So, I thought returning a kidnapped girl to the nearest police station would at least get me a pat on the back. What I did get was three different cops tackling me to the ground and ripping Winter from my grasp. I tried to struggle, but I was too weak from lack of food and sleep, so they were able to subdue me and throw me in the first holding cell they could find.
The worst part about all of this was that they took away Samaritan and my cloak, the latter revealing my clothing underneath. Aside from the enormous amount of gauze that wrapped the entire length of my right arm, my clothes seemed to draw the most attention: the grey outlined, black jacket with a silver band on the left arm, white shirt and black trousers, the standard issue uniform of Haven Academy in Mistral. The only problem was the clothes were ripped up, dirty with the entire right sleeve completely missing. These were all the signs needed to make one, simple judgement: that I was once a student from Haven, but not anymore. I was expelled.
I didn't see Winter after that, the cops just left me to rot for the next four hours. Well, on the plus side, I was finally able to get some sleep. Albeit for only two hours. I would've slept for longer if it wasn't for the onslaught of nightmares that plagued me ever time I close my eyes.
Since the day I was outcasted, every time I try and sleep, I just get blasted with nightmares. I don't know why this happens, nor can I remember what they are, but I know for sure that they are the most horrifying, traumatic images you can possibly imagine. I end up only getting a maximum of three hours of sleep every night, five if I decide to brave the nightmares and try and return to sleep. Yeah, my life is complete crap.
This time, I jolted up from the cold floor of the holding cell, panting and sweating whilst keeping a death-grip on my right arm. I wince in pain as it begins pulsing and I try to calm myself before it gets any worse.
Once the pain stopped, I moved towards the wall and rested my head against it, silently contemplating why on Remnant I was being punished like this. Oh wait, I remember now.
However, before my mind could drift back to the past, the sound of the cell doors opening caught my attention. I looked up to see two officers standing at the entrance, looking at me with a stern gaze.
"Get up. We're taking you to interrogation." The one officer said.
I didn't have the strength nor the will to resist, so I sighed dejectedly and stood up, allowing the officers to lead me through the station. As I was escorted down the corridors, I felt that all eyes were focused solely on me. I could already tell the questions and conversations going on in the background:
"Who is that guy?"
"Is he a student?"
"I think he was expelled, look at his clothes."
"What happened to his arm?"
As much as the voices plagued me, I blocked them out as I was pushed into the dark interrogation room, the door shutting behind me with a slam.
I took in my surroundings: the room was pretty much bare, save for a lone steel table and two chairs lit up by a single overhead lamp.
"Please," spoke a calm voice, the sudden intrusion causing me to jump. "have a seat."
I whipped my head around, until my sight rested on a figure, hidden in the shadows. He stepped out into the light and I took my own weary step back. He was an older man with silver hair, strands of black across his head here and there. He dressed mostly in shades of black and green, with the exception of an intricately designed cane with a silver grip.
"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked, afraid for my safety. The man didn't seem threatening, but it's always the one's you don't see coming who hit you the hardest.
"Calm down. My name is Ozpin, I am the headmaster at Beacon Academy." He said. The name and title were all to familiar to me, and I panicked and tried to escape out the door, but found that it was locked.
"Now there's no need for that. You're not in any trouble." Ozpin said. His words didn't fully ease me, but I feared that if I defied him any more I'd really be in trouble.
"What do you want?" I asked again. Ozpin gestured for me to sit and I reluctantly did so.
"What is your name?"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh come now, isn't it common courtesy to introduce oneself after a stranger says his name." I raised an eyebrow, but I went along with it.
"Pariah. Pariah… Nikos." I said, straining to tell him my last name. I couldn't tell if he noticed it or not as he went on to sit in the chair directly in front of me.
"Thank you. Now, Mr. Nikos, do you know why you're here?"
"I didn't do it." I said, my tone surprisingly neutral, but he didn't seem to notice – or care. "I didn't kidnap that girl."
