[9:30am]
Qrow was shown flying around the city in his bird form.
I've been looking for Ozpin, or new Ozpin, for several hours. I've never been good at detecting magic. Especially dormant magic, but I suppose I have to keep trying.
High above the crowd, he yawned.
"I need a break though. I need some food…" he spoke.
And a drink. Or two.
With his bird eyes, he looked down for a place to land where he wouldn't be seen. Finding the answer in an alleyway, he dove down and landed behind a dumpster. In the blink of an eye, he turned back into a human, ran out of the alley and onto the main street.
From there, he examined the streets of Mistral, some buildings made of wood, stone, or even metal. Some of the residences had faded and/or chipping paint, but the houses of bricks were still in good shape. He could tell that he was in one of the lower levels of Mistral. He didn't expect to find Ozpin 2.0 here, but after hours of searching his expectations were pretty darn low. After walking about half a block, he saw an overhead sign that read;
Ye Old Barr
Open from 9am-11pm
He entered through the wooden door and went inside to be greeted with an interesting theme; there were pictures of coliseums and canals of Mistral along the walls, along with the style of a traditional brew pub and bar.
The tired huntsman went by the empty host stand and nestled into the bar area. He sat down at the bartop, finding a tired employee examining the area. His eyes opened wide upon realizing he wasn't alone.
"Oh hello there. Anything I can get you?"
"A glass of Merlot, whatever you have that's cheap."
The bartender looked at him in question. "Isn't it a bit early to be drinking?"
"Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere." Qrow responded. "And besides, you're already here."
"I just came here to make sure the bar was stocked, but I'll fulfill your request."
The server crouched down and pulled out a bottle and then began pouring. "Here you go. Let me know if you need anything else."
"Thanks."
He started to drink the wine.
The screen transitioned in a clockwise manner, now showing Qrow with a messy but empty plate and three drinks consumed. The employee seemed to be absent.
Qrow looked down at his empty glass collection. What he didn't see was a young farmhand boy who approached him from behind.
"Excuse me," he spoke.
Qrow turned to face him. "You know, I don't think they allow kids in here, pipsqueak."
Oscar looked at him for a brief second.
This guy is your trusted ally? Oscar asked internally.
Just ask for the cane back. Ozpin ordered.
At this, he turned his head to the side and spoke softly, seemingly to no one. "Shut up, I'm getting there."
He looked back up at Qrow, whose attention he definitely had. Qrow's eyes widened slightly and then narrowed, his suspicion dawning.
Oscar stammered out, "Umm... I'm supposed to tell you... I'd like my cane back."
Qrow blinked and closed his eyes for a brief moment before nodding with a slight smile.
"Ozpin, it's really you…"
He stood up off of the bar stool and faced Oscar, causing the young farmboy to take a couple steps back. Qrow lifted the collapsed form of the cane off of his hip.
"It's good to see you again, Oz."
Qrow tossed it at Oscar, who caught it reflexively. The cane immediately extended itself out from the collapsed base when it touched his hand.
Ah, Long Memory. Reunited at last. Ozpin proclaimed.
Oscar looked down at it, surprised. His other hand came around to hold the shaft before he looked up at Qrow and blinked.
"So you who have inherited Ozpin's mantle, what do you call yourself?"
"Oscar. Oscar Pine."
"Fitting name. I'm sure you and I will get along just fine."
Hey um, Oscar, do you mind if I take over to speak to Qrow for a few moments? Ozpin asked.
Not at all. Go right ahead.
Oscar lowered his head and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a multi-colored aura shone from his body for a moment. Ozpin opened Oscar's, slightly glowing, and he smiled at his old ally.
Ozpin's voice spoke, "It's great to see you again. I do not wish to be so negative, but I must ask; what has happened since the Fall of Beacon?"
Qrow gave a long sigh as he picked up his glass. "A lot. More than I can tell you in one sitting. To summarize in one sentence; hardly anything good."
"What about 'New Autumn?'" He then whispered, "Who killed me?"
"Not here. Lionheart combed the school's grounds trying to find Cinder Fall and her associates. And their records were all fake. A forgery that Lionheart should have noticed but didn't."
Ozpin-Oscar spoke, "That's rather unnerving…"
"Quite. Not to mention he has bodyguards, which is understandable considering what happened to his fellow council members, but still…" His frown soon faded away upon looking at Oscar again. "On the bright side, you're here, and I'd say that's a reason to celebrate!" He turned to the bartender, cleaning some glasses. "Hey bartender, another beer!"
