Hours after Sera and Neo slayed the Lyndwyrm, they were sitting around a campfire in the forest and happily eating a dinner of seared meat that had been stored in the Palamino's saddlebags.
Their rescuer, the man named Dale, carried Bela on his horse until night fell. He seemed friendly enough, but no one wanted to drop their guard. He was a stranger, after all. No one knew what his intentions were. And he didn't really say much during the short trip. He mostly just gave directions and kept an eye on her, Neo, and Isaac as they trudged through the dense snow. Now that they were settling in for the night, Bela was wrapped in blankets and set by the fire to keep warm while the rest of them sat in a circle around their only source of warmth.
In the ruined train cars, Sera found her bag. She was glad she had a seat near the back, because if she lost her stuff, she was gonna be a little pissed. It may not have been much, but it had her canteen and the supplies Raven gave her in it.
"So," Dale broke the silence, sitting on a fallen log around the fire. "Where're you kids headin'?"
"Argus," Sera said.
He whistled. "That's a long walk."
Isaac bit off a chunk of meat off his stick and chewed thoughtfully. "Well, we had a train, but..."
"That friggin' Grimm cut the trip short," Sera grumbled.
Beside her, Neo poked her shoulder to draw her attention, then signed, Did a pretty good job of killing it, though.
"How did you kill it?" Dale asked as he lit a cigarette.
"You can understand her?" Sera asked, a little impressed.
He took a long drag and nodded, blowing a smoke ring into the cold air. "Basic sign language. Yes, I do. And I saw what you were sayin' about my mustache, Pinky," he said jokingly.
Neo averted her eyes embarrassingly and shoved her hands into her coat pockets, a mute person's way of shutting themselves up.
"Anyways... I just threw some Dust in its mouth and... kaboom," she explained.
"Come on, it was more than just that," Isaac said with a mouthful of food. "It was incredible! She led all of us on the train to fight the Grimm and saved everyone that was at the end before the Lyndwyrm could go down too. Then after we fell, she fought it off to protect Bela! Now that's a huntress if I've ever seen one," he raised his stick as a sort of toast.
Sera shied away from the praise, but she couldn't help but feel pride swelling in her chest. She had done a pretty good job, even if part of the train had been destroyed. During the entirety of the attack, no one got hurt... except for the three huntsmen that had been flung off the train... That dampened her mood substantially.
"Those others didn't make it, though," she murmured.
Isaac faltered, a frown forming on his face as he stared into the fire.
An uncomfortable silence fell over them, and all Sera could hear were the sounds of crackling flames. A log in the fire crumpled and sent a flurry of sparks into the air.
Neo nudged her, and she looked over to see her sign, Not your fault. Nothing we could do.
Dale scoffed, shaking his head. "Huntsmen. You're not going to save everyone. There's always bound to be casualties, especially with Grimm like that," he hooked a thumb in the direction they'd come from, where Sera had killed the Lyndwyrm.
Her eyes narrowed at him. "Are you not a huntsman? Who are you, really? And how did you just 'happen' to come across us back there?"
He regarded her with a look of indifference. Issac glanced over at him, as if he'd been wondering the same thing. She saw Neo reach for her parasol and Sera lowered her hand, giving her a look like, Not yet.
Finally, Dale sighed. "Well, might as well get it over with. No, I'm not a huntsman. Just a traveler heading to the next town, looking for work. As for how I found you, I've already said. Passin' through the area and heard a bunch of ruckus, so I came to see if anyone made it. And here we are," he spread his arms, gesturing to what they were doing.
"Looking for bodies to loot, more like," Isaac muttered.
Dale's expression soured. "I don't know who you take me for, but a pillager of the dead isn't it."
"We don't know who to take you for," Sera said. "It's kinda hard to trust someone that just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Especially with everything I've been through in the last several months."
Neo raised an eyebrow at her.
"Neo, you actually had an explanation as to why you were looking for us. I know you trust him even less than I do."
Neo shrugged in agreement.
"Jeez," Dale muttered. "You bunch sure are a lot more depressing than other huntsmen I've met."
"Call it a byproduct of the Fall," Sera crossed her arms.
He chuckled dryly and tossed a stick into the fire. "Beacon. Figures. Yeah, heard that was nasty."
"That's one way of putting it," she muttered.
Isaac cast a glance at her. "What did you see in Vale? Did it really get that bad?"
Sera stiffened at the question. She wasn't sure if she wanted to get into all that right now, especially with two people she barely knew. Neo nudged her again, and she looked over at the shorter girl.
Neo raised her palms, fingers pointed upwards, and moved her hands closer together. The meaning was clear—Shorten it.
She took a deep breath and interlaced her fingers, resting her elbows on her knees. "Everything was fine. My team was competing in the Vytal Tournament, then the Grimm attacked out of nowhere. The White Fang, too. We tried to fight them off, but... there were just too many. I watched two of my friends die, right in front of me. Another lost her arm. And dozens of other people I knew, kids I had classes with."
