The Relic of Time

"Uh…"

Soft green eyes opened and slowly he sat up, finding himself in a small chamber. The chamber was circular with a stone platform, resembling an altar of sorts that he was resting on before he awakened.

"Where…Where am I?"

Looking around he could see a series of stairways, all of which led straight up. Looking down he saw the floor was made of an elegant, polished marble. The walls were white too, though they were hidden behind statues of strange, angelic beings. A light poured down from large, arched windows on the left side of the walls as he slowly walked up the staircase.

"I don't understand. I remember…Jaune came back and we went back to Remnant." He said softly to himself, still shaken up by the experience, as he continued ascending the staircase. "How do I have a body again? And what is this place?"

"It's no surprise you would not remember. You are in the Chamber of Revival."

He gasped, looking up at the top of the stair case where a strange cloaked figure stood. He had grey eyes and a white beard, wearing a white shirt and faded white pants alongside a belt with yellow lines and a strange golden mark underneath the grey robe with black boots. A grey pointed had covered his face from the two suns and even obscured one of his eyes.

"Hello there." The mysterious man said. "I assume you are familiar with the name Ozma."

The boy stopped dead in his tracks. "You know Ozma?"

"Indeed I do." The man chuckled. "How long has it been? Thirty, forty years? Perhaps even fifty. A little young but I can see potential in this new face you have chosen."

"I…My name is Oscar, Oscar Pine." The boy introduced himself. "Yes, I was Ozma's host…But then I died."

"Did you?" The old man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I…What else could have happened to me?" The boy named Oscar looked down at himself, finding he was now back in his…old but original body. "I thought-"

"Your body was lost to the Darkness and your Heart and Mind were left to wander for some time. They should have ended up here with your body but you were pulled away…By Drasil." The old man explained, his eyes narrowing at the mention of Drasil.

Oscar looked up at the old man. "You know Drasil?"

"Come, follow me and you shall have the answers." The old man gestured for him to follow and walked away.

Oscar stared for a short second before following after the old man, feeling a strange connection to him. He raced up the stairs, his feet echoing on the marble floor as he raced up to the top and followed the old man around the corner…

And came upon a rather large and grand looking room. It had the same white marble floor and walls like the room he had awakened in, only it had a large golden bell. A set of stairs on the right led up to an interior balcony, which appeared to be three stories high. The strangest part was the pair of golden platforms separated from the balcony by a strange structure: a giant golden scale.

It was ornamental looking with both sides perfectly balanced and the golden the structure was made from cast a mystical glow while decorated by blue jewels.

And Oscar could feel a familiar presence from it… "Is that…a Relic?"

"It is." Oscar looked up to see the man he had just met standing on top of the scale. "This would be Relic of Judgement, located here in the Chamber of Judgement. Perhaps a bit on the nose, but the Brothers were always rather blunt."

"Where are we?" Oscar immediately asked.

"The chamber itself is one of many chambers, located here in what I call the Temple of Time." The old man answered. "It resides in a gap between time and space though technically it would actually be a Relic itself. The Relic of Time."

"A gap between space and time…That's impossible…The Brothers never created a Relic of Time or Judgement." Oscar stammered.

"Not on your world, they didn't." The old man calmly corrected. "But it's been so long since their time on Remnant, so who is to say they didn't create other things?"

Oscar stared. "They made even more worlds?"

"They did, as another part of their grand experiment and like Remnant they eventually left for places unknown." The old man answered as he jumped off the scale and landed in front of Oscar. "As for this place, they created it in response in to watching the adventures of the one they became very interested in. The One Who Named the Gods."

"Named the Gods?" Oscar asked, now completely shocked.

"By the look on your face, you haven't heard that fairy tale. At least not yet." The old man stated calmly as he turned around. "So we're at the point you have yet to experience the changes brought forth by the Singularity."

"What are you talking about?" Oscar asked, becoming frustrated due to not understanding what this man was talking about.

"I am sure you might understand later, if we are given the time." The man chuckled as he slowly walked a few feet away. "You want to know what this place is? Well, I suppose it all began with a girl locked in a tower named Salem and the brave warrior who rescued her named Ozma…"

Oscar's eyes widened as the man slowly faced him.

"They fell in love and were about to spend what they hoped was a happy life together. Only Ozma fell ill, succumbing to a rare form of illness that is actually treatable these days. I believe it was tuberculosis." The man rubbed his chin a bit in thought. "While everyone had magic back in those days, healing magic wasn't good for killing the bacteria that builds in the lungs. It was only after magic was gone did mankind work on creating a treatment for themselves like anti-biotics."

