New Divide
"Did he age backwards?!" Nora asked eyes wide as she stares at the brown haired boy, who had kept his stern glare on Ruby.
"Or he is possessed?!" Jaune exclaimed.
Weiss shook her head, "Clearly there was something in our food that is making this all possible."
"But for us to have the same hallucinations?" Blake asked, "That is a bit of a stretch."
"Yea there is no possible way this is Ozpin." Yang stated fists clenched.
The boy sighed temporally breaking eye contact with the silver eyed warrior to look at the blonde brawler, "It is truly me I can assure you. As for possession…well I guess that is what happens when there are two souls sharing a body."
"Why are you not shocked by this? How did you-?" Pyrrha asked looking at Ruby now that the shock was over. She had cut herself off seeing Ruby's look, "Oh." She said quietly then looking away.
They looked between the three of them now, "Just what-?" Weiss started to ask slowly looking at Pyrrha and Ruby now.
"I'm afraid what Ms. Nikos is implying is that Ms. Rose already knows how I am here." He responded as he started to pace around the room.
"How are you here? How did this happen to you?" Ren asked slowly.
"Did you not tell them about Beacon?" Ozpin now asks looking directly at Ruby.
"They saw it all on the feed before it cut out. Besides a lot has happened since then." Ruby answered diplomatically as she motioned for everyone to sit. Weiss, Blake, and Yang took a seat on Weiss and Ruby's shared bed, Ruby took her seat on the chair by the desk, JNPR took a seat on Yang and Blake's shared bed, and that left Ozpin standing in the middle of the room, "Go ahead Oz." Ruby drawled out as she motioned for Ozpin to start talking.
Ozpin looked at her and leveled her with a look, "Seems like you've been around Qrow for too long."
"Eh…we haven't seen Qrow since he came to give us a message from Ruby which was like more than a few weeks ago…" Yang said suspiciously as she looked at her sister, wondering as to why Ruby had mimicked Qrow almost too perfectly.
Ruby shrugged, knowing that yes indeed in her past that she did pick up on a few of Qrow's mannerisms, "Trust me I haven't seen or heard from him since he left Patch." She then looked to Ozpin, a warning glimmering in her eyes, "So again, please explain. I am giving you a chance to tell your story before I do it for you…" She noticed that he caught the underhanded meaning behind her words, however feeling the need to rub it in further so her point could come across without any misunderstandings, she adds, "all of it."
Hazel eyes widen drastically at this, "You wouldn't Ms. Rose."
"Try me. They deserve to know." She discreetly looks to Pyrrha, "Besides it will save you a lot of heartache later."
"And what of your-"
"My…discretions…are not of your concern."
There was silence and tension between the two teams as they looked between the reaper and the young man claiming to be their headmaster, "I wouldn't be too sure about that Ms. Rose." He gave her a leveling look, one that would have amplified if he were wearing his glasses.
"Look can we just explain how this is possible please?" Nora demanded in exasperation, "Then the both of you could have your covert operation discussions later."
Ozpin and Ruby shared a look. Ruby gave him a challenging gaze and he took a deep breath. He didn't want to, but he wanted to test a theory. What are you planning? He heard young Oscar in their shared mind. You'll see, he responded with, "Alright." Out loud he responded, he met Ruby's gaze once more before making eye contact with the others, "I will attempt to explain…however a small warning, this is a lengthy and involved story." Ruby cocked her eyebrow, almost not believing what he might say.
Ozpin took a deep breath, "First an apology of sorts." There is an uneasy silence, and Ozpin sighed deeply, "This situation is…predominantly my fault."
At this Ruby cast her eyes downward, "How do you mean?" Pyrrha asked. Ruby had mainly told her the cliff-notes version of things from her timeline. Anything involving Ozpin's involvement, she kept it close to her chest, claiming 'it's not my story to tell'.
Ozpin nodded at her, acknowledging her question but he looked at Ruby, "Ms. Rose do you remember what I told you after your fight with Ms. Schnee?" They looked at her now, minus Weiss who looked a bit ashamed. Ruby for her part refused to answer, knowing he was going to say it anyway, "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."
"How so? Figuratively or actually?" Yang asked slowly.
Now is the time, he thought. Wait are you-? He cut Oscar off to answer Yang, "I guess a bit of both Ms. Xiao-long. See, for thousands of years, I've walked the surface of Remnant, living, dying, and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul."
