"When you start to realize how much of what you've constructed of yourself is based on deception and lies, that is a horrifying realization."
- Jordan B. Peterson
Boredom.
It was an unfamiliar feeling; an old friend — enemy would probably be more accurate — who he hadn't run into since he was a kid.
Sure he'd been restless, but when he was programmed to be fidgety and restless during a fight to the death, that went without saying.
But he hadn't been bored.
There was always something to do. Shiro was a miracle worker, but even he couldn't make owning an organization as large as Percy's influence network anything but just barely manageable. There was always something to do, someone to meet, somewhere to be. He had brief gaps, of course. Whether arranged by him or just a lucky break, he did have a decent amount of time to spend however he wanted.
Usually that ended with him meeting up with Qrow or Winter, or heading to Patch to visit Tai and the kids, or training either in the wild or a gym, or even the occasional visit to a bar — point being he had work to keep himself occupied, and when that ran out he had plenty of things to occupy his free time.
But, leaning on the railing of the terrace outside his apartment, Percy was bored. He had a shallow glass of some inordinately expensive variety of whiskey that he'd poured more because he had nothing else to do rather than the urge to get a buzz going at two in the afternoon, and he'd just gotten out of the saltwater pool he'd finally had installed. It was smaller than he'd have preferred, but you could only put so much extra weight on top of what was already a pseudo-skyscraper.
His business with Roman and Junior was done — Roman was firmly introduced as one of Junior's lieutenants and would be in a position of significant influence in his own right. Under Junior, of course, but if needs arise…
But that hadn't taken all day, and he had a couple hours to kill before he was allowed into Beacon to deal with Kali's kid and then go relax with Yang, Pyrrha, and their teams.
He'd thought about how much he was looking forward to that for all of seven seconds — just long enough to think about how the age difference from seventeen to twenty-two didn't seem like nearly as much as twelve to seventeen had. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but he pondered for a moment about how he found it easier to treat them more and more like peers each year. It wouldn't be so long until he'd be able to regard them as equals, and he wasn't sure if the thought pleased him or weirded him out. Probably a bit of both, though he imagined the latter would fade with time.
And with the rest of the day thought through, he was back to boredom. The water at the docks was polluted, the streets were filled with too many people that would gawk at him, the wilds were too far away to make a trip there and back last longer than ten minutes, and everyone interesting in the area was either busy doing their jobs for him, or in Beacon attending lessons.
For a moment he considered just showing up to Beacon ahead of time — it wasn't like Ozpin could afford to be petty or burn a bridge with him over visiting hours — but he dismissed the thought a moment later. Sure Ozpin would be willing to bend over backwards to keep him on board, but just because he could spit in the headmaster's face didn't mean he should.
He didn't let himself take pleasure in the power he held over the immortal — he really had done Ozpin worse than he deserved. The man had been lenient with him at every turn, and even helped him quite a bit early on. In return, intentionally or not, Percy had paid him back by removing his two strongest supporters from their positions as General of Atlas and Headmaster of Haven, and then pruned any supporters he might've had on Vale's council to boot.
He hardly considered himself loyal to Ozpin, but bullying his way into getting away with that just because Ozpin didn't have another choice didn't sit well with him. It left a bitter taste in his mouth. It was the same feeling he got whenever he thought of Jacques or Alexander.
Come to think of it, they too had helped him at every turn, only to end up all the worse for it. He'd been the end of Jacques' life's work, he'd been the one to remove Alexander from power, and he'd done nothing but tear Ozpin down.
And now that he was looking for a pattern, there were more. Who had given him his first start — his first real opportunity in this world — if not for Aspro? And who had allowed him to usurp Aspro and rise from the petty politics of Windpath's intra-gang conflicts but Lil' Miss Malachite? Even Sienna had been the one to trust him enough make a deal with him over the White Fang, giving him his most useful single asset to date and his first to go beyond Windpath's borders.
