Author's Note:
I do not own Library of Ruina or RWBY. These series belong to Project Moon and RoosterTeeth respectively.
Hey, it's been almost a month since I last posted. I had to delay the chapter because I injured my hand in an accident. It wasn't anything too serious, I could've still typed but it felt uncomfortable so I decided to push it back a week so I could heal. That's why you'll probably find grammar mistakes or discrepancies in the chapter because I got injured around the 1/3 mark. Anyway, onto other topics, RWBY Volume 9 ended and it was great. I'm really excited about Volume 10 that's releasing this September; I hope to see how their return will play out considering that they "died" in the minds of everybody else. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
Reviews:
HarmonyDST05 - Thanks for pointing that out. Honestly, I watched a video of all the cutscenes in Library of Ruina even though I played through the game like three times, and figured out that even the Liu also used a projector to show a video of the entire scene between Xiao and Argalia, so I concluded that I will just roll with it. The City already is less technologically advanced than Remnant in the computer sector so I'mma just say that the City only has video and that's probably it. Anyways, I kinda went off on a tangent there, but it is confirmed that Penny and Angela will meet. Although, I'm still trying to plan out how they will meet.
Argorok - Oh, I can attest to that. Cinder will know true fear by the time she fights the Librarians.
galiono - Thanks bro, this was just something I thought about on a whim. And yes, I will continue this.
littehoke - Honestly? Making the characters interact with each other is probably the hardest part for me. The flow of conversation is something I yearn for. But anyways, Ozpin and Binah do seem like a conversation that I would like to write, but I'm scared of the vocabulary they're going to use. Two cryptic individuals talking to each other? Scary.
MrSadLad - Lol, Wonderlabs was great. I had hope to incorporate some things from it to here, but I don't know where.
Emm - Dang, your review made me want to continue the Extra Chapters and make more Keypages for the other RWBY characters. On a side note, I've also thought about Semblances for each of the Librarians. I don't know if they're good or underpowered, but I'll include it in the Extra Chapter. Also, for Scorched Girl, I considered her leaving, but turned it down as it would be too unpredictable to write. In regards to Angelina Onyx, she is just Angelica reincarnated into Remnant; she's very similar to Angelica, but she doesn't have any of her memories.
Touhoupedia - Honestly, I feel that. I have a plan for Cinder and her gang, but I'm not sure if it's cruel enough or easy. Welp, I'm sure future me could figure it out.
–EMERALD FOREST–
"This is the place where you and Yesod were dropped off?" Angela asked.
Roland nodded in response, "Yeah, should be." The black fixer did a quick scan of the forest. He wasn't quite sure, after all, they did land in a forest that was entirely green so it wasn't like they had a good landmark, to begin with.
Before in the Library, Ozpin asked Angela if the Library could move. She thought about the possibility of moving the Library, it would be possible if they had a Singularity like what the Head used to transfer the Library to Remnant, but she didn't have a solid answer for the headmaster. When she explained that she hadn't considered moving the Library from the Emerald Forest, Ozpin persuaded her with some positives of moving to Beacon. The other Librarians thought about the pros of the proposal; it wasn't a bad deal, but they were getting used to the green scenery around them. In the end, it was Angela's decision and even she wasn't entirely convinced about it until someone else spoke up.
Hokma interjected himself into the conversation and told Angela that her E.G.O. worked like any other E.G.O. equipment, able to be stored and retrieved at will.
He theorized that due to the Library's nature as an E.G.O., it had the properties of regenerating Light faster if the Light was stored back inside the original user's consciousness; much like how a battery would charge faster if turned off.
This came at the cost of everything inside the Library and anything made from Light by the Library would be called back. Anything ranging from Key Pages, Books, Abnormality Pages, and even the Librarians themselves would be returned to the Light. At first, the Librarians were hesitant to be put to sleep again after the last time, but the trials they went through in the Library made them realize that the A.I. had changed for the better, so they reluctantly agreed to go to sleep.
At first, Roland was scared that he was gonna lose his limbs as they were made out of Light but was told that he had alright bonded with the Light enough that it gave him a new set of limbs. Plus he was mostly non-Light anyways.
Upon hearing the benefits outweigh the cons, she hesitantly agreed as long as Beacon agreed to some of her own terms.
After spending some time cleaning and making sure everything was in check, and after Roland and Angela's talk about the black fixer's problems, in just a few hours, the Library's doors closed and disappeared; only Roland and Angela remained at the now-gone entrance of the tower. It was a weird experience to not be connected to the Library when it closed, it felt like an entire lifetime left the black fixer's body.
As for Angela, she enjoyed the new feeling of grass when she took her first steps outside the Library. It was the first time she'd touched grass. In the eyes of Roland, it was like watching a baby deer trying to walk after it was birthed. She eventually got used to walking on dirt and grass, her heels occasionally digging into the ground and making her stumble a little, but she got the hang of it quickly.
A few minutes later, the two Librarians could see the bullhead in the sky. They waited at a safe distance so that the aircraft could land without harming them. Before Angelina could touch down, the black fixer was nervous and a bit scared to talk to her. In a moment, he was gently shoved by the pale librarian, although she had put some force in it unconsciously. She told him that she did it for Angelica who would've done it herself. After realizing that, he warmly smiled at Angela's thoughtfulness, even though he wanted to shove her back in revenge because it kinda hurt.
As they waited for their ride to Beacon, debris and dust swirled around the two librarians. When the bullhead landed in front of them, the pilot stepped out to greet them and invite them aboard. Although initially perplexed as to why the purple individual had transformed into a female, the pilot disregarded the thought and assumed it was a Semblance. Angelina welcomed them both and led them into the passenger compartment, but the black fixer requested a private conversation with her.
He had asked her if they could talk privately and she curiously agreed. Roland led her away from Angela so they could have a one-on-one talk. Once they were a good distance away, he told her about the fact that she looked exactly like his deceased wife and was worrying about it; he just wanted to confess that he was sorry for failing her. Although he was concerned that this stranger would find his confession strange, Angelina embraced him, comforting his grief.
