowl around his neck.

Itsuki had been the first to vocally identify him.

"Mister Ozpin!?"

"Hello there, children," the man smiled softly. "Itsuki, Ren, and… Naofumi, was it?"

"A-Ah, hello, Mister Ozpin…"

As Naofumi nodded to the affirmation of his name, he noticed that Ozpin had been carrying a plate and a mug. The scent seemed like coffee, but Naofumi was taken back by the plate. He couldn't exactly see what was on it from his angle, but the mystery wouldn't be held for much longer. He placed the plate on the desk in front of them, revealing the contents to be cookies.

"It must have been quite the eventful night. Please, take some."

"Hmmph." The woman glanced over at Ozpin. "I hope you don't make this into a habit, rewarding cookies to children that shouldn't get any."

"Don't be so stern, Glynda. I heard from the reports and I made my way over as soon as possible. These children successfully defeated an alpha beowolf together. If they were mistaken, it was still a grimm of a powerful force. That alone should have some sort of reward."

Naofumi looked over to Ren and Itsuki, who were both heistant on grabbing one of the treats. However, Itsuki went in and took the first cookie, though slowly. Itsuki kept an eye on both Ozpin and Glynda to see their reactions and once his hand successfully captured one, Naofumi realized that there wasn't any strings attached. Both Ren and Naofumi went and grabbed one for themselves, slowly munching on them.

… Chocolate chip. It's good.

"I appreciate your help for them, Glynda."

Her response was simple silence, glancing back at the three boys.

Ozpin walked around the desk to take a seat on the other side, pulling the attention back to them. Naofumi looked back quickly, seeing that the caretakers had already left the room, leaving them to be alone with the pair of nonnative adults.

"Are you three alright?" he opened up. "Hopefully, none of you received any more injuries that we aren't aware about."

Itsuki shook his head. "N-No, not that I know of."

"Other than Motoyasu," Ren responded, "we should be alright. Just a bit drained from our semblances and our tiredness, that's all."

"... Motoyasu." Naofumi couldn't help but to think about the sacrifice that he made to give them space to win that fight. If he hadn't unleashed his final roar, Ren and Itsuki would have been hit pretty hard.

"Your friend's condition is stable. There's no need to worry," Ozpin announced. "I visited him just before I arrived here, and the medical staff said that it'll take about a week for him to regain his consciousness. Semblance overuse is a dangerous thing to do."

The group had immediately perked up upon the news. "R-Really?"

"Yes. He will be fine and back with you after he is discharged from the hospital. It shouldn't take that long after they check his vitals when he awakens."

Sighs of alleviation could be heard as the trio has been calmed down, not having to worry as much about their fallen friend anymore. There was some type of confidence in being told that Motoyasu might be okay to Motoyasu being known to be okay, and Naofumi definitely felt that rush of relief.

"Anyways, I shouldn't dwindle around any longer. Do you know as to why I am here?"

Naofumi reluctantly took his guess. "... Because we burned down the forest?"

Ozpin held his tongue in an aloof manner. "Partially, I would say you're correct. However, that isn't the main reason as to why I am here. It's because—"

"—our weapons that came from our semblances." Ren had finished Ozpin's line for him. "In our previous meetings, you talked about how our semblances might be similar to each other, but I didn't understand why. Now, I do, assuming that this is what our real semblances are."

The room had been silent, breaking only from Ozpin's amused chuckle.

"Observant as always, young Ren. It is indeed as he says. I have come because I've received a report that you had been holding your 'semblance weapons', as you call them. It is the reason as to why I was intrigued by your existence in the first place, the four of you."

Naofumi took one more look at his shield, still gleaming with its green gemstone in the center. The way that Ozpin had worded that phrase made it seem rather ominous and unnerving, causing him to slightly twitch in his place. At least the cookies made it less awful to think about.

"Mister Ozpin," Ren said, "do you know what the meaning behind these weapons is? I… I don't think I've ever heard of a semblance like this before—the ability to summon physical weapons. Not to mention that these would be our second semblances, which is already pretty weird."

