Chapter-36

Sigurd, Ruby

"You recognize these symbols." Ozpin spoke as Sigurd stood staring at him in shock.

"Ozpin…What…?" He spoke.

How does Ozpin have the All-Father's mark? Sigurd thought. With the end of the Age of Gods across the Planet in 0 AD, most textures disappeared. Some, like Britain, were able to draw upon the rich sources of mana from an extremely powerful phantasmal like Albion to maintain its texture and keep True Ether within it.

In Scandinavia's case, Yggdrasil held the texture of Midgard together, even when the rest of the world was reshaped by the beliefs and existing knowledge implanted within the minds of humans.

Of course, Yggdrasil struggled to supply its own mana to the nine realms as the Age of man threatened to reshape Midgard as well, and the decline began. Once Surtr burnt down Yggdrasil in Ragnarök and all the gods died, Midgard was reshaped into Scandinavia.

What Sigurd could not understand was how could Ozpin have possibly come into contact with Odin, who has been dead for 1000 years?

"Yes, Sigurd. I met him." Ozpin replied as Sigurd noted something.

"Sigurd…so you know my real name." Sigurd spoke as Ozpin nodded.

"You weren't the only one snooping. I must admit, it was rather surprising to know you are from a different world." He spoke with a soft smile as Sigurd sighed.

So that's what that spell was. Sigurd thought. Ozpin had managed to do something that could only be achieved by a master-servant contract. Of course, Remnant was a different planet, so it would have different rules.

A magus would be salivating for an access to such a thing, because Ozpin's spell was approaching true magic.

"Very well, that means you are not angry." Sigurd spoke as Ozpin shook his head. "No, I would have had some reaction to what you did, but well…Odin convinced me to accept it."

Sigurd jolted. "How did you meet the All-Father?"

Ozpin frowned. "Why…He met me within the dr…"

"No, not that. I know he's capable of that. How is he even speaking to you?"

"...Sigurd?"

"Odin's been dead for 1000 years." Sigurd spoke as Ozpin's eyes widened. "Dead? Hold on a moment…are you telling me your world's gods can die?"

"Well, the gods I worship are all dead. Killed off in a cataclysm known as Ragnarök." Sigurd spoke.

"I…see. Does that mean…?"

"But even then…your blue eye, the runes, the mark…they are proof that you are bound to him. So perhaps…?" Sigurd spoke.

"Whatever it is…we will talk later." Ozpin spoke. "It's late. But tomorrow…I want to know everything."

Sigurd frowned. "The All-Father didn't tell you?"

"He couldn't. And even after seeing your life, I still have many questions. So…you tell me and my circle all that you know, and I will tell you and your companions all that I know. No more secrets. No more hiding. Now go back. Tomorrow, everything will be revealed." Ozpin spoke as he ushered Sigurd and Shirou out.

Sigurd blinked. It was jarring to hear those words from Ozpin's mouth. Yet he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. He still hadn't gotten down to finding this so-called culprit for the Nornir. He hadn't even found the Infinite Man yet.

This entire time, he'd been sidetracked doing work for Ozpin in hopes of getting his trust for information.

Finally…he could start working on his own goals.


"Welcome to the first round of the Vytal Tournament!" Professor Port exclaimed. "I am Peter Port, and this is Bartholomew Oobleck, your hosts for today!" He announced. "I am sure you must be excited to see…"

"Oh no, Professor Port's going to start rambling again." Yang groaned as Team RWBY giggled, standing on the stage facing their opponents.

Weiss sighed. "I still fail to understand why him or Professor Oobleck are the commentators. People will start to fall asleep with Professor Port's winded speeches before snapping awake and losing focus when Professor Oobleck starts speaking…"

"Like you all are losing focus?" Ruby spoke with an accusatory tone as Blake raised an eyebrow.

"If Ruby is telling us to be focused, then you know its bad." She spoke.

"Yes, thank…hey wait a minute!" Ruby spoke as Yang's cheeks puffed out to hold in her laughter.

"Anyways, now that we've explained the rules!" Professor Oobleck spoke. "Let us get down to the first match of today!" He yelled as a sea of green and blue erupted in the stands.

"We have Team RWBY from Beacon led by Ruby Rose against Team ABRN from Haven led by Arslan Altan!" Professor Port announced. "PLEASE GIVE A CHEER FOR OUR CONTESTANTS!" He yelled as Ruby's ears felt like they were going to explode at the applause.

"BEACON! BEACON!" They could hear the majority of the stadium screaming at the top of their lungs, drowning out the chants of 'HAVEN'.

This is making me a bit nervous. Ruby thought fidgeting a bit. This was the first time she was being seen by so many people. Heck, her face was being broadcasted across Remnant at the moment!

