"I See." Was all that Ozpin said, as Team RAVN sat in his office, Professor Goodwitch at his side.
Team RAVN had just informed them of their discovery of the infiltrators of Beacon.
"And you're sure of it?" Ironwood asked as he stepped from the side of the office, where a moment ago he was refilling his coffee-mug.
"Dreadfully sure. It's them." Angel said as she looked at Ironwood.
The tall General of the Atlesian might nodded, before he moved to the elevator.
"Where do you think you're going, Ironwood?" Ray asked as he stood up from his chair.
Ironwood turned back at the group ."I'm going to arrest them. They cannot be allowed to remain at Beacon. We must act now." Ironwood said as he balled his gloved hand in a fist.
"What we need to do now, is let them let their guard down. The moment that you come to arrest them, is the moment that they will attack with everything they have. Let them get used to the tempo of Beacon. Let them walk around. The longer we wait, the tighter the loose around their necks." Said Ray as he stepped towards Ironwood.
"If we do as you say, they have more chance to disable our defenses, and find their true prize." Ironwood shouted back.
Ray looked at the man in front of him. "True Prize?" Ray echoed Ironwood.
The General of Atlas slowly stepped back. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Ironwood said as he watched specks of dust swirling around Ray, who's eye color began to change from blue to an emerald green. It was as if you looked into a flame, made of green fire.
"Enough." Ozpin's voice thundered through the office of the headmaster of Beacon Academy. Blinking several times with his eyes, the green flame left Ray's eyes, turning them back to blue. Covering his eyes with his left hand, Ray felt around until he found a gentle hand placed in his own.
"My eyes. It hurts again." Ray said as he leaned against the figure of Nova Heart.
"Miss Heart, please escort Mr. Star to your dorm and place him on his bed. I'll tell professor Port you'll be skipping his class." Said Ozpin as he nodded to the two students. Nova nodded and guided Ray out of the office and into the elevator, while Ray still held his hand in front of his eyes.
"Ozpin?" Ironwood asked as he looked at the headmaster. "What was that?"
"James, Miss Jones, Miss Star. Take a seat." Said Ozpin as he pointed towards several seats in front of his desk.
"You all know the story of the four maidens. How they received their powers from an old wizard, who thanked them for their help in showing him what he had, but couldn't see." Ozpin began as he looked around at the faces of two members of team RAVN and the headmaster of Atlas Academy, and a high ranking General in the Atlesian military.
"What you don't know is that it's only a part of the full story." Said Ozpin, as he looked at the three faces in front of them.
James looked confused, as did Vixen. Angel, on the other hand, gasped and grabbed Nova's book-bag and pulled out a copy of old fairy tales. The same copy that they had bought from that old lady at the docks near the Dust shop that had been robbed.
"What do you mean Oz?" Ironwood asked, as he looked at the blond haired girl who was searching in a book full of fairy tales.
"To understand what's going on, James, you need to know the true story. Of the boy who searched for his sisters, and how he met the old wizard." Ozpin said as he looked at Angel, who had found the correct page as was reading it carefully.
"Miss Star, if you would read the story to us all?" Ozpin asked, shocking the young girl. "Eh , yeah, sure." Angel said as she took a deep breath.
"A long time ago, in a far away place on Remnant, a wizard sat on a chair, enjoying the season of Summer. Being old, and frail, the man had never been so happy in his life. Why, you ask? Well. He was happy, because he had been visited by four traveling young maidens. Each maiden had taught him something important. The first maiden that he met, taught him the importance of rest and reflection. The second one had cared for his gardens, transforming them from a barren patch of earth and manure into a lively garden, where he could eat from until his hearts content. The third maiden who had visited him, encouraged him to step out of the small home he had build for himself and to embrace the world. The old wizard had never believed that stepping outside for the first time in a long time, could revitalize him so much as it had done. He had enjoyed playing games with the three maidens, who were all to happy to participate. The final maiden, the eldest sister of the four finally met him, and showed him that he had everything he ever wanted. The old Wizard was thankful for the maidens gifts, but had asked the question.
"Why me?" He asked. "Why share with me these gifts?"