"Reincarnation?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ozpin nodded, "Yes, the Professor Ozpin you all met was not my first form and clearly wasn't my last." Then he took a deep breath and said, "You see I lived in an age of Remnant where humanity lived alongside the creators, the God of Light and God of Darkness, and all humans could wield magic."
"The Brothers and magic." Jaune spoke up leaning forward hands clenched together, "Ruby told us the story."
Ozpin looked at the cloaked leader, "I see. Well then, I will continue." He paused and took a deep breath, "This is not easy to admit out loud, as I had kept this to myself for many years." He noticed Ruby's skeptical and surprised look. He met her gaze once more before giving each of them eye contact, "I was once a great warrior. I had been known as fighting for righteousness, being courageous, and possessing a pure heart."
Oh Grimm, Ruby was stunned, he is really doing it, "One day, I had set out on a quest to save a lone woman who had been locked away in a tower. Together we fought our way out, and eventually fell in love. We planned to spend the rest of our lives together."
"Sounds romantic." Yang said, "However where exactly is this story going?"
"Patience Ms. Xiao-Long, all will be revealed." Ozpin said whimsical look replacing heartbreak and longing, "Anyway our happy ending was not to be. I had gotten terribly ill and succumbed to the sickness. My…truelove I suppose you could call her, was heartbroken and angry. She traveled to the Domain of Light, where the God of Light resided and pleaded with him to bring me back. However he, understandably, refused."
"Really?" Nora demanded, "How is that understandable? Did you not want to be with her?"
"Of course I did!" Ozpin yelled. Seeing their shocked looks, he took a deep breath and restarted more softly, "Of course I wanted to be with her; but life and death are part of a delicate balance. I do not blame the choice of the God of Light for he was right to deny her plead. I cannot say the same of her however."
Pausing again, he swallowed and looked at the carpet, and interlock his fingers behind his back, "She was desperate for help though. She wanted more than anything to bring me back, and you know the saying about 'desperate souls'…she then traveled to the lair of the God of Darkness, explaining and making her case. She chose to leave out her previous visit to his elder brother."
"Well that cannot have ended well…" Weiss commented, but she too was intrigued about this story.
Ozpin allowed himself a smirk, despite the sadness of the situation, "You are correct Ms. Schnee. The God of Darkness was pleased with her seeming loyalty to him. He granted her the wish."
"He brought you back." Pyrrha said in awe.
"He did. Needless to say I was in a bit of distress and confusion. Thinking back on it now, hearing her voice and being in her arms did bring me comfort…" they sensed something terrible when he paused, "It didn't last long. The God of Light intervened and returned me to the afterlife to preserve balance. His brother brought me back one more time in defiance before the truth came out and returned me to the afterlife to correct his mistake. As punishment, the God of Light made my love immortal."
Ruby couldn't believe it. He was actually telling the story about him and Salem. Her throat went dry, if he was telling this story willingly, then she knew his endgame and what he would expect of her, "Why make her immortal as a punishment?" Jaune asked.
"To teach her a lesson about life and death." Blake responded, "And so she couldn't be with Ozpin."
Ozpin nodded, "Exactly. They cursed her to walk the face of Remnant not being able to die, therefore she would never be able to be at peace with me. It is just as you said Ms. Belladonna. She tried many times to die at first to be with me, and then out of spite until she came to the realization that the gods were not infallible. She had turned them against each other. So she did something terrible, she got humanity together and turned them against the gods."
"It ended disastrously, the Gods ended up destroying humanity and abandoned the planet. It is with this event that the God of Light offered me the chance to return to the land of the living to act as a guide and protector for the new humans…he also charged me with protecting the newly-created Relics."
"Ruby told us about them." Ren said looking at the now slightly pale looking reaper, "Knowledge, Creation, Destruction, and Choice. She said if someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world."
Ozpin looked at Ruby, "You told them a lot haven't you?"
"Wanted them to be informed as much as possible." Ruby responded trying to be nonchalant.
"Which you never told us how you came across this information to begin with." Weiss said eyeing her partner.
Before Ruby could respond, Ozpin continued, "Well change the world was right, and also an understatement. When brought together, they would once again summon the brother gods back to Remnant to judge humanity."
WBY and JNPR looked at Ruby with a raised brow, "You really underplayed that didn't you?" Jaune stated, "Judge humanity, really?"