"Ruby." Blake spoke as Ruby looked at the faunus, who gave a look of reassurance.

Ruby looked back at the other team, ABRN. Her eyes sparkled looking at the weapon of one of the Haven competitors, Bolin Hori, although, she couldn't help but frown at the other ones.

Come on! A skateboard, a rope and just a gun? That's it! Ruby thought with a pout. This team didn't have any cool weapons.

"READY, CONTESTANTS?" Professor Port boomed.

"Streaking meteor…" Ruby spoke as Weiss and Yang nodded.

"3…"

"2…"

"1…"

"BEGIN!"

Weiss immediately created a gravity glyph under Yang, launching her forward. Yang fired off Ember celica as Team ABRN was forced to scatter.

Yang landed and blasted herself towards Arslan, cutting her off.

"Blake, skateboard!" Ruby spoke as the skateboard girl, Reese Chloris, attempted to head towards her leader, only for Gambol Shroud to hook around her feet as Blake swung her towards the ice biome.

Ruby spotted the pink-haired boy, Nadir Shiko, aim at them and raised Crescent Rose to fire back, forcing Nadir to run towards the ice biome while Weiss charged at Bolin.

Ruby followed Nadir, who suddenly shot a volley of bullets. Ruby dodged them with her semblance until Nadir had to reload, allowing her to charge at him and attack with Crescent Rose.

Nadir's eyes widened in surprise as Ruby came at him extremely quickly, his gun transforming into a sword and clumsily blocking Ruby's strike, stumbling back from the force of the strike.

"You know, you really pack a punch, shortie!" Nadir spoke as Ruby's nostrils flared.

"Hey! I drink milk!" Ruby squawked in indignation as she blasted Nadir with Crescent Rose's barrel and sent him back.

Nadir groaned. "Yeah, you're definitely reaping that milk's benefits." He spoke as Ruby froze, her eye twitching.

Did he just…

"GET OVER HERE!" Ruby screamed dashing towards Nadir in a red blur.

"Oh my, it seems Nadir Shiko made a pun making fun of Ms. Rose's height." Professor Port commented.

"Two things she does not like." Professor Oobleck spoke. "Mr. Shiko should have kept his mouth shut."

Nadir yelped as he tried to shoot at Ruby, but before she could reach him, Ruby noticed Yang flying towards her and veered off at the last second.

Ruby noticed her sister skid against the floor and Nadir aim at her.

Ruby quickly shot an ice dust round, freezing Nadir's legs as he looked at her and pouted.

"I got your back, Yang!" Ruby spoke.

"Who's got yours?" A voice came up behind her as Ruby gasped before jabbing Crescent Rose's spear end behind her.

"Yah!" Bolin exclaimed as Crescent Rose's spear end flew past him, Ruby whirling around to jab at Bolin before firing off Crescent Rose to launch herself at him, Bolin's aura sparking as Crescent Rose's blade slammed into his abdomen.

Ruby grunted as she tossed him towards a bunch of rocks.

"That was a bit brutal…" Weiss commented. "I was going to adopt a cleaner method."

"He snuck up on me! My super secret hero training kicked in!"

"Don't call it that! But still, I had your back."

"Because you're my BFF!"

"...I suppose I am." Weiss spoke with a grin as Ruby gasped before slapping herself.

Focus on the fight, Ruby! She thought as she went off to join Blake, leaving Weiss to fight Bolin.

Ruby found Blake dodging Reese, whose skateboard had split with each part having a blade.

Eh, still not cool. Ruby thought before shooting at Reese. The bullets messed up Reese's guard, allowing Blake to push her arms up and kick her in the stomach, sending her onto an ice wall.

"Reese!" Ruby heard Bolin exclaim before he hit a fire dust crystal towards Reese with his stick. Reese grinned and put the fire dust crystal in her skateboard, which now turned red.

"Oh…" Ruby spoke before Reese sent flames at them. Ruby and Blake dodged the flames running past them.

The Carrier's flames…

Ruby snorted. This fight so far did not feel very difficult, compared to the likes of Perseus or the weird creatures.

Reese rushed towards Nadir and melted his ice off.

Ruby looked at Yang fighting Arslan and an idea formed.

"Get Reese back over." Ruby spoke dashing off as Blake threw gambol shroud, attempting to pull back Reese.

Reese expected it and dodged, moving towards Blake.

She winked before blasting Blake with the flames.

Nadir smirked as he engaged Ruby before noticing a smug grin on Ruby's face.

Reese noticed Blake was gone and gasped before Gambol Shroud wrapped around her skateboard and yanked it off.

Ruby shot a gravity dust round that launched Blake into the air, who landed a hard kick on Reese's back and sent her flying out of the arena.

