A month and a half of constant training had passed. It's hard to go over the specifics of what happened, but Oscar was improving at an incredible rate. Within a few weeks, he had mastered both the basics in hand to hand combat, as well as the activation of aura on command. Ozpin had speculated that at the rate he was going, Oscar would be able to handle aura being second nature to him within a few weeks.

Oscar also had a new combat outfit as well. It was similar to his new attire in Volume 6, mainly boots, pants, and a coat, but without the bandages. His gloves were black and thicker, much more suitable for combat, and his pants had utility pouches on them. His shirt was also collared as well, giving him a bit of a formal aesthetic as well.

I suggested the training regime I did in Atlas, specifically, the aura training to strengthen the body as well as aura durability, but Ozpin brought up how it might be too much for Oscar to take, especially in less than a year of training. He also mentioned how Ironwood sent him the report of Liya and I doing specialist training while we were away, and he proceeded to scold me for getting involved in something made only for professionals. Suddenly all those injuries in those weeks of training made much more sense.

Throughout the training period, Ozpin managed to get Oscar hooked on hot cocoa. Not literally addicted, but Ozpin mentioned he would be a lot more easy to work with when it came to training Oscar if he had something memorable to drink, and I remembered that the former headmaster of Beacon Academy always drank hot cocoa whenever he was on campus.

I also remembered that contrary to popular belief, Ozpin was stated to canonically not drink coffee. So many fanfictions tended to portray Ozpin as this quirky old man who had a coffee addiction as strong as Professor Oobleck's. When I told him this little fact, he simply laughed it off, flattered that he had quite the interesting personality in fiction, as well as amused at the idea of drinking coffee. He also mentioned Oobleck didn't have an addiction, just a passive need for coffee - which was a bit less than an addiction...I suppose.

I bought a portable coffee maker and a thermos for Oscar, as well as packets of hot cocoa, the cheap and incredibly sweet ones. Nonetheless, Ozpin enjoyed it, and Oscar did as well, having quite the sweet tooth. As days passed by, Oscar began to accept his role as Ozpin's new host. Even when he realized that he'd cease to exist likely before he could reach the age of 30, he'd been remarkably calm about it.

That was about halfway through the first month. Ozpin had us cancel training one day to get Oscar to talk about how he felt. And talk he did indeed. He talked about how scared he was of dying. Even when he was assured that Oscar wouldn't die, he seemed rather hung up on the fact that while he wouldn't die, he'd still cease to exist. Oscar would die, and Ozpin would take over.

Ozpin also took the time to speak, sharing how he felt guilty for every host he had, how he felt them die whenever they fully merged. And how every single one had simply just accepted the fact they would no longer exist, that they'd be a part of something larger. It was a full day of emotional support therapy between Oscar, Ozpin, and I, some arguing, but acceptance in the end. Ozpin and Oscar came to an understanding, and while Oscar wouldn't be able to quite accept his death, he'd be willing to make the best of this situation he'd been dragged into.

And apparently, Ruby and the others were arriving within the hour judging by the amount of time left in the start of Volume 5 compared to now. I called Jaune to confirm this, only to be shocked when I heard that Ruby was among many that were injured. "Some crazy scorpion Faunus guy followed us and stabbed her with his tail," Jaune had explained. "Qrow wasn't able to stop him. He...he was insane. Pyrrha got cut on the face, and Nora broke her arm and leg and-"

"Hey, Jaune. Ruby will be alright. Just focus on staying calm. You were picked up at Kuroyuri, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. How did you-wait, no, you know this stuff already," Jaune said. "We had to fight off this thing in Kuroyuri, a massive horse Grimm with another Grimm on its back. Qrow helped kill it, but Ren...hasn't been the same."

"The Nuckelavee," I said. "That Grimm killed Ren's parents and slaughtered hundreds of villagers for years. No doubt he's feeling all sorts of emotions right now."

"I see," Jaune said quietly as he processed what I had just said.

"How's...how's Liya?" I asked.