As Roland embraced Angelina, he felt a sense of relief and release from the weight of his emotions. Confessing his sorrow and being embraced by someone who resembled a person he had loved dearly lifted a weight off his chest.
The pilot spoke softly, reassuring Roland that he had no reason to feel guilty and that his wife's death was not his fault. She encouraged him to let go of the guilt and concentrate on the good memories he had of his wife.
Roland listened carefully, and the pilot's words struck a chord with him. He realized that he had held on to a sense of responsibility for his wife's death, even though he knew rationally that it was beyond his control. After staying in each other's embrace for a few minutes, Roland broke away from the hug and thanked Angelina for listening to him.
When the two returned back to the airship, they found Angela reading her book while waiting for them. She saw Roland radiate a glowing aura, indicating that the talk went well. Angela couldn't help but smile warmly at her friend's new smile.
The bullhead's doors started to close as Angela felt the bullhead move. She could feel the initial thrust off the ground, yet nothing else came after. Much like what their purple librarian had said, the bullhead's engines were much more silent than the A.I. had predicted. Even the sensation of flying through the sky was unlike anything Angela had experienced before, a truly one-of-a-kind technology that could not be found within the City.
–AN HOUR LATER–
–DOCKS, BEACON ACADEMY–
Ozpin took a sip of his cocoa and remarked, "Seems like we're going to have a lot of new, interesting things coming this semester." Much like he did almost a week ago, it would be impolite to not personally welcome a new ally, especially if it was the boss of the Librarians, so he decided to be at the docks with Professor Goodwitch in tow.
Glynda shook her head in frustration, still in shock seeing the yellow, red, and bronze librarians dissipate into golden pages in front of their very eyes. "Yes, headmaster, I completely agree," she said with a strained voice as she slouched in fatigue. She feared that Beacon's budget wasn't going to last the year if Ozpin kept doing stuff like this.
The headmaster squinted his eyes to see the approaching bullhead in the distance. He took out his scroll to check the time, just right after classes had ended at Beacon. It was perfect timing for them to arrive without drawing too much attention.
"Ah, it seems like they are here," Ozpin pointed out to his companion. She turned to see that indeed the Librarians were almost here. The blonde professor adjusted herself to look more proper in preparation; she did not want to make a bad impression on technically Remnant's fully sentient A.I. The headmaster saw this as well and prepared himself too, it would be the first time in his lifetime to directly speak with something, not Human, Faunus, or her.
Looking up, they saw the bullhead land directly in the middle of its assigned docking bay. Both of them prepared themselves as the ramp to the ship connected with the ground. The first person to emerge was Roland, who led the way for his superior. The Librarian Director of the Library took in the sight of Beacon Academy, her eyes stared off into the distance to look at every part of the campus and its surroundings. Roland saw her amazed expression and it wasn't long until he broke into a smile, but in the process, he wasn't looking where he was stepping and stumbled on the sloping ramp.
Suppressing a chuckle, the headmaster called out to them, "Miss Librarian Director, Mr. Roland." Before he could continue talking, the A.I. cut him off.
"Please, headmaster, call me Angela," she asserted while offering a handshake. "The Library isn't active right now, so it would be inappropriate to call me Librarian Director."
In response, Ozpin held an amused smile. "Very well, Angela," he spoke, grabbing onto her hand and shaking it. "You may call me Ozpin."
Noticing how pleasant the first in-person introduction went, the black fixer scoffed in disappointment. "Dang, I thought you would rip off the limbs of everyone you meet," Roland jeered. Glynda looked disturbed to hear that but didn't voice her thoughts.
"That's because he is more important than a 'kickass Grade 1 fixer,'" Angela countered. "In addition, you also broke into the Library without my permission."
Roland jokingly scoffed, "I'll have you know that it wasn't my idea in the first place." It was actually the Purple Tear's idea, but he wouldn't regret accepting her plan to enter the Library. "I was just… exploring new career opportunities," he excused himself.
Angela narrowed her eyes, before she eased them, replacing a stern look with a warm smile. At the same time, Roland also did the same. Both professors of Beacon looked at the scene in front of them with curiosity. They had read the written reports from Team RWBY describing the Librarian Director as an A.I. who held great power and commanded the Librarians, however, they saw a normal person, albeit a bit blunt and straightforward.
Ozpin coughed to garner the attention of the two. "Well now, I suppose that we should head to my office to discuss further plans about the Library," he said. Without any vocal agreement, the group of adults and one A.I. walked to the giant tower of Beacon Academy.
As they got closer and closer to the campus, for the first time in her life, Angela saw new sights and hundreds of people walking about. The giant white castle went beyond what she had expected, if she dare say, it was most likely just as big as the Library excluding the infinite space inside it. Random students and faculty members would wave to the headmaster and the blonde professor while some briefly said their "hellos." It was refreshing to see people walk by the pale librarian and not judge her for being a humanoid A.I. like most of the Guests did back in the City; she knew that these people wouldn't try to use her for anything, and no one would take away her freedom. That was something that she longed for: Freedom.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Roland nudged her to get her attention. She turned to hear him speak quietly enough that Ozpin and Glynda didn't hear, "Looks like you're getting started on that bucket list." Her expression turned to confusion, trying to recall a list of buckets. However, he noticed her confusion and explained, "You said that you wrote a list of things you wanted to do once you left the Library. One of the first things was to travel the world. Well… I guess another world counts, right?"
Then, she just remembered that conversation. It wasn't that long ago, but she felt like… wait a second. She didn't remember that conversation? How? She was an A.I. built to remember everything down to the most minute detail; every scratch mark, every conversation, every Guest, every Librarian, every death. Angela raced through her thoughts in a flash, her processor working to think about this. The only time she ever forgot something was when she was turning…
"Angela?" Roland's voice shook her out of her thoughts. She snapped her head to face him. "You good?"
The A.I. nodded in response, "Yes, I'm… alright." Instead of trying to make Roland worried for her when he just got out of worrying about Angelina and Angelica, she would talk to him at a different time. "I was just going over the list," she lied.
"Hmmm," he thought about it, before dismissing it. "Okay. Anyways, we're here." He gestured to the building in front of them.