"And Reese Chloris is eliminated!" Professor Port announced.

Ruby blocked Nadir's strike with Crescent Rose's top end before switching it to its war scythe form, its blade snapping up to slam into Nadir's face, stunning him before Ruby landed a spinning kick on his stomach and sending him tumbling into Bolin.

"Ice cream!" Ruby exclaimed as Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster, an ice fist rising up to encase Bolin and Nadir in a ball of ice.

Ruby raised her hand with one eye closed as she looked at Yang and Arslan fighting before Arslan got into the position she was waiting for.

"Now! Send it!" Ruby spoke as Weiss sent the ice ball at Arslan, whose eyes widened before she pushed Yang away and punched the ball of ice, breaking it, the force sent Nadir and Bolin flying out of the arena.

"And Nadir Shiko and Bolin Hori are eliminated!"

"Team RWBY!" Ruby exclaimed as the four girls came up at Arslan, Ruby taking the lead with Crescent Rose moving as a blur to take down Arslan's aura. The girl attempted to jump back before Weiss appeared at her side and streaked past her in time dilation glyphs. Arslan grit her teeth and dodged Blake's strike before throwing a punch at her. Blake jumped away with a clone and landed a number of strikes before Yang knocked her down with a fiery punch, sending her aura down to red.

"AND TEAM RWBY WINS THE MATCH!" Professor Oobleck yelled as cheers erupted in the stadium.

Yang pumped her fists in victory as Weiss and Blake looked around. Ruby looked back at Arslan and helped her up, the girl wincing.

"Sorry, was that last one a bit much?"

"Nah…" Arslan spoke with a groan. "I've gotten hit with tougher stuff." She spoke before looking at Ruby. "I just have a question."

"Oh?"

"Are you actually first years or third years pretending to be ones?" Arslan spoke. "Because you destroyed us."

Ruby laughed nervously. "No, no! We're first years! I guess we're just really good."

"Yeah…I guess they don't joke about Beacon training the best. Good luck for the tournament. Guess we'll have to try next year." Arslan spoke as Ruby thanked her.

"Wooh, our first match was a complete victory!" Ruby spoke as she and her team were in a fair set up on Beacon's grounds as a part of the Vytal tournament. There were several stalls selling all sort s of things.

"Yeah, well…things like this have just gotten…easy." Yang spoke. "Sure, she got in a few hits, but it wasn't as too bad as that grey-haired guy in Cysgod."

"At this point, we've faced opponents a lot tougher than these Vytal competitors." Weiss spoke. "Perseus could demolish all of them."

"And we won against him, so everything else is easy-peasy."

"To be fair, he was holding back a lot." Blake spoke as Yang huffed. "Oh will you all just stop overanalysing and just take that battle as a victory?"

Ruby, meanwhile, looked around and spotted a familiar face at a mistralan stall.

"Aram!" She exclaimed as her teammates noticed the red-haired boy at a food stand, dressed in mistralan attire with red and orange colours.

"Oh, hello, Team RWBY." Aram spoke with a warm smile. "We meet again."

"What're you doing here so far from Mistral?!" Ruby exclaimed as Aram chuckled. "Well, some of my colleagues were saying I needed a break from my work, so, I'm here." He spoke before someone came up.

They were a boy of Ruby's age, with black hair and a dark blush complexion, with hazel eyes wearing similar attire as Aram except the colours were mostly shades of Green.

"Oh, this is Oscar, he's the nephew of a farmer acquaintance of mine in our village." Aram spoke as Oscar looked at them.

"Uh, hi…" He spoke in a soft voice. "I'm Oscar Pine."

"I'm Ruby Rose!" Ruby spoke as her teammates introduced themselves. "Pleasure to meet you!"

"Yeah, you too." Oscar spoke.

"So, congratulations on your win." Aram spoke with a smile as Weiss smiled. "Thank you." She spoke before ordering their food.

Soon, a bowl of noodles slid onto their tables, with Blake's having a load of fish on them. Blake's eyes sparkled as her mouth salivated while Aram winked.

"Oh, do we have the money?" Yang spoke as Weiss pulled out a card. "Don't worry. For getting me to the Quarter-finals, I will treat you all to a…"

"Uh, Weiss? Your card doesn't have any money." Aram spoke as Weiss' eyes widened. "What? I still should be having a lot of lien left in my account."

Aram shrugged. "Maybe I could…"

"Perhaps I can help." A new voice spoke as Ruby noticed JNPR come up, Pyrrha having a card with her.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby cheered as Pyrrha paid for their food as Aram came back with JNPR's food as well.

"So, more friends?" Aram spoke as Blake looked at JNPR.

