Chapter 21: A Tale of Knights and Shadows

"And none returned?" Naruto asked, bemused. It was truly fantastical; that a group of twenty elite warriors, each at least as skilled as a Chunin, would go missing following a single man was definitely not something he'd have been surprised about back in his world, but on Remnant? It was mind boggling.

"Don't be daft, Naruto." Ozpin rebuked lightly, his tone belying the grim expression on his face. "You must remember that all this passed some centuries ago, and some tales are prone to exaggeration, or are covered up in the face of justice."

Naruto thought over that comment for a few moments. "You mean… they DID come back, but the King hid that from everyone?"

Ozpin frowned slightly. "I would have no knowledge of this, Naruto. Remember, this is the well and true history of our Kingdom."

Naruto glared, and a small pulse of his Chakra breezed through the room. "Ozpin, cut to the chase. I don't have the time or the inclination to play along with you and me playing dumb and trying to pretend we don't know things we aren't supposed to. I am a Shinobi from another plane of existence, and you are?..."

Ozpin smiled faintly. "I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and the protector of the students within. I am-"

Naruto cut him off, "You are more than that. You know things, things that even the history books don't have written down. You know what happened centuries ago like it was yesterday's news, and I want you to tell me the stories."

"Well said, Naruto." Ozpin praised, eyes mirthful, "I had forgotten what it was like to have someone of intelligence call my actions into question." Naruto could swear he heard Ozpin mutter something about tin men under his breath, before Ozpin looked up at him again, cane cradled lightly in his hand.

"I suppose that for now, I can tell you of Annatar and the Fallen Twenty." Ozpin began, voice falling into a tone Naruto couldn't put his finger on. "As you know, the King of Vale in his haste to improve the lives of his people, sent twenty Knights and their squires into the Vacuoan Wastes, hunting the vast deposits of Dust that Annatar had waxed of. After fourteen months, the King, with a heavy heart, proclaimed them lost to the desert. No blame was there for Annatar, only for his own heedless desires, ignoring the power of the desert, which could fell even the strongest Knight.

"The King held a funeral, and before the crowds of nobility and Knights, vowed that so long as he lived none would ever take up the journey under his command. Never again would he send brave young souls into the Wilds to find wealth that they could do without. And so the King learned of greed, and how the desires of wealth for your people was still greed of a sort." Ozpin fell quiet ruminating. Naruto pondered, before asking a question.

"It was Dust that Annatar saw in the desert?"

Ozpin nodded sharply. "Oh, and in hindsight, he was right. Even now, the Schnee Dust Company mines the Dust, and the landscape is pilfered of such vast amounts of Dust that one could power a Kingdom for decades with no risk of Grimm or war.

"However, the mistakes of one man are not the problem here, for the mistake he made was not in sending the expedition, but in trusting Annatar to lead it." Ozpin hissed with sudden vitriol, eyes narrow slits of fury.

"For return Annatar did, with ten men shrouded in black, armour dark and stained brown with the blood of fallen foes. Fortunately, the people of the Kingdom were kept safe, for the King (and you must understand that this King was the son of the last, and he'd been blessed with the Semblance of Foresight), which allowed him to see the dark cloud surrounding a storm of flame and shadow, surging forth towards the Kingdom."

Naruto leaned forward. "What was the King's name?" he asked, enraptured. It was like hearing the stories of his father again.

"Oh, the King was named Osborn, the fifth of his name." Ozpin said off-handedly. "And with his Semblance the Kingdom had never been so safe, so secure. He saw the hordes of Grimm approaching months before they would arrive, knew their numbers, and was able to mount the perfect defense for them. Not a single breach occurred during his reign, and Annatar was not going to change that." he growled, eyes alight with passion that Naruto had never seen in him before.