"Liya's...alright. Pyrrha and I told her about our talk aboard General Ironwood's ship. She never stopped believing in you. Ruby, Nora, and Ren aren't so sure," Jaune said. "Ruby hasn't wanted to talk about you, and Nora believes you aren't all that good either. Ren...I think Ren might be beginning to side with you."

"It's fine. Just focus on getting here safely," I said. "How much longer until you arrive?"

"The pilots said around an hour or so. Wait, wait, wait, here? You're in Mistral already?" Jaune asked, confused.

"Yep. We're at the Lotus Inn," I said, recalling the name of where we were staying. "So it's seven people. We have a family suite soooo...we can all room together."

"That'll be...that'll be nice. It'll be like our first day in Beacon," Jaune remarked before I heard a small and weak groan on the other end of the call. "I have to go now."

"Hey, I'm really sorry for not calling earlier. And I promise you that Ozpin and I will explain everything when you get over here," I said quietly.

"Alright, I'll-wait, what do you mean Ozpin-" Jaune asked before I hung up. I looked up from the scroll to see Oscar fighting Reese in melee combat, I waved them down.

Reese was the perfect person to train Oscar in combat. She was great at unarmed combat, apparently trained by Arslan within the first month of training at Haven. Reese had apparently started off as the weakest member of the team. And by her words, she still is - but Reese was extraordinarily bad, only useful as long as her feet were on her board. She was a decent shot, but she lacked much in acrobatics and flexibility, which meant even with her board, she was a poor hitter.

Arslan had trained her hard for months, and soon she was capable of landing serious aura damaging blows with her bare hands. Now Reese was using that knowledge to teach Oscar, specifically on speed. Ducking and stepping back, she avoided Oscar's blows left and right, jumping over any low blows and spinning around him when he tried a particularly wide swing on her.

Oscar was no slouch either. He'd gained quite a bit of muscle mass when training. Ozpin would take over when he felt like it, and assist in training, but other than that Oscar handled it quite fine. It was grueling at first, but Oscar got the hang of it, since he was used to working with heavy farm equipment for years without too much trouble. It also didn't hurt when Reese made comments about Oscar's physique. Nothing hurtful by any means, but she would often show off her own muscles, motivating Oscar to continue training harder to be like Reese. There was also the fact that Reese was no doubt very attractive, and Oscar was still a hormonal young teenager, with the benefit of being socially awkward like any normal teenager.

Emerald had slowly gotten into the process of meditation, finding the peace and quiet in the fields quite soothing. Other than that, Emerald and I sparred a few times. Emerald was adept at flexibility and speed, and it was difficult for me to keep up with her. However, I'd been training up my speed as well, relying on aura to land heavy blows while focusing on increasing my speed and lowering my reaction time's to try and handle opponents like Cinder, who could create and throw burning blades out of thin air.

In the end, I'd say we all improved in many ways.

Roman was doing well in staying hidden. He more or less kept to himself, but there were times he did leave the hotel, only to come back with stacks of Lien, much more than I had on hand or in my account. Roman told me he more or less traveled to the lower city to rob the scum there, and that we should be grateful he even risked his neck in Spider territory to do so.

To be honest, all that money was indeed useful. I had Roman spend a good amount on information, specifically, the whereabouts of the Branwen tribe. Roman came back with good intel, finding a location that the bandit tribe had set up camp just a week ago. Though we couldn't get any specifics of the strength or numbers of the tribe, its location was a good start.

Qrow was also from the tribe, so he might be able to give estimates. I wasn't sure how long it had been since he had last checked up on the Branwen tribe anyways - but I imagine he'd provide the most accurate assumptions on what the tribe would be capable of.

But first, we had to meet up with them them. I took Oscar and Reese with me and made our way to the Mistral airfields, where several airships were landing, two of which belonged to our friends. Seriously, these ships were incredible designs. While the Bullhead and Manta looked very cool, the Mistral airships were the epitome of fantasy machines. When we arrived, we saw several Mistral military personnel rushing stretchers inside. One stretcher had Ruby and the other had Nora, with Ren heading inside with them. Jaune, Pyrrha, Liya, and Qrow came out of the airship, all of them looking relatively well.