"Aram, this is Team JNPR, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren." She spoke. "Guys, this is Aram Sunlight. He was with me at Nepotain Harbor." She spoke as Aram waved with a smile.

"Nice to meet you." Jaune replied as Aram looked at Pyrrha.

"Ms. Nikos has caused a sensation in Mistral by choosing Beacon over Haven." Aram spoke as Pyrrha smiled. "Well, I wanted to distance myself from my celebrity life, so…"

Aram nodded before turning to Blake and Weiss.

"So…I can see things are better now between you and Blake." Aram spoke as Blake nodded.

"Yeah, it was a little tense at first, but we've gotten over it." Blake spoke.

"Good to hear that." Aram spoke with a laugh as Ruby noticed Oscar was staring at her.

"Yes?" She asked as Oscar blinked. "Uh…nothing." He spoke looking away.

"Your match was…interesting." Weiss spoke as Jaune deflated. "Look, I saw what you guys were doing, so I thought…"

"That's what happens to copycats!" Ruby declared sticking her tongue out. "That is our patented strategy and only we can use it!" Ruby declared as Jaune shook his head.

"Well, good thing we had Nora." Jaune spoke, chuckling weakly.

"Good thing your opponents were also inexperienced students, otherwise it would have been a resounding defeat for the four of you." Aram spoke.

"Psh, it's fine! It's one defeat! We'll get defeated, thenwe'llexperiencealotofhumiliationforlosingandgetostracizedfromsocietyjustlikehowmeandRenwereinKuroyuri!" Nora spoke as her face devolved into terror as Oscar stared at her in concern.

"Is she…alright?" He asked as Nora suddenly got up.

"Who're you?" She spoke getting up and looking at Oscar.

"Uh…I'm Oscar." Oscar spoke as Nora stared at him before wrapping her arms around him.

"YOU'RE SO CUTE!" She spoke nearly crushing Oscar with her hug. "Little Cute boy Oscar!"

"Help…me…" Oscar rasped out as Aram pried him off Nora.

"Now, now, easy there." Aram spoke before checking on Oscar. "Hey Oscar, are you alright?"

Oscar stared at Nora with an expression of abject terror on his face.

"Nora, I think you've traumatized him." Jaune spoke as Nora continued staring at Oscar. "But he's cute!"

"He's Ruby's age."

"I'm 15." Oscar spoke.

"He's…" Nora then looked between Oscar and Ruby and gasped. "You're right! Then Oscar's in the little club with Ruby!" Nora spoke as Ruby blushed.

"U-Uhm…" Ruby spoke as Oscar looked at her before giving a nervous smile.

"Well, welcome to the club, partner." He spoke as everybody laughed at her and Oscar.

Stop laughing! Ruby thought.

"W-Well, I guess we shorties will stick together. We'll both get taller!" Ruby spoke, wrapping an arm around Oscar and brought him close, the boy trying to escape from Ruby's clutches.

Aram kept laughing at Oscar's plight before prying him off Ruby.

"My goodness, Oscar, you're gathering more and more stories to give your aunt a heart attack…" Aram spoke as Oscar now just stayed away from the two teams.

Ruby smiled sheepishly before noticing her scroll ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hey, pipsqueak." Uncle Qrow's voice came in. "Oz wants you and your team in his office."

"What, what happened?"

"Dunno. Oz has something to say and he wants you four there for some reason."

"Alright, I'll be there." Ruby spoke. "Uh, sorry, Aram, but we need to go. Headmaster's calling."

The others looked at her. "What, what does Ozpin want?" Yang asked.

"I don't know. Uncle Qrow said that Team RWBY needs to come to Ozpin's office."

"Then go. I won't take your time any longer." Aram spoke as RWBY got up from their stools and headed for the office.

"So, what could Ozpin be wanting to tell us?" Yang asked as RWBY headed up the elevator.

"I have no idea. We haven't done anything since Mount Glenn." Weiss spoke. "Any ideas, Blake?"

Blake shook her head.

Ruby, meanwhile, frowned. "I think I know what it is." Ruby spoke.

Her teammates immediately quietened at the seriousness of her tone.

"Ruby?"

"Remember when I was called off to Ozpin's office a few days after the Breach?" Ruby spoke as they nodded.

"Well, Ozpin said he was planning to reveal more of what exactly he was doing, so that we could communicate with him better and not just go off recklessly like we did." Ruby spoke. "Maybe he's picked now as the time."

"Oh…now you've made me nervous." Weiss spoke as the elevator doors opened to reveal the hallway to Ozpin's office.

Ruby and the others walked upto the door and knocked.

"Come in." The headmaster's voice came from inside as Ruby and the others entered. Ruby was surprised to see Prossor Goodwitch, Uncle Qrow, Professor Saber, Professor Lancer, Ruler and Tristan, along with General Ironwood, Winter, Rider, the armored man, the purple-haired girl and grandma Maria.