It was the CCT tower that Yesod had mentioned before when he was explaining the dustnet. Roland hadn't gotten a chance to enter the building itself, only seeing it from the outside when he got that tour from Team RWBY. Walking inside, the two librarians saw multiple people on some monitors surrounding a large tower in the middle of the room. Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch led them around the tower to the elevator taking them up to the former's office.
["Hello," a cheery voice greeted them when they entered the elevator. "Welcome to the CCT, how may I help you?"]
"Take us to my office, please," Ozpin calmly responded.
["Certainly Headmaster."]
After she stopped talking, the elevator started to move upwards.
"Who was that?" Angela curiously asked. Something about the way the elevator operator spoke was familiar to her.
"Violet, Beacon's CCT A.I.," Professor Goodwitch responded. "She may not have a robotic body like yourself, but she should be just as intelligent as any person."
Angela and Roland recalled the A.I. Ethnics Amendment in the City with the black fixer humming in response. They hadn't known that A.I.s existed in Remnant until now, it would be weird for them since they hadn't seen any other A.I.s since Angela's conception. But, they disregard those thoughts when they heard the ding of the elevator go off, telling them that they had arrived.
–HEADMASTER'S OFFICE, BEACON–
Ozpin took his place on his chair while Glynda took her place on his right. In a similar fashion, Angela took a seat directly across from Ozpin and Roland stood next to her on her left. Before they could talk, the headmaster asked the blonde professor to make them some tea. Professor Goodwitch wanted to persuade him to let him stay here just in case of something went wrong, but his unworried smile made her follow his instructions.
After he saw the Professor leave the room, he looked at the two in front of him. "From here on out, let's skip all formalities since we'll be acquainted for a long time," Ozpin offered.
Angela nodded, "That is alright with me."
"Now then," he cleared his throat. "Is the Library within you right now?"
"Yes, the entirety of the Library is currently residing inside my consciousness," she answered. "You said before that you had something planned for the Library, but I don't see it."
"In due time, Angela, the preparations are being finalized at this moment," he said with a smile.
"What preparations? I thought we were just going to place the Library somewhere around Beacon?" Roland questioned. He didn't think it would be hard to do nor would it take any time at all.
"That would garner the attention of everyone," Angela countered. "How would Ozpin explain how a giant tower appeared out of nowhere? Especially in the middle of his academy?" Roland flinched back when his argument was shut down.
"That would be correct Angela. I don't want to explain to all of Remnant how I allowed a tower to be stationed right next to one of the huntsmen academies," Ozpin agreed. "That's why we're going to be building your new Library."
It would be a hassle for him to try to cover that up, especially since he hadn't told any of the other Kingdoms about the Librarians yet. Trying to come up with excuses wouldn't do any good nor would ignoring it prove to be the greatest plan. That's why he came up with this plan; it would cost a good piece of Beacon's funding, but if it would help in the fight against her, the cost didn't matter. He stepped out of his thoughts to see the black fixer and pale librarian looking at him funny. Did he say something wrong?
"Excuse me?" Angela started off. "'New Library?'" Even Roland was baffled by what the headmaster had said. In response, Ozpin grabbed his scroll and flipped it to show the two librarians a blueprint. Both of them examined the scroll and held surprised expressions.
–ONE DAY LATER–
—AUDITORIUM, BEACON ACADEMY—
In the auditorium of the campus, every student and staff available for the Headmaster's announcement awaited for him to arrive. Once Ozpin had shown himself, a lot of chatter was heard asking many questions like: "What's happening?", "Is it a new student?", "Are Grimm attacking?"
"Quiet!" Professor Goodwitch loudly spoke. Immediately, all the talking was silenced.
Ozpin coughed to clear his throat and tapped on the microphone to test it. When he felt that the volume was satisfying he spoke, "Greetings students and staff, it is my pleasure to announce that we will be welcoming some new members to our staff." He looked to the side of the stage and beckoned them to show themselves. Roland and Angela appeared out from the side and walked closer to the headmaster.
Once again, the chatter amongst the student body rose as they looked at the two new staff members. Some had recognized the black fixer from when his red friend beat Yang in a spar, but they didn't remember the light blue-haired woman next to him. Even the faculty of Beacon were beginning to talk to themselves about them. On the other side, Roland was feeling a bit uncomfortable in this position; he wasn't used to this much attention. Looking over to Angela, she looked a bit distant and stared at the crowd, looking reminiscent of them. However, the black fixer tuned back into what the headmaster was saying.
"If you recall, a group of individuals were on campus for a collaborative study with their group and Beacon. After some agreement, it has been decided that they should stay here and continue their research whilst working as a part of the staff. They will take over the duties of a new Library that we are constructing to replace the old one. Unfortunately, most of them couldn't attend this announcement as they had to go back home to prepare, but these two here will suffice as their representatives." He continued to explain that the building would be its own separate building and placed near the CCT Tower. The new library would be bigger and more organized.
A bunch of murmurs sounded from the crowd, making Roland feel awkward, however, he saw the white-haired pilot off in the distance. She was waving at him, then he smiled and weakly waved back; it made him feel more comfortable. Upon closer inspection, he also saw Team RWBY and Team JNPR looking at him, they looked excited to get the Librarians as a part of Beacon.
"Excluding the fact that they will work as the new librarians, they are capable of combat and possess great insight into many things. They are highly skilled and experienced in their work, and I have no doubt that they will make valuable contributions to our academy," Ozpin concluded his announcement and turned to face the two new staff members. "Now, I'd like to give them a chance to introduce themselves."
In response, both of the librarians looked at the headmaster in surprise. They hadn't been notified of introducing themselves, and the look on his face told them that it was on purpose. Absent-mindedly, Angela walked up to the microphone.
"Greetings, I am Angela, the direc–," she cut herself off. The pale librarian contemplated her words but settled on something she smiled at. "Just Angela, I am Angela. My past occupation is of a similar role, I hope to help Beacon in any way I can."
When she finished, Roland smiled because the tone in her voice sound a bit more hopeful and less strained. He stepped up and grabbed the microphone. The black fixer was too busy thinking about Angela that he forgot what he was going to say, so he sighed, "Uhh, the name's Roland. Nice to meet you."
