So before you all start chewing me out Pyrrha's chapter will be next. I just couldn't let this idea go. So here's the next chapter of AKFF, for extra information on some of the conversation of this chapter I recommend reading at least chapter 3 of Dark Knight of Zero. Also soon I will begin working on the sequel for AKFF. I do not own RWBY.

Chapter 9- A Drink to Alleviate the Pain.

Qrow's POV

I have to say, I never thought I'd see Ozpin drinking. Yet here he is staring at a chessboard with a bottle of whiskey next to him and an empty one on the floor. Glynda told me things had been bad for the past six months but I didn't think it would be this bad. "Hey Ozzie, you with me." Ozpin turns his head to me and his eyes look slightly dead inside. "Hello Qrow. Care to join me." I sit across from him but refuses the drink, never thought I'd ever do that but one of us has to be sober. "Oz what's with you? Glynda actually called me for help." When she does that I know it's serious. Ozpin just gestures to the chessboard.

"Tell me Qrow, what do you see when you look at this chessboard." I go over the chessboard to humor him. The white side is missing a knight while the black side is missing half its pawns, the bishops, a rook, and the queen as well. "I see that the black side is severely handicapped." Ozpin lets a broken chuckle out, first time I've ever heard him laugh and it sounds like he swallowed broken glass. "Yes most people would see that, but when I bring out the whole captured pile…" He reaches under the table and brings out a box filed with both black and white pieces. "… you see just how long the game as gone on." It hits me then, he's talking about the fight with the Queen.

"But sir the fight's over now, all that's left is to find the last bits of her group and…" I stop when Ozpin releases another broken laugh. "Oh no, it isn't over yet Qrow. The true Queen still lives." I'm shocked by this. "But Cinder was behind it all, and the Arc boy, Oum rest his soul, took care of her." Ozpin shakes his head before continuing. "I lied, I've been lying since I first told you about her. Cinder was the "Queen" for the true Queen, or I suppose the King in the end, as she was her most powerful servant, perhaps even the only one that knew of her, but make no mistake the true Queen is still out there." Perhaps Ozpin's simply had too much to drink now. "And how can you be so sure Ozpin." Ozpin's voice takes on a flat tone.

"Because I've known of her identity all along." My eyes widen and I resist the urge to clock him one in the jaw, I at least owe him the chance to explain himself. "Her name is Salem, a half-Grimm woman who is as old as I am." Old as he is? As if reading my mind Ozpin answers that question. "We're a couple thousand years old actually, she brought about the rising of Grimm. They existed back then but they were rare occurrences, dangerous but too few to be a great threat. When her loved ones were torn from her by the second Salem witch trials when Aura first began to appear she turned to Dark magic, using it she fused a Grimm with her and then raised the numbers of Grimm up to where Humanity and Faunus soon began to fall. She cast aside her original name and took on the name Salem. I was the Old Man from the stories, a hermit studying Aura. I awoke it in four sisters who you know as the Maidens, countless experiments later I stopped aging and the sister's aura became sentient. Seeking a host after the originals' deaths. I eventually stopped Salem with the help of the first Silver Eyes for a time but at the cost of destroying most of the planet except Remnant and shattering the moon. From there Salem was more subtle but the genocide of humans and faunus is still her goal." I can't believe what I'm hearing. There is one question I have to ask.

"So I guess that makes you the king right. As long as you survive with your secrets you can throw away those pieces easily enough right. Was Summer just another piece on your chessboard?" Ozpin's hard stare makes me regret those words. "I never forget those you die in this war, every death is on my head. When I die I'll have a lot to answer for. Summer may have died by Salem's hand but her death is on my hands." Ozpin then swallows another shot of whiskey. "This last fight though… it hurts the most. I should have seen Cinder coming, I should have seen Emerald's interference instead of ignoring Jaune's thoughts, and for that matter I should have done more for Jaune." That puzzles me. "What do you mean Oz, you gave him those fake transcripts after all. I should know I delivered them." I'm still kicking myself for thinking his accommodations were a fit of teenage rebellion. Ozpin then hands me a folder and I read the contents, after I read them I vomit into a trash-can.

"The kid went through this?" I pray this is a joke but Ozpin doesn't do jokes. "Yes, these experiments took place. I slaughtered the scientists who did it and took him back without realizing what I was returning him to. I was fooled through the same trick Emerald used to fool us so I thought Jaune was being taken care of when I did check-ups on him. Pathetic." If Ozpin hadn't killed them I would hunt these scientists down myself, if the Arc's weren't so well connected I would kill them. "So did you know Jaune had that semblance?" That would explain why Ozpin feels so guilty. "No I was unaware he awoke his semblance. Another failing of mine." I'm impressed with the kid even more now, to be able to hide something in Beacon from Ozpin. If he was still alive I'd approve of him dating Ruby, I could tell she had a crush on the kid when I asked her about her friends and she blushed when she talked about him.

"So what's the plan Ozpin?" Ozpin looks shocked that I asked that. "Even after all that you're still willing to listen to me." I pour myself a glass and stare him in the eye while raising a finger in my free hand for every point I tick off. "You're the best chance we have at winning this, the Fall Maiden power has disappeared since Jaune most likely took it with him in that explosion so we're down one, Ruby is the next Silver Eye bearer and I want her to survive this thing, I want revenge for Summer and last but not least I've stuck by you so far so I might as well finish this with you." I reach across and grab his collar. "But so help me if Yang or Ruby die because you withheld information from us I swear I will kill you." That isn't a threat, it's a promise. Ozpin returns my stare and then replies.

"I've failed too many times to promise you I can protect them but I won't hold any more information from you." I nod and release him. I then pour him another glass. "Now let's have a drink for Jaune Arc. One of the few people nowadays that actually deserve to become a Hunter." Ozpin taps his glass to mine and we swallow them down. I don't trust him for now but I can work with him. My thoughts turn to my sister, I know she's done a few discreet killings. They were absolute scum of course but still.

I wonder if she would be interested in taking out the Arcs. It be a great Brother-Sister activity.

So Pyrrha's chapter is next, followed by Cardins/Velvets, then Cinder's. After that I don't know. Keep your eyes peeled for A Knight's New Fight, the sequel for A Knight's Final Fight. Till next time, Jauneforever out.