Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth and Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. I own nothing of either of them and am only playing in the worlds they gave us.
Bear with me here folks because I am more than just a little bit pissed off.
Recently I got a review from someone in regards to my handling of the CCT tower issue. Their comments were, and this is copied and pasted directly from their review:
"This might be the single most rediculous and asinine addition to rwby lore i have ever read in a fanfiction. The four kingdoms only have one major city each because humanity as a whole is besieged on all fronts by the Grimm. Any breakthrough a city discovered would be nothing but beneficial to all four kingdoms. The idea that the entire communication network goes down WORLDWIDE for maintenance so that the other kingdoms cant "take advantage" is so hilariously strange i can't believe you actually wrote it."
Now, there is only one problem with this. The idea of the whole CCT system going down if one tower goes down is not something I made up or pulled out of my ass...it is actual fucking canon!
Proof? Watch the World of Remnant short about the CCT or go to the RWBY Wiki page and read the transcript. Hell, actually here it is, copied and pasted right out of the transcript on the RWBYWiki entry:
"The Cross Continental Transmit System has, and will continue to advance the progression of mankind. However, if one of the four towers is taken offline, the entire network falls with it, a slight inconvenience during routine maintenance."
Now, this would not likely happen without an agreement between the kingdoms and they would do this so that no Kingdom would find themselves at a strategic disadvantage to the others if their communications are down. It is a measure made to help prevent another war between Kingdoms.
The offending reviewer is either an idiot or a troll, or both, and has since been corrected, told off, and blocked. I have a very low tolerance for stupidity and for trolls so I'm not about to tolerate either. I make no apologies for being pissed off and acting on it.
So, let me give a little advice here. Reviews are welcomed and encouraged as is actual constructive criticism (which this was not) However, if you do leave a review or send me a PM, make damn sure that you know what the hell you're talking about before you say anything!
Thus endeth the angry rant.
One a side note, I made some small edits to Chapter 7 that makes it mesh a little better with the events of this chapter.
And without further ado, here it is, Hope you enjoy it.
04-09-20: Made slight edit and added a paragraph to the Ozpin/Kisuke conversation.
A Chance Encounter
Chapter 12
"I yield," a breathless Pyrrha Nikos huffed. Her arms felt as heavy as lead and she could barely hold up Milo and Akuo. Her legs shook like jelly and felt just about as stable. The last student standing, she'd fought as hard as she could against the dark skinned demoness who had evaded every blow or blocked and struck back without even wielding a weapon. She was the final hope for the beleaguered students, but in the end even she could not prevail against this enemy.
"Nope!" a very cheery Yoruichi said. "Not taking any surrenders today." With one finger she poked the girl in the middle of the chest hard enough to topple her to the floor. "There, now you're done."
"Nooooo!" Nora wailed pitifully from where she lay sprawled and utterly spent. "Now the evil doers will overrun the Kingdom and devour all the pancakes!"
"Yesssss!" Yoruichi hissed evilly. "And we shall do so with extra syrup!"
"Waaaaa!"
"And we'll confiscate all of the cookies too," Ichigo added as he stepped up next to his wife.
"Nooooo not the cookies!" Ruby lamented, too tired and weak to defy them any longer despite her best efforts.
"Especially the chocolate chip ones," he added.
"You cruel fiends!" she railed uselessly, feebly shaking her fist at them.
Glynda was left somewhat speechless. If it wasn't for the fact that throughout the class the students had given it their all and had performed very well, she would have dismissed this last portion of the demonstration as a complete farce. Yet despite the nonsensical verbal sparring that went on the all out fight of students versus teachers had otherwise been conducted with all due seriousness and considerable skill.
The class had begun with a demonstration of the Aura manipulation skills they had been learning, followed by a series of one on one, two on two, team versus team, and free for all spars. The class had only been running for a couple of weeks but her trained and experienced eye could already see that there had been improvements in footwork and balance which was leading to better and more accurate strikes, as well as a more stable base when blocking and defending. She also saw less in the way of reckless, headlong charges and attempts at flashy, eye catching moves.
The final portion of the class had been all of the students against their instructors, neither of whom was armed. Despite everything that she had seen and experienced herself over the years she found herself in awe of the two. They moved so fluidly and with such ease, weaving around their students and each other like it was nothing, blocking and attacking with seemingly little effort and a grin on their faces as they did so. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The students weren't fairing all that badly considering the enormous disparity in skill and experience. She had seen the footage of their first attempt at ganging up on the pair from their class initiation and it was somewhat of a disorganized effort, but this time around it seemed they had more of a plan and they had obviously discussed how they would handle a repeat of that day. They attacked in pairs and came in waves, keeping constant pressure on their foes. It was amazing to see how Ichigo and Yoruichi not only kept up with it, but launched attacks against one pair as they were defending against another.
Despite not doing any damage and the attrition of their numbers, the students kept attacking. In a real fight that would not have been the wisest thing for them to do but here it was pretty much expected and they did have a cause to fight for, as silly as it was. On the way into class Miss Valkyrie and Miss Rose were having a spirited debate about which was better, pancakes or cookies, with the other students adding their own opinions mostly for the fun of egging the other two on. As the fight against the teachers was about to begin, Yoruichi issued a declaration of war against Cookieland and the Pancake Empire, vowing to mercilessly ransack and pillage them of their sweet confections.