"How do you know all this?" Oscar asked, stunned by the man's knowledge.

"Patience, little one. Patience." The old man held up a single finger. "Now where were we? Ah yes, the tragic passing and what came after. Unable to accept her beloved's death, Salem sought the Gods out to bring him back, attempting to trick them and when they discovered her deception they made her immortal as punishment. Until she learned the value of the balance of life and death, she could not die and be reunited with her beloved Ozma.

"However, Salem decided if the Gods would not grant her wish, she would destroy them or at least all they had created. She amassed an army, claiming she had stolen immortality back from the Gods that had in turn had stolen the ability to live forever from them. However, for their disrespect the Gods destroyed mankind and abandoned the world that had become a Remnant of what it once was." The old man continued. "At least, that is how one part of the story is told."

"One part?" Oscar repeated. "What do you mean? I remember it-"

"Do you remember the blue haired woman who appeared one day, fought against a man made into a demon by the God of Darkness or facing greedy rulers one last time alongside your beloved and your newest friend? Do you remember Salem denouncing her as a wicked witch who must be hunted down and killed at all costs?" The old man suddenly said, rushing at Oscar and leaning down to his face. "Do you remember the woman who wielded a weapon shaped like a key and wore blue and silver armor?"

Oscar's eyes widened as he leaned back. "I…You mean Aqua? What does she have to do with this? She's from another world; she never came to Remnant before we used the Staff of Creation in Atlas."

"Right and wrong at the same time." The old man stepped back. "As it occurred that the island your friends landed on was home to something the Brothers created and then discarded as a failure? As it occurred to you that perhaps in addition to traveling to other worlds, those who hold this key shaped weapon are capable of traveling through time as well, changing everything as you know it, including history?"

"Hi-history?" Oscar dumbly repeated. "That's impossible."

"Not impossible, my friend." The old man shook his head and spread his arms out. "In fact, it was as probable as the existence of the Maidens, of the Relics, of the Brothers themselves! It changed everything we knew!"

Oscar stepped back; having the feeling this man was not entirely sane.

"Has it occurred to you, boy that just because Jinn showed you Ozma's past and beginnings with Salem, that was all there was to know? Did it occur to you that perhaps during the millennia of them waging war against each other that Ozma had seen and experienced things that went far beyond merely keeping the four Relics from Salem?" The old man lowered his arms. "And that there were things he kept hidden from even himself?"

"Wh-What?" Oscar gaped. "Hidden from himself? You're saying Oz knew about the Keyblade and other worlds?"

"I am saying he might have known, once upon a time but he forced himself to forget out of fear of what would happen if Salem found out about the other worlds, the Keyblade, the Heartless and even this place!" The old man gestured to their surroundings. "A relic taking the form of a temple that resides in the gap between time and space itself! A realm grown by them and people made from their limitless imagination! Just because they abandoned Remnant did not mean they stopped creating. Why, there is no way to actually count the worlds they have likely created and destroyed since Ozma's time."

Oscar looked around again as the old man turned away. "I knew I felt something in this place…The same feeling from the Relics…I don't want to believe it but the memories I share with Oz tell me it's all true…"

"Yes and so you understood why he would block off this from his memories, to make sure he could not recall every time he reincarnated." The old man stated. "If Salem knew of this place, about Drasil, she would have gone far to even abandon her quest for the four Relics to search this place which could give her even greater power than we have dared to fear."

Oscar didn't want to even imagine Salem being even stronger than she already was. "But why would they make this place? Why make Drasil?"

"Drasil was not born from the Brothers and they certainly would not intend for her to be born but when they learned of her existence from She Who Named Them. They were born in the Ever After, forged by the Tree to give life across the Ever After only to be exiled when they grew beyond their role. In a way she is a Relic much like the others ones the Brothers created but at the same time, she is something else that infected the Tree, attempting to control it." The old man explained. "And because the Ever After exists outside the universe, she has existed outside of time as we understood it and thus time had no meaning to her or the few that had somehow appeared in the Ever After. Time is linear in the mortal world, a river flowing in one direction. But to Drasil, she could see all of time itself, there was no limit to what she could see or potentially do, including how she could begin to create and manifest creations of her own. Have you considered that any strange creatures in the many fairy tales surrounding Remnant were not simply Grimm, but came from outside your world?"

