"Dialogue" "Thoughts and inner monologue" emphasis or spooky words
That thought sobered Cassandra, what if he was an Ascian? Does he know of what happened to the others? Is he still seeking to bring the Umbral calamities upon all the reflections? She doesn't even have an White Auracite on her how will- She cut off that line of thought immediately, a lot of assumptions on little to no evidence were being made, she had to stop panicking and think rationally here. Ozpin had a soul that was way more dense than the other two, dense enough for her to notice it, but the same could be said for her and she wasn't an Ascian, maybe he had access to a similar system to the people of Alexandria, especially since he appears to be a figure of importance…
Yeah no point in getting worked up over nothing. With that train of thought being put on a full stop she looked to her plate and remembered how hungry she was, she had picked a variety of dishes to sample from stews, fruit a plenty and a variety of meats who called to her, she realized her chin somewhat moist due to her salivating, she just hoped no one saw that, man that'd be embarrassing, she already gets flack from her fellow Scions for her eating habits.
Just as our hero thought that a figure unseen to her was watching from afar giggling to herself from the display that weird woman was giving, she then finished her own plate and stood up "I wonder if Coco's like that when no ones looking" mused the bunny eared teen as she made her way to the auditorium wondering what the new teams will be like,still internally chuckling at the adorable display she had witnessed.
/
The assembling of teams was an enjoyable affair for Ozpin no matter how many times he'd seen it, the seeds of new friendships and rivalries being planted, seeing them grown into lifelong friendships through the fires of adversity and blossom into the next generation of Huntsman that would defend their fragile peace… a fire would light up in his heart that ensured that no matter the challenge he would accomplish the mission he accepted all those life times ago. With the ceremony and Glynda leading the gaggle of new troublemakers to their dorms so they could settle in, now to his other business… talking to one Cassandra Armstrong and figuring her out, Ozpin was not one to be easily confounded, he'd seen many things during his mission to unite the people of Remnant as one, everything ranging from the mundane and ordinary that was a part of everyday life to the bizarre realities of their world that Ozpin and his trusted allies sought to never let see light of day.
And somehow Cassandra didn't fit into any of those preconceived notions, she exudes a carefree attitude that makes her approachable and easy to talk too, even with the "absurdity" of her claims (which seemed less and less absurd if accounted for the possible involvement of either the relics or her machinations) she spoke with a light in her eyes that didn't betray the honesty in her voice.
Ozpin made his way to the cafeteria to meet his guest while thinking of how he would try and stifle Ooblecks curiosity about the unknown terms she utilized, his steps echoed in the now empty corridors of Beacon as pondered on the approach he should take with the pointy eared woman and now that he thought about it… was she a Faunus? Her ears were certainly a possible trait, but of what… he'd have to find a way into that topic later. As he approached he started hearing what seemed like sobs and upon entering the eatery he happened upon a quite peculiar scene…
It was Cassandra weeping while staring at a glass of milk and as he got closer he could see what looked like a cookie fully dipped into it and slowly dissolving in the drink, before he could get in a word she spoke.
"I just wanted to dip my cookie in the milk, why must you leave me my chocolate friend! You would've been the perfect end to this joyous meal!" said the distraught Paladin while staring at her glass, not unlike a widow who just lost her husband.
Ozpin sighed, maybe he was overthinking it a tad about how much of a threat the still crying woman could be, but he still felt sympathy for her as he too had been a victim of such tragedies many a time during his lives. He picked up a spoon that lay beside her glass and slowly stirred the drink while she looked in fascination "You may not get your cookie back, but if you stir it enough you'll get yourself a delicious chocolate drink, your cookie isn't gone.. It merely has been born anew" he said as the milk turned slightly brown from the mixing, the woman had stopped crying and in one swoop chugged her drink heartily.
"Ah that hit the spot! Thanks Ozpin, I thought I had lost my dessert there, but you saved it at the last second." She stood up from her seat, her grief seemingly forgotten, and put an arm around his shoulder, clearly she was no stranger to skinship, thankfully he didn't mind. "I'm guessing you want to continue our talk huh? If that's the case, just lead the way."
She gestured for him to take the front while she followed, and so he did. Their walk to his office was silent, mostly consisting of Cassandra staring at her surroundings with an expression of awe much like a child who was brought to her first carnival and Ozpin giving a few amicable hand waves to staff and questioning students who looked at the grown adult woman with a weird giddy look on her.
A couple minutes later plus an elevator ride and they found themselves at the top of Ozpin's clock tower, the sun setting in the distance covering the forest in an orange hue and signaling the end of another day. Ozpin set at his chair behind his desk, his bones creaking lightly while doing so, a sign of this body's ever closer expiration date, his guest stood in front of the window drinking in the scenery and only turning when she heard the sound of the elevator opening up once again and revealing Glynda Goodwitch with a stern look on her face that never seemed to disappear.