"Uh…" Ruby spoke as everyone except for Ozpin stared at her and her teammates in surprise. A wave of nervousness washed over her.

"Headmaster Ozpin, why is one of your eyes blue?" Blake spoke as Ruby squinted to noticed that Ozpin's left eye was now blue, instead of brown.

Huh? Ruby thought in confusion.

"Ms. Rose? What are you doing here?" General Ironwood spoke as Ruby looked at him.

"Uh…Headmaster called me?" She spoke.

"That's true, James. I called them to listen to what I'm going to say in this meeting." Ozpin spoke as General Ironwood looked at him.

"What?! Ozpin, you can't possibly be thinking of telling them!"

"Headmaster, why does my sister have to be privy to this?" Winter asked.

"Quiet, you two. Let him speak." Grandma Maria snapped as Ozpin raised his hand.

"Look at Ms. Rose's eyes." He spoke as General Ironwood looked at Ruby and his eyes widened.

My eyes? Headmaster said I had silver eyes as if it was something different. Ruby thought in suspicion.

"Silver…eyes?" General Ironwood spoke as Lancer perked up. "Silver eyes…is there supposed to be something special about that?" He asked in confusion.

"As you can see, James, Ms. Rose has silver eyes. Do you realize what that means for her and her teammates?"

Ruby felt a pit grow in her stomach. Why was the headmaster talking about something she should know about.

"But Headmaster, while I understand that reasoning, why now? They are still first-years." Professor Goodwitch spoke, surprising Ruby with the amount of concern in her usual stern voice.

"That will be explained when Sigurd speaks. Right now…our audience are Sigurd, Cú Chulainn, Amakusa Shirou. Tristan and Team RWBY."

"Hold it!" Lancer suddenly spoke up. "Since when did you figure out our real names?" He spoke with a sudden edge in his voice as Ruby's eyes widened.

"Okay...so we now know Saber's, Lancer's and Ruler's real names. Neat." Yang spoke in surprise.

"Sigurd told me last night." Ozpin replied. "But regardless, let me begin…"

"Team RWBY, what are your favorite fairytales?"

"Well, mine is the tale of the seasons." Weiss spoke. "I like its expression of kindness being able to break even the most reclusive people out of their mental prisons."

"For me, it is the tale of the Shepherd." Blake spoke as Ozpin coughed.

"Uh…warrior of the woods for me and Ruby." Yang spoke. "It's…" Yang looked around as Ruby frowned.

It's what mom used to tell to let us sleep at night.

Maria nodded to reassure them.

Ozpin sat with his eyes closed before opening them. "Would you believe it if I told you those tales were true?" He asked.

Silence fell upon the room.

"Hm, so the myths are true, what a surprise." Lancer spoke dryly as Weiss stared at Ozpin.

"Wait a minute…s-so you're saying all that about magic, the powers to wield the seasons…they're all true!" She exclaimed. "But magic doesn't even exist!"

"What about the Shepherd?! They say he was considered a god by the people!" Blake spoke.

Ruby and Yang stayed silent. Ruby had heard of a mysterious traveler who gave the warrior her near indestructible sword within the story.

"Yes…they all exist." Ozpin spoke as the girls stared at him in shock.

They were all struggling to comprehend the sheer absurdity of what they had just heard. The fact that all their fantastical fairytales were true just…didn't make sense.

"Hey…they're having the same reaction I did, Go figure." Qrow noted as Sigurd looked at Ozpin. "I assume this is related to the 'Maidens'?"

"Yes, the maidens are young women blessed by a powerful wizard with the ability to manipulate nature to their will. The Shepherd was an entity appearing at the Dawn of Humanity who helped humanity fight back against the grimm and established the Kingdom of Dhghemon as its God-King. Most of the Kingdoms we know today can trace their origins to the principalities of Dhghemon. And the warrior in the woods…simply the account of a man who witnessed a woman strike down grimm with a sword of pure light." Ozpin spoke.

"But if they exist, what…happened to them?" Blake asked.

"Like all seasons change, so do Maidens. The power is permanent, but its host…they can be killed. Once one host dies, the power is transferred to a young girl who was in the previous host's last thoughts." Ozpin spoke.

"That's really complicated." Lancer spoke.

"Says the man wielding Gáe Bolg." The armored man spoke as Lancer cringed.

"But then why haven't there been reports of this?" Weiss asked.

"Because we have been keeping it a secret." Ozpin spoke. "We are the Order of Ozma, one of our responsibilities is keeping the secret of the maidens and preventing the power getting into the wrong hands."