It was utterly ridiculous yet it seemed to reinvigorate the group and maybe made them forget about the fact that they were being watched by the Headmaster and the Head Combat Instructor and they put up a spirited effort. While she wouldn't have done such a thing in her class, she supposed there was nothing wrong with it and the students seemed to respond well. They fought seriously and didn't goof around and it did seem to keep the tension they might otherwise feel to a low level. Ozpin seemed to be alright with it as well and at the moment was mirthfully grinning into his ever present mug. It was a look the man did not get to wear often enough.
Nora suddenly sat up. "Please Professors, don't let these usurpers plunder our lands of their sweet goodness," she wailed dramatically. "I beg of you!"
Glynda coughed into her hand. "I'm sorry Miss Valkyrie, but we are merely observers here and we cannot involve ourselves in your conflict." Who said she didn't have a sense of humour.
"Yes, I'm afraid we must remain neutral in this affair," Ozpin said as seriously as he could manage.
"Such a cruel fate!" she lamented as she flopped back to the floor.
"In all seriousness," Ozpin began, barely suppressing a chuckle. "I am proud of you all. You have taken the challenge that this advanced course has presented you with and it is obvious to me that you have risen to it. Even though you have barely scratched the surface here, I can see the determination in you all to learn and grow and the enthusiasm you have to succeed. It also seems that despite the hard work that you are all enjoying the experience as well and that is good."
"I am proud of you all as well," Glynda said. "It has only been a couple of weeks but I can already see improvement in all of you. Some more than others." She looked at Jaune and gave a slight nod. "Well done students, I expect you to keep up the hard work and to keep improving."
"They're attentive and bright," Yoruichi said. "And they are easy to teach. There have been a couple of hard lessons that had to be taught and they have been learned. They want to succeed and they will work hard to do it. Can't ask for much more than that."
"They're a great group to work with," Ichigo spoke up. "I didn't know if I'd make a very good teacher when I came here but they've made it easy."
Ozpin smiled. "From what I have seen you are doing an excellent job, both of you, and I have no doubt that they will continue to improve and grow under your tutelage."
He rose to his feet, Glynda joining him. He looked out over the students again, a look of pride in his eyes, though for those who knew what to look for they would also see a tinge of regret there. A regret for what they may have to face in the future at his behest.
"You are all very talented yet that talent is still raw and unrefined," he said. "Continue your hard work and I have no doubt you will become some of the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses to have graced the halls of this or any of the other schools." With that they took their leave.
"Wow, that's some hefty praise...from all of you," Yang said.
"They're not going to offer you empty praise and you know we won't," Yoruichi said. "You know we'll always give you an honest assessment and that we aren't going to sugar coat anything."
"Everything that they said and that we said was true," Ichigo added. "And you all earned that praise." He smirked. "Just don't go thinking that we're going to start taking it easy on you now."
"I can't speak for anyone else but I find that I rather like the workload and the challenge it presents," Pyrrha said.
"Yeah, me too," Ruby chimed in. "The harder we train, the better we'll be and we can help more people that way."
"That willingness to work hard and always keep improving will take you a long way," Yoruichi said with a grin. "And that's exactly the kind of attitude we want to see. It was one of the things that helped get you all into this class and it's one of the biggest factors that will keep you here."
"You can't protect others without hard work and commitment," Ichigo said. "So far, you seem to have that covered."
"Maybe we should get a reward or something then," Yang joked.
"Hmm...a reward huh?" Yoruichi mused.
"Careful what you wish for Yang," Ichigo warned with a smirk. "You never know what kind of twisted idea she'll come up with."
Nora sat up again. "Not plundering our pancakes and cookies would be good!" she offered hopefully.
"Not happening," Yoruichi deadpanned.
"Augh!" She flopped back to the floor in a sprawl.
She grinned. "Well, there are a couple of things. First, concerning those old tales you've been reading and investigating and trying to make sense of. I'll throw you a small bone about that and tell you that Ichigo and I are definitely connected to those tales in a very big way." That got their attention and had all heads up and looking their way. "But we're not going to tell you how just yet."
They all groaned. "Don't get too disappointed," Ichigo smirked. "You'll find out soon enough. How soon is up to you." Now he had them puzzled.
"Second," Yoruichi continued, giving her dear hubby an appreciative grin. "Tomorrow you can meet us for lunch in Vale at the same cafe where Ruby had her first date with Ichigo. Our treat."
One, two...
"Bwahhhh!?" Ruby blurted as she shot to her feet, her face almost indistinguishable from the red of her cloak.
"I knew it!" Yang guffawed.
"It wasn't a date! It wasn't a date!" she protested, arms flailing about.
"Oh my, pursuing a married man Ruby," Blake ribbed. "How bold."
"It wasn't like that!"
"Scandalous," Pyrrha added, hiding her grin behind her hand. Normally she wasn't one to tease, at least not outside of her team and not very often. But she had gotten a lot closer to everyone and felt so much more like she belonged. Like everyone else she was very fond of Ruby and her reactions were just too cute.
"You too Pyrrha?!" the little reaper gasped.
"Really Ruby, you should be more discreet," a certain white haired socialite scolded.
"Weiss!"
"Oh, I guess I was mistaken then?" Ichigo said, trying to add just the slightest touch of disappointment to his voice.