Again before Ruby could make a comeback, Ozpin continued, "The God of Light explained that until my task was complete, I would reincarnate by joining my own soul with that of another like-minded individual to ensure that I would never be alone. I didn't want to accept initially, seeing that I wanted to wait for my love to come to me in the afterlife. However he told me that she was still alive, but not the woman I remembered her being. Hoping to once more see her, I agreed to the deal."
He closed his eyes in reflection of this, I'm sorry you had to go through this. Oscar's voice had come to him. I made peace with this already. He could feel the underlying scoff in the young man's mind, choosing to ignore it, he continued with his story, "Life was different than when I left. Cities were different, a race known as the Faunus shared the planet with humanity, and magic was nothing more than a myth. There was something that was the same however, rumors. I heard talk about a witch living in a secluded cottage. I went to find it and was reunited with my love…"
"We kept our secrets, but we reconciled our love for each other. She was…persuasive in that we were the only two natural magic wielders, so we could use our abilities to create a new world for humanity; and for the most part we succeeded in uniting humanity, creating a prosperous kingdom, even starting a family with four daughters."
"What went wrong?" Pyrrha asked.
What didn't go wrong? Ruby thought bitterly recalling Jinn's vision. She noticed how he had kept Salem as vague as possible, but looking at Weiss (who had a calculating look on her face) she knew her partner was going to be putting two and two together soon, "It's true that love can blind us. I was blind to the fact that my love had indeed changed. She had become more brutal and her disdain for the new humans became apparent. I started to show doubts, and after discovering our daughters were capable of wielding magic, did I reveal my secrets to her." Ozpin explained sadly. He heard Oscar gasp in his head and felt sick.
"What then?" Blake whispered.
"Upon explaining my situation, and seeing that she truly was the woman I no longer loved, I tried to escape with them…" They all saw the turmoil and pain at what was unspoken.
Weiss and Pyrrha placed a hand over their mouths, Nora squeezed Ren's arm, Jaune looked sick, Yang clenched her hands into fists, Blake shook her head, but Ruby (having seen the ferocious battle first hand) had a look of disgust, "Our home was destroyed along with the lives of our children. Our love for each other was officially shattered beyond repair, she condemned me for choosing my promise to the Gods over our family and love and burned me alive."
"Your love;" Weiss whispered out as she noticed Ruby's posture and disgust. It was the same look she had when she talked about their enemies, one in particular, "what was her name?"
"Her name was…" Ozpin took a deep breath, "Salem."
"Hold on! The witch and the one seeking the relics…is your former lover?!" Yang demanded, ten she looked at Ruby, "You knew about this! All of this!"
"I told you, it wasn't my story to tell." Ruby said calmly, now shooting a dirty look to Ozpin.
He stared back at her calmly as if to say 'you asked for this'. She is scary right now, Oscar said to him, Ozpin noticed the tremble in his voice, are we done now? I don't want her to kill me.
Oh she wouldn't kill us, Ozpin assured him then to Ruby he said, "I do appreciate your discretion Ms. Rose. Anyway to finish up, I had spent several incarnations in mourning. Eventually I accepted my duty to protect the world from Salem and learned to live alongside the souls I joined with." He took a deep breath, he saw that she knew this last bit of information and she was waiting to see if he would tell them, "I had sought out the Relic of Knowledge and asked it how I could destroy Salem once and for all…"
"That's what you want to do…" Ren said looking at Ruby, he sensed the dark aura coming from her now as she stared at their headmaster.
"Yea do we need it if he already knows the answer? Can we just, you know; do it?" Nora asked.
Ozpin stood straight, "It's not that easy. If it was, then we wouldn't be sitting here Ms. Valkyrie." He took a breath and started, "Salem-"
"Can't be destroyed." Blake whispered cutting him off. Everyone looked at her now. Seeing their gazes she said louder, "She cannot die. You told us the God of Light made her immortal! She cannot be destroyed!"
Ozpin held back a wince at her tone. He opened his mouth to say something, but his composure broke when there was a flash and a loud slam. No one had moved a muscle, save for Yang who had Ruby pinned against the opposite wall, "Yang!" Weiss yelled standing up and Pyrrha who had stood up as well but was held back by Jaune.
Nora stood up, but Ren also held her back, "No let them settle this." He said calmly, but the underlying tone was there.
"But she seems to have known." Nora stated venomously.
"Ruby-" Pyrrha started to say as she pulled out of Jaune's grip, but the knight grabbed her arm once more, grip tighter, "Jaune let go!"
He shook his head, "No. Enough is enough. Just what the hell is going here?!" He demanded looking at the sisters.