He looked back at the crowd and they were giving him looks that said: "That's it?" He didn't know what to say, all he knew was that he was a bit tired and uncomfortable, so he decided to just shorten his introduction.
Noticing that the crowd was getting restless, some were asking questions while others started to talk with each other, Professor Goodwitch ended the assembly and dispersed the crowd. Almost all the students and staff left except for a jolly-looking man and Doctor Oobleck. Ozpin, Glynda, Roland, and Angela exited the stage and approached the two men.
The gray-haired professor looked to be reaching his elderly age and was wearing a burgundy suit with gold lining and buttons; similar colored pants with olive boots matched the rest of his appearance. A thick gray mustache covered his mouth, moving whenever he spoke. "New blood eh," the bubbly fat man spoke, directing his gaze to Roland. "Happy to meet you, Professor Peter Port. I teach the youngins about the Grimm. Bart has told me many things about your cooking, my good sir."
At first glance, Roland thought that he looked like he would fit in the military rather than an academy. However, that assumption went away when Port offered a handshake to the black fixer who accepted it. Although the professor looked like he wasn't all that much, he had a strong and firm grip.
"Nice to meet you too, as I said earlier, the name's Roland," the black fixer responded when they broke their handshake.
"It was one time Peter," the green-haired professor chimed in. "His dish was something I had never seen before, I was just curious as to what it tasted like." He took a sip of his coffee and turned his attention to the black fixer. "Hello once again Roland, I hope you've been doing well."
"Ah, it's been fine," he replied. "Just the fact that I'm going to be working at a big place is somewhat freighting."
"That's quite alright chap," Port boomed. "I assure you that most of the students and staff here are more respectable than you believe. Beacon will welcome you with open arms." The professor gave another cheery laugh, which helped alleviate some worries Roland and Angela had.
Oobleck had realized that the pale-haired person was also there. "Oh, my apologies. We had forgotten to include you in the conversation. I believe I haven't met you yet?" He quickly said.
"It's no worries professor," Angela responded. "I am Angela, a friend of Roland's."
"Bartholomew Oobleck," the green-haired professor reassured. "Also, it's Doctor, not Professor. I earned my Ph.D., so I'm going to use it, but we're going to be colleagues from now on, so Oobleck or Bart would be fine."
"Alright then Oobleck," she cordially responded. However, a thought struck her. Angela turned toward the Headmaster of Beacon and asked a question. "What will happen to the previous librarians of Beacon?"
Ozpin let out a sigh and adopted an amused yet saddened expression. "There was only one librarian, and she had… let's say, some joy in her words. When she was notified of the new library and took the opportunity to quit," he explained. The rest of Beacon's professors' expressions faltered at his words. The look on their faces prompted the headmaster to continue. "She said that she was fed up with the students returning the books either in tatters or had pages missing, some students making a mess in the bookshelves, and generally making a racket when other students were studying."
Roland winced in hindsight at the prospect of that happening to him and the rest of the librarians. He was happy that the Library would automatically clean itself of dust, blood, and grim, but leave the books laying around as the only things they had to clean and organize. But this sounded like a pain to do, but he would cross that bridge when he got there.
Through the window, the black fixer looked around to see the light in the sky was dimming. It was a sign that it was dinner time and he was getting hungry. Soon, he started to feel tingly about the windows; he was getting the sickly feeling of someone watching him. Scanning the room's windows, he noticed the top of someone's hair just peaking over the frame of the window near the entrance. When the person's head started to rise, he rose his as well to not draw suspicion that he knew. Who were they? Enemies? Friends? Roland was leaning toward the latter because Beacon was relatively a safe place and nobody held animosity toward the Librarians.
After a while, Roland lowered his gaze and saw the familiar faces of 8 kids spying on them. The black fixer pretended to not notice them and look in their direction. In response, they realized where he was looking and they hastily dipped under the window and away from his sight.
Roland chuckled to himself, garnering the attention of the others near him, he noticed their curiosity so he explained, "I spotted 8 nosy kids out there, I wanna go check on them." They understood who those 8 were and silently nodded, so Roland made his way to the front door of the auditorium and paused in front of it when he heard voices under the window right next to the door. When he walked up to the window, he saw the group of kids sitting with their backs to the wall and didn't notice Roland watching them.
"You think he saw us?" Jaune asked.
"I don't think so," Ruby guessed.
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why are we doing this anyway?" She chided.
"Because Ruby wanted to talk to Roland and Nora wanted more of those pancakes," Blake answered before turning to her partner with a deadpanned expression. "And Yang doesn't want to talk to Professor Goodwitch."
The blonde brawler shivered upon hearing that name. It was a torturous day yesterday when the blonde professor had worked Yang to the bone. "L-Let's not talk about it," she sputtered. "Anyways, did you see Gebura there?"
"No? Why?" Her sister curiously asked.
Ah, that's right. They didn't know about the Librarians fading back into the Light. He turned around and saw the other adults looking back; he made a few gestures that signaled to them that he wanted to listen to them a bit more. After he got an affirmative nod from Ozpin and a deadpan glare from Professor Goodwitch, he tuned back into the conversation outside.
"I want to fight her again." Roland was genuinely a bit surprised. Why would anyone want to fight against Gebura after losing to her? He got his ass kicked by both the Red Mist in her prime and the current version of her before, it really solidified that nobody in the City who crossed paths with the Red Mist ever lived to tell the tale.
"Really?" Weiss groaned. "It's been like what? Three days since you lost? You really think that three days is enough time for a rematch."
"Hey! I got this," she countered. "I just gotta beat her quickly before she can use that broken armor."
"I really don't think that would be a good idea, Yang," Ren voiced. "Miss Gebura is most likely more experienced in combat than most famous huntsmen."
"Yeah! Gebura is super cool! You should've seen how she decimated the Grimm a few days ago," Nora shouted really loud. Before she could talk any further, Roland heard a bunch of hands grasp over her mouth and could hear the ginger-haired girl trying to talk through it.