Oh boy… Ozpin and Oscar both sighed to themselves.
Around that same time, Ilia was shown in the mess hall. As she entered through a set of wooden double doors, she saw a bartop to her right. Only it wasn't a bar. It was a coffee shop of sorts. Over the counter and hung on a wall behind them were chalkboards with the drink menu on there, ranging from the darkest brew to lattes and frappes and everything in between. At the station was a young barista in her twenties. She was wearing black pants and a white blouse, her bright blue hair in a bun and her blueish gray eyes bright and alert. On her blouse was a name tag reading; Brenda
Brenda, upon seeing the chameleon faunus, greeted her with a smile. "Greetings my most loyal customer."
Ilia yawned. "Hey Brenda." She gave out another yawn. "Still the same menu, huh?"
"Consistent as a cookie cutter."
The tired faunus pondered her options. "I feel like I've tried every coffee on the menu and then some. Do you have anything new?"
"Well… more recently I've been dabbling in some new flavors, including alcoholic coffee drinks." She got out a bottle of white rum. "I've got a mint mojito mocha in the works, one with and without alcohol. Would you like to try?"
"Sure." She yawned. "Could I get one of each, size large?"
"That can be arranged."
Brenda got out some other ingredients and got to work. As she pulled out mint leaves, mint syrup and chocolate syrup, among other items, Ilia's thoughts wandered.
Seven weeks. April 15th of this cursed year...That's how long it's been since I've known the truth about Adam Taurus. All these weeks I've been terrified, paralyzed in inaction and constant fatigue. My period hasn't come back since… But that's the least of my problems…
Soon Brenda put lids onto two different paper coffee cups, one marked MMM, and the other MMM with a small 'x' beside it.
"Here you are." Brenda told her. "Be sure to let me know what you think."
Ilia threw some money into the tip jar. "I'll write up a comment or two."
With the X cup in her left hand, and the normal cup in her right she walked away and sat on a comfy chair in the nearby coffee lounge. Thankfully it was deserted. Ilia took a sip of the normal mocha.
This is pretty good.
Then she took a sip of the alcoholic coffee drink.
Hmm. This is different. I like it.
She alternated sips two more times, pondering her situation.
Nobody would believe me even if I told them the truth. Regardless of whether I tried to be anonymous or open, I'd be found out sooner or later, accused of heresy, and executed.
Her mind turned to the other leaders that she (correctly) presumed knew the truth about Sienna's death. Athena and Ares wouldn't work with Adam if they knew his other secret. But what about Wungeng? He's a wildcard, and I know little about him…
The chameleon took a sip of the alcoholic coffee drink.
It doesn't matter. None of it does. Adam is going to destroy Haven, and when he wins… what will be left of Blake?
A terrifying image came to her mind; Blake chained to a wall, her clothes mostly torn off, screaming before the scene faded to black.
What of it? You can't stop him. You can't, Blake can't, her parents can't, and Sun? Probably not. He got lucky the night Sienna fell. But where will his luck be when we invade Haven?
Another sip of the normal mocha and she thought, Why are you feeling sorry for her? She's a traitor! A liar, a backstabber! She's no good! But yet…
The terrifying image appeared again.
No one deserves that. Not even a traitor…
She sighed. She had drunk about a third of each of her coffee beverages, and with an empty stomach, the alcohol from the second was slowly beginning to settle in.
I'm no closer to solving this dilemma...
The chameleon faunus thought over her options as she watched Aoi walk up to the barista.
Okay, so you can't tell anyone what you know. You can't overthrow him.
She saw Brenda prepare a coffee drink with grenadine and chocolate syrup.
Looks like the only way out of this problem is to out-smart him. But what are Adam's true intentions? Why does he want to destroy Haven, especially if the rumors of there being no students right now are true? Is humanity really as bad as he says they are?
Aoi took her drink and walked across the room as Ilia stood up from her station and went to a water dispenser. With a paper cup in hand, she filled it up and took a sip. Then she gulped the entire thing down before refilling it again and getting a tray.
I need answers. She thought, walking back to where her drinks were. From there, I might be able to devise a plan to bring down the White Fang from the inside out.
Ilia put her coffee cups and water onto the tray and lifted it, leaving the mess hall with them.
First order of business, find out why he wants to destroy Haven, and what he needs to burn it down.