"The King sortied from his castle, whose ruins stand today in the Emerald Forest. He led a force of ten Knights of his own, each the very best of his table, the strongest warriors he could muster. And with his Foresight, he mustered the very very best." Ozpin spoke almost proudly, before his voice fell. "And then, they failed."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Ozpin sighed, leaning back into his seat. "Despite his Semblance, Osborn was unaware of something that occurred; when he confronted the ten and Annatar (oh, and it should have been glorious to behold, don't you think? Twenty-two men locked in daring combat, all as powerful as the very best of today… the world has not seen such a battle since), they proved unequal to the foe they faced. Despite all the skill, all the power, the foes they faced were stronger, faster, and just as smart as the Knights and King. The King locked in combat with Annatar himself, striking his great mace and towering iron-clad body with strike after strike. It was like striking an iron tower, immovable and unending as the very rock beneath their feet." Ozpin quieted. "And then… it was over. For while the gift of Foresight is a treasure, it cannot show you the battle you choose to fight. It can show you the forces arrayed against you before they even unite, it can show you the allies you could make, the friends you'll need, but it cannot show you HOW to win those battles, HOW to make those friends and allies… and that was a lesson the King had yet to learn.

"Despite his stalemate with Annatar (who was too slow to strike the King, but too durable to be struck down in turn), Osborn had ignored the duels of his Knights; and they fared poorly. For while they may have been the equals of those they fought, their foes bore rings of iron, glowing red and furious… and so too did the strikes of their foes, for as one by one, the Knights of Vale fell to the Shadows of Vacuo… or so they would later be named by Osborn's successor, his son's bodyguard Ozias.

"As Osborn saw his Knights fall one by one, he began to back away, ordering the Knights into retreat. He watched three escape, and the seven dead sink into the muck. I think it was the smell that did it, that stench of brimstone and sulfur, of blood, sweat and the pounding of his own heart, but Osborn was determined not the yield. And so alone he faced the Shadows and the looming darkness that was Annatar, armed with nought but a scepter and the broken haft of a friend's maul, sharp as a spearpoint, and he stood. He fought them and died to them, able to delay them just enough that the three managed to arrive in Vale, and raise the alarm.

"Fortunately, his son was able to keep the city under control, and had the walls manned and the garrisons awakened. They held out for months before eventually Illiam, the son of Osborn, offered the Kingdom to Ozias, a bodyguard who had offered his services some weeks before, who had the backing of the Knights. Illiam was persuaded by the Knights to allow Ozias to take command, and although he was not Osborn, Ozias seemed to bear the same foresight as his predecessor, stopping the siege in it's tracks."

Naruto cleared his throat, prompting Ozpin to glance at him. "What's a siege, Oz?"

Ozpin palmed his face. "Was warfare so different in your nations that you don't know what a siege is?"

"Well, maybe we just have a different word for it." Naruto suggested, sheepish. 'It's already a miracle I speak the same language as them.' he thought to himself.

"A siege is when an army cuts off supplies to a fortified position, and attempts to take the fortified position either by starving them out, or by attempting to breach their defenses." Ozpin explained, causing Naruto to nod.

'That's right, we didn't do that during the war, the Zetsu didn't have any fortified positions, but during the Third War they destroyed bridges to cut off supplies… but the only real fortified positions were the Villages themselves, which never really were attacked for any length of time… guess we didn't do war the same as the people of Remnant. I wonder which way is better?'

"Any other questions?" Ozpin asked, amused.

"What army was doing the siege?" Naruto asked, "You said there were only ten people with Annatar."

Ozpin nodded. "Indeed. The Siege of Vale, as it was later named for a few decades, was caused by Grimm. Of course the King dying and an entire city going on the alert would draw them, creatures of darkness that they are.

"Our only saving grace," Ozpin continued, "was that the Grimm seemed equally interested in devouring the Ten and their leader. We would see them battling in the night, roars of Grimm and flashes of light showing the field of carnage they left in their wake, increasing the anxiety and fear of the defenders, drawing more Grimm.