Ruby gaped at him, speechless and with her jaw hanging open. Yang was rolling around on the floor and laughing so hard she was in danger of peeing herself.
Yoruichi wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "It's okay Ruby, I'm not mad at you. Ichigo is quite a catch and since you're such a nice girl I'd be willing to share him with you."
There was a pop and a sound like steam hissing and a scarlet faced Ruby sagged in Yoruichi's grip, mumbling incoherently.
"Oops," the were-cat quipped. "Too much?"
Visitor's Dorms
At moments like this Cinder wished she could forgo appearances and just do what she really wanted to at the moment. What she wanted to do was scream at the top of her lungs to release all of the frustration and tension, then fall back onto her bed in a graceless, boneless sprawl and just stare blankly at the ceiling and think of absolutely nothing for a while. Just let her mind go blank. Unfortunately with her three underlings present she couldn't do that. Maybe later when she went for her shower she could jam a towel in her mouth and scream into it and then just sit under the hot spray until she pruned. If she could stay awake that long.
She had spent most of the night before perfecting the transformation of her weapon and they barely got back to Beacon before the sun came up. She successfully demonstrated it for Professor Goodwitch...who promptly told her to transform it back to the swords then do it again. Thankfully she didn't ask her to do it again because given her fatigue level she wasn't sure she could have pulled it off flawlessly a third time. She did get a chance to catch her breath at least before the matches started as Goodwitch spent a good ten minutes tearing a strip off of Team CRDL for the state of their weapons. Apparently they had decided to ignore her instructions from the day before. She had then spent the rest of the school day trying not to fall asleep and end up with even more problems...like detention.
"We need to get back to checking on the skills and threat levels of the other students," she told the group after elegantly settling into a chair at one of the desks.
"Well, nobody in our combat class is much of a threat to anything," Emerald said.
"And we can't get access to the advanced class," Mercury said. "With them watching us like hawks and making us attend all the classes we can't even sneak away and spy on another combat class or anyone practising."
"All true," she said. "And we already know all we need to about the students in the advanced class anyway. I doubt that they could learn very much that would change their standing significantly before the tournament. No, I have a specific individual in mind. To be honest, with all of the problems we've been having I very nearly forgot about this one."
That made them all stop and stare. Cinder was not one to admit to missing anything. "Who is it?" Emerald asked.
"Do you remember the strange orange haired girl that arrived at the dance with a pair of fully armed Atlesian guards?"
"That weird chick who danced the robot to almost every song they played?" he said. "Yeah, I remember her and those guards were never more than a few feet away from her all night."
"I've seen her in the halls a few times between classes," Emerald added. "There's always some girl in a blue beret with her too."
"That girl is the same one that was part of the group that disrupted Roman and the White Fang that night at the docks," she explained. "According to what he told me afterwards she used several swords, all or several of which seemed to have wires attached, that came out of a small backpack she wore. A pack that would seem too small for the amount it was holding. She used several of the swords to make a powered attack that cut a pair of Bullheads in half and she pulled another one out of the sky by impaling it with a few of her blades and physically pulling it to the ground."
"Are we sure Roman wasn't smoking something other than one of his putrid cigars?" Emerald cracked, earning a murderous look from Neo as she reached for her parasol.
Cinder held up her hand to stop her and she reluctantly relented. "His story was corroborated by the members of the White Fang that escaped with him. Even if enhanced strength was her Semblance that is quite an unbelievable feat." She gestured to her scroll. "I looked her up on the visiting student's roster. She's from Atlas and her name is Penny Polendina."
"Polendina," Emerald muttered. "That name sounds familiar somehow."
"It should," Cinder said. "You've probably heard Dr. Watts mutter his name in disgust. They were both in the same field, robotics, cybernetics, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Polendina is considered the father of Atlesian robotics and created all of their wonderful mechanical toys. Arthur was jealous of his accomplishments and tried to outdo him. His extreme lack of morals in attempting to do so is what got him into trouble."
"So what, this orange haired chick is his daughter or something?" Mercury asked.
"Unknown," Cinder answered. "Beyond his professional reputation extremely little is known about Dr. Polendina, but the last names are unlikely to be coincidental."
"There must be something important about her or else she wouldn't have had guards sticking that close to her at something as mundane as a school dance," Emerald surmised.
"Exactly," Cinder said with a nod. "We need to learn more about her. As we know she isn't in any of our classes but I did get her class schedule from the network. That girl you saw her with is Ciel Soliel, a member of her team and they have all of their classes together. We need to observe them as much as possible in between classes and I want the two of you to shadow them after the final class of the day. See where they go and what they do. Get video if possible. Nothing is to be considered insignificant. Make note of every action and mannerism if you have to. Short of trying to strike up a conversation or interacting with them, which it may come down to, get as close as you can without giving yourselves away. My gut is telling me that there is something odd going on where this girl is concerned and I want to know what it is and if it might be useful to us."
"If there were guards on her that means Ironwood must have an interest of some kind in her," Mercury groused. "So he probably has eyes on her all the time."
"All the more reason to be cautious," Cinder warned. "And keep your eyes open for anyone who seems to be doing just that. An assassin and a thief should have the observational skills to manage that." She turned to Neo. "If needed I will find a way to get you involved. It's not like they've been keeping close tabs on you but we need to keep as low of a profile as we can after everything that has already gone sideways on us. Last night, while bothersome, was a necessary risk and actually a good test."