The four sisters looked at each other, and finally the eldest spoke. "We do not share with you these gifts because you are special. We share these gifts, because we can."
The old wizard nodded, absorbing these wise words from the eldest sister. Then, in a stroke of genius, the old summoned up his powers, every last ounce of it, and bestowed it upon the maidens.
"Take these powers," He said "And know that you are now able to do so much more."
The four maidens looked at each other, before they felt the magic of the old wizard surging through them. The four maidens started to work with their magic, each creating a magical marvel that would confuse and amaze thousands of people.
One by one, the four maidens left. Before they went away, the eldest, Fall, promised to visit their friend every year."
"We all know that part, why is this so important?" Asked Ironwood as he looked at Angel. Before Ozpin or Glynda could reply, Angel did.
"Each story needs to be introduced, to get a feeling of what has happened. Now stop interrupting me." She said as she started to read again. Glynda and Ozpin smiled slightly to each other.
They knew that this girl could match Ironwood word for word.
"The old wizard had gifted his magic to the four maidens two weeks ago, when he heard a soft voice calling out for someone.
Listening closer, he clearly heard, "Summer, where are you? Winter? Fall? Come on guys. This isn't funny anymore. Spring, where are you?"
It was a young boy's voice, probably not older than twelve. Looking from under his hat on his head, the old wizard saw a young child, shouting to find the girls who had visited him that faithful day two weeks ago. The wizard shook his head. Observing the young child, the wizard found out some thinks about him. One, he was related to the four sisters. He had the same manners as the four girls, as well as something that drew the wizard slightly closer to the boy. Two, the boy had multiple cuts on his arms, but they were in the process of healing. Three, the boy was thinner than his sisters.
The wizard decided there and then to aid the poor boy. "Over here." He started to shout. Waving his arms high above him, the wizard smiled as the boy saw him and started to run towards the wizard.
"Take a deep breath." The old wizard said as the young boy tried and failed to form words, to tired to speak.
"Rest for a moment, before you talk." Said the old wizard.
"I can't." The young boy responded. The old wizard looked at the young boy.
"And why is that?" The wizard asked as he sat back on the chair he had just left, drawing from nothing a second chair for the young boy to sit on. The young boy looked at the chair in wonder. "Wow." he whispered softly as he gently took a seat in the chair.
"There." Said the old wizard. "Now rest for a bit and tell me, why were you looking for those four sisters of you?"
The boy looked at the old wizard, and somehow knew that he was trustworthy.
"You see, sir, I was looking for my sisters, for they never came home. My parents are worried, for they haven't come home."
The old wizard looked at the young boy. In his haste to grand the maidens incredible powers in thanks, he had forgotten their home-life, their family and friends.
"Their names were Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, were they not?" The old wizard asked, hoping to confirm his suspicion. The boy looked up at the wizard.
"Yeah. That's their names. Have you seen them?" The boy asked happy to hear any good news.
"I'm sorry. But I last saw them two weeks ago. They went that way." The old man said as he pointed towards the road. Looking at the young boy, the old wizard felt like he had to do something.
"Listen. I can't help you with finding your sisters. I am to old, and I feel my life is growing short. Take this, and find your sisters." The old man said as he summoned his magic, for the second time in two weeks and parted with half of it. The boy who looked at the wizard could only watch, as the magical sphere of the wizards magic passed from the old man into himself.
A surge of energy swelled inside the young boy, and without knowing how and why, he knew where he could find his sisters. Thanking the old wizard, the boy started to look for his sisters, never knowing that the old man sat on his chair and fell asleep, never to wake up.
As the young boy started to search for his sisters, he found Fall first. He brought her home, and then went on to find Winter, the second oldest. As he finally had found Winter and brought her home, he found out that Fall had ran away, unable to live inside a small house.
'She needed to be free' did his father said. Telling Winter to 'stay put' the young boy ran around and finally after three months of searching, found Spring. Bringing her back to their home, they found that Winter was gone. Just like Fall, Winter needed to be be free. Wanting to bring his sisters all home, the boy ran around again, this time searching for Summer. And finally, after three months of searching, he found Summer in the company of the three other sisters.
