"Ugh..."

Blue eyes slowly opened to a bright sunny day, the rays of sunlight already irritating Weiss' eyes. Groaning, the white-haired girl sat up, seeing that she was in some kind of forest, and found herself inside a bright yellow sleeping bag.

"What happened?..." Weiss muttered to herself, the events of last night still a blur to her. Something about... maidens? There was an unpleasant ache pulsing from her forehead, and it wasn't helping her piece things together much.

"Well, well! Sleeping beauty wakes at last!" Groggily, Weiss turned to see a familiar looking blonde, lilac-eyed girl grinning from behind her. "You aren't gonna lunge at me again, right?'

Frowning at her words, Weiss tried to piece together what Yang meant...

Then she shot up from her sleeping bag as the impossible events from yesterday rushed back to her memory.

Well, tried. What actually happened was a sudden wave of dizziness tripping her up and sending her sprawling back towards the ground.

"Ow..."

"Ah, grapes-" Weiss groaned as she felt strong arms steady her balance, Yang kneeling down to put Weiss on a sitting position. "Guess your aura didn't completely heal that concussion..."

"Ozpin?" Weiss asked blearily, looking up at Yang.

Yang shrugged. "Close, but not quite." She said, giving Weiss an apologetic look. "It's... complicated."

Weiss frowned, more annoyed than angry. "Yes, I suppose I should have expected that." She sighed. "What happened?"

"How much do you remember?"

"... Holding you at swordpoint." Weiss admitted sheepishly. "I wasn't thinking straight..."

"That would probably be the concussion. Or the stress. I'm not too sure on which either." Yang sighed. "Not much happened, actually. After you made your threat, you passed out from exhaustion. We got the hell out of the battlefield when the Grimm started getting curious, and..." She gestured to the campsite they were in. "I kept watch while you were asleep, if you were wondering."

"And what about Raven?" Weiss wonders. "I saw her leave, but I'm not sure why."

"..." Yang looked away. "She figured out she couldn't beat us. Then she ran. That's all."

Weiss knew that Yang wasn't telling the whole truth, but rather than push, she let the topic go. As long as the Bandit Queen wasn't coming back, it didn't really matter what happened.

"I know I haven't asked it in the nicest way, but..." Weiss scowled, the pain in her head fading, but still there. "I don't even know if you are Yang. Or Ozpin. Or someone else entirely. I need answers."

Yang sighed, steeling herself. "Yeah, alright. I'll talk."

Yang revealed the secrets of the universe over breakfast.

It wasn't anything fancy- they were still in the middle of Anima after all- just two fish that Yang managed to catch, skewer, and grill over the campfire.

Weiss didn't care. She was starving. And the secrets of the universe were briefly put on hold as Weiss and Yang ate their fill.

Once they were done however, Weiss sat on a tree stump as Yang told her tale.

"... Right, let's just start on what you know." Yang cringed. 'Why am I in charge of the exposition again?'

"She trusts you more than she trusts me." Ozpin said. "Besides, she'll be more comfortable if you were... you."

'Touchē.'

Weiss lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed. "The beginning, perhaps?"

"... Yeah, that would work." Yang closed her eyes, took a breath, and then faced Weiss again. "So way back when, before there were people, there were two brothers, both with godly power-"

"-called the God of Light and the God of Darkness. I'm well aware of the fairytale about the birth of humanity." Weiss says, scowling. "But that's just make-believe. I want the truth."

"Thing is..." Yang hesitated. "That kinda is the truth?"

"What."

"-And that's that! Any questions?"

Weiss gawked at Yang.

"... That was the worst summarization of Remnant's greatest secrets I have ever heard."

Yang winced.

"So..." Weiss began, still staring at Yang like she was a crazy person. Which was fair, to be perfectly honest.

"The Brother Gods exist.

"Yup."

"So do the Maidens from the Story of the Seasons."

"Mhm."

"And said Brother Gods created four Relics that could end the world if Salem gets a hold of all of them, but they're locked in vaults that only the Maidens can open."

"That's the truth!"

Weiss continued staring at Yang.

Yang started to sweat.

"You're insane."

"Yeah, it does sound pretty crazy..."

"No! Gods exist? Fairytales are real?! There's only so much I will believe, Xiao Long!"

"Then how do you explain the magic? Raven turning into a bird and throwing fireballs everywhere?"

"I-" Weiss sputtered. "I..."

Seeing that Weiss was at a loss for words, Yang sighed. "Raven didn't lie about everything. There's still a lot about this world that you don't know about. Some are unbelievable, others are terrifying."

"B-But how does no one know about this? Surely someone must have seen these Relics, or Maidens, or... or magic bird people!"

"That's... where Ozpin comes in."