"Oh yes, I know. In fact, the authorities have actually apprehended those responsible, although, it was quite a surprise to find them all unconcious in a back alley." I sensed a tinge of mirth in his tone, and the small smile spreading across his face confirmed my suspicions.
"I did what I felt was right. That girl needed my help, and I helped her. If you wanna punish me for that, go right ahead." I stared at Ozpin in defiance, but he – again – seemed unfazed.
"So, you don't know do you?"
What?
"Know what?" I asked wearily. What could I have possibly done? I didn't I kill one of them did I? I was sure the injuries were non-lethal.
"The girl you saved, you don't know who she is do you?" I was slightly relieved, and yet also intrigued.
"Umm… no? Her name's Winter and that's about it. Why?"
"I'm surprised you don't recognise her. Mr. Nikos, are you aware that the full name of the girl you saved the life of is… Winter Schnee?"
Oh, now I get it.
"Schnee? As in, the Schnee Dust Company? That Schnee?" I asked in shock.
"Correct. Ms. Schnee was taken earlier this morning and the authorities as well as several of Vale's Hunters were scouring the city. I do not know if it was by luck or some other forces that caused you to save her, but on behalf of the City of Vale and the SDC, I would like to thank you."
To be honest, this was a bit overwhelming. I mean, saving the heiress of the most powerful corporation in the world? That's pretty big. But it still doesn't explain one thing.
"I… umm… thanks. But, Headmaster Ozpin-"
"Ozpin, please."
Alright, Ozpin, I have a question."
"Of course, I will be happy to oblige." Ozpin replied.
"I mean, I get why they'd send someone important to do the thanking and all that, but why the headmaster of Beacon Academy? Couldn't it have been some SDC employee or a politician? Why you?" My intuition proved reliable as Ozpin smiled and placed his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers.
"A good question indeed. You see Mr. Nikos, they were about to send one of those people you mentioned, but then they ran you through the database."
Oh no. No. No. No. No. NO.
"And it seems they found something… peculiar."
This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening.
"You were once a student at Haven Academy, yes?"
It was coming back to haunt me. Haunt me and never leave.
All the pain.
"Yes."
All the suffering.
"Well, in your file it stated that even in your second year, you were one of the best Hunters-in-training of your generation, scoring high marks in all classes and nearly unbeatable in combat. However in the middle of the year there was an… incident which brought about your immediate expulsion."
All the blood.
"Your point?"
"Well Mr. Nikos, in light of this new information I was called in, due to my status as a headmaster of a Hunter's Academy, to aid in the decision of your fate."
I didn't show it, but I was internally screaming. My right arm began pounding, the pain creeping into my bones as I struggled to maintain my cool.
"So what? Are you gonna let me go? Keep me locked up?" Kill me?
"No, no, nothing so barbaric. Mr. Nikos, I'm here to offer you an admission into Beacon."
Silence.
Dead. Silence.
And then I spoke.
"What?!" I quickly rose up, knocking my chair over with a loud smash.
"Well, of course you will not be exempted from taking the entrance examination, and you will begin your term as a first year, but I assure you that my offer is genuine."
"You're serious?"
"Quite." Ozpin said, his spectacled eyes both analytical and stoic, and that almost unnerved me even more than the offer itself.
"Even after all you read? All I did? You're giving me a chance?"
"Yes."
"But why?" At this, Ozpin sighed.
"Mr. Nikos, I believe people can change. And you proved to me that you have changed. Despite your past actions, you saved a little girl without any thought of reward, only because, as you said you, 'felt it was right'. That is the kind of person who deserves a second chance. That is the kind of person whom I believe has the qualities of a true Hunter." Ozpin tapped his cane once on the ground for emphasis. And it worked. I was too stunned to formulate words, hell, I could barely even think straight.
"So Mr. Nikos," Ozpin continued. "do you accept my offer?"