"Summer, Winter, Fall, Spring." the boy shouted as he ran towards them.
The four sisters looked at the young boy, smiling. They knew why he called out for them, why he was searching for them.
"Hello, my little brother." Summer said as she knelt down and placed her brother in a bear-hug.
"Summer, why did you ran away? Don't you wish to be a happy family?" The boy asked.
"Ah Tempus." Summer said as she placed the young boy in her own lap, holding him closely. "I wish you could understand. I wish you knew why we left home."
Fall now came towards Summer and took Tempus from Summers lap and placed him inside her own.
"We have been given amazing powers, just like you. In order to help humanity we need to be free. We cannot be locked up like father and mother want us to. We need to be free. Tempus, my baby brother. Please don't weep for us. We are happy." Fall said as she dried Tempus' tears.
"But I want you to come home." Tempus said, hitting his small fists into Falls chest.
"Perhaps we can come to an agreement." Said Winter as she stared at her little brother. "One of us will go with you to our home. We will stay there for three months. Then, you will bring that sister back out to here, and get the next sister to bring her home."
While Tempus wanted all of his sisters home, he knew that Winter had a point. And so he agreed to the deal that the sisters made with him. Once every three months, Tempus would bring one of his sisters home, while the other three roamed the woods of Remnant."
"And that is it." Said Angel softly, as she closed the book.
"Amazing." Vixen said.
Ozpin nodded. "Yes. That little boy, Tempus, brought one of the four maidens home, making her season dominant. So if Tempus took home Summer, then the Summer season would begin. After that, Fall would come home and Summer would leave. After that came Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall again. A very nice story about the creation of the seasons. All thanks to a little boy called Tempus."
"And how is this relevant to Mr. Star?" Asked Ironwood, who was sitting with his arms crossed.
Ozpin smiled. "Because, just like the story of the seasons, this story about Tempus is true. It's even more true that you know, James. You see, Mr. Star, as well as the rest of his team are special students." Ozpin began.
"Yes, yes. I know that they are time travelers, and that Star is your son. What about it?" James asked, as he looked at the headmaster of Beacon.
Ozpin took a deep breath. "The first day of class here at Beacon, I walked into an argument between Miss Rose and Miss Schnee. Miss Schnee claimed that I made a mistake, in appointing Miss Rose as team-leader. One of the things I said to her was, 'Ruby, I have made more mistakes than any man, woman and child on this planet.' What she didn't knew was that I was serious about that statement."
"Oz?" Ironwood asked, his left eyebrow raising slightly. It wasn't like Ozpin to publicly admit that he had made a mistake.
"The line of Ozpin had spanned centuries, each and everyone of my line adding something to history. My father convincing the king to open peace negotiation, leading to the treaty of Vytal. My grandfather, protecting a member of the Vacuo royal family, causing the internal struggles to be dissolved and a united kingdom to be realized. My great-grandfather, a man who fought in the first line to free Menagerie from the Grimm.
Each and every Ozpin in history has added something to the history we know today. But they are all the same." Ozpin said as he sighed deeply. "Tempus."
"What?" Ironwood asked, unable to believe his ears.
Ozpin looked at his colleague headmaster. "The boy who searched for his sisters. The boy who brought home the seasons. The boy who became a man and found out that Remnant was not a pleasant place, but a hard cruel world. The man, who in a surge of anger cleaved the lands and created the continents of Mantle, Mistral, Menagerie and Vytal. That man is me, and Ray Star, or Harry Ozpin if you will is my successor when I pass from this world."
The entire room was silent. With the knowledge of the existence of the maidens weighing upon them, the story of the young boy Tempus wasn't so unbelievable. Still, Ironwood didn't looked convinced.
"Can you prove it Ozpin, that you are that boy?"Ironwood said as he looked at the old headmaster. Ozpin looked at his colleague for a long time. Right in front of everyone, he let go of his coffee-mug and tapped it with his cane. It had enough force to push it from the table it had stood on, but what happened next was nothing short but evidence that what Ozpin said was true. The coffee-mug was falling down in slow motion, yet everyone could move like normal.
"What sorcery is this?" Ironwood asked as he watched the coffee-mug falling in super slow motion.
