Alright, alright. I have to confirm this. The Ashen One, Ash, is NOT going to have his aura unlock. I feel like it's going to be completely unnecessary for him considering the events he has been through in Dark Souls III. But that is just my personal opinion. Now that is over, let's get onto the chapter, shall we?

Dark Souls: Embers of Remnant

Three

Truths and Secrets

'Every secret must be unearthed. Such is the conceit of the self-proclaimed seeker of truth. But in the end, you lack the stomach.'

"Ash!"

"Ash!"

"Ash!"

"Ash! Where are you!?"

All team RWBY were calling the new person out with no response. It has been a while since they had last seen him. All Yang could do was to complain. "Great! This is just great! We're stranded, we lost a third of our party, and we've gained a defenseless old lady! NOT to mention that Ash is still missing!" With one final heave, she manages to extricate Bumblebee. this caused her to fall over to the ground, with her motorcycle following suit as she is now partially covered in snow.

"My name is Maria Calavera, and I am not defenseless!" The elderly woman announced her name, finding Yang's attitude to be rude. "I'm just a little hard of hearing. And blind without my eyes, that are in desperate need of repair." She proceeded to tap the aforementioned prosthetics, which then opens and closes before it narrowly opens again. "Okay, I'm starting to see your point."

"Yang, knock it off, will ya?" Qrow grunted at his niece. "If we lose our cool now, we'll just be inviting even more Grimm."

"Does that even matter?" Blake suddenly spoke up. "Apparently, we've been attracting Grimm ever since we left Haven."

"Oh, and how could I forget about that?" Yang sarcastically remembered before she turned to where Oscar was. "What happened to no more lies and half truths?"

For once, the farm boy had to agree with the blonde as he was helping Maria. "Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation..."

Oscar's eyes glowed as he was then shifted to Ozpin. "I did not lie to you..."

"Well you certainly didn't tell us everything about the Relic." Weiss reminded the former headmaster.

"Please, now is not the time." Ozpin tried to not to answer the former heiress's concerning question.

"No, we're past that!" Yang shot down his pleading. "I wanna know why you're still not telling us everything!"

Ozpin went quiet for a while as he was facing away from the others. It was silent for a few more seconds right before he answered. "It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics. It's faint, but undeniable. I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option."

"You know, I'm getting really tired of people choosing what's best for me." Weiss admitted with distain. She was speaking from personal experience.

Ozpin's response seemed to caused Yang to narrow her eyes at him. "Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I believed the Kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the truth." He admitted without any hesitation. "And I believed Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years."

"Missteps?!" Yang shouted, getting sick of all of this lie.

"What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently, but does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of his good? Do we not all have regrets?" Ozpin started questioning everyone, to which they look at each other before turning their attention towards him. "You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him."

"Look, we're supposed to be in this together. You can trust us!" Yang stated as she pleaded for him to answer everyone's question. "We're not gonna turn our backs on you."

"Do you really think Leo was the first?!" Ozpin raised his voice, making everyone stop in their tracks. Neither of them had seen this side of him before and were wondering why. "That he didn't say those exact same words to me? I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I..." He was about to grab something from his waist, only to see that it was missing. "Where's the Relic?"

"Right here." Ruby answered as the mentioned object was in her hands. "It got scattered in the crash. But there is still no sign of—"

Her words were interrupted when a hand was suddenly shot up within the ground. Everyone then saw a familiar set of armor coming out from the snow. "Ash!" Everyone spoke, seeing him very well and…was unfazed by the impact.

"I'm alright." Ash informed them while sitting down in the snow, thanking the Sun Princess Ring that was slowly healing his injuries. That wasn't a complete lie but remembered what happened prior to him emerging from the snow. "To think that was my first ever death in this new place. I need to be careful around these strangers to not reveal my undead nature for now on until I can trust them."

Qrow, meanwhile, eyed at this individual with uncertainty. From what he felt emitting from Ash, there was no sign of him unlocking his aura. That crash could have killed him. yet, he managed to even survive. "That's odd. A person who hasn't unlocked their aura like him couldn't survive something like that. What is he really?"

"Ah, Mr. Ash." Ash turned to Ozpin who was facing him. "I'm glad to see you safe. I was wondering that—"

"Shouldn't you directly answer your companions' questions first?" Ash reminded him, standing to his feet and wiped off any snow that was still in his armor. His voice was still uncaring, but it wasn't in a rude tone. He heard everything while he was buried underneath a pile of snow.

Ozpin let out a sigh as he knew that Ash wasn't going to be by his side. "I know what you mean by that, Mister Ash. But if I tell you and everyone else, it is a feel as though it is my burden to bear." He informed everyone while pointing the relic on Ruby's hand.

"Does it really matter who carries that thing?" Ash asked, still having that same exact tone.

"In matter of that, it does." Ozpin answered the Unkindled's question. "But I need all of you to listen to me—"

All of a suddenly, all saw Ozpin reaches his hand out but was stuck in this position. This brought worry for everyone. Qrow instantly asked in concern. "Oz?"

"Hurry... he's... trying to stop you!" Now that was Oscar's voice as he was trying to fight back Ozpin's presence on his body.

"Stop her from what?" Yang asked, confused as was everyone else.

Oscar tried his best to mutter out while fighting back for control. "He's afraid... you'll find out what he's... hiding!"

Ash narrowed his eyes despite his helmet covering his entire head. "Hiding what?" Despite it being a day of meeting them, he knew that this was something that was that of their interest. Not his but he has to, unfortunately, hear it.