"I-I…" I couldn't move. I was just there, frozen, all my past sins and deeds coming back in a flood. They began to drown me, blocking my thoughts, telling me I didn't deserve a second chance, that I never will. But I pushed through the doubt, the pain and closed my eyes, before opening them in a determined stare.
"I accept. Thank you sir." Ozpin smiled at this.
"Good answer. I'll have the police return your weapon, and one of my teachers escort you to temporary lodgings on campus."
"Thank you. I-I don't know what else to say. Thank you. I'll prove to you I deserve this."
"Do not say that." Ozpin's smile returned as he moved to exit. "You must first prove to yourself that you deserve this. Not me."
With that, the headmaster knocked on the interrogation room door before an officer opened it from outside. He gave me one last smile before departing, leaving me utterly shellshocked and elated at the same time.
I will prove myself. I thought.
I will prove that I deserve this.
Or die trying.
Behind the two way mirror of the interrogation room stood two people, quietly observing the subject on the other side. Ozpin entered through a door at the back, joining the two people as they regarded Pariah from the observation room.
"I do not agree with your decision Ozpin." Spoke the first man. He looked to be military: young, likely in his thirties in a pristine white military uniform, straight-backed and rigid. The image of dicipline. The man glanced at the afformentioned headmaster while Ozpin smirked in response, not taking his eyes off the interrogation room.
"Oh come now James, he's just a child, not a monster." Ozpin replied causing the military man – James Ironwood – to frown.
"His file says different." Ironwood said, glancing over to a file on a desk behind him, the words Pariah Nikos printed in large font on the cover of the file, along with the symbol for Haven Academy.
"His… circumstances aside, Pariah Nikos is not what could be considered as a 'true Hunter'. In fact, he is far from it." Ironwood placed his hands behind his back and continued to monitor the interrogation room. Ozpin on the other hand switched his attention to the blonde haired woman standing beside him.
"And what do you make of him Ms. Goodwitch?" The woman jumped at the sound of her name and whipped her head around to face the headmaster.
Glynda Goodwitch, one of the youngest graduates of Beacon Academy and the new assistant combat class teacher at the very same school. the She was in her mid twenties, with piercing green eyes, glasses and blonde hair tied into a bun. However, despite this, she exuded an air of nervousness and shyness, her frame was small and she was barely as tall as Ozpin's neck. If it wasn't for her clothes and hair, she could have easily passed off as a child, years younger than she currently is.
"Really Ozpin, I don't understand why you brought her in with us. She's barely graduated and already she's part of your inner circle." Ironwood's tone may have been objective, but the words were clearly critical of Glynda.
"James, play nice." Ozpin scolded, returning his attention to Glynda. "It's alright Ms. Goodwitch."
"I-I'm not sure it's my place sir." She said quietly, slightly fidgeting with her hands.
"Nonsense Glynda, remember you are able to speak freely when amongst Colonel Ironwood and I, despite the former's reservations." Ozpin's words were comforting, but Glynda still held a bit of unease in her voice and body language.
"Yes sir." Glynda shifted her gaze from Ozpin back to Pariah and continued to speak, "I-I agree with Col. Ironwood, on paper this person – Pariah – doesn't seem like the kind of person who I'd be comfortable with studying in Beacon."
Ironwood opened his mouth to speak, but Glynda wasn't finished talking yet.
"However, after meeting him, I can see that he is a completely different person. In my opinion, I agree with Ozpin in saying he deserves a chance." Glynda looked to Ozpin for approval, before hastily adding: "Sir!"
Ozpin's smile grew while Ironwood's frown deepened.
"Thank you Ms. Goodwitch." Glynda nodded in thanks before quickly returning her attention to Pariah so as to avoid Ironwood's glare.
"If Lionheart were here, he'd agree with me." Ironwood said, his gaze also returning to Pariah.
"I concur, however we both know our dear collegue easily fears what he does not understand." Ozpin joined his associates in their analysis of Pariah.
"And I'm afraid – despite my words – none of us truly understand Mr. Nikos. Not in the slightest."
AN: If you didn't get the memo, Glynda is small.