Jaune was wearing his Volume 4 outfit, but without the red sash. He also had a set of buttcapes - as Ruby would have no doubt referred to them as - that went down to his knees, similar to his Volume 7 and 8 combat attire, though he had it for both sides. His left arm had additional armor with a gold strip down the forearm, and a curved armored plate for his upper arm, which complimented his sole left shoulder pauldron quite nicely. Crocea Mors was attached to his left arm at all times now, no longer on his hip. Crocea Mors had also undergone some changes, mainly the edges of the sheath being razor sharp - signifying that it had its greatsword upgrade, but also including a brighter gold trim. The handle was now a brown color, and the pommel was now spiked.

Pyrrha had the same armor as she always did, but with a few changes. Her thigh armor covered a little less thigh, and her red miniskirt was a few centimeters longer, just long enough to cover a bit more than her shorts. Her bracer was longer, and she had similar armor on her upper arm, similarly colored in bronze, and elaborately grooved as the rest of her armor. Her right glove was also armored, with small bronze and brown metal plates attached over each finger, as well as a grooved plate that protected the back of the hand from the knuckles to the wrist. Miló and Akoúo̱ were also there, Akoúo̱ on her back while Miló rested compact against her lower back. I wasn't sure if Miló was always telescopic - or if it was a new thing - but it was. Perhaps it was an upgrade she got? She didn't seem to change it much, though why would she need to? She was one of the best fighters for a reason. Her face had a shsllow but long diagonal scar from her left eyebrow to under her right eye.

Qrow and Liya had no changes whatsoever, with Liya wearing her same mask, outfit, and armor, with her weapon on her back as usual. I wasn't too surprised, not everyone needed a brand new outfit straight off the bat. Plus, Pyrrha no doubt found little need to change much of what she had, not for reasons of overconfidence, but more or less convenience and comfort. I didn't know if Ruby, Nora, or Ren had any changes, so I guess I'd see when they got better.

"Jaune!" I called, running towards them.

"Markus!" Jaune yelled once he saw me. We rushed into each other, hugging tightly and laughing as we spun around before crashing to the ground. Pyrrha and Liya approached as well as we picked ourselves up off the ground. "It's been months, man," Jaune said as he brushed himself off.

"Yeah," I chuckled as Oscar and Reese came over. "How have you been? I mean, other than the Nuckelavee. And Tyrian."

"I'll never get used to that. We're doing fine, kiddo," Qrow said, rustling my hair. "Man, you need a haircut." I felt my hair to see what he was talking about, and I was surprised to feel my hair being much longer than I last remember. It went a little less than halfway down my back, which was a lot as well.

"Looking pretty hot with long hair," Reese remarked with a cheeky grin. "Now you look like a real manly girl."

"I get it, I'm feminine, can we get over that?" I said, and Reese just giggled. Liya made eye contact with me, before she looked away, either nervously or awkwardly. "Liya," I said as I walked over. "I..."

She jumped forward and hugged me. I squeezed my arms around her lithe body as she hugged me back tighter. "I missed you so much..."

I just sighed and hugged my partner back as tightly as I could. "I missed you too..." I didn't know how much I needed her back in my life either. Just seeing her nearly made me well up in tears.

"Who's the brat?" Qrow asked as he went over and tapped Oscar on the shoulder.

"We found your long lost son," I said casually after letting go of Liya. "We came across this village and someone recognized the name Qrow Branwen as this vagabond who slept around and left babies without child support. Oscar here is actually one of them."

Qrow gaped as Pyrrha and Liya glared angrily at the seasoned and veteran huntsman. "I thought you were just a drunk professional Grimm killer, but I clearly had you pegged wrong," Liya snarled.

"Hold on, you-" Qrow tried to say,

"I can't believe you're Ruby's uncle!" Pyrrha scolded Qrow, who was trying to defend himself.

Oscar snickered before his soul transitioned. "Not bad for a joke, Mister Onissa," Ozpin said, amusement in his professional tone. "But Qrow here is not as old as you might think he is."

Pyrrha and Liya blinked as Ozpin walked up to the much taller man. "It's good to see you, old friend," he said, resting a hand on his arm.

Qrow chuckled. "Good to see you too," he said.