Meanwhile, the sounds of combat were heard from afar. Grunts from a man and a woman interlocked in a duel. Waves of fire and ice dust advanced before a red sword spun around and bounced them away. The sword's owner, Adam Taurus, simply smirked as he deflected his opponent's attack.
His opponent, Athena Bruna, let out a growl. She soon saw Adam release a beam of red energy from his sword. By this point, she had familiarized herself with his semblance; Moonslice. She knew it couldn't have been as powerful as a blast as the one he had unleashed in the library during the Battle Royale for the Badge of Leadership, but that didn't give her any reason to give in either.
In slow motion, she jumped backwards, the energy just barely brushing against her wings without truly damaging them.
As time resumed, she landed back on the ground, to find Adam trying to bring down Wilt upon her. Wilt clashed against World's End. Releasing they were in an impasse, Adam attempted to trip up Athena, only for her to jump up, bending her legs as her wings kept her aloft. The High Leader soon unsheathed Blush, the second half of his weapon, and fired at her.
The shots at her wings didn't damage her, but they were slowing her down. Soon she realized her aura was cracking in a flash of light gray and attempted to land, but upon landing, she saw a series of several shots already being fired. She couldn't shield herself in time, leaving her thrown back-first into a wall, breaking her aura and falling down in defeat.
A few moments later, she rose from the ground, a discontented look on her face as Adam smirked.
"Beaten yet again." Athena lamented. "Oh how defeat stings and burns… But I must give credit where it's due."
The 'war goddess' put a tally onto the right side of a paper hanging on a corkboard. The tally, when counted up, read;
Athena- 2
Adam- 10
She looked at him. "How do you create such powerful strikes?"
"That, Ms. Bruna, is my personal secret."
Athena silently scowled, but Adam didn't notice, as Ares soon entered the room. The 'war god' asked them, "How is combat training?"
She snuck a side glance at the tally sheet, answering, "Well my score against Taurus hasn't gotten any better, but if nothing else I'm learning something."
Adam noticed as she turned away, restraining her anger. "There's something on your mind. What is it?"
"Permission to speak freely, High Leader Taurus." He nodded. "I hate the fact that we have to work with Mr. Rainart, his mysterious associates and even more mysterious boss. I am not saying this solely because he is a human, although that does not help his case. I am saying that because we haven't gotten anywhere in the last two months."
"Ms. Bruna." Adam firmly stated.
She glared at him, getting angrier as she continued, "I'm not done yet. This secret collusion with Hazel and his company makes us full-fledged hypocrites. Surely you're all aware of that. The fact that we have to work with this… Cabal is bad enough. But Hazel's indiscretion is making it worse for all of us. Perhaps you've heard the saying, 'Slow progress is still progress.' It is a statement that I wholeheartedly agree with. We have been waiting for two months to invade Haven Academy, all because they require this Keyholder to get a treasure before Haven is destroyed.
"And now that we've learned Blake has been raising an army for the last several weeks. If we had learned who the Keyholder was weeks ago, Haven would be destroyed by now and Blake's army would be scattered to the wind. Hazel's hesitance is hurting both his master's plans, and the White Fang. I will not stand around any longer. I'm going to find out what he's hiding."
Adam restrained his anger with an exhale, before glancing at his winged ally for a few seconds. "You realize not only pushing your boundaries, but your luck, don't you?"
Athena repressed a sigh. "I do, but I'm tired of waiting. Even though we've gathered some new recruits in the last two months, Blake has gained a lot more allies in that same amount of time. I don't see how this could be worse for us."
"My Lady," Ares began. "I understand your restlessness, and I too have been burdened by my impatient nature. But I believe there is another matter that's just as bad, dare I say worse than your dilemma."
She tilted her head towards him, appearing calmer. "And what's that, My Lord?"
"Ilia Amitola has been secluding herself for weeks. She only ever comes out to get food and drinks, and even then almost always retreats to her room afterwards. And from what I've been told by Cola and Aoi, she has gotten a large amount of caffeinated drinks, indicating that she has not been sleeping well. Dare I say I believe she has become as sluggish and lazy as Brother Wungeng!"
Athena chuckled before snarling, "That's a strong statement. You have to pull teeth out to get Wungeng to do anything around here."
"Okay, nobody's more lazy than Wungeng but you get the point!" Ares exclaimed, retracting his previous statement.
Adam mused to himself in silence.
"At first I thought it was PTSD when she was a prisoner, when you and Adam were still pretending to be enemies." Ares elaborated. "But now I am unsure."