Realizing how terrible this looks from an outside perspective, Pyrrha spoke up first, "Guys, I don't think we should do this any longer. People might see us."
"Come on P-Money," Yang insisted. "I know you want to fight her too. I've seen that look in your eyes when we talked about fighting Gebura."
"T-That's not…" Pyrrha said as she turned away in embarrassment which confirmed Yang's claim. "W-What about Roland? Don't you want to fight him too?"
"Hmm," Yang thought about it. "Nah, doesn't seem like he'll be much of a challenge."
'This little brat,' The black fixer twitched in annoyance. Why was it that all the blonde-haired people he knew were so mean? He decided that it was time to make himself known.
"Pyrrha's right y'know," Roland said through the window. Yang jumped in surprise and hit her head against the wall. "It's bad manners to just watch someone and talk behind their backs," he scolded. Most of the kids scrambled to quickly get up while Yang was rubbing the back of her head while the black fixer opened up the window. "So Yang~, what's that about me not being a challenge?"
When her Aura healed up her little bruise, she bit back, "Well, I'll have you know that you were the most injured during our fight." The blonde brawler put her arms onto her hips in a display of pride.
"Actually, I was the one that made him bleed," Blake countered.
"Wasn't Roland trying to not hurt us?" Ruby commented.
"And he was exhausted after being teleported to Remnant," Weiss emphasized.
The members of Team JNPR and Roland looked back at Yang with quizzical expressions, like they wanted to hear her comeback. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes before sighing heavily.
"Still doesn't mean that you'll beat me in a serious fight," Yang claimed.
"Sure sure," Roland sarcastically said, still kinda pissed off that she thought of him as nothing. "Keep living the dream you yellow brat. Go do your make-up and hair-do somewhere else, you're a student, not a hooker."
While Yang was shouting profanities toward the fixer, the rest of the students gave an understanding nod while Roland shooed them away so he could return back to his group and tell them what happened. After closing the window shut, he turned to see that Port and Oobleck had left already and Angela, Glynda, and Ozpin were talking with each other. The black fixer made his way to them with a downcast face.
The A.I. noticed his approach and expression on his face. "What happened?" She directed the question toward him which drew the attention of the two professors.
"Yang made fun of me," Roland jokingly fretted in a sad tone. He let out a fake sniff and wiped an imaginary tear. "I'm a very emotional person. It truly hurt my feelings." He dropped his acting and blankly said, "Also, I might've made her mad by calling derogatory words."
Ozpin chuckled, "Worry not, Roland. I assure you, Miss Xiao-Long meant no harm in her words. She had a difficult childhood." While the headmaster was calmly reassuring Roland about his predicament, the blonde professor was placing a hand over her face with an expression that showed a mix of embarrassment and disappointment.
"I swear, that girl is going to make my hair fall out. She disrupts her education by going to Vale, slacks off during punishment, then has no respect for adults," Glynda fumed before turning to Roland and glaring at him. "And you! Why did you get easily provoked by a child? You're an adult for brothers' sake."
Before the blonde professor would've snapped Roland's head off, the headmaster stepped in to calm her down. "Now now Glynda, I just had a great idea," Ozpin suggested, much to the confusion of the others. "Roland was supposedly a 'Grade 1 Fixer,' maybe he can help train the students in the meantime. What do you think Roland?"
The black fixer hummed in pondering. "Sure, got nothing else to do. Just so you know, I've never really taught anyone."
Professor Goodwitch reluctantly sighed when Ozpin makes these decisions. Deep down, she kinda knew that he would allow it; after all, he was the one to come up with the idea to launch Beacon initiates into the Emerald Forest using launch pads. When she saw the headmaster leaving while talking with the A.I. librarian, she opted to follow them.
Roland also sighed as he dropped his shoulders when he started to walk with the rest of the group to the cafeteria, mentally preparing himself to teach some kids.
–THE NEXT DAY–
–TRAINING HALL, BEACON ACADEMY–
It was a school afternoon during Professor Goodwitch's class. The entire time, it felt like the blonde professor was in a bad mood, and it showed. Her tone was slightly more irritated and she kept fidgeting with her tablet. The students didn't know what was wrong so they kept quiet. They didn't want to make the professor even madder than she was right now.
"Psst," Ruby whispered to Weiss to get her attention.
The heiress didn't turn to face her but responded anyways, "Yes Ruby?"
"Why do you think Professor Goodwitch's mad?" The red leader asked.
"I don't know, Ruby," Weiss answered, seemingly bored by sitting here, watching two students fight in the arena. They weren't all that much, they probably wouldn't qualify for the Vytal Festival.
At this point, Yang, a seat below them, chimed in, "Maybe it's that time of the month?"
This earned her a blank look from the heiress.
Down near the arena, the blonde professor was keeping track of the current duel while writing notes for their performances. She had specifically told the black fixer to arrive before class started so that he could train some students, but it had been halfway through class so she just went back to the standard duels.
"Where the hell is he?" Glynda quietly muttered to herself.
—HALLWAYS, BEACON ACADEMY—
"Huh…" Roland paused in his footsteps. He looked around himself, taking in the surroundings. "White…" he said. "All damn white…"
He was lost.
"Where in the hell is the training hall?" He grumbled. Even though he had been to the training hall a few times, he was either guided by one of the students and staff or wandered around till he found it. Back in the City, Roland would try to be at the scheduled time for a contract or before it, but the layout of the campus was trying his patience. This entire place was entirely white.
To cool himself down, he found a bench and took a seat. After all, it wouldn't matter if he arrived just a little late. "I still have time, just gotta find someone who'll help me."
He was just by himself since Angela had already left before him. She didn't need sleep and most likely left with Ozpin to discuss the specifics of the new library. The reason why she left early is that he took so long to get wake up and get breakfast. It wasn't his fault that the cafeteria was serving those ham and cheese breakfast bars; they were too good to eat too fast so he took his time with them.
"Hey," a voice called out to him, prompting the black fixer to turn towards the voice.
It was a middle-aged man that called out to him. His scraggly beard and rustled hair made him look older than Roland. He was wearing a tattered red cape and looked eerily familiar to the black fixer.