"You're saying…That Drasil could create and send whatever she wanted into our world?" Oscar slowly asked, trying to understand.

"Yes and that's when the Brothers decided she could not be allowed to interfere. Ozma had already been tasked with guiding and leading humanity on Remnant and interference from Drasil could not be tolerated. So they banished her creations from Remnant, even after they had brought about a few changes of their own to it." The old man's lips curled into a small smile. "Did you ever wonder how the Faunus could have come into existence once humanity was reborn?"

Oscar's eyes widened. "…Drasil-?"

"Or at least the Tree created and sent the God of Animals to bless the people chosen to become more than human." The old man finished. "An experiment of their own, probably inspired by the Brothers."

Oscar looked down at the marble white floor, processing this new knowledge. Oz had not even considered using the Lamp of Knowledge to find out where the Faunus had come from, preferring to focus on stopping Salem and keeping the Relics out of her reach. Would knowing where the Faunus had come from really have changed anything?

"What does she want?" Oscar slowly and softly asked.

"…Drasil believes the Brothers betrayed her and defied their wishes to stop interfering on Remnant. She began looking for ways to enter the physical world so she could merge with Remnant, the First World and become what she believed the Brothers failed to be. What Ozma and Salem failed to be." The old man answered.

Oscar paled. "No…"

"Yes." The old man nodded.

"I have to stop her!" Oscar turned to run but stopped when he realize he had no idea how to leave. "How do I get out of here?!"

"Even if I told you, you're still no match for Drasil. One would think as the successor of Ozma, you would understand that without the knowledge of how to defeat your enemy you cannot hope to win." The old man harshly scolded.

"That didn't stop us from trying to defeat Salem after Jinn told us we couldn't, even if we gave up on finding a way and focused on keeping the Relics from her!" Oscar retorted as he spun around and glared at the old man. "So tell me where I need to go!"

The old man was suddenly right in front of Oscar, grabbing him by his collar and lifting him off the ground. "Do not make demands of me, boy! You are far from the Ozma whose mere presence made beasts and man hesitant to stand and fight! You could not find a way to beat Salem because you caved into despair like those before who succumbed to the fear and that is what will keep you from defeating Drasil unless you listen!"

The old man threw Oscar back down onto the floor rather harshly. Oscar grunted but managed to get back up, shrugging off the dull ache he now felt. He stared at the man with a hard look but did nothing else.

"Good, you're learning." The old man said and gestured for Oscar to follow him.

He followed the old man up the stair case on the left that led to the balcony but turned a corner, leading deeper into the tunnel.

"The Gods' exile from the Ever After allowed them to create new worlds but it was not as simple as that. As you have come to suspect, time is not a single river but rather it is a never ending rain shower with droplets representing possible timelines that have yet to occur but are every bit as real as the time you have experienced on Remnant and in the Ever After." The old man spoke as they walked down another hallway. "But they remembered meeting Aqua, a Lost Keyblade Master who had fallen to their world. After they departed from Remnant, they explored the universe and they remembered Aqua explaining to them how Keyblade Wielders would journey across countless worlds that they would protect from the Darkness. That's what led them to creating this temple, the Relic of Time."

The old man led Oscar out onto another balcony with stairs in front of them leading down into a room the size of a football field. Like the rest of the temple, the floor was made of white marble; the walls seemed to be made of a pearl white substance that actually seemed to glow. The ceiling was angular, making it appear almost like a cathedral of some kind. At the end of the room was a doorway, leading deeper into the temple which was flanked by two stone statues that held axes.

On the walls were a series of arced, stain glass windows, allowing for sunlight to pour in, bathing the room in a shining glow.

Oscar had to rub his eyes to make sure he was not seeing things. "This is all real."

"Indeed." The old man nodded as he led Oscar down the stairs. "The Relic of Time acts as a gateway between dimensions. The Brothers created this place so they could watch over other worlds, inspired by what Aqua had told them. This place is the exact opposite of Drasil who can only see worlds that the Brothers created."

Oscar looked around as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "So we could return to Remnant from here or enter any other world?"

"Yes to your first question but no to the second. You can only enter some of the worlds from here and you can enter here from the same place in that world you are in." The old man answered. "However, the Remnant you still know of has no such door leading to it."

"Why?"

"Because the most time related place in your world was destroyed." The old man answered.