In return, they'd all fallen to him. All three of them. The very person who they'd allowed to play on their level had been the cause of their deaths — no, their murders. Directly, and without provocation — and the only reason he'd been in a position where their deaths would benefit him was because they'd helped him get there. Even Alexander and Jacques, while not literally dead, had had their influence, power, and ways of life destroyed because they'd given him the platform to do so. He'd bit the hand that fed him; repeatedly.
Aspro was… not a good person. Better than most in his line of work, but then the bar wasn't on the floor so much as buried underneath it. Lil' Miss was similar; she'd been mostly bereft of morals, only helping him out of her own self interest. Sienna had been a true believer in her cause, but she'd committed her fair share of evils in the name of that cause. Alex — Alexander — was better, but he hadn't been perfect either. He was often callous, disinterested, and mostly morally ambiguous. Jacques wasn't quite as bad as them, but was all too willing to allow suffering if it meant he would come out ahead.
And yet none of that mattered.
Everyone who had let him get where he was now had been met with a knife in their back. Every last one. Foley hadn't, perhaps, but his untimely death meant Percy wouldn't have had the opportunity to even if he'd been looking for it.
His teeth ground together. Where was the loyalty he prided himself on? Where was anything he considered himself? He had a feeling that if he'd had a mirror nearby, he wouldn't have recognized himself.
He couldn't even ask what he'd become since… well, this was a trend that had started on day one. It was easier to justify it with Aspro, who had been morally bankrupt at a time Percy himself wasn't. It was almost as easy to do the same to Lil' Miss, as their arrangement had only ever been purely business.
But as it got easier and easier, he hadn't even recognized the people he was tearing down along the way — hadn't known to look for them. Each individual case was a one off, necessary sacrifice — even as the ones who suffered for it slowly turned from distant superior to friend and mentor.
He supposed that's what it took to make it to the top — just the will to climb there on a pile of corpses and shattered dreams, friend and foe alike.
He felt sick.
The sound of metal creaking brought him back to reality, and he released the balcony railing with a frustrated scowl.
He'd decided not to stew in his self-pity every time he regretted something a long time ago; he'd made those decisions, and it wasn't like he didn't know what he'd been doing. At each individual junction he'd made the decision he'd thought best, fully aware of the mess he was leaving behind and who he was leaving to clean it up — he just hadn't realized it had become such a pattern.
And that was a problem, no matter how he looked at it. That wasn't who he wanted to be — no, it wasn't who he was. Doing right by those who had done right by him was much of what he defined himself by. It was why he kept going. Personal loyalty to people like Pyrrha, but he knew that Jacques, Alex, Ozpin — hades, even Sienna, Lil' Miss, and Aspro had deserved some of that loyalty from him in their own ways.
None of them had received it.
There could be exceptions to the rule, but betrayal of those who deserved his loyalty had quickly become the rule.
But he'd noticed that now. He'd fix it. He'd break the pattern, and that was all he could do. Once upon a time his will to continue would have wavered. He'd have doubted everything he'd done and debated with himself for the umpteenth time if he was doing more harm than good.
His days of self-doubt were over.
For a moment, he allowed himself to wonder if that was a bad thing. If he wasn't constantly questioning himself in such a position of extreme power, then would he lose himself along the way? A few years ago, he might've argued that constantly doubting your own actions was the only way to make sure what you were doing was the right thing, and that you were a force for good overall.
Maybe he'd been right. Maybe he was losing his way — maybe he'd already lost it. But people could change; it wasn't about not reflecting on his actions, it was about forging ahead despite the mistakes he'd made, and making sure he never made them again. But above all, he was just tired of second guessing his every move, acting decisively moment to moment as was needed to perform in a position like his and then being wracked with self-doubt after the fact. He was well aware he wasn't exactly a paragon of mental health, and even he wasn't impervious to stress.
Glancing at the small table by the pool a few feet away, Percy knocked back the last of his drink and leaned over to pick up his scroll.
The past was the past and there was no point in agonizing over what was done, but some mistakes could be amended.