Ozpin rubbed his chin, sharing eye contact with Glynda. She averted her eyes quickly, as Ozpin chuckled, returning his focus to the friends.

"It's quite complicated, so I suppose I should start from the beginning," Ozpin started. "Don't worry, I'll try to keep it as simple as possible."

Naofumi, Ren, and Itsuki all brought their attention onto the table. Itsuki quickly took one more cookie beforehand though.

"Your semblances belong to a special group that is not known to the public, not out of secrecy, but out of extreme rarity. They've been called the "Holy Weapons", in which the main idea of these semblances is something you've discovered hours ago." Ozpin pointed casually towards both sword and shield. "It is the ability to summon a specific type of weapon as your aid. I hate to drabble onwards without your understanding, but there is much more than that…"

"Much more than summoning weapons?" Ren held his sword down against his knees. "What else could there be? This alone is already a lot."

"How could I put this in terms you can understand without using any of the technical jargon?" As Ozpin thought briefly, his words returned to him once again. "Ah. Tell me, boys. Do you like video games?"

"Huh? Of course we do! Although, we don't get to play them a lot since the orphanage doesn't have any. We usually get to only see what they are like and imagine how it would be to play it ourselves…" As Itsuki went on, a realization hit him as he raised his eyebrows. "Huh? Mister Ozpin, why are you asking that?"

"... The heads-up display," Ren answered quietly. "HUD, for short."

"Indeed. All of the 'Holy Heroes', as we refer to those with your type of semblances, are able to see it. A special 'HUD' that will help display information in a visual format. That is one of the other layers of this semblance."

Ren and Naofumi nodded, taking it in. They could see it right in front of that, after all.

However, there was a small outcry in the center.

"H-Huh!? You guys can see a HUD!?"

"Yeah."

"That's not fair!" Itsuki proclaimed. "I want to see one too! That sounds so cool!"

"I… I don't know about that," Ren responded, rubbing his eyes. "It's rather distracting, constantly seeing this information all the time. It's already pissing me off, and it's only been a few hours since it popped up."

"Your HUD will prove itself to be quite useful in fights. However, there is a way to hide it when it is not needed. All you need to do is learn to control your semblance, just as everyone learns how to control their own ones."

"Oh thank god," Ren muttered to himself.

"Wait," Naofumi raised his hand. "You know a lot about our semblances, Mister Ozpin. Do you have a semblance like ours too?"

"No. No, I do not," Ozpin said, shaking his head. "As I said, it is extremely rare to find."

"... I kinda have some doubts about that," Ren said, scratching his head. "What are the chances that two of these rare-occurring semblances are two friends that are living in the same orphanage? And what about our original semblances? You haven't talked about my water semblance or Naofumi's defensive semblance either. Is this a second semblance, or is there something else to it?"

Ozpin nodded. "Yes, what you refer to as your 'original' semblances is merely a part of the 'Holy Weapons' semblance, but perhaps I'll leave that explanation for another day. I don't want to overload your growing minds with details that aren't too important right now."

"And the chances of the occurrence?"

"That is also something that is of a rare occurrence. Extremely rare. Even a few hundred lottery tickets winning would have better chances than having all of you right here with this certain type of semblance. That is one of the reasons as to why I made visits whenever I could. It is very odd."

"... Wait a minute." Itsuki raised his eyebrows. "Mister Ozpin, you've said that our semblances were similar, right? Does this actually mean that Moto and—I mean, Motoyasu and I—also have these 'Holy Weapons' in some shape or form?"

"Haven't you unlocked yours yet?"

"... No?" Itsuki tilted his head. "Should I have?"

"FOUR!?" Ren had practically been standing up in disbelief. "The four of us have this rare semblance!? That's even less likely!"

"And as I said," Ozpin responded, pushing up his spectacles, "Very, very odd. It was as if fate had brought the four of you together."

Itsuki took his time to raise his hand. "... Then, what do I have to do to unlock mine?"