Neo nodded her understanding. She hoped she could get involved if for no other reason than being cooped up in the dorm room and doing schoolwork she didn't really need or want to do was driving her up the wall.
"We need to get back on top of things and have all of our plans in order," Cinder continued. "All of these little irritations have put us on a defensive footing and I don't like it." What she disliked the most about it was that it made her feel like she had no control over what was going on and that was unacceptable.
"What about these two teachers that have been such a pain in our asses?" Mercury grumbled.
"What about them?" she challenged. "We don't need to draw any further attention to ourselves with them so any ideas you have about getting some payback will have to wait until the attack. Am I understood?"
He sighed grumpily. "Fine."
"I mean it," she said sternly. He was enough of a hothead that she didn't trust him not to still have something in mind.
"I get it," he shot back. "I won't do anything until the attack is going on."
"Your funeral," Emerald muttered. "They'll take you apart."
"Fuck off Emerald,"
"Children," Cinder said coldly, the temperature in the room starting to rise noticeably. "Go and find somewhere else to be idiots. I'm going to have a shower and I don't want to hear the two of you carrying on. And if you get into any trouble while you're gone I'll turn you into charcoal, now get out."
They wasted little time leaving. She turned her attention to Neo who had stuck in a set of earbuds and was grudgingly starting the latest homework assignment. She got up and headed for the bath. Hot water and a nice fluffy towel to scream into sounded absolutely heavenly right now.
Ozpin's Apartment at Beacon
It had been another long day but a generally satisfying one for the Headmaster of Beacon Academy to reflect upon as he took a few moments to relax in his favourite chair. As always there had been plenty of administrative paperwork and other matters concerning the school, as well as contacts to touch base with to keep himself up to date with the situation out in the rest of the world. Mainly about Salem and the Grimm of course. He had been genuinely pleased to see the progress his most promising first year students were making in their new class, that progress and their enthusiasm being the surest indicators that forming the new class had been the right decision to make and his new teachers were the right people for the job.
They were also the trump cards that he had needed for so long in this struggle against Salem. They were something she couldn't fathom and couldn't account for and with their aid he might finally be able to find a way to put an end to her plans. Also with their aid he might see the rise of the greatest Huntsmen and Huntresses that Remnant had ever seen. He hadn't been lying when he issued his praise to those students earlier. They all had a quality about them that told him they were something special and that they would most definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the future. It could even be argued that they were already making an impact.
He did however regret the need he had for them in this cause and his biggest regret was in needing to bring Ruby into the fold. Her silver eyes were invaluable to the struggle but they also made her a target, one that Salem would not fail to pursue. Letting her come to Beacon two years early had been a gamble but she had indeed earned the chance and it gave her a greater level of protection that much sooner. He knew how fond her team and Team JNPR were of the younger girl and he was sure that they would watch over her. The addition of the two Death Gods however meant that she was all but untouchable, especially considering the familiarity her soul had to them.
If the Grimm were the only problem he would still have regrets but they would be easier to live with if there was no Salem to contend with. Training children to be the monster slayers of the future was one thing and they had signed on to learn how to do just that. However, needing them to possibly face a powerful and immortal threat was another and at this point in time it was something they had no knowledge of. But now, he had his own immortal warriors and he could only hope that they were able to at least level the playing field and neutralize the threat even if they couldn't eliminate it.
Even if neutralizing her threat was all that they could do he was still glad to have them onside. They gave him a renewed sense of hope and that was something that had been fading for him. To go with that, for whatever reason, his magic was returning to him and growing in strength and along with it so was his Aura. It had been a long time since he last felt this good and this strong. He didn't know why it was happening but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Positivity and optimism were in short supply and he would take all of it that he could get.
Suppressing a yawn he checked the time and nodded to himself. Time to call it a day. He rose from his chair and moved to the kitchenette and placed his mug in the sink before going about his usual nightly routine. Taking his glasses off and sitting on the edge of his bed he closed his eyes and recited his nightly mantra, a prayer of sorts asking the souls of all who had sacrificed so much to the cause for their forgiveness and wishing them the peace they rightly deserved.
Shutting out the bedside lamp he laid down and let the silence of the night envelope him.
Seemingly, at the moment that his eyes closed they snapped back open again, only it wasn't the interior of his darkened bedroom that he was seeing. He was dressed in his usual attire instead of his sleep wear and was standing under a sunny sky in the middle of a narrow city street, cane in hand. What city...he couldn't say as the architecture was mostly unfamiliar to him. He didn't see any other people and there was an almost disturbing silence. There were none of the usual sounds present that one would expect in a city or even a small town for that matter. No sounds from vehicles moving about in the distance, no voices carrying through the streets and alleyways. It was eerily still and quiet and normally that would have put him on edge and made him wary. For some reason however that feeling was totally absent. Instead he felt just as calm as his surroundings seemed to be.
Looking around he observed a variety of buildings ranging from one to eight stories and in the distance he could see a few that were taller. The one that seemed to draw his attention the most however was directly in front of him. A small, single storey building on a narrow lot sandwiched between two taller and clearly newer and more modern buildings. To him it looked like it was a little out of place, like it belonged to a different point in time than the rest.
This particular building looked much more familiar to him as its design was very similar to some of the architecture he'd seen in Mistral. The style of the roof line and eaves and the type of paper and wood frame doors was common all over Mistral both in many old structures and newer ones. Haven Academy actually incorporated that style into all of the buildings on its campus.