If he was going to break from the path he'd been on, he had to start somewhere.
"Perseus! Welcome, welcome!"
A bemused Percy stepped off the bullhead onto Beacon's campus a few short hours later. He took the proffered hand from a man who looked like he'd been waiting for him, a short (though maybe that was a bit Percy's height talking there) man with glasses and green hair. Maybe middle aged? It was hard to tell with huntsmen. He looked a bit frail to be a fighter, but he still had that edge about him — dulled, but still there. Retired entirely, or just out of practice?
"The students know me as Doctor Oobleck, but please call me Bart. The headmaster informed me you wished to speak to him ahead of your visit this evening, and asked me to show you to his office."
Percy hummed. That explained it.
"Call me Percy." he nodded to the man, and they were off. The reactions of the student body were a bit varied compared to what they'd been last time, more excited chatter and gossiping when he came into view than the stunned silence of the day prior. He supposed that was natural — yesterday most students were probably shocked to see him casually walking through the halls unannounced. Today it was only his pseudo-celebrity status that kept them from approaching, but it didn't stop them talking.
Ignoring them, Percy found himself observing his companion as they walked. The man made polite conversation — though maybe polite didn't quite do it justice. He didn't talk about the weather or sports, but politics, diplomacy, and economics. Considering Percy was pretty intimately involved in all three wherever he went it was far from small talk, but his escort still managed to keep it pleasant. He made some appreciative comments about some faunus rights laws Percy had pushed, discussed the process of kickstarting Mistral's economy — a topic Percy found himself surprisingly engaged by — and generally kept it safe. He'd mentioned the SDC once, but Percy's displeasure must've shown because he quickly moved on.
Eventually they reached Ozpin's office and parted ways, and Percy was in the elevator up by himself a moment later. The teacher had been surprisingly… enthused, he'd call it. He did wonder, however, what the man was doing teaching at a school for huntsmen. Between Glynda, Lionheart, and Bart, he'd yet to see an active combatant in the academy that taught people how to fight.
Bart was better than Lionheart and Glynda, at least. It was clear he'd fought for his life at one point, but with how faded it was he didn't doubt that point had been years ago.
Still, it was a characteristic Glynda and Lionheart lacked.
Hades, even Signal, a prep school for Beacon, had Qrow and Taiyang. It was clear Tai had experience in spades even if he'd retired, and Qrow was an active combatant — and had been for just about his entire life. Percy'd have taken learning from them over pencil pushers any day.
He stored those thoughts for later — or never, if his hyperactive brain had anything to say about it (it did) — as the elevator swooshed open and Percy was met with Ozpin's office. Standing behind the desk was the old man himself.
"Perseus," he greeted, and Percy nodded his own greeting back. "I must admit I did not expect to see you in my office so soon, but you're welcome all the same. What can I help you with?"
"This should be quick," he said when Ozpin gestured for him to sit. "I was hoping to speak to one of your students while I was here. I thought I'd do you the courtesy of letting you know, and save some time looking for them to ask where they're staying."
Ozpin narrowed his eyes in a… Percy generously decided not to call suspicious manner. He'd have been a bit on-edge too, if someone with a reputation like his said they wanted to find a student in his school — and it was a reputation he couldn't say he didn't entirely deserve, to his occasional lament.
"Blake Belladonna," he rushed to clarify, answering the question before the headmaster could ask it. "I've been keeping an eye on her since she cut ties with her parents, and her admittance to Beacon was a bit unexpected. I wanted to check in on her," he explained. Every bit of it was technically the truth, as all good lies were — though he hated to call it a lie, if he couldn't be brutally honest within the confines of his own conscious, he was just lying to himself to justify his actions.
He'd lied to himself that betraying his allies was a one-time thing — that he hadn't done it over and over again. It didn't mean never doing anything morally questionable, it just meant being honest with himself when he did. He could lie to Ozpin but he'd be damn truthful with himself about it.
