James was already suspicious of the boy, he hid it well but Ozpin could tell. After being alive for so long he'd gotten a knack for spotting when people hid their feelings, as well as how to properly hide them himself. It made perfect sense, Vermillion practically came out of nowhere, from the outside perspective it looked like a trap.

But they didn't know what he knew, they didn't know the boy close enough to tell that he was just as confused as them. Vermillion had never been as powerful as most of the other knights, nor had he been the most skilled. However he was always willing to fight for the kingdom, always willing to learn and grow.

If there was one thing he was skilled at it was learning, he'd always surprised them with how fast he could catch onto situations and adapt. It was what made him so useful, so dangerous. Given the time he would be able to overcome almost every challenge, but time was not always on their side.

Ozpin felt himself let out a quiet breath as he looked to the boy. Vermillion was confused, and if his question from before was any sign to go off then things were just as Ozpin expected.

"Salem has changed drastically over the years you've been gone, and as sad as it is to say it's for the worse." He spoke as they boy's attention zeroed in on him.

Ozpin knew he had to be careful, one wrong slip up and Vermillion might say something. But it wasn't the boy he was worried about; no, it was everyone else in the room who he had to watch out for. Qrow knew a basic version of the story, yet that one had Salem as the queen of her own kingdom, completely separate from himself. James and Glynda were completely in the dark, so he would need to ease them into the same story he fed Qrow. All of that while he tried to pull the ancient knight over to their side, away from the queen he idolized his whole life.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Vermillion let out as Ozpin nodded.

"That is to be expected, you've been gone for so long after all. As such I'll give you a basic retelling of the events that transpired. Around a month after you left for the village outskirts your guard returned, however you were nowhere in sight. They told of how they were attacked by a group of cutthroats, and how they subsequently fought them off, however some of them reported seeing you stabbed through the chest before a fog rolled over the battlefield. They searched around, and even as the fog left you were still gone, nothing but the stained grass at the spot of your defeat to prove you were even there."

Vermillion flinched for just a second, proving the report true as he seemed to remember the pain of the act. Ozpin leaned back as he continued.

"Salem was furious, to know one of her knights were taken from her was seen as a direct insult, as such she sent out a battalion to hunt down every criminal and bandit in the kingdom. At first she believed you alive, that you were taken hostage somewhere, but as the months rolled on she lost hope and eventually declared you dead."

The boy held a grim look, to hear the distress caused by his disappearance must have hurt him on a much deeper level, nevertheless Ozpin carried on.

"The change was slow at first, she would hide herself away as the people began to wonder what happened to her, only coming out to deal with the more important matters that the advisors couldn't handle. The local laws also saw a change as she was less lenient on crime than she was before, less forgiving and more hard punishment, which resulted in many more executions than before. She didn't have it in her to care for the world anymore it seemed, then one day... something changed."

Everyone leaned in at that, minus Qrow who only gave a nod as he seemed to recognize what Ozpin was about to do.

"One day, she changed. It was instant, and nobody knew why. She immediately declared war on all the other kingdoms, claiming that for her to protect everyone they would need to conquer any and all potential invaders. This was a front, I eventually came to learn she instead sought after the four relics of the world: creation, destruction, knowledge, and choice. She wanted to bring them together, and bring about the end of Remnant."

"Relics?" Vermillion didn't understand, the boy was never even told of their existence back in their time. That was fine, he would explain it anyway as a way to cement the importance of the situation.

"The staff of creation: able to create any one thing provided you can give the exact process to do so, and able to fuel that creation until replaced by a new request. The sword of destruction: powerful enough to level mountains in a single swing, it can obliterate anything from both the physical and spiritual worlds. The lamp of knowledge: able to answer up to three questions every one hundred years with absolute truth, however it is unable to answer questions pertaining to the future."

Ozpin let his face grow darker as he continued.