"Now that Miss Good Witch has arrived we can go back to our discussion from the Bullhead and since it's getting late I'll go straight to the point. Who are you truly and where did you come from, I'd prefer an honest retelling of what exactly you got here and your intentions" Ozpin spoke with an authoritative edge to his tone, the same one he used when dealing with the council or even his good friend Ironwood. There was a moment of silence after that, he expected it, not everyone responds well to demands like those, but he had to demonstrate a semblance of authority as Headmaster of Beacon. Glynda stared at the young woman who still looked at the scenery outside, not even fazed by the request.
"No problem, just so you know I won't be able to tell EVERYTHING due to it being a really long story and honestly I don't think we have enough days in the year for me to tell it all, so I'll just give you the version with the most relevant details, since I have some questions of my own." the Elezen stated in a relaxed tone, she then proceeded to give an account of said events, mostly detailing what Reflections are and how they interact with each other, avoiding talks about Ascians and such so as not to spook her hosts, she told them about small tidbits of her adventure like what a Chocobo is (giant chickens, who would've thought), the 13 reflections and what they meant as well as how she exactly got here.
She was proud to say it only took three whole hours to tell, thankfully she separated a sufficient amount of time to give a sequential info dump, by the end of it both of her listeners had pensive looks on their face while trying to sort the sheer amount of things they heard, ranging from the mundane to the bizarre (maybe she wasn't that far off from Ozpin's scale) and finally culminating in Ozpin asking the million lien question (or would it be million gil?).
"I understand now, thank you for explaining your story Miss Armstrong, now I have one more question… is there any way you can prove any of that?" Ozpin said in a flat tone, his face neutral but noticeably tired. Glynda had the same question, but had she asked it would've sounded a whole lot more accusatory and doubtful than his version, he could see the frustration in Vice Headmistress's face and how much trust she had in him to entertain such a tale.
The mystery woman pondered for a moment and quizzically said "Can't believe I hadn't thought of that, but yeah I got something here" she then materialized a backpack and began pulling a variety of things, from pots and pans, what appeared to be random ingots and materials as well as a whole live… green chicken? She finally found her target and pulled out a blue crystal the size of her forearm, it pulsed with an oh so familiar sensation that the old wizard hadn't felt that strongly in millenia… MAGIC…
Which he had assumed to be all but extinct in Remnant with a few notable exceptions. That alone made Ozpin speechless, there was no faking that, she had truly meant every single word in her story without an ounce of doubt and this crystal proved it. Glynda had a strange look on her face she could probably feel the flow of magic that crystal emitted but couldn't ascertain it and he understood why, the people of Remnant still had the potential for such a wonderful gift, but it had been all but ripped out of the planet once the Brother Gods took their leave. Silence reigned for what seemed like an eternity.
"From your reaction I'm gonna assume you understand what this is, I'm gonna use that to segway into my own question. My friend told me that by finding an area with a rich enough flow of Aether I could place this crystal there to act as a sort of locator for them to communicate and find me, luckily for me Beacon and specifically this tower seem like the perfect spot. Would I have your permission to plant this here? Of course I wouldn't expect this for free, I could help around or maybe talk to my friends back home once everything is peachy to see if they could provide any aid needed in Remnant. Ozpin found himself at a loss for words in that instance, something that hadn't happened in a long time, not since the death of one Summer Rose who perished due to his carelessness has he ever been so shocked.
He took a moment to recompose himself and started to ponder on her offer, if what she's saying is true than this could be major turning point in the battle against her, aside from Armstrong's martial prowess that by itself could prove extremely useful there is also the offer of aid by what is most likely an alliance of nations. Though there is the risk of an unmentioned price that might be more costly than he expects, the invasion of foreign powers outside the scope of what Remnant is ready to deal with, but that might be a risk Ozpin needs to take for the good of his home and all that live in it.
"I am more than willing Miss Armstrong, but first we would need to set a few rules to this agreement, your word first and foremost that you or your allies won't bring any harm to any of the people in my school as well as the assurance no military action by what you refer as Eorzea will be taken without explicit permission, your cooperation in endeavors against the Grimm and if necessary criminal elements and last your admission into Beacon as a general instructor. If those terms are acceptable I ask only that you keep them to heart.
Glynda made her opinions known, no longer able to keep her silence "Ozpin are you mad?! I understand that crystal holds some importance, enough for even you to be left speechless in its presence, but you must understand, having some woman we have just met as a member of Beacon staff is simply mad!" Glynda shouted with righteous indignation, as much as she trusted Ozpin this was the breaking point, something that could potentially risk the safety of the students was inadmissible.