"I see." Ozpin relaxed at the explanation, though he was obviously still a bit guarded. Percy would have to be an idiot not to know why, but he was content to let Ozpin address the elephant in the room. "I would find that agreeable, though that may depend on what this… checking in would involve."
"Just a talk," he promised. "No harm will come to her while she's here — not by my hand. That I can guarantee."
Ozpin smiled kindly. "I'm enthused to hear it. While I don't wish to insinuate anything untoward, I'd be remiss not to clarify that this conversation will also not include threats of harm, whether physical or otherwise, whether to herself or others."
Percy suppressed a frown, less upset that Ozpin thought him capable of such and more disappointed the wizard hadn't overlooked the wordplay. He wasn't planning on threatening harm to her, he wasn't a brute and he didn't think he could bare to look Kali in the eyes if he did anything. He wasn't one to make idle threats either, so it wasn't like he'd threaten anyone at Beacon or her parents.
Did he intend to lean on her otherwise? That… depended. He had to admit he was curious why she'd ditched Adam and the White Fang, and he was hardly going to strongarm her into returning if Adam had been abusing her or something.
In an ideal world he'd like to keep her in Mistral (or somewhere else equally under his control) willingly, so as to not set the Belladonnas and Adam both on the warpath while keeping her outside of their reach and within his.
He had ways to convince her with both carrot and stick, and though his leverage was weak enough that she might refuse outright he had more than enough to have her expelled from Beacon and back firmly within his reach. That still wouldn't force her to go willingly, and so he would be forced to give her back to either her parents or Adam and point the other at them lest he drew both of their ire to him and the girl became more trouble than help.
If her reasons for leaving Adam meant bringing her back wasn't an option, however, that would be a problem. It wasn't in his best interests for her to return to Menagerie, where his leverage over the Belladonnas would be as good as gone with her in their hands and his leverage — more weak point than leverage — over Adam would be evaporated as well, considering he'd have to burn every bridge he'd ever built with Kali and Ghira to threaten Adam through her, as well as constantly having to convince Adam not to attack Menagerie.
Rock, meet hard place. Adam was definitely the rock, he decided.
If he couldn't get her to go with him willingly, couldn't return her to Adam, and couldn't bring her back to her parents…
He didn't like the idea of one of his most important bargaining chips being outside of his direct control, but at least this way he was still capable of reaching her, she was here willingly so the Belladonnas wouldn't do anything stupid, and he had someone else to direct Adam's anger at.
It'd still be a pain to convince Adam not to try anything stupid, but far easier to convince him Beacon was off-limits than Menagerie.
That was the worst case scenario, but not one he found unlikely. She had to have some reason to leave the White Fang so suddenly, and he'd bet it wasn't because Adam had left the toilet seat up. While he wouldn't entirely drop Adam for much short of betrayal no matter how detestable he might be, that didn't mean he could live with himself delivering a potential victim back to him. Percy also really didn't have much to threaten her with that he was willing to go through with, really just the safety of some of her closer friends in the White Fang. The carrot might prove more effective than the stick, but it's not like promising Ozpin not to threaten her stopped him from bribing and manipulating her.
And on top of that, he did owe Ozpin. The enigmatic wizard had helped him a good bit, but more importantly Percy had taken quite a bit from him, and Percy had decided to break that trend. It didn't go so far he'd be willing to throw away something as valuable as Blake just to do him a favor, but even if he did end up keeping her at Beacon, it was far from throwing her away. At the very least, her being at Beacon would buy him time before any problems truly came of it, and if — or when — they did, he could always do what he needed to then.
"Of course," Percy agreed slowly. He was sure it had been painfully obvious he had been heavily considering saying no — he'd been silent for some time — but he didn't bother to hide it and neither mentioned it.
"Thank you. Though I'm sure it wasn't necessary, I'm reassured to have your word."
Percy suppressed an eyeroll. It really had been necessary, and Ozpin wasn't sparing him any offense by pretending otherwise when they both knew it.