"And finally, there's the most dangerous one of all. The crown of choice: able to alter the very fundamental laws of Remnant itself. Let me put it like this: if I so desired, I could dawn the crown and alter the very laws of nature. I could choose that humans from that point on are only able to digest stones, or that death itself were temporary. On it's own it is able to grant a small power similar to that of Gods; the choice of how the world functions.

"Is... is the crown really that powerful?" It was James to ask this time, Ozpin gave a nod.

"Yes, however it comes at a terrible cost. The function that I replaced would still exist, it would just be moved to somewhere else. Say for instance I decided that death would only be temporary, our bodies would fix themselves to work again after some time of being dead, but that would apply to everyone. All the creatures and plants of the world, both ancient and new would find themselves alive."

Everyone shuddered at that.

"Needless to say the world would be overcrowded. Not to mention the function of permanent death would still exist, it would just be moved to something else; somewhere outside of the new rule. We could go to pick up a rock, only for it to instantly crumble to dust. We could swim, only for the water to evaporate at the touch. Permanent death could end up anywhere on anything so long as it didn't conflict with the newly created rule. Death for the non-living, a concept that would be forced to exist, a concept that the other relics would have to take into account for their own rules. The only way to remove the new rule would be to replace it with another as the crown can only perform one change at a time, one choice."

Ozpin hardened his voice. "That's not even the worst part. Aside form being able to alter nature, it is able to create new rules for the world to follow. Again this could be literally anything, and the world would have to bow. However in this instance an old rule would need to be erased, one that is already present in the world. That rule would need to be of similar power to that of the newly created rule. Control over the fabrics of reality, the choice of how the world functions, that is what makes the crown so dangerous.

Of course that wasn't all, the crown had been designed to aid humanity in it's redemption. Due to this he was unable to take the simple rout and just remove his curse. He tried it before, to sacrifice his remaining magic to free both Salem and himself from their curses, but alas nothing happened. It was a huge blow to his morale, but in the grand scheme of things he really should have seen it coming. Escaping a divine task wouldn't be so easy.

Ozpin sighed as he looked over Vermillion. "As you can see, these are very dangerous on their own. But brought together they have another function: to completely erase Remnant from existence."

"Then why do they even exist in the first place!?" Vermillion yelled, catching the eyes of everybody in the room. Ozpin gave a calm look.

"Despite the potential power and danger of the relics, they were originally intended to aid the people, to help them in matters that they couldn't handle on their own. But if the people couldn't share them amongst themselves, if instead somebody had stolen them all away to keep for themselves, everyone would be destroyed. It was a way to ensure that the people kept the relics split so no one person had all the power, a safety measure of sorts"

He let his head dip. "Unfortunately Salem knew this as well, and it wasn't accounted that someone would seek the destruction of Remnant willingly."

"She can't! The queen wouldn't do that!" The boy yelled, emotion bouncing along his words.

"No, once upon a time she wouldn't. But I've had a growing feeling that this isn't the same Salem we once knew."

That caught the boy's attention.

"Her change was to sudden, almost as if it were... forced. The queen had been depressed at your loss, however she hadn't wanted to destroy everything. When she started the war I noticed that she became emotionless, almost automatic in her desire to destroy Remnant." Ozpin leaned forward as he stared deep into Vermillion's eyes.

"I believe there is foul play involved, believed it since the day she started her war on the world. This is why I've brought you here, why I've introduced you to my allies. I believe there may be a way to save her, but I need your help. I don't know what has taken hold of her yet, but I'm almost sure that your connection to everything recently may be the hint we need. Will you aid us?"

Vermillion was silent, almost shaking as he gave a slight nod. The things running through his mind must have be tense. Ozpin returned a nod of his own, relieved that his plan worked. Taking out a small card he wrote across it before handing it to the boy.

"The Vytal Festival dance is coming up soon, and I believe you could use a break. Show this note to the ones at the door and you'll be allowed entry. I'll send a suit to your room later this week before it starts."

The boy looked over the card before looking back to him. "I can't read this."

Ozpin nearly fell over. Vermillion couldn't read, of all the things to forget it had to be that.