With its aging paint this structure was a little weather beaten and worn but looked like it was otherwise structurally sound. There was a sign over the door that was faded enough that he couldn't quite make out what it said from his position on the street. He felt compelled to approach, which made sense otherwise why would he have appeared in this place and in front of this particular building in the first place? Giving into it he walked into the lot and towards the building.
As he got closer he could better see the sign, but that didn't help his ability to read it. Whatever was written there was in a language made of symbols that he had never seen before and thus didn't understand. Walking up the single step to the decking that ran the length of the storefront, he noted that not a single board creaked in the slightest as he moved to the door. Reaching out to said door he slid it open easily, it too not making the least bit of sound until it clacked against the frame at the end of its track. Stepping inside he saw several rows of shelves and bins that seemed to be stocked with candy of all things, some varieties that he recognized and some that he didn't. He chuckled. A few of his students would probably love the place, Miss Rose and Miss Valkyrie in particular.
Directly in front of him at the back of the room was a doorway covered by a curtain. To the right was a closed door and to the left was a counter that he supposed served as the point of payment for customers. There were numerous little signs around the merchandise and at the counter, again written in that strange language only with numbers this time as well, the prices no doubt. At one end of the counter was a circular rack about six feet high filled with magazines, and again he couldn't read the language adorning the covers. As he walked near he could see the pictures on some of the covers showing buildings of similar architecture as the one he was in, others showed scenes of the countryside, hot springs, and a wide snow capped mountain. Others were adorned with cartoonish artwork.
Stopping before the curtained doorway he pushed the fabric aside and found himself looking down a hallway. On the left was a single paper and wood door that was partially open, on the right there were two as well as a conventional hinged door with a brass doorknob. At the end of the hall was another paper and wood sliding door and there looked to be a hall branching to both the left and the right. He was getting a strange sense that the interior of the building seemed to be much larger than what its exterior suggested. Very odd, but he supposed that if this was a dream then pretty much anything was possible and the laws of physics and nature itself for that matter could easily be bent and twisted beyond recognition without consequence.
Moving down the hall he looked through the partially open door to the left to see that it was a small kitchen. He didn't bother with the other doors but continued on to the end of the hall. At the end of the short hallway on his right was another door, this one looking much sturdier than any of the others and it had a very robust looking handle and lock. To the left was another hall that was a dead end, with the entrance to another hall about three quarters of the way down its length that lead still deeper into the building and continuing to make a mockery of the structure's outside proportions.
Something within him told him that the door he was standing in front of was his ultimate destination. He stood there for a moment, gathering his thoughts before sliding it open. It was a fairly spacious room with the walls painted a pale green. In the centre of the room was a large, low table and along one wall was an equally low cabinet with several drawers. Sitting at the left side of the table, cross-legged and on a large cushion, was a man dressed in a green shirt and pants and with a dark green, large, loose sleeved, open robe-like garment over top that had a white diamond pattern along the bottom hem. Covering a head of scraggly blond hair and shadowing a stubbled face was a green and white stripped bucket hat. He was also wearing a peculiar pair of stilted wooden sandals. Lying on the floor to his right was a simple wooden cane with a hooked handle.
At first the man gave no notice of his presence, simply looking down into the cup of steaming green tea on the table before him. To his left there was a thermal carafe that he assumed must hold more tea and across the table there was an empty Beacon mug and another carafe. He could detect the subtle aroma of hot cocoa, his drink of choice.
"Ah, welcome," the man said finally, looking up to reveal a pair of grey eyes. Long able to read much from a person's eyes, he saw intelligence, cunning, and mischief there. "At long last we are finally able to meet."
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," he said.
"Ah, sorry. Bad manners on my part," the man said with a half smile. "Of course I would be a stranger to you. I suppose you could say that in actuality I am you. I am the soul that reincarnated to become Ozma. In my life before that my name was Kisuke Urahara." He removed his hat for a moment. "Pleasure to meet you."
He was rather stunned to hear that name. "You were friends with Yoruichi and Ichigo." They hadn't described the man but they had mentioned his name when they were telling the tale of their lives.
"Indeed," Kisuke answered. "I grew up at the Shihoin estate along side Yoruichi and we were friends all of our lives. As for Ichigo, I'm afraid that I am one of the people largely responsible for turning his life upside down. I was very fortunate that he didn't hate me for it."
"So just where exactly are we?" Ozpin asked.
"This is a construct inside your soul," Kisuke answered. "Like the inner world of the Shinigami that they explained to you. This is the shop I ran and based my operations out of and the city outside is Karakura Town. It's also where Ichigo was born and grew up."
"So why haven't we met before?"
"That is a long story," Kisuke answered. He gestured to the other side of the table. "Have a seat and get comfortable. We'll likely be here for a while. Don't worry though, time passes much slower in here than on the outside."
Ozpin regarded the low seat with a bit of trepidation. While he was in quite good shape, he did have an occasional issue with his right leg and sitting as Kisuke was on a cushion was not going to help it.
"Ah," Kisuke said, knowing what the problem was. "Just a second."
In the blink of an eye the table went from a few inches high to a little over three feet. Kisuke was still seated on a cushion but it was now nestled on top of a chair. On the other side of the table there now sat a replica of the chair from his office.