"So, what you're saying is Qrow and this kid...?" Liya asked without tact. Ozpin stumbled. Qrow gagged. I nearly vomited if it weren't for my hands quickly covering my mouth. Jaune heaved like he did in Volume One, and Pyrrha choked. Reese fell back gasping and coughing for air as we all were struck by that incredibly cursed sentence.

"No, gods, NO!" Qrow yelled, his face greener than Emerald's hair. "This is Ozpin in kid form."

"That makes even less sense!" Liya cried.

"I can explain, Miss Eyla. But I'd prefer it if we were all together," Ozpin said, and Liya calmed down. "But I would politely ask you to never say anything related or remotely like that statement ever again."

Liya blushed in shame, and the rest of us slowly recovered from that nuke of a crime. We all agreed to meet back at the hotel, and we all began to catch up. Pyrrha chose to go back and check on Ruby, Nora, and Ren. Qrow had originally wanted to, but Ozpin reassured him that he could still do that - but after he was told everything. We all walked back while Jaune explained everything that happened on their end. I explained everything that happened on our end as well.

They were told about Reese's capture by Adam and the White Fang, our rescuing of Reese and Sienna Khan, as well as our potential allies in the White Fang loyal to Sienna, Oscar being located and brought with us to train, and not much more. I wondered if I forgot to tell them anything.

We made it to the hotel, where we made our way to our suite to get ourselves situated for a long term stay for more members. However, I indeed forgot to tell the others about something.

I figured out what I failed to remember when Roman Torchwick answered the door. "More brats, great," he said before Qrow drew Harbinger.

"Wait, wait, stop!" I yelled. "Roman's helping us!"

"Why would he?" Qrow demanded.

"Because Cinder has his partner, all he wants is to get her out. And Emerald's here too, she's not on Cinder's side. Technically," I said.

"Technically?" Jaune demanded.

"She's in denial. She wants to find Cinder to prove she didn't abandon her. But she'll be disappointed," I said as I looked into the room. Emerald looked back at me, a frown on her face.

I turned back to face the others. "Besides, it's two on what, six? We won't be in too much trouble," I said.

Qrow narrowed his eyes. "Fine," he said as he put away his weapon. "What's he doing anyway?"

"Risking my life to get information so we can find your bitchy sister's tribe to track down a magician, thank you very much," Roman said.

"Maiden," Ozpin and I corrected in sync.

"Yeah, yeah," Roman muttered as he waved a hand, puffing on his cigar in the meantime near a window. "Your sister leads the thing, and the animal here says she has your maiden. Spring, I think, so we're looking over what we have to see if Oz here can take her down."

Qrow blinked, clearly not expecting this. "I know my sister has the Spring maiden, but who's to say she won't force her assets into hiding if she sees an attack coming?" he said.

"Because Miss Branwen is Spring," Ozpin retaliated with ease. "Mister Onissa informed me that she ended the life of the former maiden while she was still just a child. I don't doubt she would've used those powers in any raids , but I don't believe she'd willingly go with us to collect the relic.."

"Maidens?" Jaune asked, clearly confused. "Relics?"

"Right, we need to fill you in," I said as I sat on the bed, Reese sitting next to me and Ozpin sitting on the floor. "Come on, we'll explain everything."

"So you're saying Raven killed Spring?" Qrow grumbled, no doubt furious at her sister once again.

"She did," I said.

"Bitch," Roman agreed.

"What do we do? We could always get her to help us get the relic," Qrow said. "She's a bitch but she'll be all for avoiding a fight, as well as probably being the easiest option. Getting the relic out before anything happens will be a huge victory too."

"Not an option. If we grab the relic and bail, the White Fang will destroy Haven Academy," I said. "Not to mention that your sister is so much of a coward that she'd rather take no action than an easy one." Qrow had to concede, and I kept talking. "Cinder and the others will use the threat of Salem to force her into helping. But she's smart. She'll trick Cinder into..."

I trailed off. Cinder only fell for Raven's ploy because of her grudge with Ruby. Here, Ruby never took away her arm. Here, Ruby never gouged out her left eye. Here, Cinder would have no reason to give way to emotion and screw up Watts's and Salem's original plot.