"Aren't you one of the Librarians?"
Roland got a feeling that this guy was just as laid back as he was so he spoke casually to the man, "Yeah, gonna be working here in a few—"
"No no no," Qrow cut him off. "I meant as in one of those tower librarians."
The black fixer narrowed his eyes. He didn't know that other people knew of this. "What's your name?" Roland asked, with a bit of suspicion in his voice.
In response, the huntsman pulled out a flask, unscrewing the cap. Before he drank out of it, he answered, "It's Qrow. What's yours?"
"Roland."
From the smell of it, the black fixer knew that it was some sort of alcoholic drink. Roland watched as he finished taking a swig of alcohol he was drinking and wiped the remaining liquid off his face with his arm. He didn't know why he was drinking in the afternoon but didn't complain.
The huntsman began to speak before Roland did, "So… are you or are you not one of those librarians?"
"Yeah," Roland sighed as he relaxed his guard. "What about you then?"
Qrow looked a bit confused at first but got what he was asking. "I work for Oz. Being a huntsman, protecting the innocent, killing Grimm, yadda yadda yadda. All that jazz," he answered.
The black fixer let out a hum in acknowledgment. A few minutes of talking with each other really let them get to know each other. They had similar preferences and agreed on most things. When they had nothing left to talk about, Roland pulled out his scroll to check the time; he still had a few minutes left so he decided to leave.
"Welp," Roland said as he got up. "Ozpin asked me to teach some cocky kids. Nice talking to ya, Crow."
"It's spelled with a Q," the huntsman deadpanned, getting a stunned look from the black fixer. "It was nice talking to a fellow like ya, Roland." With that Qrow was going to leave as well, but something nagged him about what Roland had said.
"Wait a moment, you said 'cocky kids'," he asked. "Which kids might I ask? Because there's only one cocky kid that I know."
Roland hummed in curiosity, but still told him anyway, "I don't know, the entire class? Mainly the first-year teams I suppose. Although, Team RWBY and Team JNPR are the only ones that I would train first."
"Heh, good luck with that. I wouldn't underestimate those kiddos," he smirked.
"It sounds like you know them personally," Roland guessed.
"Those kids are only good for one thing," Qrow said as he wiped away a fake tear. "Making their dear old uncle worry for their future."
"Hmm, their uncle," Roland pondered. "Which ones?"
"Red and yellow."
Roland let out a big sigh. "The wild ones? Damn, their parents must've had the hardest time raising them."
Qrow darkened his expression, his crimson eyes glaring into the fixer's black eyes. An eye twitched as the huntsman hissed, "Yeah, I guess you could say that." With that, he immediately turned to leave, clearly in a bad mood.
The black fixer didn't know what made Qrow seeth in anger; it was clear that what he said had affected him greatly so Roland would apologize the next time he met the huntsman. Well, it was time to get going.
It wasn't till a few seconds of walking that Roland realized that he should've asked Qrow where the training hall was. But, he probably wouldn't get an answer from the huntsman as he was mad at the fixer. Roland sighed once again as he decided to ask someone to help him.
"Let's see," Roland said as he scanned around him. No one was around as classes were probably in session and the staff were taking a lunch break since it was in the afternoon. Not seeing anyone made him decide to wander around till he found the place, but a slight tap on his shoulders made him turn around to see who it was.
He half expected it to be someone he knew, either Angelina, Angela, or one of the teachers. When he did turn around, blue eyes met his black eyes. It was a very short girl that tapped him on the shoulders. She had brown hair that reached to her shoulders and a petite-looking face. At first, he thought of it as someone's kid wandering around the campus, but he saw the student uniform on the kid so it was a student.
At first, Roland was surprised that someone snuck up behind him. They made no noise whatsoever, either they were just naturally good at stealth or they were using their Semblance. Either way, it was kinda rude to just sneak up behind someone. Jokingly, Roland bent down so his face could line up with hers.
"What's up kid, lost your parents?" Roland jeered.
She responded by pouting and raising her leg to kick him. He let the girl kick him in the leg, which didn't hurt at all. Now remembering the time, he realized that it was almost for class to start.
"Hey, do you know where the training hall is?" He asked. "If you get me there, I'll make it up to you." He kinda didn't want to say it, but he didn't want to disappoint the kids.
The girl took a few moments to think about it. Although she didn't say anything, she nodded. The black fixer felt relieved as he watched the girl start to walk, gesturing to him to follow. Noticing the time, he started to follow.
–A MINUTE LATER–
–TRAINING HALL, BEACON ACADEMY–
"Oh damn, it was here all along," Roland sighed as he turned toward his savior. "Thanks…? Huh, I never got your name." The black fixer was too busy worrying about being late that he never got to ask anything about her.
All she did was put a finger on her mouth, signaling that she wasn't going to reveal her name. Of course, Roland didn't think much about it, still thankful for her efforts. He waved her goodbye as she started to leave. But something about her eyes caught his attention. Before she turned away, he swore that they were two different colors, but he couldn't see anymore when she disappeared behind a corner.
"Huh… weird kid," Roland remarked. He pushed open the door to see Professor Goodwitch talking to the entire class. Looking over to the bleachers, he saw every first-year team that he knew. Most of the students weren't paying attention to the black fixer as they didn't want to be scolded for looking away in class, but Team RWBY and Team JNPR noticed.
"–ember, you are not fighting alone. Keep track of your teammates and you will exponentially improve your performance. If you know where everyone is, you can plan accordingly," Professor Goodwitch lectured. All of the students were taking this in; the Vytal Festival was happening this year and it was their time to make themselves known. Then, the professor noticed the black fixer in the corner of her eye. "Alright class, that will be all for today. Enjoy the rest of today."
While most of the students left the room, only Team RWBY and Team JNPR stayed. The two teams came down from the bleachers to meet up with the black fixer. When the two teams got closer, Yang eyed Roland who in turn, eyed her back. Silence reigned the room before a set of angry heels came up to the fixer.
"Where were you?" Glynda angrily questioned.
Roland let out a sigh, "I got lost, met some guy named Qrow, and got helped by some random student."