"Right, I'll see to having someone tutor you then."

"I may be able to help with that." James chimed in as all eyes were on him. "My soldiers are already in place, and I've brought along two of the best to help watch over everything. Specialist Schnee was a top student at the academy back in Atlas, and the co-leader she brought along 'Clover Ebi' is quickly proving to be skilled in leadership. Together I'm certain they can teach Vermillion here the very basics before the festival, at least enough to grasp the important parts."

Ozpin was certain this was James way of keeping watch over the boy, but he would allow it. The knight had nothing major to hide - nothing that James soldiers would understand anyway - and now that he believed they were working to save Salem he would be all the more willing to fight alongside them.

"Very well, in that case I'll leave it to them. However Qrow will still be going along with them."

"What!? Why me!?" The man cried as Ozpin leveled a stare. "Because you still need to make sure he does well, he could also use some extra training, and working alongside the other two could provide better experience for him. He needs to be trained on how to fight against large groups, something you yourself are skilled at"

"Fine." Qrow whined as Ozpin looked back to Vermillion. "You're all set now, you may leave and get some rest, I'll have Qrow get you tomorrow for your tutoring and training."

The boy gave a nod as he returned to the elevator, the ding signaling his departure as Qrow stepped forward.

"Alright Oz, how much of that was true, and how much of that was bullshit to keep the kid on our side?"

"The relics and their functions are for the most part true, however the bit about Salem being possessed was exaggerated as a way to have him fight for us, her change was slow and completely of her own. He wouldn't believe her capable of something so blatantly evil, as far as he's concerned we're working to save her. Speaking of... you're free to leave if you wish, I'll simply be telling James and Glynda what I've already told you."

"Right, I'll be off then." Qrow sighed as he made for the window, taking a leap as he morphed and flew off."

Ozpin set himself straight again as he looked over to both of his close allies.

"Now, it's time to tell you who Vermillion really is."

.

.

"Remind me, why are we here again?" Mercury asked as they passed by another crowd of students. Emerald could only roll her eyes.

"To make nice with that guy, remember."

"Yeah, but I mean why us? Why couldn't Cinder come along, since she's so worried about him." Mercury continued as they brushed past another group, stepping out into what looked like the workshop.

It was mostly barren as they passed over to some of the equipment, Emerald herself looking over the ammunition. She picked up a handful of it before they carried on.

"Adam said he could feel Grimm, why do you think she wants to stay away. What if she walked along and he suddenly zeroed in on her?"

"He'd call himself crazy. I mean come on, this is a school filled to the brim with hunters. If a Grimm got on the premises it would be shot down in less than a second by everyone around."

Emerald rolled her eyes again. "Yes, but he's not an idiot, from what Adam's given this guy puts a lot his faith in his senses. If anything he'd think she was like him... which wouldn't be wrong. But Cinder wants to avoid all unnecessary risks, even if it's a small one like this."

"Fine, but she's still set on the tower." Mercury commented as they passed into the courtyard.

"Everyone will be at the dance, and with the festivities going on it will allow her to get in unnoticed. Even if the guy senses her he won't be able to get out very quickly, allowing her the time to be in and out as needed." Emerald explained as they moved into the halls this time.

"Right, so what, we stay buddy-buddy with him and distract him the whole night?" Mercury asked as she snapped her fingers.

"Bingo."

Cinder didn't like the idea that the kid was able to sense Grimm, and even though she was only partially Grimm she still didn't want to take the chance. However the plan was already in motion, and much to her discomfort she had to stick with it. All they needed to do was to keep this 'Vermillion' busy for as long as they could that night, just long enough for Cinder to plant the virus.

Atlas tech was strong, but the virus was designed to target the lesser known weaknesses. From what she understood it would bury itself deep inside, leaving a small decoy near the surface. Atlas would fix that part and think they stopped it, not realizing it wasn't the source. Emerald didn't know the specifics, but that was how Cinder presented it when asked. Why couldn't tech be simple, like pickpocketing a few kids?