"Trick her into what?" Ozpin asked.

"I forgot...Cinder isn't that stupid here," I muttered. "Umm, Emerald. Mind if we use you as bait?"

"Huh?" Emerald asked.

"Lionheart has no idea we know he's a traitor," I said, figuring out a new plan on the fly. "We keep that hidden. We get him the coordinates to the Branwen Tribe and Spring, and he gives us an airship to her. He also tells Salem where she is. She'll send Cinder and her troops to pressure her. Meanwhile, Ozpin tells Ironwood to back off on Haven in case he decides to try and arrest the headmaster and blow our cover. Emerald, Qrow, and I go see Raven and try to convince her to help us."

"Didn't you say that she would say no?" Qrow asked.

"I know, but we at least try. And then Cinder will come see Raven and try to convince her as well. Then Cinder learns we have Emerald when she at last sees us," I said. "Either she doesn't care or she'll try to get Emerald back."

"You really think so?" Emerald asked. I sighed quietly, not quite wanting her to see my irritation over her hopeful tone. As much as she came around to liking us, her loyalty to Cinder hadn't quite faltered just yet.

"Maybe," I said. "We'll find out when we get into Haven. Reese, you should probably stay with your team when shit hits the fan. Call Arslan and-"

"No," Reese said sternly. "I'm not abandoning you here."

"I-"

"Nope!" Reese repeated.

"Reese-" I tried again.

"Nope!"

I sighed. "Fine," I said. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"Oh, ye of little faith," Reese said.

"Alright, can someone PLEASE tell us what's going on?" Jaune asked.

"I'll explain everything, Mister Arc," Ozpin said.

"Everything?" I asked. "You'll even tell them what you haven't told Qrow?"

Ozpin stiffened, and Qrow turned to face Ozpin. "What's he talking about?" he asked.

"Must I?" Ozpin asked weakly, sounding much like Oscar's tone when he was spotted ogling Emerald and Reese during sweaty training sessions.

"If you don't, you lose the trust of everyone. They're not enemies," I explained to the generations-old wizard in the body of a little baby. "I mean, Emerald and Roman might still be, but it's not like you're giving away a superweapon or something."

"What's he talking about, Oz?" Qrow repeated.

"It's a personal subject for Ozpin," I said. "Don't get mad, but it's something he's kept hidden, not out of paranoia alone."

"Is this the only way?" Ozpin asked, a bit more composed.

"Afraid so," I said. "You'll have to tell Ironwood the truth about her as well. He's the most likely to lose trust in you if you keep it any longer."

Ozpin sighed. "Very well," he whispered before looking at the others, all listening intently.

And so he explained. He explained what life was like thousands and thousands of years ago. He talked about magic, how the gods worked, how the Grimm came to be. He talked about the lonely girl in the tower, about his death and reincarnation, about how everything fell apart in his attempt at a happy life with Salem. How Salem was impossible to kill.

Ozpin seemed sadder and sadder with every word he spoke. It was obvious he blamed himself, for Salem's downfall, for the loss of the old humanity, the betrayal he'd done to start his cycle of reincarnations, and the situation he'd ultimately placed Remnant in. And unlike last time, no one seemed angry.

The main issue it seemed was trust. Ozpin was still worried about talking about this to these people, even his own students, but surprisingly, no one lashed out. No one yelled at him for keeping it secret any longer, especially when he told the truth this time and not the relic having to do it for him. And that issue of trust seemed a bit less serious since Ozpin was the one to tell them.

"And...that is up we're up against," Ozpin said as he finished. "I apologize. For not telling you earlier. It's my fault that Beacon was attacked, because I chose to fight this war from the shadows."

"Wow...I can't believe..." Liya whispered before looking at me. "And you knew all this?"

"It wasn't my story to tell," I said. "If I told you, you'd only distrust Ozpin even more. We need everyone to trust one another, and that means we all need to work on it. Including Oz. He's had a very rough past, so I know you'll understand why this is so hard for him." He was carrying the entire world on his shoulders, after all.