"How did you get lost? We literally told you about the online map," Weiss said, baffled by Roland's forgetfulness.
The only response he had was, "Oh." He placed a hand on his head, scratching it, thinking about how he forgot about that. "I uh… forgot?"
This earned him an exasperated groan from the heiress and a pinch of the forehead by the professor. The other students, except for Yang, gave him an understanding look. Jaune, specifically, gave him the most sympathetic look, as the same thing happened to him too.
"Sooo…" Ruby began. "What brings you here, Roland?"
Before he could answer, Professor Goodwitch stepped in for him, "Roland is going to become somewhat of an extra trainer for students. He was supposed to arrive before class started, but his tardiness has messed up the schedule so you can either get some training from him right now or leave for the rest of today."
While the blonde professor left to do other important things, most of the kids had also left. The only ones that were remaining were Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha. The others that did leave, left for either food or reading books in Blake's case. When Roland asked why they stayed, he got three serious answers and one not-so-serious answer.
Weiss stayed because she wanted to know she stood in terms of combat ability and if Roland had any tips and advice he could give.
Jaune asked how he could get better with a sword because he wanted to learn more sword styles than the one Pyrrha was currently teaching him. She didn't mind because it was always better to be diverse.
As for Pyrrha herself, she embarrassingly asked if Roland and she could have a duel. When asked about that, she said that the fight between Yang and Gebura made her feel like fighting.
The last one, Ruby, said that she wanted to see more of his weapons. Of course.
When Roland thought about how he would help, he needed to see where they stood in their own problems. So first, he promised Ruby to show her his weapons after they were done with this. Excited, the red-hooded girl jumped up in joy and waited patiently like a child awaiting a reward.
"Alright, then." Roland pointed at Weiss. "Fight blonde boy." Surprised, Jaune looked at the both of them with wide eyes, then gulped in fear.
–10 MINUTES LATER–
"Okay, that should be good enough," the black fixer said.
The white-haired girl was exhausted trying to hit the blonde leader. The black fixer had told Weiss that she would try to attack Jaune, while he would defend against Weiss's attacks.
Needless to say, Weiss only got a total of 20 hits on the blonde swordsman. Even if she didn't show it, the heiress was livid that Jaune had blocked so many of her attacks.
Jaune, on the other hand, was relatively fine, albeit a bit tired and afraid. His insane amount of Aura blocked most of the hits he had taken and some of it actually healed while they were still fighting. He was shocked that he actually survived for so long against a strong person like Weiss. Deep down, he was proud of himself for getting this far; he believed that he was still unworthy of being at Beacon, but this fight had somewhat encouraged him.
"Weiss, say… who trained you before you came to Beacon?" Roland asked curiously.
The person in question thought about it for a bit, "A few people I suppose, although, it was mainly my older sister that taught me how to fight. Why do you ask?"
"Because you keep doing the same attacks over and over again like you're trying to impress her," Roland deadpanned before explaining. "Your habit of trying to correct yourself allowed him to move faster than you, it looks like you move in a certain way that doesn't allow any flexibility. Blonde boy is a person; he can remember and learn from your attacks which he countered numerous times, and your stamina really limits how much you can move and attack. And also," he pointed a thumb toward Jaune, "it's unwise to underestimate your opponent."
Even if she wanted to counter what he said, she couldn't. He was right. During the fight, she thought that beating the blonde knight would be a simple and easy task, so she didn't think that it would make her feel like this. While she was progressively getting more tired and tired, it seemed like Jaune was getting better and better at countering her attacks. Even then, it frustrated her to no end. No offense to Jaune, but how could she be one of the best huntresses if she couldn't even beat one of their weakest? Did Winter teach her wrong?
She bit her tongue and swallowed her pride, "What can I do then?"
"I would try to get some more muscle first of all," Roland suggested. "Using a rapier requires a lot of coordination and fitness, I don't know if it applies to a person that has Aura, but it's always good to be in good physical shape for any kind of combat. You already have the technique and skill down, it's just that you exhaust yourself doing all those moves and when you get hit, you get hit hard."
Pyrrha, who also had been analyzing her partner and Weiss's fight, spoke up, "I agree with what Roland said. It's always good to keep your body in shape; every day before class, I always go on a run around the campus. It's kept my body in tip-top condition."
"Then, I would suggest thinking outside the box," Roland finished. "Relying on a specific style leads to you not knowing what to do if your combat style doesn't work."
"Very well, I'll try to at least make my stamina at least manageable," the heiress nodded in acknowledgment.
While Weiss left to think about her new training regiment, Roland moved on to the next person, Jaune. The blonde boy was sitting down, trying to get his breath after dueling the heiress. The black fixer walked up to the boy and picked up his sword. Jaune wanted to say something, but Roland started to shake the weapon up and down.
After getting a bit used to the weight and how the sword portion of Crocea Mors was just literally a normal sword, he started to swing it. If there's anything that Roland knew well, it was the way of a broadsword.
Narrowing his eyes, Roland adopted a stance he knew fully well and unleashed three slashes. Each of them was fast and strong, picking up wind and sending a blow of wind toward the blonde boy. A few more slashes and thrusts got the attention of everyone else who stared at the black fixer's performance.
"Woah…" Jaune quietly said as he looked at the masterful display in awe. His eyes were glued onto the black fixer and the weapon. He had never seen anything like it, it looked like Crocea Mors was back in its original place, in the hands of a master swordsman. "That was–"
"SOO COOL!" Ruby excitingly said. "What kind of technique was that?! It was like the weapon was truly a part of you!"
Roland had a little chuckle as he returned the weapon back to its original owner. "Well, I had a lot of time to learn how to use a bunch of different weapons; the sword was the easiest to learn and most reliable."
"Sooo…" The red-hooded girl dramatically paused. "'Different weapons,' you say? Would that also happen to include, let's say… a scythe? Do you have one?"
The black fixer twitched one of his eyes, clearly annoyed by something, but he responded nonetheless, "Yeah, I do have some experience with a scythe and no, I don't have one." Before Ruby could say anything else, he spoke first, "I'll tell you more after I tell blondie here about using a sword."