Then again that wasn't so easy either, she was a pro however, and currently six hundred lien richer as of the past hour touring the school.

Unfortunately the fun would have to come to an end as she saw their target passing in the distance.

"Huh, I thought he'd be... taller." Mercury stated as they trailed after the guy.

"You say that about every target."

"Well look at him, it's true." The silver haired by stated, waving his hands towards their target in the distance.

"He's the same height as you." Emerald said, increasing her speed as they passed through another crowd of students, as well as increasing her total earnings to around seven hundred.

"Yeah, but he's a spooky Grimm guy."

"Your point?" Emerald questioned as they turned a corner, spotting Vermillion sat on a bench in the distance.

"He's supposed to be tall, being tall makes people more threatening."

"Uhuh, learn that from comics?"

"Yes." Mercury said as he crossed his arms.

"Why am I not surprised?" Emerald sighed as they walked over to greet their soon to be temporary friend.

"Yo, you don't look so hot." Mercury stated before Emerald could open her mouth. She leveled a glare his way as Vermillion raised his head.

"I'm fine, just a tense day. May I have your names? I don't believe we've met." He asked as Emerald gave a short wave.

"Emerald Sustrai, and this is my partner." She answered as she motioned to Mercury who gave a smirk.

"Mercury Black, the cool one." He said as she rolled her eyes. The guy gave a nod as he sat straight.

"Vermillion Rose, I take it you're visiting for the festival?"

Rose? Was he related to that girl from earlier? 'Ruby' if she was remembering right, the one who nearly lost her team to the guy. Now that was interesting, they both shared a last name. Emerald had yet to directly meet the girl, but her research into Beacon had provided her a list of all the teams, and she distinctly remember that one 'Weiss Schnee' was on team RWBY. The same Weiss Schnee who was at the docks the night Vermillion left the White Fang, and consequently the same to nearly lose her life.

"Yes, just arrived yesterday. We were currently touring the school when we saw you, and decided it might be best if we had a guide to show us around. What do you say? Would you be willing to give us a quick overview of the place?" Emerald asked as Vermillion sighed.

"To be perfectly honest I'm rather new here myself, I'm not sure if I'll be able to cover everything. I'm certain some of the other students would make a better guide than myself."

Emerald was about to speak when Mercury jumped in. "Yeah, but none of them are as cool as you."

"Excuse me?" Vermillion stated as Emerald was holding a tense smile, one that said she wanted to strangle someone. Mercury continued despite the girl's threatening look.

"I mean come on, you look like you come straight out of a comic. I mean... so does everyone else, but you've got the whole 'edgy villain' look going for you. Everybody else is just 'regular hero', but you got the whole aesthetic going perfectly." The silver haired boy stated as he wrapped his arm around Vermillion.

"I don't think I've read many of those, I'm not quite adept with the written language used here, although I speak it fluently." The Grimm guy said as Mercury tsked.

"No worries, I'll help out, I am quite the actor you know. Come on, Beacon has a library, and I'm sure I saw some comics back when I first checked it out."

Emerald felt herself go slack as she watched the two walk off to the library, not being able to believe what she just witnessed. Mercury just sweet-talked their target into a comic date, Mercury sweet-talked their target. She rubbed her eyes just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Nope, it was true, the nightmare was true. Her socially inept partner managed to woo their target into hanging out with him.

Cinder was right, Beacon does things to people.

.

.

"In conclusion, the lack of decent supply lead to the ultimate downfall of the village. The negativity from the widespread famine brought a tide of Grimm too large to combat, and the village was abandoned." Doctor Oobleck finished as the bell let out, signaling the end of class.

"Class is dismissed, please try not to forget anything over the break, celebration is no excuse to throw away perfectly good knowledge."

With that the class began to disperse as one Yang Xiao Long let out a cheer.

"Woo! Festival break! I thought it would never come." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Why can't you be this excited during classes?"