Ozpin had shook his head this time. "That is something that I do not know. I'm sorry to disappoint you, young Itsuki." As Itsuki's expression darkened, Ozpin continued. "However, I would be led to believe that it is simply just like unlocking any person's semblance for the first time."

"Yeah," Naofumi added on. "Both of our weapons came to us when we were in a desperate situation. It fits with how some people find their semblances in the first place. Maybe one day, it'll just casually reveal itself like how our original semblances came to be."

Hope returned to Itsuki's eyes, pumping himself up.

"Anyways, there are still many things that I should tell you about your semblances and even more for you all to learn. However, I want to show you something." Ozpin reached into his pocket and pulled something out. All the boys straightened themselves upwards to catch what he was holding. It had looked to be a small vial with something that looked like dust.

Red Dust—it had a flame element attached to it.

"Naofumi. Ren. Please show me your weapons."

The two boys had nervously looked at each other before standing up and placing their weapons onto the desk. Itsuki jumped out of his seat, wanting to join in with his friends, as Ozpin uncorked the vial and pour half of it on top of Naofumi's shield. Specifically, it had been on top of the green gem.

Soon enough, the gem started to glow and it sucked up the dust inside of it like an exclusive vacuum, right through the solidity. As everything had been absorbed, his HUD started to react and there was a small announcement menu on his perspective.

[Shield Unlocked]

Fire Dust Shield
(Dust Series)
- increased fire resistance (high)
- increased explosion resistance (medium)

Again? This happened with the Alpha Beowolf remains, too!

While Ozpin had been pouring the rest of the dust onto the blue gem on Ren's sword, Naofumi couldn't contain his question.

"W-What's going on? Something showed up on my HUD, saying that I… 'unlocked' something. I don't necessarily understand what this means."

"This is the main strength of your semblance. These weapons aren't normal weapons, crafted by people like you and I. They hold a special ability to absorb many different things in order to grow stronger. You may think of it as… a level-up system or a class-system. I'm not very involved in video games, so you may need to forgive my misuse of terminology."

Ren had been taken by surprise, probably from his own pop-up. However, instead of asking questions, it seemed like Ren had been focusing on something in his HUD. After a few seconds of standing silent, Ren took up his sword, cradling the blade in his hands. Ren closed his eyes, visibly focusing on the weapons' shape.

Soon enough, the blue gem started shining brightly as its shape and colour were beginning to change, alarming both Itsuki and Naofumi. However, it seemed to him that Ren knew what he was doing.

"Excellent, young Ren. You already managed to figure out how to change in between unlocked forms. Quite impressive."

The sword now looked different. Instead of its silver tone, it looked like a simple short sword from medieval times, but orange-reddish in color. It's golden hilt was also shaped like flames, and the blue gem was still inside it. It was simply awe-striking to see its beauty, as Ren took a look at his newly formed weapon.

"I… want… that…" Itsuki muttered in his excitement. "H-Hey, Nao!? Ren!? What do you think my weapon might be!? Or Moto's!? I'm getting excited just thinking about it!"

"R-Ren, how did you do that?" Naofumi asked. He himself wanted to control his shield in a similar manner as well.

"Hmm. How do I explain this?" Ren rubbed his chin before pointing up his finger. "Try imagining that your center of attention is a mouse cursor on a screen. Move that mouse cursor to click one of the icons in the bottom-right corner of your vision. There should be some there, just click the right-most one."

"... Eh?" He raised his eyebrows in confusion, turning over to Ozpin who chuckled at the reaction.

"More or less," Ozpin shrugged.

There wasn't anymore hints he was getting here, so Naofumi decided to roll with it. He allowed his eyes to guide the invisible cursor towards the corner, to which he noticed icons that he never actually noticed before. He counted the icons, grabbing the one Ren told him to click and imagine 'clicking' it.

… Yeah, this is going to take some getting used to.