Oscar then collapsed to the snowy ground. Yang, Weiss, and Blake glare at the boy with intense looks while Ruby was holding the Relic of Knowledge defensively. "Her name is Jinn. Say her name to summon her."

"Her name?" Ruby uttered, which only caused the wind to pick up much more gradually, blowing the snow even harder. The Relic then started to glow in Ruby's hands. Seeing this only made the girl say the name. "Jinn?"

As she said that, the surrounding area stood still. Ash and the others saw this and were confused as to how this happened. "What?" He heard the Drunkard Huntsman muttered in confusion.

Ruby saw the Relic levitate, and soon let it go. It then proceeded to traverse a short distance away, cyan smoke emanates from it. Suddenly, the lamp is enveloped in the smoke, and from it, a giant, semi-nude feminine figure emerges. Her skin and hair is colored blue and decorated with gold jewellery and ornaments. The figure stretches and moans as she has been awakened once again.

Qrow looked away from this figure in embarrassment while Ash was rather annoyed at the unnecessary sound this spirit made. Still, he felt that same powerful soul from within that lamp. "So that is why I felt that powerful soul from before. Could it be…? No, It might just be my imagination."

"Aw, Wonderful." The being of the Relic, Jinn, spoke. This left everyone at awe as they stared at this spiritual being. "Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?"

No one knew what to say. It took about a quick second for Ruby to ask who this individual is. "Uh…who are you?"

"I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid Humanity in its pursuit of knowledge." The spiritual woman answered the young leader's question. "I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every one hundred years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer—" Her attention then shifted into someone of interest. That someone was Ash. She leaned closer to the Unkindled while a small smile was on her face. "Oh my. I never expected to encounter one of your kind from an era long ago. Tell me, why are you among these beings?"

Everyone looked confused by this statement. Yang looked at Ash with skepticism. "Your kind from an era long ago? What the hell is she even saying?!"

"…" Ash stood there, silently. He knew what exactly Jinn was talking about and had a feeling that it could have been related to something that was akin if not powerful than the First Flame. But he had only met them and was aware that he simply cannot blurt it out. He was clutching his fists as he finally thought of an answer. "I will tell all of you in another time."

Now everyone wanted to know what Ash meant by his statement. But judging from his uncaring voice, they knew that he was starting to get annoyed by their questions. Still, one person had to ask. "What do you mean—" Weiss was about to say.

"I said I will tell all of you in ANOTHER time. Do I have to repeat myself, Lady Schnee?" Ash cut her off as he raised his voice before calming down, though it wasn't in a rude manner. Rather, it was out of annoyance, and his patience was already thinning from the looks he had gotten from the others. This caused the former Heiress and the others to wince at his words. But she had to respect his comment. He looked over at Jinn. "I believe you have something to say to him, not to me."

Jinn narrowed her eyes at Ash. She was all to curious to want to know why he was among them like a black sheep. Still, she had to respect his words. "Well now. As I was saying. I am still able to answer two questions this era."

This caused everyone apart from Ash to look at Ozpin in disbelief and shock. They all heard Jinn chuckling. "It's a pleasure to see you again, old man."

"Ruby, please…don't." Ozpin began to beg.

Qrow glances to Ozpin, and he began to step forward. Right before he could say anything, Suddenly, Yang, Weiss, and Blake get into their defensive position while Ash witness all of this. It caused Ruby stared in disbelief at her uncle, who then proceeded put his hands up in the air. "Do whatever you think is right, kiddo."

Ruby pondered at the question she was about to ask. "Jinn?" She turns around to face Jinn, who has a curious look on her face, while Ozpin grits his teeth in anger while in Oscar's body. "What is Ozpin hiding from us?"

"NOOOOOO!" Ozpin shouted and lunges at Ruby. Right before doing to, the surroundings then turns to a white blank space.

Ash knew what was about to happen. All he could do was to groan annoyingly as he awaited what was about to unfold. "To think that I am about to pry a stranger's secret without their consent." He had been through this before during his time in Lothric, and he had to pay the ultimate price for it. "Can't believe they have the nerve to even ask that being on Ozpin's secret." Well, it's too late for that. Now, he has to hear what Jinn was about to say.

He suddenly found himself in an area that manifested itself into an old kingdom from long ago. He found himself standing on a path that led to a castle in the distance. "Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower..."

The scene then changed where Ash sees a beautiful woman brushing her hair in front of a mirror. "...that sheltered a lonely girl. Named... Salem."

That was an interesting chapter and didn't expect to upload a chapter very soon?

Well, I am totally skipping The Lost Fable as it is completely unnecessary for this Fanfiction story. Now, Ash's undead (or rather Unkindled) nature has started to cause Team RWBY to be weary of him and the secrets that he is holding.

The reason why I didn't say it right away is because of his character. I am not simply going to let him blurt out. He doesn't trust anyone from Ruby's group yet. I think it would be wise if he would build trust before telling them. That's my personal opinion at least.

Now, onto the reviews…

triscythe59: As I said above, I am not. Rather, I am going to make him completely auraless and there is a reason why.

eternal nothingness: Well, they are about to uncover it. For now, trust needs to be built before telling them. Which is why, for spoilers will be in my own version of Volume 9 because of a scene that I had planned with someone on Reddit.

Dasgun: Uh-huh…

Again, this was a short chapter, but I have my own reason. I never expect this to instantly blow up within two weeks.

With that, I will see you all in the next chapter. Whenever the next one is published.