"There is no sorcery. Just a simple magic trick, created by me to show you the true power of Tempus, and eventually Harry." Ozpin said, as his eyes started to glow slightly in the same green that Ray's had glowed before he needed to rest.
"Oz?" James asked, surprised at the power that was flowing through the room. Glynda could also feel it, but she was able to compose herself to ignore most of it. Angel and Vixen however, had no such experience and they felt the true force of Ozpin´s power. Their chokers started to malfunction, causing them to return to their form of Hermione Granger and Nymphadora (Dora) Tonks.
Ozpin reeled back in his power. "It is a terrible power that I possess, and when Harry learns how to handle the full extend of the power, I will happily leave this world and go on to the next, to see my beloved sisters again."
"How did you and Harry meet?" Hermione asked. Her choker hadn't still reactivated and so she wasn't Angel Star at the moment. Dora looked at the headmaster to, her eyes begging the headmaster to answer the question.
"It wasn't Harry who I met at first. It was Harry's parents who I met. Both James and Lily were under attack from cloaked and hooded men who wore masks to cover their faces. Two of their friends had already fallen before I could aid them. At the time, I could almost sense that Lily was pregnant with Harry, and I was looking for someone to pass the torch, so to speak. At first, I thought that I saw a perfect candidate in the unborn child in Lily's womb, but I wasn't about to give a fetus, not even three months old a power so terrible that it could destroy the world. So I talked with James and Lily, and after demonstrating to them both that what I was telling was true, they agreed to let Lily carry a portion of the power, for the fetus to get comfortable with. They also told me that they would never tell anyone about it. Not even their best friends."
"When James and Lily were killed by Voldemort, the dark wizard who terrorized Wizarding Britain, the portion of the power I gave to Lily transferred to Harry, partially awakening his aura and his semblance. It is through his semblance, reflection, that he was able to bounce the killing curse from Voldemort's wand back at the man himself. Voldemort's body died that night, but his spirit lived on."
Ozpin got shocked looks from Ironwood, some confused looked from Hermione and Dora and a concerned look from Goodwitch.
"After the headmaster of Hogwarts placed Harry at his only remaining family doorstep, said family found him and raced towards the nearest orphanage. They placed Harry there, on the steps of the orphanage and drove off. It took me a couple of days to find him and to recognize the part of magic that I left with Lily. I was granted full rights of Harry by both the British court, and the then, much more cooperating Vale counsel."
Ozpin now looked like he had aged a hundred years.
"Oz." James began. Ozpin barely looked at his best friend. "Oz, I can't imagine where to begin. How far does your power reach?" James asked.
"I have more than enough power to stop a charging Goliath in it's tracks. I can also keep the Behemoth that is sleeping in the mountain beside Mountain Glenn asleep for about seven more years. After that, any strong negative emotion will awaken it."
"Behemoth?" Ironwood whispered, as he looked at the mountain range that was close to the one time expansion of Vale, Mountain Glenn.
That was a face that Ozpin had seen once before. It was with James Ironwood's grandfather, when a Reaper had landed near his hometown. Djonger Ironwood had called everyone to make for the capital, while he and several soldiers tried to distract the Reaper from tearing down everything they had build in the small but popular town of Ridgemoar.
"Back to the story." Said Ozpin as he pulled his magical muscle slightly and the mug of coffee floated as if it was filmed backwards to land on Ozpin's desk, with it's full content of coffee.
Ozpin grabbed his mug and took a long drink. "Ah. Nothing beats coffee." Ozpin said as he took a smaller sip of his black drink.
"So, what shall we do?" Asked Glynda, just as the elevator opened. They all looked at the persons who were standing in it, and were quite surprised who were stepping out of it.
"We continue with the plan, as well and making preparations to induct Winter Schnee into our brotherhood." Said Ray Star, who stepped out of the elevator with Nova Heart. Ray's eyes glowed a emerald green, the same green that showed when he was using part of his power.
"Are you sure?" Angel asked, as the transformation from Hermione to Angel had occurred when James Ironwood looked at the mountains near Mountain Glenn.
"Yes. We're sure." Said Ray with conviction.