Before his eyes, a menu menu popped up with the list of his 'unlocked' shields. Right now, there was the default, the alpha beowolf, and the fire dust. He merely followed his instincts, wanting to select the fire dust shield.

The moment he did, the shield's gem began to shine and started to transform in a similar manner to how Ren's sword had done. Its appearance had altered to have a orange-reddish sheen to its surface, along with a flame like design as its edges.

"Whoa, that's amazing!" Itsuki exclaimed, taking the words right out of Naofumi's mouth.

"Its appearance isn't the only thing that has changed. Different forms will give different abilities and powers and since there is no recorded limit to how many weapons you can store in these menus, this gives the potential to become very strong in the future. As long as you devote your lives to strengthening your weapons, that is." Ozpin allowed a minute for the words to sink into the boys. It certainly did for Naofumi, meaning that if they really wanted to use their new semblance to the best of its ability, then their entire lives would have to be wrapped around it.

"The question now concerns," Ozpin continued, "if you wish to have that power and what would you want to do with it."

"Summoning these weapons… This could be terrible if someone evil got their hands on them…" Ren contemplated the thought as he looked upon his sword and Naofumi's shield.

"While your weapons cannot be taken from you for a long duration, you are certainly correct in a manner. And this is why I am here for the four of you." Ozpin gave the three youths a stern expression. "To make sure that you won't be able to cause any unnecessary trouble."

"Trouble!? Why would we cause any!?" Itsuki proclaimed.

"... Tell me. Who was it that caused the forest wildfire?"

Itsuki had quickly retracted himself back into his seat, averting the gaze.

"I'm joking, to a certain degree, with that comment. However, I will say that it is not entirely easy to make that a certainty, young Itsuki."

Itsuki looked up from his chair. "... It's not?"

"Before I go on," Ozpin stated, finally taking his first sip from his coffee, "allow me to ask you three something. Have you thought about what do you wish to do in the future?"

Naofumi perked up, realizing this was a topic he brought up before the forest incident. Itsuki remembered it too, as suggested by the way he looked over at Naofumi before answering the question.

"I don't think any of us have an idea. We're kinda just… enjoying the moment for now. We don't know what the future might hold for us, or what we even want from it…"

"If that's the case, then I have an offer I would like to present to you." He placed the coffee down and rested his elbows on the table, hiding his mouth behind the intersecting hands.

"An offer?"

"How would you four, young Motoyasu included, feel about becoming huntsmen?"

Naofumi's jaw dropped at the ridiculous notion. Not that he hated it, not by a long shot, but the opportunity just seemed so unreal. Huntsman and huntresses were basically professionals when it came to fighting those grimm and they themselves barely made it out of a single fight. Naofumi assumed that it was originally because they did eventually kill one, but it was out of sheer luck that they were able to. Clearly, Ozpin should have known that himself.

"Huntsmen!?"

"R-Really!?"

Both Ren and Itsuki were just as shocked by the idea as well.

"Of course! With semblances like the ones you have, you'll fit right in. Imagine how many people you could help with strong semblances…" Ozpin looked as Naofumi's eyes lit up.

"... or how many grimm you might be able to defeat with your new level of experience…" Ozpin panned over to Ren on the other side, seeing that his interest had been piqued.

"... or even the good deeds you'll be doing for our society. You could be real heroes." Ozpin glanced at the center, where Itsuki had been twitching with excitement from Ozpin's advertisement.

"... Wait." Ren, still intrigued, had been rubbing his chin after a thought's notice. "Don't we have to go to some Huntsman academy first?"

"That…" Naofumi sighed, realizing what Ren had been implying. "... And we're only orphans too, so there's no way that any academy would come to accept us. Not to mention that we probably won't be able to afford the tuition either, even if it was for a single year…"

"O-Oh…" Itsuki's shoulder shrunk, being dejected. "T-There goes that short-lived dream…"

However, Ozpin had simply smirked in the gloomy atmosphere of the three boys.

"... Do you three know who I am?"