"I hardly track my students throughout the day, but her room is dorm 209, in the east wing," Ozpin told him without so much as pulling up his terminal, and Percy frowned minutely. The number seemed… familiar, for some reason. "Though please do be careful where it is you have your conversation. Some members of her team may be… averse to her background."
Percy raised an eyebrow at the insinuation. Her background as Kali and Ghira's daughter? He wasn't sure that painted the best picture of her team.
Ozpin noticed his confusion and poorly hid a smile behind his mug. "Miss Belladonna vanished from her family five years ago, and reappeared just days ago with extensive combat experience. Mayhaps my old age fails me, but I seem to recall a certain faunus-affiliated organization turning more… combat oriented around five years ago, an organization which has just finished participating in Vacuo's civil war. Now, I'm not one to make assumptions…"
Percy snorted, getting his point. "Fair enough."
Maybe that was why Ozpin seemed so well-informed and elusive — a knack for noticing things like that and putting them together. It didn't take a genius when the pieces were all in front of you, but when those pieces were buried in dozens of other students and all of their backgrounds as well as decades of world events to draw connections to? It wasn't quite as simple as it might have seemed.
Though cunning or not, it obviously wasn't the only reason the old man was so well informed — but with that combined with the information he received from whatever contacts he had in other kingdoms, perhaps even some he'd made in past lives? It made a bit more sense.
"Thanks, Ozpin," Percy shot the man a sincere smile and turned to leave, ready to get business over with and skip to pleasure.
"Before you go, Mr. Jackson," Ozpin called, and Percy paused where he stood to look back. "There is one more matter I'd like to discuss. I received some rather interesting news from Vale yesterday regarding some… sightings at the dockyards."
Percy smiled innocently. "Why headmaster, I thought I informed you ahead of time I'd be arriving with an escort of three ships."
Ozpin met his smile with a deadpan glower. "Somehow, I do not seem to recall the mention of the ten thousand soldiers crewing those ships, nor the numerous artillery pieces affixed to them."
Percy grimaced. Well, there went any hope Ozpin didn't know about their main guns. "They do need to be crewed. And the guns are for defense against Grimm."
Ozpin sighed, "Mr. Jackson…"
Percy grinned. "They'll all be docked, mostly unmanned, and disarmed for the duration of my stay, Ozpin. Thanks for the dorm number." he waved over his shoulder, fully turning and entering the elevator. The last he saw of Ozpin was the man slowly sinking into his seat and leaning on his desk, beginning to massage his forehead.
Percy would make it up to him later, he promised himself, but giving immortals headaches was a favorite past time of his he hadn't been able to indulge in years, and he had a lot of lost time to make up for.
Percy walked back through the halls of Beacon with a relaxed smile on his face. Since he was alone this time and had nothing to occupy his attention, he sent friendly nods to students he passed by, and even returned the occasional squeaked 'hello' from a student or two. Nobody had worked up enough nerve to ask for an autograph yet, thank the gods, so for now he took the attention in stride with a friendly smile.
He had to ask for directions once or twice and amuse himself with the students' flustered responses, but he eventually found his way to room 209. Taking a moment to thank his lucky stars he hadn't been spotted by anyone he knew on the way and been forced to explain why he was heading somewhere other than Ruby's party, he knocked lightly.
The door was opened near instantly, and Percy recoiled slightly in surprise. That was blown away, however, by what greeted him on the other side of the door.
"Percy!" a red blur launched into his torso, clinging onto him. Absently, Percy took a step back and rested a hand on its black, crimson-tipped hair, ruffling it gently.
"Hey, Ruby…"
Mwahahahaha.
I am sorry. Kinda. Not really. This chapter being shorter + that ending is why you guys got an extra chapter last month. It just doesn't work to end it anywhere else.
I understand I will be on the other end of a healthy amount of rage this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed anyway.
In other news I'm a free man now, so I'll try n do the write thing while I can. Also went back to cat cafe. Cats wer cute.
Next Chapter May 10