So, there IS a super secret organization? Ruby thought, staring at Uncle Qrow. She did not realize hwo right she was when she had that little thought.

"You four stand before its members. Well, its Valeian and Atlesian members." Ozpin spoke as Weiss looked at Professor Saber.

"And no. Saber, Lancer, Ruler, Tristan and the atlesians aside from Winter, Ironwood and Maria are not members."

"So…you said one of your jobs is protecting the maidens? What are the other ones?" Ruby spoke.

"For that…follow me." Ozpin spoke as everyone walked to the elevator. Ozpin pressed his hand against the wall and a flap opened up below the buttons to reveal another button. He pressed it and the elevator went down.

"So, where are we going?" Yang asked.

"The answer to Ms. Rose's question." Ozpin spoke as the doors opened to reveal a green hallway with lamps lit on it.

"Spooky." Yang spoke.

"Huh…so what is this place?" Tristan asked as Ozpin looked at him. "The very thing we are devoted to protecting." He spoke.

"Now, I am sure you know of the tale of the Two brothers."

"That two gods, one of light and one of darkness, created Remnant?" Ruby asked as Saber perked up. "Were these gods known as the Twin Dragons as well?"

"...Yes, how did you know?" Ozpin asked before shaking his head. "Ah, I'll ask it later. At any rate, the gods created remnant and later left it. The God of Light, however, created four artifacts embodying the four pillars of Human Progress - Choice, Knowledge, Creation, Destruction."

"Like the Crown of Selection that were supposedly responsible for Vale's establishment?" Weiss spoke.

"Exactly. The Crown of Selection, The Mountain of Wisdom, The Cosmic Forge and The Blade of Peace, these four are in reference to these artifacts, known as the Relics."

"So these Relics are divine constructs…" Ruby heard Saber mutter.

"These Relics contained immense power, and to protect them, vaults were constructed by the Shepherd under Dhghemon. These Vaults now lie under the Huntsman Academies and could only be opened by the Shepherd's power."

"And what does Beacon have?"

"The Crown of Selection. Or…the Relic of Choice." Ozpin replied as they reached the end of the hallway, where Ruby noticed two pods.

"Um…what's that?" She spoke as Ozpin raised his hand. "I shall come to that." He spoke.

"Where is the doorway then?" Weiss asked.

"I shall not divulge that information."

"Why not?" Yang asked.

"I am sorry…But this is something I simply cannot reveal to anyone. Unlike the rest of the academies, Beacon's Vault has the least amount of physical security. But it is conceptually the most mysterious because only one person holds any information regarding the entrance to Beacon's Vault. Hence, it is the most difficult to get into precisely because you do not know where to begin. It takes away your ability to choose a way to access it because it does not show the roads of choices to you."

"But what are you protecting from? The Carrier and his faction?" Ruby asked.

Uncle Qrow looked at Ozpin. "Oz…you can't possibly be…you've already revealed the Relics and the Maidens."

"As I said, everything, Qrow." Ozpin spoke.

"Partially correct. The carrier and his faction are working with the entity we are trying to protect the relics from. The entity's name is Salem."

"Salem…" Ruby spoke. For some reason, a spark of anger shot through her at the mention of that name.

Maria glanced at Ozpin.

"And who is this Salem?" Weiss spoke.

"Well…she is the Queen of the Grimm." Ozpin spoke as RWBY's and the servants' eyes widened.

"Of course…the grimm, even being foreign phantasmals, would have a leader to give them some form of direction…" Sigurd muttered.

"Ok, now you've got to be kidding. The grimm, whose studies have shown to have almost no intelligence…have a leader?" Yang spoke.

Ozpin nodded.

"Yes…as absurd and almost horrifying as that sounds, there exists a leader of the grimm hordes." Ironwood spoke. "For thousands of years her goal has been to procure the relics and wipe out humanity. For thousands of years she has been thwarted by countless individuals led by her sworn enemy, The Infinite Man."

Sigurd's eye's widened. "The Infinite Man…do you know where he is?" He asked as the other servants and Ozpin's circle members stared at him.

"Why…he's standing right in front of you." Ozpin spoke with a smile. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Ozma, the Man of the Infinite Souls, one of the last humans of the Age of Mystery and the Shepherd of Humanity. I have been guiding, directing and influencing Remnant's history for 3000 years, all in the path to prevent Salem from obtaining the relics."

Ruby gaped at her headmaster, now seeing him in a new light. The Infinite Man was perhaps Remnant's most famous legend, of how there was a Man who supposedly could not die and has been living with humanity since it was born. He was worshipped as a god by multiple cults, yet he never showed himself. Other mythical figures like the Shepherd and the Wizard of Mount Glenn were said to be incarnations of the Infinite Man.