"One of the perks of an inner world," Kisuke grinned. "You can make any changes you want at will."
"Convenient," Ozpin said as he took his seat. "If only we could change things so easily in the world outside."
"Unfortunately the universe seems unwilling to allow things to be that easy," Kisuke smirked. "As for how we haven't been able to meet before, there are two distinct parts to that."
"What is the first?" Ozpin asked as he stopped resisting the temptation to pour himself a mug of hot cocoa from the carafe.
"After the cataclysm destroyed the other dimensional worlds and formed Remnant, as a soul I was dormant for a very long time," he began. "I don't believe that I was ever a part of another person's life until Ozma was born, if so, I have never been able to recover any memories or other evidence that suggests otherwise."
"But obviously you retain the knowledge of who you were before the cataclysm," Ozpin observed.
"Yes," Kisuke confirmed. "Normally the way souls work upon their death and transition is that they forget the memories of their past life. As Yoruichi explained to you, when a soul passed on to the afterlife, naturally or with a Shinigami's help, they would retain nothing of their previous identity. Only on very rare occasions would a soul retain the memories and experiences from its most recent life. That would seem to still be the case since we have never encountered any souls that seemed to have knowledge of their past selves."
"So that makes you one of those exceedingly rare souls to retain your past," Ozpin observed.
Kisuke took a sip of his tea. "It didn't seem so initially. At first I didn't have any sense of who I had been. I knew there was something there but I couldn't grasp it at the time. I believe it was due to how long I was dormant after the collapse."
"When did you become fully cognizant again?"
"When the God of Light gave you your immortality," he answered. "It was very similar to being hit with an electric current, like a doctor defibrulating a patient to restart their heart. I regained my sense of individual identity immediately, my memories took considerably longer to return however."
"Individual identity," Ozpin repeated. "So you realized what you were but not who you were."
"Exactly. It wasn't until you...we...had gone through several reincarnations that my memories began to come back to me, that I began to realize that it should be possible for me to communicate with you. I tried but for some reason I was unable to. Eventually I decided that I needed to have more information about the spiritual make up of this world and how it differed from the old one if I was to find a solution."
"How did you gain such knowledge," Ozpin asked. "I may have studied and observed many things but I never did any kind of research into the properties of the soul."
Kisuke smiled. "It seemed that I possessed an ability that you did not and that I was unable to share with you at that time. Like Yoruichi and Ichigo, I found that I was able to sense and read the souls of others. When I regained all of my memories I was also able to rediscover the spiritual abilities that I used to have. As we travelled and lived various lives I was able to feel how Reishi and Reiatsu from my worlds had formed a new physical world. I could feel the Reiatsu and Reiyoku and how it had become what is known as Aura and Semblance and how the various abilities of the Semblance derived from the attributes of Zanpakuto and the magic of Kido. I could feel how the nature of Hollow Reiatsu had manifested in the Faunus and how the Grimm carried the taint of Hell despite not having souls."
He produced a paper fan, seemingly out of nowhere and concealed all but his eyes behind it, which seemed to twinkle with mirth. "And being the handsome and genius scientist that I am when it comes to all things regarding the spiritual world..." He snapped the fan shut and tapped the side of his head with it. "I became lost in my observations and research and for quite some time forgot all about my original objective of finding a way to communicate with you."
"Hmmm," Ozpin hummed, grinning slightly himself. "It seems we aren't so different then. I too have found myself becoming immersed in things to the point of distraction at times. When there are questions, I need to know the answers. So what put you back on track?"
"It was when you met Ichigo and Yoruichi for the first time," he answered. "The fact that we had encountered them and not just a reincarnation of their souls was quite the shocking event for me." He smirked. "It was also quite the surprise that not only were they together but they were married as well. I turned my full attention back to the communication issue and it didn't take long to figure it out and the issue was also the reason why your magic was fading."
"What did you find?" Ozpin asked. "I had thought that the amount of magic I expended when empowering the Maidens was likely the root cause of my magic becoming weaker."
"Like a Semblance your magic was powered by your soul and as such the energy spent can be replenished with rest," he explained. "However there was something bleeding off energy for its own purpose. With every reincarnation another soul becomes a part of you and once it is fully melded into the whole it actually leaves something behind. You recall Yoruichi saying that your soul felt as if it was made up of many layers?"
"Of course," Ozpin said with a nod. "Until I explained it she didn't seem to be able to differentiate that they were due to different souls fusing together as one."
"That is because once they are fully part of the whole they no longer have a distinct and different energy signature," he said. "To someone sensing it on the outside like Yoruichi, the energy would all feel the same but also like it was layered rather than one single mass. The soul itself is, but what those other souls left behind is not."
A puzzled look came to Ozpin's face. "What they left behind?"
"The second reason why we were unable to communicate before this. As you know many people will first unlock and manifest their Aura when they are in imminent danger," Kisuke continued. "Like an automated defence the Aura unlocks and shields them from harm. Many Shinigami actually had met their Zanpakuto spirit for the first time in a similar manner. In this case, every time you reincarnated into a new body that person's soul would reflexively throw up the equivalent of an Aura barrier to block the intrusion. It didn't work of course and that barrier stayed in place even after the soul eventually became a part of the whole."
"So every reincarnation produced one of these barriers and in order for them to remain they must have been using my Aura as a power source," Ozpin surmised.