"But where's the fun in that? Besides, the dance is coming up soon and mama needs to get her freak on." Yang told as Weiss recoiled. "I don't need to know how freaky you are."

Yang smirked. "Why? Afraid you won't be able to resist me?" Weiss stared. "More like I can't get far enough away from you."

"You know you love me." Yang spoke as they left the classroom into the crowded halls of midday rush.

"Right, everybody knows the drill?" Ruby asked as the rest nodded. "The library." Blake chimed in as the young girl nodded. "Right, we'll spend an hour collecting what we can on the White Fang. After that we'll head down to Vale and see if there are anymore break-ins."

"Only for two hours though, we can't go overboard like last time. With the festival so close it would be a horrible time for them to try anything, all the security around will make it too dangerous... right?" Yang let out as Blake nodded.

"Fine, but we still have to keep tabs on them. We can't let them get away with anything, especially if it involves large quantities of dust." The cat Faunus said as the rest nodded.

Stepping inside the library the group were about to split apart when they noticed something. In the distance they were able to see Vermillion sitting next to someone they had never seen before. Instantly they were on guard, wondering what the two were doing. They looked amongst each other with silent nods, choosing to creep closer and stay out of sight.

Yang sat at a table across from the two, pulling one of the books closer as she pretended to read, all the while glancing at the two as they looked through their own book. Ruby and Weiss took to an opposite isle, moving along until they were just across from Vermillion, separated only by the wall of literature. Blake took the more direct approach, choosing to walk directly down the isle, skimming across the books as she feigned surprise at the sight of the two.

"Vermillion? What are you doing here, and why are you on the floor? She asked as the two looked up. "Friend of yours?" His companion asked as Vermillion shook his head. "More like acquaintances." He said as he looked up to her.

"I was reading with Mercury here." Vermillion gave as the man waved. "Sup."

"Right."

There was an awkward silence before Mercury chimed in with a smirk. "Hey, she's got the same color scheme as you, only she has purple instead of red. Both Faunus, both with a dark color scheme, you two are pretty similar."

"We are nothing alike." Blake spoke with a cold edge as Mercury recoiled.

"Different, got it." Blake felt her cheeks flush as the guy leaned back. She was too tense, she needed to relax if she was going to keep an eye on Vermillion.

She gave a slight cough into her hand as she looked back. "What are you reading then?

The two boys looked to each other as Mercury handed her the book.

A comic?

"It's called 'Death slayer: Born in shadow', personal favorite of mine. About an anti-hero who has to fight against the dark gods, each guarding the nine circles of the underworld; home of the Grimm scourge."

"Right... well then, carry on I guess. I just came to grab this." Blake said as she picked out a random book and left.

Making her way from the library she was joined by her team one by one.

"So what are they up to?" Yang questioned as Blake sighed.

"Reading comics."

"Seriously?" Yang asked as Weiss spoke up. "At least they're not doing anything dangerous."

"How about we head down to Vale, we can look around down there." Ruby suggested as the others nodded.

"Good idea sis." Yang said as they prepared to leave. However they were stopped by the sound of a new voice calling from the distance.

"Team RWBY, hold on for a moment."

Looking over the girls saw that it was professor Goodwitch.

"Is there a problem?" Weiss asked as the woman stopped before them, handing the girl a stack of papers.

"Not exactly, the headmaster has simply decided that you four will be in charge of setting up the Beacon dance this week. These papers will tell you all you need to know, as well as the budget. Sorry to be so sudden but I need to keep moving, the headmaster has me run ragged today." The woman didn't stop as she scurried along to who knows where.

"Huh, that was weird." Yang let out as Weiss seemed overjoyed.

"Are you kidding, this is wonderful. All the planning and organization that goes into these things is simply amazing." Weiss spoke as she looked at the top page.

"And boring Weiss is back again." Yang spoke as the two began to argue.

Blake sighed as Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder, they weren't getting down to Vale today it seemed.

.

.