Naofumi looked up from his silent sorrow. Now that Naofumi had thought about it, they didn't know much about Ozpin. All they knew was that he was a man who heard about their semblances and wanted to see them every so often. Naofumi scrunched up his eyebrows.

"... You're… Mister Ozpin?"

"That's my name, but not my profession," he chuckled. "I'm guessing you have no idea."

All three of them shook their heads.

"Alright. Have you heard about a little school called Beacon Academy?"

Itsuki blinked blanklessly at the name, but Naofumi remembered hearing it before. Perhaps it came up on the television once or twice, but Naofumi couldn't grasp what was on the tip of his tongue. However, it turned out that he didn't need to think too hard, given Ren's little outburst.

"Beacon Academy!? Of course, it's one of the best huntsmen academies in Vale!"

"That's a bit embarrassing to be said in front of me, but comments like that fill me with joy."

The boys looked at Ozpin in confusion.

"You see, I am the headmaster of Beacon Academy."

… What?

Eyes shot wide open as Ozpin was clearly amused by their reactions. Even Glynda, who had been watching the conversation silently made a little noise, turning her head away to prevent anyone from noticing. On the other side, things were deathly quiet, with none of them knowing how to even react with this bombshell Ozpin had dropped on them.

Ren pinched his forehead.

"... S-Sorry, Mister Ozpin. I must have misheard something. D-Did you… Did you just say…?"

"That I'm the headmaster of Beacon Academy? Yes, indeed. I did."

He said it again!

Naofumi was taken back greatly from this information, as his eyeballs were practically budging from his sockets. Words weren't even makeable anymore, causing Naofumi to only make inaudible grunts and moans to trying to figure out what's going on.

"And as the headmaster of the academy, I'm allowed to make any judgement calls as I see fit. That being said, I am prepared to bring everyone into Beacon Academy and even waive these tuitions of yours. This is how important I feel your semblances are and how much I understand your situation."

Naofumi started pinching himself quietly.

"In any case, I want you four, young Motoyasu included again, to attend Beacon Academy."

Naofumi glanced over towards his friends, quickly realizing that Ren's mind had long ago short-circuited from the revelation. However, Itsuki stood up in a chipper excitement.

"This is…!" He turned around to Ren and Naofumi. "This is a dream come true, guys! We gotta take the opportunity! There's no way that we can even consider passing this up!"

"I-I still have questions here…" Ren started rubbing his temples like he had a headache. "Can we really come in? We're still stuck at this orphanage here and Beacon is for students, not to mention experienced students, who are at least seventeen years old!"

"You're not wrong, young Ren. And this is where I get to the main reason as to why I arrived today."

Naofumi watched as Ozpin spoke every lasting word.

"Tell me. You don't have any families that would take you in yet, right?"

"... Not that we know of," Itsuki responded.

"Well, would you want one?"

I feel like Mister Ozpin is about to drop another bombshell on us.

"If I were to adopt the four of you, you would not simply be brothers in spirit, but brothers in legality as well. You'll have to keep your current last names for technical reasons, but it's a small price to pay to keep you four together. Is that right?"

…. And there it is.

"If I were to adopt the four of you, I can provide comfort of a workable environment, alongside the proper semblance training before your time arrives when you can begin your life at Beacon Academy. I would say that being taught in the presence of the headmaster more than qualifies as an experienced student. Am I correct?"

"Huh!?" Itsuki dropped back into his seat, frantically. "You want to adopt all four of us!?"

Naofumi shook his head. It all felt too good to be real. Getting an opportunity at school and gaining a family in the process were a step-up from their current situation too grand to make in one fell swoop.

"Are… Are you actually going to adopt us?" he asked.

Ozpin nodded. "Of course. I've already taken care of the paperwork and I only need to finish up a few legal documents. Other than that, all I need now is your approval. It would be a great problem if I adopted boys that didn't want to be adopted, after all."