Qrow sighed. "So Salem can't be killed, huh?" he said. Ozpin nodded, and he looked away. "I need a moment to deal with this."

"About Raven-" I said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he said as he got up and dusted himself off. "We'd better get going. You might wanna call Jimmy now, Oz."

"I will," Ozpin said, taking my scroll and calling the general, entering the bathroom to do so. I looked at Jaune and Liya.

"Hey. About-" I tried to say.

"It's sad. If you think about it," Jaune said. "If I were in his shoes...I don't think I could handle having Pyrrha as such an enemy. Especially for thousands of years."

"I wanna be mad. But...I dunno," Liya said. "I'm just tired."

I sighed. "I get you. Wanna...is it alright if I check up on the others later?" I asked.

"Yeah," Jaune said. "Dude, you shouldn't have to ask."

"I know. I'm just worried," I said quietly. Liya came up, face unreadable and hugged me for the second time today.

"Don't be, We're here for you," she whispered. I smiled awkwardly, before hugging her back. I was glad to have Liya back in my life, I really needed the encouragement.

- a few days later -

Qrow, Emerald, and I stepped off the airship near where the tribe was. Qrow had contacted Headmaster Lionheart, providing the coordinates to the Spring Maiden. Lionheart and Qrow had originally argued whether they should go or not, but Lionheart relented when he heard that we had no plans to fight. While he was no doubt a coward, he really did care for his students. I think he really wished to save Haven. He agreed to have an airship taxi us to the bandit tribe camp in a few days time, in hopes that Raven could be convinced to have the maiden unlock the vault ahead of time so that the relic could be moved away.

It was unfortunate that he didn't know the White Fang would demolish the academy with or without the plan to get the relic. We kept Emerald hidden as well, the last thing we needed was him assuming she was still with Salem and alerting her to her betrayal.

There was no doubt that Raven would be alerted to us when the airship got close. As we walked towards the makeshift barricades and wall that surrounded the many tents in the tribal camp, Qrow sighed.

"Family, am I right?" I mumbled.

"Yeah," Qrow grumbled. "Should we call her out on the power or-"

"She'll use Vernal as a decoy," I said. "She's not gonna put herself on the line by flaunting that power left and right. It'd be smart to play it discreetly. Maybe she picked up a few things from Ozpin whether she liked it or not."

"I only hope she can be convinced," Qrow mumbled. "Even if we know she won't."

Several bandits greeted us at the doors. And by greeting us, I meant aimed their weapons at us as they demanded to know who we were and why we were here.

"I'm here to see my sister," Qrow said before gesturing to me and Emerald. "And these two are coming with me."

"Boss is busy," one of them said. I recognized him as Shady D. Mann, without that tooth gap from Yang's fist. I wondered if I should make that tooth gap myself. He aimed his revolver, as did the others armed with large cleavers and rifles.

"You really wanna deal with me?" Qrow asked, drawing Harbinger. The bandits stiffened nervously, and I knew they knew what he was capable of.

Shay D. Mann seemed a bit cocky, however. "Yeah, I don't very much care," he said. "Your big sis is rough when it comes to leading, you know. She's made us all stronger. You and a few brats ain't gonna take us down."

I proved him wrong when my neural Dust flew out of my belt and slammed into Shay D. Mann's face, sending him flying against the wooden gate. The others flinched, before I swept them all aside into the nearby forest in one massive fell swoop of a large Dust tentacle courtesy of me.

"Not bad, kid," Qrow said before we heard sounds from inside, no doubt the other bandits were getting ready to fight whatever made that noise. "Come on," he said as Emerald drew Thief's Respite.

The three of us rushed the gate, and with a swing from Qrow's weapon, Harbinger shattered the gate at once. "LEEROOYYY-" I yelled as we charged in, before we stopped, forcing me to cut off my shout with a "-fuck."

The tribe leader herself, Raven Branwen - with her mask on - and Vernal stood at the main tent at the back of the camp. In front of them was Cinder Fall and Arthur Watts. Cinder saw Emerald at once, and her eyes narrowed immediately.

We were too late.

"...this is awkward," I stated before all hell broke loose.