"Exactly," Kisuke confirmed. "Up until the time you created the Maiden's the drain was unnoticeable. But after expending so much magic and Aura to power it, as you recovered your Aura the barriers were feeding off of it first like a survival instinct, leaving nothing to replenish your magic. Thus your magic began to decline and as we went through more reincarnations it began to affect the strength of your Aura as well."
"We've reincarnated a great many times," Ozpin said somewhat sadly. "The number of barriers would be quite large."
Kisuke nodded. "Indeed it was and it took me quite a while to figure out just exactly how to break them down but shortly after your meeting with Ichigo and Yoruichi a couple of weeks ago I found it and got to work. You started to notice the difference about halfway through the process. All of the barriers are gone now."
"So you were then able to create this inner world and bring me to it," Ozpin summarized. "Is this essentially what it was like to have and communicate with a Zanpakuto spirit?"
"Mostly," Kisuke affirmed. "But unlike a Zanpakuto spirit I can't lower or boost your power or offer you any enhanced attacks. The Zanpakuto spirit is a sentient manifestation of the Shinigami's soul and reflects a part of them. I however am the awareness of a life your soul previously led. I can help and I can even teach you a few useful things that may work in this world, but I cannot function like a Zanpakuto would." He smiled. "As for why I made an inner world for you, I thought the ability to communicate like this, face to face, would have advantages over speaking to a voice in your head. With greater privacy too."
"Indeed it would," Ozpin agreed before taking a sip of his hot cocoa, his mood becoming sombre. "You have seen the entirety of my history right from the beginning, so what do you think of the situation we are in?"
"I think the God of Light had regrets about what they did and stuck you with an impossible task to ease his own conscience," Kisuke answered bluntly. "Stop Salem and push mankind to a state of harmonious living. Even without the problem of Salem that in itself is not a task one man can accomplish, no matter how many lives he lives."
"You know as well as I do that when I agreed to that deal it was because deep down I thought I could get through to Salem and make her see reason," Ozpin said, his voice tinged with lament. "It was a matter of personal feelings and that was not the right frame of mind to be making that decision from."
"I can't disagree," Kisuke said. "But all the same, her behaviour was a result of having no idea how to deal with life itself. Remember, she had been locked away in that tower for her entire life with little interaction with either people, the world, or the harsh realities it brings. You saved her from the tower and became her anchor. She never did learn how to live or how to accept both the good and bad of life. When you died she couldn't cope and everything that came after, to put it simply, was a temper tantrum on her part."
"And one I can't stop," Ozpin said with a heavy sigh. "By accepting the God of Light's offer I doomed the world."
"So melodramatic Ozpin," Kisuke chortled from behind his fan. "I think you may have missed something."
"What could I have missed?" Ozpin said gravely. "You heard what the entity within the Relic of Knowledge said. Salem can't be destroyed."
Kisuke snapped his fan shut. "Oh I remember what Jinn-chan said. You asked her 'How do I destroy Salem?' and her answer was 'You can't.' That was a very specific question with a very specific answer. She said you couldn't destroy Salem because that was the specific question you asked. Instead, what if you had instead asked, "Can Salem be destroyed?"
Ozpin was dumbstruck. Ever since the day he had asked that question and received the answer he had fallen into a downward spiral. That had been when he truly realized just how futile the task he had agreed to really was. There was no hope of pushing the world and its people towards more harmonious relations so long as Salem was alive and free to foster disharmony and push to her ultimate goal. The goal of having the Gods return and judge the world, find it wanting, and once again destroy all life upon it, including her so that she could finally escape her punishment.
Of course, there was always the possibility that she had something else in mind after having had so long to plot and plan, but he had never uncovered any evidence or even a hint of such a thing. However, it was a distinct possibility but without something to base it on or some indication of what that might be, it was nearly impossible to make any sort of contingency plans for it. Either way, it still boiled down to the fact that no matter what she was trying to accomplish, or how she was trying to accomplish it, she had to be stopped.
In all of that time he had never thought that the answer he received from Jinn could mean anything else but his cause being a lost one and the best that he could possibly be able to do would be to contain Salem somehow and keep her from obtaining the relics. He had asked the question in specific terms because he saw the responsibility as being his and his alone. Too many others had been lost in aid of his mission and he had personally lost too much. Beyond the death's of his own children that he'd had with Salem, he had formed relationships and had a family through many of his lives and ultimately he had seen them all pass when their time came while he continued on.
Learning that his task was impossible had sent him into a dark period that had taken a couple of lives to recover from. He had felt badly enough for those souls once he finally came to his senses again, but to think now that he may have put them through that all because he hadn't asked the right question or that he hadn't considered the alternatives of the answer he had gotten, well it didn't make him feel all that heroic or noble. He felt like a fool.
"I'm afraid that I had been getting desperate by the time I found the relic and was able to ask my question," he said. "As such I was already in the wrong frame of mind it seems to consider the answer I was given. This is something I should have been able to figure out back then. You believe that while I may not be able to destroy her, that someone else can?"
"I believe it is certainly possible," Kisuke answered. "You were thinking it yourself earlier, about the value of the silver eyes. Salem would not have shown such concern over getting rid of those who had them if they didn't pose a threat to her. Although, I suppose it would not be beyond her to be petty enough to want to hunt them down because she knows that trait ultimately comes from you, be it by bloodlines or by the lineage of your soul. Every one with the silver eyes is tied to you in one of those two ways and she does hate you. We do know however that since she altered herself when she took a dive into a Grimm spawning pool in one of her many suicide attempts, that she would certainly be vulnerable to the power of the silver eyes."