"... Hmmph." The noise came from Ren who wasn't as excited as Itsuki was. In fact, Ren seemed to be glaring at Ozpin. "If I understand what you said correctly and considering what you've said so far, what you're trying to say is that you would have constant surveillance on us while making sure that our potential as huntsmen doesn't go to waste, all because of our special semblances. Is that right, Mister Ozpin?"

Ozpin held silent, pulling Naofumi's attention back to him. Naofumi thought if it had been true, it would have been a wonderful thing. However, Ren's rewording of it made much sense and it was rather eerie when said like that.

"... Once again, quite observant, young Amaki. You're reading me like a book, aren't you?" Naofumi felt chills down his spine before it completely disappeared from Ozpin's soft smile. "However, my proposition still remains. After all, your benefits are extremely high with my offer. Your only alternative is to remain at the orphanage, waiting for that mysterious future to unravel itself. In this regard, your semblances will surely go to waste."

"... And when you put it that way…"

Ren appeared to drop himself to docility, looking as if he was thinking seriously about the offer.

"... If you're going to be adopting us," Itsuki jumped in, "does that mean we're going to have to call you by 'dad' or 'father' now? Something like that?"

Naofumi thought about the odd train of thought, knowing that by all technical terms, Itsuki was right. It would have felt a bit weird suddenly switching from calling Ozpin from 'Mister Ozpin' to 'father', but it wasn't something that was terrible. He could certainly get used to it if needed.

However, Naofumi saw how for a split second Ozpin's expression drastically changed. His mood of calmness and control got replaced with something that Naofumi couldn't even properly identify. Ozpin's eyes widened and looked unpleasant. His smirk disappeared, replaced with a mix of horror and despair. It was for a split second though, as Ozpin's expression returned to normal in almost an instant. It was so short that Naofumi wondered if it was just his imagination.

"You can call me… whatever you want to call me," Ozpin answered, almost emotionlessly. "It honestly does not bother me whether you choose to stick with 'Mister Ozpin' or even start calling me by a different title."

Ozpin took a deep breath, as if his last sentence took a small toll on him.

"Anyways, I would like to hear your answer. Would you wish to be adopted by me?"

The three friends looked at each other, both in nervousness, added with their excitement.

Itsuki smirked.

"... Yay or nay?" It's one hundred percent 'yay' for me, by the way."

"I say yay," Ren answered, holding his sword tightly. "I want to perfect this new semblance of mine—no. I want to see our semblances be perfected! I'm all in!"

"What about you, Nao?"

Naofumi scratched his head. "Well shouldn't we wait for Motoyasu if we're going to make a big decision like this? He's part of our group too, you know. He's not here to decide for himself."

"Naofumi, just think about it," Ren chuckled. "Motoyasu would be getting the chance to leave this orphanage and straight into an academy where he'll have the chance to work his way with some girls his age! For a guy like him, it'll probably be heaven!"

Naofumi couldn't help but snort when Ren joked around like that. He couldn't feel the last time he had been this energized before. Sure, there were many times where he was happy, but he would have to say that this moment certainly took the cake.

"... Then in that case, it's going to be a quadruple 'yay' for this decision. If you guys want it, then I'll be coming with you all!"

"Full house sweep!" Itsuki exclaimed, pounding his fist into his palm. "I'm getting so excited! Once we get to Beacon Academy, just think about the life we're going to have there! Just think about the adventures!"

Ozpin smiled, seeing the three boys grinning across their faces.

"So then, what is your answer?"

They all looked back at Ozpin and took one unanimous nod.

" " "Our answer is yes!" " "

The night had finally come to an end, as the morning sun brought itself up into the sky. The time that felt like an eternity met its end, changing the lives of the four boys forevermore.

Ozpin had remained in the office, glancing outwards, towards the rising sun ever since the boys were dismissed from the room. Through all the explanations, he couldn't even finish half of his coffee. Thankfully, he didn't lose face since more than half of the cookies were left on the table. He would have thought that the children would have taken more, but he must have miscalculated. They were too curious to eat, but even so—

"You didn't tell them about the prophecy."

