The One Behind the Curtain
I don't own RWBY. This Episode is related to Episode 3 and is therefore part of the Spirits 'Verse.
"We need to speak with Ozpin," Weiss stated flatly after they had dispatched the two massive Grimm, "Therefore, we will go to him, now."
"Uh… Ozpin doesn't see anyone," Yang noted, "People only ever hear him through the intercoms in Beacon or through phone calls, from what I've heard. The only person who he meets with face to face is probably Professor Goodwitch."
"I'm sure he'd be happy to see an old friend or two," Jaune said.
"You know that it's probably not the same Ozpin, right?" Blake asked, "He'd have to be over a hundred for that."
"Three thousand, seven hundred fifty-nine years, if you want his exact age, though that's cumulative," Weiss stated primly, "And he still hasn't completed his task."
"Besides," Pyrrha noted, clearly intent on changing the subject, "We know how to get to where he no doubt placed his office."
"How would you be able to tell?" Nora asked, clearly interested.
"I helped him design the castle up there," Jaune replied freely, "Back when I was alive, obviously. Now, let's get to the statue we agreed to put up in the front. The Three Hunters. It was Ozpin, me, and Penny."
"We've got to get the chess pieces to Professor Goodwitch," Yang said.
"Then we'll meet you there," Ruby said cheerfully, once again reattaching Penny's head, "I saw something fly in from Atlas's direction, which is perfect for you. I'll just need to make a couple adjustments. Meet up at midnight everyone? Great."
At that, she turned into more rose petals than her body should logically have converted to, spiraling around Penny before they both seemed to vanish.
"She, uh… she does that," Jaune said, "Penny was her personal favorite amongst Hunters, from what I could tell…"
"So, if you were Pyrrha's favorite, and Penny was Ruby's favorite…" Nora said, "Who was your third guy?"
"What do you mean by that?" Pyrrha asked too brightly as Weiss scowled.
"Well, there are three of you and Jaune said 'Three Hunters,'" Nora noted, "Since Ruby looked after Penny and you looked after Jaune there had to be someone in the group that she looked after." She ended her summation by pointing at Weiss.
"Never again," Weiss stated flatly, "I took two students once. One is still in the act of being punished. The other fled and became the punishment of the first. I have business to attend to…"
"What are we going to tell Professor Goodwitch?" Yang asked, "She's going to notice that we met with you guys thanks to the cameras. She'll have questions."
"No she won't," Weiss said, "You are assuming that I don't know of the cameras, as well as the idea that I can't disable them. I am Knowledge and Magic. All that your Professor Goodwitch saw was a team of four enter a castle before the Nevermore and Death Stalker arrived, at which point, the feed cut out, only to return once the beasts were slain. She can't see us."
"Why the secrecy?" Blake asked, only for Weiss to stare at her with an expression that that suggested that Blake should not raise the question of secrecy.
"I have business to attend to," Weiss said, "There are things that require research. I shall return at midnight."
"We'll go with you," Pyrrha said, looping her arm around Jaune's, "We've little else to do at the moment."
The three seemed to fade out of existence, leaving everyone unsure as to what they had just witnessed.
It was midnight when they had managed to sneak out of their assigned dorm and make their way to the statue, which Ren mentally noted had not three, but two human figures upon it.
A stream of rose petals seemed to materialize, until it spiraled out, revealing Penny before it settled in the shape of Ruby once again.
"You look… different," Ren said, not sure what exactly it was that made the spirit look so different, outside of the modernized outfit.
"Ruby took apart an Atlesian Knight and used its pieces to give me a sturdier body and more weapons," Penny smiled, before knocking on her own head, "This will also keep my head from falling off as easily."
"Where's Ozpin?" Jaune asked as he looked at the statue, revealing that he, Weiss, and Pyrrha were with them once again, "There we are, but he's not there…"
"That's you two?" Blake asked, "You don't look like those statues…"
"You should see the portraits they drew of me," Jaune noted "This is actually a bit closer…"
"I don't know how they failed to accurately make my face," Penny said, "There were so many statues of me before I died I do miss that hooded cape…"
"Why were there statues of you?" Yang asked in confusion.
"Oh, I was the Commander of Ozpin's Hunters after he became the King of Vale and before I was dispatched by Salem," she replied, "Jaune was his General."
"You what?" Nora asked in surprise.
"I was too lucky," Jaune replied, "I kinda might have fought in the Five Battles of Patch and made it out of there alive…"
"That is an understatement," Pyrrha chimed in, "He survived the first three battles and wound up with a battlefield promotion when one of his superior officers died in the third. He then managed to lead his men into an area where the Mantlean regiment that was intending to ambush them found themselves in a bottleneck, despite having no idea that they were there in the first place. Eventually, he attempted to return to base, but, due to a misprint on his map on the part of the cartographer, he found a secret tunnel network that the enemy had built and was occupying and, alongside his regiment and later backup, battled the enemy combatants, leading to a major Valean victory. This lead to the island of Patch being officially made into a protectorate of Vale. After that event, Ozpin felt that he needed that sort of luck and skill at improvised strategies to help him run his army."
"Who's Salem?" Blake asked.
"The punishment," Weiss replied crisply, "Shall we go, then?"