"Infinite Man…" Sigurd's voice was laced with shock.

"So our headmaster is apparently a godlike figure who's been living for thousands of years? Are you immortal?" Weiss asked.

"Not exactly. More like my soul cannot leave the physical plane and keeps its memories of all of my previous lives. I am not immortal…merely the host of a soul that is bound to this plane."

"That kind of feat…is approaching the Third Magic…" Shirou spoke.

"Now, all that I've been doing in these past few months is expelling some of Salem's acolytes from Vale."

"But things are getting worse." Uncle Qrow spoke. "With the appearance of this new faction, Salem's got a whole bunch of nasty creatures on her side. Creatures that, unlike grimm, have intelligence and magical power of their own."

"Like the ones we fought at initiation? Or the Hydra?" Weiss asked.

"Yes. Even without them, it is

"So then…where did they come from?"

"That will now be explained by Sigurd over here." Ozpin spoke as Professor Saber stepped up.

"What does Professor Saber have to talk about now?" Blake asked.

"Well, Ms. Belladonna, coming clean about the origins of mine and my colleagues. Ozpin revealed his secrets to you four and us, now we shall reveal our secrets." Sigurd spoke.

"Let me begin. My name is Sigurd Fafnisbana Sigmundsson, scion of the Volsung Clan that ruled over the lands of Northern Europe and slayer of the Dragon Fafnir. Me, Lancer, Ruler, Tristan, Assassin and the two riders come from another world."

"..."

"WHAT?!" Team RWBY shrieked.

"Oh damn…of all the reveals I was thinking of…" Maria spoke in shock as Ironwood looked at the two Riders.

"It's true, General." The Armored Rider spoke up. "Surely it wouldn't be that absurd when you confirmed that Aegis' metals are extraterrestrial in origin." He spoke as Ironwood sighed.

"Our world is called Earth. Seven continents. Almost 200 nations." Shirou spoke up. "All with technology either slightly less advanced than Remnant's or leagues ahead."

"And what about your world's magic?" Ozpin asked curiously.

"Very complicated but has weakened over time. The truth is a lot more complicated and you wouldn't be able to understand it." Sigurd replied. "But me, Lancer and Shirou can use magic."

"And those titles…were they your achievements?" Winter asked as Sigurd nodded. "Yes. But let me explain something else before that. We are actually not alive."

"...Huh?" Qrow spoke. "What do you mean 'not alive'? You're standing in front of me?"

"...A Spirit." Ozpin spoke.

"Yes, all of us otherworlders are in truth spirits of people who have accomplished achievements near impossible for regular people to do in their lives. We are Heroes, who ascend to the throne of heroes after our death, and manifest into the physical plane as 'servants'."

"Servants? I've heard of that before." Maria spoke. "Thane once talked about these 'servants', saying they were super strong people who could thrash a maiden with ease."

"Thane is…aware of us?" Tristan asked. "But…how?"

"He said he got it from the Relic of Choice."

"But if the Relics are divine constructs of Remnant, how can they possibly have an work on beings of another world?"

"That I do not know. I was frankly surprised that my spell worked on showing Sigurd." Ozpin spoke.

"At any rate, we servants are summoned to the physical plane by an artifact known as the Holy Grail."

"Ah…so that explosion of magical energy I felt months back was your summoning." Ozpin spoke as Sigurd nodded.

"I, in particular, was given directives. First being to…seek out the Infinite Man." He spoke Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"..."

"Well, when I first met you, I agreed on working with you so that I could get some information regarding the Infinite Man. If only I had known that you were the Infinite Man all along…"

Ozpin chuckled. "My apologies. But…I believe now we know the basics of each other's secrets. So, for the sake of the poor girls…" He spoke looking at Team RWBY who were struggling to process the overload of information.

"...Let us end this icebreaking session here. We shall talk and learn more about each other's worlds in the coming days." Ozpin spoke before turning to Team RWBY.

"This is a huge secret that I have entrusted to the four of you. Do not even discuss it anywhere outside of this vault. I shall configure your biometrics to allow you four access to the Vault." Ozpin spoke.

"Now that you four have a basic idea of what our Order and its objectives…Do you four wish to join?"

Winter opened her mouth to protest but Ozpin silenced her with a steely look.

"Oz…!" Uncle Qrow exclaimed, but Ozpin silenced him as well.

"Um…so we aren't members?" Ruby asked timidly.

"You are privy to the secret, but I will not include you four in our operations unless you join." Ozpin spoke. "What we do is dangerous…and with Saber's information, things have gotten even more dangerous. Inviting First-years to this kind of a job is dangerous…but you four already have done risky jobs."

Uncle Qrow looked at Ozpin in desperation, but his face remained calm.