Surprisingly enough the next person to speak about Glynda's concern was Cassandra herself, she cleared her throat to get their attention and started speaking "I have to agree with Goodwitch here, not saying I'd do anything to hurt the people here, but I am essentially a strange alien that would be hanging around and that sounds like a cause for concern don't you think?" After voicing her concern she could see Glynda cast a confused and appreciative look towards her. Cassandra didn't just say to gain brownie points with the scary witch, she was just speaking her mind regarding the situation.
Regarding Ozpin's terms… she didn't have any problems with them with the exception of him trying to make her some sort of henchman for peacekeeping, she didn't have nearly a good enough understanding of the world she found herself in to agree to such a thing, best she makes her concerns known now. "There's only one change I want to make to your terms, I'm not some soldier you can just order around, I won't take part in a fight not of my own choosing and if I find out you tried to goad me into doing your dirty work… I'll make you regret it for the rest of your short lives." stated the End Walker with absolute certainty, she loved a good adventure and fighting as much as the next person, but after years of dealing with shadowy masterminds and hidden puppeteers she was sick of being tricked.
Ozpin listened intently to her terms as his blood ran cold with the final part of her sentence, the emphasis on the word lives did not go unnoticed by the two present staff here, how had she figured out his biggest secret that quickly… that only solidified the necessity of staying on her good graces, she was becoming more and more of a mystery as time passed. He quickly got his head back in the game and spoke "Threats non withstanding your point is a valid one, you have my word I won't resort to such tactics, welcome to Beacon Academy or more accurately… Welcome to Remnant Miss Armstrong." Ozpin extended his hand, hopeful that this wasn't going to be another mistake to add to his already massive pile of previous ones.
Gigi's Best Friend walked towards the old Headmaster while grabbing his hand… then suddenly pulling him into a tight hug "Ah I'm so glad! This is gonna be great, I never had the opportunity to teach so I'm quite excited. I promise to do my best, now if you excuse me-" Cassandra let go of the Reincarnate and planted the Aether Crystal with all of her strength onto the floor, spooking both of the Heads of Beacon. "Oops, probably should've asked for a vase or something, but this works, might even become a fashion trend or something" Cassandra tried to excuse her impulsiveness with a shoddy explanation, Glynda could already feel her blood pressure rising while Ozpin was glad someone else was drawing her ire for once.
"This is looking to be a most interesting year, that's for sure." Ozpin mused as he looked at Glynda scolding the newest addition to Beacon's staff like a child who just painted all over the walls with crayon with her head down and on her knees, it was fascinating how fast the atmosphere could change around her. After that all that was left was show the newest staff member her quarters and give her an impromptu tour of the facilities, which Glynda graciously did with no complaints while explaining in succinct fashion what each of the different sections had to offer, from basic classrooms, training areas filled with different equipment, common areas and arenas for both faculty and students to use freely.
Finally they arrived at her new quarters for the foreseeable future, Glynda unlocked the door with something she called a Scroll (it looked more like a Tomestone but who was Cassandra to judge the nuances of their naming conventions) and gave it to Cassandra while pointing out all the basic amenities in the small but comfortable room.
Glynda soon made herself scarce right after, probably too get as much rest as possible before the first day of classes, that left Cassandra by herself in the cozy room where she could see a single bad, a desk, a monitor like the ones Cid used, a bathroom and a window facing towards the campus. "Not bad at all, I'll take some good naps here" she thought as a quick shower and some sleep started sounding like a really good idea, but first she pulled out her diary and started writing about her day so far, always good to keep note of her Unending Journey whenever possible. Finally she took that oh so desired shower, which now became a habit after the comments from that one receptionist in Eulmore, she laid down on her bed and took of her garments… tomorrow was going to be a doozy.
AN: With that we have another chapter, Cassandra is finally situating herself on Beacon and getting ready to help them disfunctional kids, also you might've realized I haven't given either RWBY or JNPR any spotlight yet and my reasoning is that they'll get more than enough with upcoming chapters.
Y'all probably noticed as well the way I'm writng Ozpin, in my vision he's always has been a bleeding heart of sorts, someone who's willing to wake up everyday and try to help as many people as he can within the limited scope of his abilities, only someone like that would be able to try and unite Remnant as one.
Also Cassandra just went ahead and her hand no fucks given, in my head she is the type to show honesty and expect the same in return, as well as being pretty dessensitized to interdimensional shenanigans. It's also a pretty good reason to kick ass if Ozpin tried to screw her over, she'd been honest and willing to lend a hand in a problem that didn't involve her, so she'd be totally just fied in going ape shit on him.
Hopefully y'all be enjoy my brain worms, have fun and remember to review it so I can get your opinions and feedback!