Weiss groaned. "Oh right, he's still a part of this conspiracy."

Yang shrugged helplessly, then continued. "You have to understand that Salem's old. As in, she was there when the Gods were still around. For centuries, she's always been plotting against humanity, either to rule them all or to simply destroy them."

Yang frowned, looking through very old, very vague memories. "The Gods vowed that they couldn't intervene with the faith of humanity, but they couldn't simply stand by and watch Salem destroy them either. And so, they called upon a great and powerful warrior to defeat her."

Weiss tilted her head. "So? Was he able to?"

(Pain. Everywhere. She's done her best, but it wasn't enough if only she didn't waste so much time-

She gasped as she was roughly flipped on her back, staring face-to-face with what was once a beautiful woman but now a horrid thing.

It says something. She's sure it's said something, but when she opens her mouth to respond there's a flash of fire and then-)

"Yang?"

Yang blinks to see Weiss frowning at her.

"... No, he wasn't. But that wasn't the end of his story."

"What do you mean?"

"After his 'death'," Yang rolled her eyes. "The warrior was cursed with eternal life, unable to die until Salem draws her last breath. I'm guessing you've heard of The Infinite Man?"

Weiss blinked. "Yes, but what's that got to do with..." Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh."

"Mhm." Yang hummed, staring off into the distance. "While Salem is ageless, the warrior reincarnates, an endless cycle of life and death. The Infinite Man hid the secrets of magic and the Gods and posed them as fairytales, to keep the Relics away from the wrong hands. He created the academies, not to control Remnant like Raven claimed, but to protect the world from Salem and the Grimm."

"...Ozpin is The Infinite Man." Weiss realized, looking down.

"Well, past tense. The headmaster did die. It didn't stick of course, but he's still around."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "How... Do you know all this?"

Yang smirked, but there's an undercurrent of anxiety in her expression. "You were always the brains of the team, Weiss. You can figure it out."

It didn't take long, with the events of last night fresh in Weiss' mind. And there was some amusement to be had when Weiss' eyes widened and started staring at Yang in awe.

"Ozpin?" Weiss asked in a small voice.

"Like I said before; close, but not quite." Yang's smirk grew a little wider. "Do you want to talk to him?"

Weiss felt faint. She wasn't going to pass out (again), but there was still a lot she had to process.

Magic exists. Gods exists. An immortal named Salem was waging war against Ozpin for centuries.

Yang is Ozpin.

And frankly, Weiss had no idea how to react to the person standing in front of her now.

"I assume you have questions?" Ozpin asked, Yang having given control over to the immortal sharing a body with her.

"Actually, Yang answered most of them already..." Weiss said, still finding the difference between Ozpin and Yang jarring. Everything looked fine, but it felt wrong.

"You're taking this rather well, Miss Schnee." Ozpin observed, green eyes having a spark of mirth.

"Please, call me Weiss. 'Miss Schnee' doesn't sound right when you say it with Yang's voice." Weiss muttered, head in her hands. "To answer your question, I'm still sure I'm lying unconscious somewhere and everything so far being a fever dream."

"A fair reaction. Yang thought I was a figment of her imagination when she heard me in her head the first time."

Weiss hesitated. "Is Yang still... in there?"

"She's aware of this conversation, yes."

"How does it work between you two? Are you just... taking turns?"

"I suppose that's the best way to put it. It's still Yang's body, I'm merely the plus one."

Weiss sighed. "My life's gotten so complicated..."

"Speaking of..." Ozpin frowned. "How did you come into the clutches of the Branwen clan? They've always operated in the forests of Anima."

"My airship was attacked by Grimm as I was leaving Atlas." Weiss scowled. "The ship crashed, and the bandits simply captured me while I was too weak to fight."

"Didn't James ban all travel into and out of Atlas?"

"... I didn't say I got out legally..."

("Ooh! Ice Queen's getting rebellious, me likey!"

"Yang...")

"While I can't say I condone breaking the law, I suppose it's a moot point now." Ozpin said. "Where were you going?"

"Mistral, but there's nothing there for me now..."

Ozpin lifted an eyebrow. "Well, that's a coincidence. That's where we're going."

"I beg your pardon?" Weiss asked.

"Yang and I, I mean. I have a contact I've been looking for, but with the CCT down it's impossible to know if he's on Mistral or on another kingdom entirely."

"Well, seeing as my choices are either being left alone or follow this madness Yang's gotten into, I might as well come along." Weiss said, sighing. "But what if your contact isn't in Mistral? What then?"

"Then at the very least I'll reunite with another trusted ally of mine."

"Who?"

Ozpin smiled wistfully. "One of the most trustworthy men I know: Leonardo Lionheart."