"Ruby, Yang…this is really risky." Uncle Qrow spoke. "The missions we get…some of us don't come back on those missions." He spoke worriedly as Ruby frowned.

"So…you're fighting against Salem." Ruby spoke as Ozpin nodded. "Is there any way to stop her?"

"...Yes, but it is difficult. However, with Sigurd and the other servants, I believe it is the right time to go through with it. If we succeed, Salem will no longer be a threat to Remnant, and the grimm will stop spawning, giving us a chance to wipe them out for good." Ozpin spoke.

Ruby turned to look at her friends. She couldn't make this decision without their consent.

"Guys…"

"We'll follow your lead, Rubes." Yang spoke.

"You don't have to worry about our feelings." Blake spoke reassuringly. "Whatever you say, we won't question it."

Ruby turned back.

So, it all comes down to me. She thought. Uncle Qrow said these missions were much more dangerous than usual. Some were even fatal.

She could end up like mom if she wasn't careful.

Ruby thought of Salem again. Just the name somehow invoked something within her.

Tulip. Mom… Ruby thought. Two of her close ones were taken away by the grimm. Not to mention all those who've gone through the same pain as her.

If there was a chance to end all that…

A chance to end all grimm.

"I won't let anyone go through the same pain as you did."

Her promise to Tulip and mom came back as a warm feeling grew within her. The missions would be fatal…but isn't that what huntsmen and huntresses were signing up for? To face death so that others could live in peace?

She'd sworn to fight against the world's cruelty. She'd sworn on Tulip's and Mom's graves.

And she intended to keep that oath no matter what challenges life throws at her.

The words flew out of her mouth without hesitation, changing Team RWBY's lives forever.

"I accept."


A/N: Welcome to Ozpin's Circle, Team RWBY! Be prepared for a life of pain and suffering. Yeah, no reveal to JNPR because there's already a lot of characters in this scene.

But then, what about Pyrrha? Is she going to be the fall maiden? Again, that will be all explained next chapter, which will cover the aftermath of these revelations. We're still a few chapters off before this little introductory arc ends and Ozpin begins moving against Prometheus in one final clash.

And before anyone points it out, yes, I know Ragnarok happened in 1000 BCE. But the thing is...it is so contradictory because Sigurd's daughter Aslaug is said to be Ragnar Lothbrok's wife, placing Sigurd around the 8th century CE. How would Odin have even existed in the Volsunga if Ragnarok took place about 1800 years before the events of the Volsunga Saga? Sometimes Fate can just go really off-course with its mythological depictions.

So, I changed the date of Ragnarok to 1000 CE, which sounds pretty reasonable considering the Viking Age ends 66 years after that date and put a reason as to how the Scandinavian Age of Gods managed to last for 1000 years after the overall Age of Gods ended in 0 CE.

Next, Oscar's already in the story as Aram's little assistant. I can't remember where, but something gave me the idea of 'Hey, let's introduce Oscar a lot earlier than Canon!'. Will there be Rosegarden in this story? Well, a little bit but not a proper romantic relationship.

Hope you guys enjoyed and constructive criticism is appreciated!


Response to Reviews:

Daybit Sem Void: Nope. If Fate: Lost Einherjar makes Sigurd's backstory vastly different from my depiction, I'll still continue with how I depict Sigurd. Because rewriting his character would mean cutting and rewriting so many scenes in this story, not just character-driven but also action scenes. It'll require so many changes that I would just be better off scrapping the story...which I will not do in a million years.

Maglad: I wouldn't say all ancient tales don't have a proper structure. Heck, there are some tales who have more depth and complexity than most modern works (Mahabharata). I'm focusing more on the delivery of the emotions through the lines. Even then, its more of a change in preferences. Nowadays, we prefer more raw deliveries of Modern works compared to ancient ones. The Epic of Gilgamesh itself actually does a fantastic job of conveying Gilgamesh's anguish over Enkidu's death for its time period, but it will not be able to stir as much emotion within modern audiences because of comparatively dull way it is written.

Anyways, I'm not trying to portray Odin as flashy. Its my personal belief that Odin is mysterious but powerful. Not usually showing his power but being able to command attention and cement himself at the top when he does. As for Lartoria, Ozpin probably won't be too surprised. He'll definitely compare it to something akin to the Brother Gods.

ZoukuYuujinChou: There's one such story that I'm more excited about than this one. I'll be releasing its sort of Prequel after I finish this as well as Rowan's Shade's Volume-3.

longbowchris50: Oh, I just realized that does fit the definition of a 'plot twist'. I was just thinking 'Odin and Ozpin, cool' when I wrote their meeting. And despite its terrible take on Norse mythology in my opinion, at least Fate managed to put out a great depiction of Odin.