Yang's red eyes stared right into Ruby's silver ones, "Answer him! You have until the count of three to tell us what you know." Yang said not loosening up her grip.
"Yang-" Ruby started with.
"One." She counted in a deadly tone.
"Please-"
Weiss stepped forward with Blake at her side, "No more lies or half-truths." Weiss said in a calm yet icy tone.
"Two." Yang growled out, putting more pressure on Ruby.
Ruby looked over at Ozpin, who had walked over to the corner. His eyes seemed to have flash for a moment, before returning to the eerie glow, knowing that Ozpin was still in somewhat of a control. She had started to see this happening. Of course he had planned this, alluding and dropping hints in his story that signaled that she knew about this, "I haven't-"
"Yes you have! You've been keeping a lot from us and we've had enough." Blake said dangerously.
"Three. Times up sis." Yang stated, "I am tired of reasoning with you, covering with you, defending you. I've officially run out of patience."
"Ruby just tell them!" Pyrrha said. Everyone looked at her now, Ozpin raising a brow in question.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune asks his grip slacking as she pulls her arm free, "What-?"
Ruby looks at her now and then at all of them in turn, "Ruby I'm so sorry, but really it's time." Pyrrha whispered, "After everything I've heard and your short cliff-notes version of everything…"
They looked back at Ruby now and saw the reaper's shoulders sag in defeat, "Oz, in this moment, right here and now, I hate you so damn much."
"I believe the saying is 'tit for tat' Ms. Rose. You forced my hand, so I forced yours. Besides I want the story as well since you seem to have known mine somehow. However I have to hear it from the sidelines, Mr. Pine will be joining you all now."
Ruby watched as Oscar's posture relaxes and his eyes gleam for a moment. Oscar placed a hand to his head and winced, "That was a head rush." He said leaning against the wall, "I'm ok though."
They went back to ignoring him, instead focusing their gazes on Ruby. She shook her head some more before looking at Oscar, "Meddling, manipulative, bastard, SOB. Sure go back and hide inside a fourteen year old kid's head! Some noble warrior you are!"
Oscar coward in the corner, "He says he is sorry it had to come to this, however he believes you saw this coming." Then wincing he adds, "Please do not kill me. I'm only the messenger here right now."
She took a deep breath, "Relax kid, I am not going to kill you. Wouldn't do me any good anyway seeing as he will only reincarnate with some other poor unfortunate soul. No offense." She added as an afterthought.
"How was that not offensive?" Nora demanded, "You hurt poor…eh what's your name again?"
"Oscar. Oscar Pine." He responded, "I'm sorry, your name…?"
Nora jumped over and shook his hand with enthusiasm, "Nora Valkyrie!" Then looking at Ruby she finished her thought, "You hurt Oscar's feelings!"
"I'm fine really!"
"Oh for the love of…" Weiss groaned out, "Can we please get back to the situation at hand?!"
"Fine. Where should I start?" Ruby asked.
"Oh I don't know…the beginning perhaps?" Yang demanded arms crossed.
Ruby snorted, "What's so funny?" Blake asked.
"To start at the beginning would require me going back ten years." Ruby said, "And you all know most of the events that happened to me within that time frame."
"I…don't understand…" Ren said slowly as they looked at each other, "Ten years would make you like six or something…"
"I'm sorry I meant…well I don't know what I mean." Ruby turned away and stared at the wall that Yang had her pinned to. Why? Why couldn't she just come out and say it? They had taken Ozpin's secret well enough this time around…then again nothing too tragic had happened. No real deaths that had hit home to them, no false hope been given. Aside from her past (their tragic now seemingly un-predicable future) kept hidden, she had been straight forward when she could, "I've been playing straight forward as much as I could. I really was going to tell you everything after we retrieved the relic. However as Oz so smugly put 'tit for tat'. There is no easy way to say this…" She looks at them: her friends, family, teams. In four words she was going to completely shatter their already fragile world, "I'm from the future."
AUTHOR NOTE:
So not how I planned this ongoing. I had literally made a chapter dedicated to how Ruby's secret comes out, but as I was writing this chapter it sort of wrote it self.
I think somewhere deep down the story itself had wanted to have Ozpin have his little revenge so to speak. Anyway hope everyone is in good health and good spirits despite the utter chaos that the world is in. I know my world is a bit shaky and uncertain at the moment. Even though my veterinary medical center is considered essential, there had been layoffs and now a possible closure is being discussed. So I guess we'll see where this heads. Keep well and be safe!
