Current Energy: 13
Saturday, March 5th, 2011
Beacon Academy, Remnant
With Qrows stamp of approval - and seeming inability to agree with Ironwood about much of anything at all - it takes very little time at all for your Master to finally be directed to Ozpin.
Which is not to say that she is taken straight to him. Oh no, for an entire host of reasons, your Master finds herself waiting on the school grounds for her meeting with the man.
"I feel like I should have just gone straight to him." She muses aloud, causing Qrow to wince from where he is standing awkwardly nearby. Presently, the two of them are just sort of sitting in one of Beacon Academies many smaller courtyards.
"Is that a thing you can do? Just ah, go places you've never been?" Qrow asks hesitantly.
"Just have to have an idea of where I'm going. A picture works, really. I mean, I could probably just have run from the city to here in the same amount of time but you know." Taylor says with a shrug.
"Uh Huh… so uh. Level with me here kid. You said your name was uh… Taylor, right? You said you aren't a Maiden but I get if you just didn't trust ol Jimmy. Guy is a bit of a dick." Qrow says, licking his lips nervously and glancing around himself.
"I am not, nor have I ever been a Maiden. They aren't that impressive in the first place. Shaker Five, Blaster three or four at best I think." Taylor explains thoughtfully.
In truth, your understanding of what a 'Maiden' is lines up roughly with what your Master is assuming. As far as you are aware, all a Maiden really gets out of the title is the ability to affect their surroundings to a certain degree using the elemental effects common to this world, with a secondary ability to shoot blasts of said element at their enemies.
So basically a middling Shaker/Blaster combo, by your world's standards.
"The hell is a Shaker Five?" Qrow blurts out in confusion.
"Oh it's like… a rating system? For uh… I guess semblances? There are twelve of them with a rating between one and ten for the strength of the power. It's supposed to inform how you approach an opponent and what level of force would be required to take them out." Taylor explains easily, recounting the PRT rating system for the man. She probably doesn't see much issue in doing so - after all, Remnant has its own flavour of superhuman to deal with.
"...so it's an entire system designed to fight other people? Only other people?" Qrow asks shrewdly.
"Well yeah, we're the ones with the cool powers." Taylor answers him quizzically.
"That woman is a bloody psychopath." He answers her resolutely, pulling a flask from his hip and taking a swig of it.
"Uh…" Taylor utters, blinking in surprise at the behaviour.
"Don't worry bout it. I'll figure it out later. Let's go wait for Oz in his office." Qrow eventually belches out before pausing to stare at the Raven on your Masters shoulder - Mun.
"...Hey that isn't Raven literally right there is it?" He asks in a suspicious tone.
"No, it's a completely unrelated girl that can also turn into a bird." Taylor answers dryly.
Qrow spends the entire walk to the elevator heading to Ozpin's office staring blankly at Mun - whose beak twitches into an entirely uncanny grin just before everyone steps onto said elevator.
"No one will believe you." She whispers to him.
Understandably, the man almost has a heart attack.
"Glynda! Oh man, I am glad to see you. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how the hell you made hot chocolate taste so good!" Taylor belts out the second she steps off the elevator, finding a tall, buxom, blonde woman heatedly arguing with Ironwood in front of the large desk Ozpin claims as his own, and that is - besides the chair behind it - pretty much one of the only pieces of furniture in the room.
The blonde woman - who you must stress, looks like a teenage boys idea of a hot teacher - turns angrily towards your Master and Qrow as they step off the elevator, pointing a riding crop of all things at them.
"I have no patience for you today Qrow." The woman says, her voice dripping with venom.
"I didn't even say anything!" He protests weakly.
"And I assume you are the girl in question? Hello, my name is Glynda Goodwitch. I apologize for how James treated you but as you could see things we're somewhat... hectic." Glynda explains kindly, before turning a venomous glare towards Ironwood.
"Love that woman. Absolute slave driver, but she knows what she's about." Taylor jokingly says to Qrow, covering her mouth as though trying to hide what she is saying but not at all bothering to actually lower her voice.
"I find it interesting that you seem to know her when I'm sure I've never seen you in Beacon before." The man who had been quietly watching the proceedings from his chair on the far side of the desk notes. His voice isn't loud or particularly demanding of attention - but it immediately silences everyone else the minute he speaks regardless.
"Yeah I didn't go here. Or anywhere. Look this is going to sound weird but uh… Hm. You know I wanted to talk to you but I just realized how insane everything I have to say is going to sound." Your Master muses aloud. You aren't sure when she picked the habit up, but she just… thinks out loud a lot recently. You suspect it's a habit she has acquired in the interests of seeming like less of an implacable engine of destruction to the people around her.
It does serve that purpose, but it also makes her seem like much more of an airhead than she actually is.
"You said you had a message from my Sister right? Start with that." Qrow encourages her.
"I know you think that's helpful but it's really not." She tells him flatly. Qrow mumbles something mean spirited about his sister that you don't quite catch, but doesn't himself say anything past that point.