"The most time-" Oscar's eyes widened as he suddenly recalled a certain place.

A tower with gears shifting at the very top like a clock, giving off a beacon like glow.

"Beacon Tower…" Oscar muttered in shock.

The old man smiled and nodded. "Indeed."

Oscar was now looking around more closely. "…Is this the place where he hid Beacon's Relic?"

"Close but no." The old man shook his head. "The last thing he would have wanted was Salem discovering this place and even then he made sure to erase his own memories so he would not be tempted to come back here."

"Why? Why would he be afraid of coming back here? If Beacon Tower was the only place that could access this place what was he afraid of?" Oscar questioned as he walked around.

"I told you, the Relic of Time exist in the gap between time and space. If he was not careful and this place was discovered, Salem would likely be the least of his problems." The old man shook his head. "But yes, Ozma found his way here once upon a time. Back then he was known as Oswald Phadrig."

Oscar's eyes widened in shock from hearing that name. "The King of Vale? The one who ended the Great War?"

"And who built the four Huntsmen Academies to hide the Relics. When Beacon tower was built, he felt the magic of this place calling to him to and it brought him here. How do you think he built the Vaults to hide the Relics?" The old man asked with a smug look.

"He…He hid the Relics in other worlds, using this place didn't he?" Oscar gaped.

It made sense since the Vaults led to pocket dimensions that were not part of Remnant.

"Exactly. Ozma learned so much here but the danger came when an agent of Salem infiltrated this place. Ozma fought and killed the man but was mortally wounded. He managed to make it to the door leading back to Remnant in time but he died just as he reached it." The old man continued. "No one ever figured what truly killed the last Warrior King of Vale, did they?"

Oscar almost felt like he could see it all happening in front of him. "And the next person he reincarnated into…It wasn't Ozpin, was it?"

"No." The old man shook his head. "It was not. Though he eventually found his way back to Remnant, it wasn't before he came across Drasil and she tried to trick him into opening a pathway to Remnant for her. He stopped her, by using his Keyblade to seal her."

Oscar spun around, staring at the man. "Oz had a Keyblade?!"

"You haven't seen it yet, have you?" The old man smiled before becoming serious again. "Drasil would make sure to keep it hidden from you of all people, no matter what form you took to make sure you did not remember the truth until it was too late. The Keyblade he wielded was called Gungnir and it is the only thing holding her back at the moment. If it is removed and a doorway to Remnant is opened, Drasil will enter that world and claim dominion over it, using her powers to bring mankind under her thrall and grant whatever wish they might have…At the cost of leaving everyone under her spell."

Oscar looked horrified by this revelation. "…She sounds worse than Salem."

"In many ways, she is." The old man nodded. "Salem only seeks the end, Drasil would seek to trap everyone in their minds, fulfilling their wishes for the rest of their lives but they would not be real. Drasil could make them as real as she wished but in the end they are just wishes and dreams. Those cannot be simply granted, they have to be earned."

"So how do I stop her?" Oscar immediately asked. "Oz did it before so I know I can do it."

"There is a way but it will be risky…" The old man hesitantly answered.

"Risk is everything my friends and I have done up to this point." Oscar stated with a small smile.

The old man mirrored that smile. "Indeed…You must remove Gungnir from its pedestal that keeps Drasil bound to her realm. When the door to Remnant opens, there will be a moment when Drasil exposes her heart, her core, what keeps her alive. That is when you must strike."

"She has a core?" Oscar asked, mentally listing everything he was hearing.

"Have you wondered what would happen to a spirit if its relic was ever somehow destroyed?" The old man asked.

That was odd but Oscar answered with a shake of his head. "No. I didn't think it was possible to destroy a relic. At least not one made by the Brothers."

"It can be done by something as powerful as or even greater than the Brothers themselves. Without the relic binding it, the spirit is set free but at the same time is cut off from its source. If it emerges from the Relic while it is destroyed the spirit is trapped in the corporeal world and eventually loses its power and dies." The old man explained. "If it's inside the Relic when it is destroyed, it's forever cut off from emerging again, unless a replacement is created. Destroy Drasil's main body and she loses her main source of power and likely her life. But it is easier said than done."

"Why is that?" Oscar raised an eyebrow.

"Ozma fought Drasil with a Keyblade but he couldn't destroy her…at least not without ensuring that your friends would not end up somewhere else where they could not get back to Remnant. He knew that others would eventually find their way here, based on his dealings with Aqua." The old man answered. "Drasil still holds the key to returning to Remnant but before you must seek out Aqua to help fully restore it."