Adam looked down in disapproval. "That shouldn't be possible. She was at Sienna's funeral. And while she was mourning like everyone else, she appeared to be perfectly fine otherwise."
"Or she was hiding it really well." Athena suggested.
Ares asked, "What are we to do with her?"
"We summon her." Athena answered. "Wait a few hours and bring her here. We will have her fight one of us to test her mettle. In the meantime, I will be doing research." She began to leave the room, turning her back on the men before facing them once more, "Unless you need me for something."
Neither of them stopped her as she walked away. Both Ares and Adam looked at each other silently regarding their thoughts on Athena, one in genuine concern, the other in tense exasperation.
[1:50pm]
The scene showed Jaune and Pyrrha sitting on a red couch within the living room. Not too far from them, Ren and Nora held feather dusters in their hands, dusting off various pieces of furniture as the first couple drank cups of coffee.
"I will admit, this Safehouse is pretty nice." Jaune remarked. "I can't believe Ozpin and company have had it for twenty years."
Pyrrha smiled after finishing a sip. "I would agree."
"Yes, but it appears that no one has cleaned this place in a while…" Ren told them. "At least we have enough rooms for anyone."
"It also helps that four out of six of us are sharing beds." Nora remarked.
"Actually, it's only two out of six sharing beds." Jaune shyly corrected.
Nora looked at her original team leader, completely baffled. "Huh? And why's that?"
Jaune looked detected. "Pyrrha… expressed the desire to sleep alone."
Nora turned to Pyrrha as she tried to tickle Ren with a duster. "But why? I thought you liked being close to him."
Ren jumped back as Pyrrha set her cup down. "I've been tossing and turning at night." she confessed, turning to Jaune. "I was worried I'd disrupt your sleep." She sighed. "It also doesn't help that the doctors aboard that bullhead barred visitors from seeing me until the aura-poisoning, both from Tyrian's semblance and Alva's dart, wore off."
Do I deserve being with Jaune after all I've done? Pyrrha silently wondered.
He took her hand. "Pyrrha, considering that we're both near insomics, I don't think you tossing about is going to disrupt my sleep any more than it already has been."
Pyrrha smiled upon hearing that. "You may have a point." She sighed and paused for a while. "There's something else that's bothering me. Qrow's been gone all day. He said he'd be back an hour after noon, and it's almost two."
"Should we send a search party after him?" Ren asked.
Before anyone could answer, there was a knock on the door. They looked at each other before Jaune cautiously went to open it. On the other side stood Oscar, hesitant and uncomfortable. The knight looked over his shoulder at his teammates, and Nora wordlessly shrugged in response.
Jaune asked, "Can I... help you?"
"Um... yeah. Is there a Ruby Rose here?" Oscar inquired.
Pyrrha and Nora immediately stood up, tense and defensive.
It seemed as though Nora tried to bore holes into him. "Why do you ask?"
"Well…" the former farmhand began.
He looked to his left and Qrow appeared, swerving as he walked and grabbing Oscar by the shoulders.
"I found him!"
Qrow snorted into his hand and continued laughing as he gradually stumbled into the house.
"I think her uncle could use some help." he finished.
Qrow almost made it to the now empty couch before stumbling and saving his balance by falling backward onto the cushions.
"Whoa. Ugh." He shifted to laying on his back, folding his arm over his eyes. "I found him."
Pyrrha looked closely at Oscar before noticing Qrow's drunken state.
"What is going on out there?!" Ruby yelled from afar. She stomped into the living room, a comic book issue in her hands. "Can't a girl read her comics in peace?!"
Qrow burped and chuckled, catching Ruby's attention. She sighed and put a hand to her forehead exasperatedly.
"Qrow, did you get drunk again?"
'Drunkle' Qrow chuckled, "Maybe."
Oscar took a step forward, his gaze going to Ruby's eyes. "Oh… You have silver eyes."
Ruby looked at him, a touch surprised. She turned to her friends and teammates. Jaune just shrugged, all of them looking back at Oscar.
Does he know? Pyrrha wondered. About the powers silver eyes hold?
Ruby was the one to ask, "Who... are you?"
Qrow chuckled from the couch.
Oscar began his second answer. "Uh... Well. My name is Oscar Pine."
"Wait for it…" Qrow began.
"But you probably know me as... Professor Ozpin."
Gasps of shock and grunts of confusion were heard as Qrow continued chuckling.
Qrow punched his fists into the air. "I did it!"
Only to fall off the couch thereafter.