"Okay let's start easy. Raven is the… Spring? Spring Maiden. The psycho that put the Fall Maiden in a coma is hiding out in your school waiting for a chance to finish the job, the White Fang are going to hijack all of your killer robots, and I'm him, but like, two deaths from now." Your Master blurts out before tapping a finger on her lips in consideration and adding;
"Also, why did you build killer robots that could all be hacked simultaneously from one location?" She asks in befuddlement.
The room stares at her. She stares back.
"...setting aside some of that for the moment." Ozpin begins, leaning forward to tent his fingers, both elbows resting securely on the desk in front of him.
"No wait, I can prove it!" Taylor blurts out, pulling Long Memory from her waist and not even blinking when it becomes Mem.
"Hello." She greets cordially, smiling shyly at Ozpin whos expression remains stoic.
The room looks from Mem, to Ozpin, and back again.
"So I turned Long Memory into a person with magic. Long story." Taylor explains sheepishly.
"Nope. No. I'm out. Call me when you guys figure this out. Glynda, give the kid my Scroll number when you get the chance. I'm gonna go see how my other nieces are doing." Qrow immediately rattles off, pivoting on one foot and leaving the room.
"Does he know that you consciously delete his number from your Scroll whenever possible or…?" Taylor asks curiously, turning back to Glynda.
"And how exactly do you know that?" Glynda asks sharply.
"I just said, I've got one of him swimming around in my head. Here, look." Taylor says with a sigh, waving her hand and causing a burst of blue energy to form into a chair under her.
"See? Magic." She says simply, before absently conjuring a chair for Mem to sit in.
"Anyway, I'm basically future you. Or… alternate reality you. One of the two. Probably both. So if one of you could just, point me in Salem's direction, I was hoping to throw her into the Sun and go home in time for dinner…" She elaborates.
The entire time your Master has been rambling, an entire host of expressions has run across the faces of the people in the room with her. Glynda appears suspicious but tolerant of the situation so long as Ozpin does likewise, Ironwood is staring stony faced at your Master, doing his utmost not to give anything he is thinking away, and Ozpin is just… staring. At Mem.
"...I'm afraid that even if I was willing to direct a lone teenage girl-" Ozpin begins slowly.
"Who is also you." Taylor interjects. Ozpin turns a flat gaze on her.
"As I was saying. Even if I was willing to direct you to Salem, I cannot. I have no idea where she is besides a general assumption that she resides somewhere in the Land of Darkness which is… quite a bit of area to search." Ozpin notes carefully.
Taylor squints at him for a moment, then sighs.
"And I guess at least one of you would throw a fit if I started just… I dunno… blowing up large swathes of the place?" She asks lamely.
"...quite." Ozpin responds with a quick glance to a dour looking Ironwood.
"Well that… sucks. What was the name of that city with all the criminals, out by Mistral? Wind Path? I guess I could clear that place out before I head home…" She muses to herself.
"I am going to have to ask you to refrain from… actually I am curious. What exactly did you intend to do in a City where the authorities are also the criminals?" Ozpin asks curiously.
To this, Mem raises her hand, like a school child attempting to garner her teachers attention. The slight movement is more than enough to draw Ozpin's attention back to her, and you have to applaud the mans focus because he is clearly much more interested in her than he lets on.
"Yes?" He acknowledges her, causing her to quickly lower her hand.
"I would not worry too much. By the time Taylor was finished raising her castle in our home city there were no more criminals left of note." The Shikigami notes neutrally.
"Chief, I know you think that's reassuring but it super isn't." Mun states from her shoulder.
"I don't understand. Our enemies were vanquished and we were able to come here. That is clearly an absolute win in any context." The Shikigami argues.
"I uh, I didn't kill anybody I swear." Taylor rushes to explain when everyone turns to stare at her.
"In… any case. I would like to verify as much of what you have to say as possible. If I find you to be trustworthy, perhaps I can… consider some of your more outlandish claims." Ozpin offers, his eyes darting to Mem and then Mun before returning to your Master.
It's a better offer than you were expecting. You suppose being an ancient wizard comes with a slightly more flexible than normal mindset - because you would have given even odds that your Master's claims would be dismissed out of hand. Still, this outcome clearly isn't what your Master wants, which is evidenced by the way she is frowning.
"Can we at least deal with the Fall Maiden thing? I get that it might take a while to suss out that Leo is working for Salem but-" Your Master starts then pauses.
"Also the Headmaster of Haven Academy, that Leo guy? He's totally a turncoat." She explains before going on.
"Anyway, can we at least bag Cinder? Why do you have a grown woman in what amounts to a highschool anyway?" Taylor questions.
You can actually hear Ozpin inhaling deeply when she is finished speaking.
"I… will look into it. We have no means of proving what you are saying is true." Ozpin says tiredly.
"Oh. That's easy. Just spread it around that I'm a Maiden and the psycho will probably try and kill me the next time I'm alone." Taylor answers with a shrug.
"Absolutely not. Even assuming you are correct, we already have one Maiden severely injured - what's to stop her from doing the same to you?" Glynda finally snaps, reentering the conversation as her well honed instincts as an educator of children kick in, forcing her to speak out against such a plan.
"Easy. I'm never actually alone." Your Master says with a grin that - if you are being charitable - could loosely be described as feral.