"Aqua? What does she have to do with all this?" Oscar asked. "How could she have influenced so much and I don't even remember her?"

"Because…" The old man stared at Oscar. "She became part of a timeline running parallel to yours…She is a singularity that will end everything as we know it…or she will change everything."

"End everything? Change it?" Oscar shook his head in frustration. "Can you please try explaining in a way that makes sense? How can she end or change everything?"

"I am not a Spirit of Knowledge, boy. I cannot answer you in a way you will understand…Because explaining it to you would break you." The old man scowled. "All that you need to know for the time being is that you, Aqua and the four Maidens will need to work together to stop Drasil. What comes after that…that is when you will understand. Now follow me and I will show you the door back to Drasil."

Oscar stared but followed the old man as he led him deeper into the Temple of Time through the door on the other side of the room. The door led to a hallway and at the end was another large chamber. It appeared to be an alter and what looked like a sword's pedestal, surrounded by a set of hieroglyphics. Up ahead was a make shift ladder that led up to what appeared to be normal, stained glass window.

"We must climb." The old man pointed to the latter. "You first."

Shrugging Oscar climbed up the latter and reached the window that he reached out to touch…and amazingly passed through it.

"GAH!" Oscar cried out as he stumbled and fell through the window.

"Watch that first step. It's a little tricky!" The old man called out from right behind Oscar.

The former farm boy groaned as he got up and looked around what was clearly the next room. It was a dome like structure, glowing just like the last one with brilliant lights cascading from well-designed stained glass windows. In the center of the room was a strange, circular alter with a pedestal on it, obviously the place for something very important but whatever it was had obviously been removed. At the end of the room was another makeshift ladder but this one appeared to be made of metal that lead up to another stained glass window.

"I forgot to mention, some of these windows are illusions to ward off intruders if this place was ever found by someone…unworthy." The old man stated, emerging from behind Oscar. "We must continue."

Oscar nodded and proceeded up the next ladder but not before asking a question. "These two rooms, they held a Relic of their own, didn't they?"

"Yes. The Relic of Time also functions as a repository for Relics that are perhaps too dangerous for mortals or have yet to be given to someone worthy. Like I said, the Brothers have created many things since they abandoned Remnant." The old man answered as he reached the top of the ladder behind Oscar.

They walked down the hallway but Oscar noticed that the next chamber was much darker. It grew darker as they passed through the hallway but after a few moments they reached their destination. Oscar gasped in pure awe at their destination for this room was perhaps the largest room he had seen in this place. It resembled a grand hall you would likely find in a marble palace.

The roof was so tall; it almost appeared like there was no roof but rather a starless night sky. Under the feet were organized tiles that appeared old yet polished and fresh as if they had already been cleaned for visitors. Unlike the other rooms, the walls were not marble but instead had a clay design with hieroglyphics streaming along the lower half along with carefully crafted sculptures of monks, giving it an ornate feeling. On either side of the two were two large staircases, leading upwards to a door overhead and on the other side of the room was another door with statues resembling knights guarding it.

Oscar then looked at the center of the room, noticing another altar and hanging above it was a large church bell with an ancient text written on it that he couldn't even dream of being able to read.

"Welcome to the Grand Hall." The old man stepped forward. "On the seventh floor there will be a portal leading back to Drasil."

Oscar took his eyes off the golden bell, feeling it was another Relic like the Relic of Judgement he had heard the old man call that giant golden scale. "Before we go any further, I have one last question."

The old man stopped in mid-walk, seemingly freeing.

"Who are you?" Oscar asked his question. "You know a lot about me, Oz and Salem, that I can tell. You've answered every question I've had so far up to this point even if they haven't been exactly the kind of answers I wanted but you haven't told me what your role is in all this. Are you a follower that Oz trusted to safe guard this place?"

"In a manner of speaking." The old man simply said.

"I need a straight answer now." Oscar crossed his arms. "Or I won't trust you to get me back to my friends."

The old man sighed…and then chuckled. "You definitely are a reincarnation of Ozma but you seem to be much different. Perhaps we have learned after all this time."

"We?"

The old man turned around, fully facing Oscar now. "In my life, I was known as Keyblade Master Odin and the chosen host of Ozma that came before Professor Zoroaster Ozpin."