"A-Are you sure that you want to teach me?" Jaune asked nervously. During Pyrrha's training, he was nervous that she would train him harshly, but she turned out to be very caring and encouraging. But with a new person helping him, he wasn't sure if Roland would be a slave driver, but he believed that he would be just as nice. "Your sword skill looked really impressive and I'm not really the best learner."
Roland cocked an eyebrow, "Kid, you chose to stay here. Every once in a while, everybody needs somebody to help them. You got red girl over there to help you and now you've got me. And don't worry, I won't be too hard on you. As long as you're willing to put in the effort, I'm sure you'll do just fine."
The blonde boy took in what Roland had said and put out a smile. He stood up and straighten himself up. Once he equipped Crocea Mors, Jaune told the black fixer that he was ready. A part of him was just glad that Roland would be just as encouraging as Pyrrha.
"Thanks, Ro–"
"Alright, get over there so we can train until you drop dead."
"Eh?"
When black mist surrounded the fixer's hands, Jaune's face paled when Roland pulled out his much more, bigger and scarier sword which made Ruby gasp in amazement.
"May I join as well?" Pyrrha asked.
The black fixer turned to face the red-haired girl who had a curious yet interested expression on her face. After giving her the okay, she turned to face her partner, giving him an apologetic face. Roland also turned to face Jaune, but he gave him a devious grin.
"Sure," Roland smirked. "Let's push his limits this time around."
That day, Jaune wished that he had never participated in this training session.
–30 MINUTES LATER–
"I… think… I… got… it," Jaune said as he was laying on the ground in pain.
Being ignorant of her leader's condition, Pyrrha spoke highly of the fixer, "Thank you, Roland, for teaching us your sword stance. It's amazing to be one of the first people to learn another world's fighting style."
"Don't sweat it too much, that's just one style. I learned others because some styles were great counters to others," Roland babbled. "Mine is more focused on fighting other people, it's probably not suited to fighting monsters like the Grimm. You'd probably find styles like the Zwei's or the Wedge Office's more tailored to the Grimm. It's not like the City didn't have any monsters, it's just that most of the people were the monsters… Oh… I said a little too much, didn't I?"
Pyrrha gave him a little chuckle, "I don't mind. It's still very interesting to hear more about your world." Noticing her leader's apparent snoring, she quickly excused herself from the room with Jaune slung over her shoulders.
Now, then. The only people that were left in the training hall was himself and Ruby. She had been waiting patiently all this time since he promised her.
"Alright now kiddo," Roland began to speak. "You wanted to se–"
"WEAPONS! NOW!" She demanded.
"Geez, bossy much?" Roland groaned, complying with her request. "Here, catch."
When she caught the two objects, she made a sound no person should be able to make and glowed brightly. In her hands were a pair of dark blades that Crystal Atelier made. The intricate design that gave it a glassy look was imprinted onto the blades, making them feel more unique than all his other weapons. He really liked the weapons, it was probably in his top three. The red-hooded girl examined the twin blades with some skill in Roland's opinion. He knew that she loved weapons, but it was quite a surprise that she actually knew the tidbits of weapon manufacturing and maintaining weapons.
Next, he showed her the giant cleaver of a weapon. Actually, it felt like a heavy metal slab that had a handle. Anyways, the weapon was a giant sword made by Wheels Industry. Despite its name, the weapons manufacturer made top-notch heavy weapons. The designers of the mechanical blade made it so that the weapon would gain more speed when it was swung. More speed equals more impact. The giant cleaver of a weapon was taller than Ruby and almost as tall as Roland himself. She could hardly pick up the weapon without overexerting herself. When asked about it, she said that the only reason why she could carry her Crescent Rose without any problems is that she used lighter materials without compromising the weapon's power.
On and on, he continued to show her all his weapons. Roland was actually enjoying himself talking with Ruby about this, it was rare to find someone else who knew a lot about weapons.
When it came down to his favorite weapon, he handed her his sword. It was the sword he used during Jaune's training and the sword he used to kill thousands of people. Once Ruby was handed the blade, she held it in two hands.
"This sword…" Ruby spoke quietly, but loud enough for Roland to hear. "It has... history, I can tell."
Roland didn't speak immediately. Going back into his mind, thinking about the people he killed on his mindless rampage. Once he found his words, he cautiously spoke, "Yes... Yes, it does..." Although he did use his wife's weapons, it was mainly his own sword that slayed thousands. "It's nothing you need to worry about, it's just a simple sword, that's all."
Ruby didn't have a response so she returned the blade back to Roland who looked at it before grabbing it. There was a bit of sadness and regret in his eyes, but he insinuated that he didn't want to tell Ruby about it.
After a bit of silence, she spoke, "So, what now?"
"I don't know. Get food? Shower? Sleep? Cuz that's what I'm going to go do," Roland said as he slipped back into that cheerful persona of his. "Wanna go get some grub?"
"Sure," she answered.
As they left the training hall, Roland could only think about what was to come next. He had basically agreed to help train these kids and was forced to help run the new Library. Although it would take some time for the finalization of the new building to come to fruition and get some construction workers to come to Beacon, he would take the time between now and then to help get these kids up to a level where he deemed them City worthy.
Quickly, the fixer jerked his head around behind him. Roland narrowed his eyes and scanned the buildings. He had felt a presence watching him and Ruby but saw nothing. It wasn't the same type of feeling as how the kids had spied on them yesterday, but this felt more... malicious? He didn't know the right word for it, but it was something bad. Since nothing came out or anything happened, he promptly ignored the feeling, hoping it would blow over soon.
Just as Roland and Ruby turned the corner, a student with blue eyes and brown hair carrying a pink umbrella smirked and shattered into nothingness.
Author's Note:
That's Chapter 12 done! I'm kinda writing this at 2 in the morning so I'm very tired and wanting to go to sleep, so I'll keep it short. I know I said that there would be a time skip last chapter, but I chose to push it further as I realized that I needed to solidify the roles of the Librarians in Beacon.
Anyways, that's all from me. Tell me if there's a grammar issue or discrepancy in the chapter, I'll be sure to correct them when I can. Hope you enjoy more from me! Cya!