"Now, this particular Grimm moves," Jaune noted, "But only when the sequence is perfectly correct… Penny, do you remember how we were supposed to put the sequence in?"
"I remember everything," Penny replied, stepping behind the Grimm and pulling on different spikes in a seemingly random pattern until the cave behind it opened just enough that a person would be able to enter it. Once everyone was inside, however, the students all noticed how much larger the tunnel was compared to the entrance.
As Jaune tapped a wall lightly, the 'door' shut behind them, enshrouding them in darkness. With a snap of Weiss's fingers, however, the torches within all came alive.
"When we started out with the design," Jaune noted after some time traveling through the tunnels, "We wanted to eventually turn this into a school for adventurers."
"We thought that we'd be able to end the threat of the Grimm before the next generation was needed to fight the greater battle."
"Unfortunately," Weiss said, "Ozpin failed in his task."
"I don't suppose you know where she is," Jaune inquired.
"No," Weiss said as they continued onward, "She hides herself and her influence from my sight. My eye is no longer everywhere. Of Ozpin, however, I know the exact location."
With that, she tapped the stones of the wall nearest her in a precise sequence, causing another narrow opening to form. Before they made their presence known, however, Weiss held up a hand, suggesting that they listen to what was being said.
"We can't keep this up much longer," they heard Professor Goodwitch say, her shadow visible on the wall near the entrance, "The Vytal Festival is coming up. Ozpin will be expected to make an appearance that he can't make."
"What if you go in his place?" the voice of a boy asked. Before she could respond, he said, "I know. He just told me. Neither of us know what to do. We can't parade me around as Ozpin, obviously… What if I ceded the title of Headmistress to you?"
"That won't work either," Glynda said, "The entire purpose of all of this is that we keep Ozpin running the Academy. We need to keep an eye out for if She makes a move."
"I know but…" the boy paused, "He wants to talk to you. I'm going to put him on."
There was a flash of green before another voice, which sounded vaguely familiar, spoke up.
"I fear we might have to resort to Oscar's idea," the voice said. After a moment, Yang placed the voice.
The speaker, whatever else he was, was Ozpin.
"You'd have to go before the Council for this sort of thing," she noted.
"Not necessarily," he said, "But we'd have to be clever in how we go about doing this."
"Cleverness isn't always your strong suit, Ozpin," Weiss said coolly, stepping out of the entryway, "Otherwise, neither you nor Salem would still be here."
The others followed her out of the tunnel, with the students pausing in confusion at the sight of Professor Goodwitch and the boy, who was seated in a gear-themed chair, but no sign of Ozpin, himself. Weiss, Pyrrha, Jaune, Penny, and Ruby, however, seemed completely unconcerned, and had their eyes locked on the boy.
"I have been searching for her all this time," the boy said in Ozpin's voice, "Ever since I remembered what I was supposed to be fighting for."
"Ever since you gave away part of my gift…" She paused. "You gave away more of your power."
"I needed more help," he said tiredly, before his own eyes locked on two of the others, "Jaune? Penny?"
"You look a bit shorter than the last time we talked, Oz," Jaune noted, leaning on his sheathed sword.
"Salutations, friend!" Penny cheered.
"I thought you both died!" the boy who was apparently Ozpin said, rising from his seat to give the pair a hug.
"Well, you weren't wrong," Jaune noted as Penny removed her own head.
"You've done too little, Ozpin," Weiss interrupted, "Get your people together. I'm going to have a meeting with all of you. Your inner circle and the two you gave my gift to."
"Team BYRN, who are these people, and why are you with them?" Glynda demanded as Weiss continued to speak to Ozpin.
"I'm that," Ruby said, gesturing at the coat of arms on the wall, "And that." She pointed at the cane beside Ozpin. "That…" she continued, pointing at Glynda's riding crop. "And that." Her hand ended on the statue in the center of the room, a statue that, now that Yang though of it, was extremely common in a lot of places where Huntsmen and Huntresses were found. She'd always just assumed that Death was a part of the job that they got used to, to the point that they would get statues of her made. She grinned at Glynda and said, "I am the Hunt, itself, and I'm Penny's patron."
"Hello. I'm Pyrrha, Goddess of War, and Jaune is my Paladin," Pyrrha greeted politely, "My associate, who is giving your employer a piece of her mind metaphorically, is Weiss, Goddess of Wisdom and Magic."
"You don't expect me to believe—" Glynda began.
"She's telling the truth," Ozpin said tiredly, "I know because Lady Weiss was the one who punished me, and these two were there to bear witness."
"You look… younger than I expected," Blake noted.
"That's because I'm cursed to be resurrected until I finally beat Salem," Ozpin said, "You're currently speaking to the remnant of my previous self, who died months ago. My current successor, whose body you see before you is Oscar Pine, who is graciously allowing me to be in control for the moment. In time, I will fade away, leaving only my memories behind, which Oscar will remember as his own. As for my students, since the four of you are here and will undoubtedly remember this conversation, I must request that you keep what you have heard and seen and are going to see and hear to yourselves. Oscar, listen closely. While you will recall this on your own, in time, what I will say to you. This tale began when I was a younger man, who thought myself wiser than I was."