"It is a problem." Ozpin acknowledged, "Even now, if a quantity of Grimm were to enter our walls, we would be hard pressed to contain the negativity and stop more from arriving, depleting resources and thereby causing more fear, and drawing even more.

"However, that is now and this is then." he said humorously, "After Ozias took command, he ordered all those too scared to fight to go home. At first, the soldiers thought he was mad. As some left, others began to feel fear, and they too left, fearing they would fall if their friends and family left them there. Many leaders would say that to allow your scared people to leave instead of trying to rally them is folly. But truly, fighting the Grimm is different that fighting men. If it were men they fought, the new King would have attempted to keep them fighting, I have no doubt, if peace were not an option. But what beasts they killed there were Grimm, and Grimm are only stronger when confronted with fear.

"And so first went a hundred, and then a thousand, and eventually all twelve-thousand men, women and children left the walls, leaving only a scant two thousand and the Knights of Vale atop the walls.

"And as he'd predicted, the Grimm were drawn off. Ozias sent a group of a hundred Knights from the wall, ordering them to break out casks of wine and to break open the royal stores, and declared that the Grimm had left the walls. He declared victory, and proclaimed it a holiday. And so more negativity was reduced as the citizens of Vale realized they'd survived, and the danger had passed.

"Then, once he was assured that the city was safe, Ozias turned his mind towards avenging the previously fallen King. He called not the strongest, but the stealthiest, most secretive people in Vale, and told them of the King who had perished outside the walls.

"They promised to avenge the King (for the right price), and when the dawn broke over Vale the next day, they had departed to kill Annatar knife to back; rather than the face-to-face method of Osborn."

Naruto smiled sadly. "It seems like no matter what world, there are people employing the darker aspects of a Shinobi's trade." he said ruefully. Ozpin nodded.

"It was not the finest moment in Valean history. For all the good that could have come from it, the group sent out fell, with only one returning alive, saying Annatar wished to negotiate.

"The King asked if he had anything useful to say, or if he would only spout Annatar's lies." Ozpin regaled, raising himself from his seat. "And, believe it or not, the craven reported that the ten shadows surrounding Annatar were none other than a company of the Knights who had accompanied him eighty years previously."

Naruto whistled. "Well, that's surprising." Ozpin gave him a look. "What? Really, I didn't see that coming! I thought they were going to be prisoners or something! Life doesn't work like that, that's more like a story! People don't just betray you like that! They always have a reason!" Naruto justified, sure of himself.

Ozpin shrugged. "They sided with Annatar, who gave them power, and somehow prolonged their lives so they lived for more than a hundred years, still as strong as the day they left all those years previously.

"As it was, all this revelation did was make it clear to Ozias that he had to confront Annatar. Alone."

Naruto nodded. To him, that made perfect sense.

"And so he left in the dead of night, set out to find Annatar. And find him he did, surrounded by the Grimm as though they were moths drawn to a flame.

"Annatar and his Ten Shadows were beacons of negativity, just as Beacon is a bastion of positivity. The Grimm were endless, the hordes enormous, and yet Annatar and his troop did not fall. After watching some hours on end, Ozias went down to meet them, armed with nothing but a shaft of wood he'd broken from a tree on the way there. He smote down Grimm after Grimm, before eventually Annatar raised a gauntleted fist, and waved him over to a log. There they sat, and began to talk terms as the Ten kept the Grimm at bay.

"What they spoke of that night was dark and terrible. Secrets were revealed; Annatar's origins from another world, the might he offered to the Realms of Remnant in exchange for passage home. Ozias did not trust the sweet words of peace; for although Annatar looked fair, he felt like rot, a sickening leech who's only desire was dominance. He was the single greatest threat that Vale ever faced, then or since." Ozpin quieted, thinking back.

Naruto gazed at him. "How was he defeated?"

Ozpin snorted. "I just said he was the greatest threat ever faced by Vale. That includes the Grimm, and we haven't defeated them. What makes you think we fought HIM off?"