Ozpin sighed heavily. "I really do not wish to put such a heavy burden upon Miss Rose. At this point she doesn't even know that there is any significance to having silver eyes...or that they ultimately were the mostly likely reason why she lost her mother."
Kisuke wore a wistful smile. "She reminds me so much of Summer, right from her dorkiness to her leader's charisma, to her willingness to charge headlong into danger to protect others."
"That's what makes Qrow and her father worry so much," Ozpin said quietly, fondly remembering one of his favourite students. "But they know how badly she wants to be a Huntress and what it means to her. They and I just hope that she doesn't follow too closely in her mother's footsteps."
"Her silver eyes may not be the only weapon you have against Salem," Kisuke continued. "There is Ichigo and his Zanpakuto. True, we don't know exactly what effect it will have on her until we see it, but everything on Remnant derived from the worlds before it. Even if it doesn't kill her he will certainly be able to hurt her, of that I am sure. That smaller blade of his represents his Quincy power and that power didn't cleanse souls like a Shinigami's Zanpakuto did, it destroyed them completely. Again, we won't know until he tries it, but it is entirely possible that immortal or not he might be able to destroy her. Worst case, he doesn't destroy her but does enough damage to weaken her sufficiently so that she can be sealed. If Yoruichi doesn't already know a seal strong enough to contain her, I, we, can teach her."
"I suppose that I will need to fill them in on my history with Salem and anything else I hadn't told them," Ozpin sighed.
"That would be an extremely wise course of action," Kisuke smirked. "They already know that you haven't told them everything. In the long history of the Seireitei and the Onmitsukido, Yoruichi was the best there has ever been at what she does and it is almost impossible to conceal information from her or to keep her from knowing you're holding out on her. She also won't let Ichigo be involved in anything where they don't get all of the information."
Ozpin smiled in a resigned fashion. "And she's also determined to make sure that if their students are involved that they know everything too, both their history and the truth about everything in this world."
"She has a tendency to get her way about things and has the frightening wrath to back it up if she doesn't." He hid behind his fan. "I've been on the wrong end a few times."
"Why does that not surprise me," Opzin said with some mirth. "You said earlier that it was a surprise to you that they were together. Was there not something between them in the past?"
Smiling sadly, Kisuke tilted his head back in thought. "Yoruichi was never one to show her truest, deepest feelings, she always kept them to herself. Her family was one of the most prominent of the noble families in the Seireitei and as such she had to be careful about her actions and mannerisms, one slip could give a rival clan or an enemy something to leverage against you. Once she became clan head she could relax just a little and she had a tendency to do what she wanted to do even if her clan disagreed and that extended to things like personal relationships. The clan elders learned very quickly that trying to push her into a marriage was a bad idea. If she chose to be in a relationship it would be one of her choosing and for her own reasons. When it came to Ichigo he quickly became her favourite student. He learned at a ridiculous pace and she could tease him to her heart's delight and never failed to get a reaction out of him. Especially when it came to randomly appearing before him stark naked. He would go ballistic every time. It was hilarious."
"Yet she never showed any overt interest in him?"
"As I said, she never was one to reveal her deeper emotions and her training both as a noble and as an Onmitsukido operative allowed her to completely hide her emotions from view." Kisuke sighed. "I suspect that whatever they have gone through since they awakened, and I'm pretty sure I can guess what it was like for them, is the cause for her outward displays of emotion."
"What about Ichigo," Ozpin asked. "Did he display any feelings towards her back then?"
Kisuke laughed. "Feelings of annoyance maybe due to all of her teasing and her harsh training methods. We used to tease him about being both a prude and utterly clueless. There were quite a few young ladies that were interested in him but it always seemed like he was oblivious to it. Show him a little leg or some cleavage and he'd go red faced and practically give himself whiplash trying not to look. When Yoruichi would appear naked in front of him his head would almost explode and he'd demand that she put some clothes on."
"He was a teen then was he not?" Ozpin asked. Kisuke nodded. "Not exactly the way you would expect most teens to act."
"Part of it was him being respectful of women," Kisuke explained. "But I think the bulk of it was a fear of letting any female get close enough to gain his heart. I believe it comes from the death of his mother when he was nine. He loved her more than anything in the world and her death scarred him badly, especially since he blamed himself for it. I think the only girls who were able to claim a piece of his heart were his little sisters, they meant everything to him. If he did harbour feelings for Yoruichi or anyone else, he kept it very well hidden."
"Well, it is definitely not hidden now," Ozpin chuckled. "How they feel about one another could not be more open and obvious."
"I'm happy for them," Kisuke said. "They both deserve to be happy and have someone love them the way they seem to love each other. Judging by what they told you they've been through hell and it's good that they have each other to lean on. And if there is one thing you can absolutely count on, it's that this world could have no better protectors. I believe that they see safeguarding this world as their path to redemption. They will do whatever it takes to protect it."
"And that is why I feel more hopeful now than I have for quite some time," Ozpin admitted. "With their aid, we might just have a chance."
AN: Thanks for reading. I hope you liked at and that you will leave a review. (And not be a tool about it)