Ruby wasn't exactly the master of stealth as some may believe, but she could hold her own rather well. According to local rumors - mostly spread from the girls ordered by the castle - the royal pair didn't like having witnesses to their bedtime activities. Due to this they specifically ordered the hall outside their room to remain empty, so that nobody could hear what went on inside.

Still Ruby remained on guard, she wasn't out of the dark yet, she still had to find it. She could feel it's presence, the dark pull as she drew closer. The pull had been present all around her as she entered the kingdom itself, a flame in the dark guiding her ever closer to the candle that bore it.

She passed along to the end of the hall, peeking around the corner. Her vision was caught by two guards who came face to face with her. The blindfold was off, and she had no reason to be in the halls.

"He-"

The man never got a chance to speak as she drove her fists into both of them, watching as their aura glowed upon the impact.

So these ones have aura.

It shouldn't have been all that surprising, considering these were the castle guards and not the standard city watch. Ruby needed to take them out quickly, she couldn't allow them to call for help. The punches had knocked the air out of them, rendering them immobile for a split second.

A split second was all she needed.

Shadows seeped across her skin, glazing her in a crimson hue as she rushed forward. The two men stood for only a moment, not even able to catch their bearings before she was on them again. She aimed for their throats, the only unarmored part of their bodies. Her hands held flat as her fingers drove into the skin.

Their auras flared, but it wouldn't save them as her hands drove through the shield. Her fingers ripping apart flesh and muscle as the two froze, desperately coughing as they tried to breath.

The crimson bathing her flared as Ruby flexed her hands, tearing open both their throats as blood sprayed forth. The aura tried to cover the wound, yet it let out a silent shrike as it flooded away, a cry only she was able to hear. Even their souls feared the smoking wounds left behind as they dropped to the ground, choking and wheezing.

Pain erupted through her arms a moment later, the crimson left and she felt the corruption within grow yet again. She forced the pain away, looking forward and catching sight of a door in the distance. The feeling, it was radiating from down there. Fitting that lord Vice kept it so close to his bedroom, if anything it probably spent most of it's days used for prayer. The darkness within her yearned to be with it. So long as she kept her power under control the corruption wouldn't overtake her, not yet at least. In time it would, but only when the time was right, now wasn't that time.

Ruby sped along, stopping just before the door. She could feel the waves of raw power emanating from within, as well as something else. The first step of her mission lay just beyond the door, and not wasting any time she opened it up.

Eyes, nothing but eyes littered the furniture. Each piece had been covered in eyes, silver eyes to be exact. Ruby shut the door behind her as she steeled herself at the sight.

So this is what they did with the silver eyes of the Faunus.

It was disgusting, absolutely horrid. She looked across it all, from the chairs to the cupboards, all of it was covered in polished silver eyes with not a drop of blood to be seen. The room was freezing as ice accented the walls, a way to preserve the gruesome furniture. Even dead the power of the eyes still seeped around them, she could feel her own power longing to unite with it.

She shook her head, this was no time to lose herself in thought, she had a mission to complete. As disgusting as it was she noticed that the eyes had all been pointed towards the end of the room, as if looking at something.

And there she saw it, surrounded and watched by the eyes, sitting atop a shrine of silver suffering. It's power radiating throughout the whole room, as if being witnessed and worshipped by thousands of tiny souls, each crying out to be heard. The wall behind it was coated in silver eyes, all gazing towards it.

It glowed, sitting silently in it's splendor atop the pedestal. Ruby felt a crooked smile sweep across her face.

Finally, she found it, the first piece of the puzzle.

The sword of destruction.

Author's note

...

Well... this was a pretty eventful chapter. Not really in the action sense, more along the lines of plot relevance.

Ozpin sets his story into motion, as well as explaining the danger of the relics. V gets told the agonizing truth, or what he believes to be true. Ruby and crew get a new task to overlook. Emerald and Mercury come into play. And finally, future Ruby finds her target.

Things are picking up again - at least in future Ruby's case - so get excited.

Let me know what you think, see you next time.