"Well, he didn't win since Vale's still here." Naruto reasoned.

"Just because we did not lose doesn't mean that he did." Ozpin tutted, waving a single long finger. "Annatar revealed that he did not have the time to crush Vale, so set was he on a speedy conquest. Nor did he wish to stay; he desired a return to his own world. To be honest, there was no swift way to defeat him. His Shadows were too strong, each nearly my equal. And Annatar himself was a monolith… his strikes shattered earth and ruined tree.

"So we struck a deal. Annatar would leave, go to another Kingdom (on the land that would come to be known as Anima), and in exchange he would be told of a way to return home. Annatar agreed, and withdrew from Vale's soil."

"But how did he return home?" Naruto interrupted, curious.

"Well, using a special lamp Ozias was able to summon a genie, and asked her how to send Annatar home. The genie answered, and Annatar was told. He then left, peacefully." Ozpin replied smoothly.

"Forgive me, Ozpin, but that seems a bit unbelievable." Naruto said, bemused. "He had no other terms? No other sneaky conditions stuck in on the last page, no last moment backstabs?"

"Well, besides us lying to him and sending him to some other world?" Ozpin scowled. "Indeed he did, although it took many decades for Remnant to become aware of it. I'd assumed he would have left with his ten Shadows, but they remained, with their leader taking charge in his absence. Eventually, we discovered their existence. Annatar had left twenty Rings behind, each one containing a fragment of his power."

'A Curse Mark…' Naruto thought, scowling. 'Great.'

"These Rings gave power to the wielder, but twisted them into puppets of Annatar. I suppose we should have realized earlier that he would have left something behind. In fact, he'd left one in Vale's keeping, as a parting gift and 'thank you'.

"We should have suspected something." Ozpin said calmly, "Honestly, the man waged a single handed war against Vale. He defeated the Knights of Vale sent with him and corrupted them; or so I would like to believe. And those were only the Ten Shadows! He left another ten Rings in hiding; we still don't know where they all were at the time. For certain, there was one left in Vale, one left in Vacuo in the oasis that would one day become their Kingdom. Another two (at least) were left in what would become Mistral, in the hands of two feuding Kingdoms. He left a third in a larger village named Letum, which would one day spawn the Arc family.

"And the last we know of for certain was left in the Grimmlands. Deep within the creeping darkness, left behind walls of Grimm."

"What was the purpose of these Rings?" Naruto asked.

Ozpin took a moment to reply, meandering around his office. "Well, firstly their most important function was to bind the wearers to Annatar himself; although with him gone, they simply create darkness and evil, making the bearers more likely to bow before an evil presence. The second function they possessed was making themselves tempting to any who beheld them: as if the power they offered was not enough. And of that power, well, each Ring was capable of bringing the bearer up in power. Some had specific powers, others we have no idea what they could do. One was the Ring of Binding: it was borne by the Lord Aranor, the first and last Arc who fell to evil. It allowed him to bind the dark to his service, which included individuals of higher levels of negativity, other Ring-Bearers, and lastly, the Grimm themselves. It also had the powers of all the other, granting him increased speed, strength, and longevity. Aranor lived for over three hundred years, basking in the dark. He eventually went into the Grimmlands to raise an army. He never returned." Ozpin cleared his throat, before opening a small cubicle to grab a small glass, which he filled a light amber liquid.

"Now, let's see… ah yes, there was the Ring of Fire, left down in… I'll just say Mistral, since it became Mistral in large part due to the influence of this Ring. It was left with the Efreet, now a noble family of Mistral, then the ruling family of the Kingdom known as Obitus. The Ring granted the normal abilities, as well as a marginal control over fire, depending on the strength of the wielder. For some, they could light a candle. Another wielder, who was named Barran after this feat, burnt an entire landscape, forever altering the earth. Even now, the land is the site of such negativity that none in Mistral dare venture there, for fear of the Grimm that spawn within.