Glynda's voice slowly reached out for Ozpin, as he took his sip of his morning brew.

"Of course I didn't. They are still children. They wouldn't be able to comprehend the gravity of such a thing, not to mention understanding its basics. Not even young Ren would, I believe."

"Ozpin." He finally took the time to taste the coffee that was made for him. The caretakers must have forgotten to add sugar and cream, at least not very much. It was quite bitter, just as Glynda's words rolled on. "You have to remember that they are children with a semblance, not semblances attached to children. I agree that they will make powerful huntsmen in the future and that's what we wanted, but..."

"What are you talking about?"

Her words faltered slightly. "They are still children. As much as they can act up, they have their own dreams and ambitions, just like any other human."

"Of course. That goes without saying."

"Does it?" Glynda pushed up her glasses. "Did you not say it yourself? You wish to train them. You never mentioned anything about raising them properly."

Ozpin chuckled, feeling that the coffee's warmth had long since passed away. "The 'Holy Weapons' semblance set can be rather destructive. I've seen it firsthand just how much chaos it can bring about. We're lucky that we got to them first beforehand and we shouldn't waste this opportunity. We will need to teach them how to use their semblance properly regardless."

"That's only half of the spectrum."

Regardless of the temperature and the taste, Ozpin continued to drink his coffee. He never liked pushing aside coffee and waiting to get more sugar and milk might make it lose all of its temperature by then. He silently glanced, noticing some birds that were flying away into the horizon.

"Training alone will not create an inherent good will out of people. There must be someone to guide them along—someone to raise them."

"Is that so?" Ozpin answered, almost aloofly.

There was subtle sighing that emerged from his side. He was sure that she even shook her head in disbelief, all without even breaking away from the dawn's scenery. After a minute's silence, Glynda had asked another question.

"Do you know what one of them said to me after I walked them back to their room?" Ozpin didn't respond, but she assumed he was still listening. "The curly-haired one approached me and asked me whether or not I would be their mother."

Ozpin made a short, but amused chuckle.

"They are orphans, Ozpin. They never knew what a true parent is, or what a home meant to them. They only had each other to rely on, and since you promised a family, they'll be expecting something that they've never had before. I may have a reputation for being stern at the academy, but even I can see that this would be cruel to let them down now."

"Of course." Ozpin turned around in his chair, placing his cup gently onto the desk. There was a new expression on his face, but Glynda couldn't tell what it could have been. All that she could figure out was that Ozpin's words were gravely serious.

"I do not intend to."

To be continued...

Editor Afterword

Hey, my name's Pretty Lazy, a fellow writer on the site. I'm really really lazy, so username checks out. I hope you enjoyed the prologue for Remnant Heroes! Since people make 'trailer' chapters for each of their characters, you may think this prologue as an extended 'trailer' due to the fact that all four characters are included, something that's pretty rare.

Anyways, Rook came to me with this idea as part of our little Friendship AU partnership over on the ROTSH fandom and I really wanted to help him out. Of course, ideas aren't really my strong suit, so I offered to make some writing changes to the scenes to help make the story flow better and develop some of the world even more. It may have been a slower pace than usual, but Rook was apparently fine with it (I don't know, don't ask me).

In any case, I really had fun with this project, so please keep up with the story as we finally begin the saga of the four friends' lives at Beacon Academy! I'm sure Rook has more he wants to say, but I guess that's all from me for now.

Yeah, okay. There's your afterword, Rook. Can I leave the dungeon now?

Best Regards, Pretty Lazy.

What's that noise? I think I heard something...

Anyways, that concludes our prologue!

We're still in the process of making volume 1 of our little story, so you may have to wait a bit for new chapters, sorry.

That aside, I have to say I'm having surprisingly lots of fun making this fic, and I'm really thankful that Pretty Lazy helps me out with this one. I always find myself waiting impatiently to see what he comes up with. Really tho, we're like One and Murata.

I don't have anything smart left to say so I guess Imma leave it here.

Anyway, I hope you liked the prologue.

Cya!