"Eventually, the newest King in Vale, Oswald the Greater, heard tales of these catastrophes. He spent many years grooming his successor, and eventually died at the hands of his Steward, who also bore a Ring; this Ring was the Ring of Light. You'd think that it would be a force for good, yet all it did was hide the Darkness growing within someone. I confess, it made for an interesting Ring, for it allowed one to hide their growing evil from all, and hid them completely from the Grimm. Eventually, of course, it spilled over, and the bearer killed the King."

Naruto whistled. "These sound… dangerous. What did they look like?"

Ozpin started. "Oh, some were simple bands of silver or gold, inset with bits of glass or engravings. Others were crafted of iron, with great rare gems set within them. Those were the most powerful ones, and they were also the most dangerous, for they were borne by the Ten."

Naruto frowned. "Professor, I believe I may have seen one of these rings…"

Ozpin immediately stopped wandering his office, turning towards Naruto with a terrible expression upon his face. "Where?" he growled, clenching his cane with both hands as though wringing a neck.

"When I was in Mistral, in Haven, I saw Headmaster Lionheart." Naruto began, recounting all that he'd seen and sensed in Haven. When he'd finished, Ozpin was slipping out a black scroll from his coat, and dialing. The receiver answered instantly.

"Qrow, I need you to go to Haven, and meet with Leo. I need you to inform him that he must come to Vale for the Vytal Festival; tell him that it's of the utmost priority, and if he doesn't come I'll need to turn over Haven to someone who can. Understood?"

Naruto heard Qrow's voice emulate from the scroll. "Gotcha, Oz. Can I wait till Ruby's awake?"

"I'm sorry, Qrow. This is an emergency." Ozpin said regretfully before hanging up. Naruto waited a moment before commenting.

"Why didn't you ask Qrow to just take it if I'm right? If Lionheart has one of these Rings, then it should be taken from him, right?"

Ozpin sighed. "The Rings are a delicate affair. If Qrow were to take it, then I fear it would only corrupt him in the time it would take him to come to Vale. If it makes the journey in the hands of one already befouled by it's evil, then I believe that we can seal it away without fear of corruption. Or, hopefully, we can find a way to destroy the blasted thing. Now, while we wait, how about I finish this story? We can wait for Leonardo to come before we take any action."

Naruto nodded, eager to hear more.

AN:

Well, this is coming together. I must say I actually enjoy writing with Ozpin as a narrator. It's really fun writing from his perspective. Kinda makes me want to start on the other Ozpin-centric story I had planned.

If it's not completely obvious yet, Annatar is Sauron. LotR, big bad, yadda yadda. Kinda fun writing this, with twenty Rings of Power lurking around (each one making someone REALLY hard to kill) I can actually throw some actual power around!

Obviously, Ozpin has been the King a LOT. How would it work if he reincarnated into his child's head? That'd be so weird…

Anyways, please leave a respectful review if you'd like, let me know what you think is forced, and if we should just skip all the really fun exposition and get into the meat of Naruto talking with his Team.

I didn't realize how similar Obito was to Obitus when I wrote that. Talk about coincidences, eh? Obitus means death, btw. Kinda freaky, considering Obito and all the death he caused.

Lastly, I know some people are gonna be upset at me placing Sauron at this power level. Fair enough, the movies didn't do a great job showing just how dangerous he was. If you've read the Silmarillion, you know what I'm talking about. Dude is dangerous, especially in a world like Remnant. Also, he's wayyyy beyond Salem if anyone gets peevy about me calling him the biggest threat.

I think at this point we all know how links work, replace the SLASH with a "/" and remove the spaces; also cut out the "A"s from the site name. Man, FF is a pain with links. This is the fifth time I've tried to do it. Become a patron! I've left some really fun perks for the devoted in there (it's thematic, sue me).

www . pAaAtArAeAoAnA . comSLASHsages journey