Isaac listened intently, clinging to every word she said. "Hold on, the White Fang were there? Just... why?"
"I can name a few reasons," Dale muttered, his arms crossed irritably.
"Because," Sera said. "The Fall wasn't just some freak Grimm attack and all my friends know it. Someone orchestrated it, and we know who."
"And who might that be?" the gunslinger asked.
Sera clenched her jaw, internally debating if she should reveal the name. She came to the conclusion that she didn't care who knew. If either of these two happened across her, maybe they'd be willing to try and put her down.
"Cinder Fall," she said. "But she wasn't acting alone. There's a whole syndicate of people working in the shadows, trying to take down the huntsmen academies," she nodded to Isaac. "That's why the Fang were in Haven. It was going to be a Fall of Beacon part two."
"And you stopped them?" he raised his eyebrows.
Sera shrugged. "More or less. At least the bombs they set didn't go off, I think."
"They set bombs?!" he shot to his feet.
She blinked. "Oh, good. I guess they didn't go off."
"They tried to blow up one of the most important buildings in the middle of Mistral?" Dale asked, then shook his head in annoyance. "Typical."
"I take it you don't like the White Fang very much," Sera noted.
"Absolutely not," he muttered. "I've got nothing against the Faunus, but the White Fang are a bunch of animals. Savage, and unaware of their own stupidity."
She tilted her head and nodded. He had a point. Everything she's experienced with the White Fang has only proven what Weiss had said about them so long ago. Domestic terrorists that are just blatantly discriminatory against all humans, rather than going after the people that actually treat the Faunus badly. Blake may have defended their earlier actions in the past, but after The Fall and the attack on Haven, the White Fang was public enemy number one in Sera's eyes. Well, apart from Salem.
"You have a point, Dale," she said, emphasizing how weird his name was.
He frowned. "Are you going to keep that up for the rest of this trip?"
"I dunno, are you gonna tell us your real name?"
Dale sighed and got to his feet. "I'm turning in for the night. You can take first watch, smartass."
"Was gonna do it anyway," she muttered, watching the tall man sit in the snow with his back against a wide tree. He covered his face with his wide-brimmed hat, then leaned back with his hands folded in his lap.
"There's more to what you said about Beacon, isn't there?" Isaac asked, his voice quiet since someone was trying to sleep.
Sera sighed mutely and pulled her coat tighter around herself. "Yeah. But I don't feel like getting into it tonight. It's a long, long, long story."
"That's all right," he got to his feet and clapped her on the shoulder. "But if you want, I'd like to hear about it. Wake me up when you get tired, I'll take next watch."
Sera glanced at Dale, then looked at Isaac and whispered, "Do you think we can trust him?"
"I don't see why not. But we should still keep an eye out, you hear?"
She just nodded, and Isaac went to spread a bedroll near Bela on the snow. The fire had melted a ring around it, so the two of them got to lay on wet grass. She wondered if that's why Dale preferred the tree.
Once he was laid down and turned away from the fire, Sera looked over at Neo and bumped their shoulders together. "You should get some sleep. Probably gonna be a long day tomorrow."
She looked like she wanted to say something, but Neo just lowered herself to the ground, pulled an extra blanket out of her bag, then wrapped it around her shoulders and leaned back against the log. Her head rested against Sera's knee, and she closed her multicolored eyes.
Sera smirked and laid her hand on her head, staring into the campfire as the day's events replayed in her head. Part of her was glad she wouldn't be sleeping for a while. She didn't want to experience another one of Kassandra's memories again. For the first time, she kind of missed the black void that took up her dreamscape. It was peaceful, quiet. Now, she was afraid she was going to fall asleep and end up in the middle of a battlefield.
"Quite a day, huh Sera?" Kassandra asked, appearing beside her on the log. Despite the cold, she was still dressed in a dark blue tank top and black jeans. Her Omega tattoo seemed to stare at Sera, a constant reminder that they were in fact the same person.
"You have a lot of explaining to do," Sera said pointedly, making sure she was using her inner voice so no one would hear her talking to herself.
Kassandra sighed and raised her hands towards the flames. Sera raised an eyebrow.
"You know, I didn't think I'd miss the cold. Sure, I can feel it through you, but it's different. To think that something as simple as warming myself by a fire would be out of my grasp," she said wistfully, with a hint of sadness.
"Well, that's depressing," Sera said. She sighed and mimicked Kassandra, raising her hands to the flames to feel its warmth spread across her palms.
Her past self smiled lightly and scooched a little closer to the fire. "Thank you."
Sera shrugged dismissively and lowered her hands. "You made a promise to me."
"I know," she said. "And I intend on keeping it. Just... I think it would be better to let him tell you, in another memory."
"Tell me what? I wanted to know how you knew Salem. What would Ozpin have to say about that?"
Kassandra smiled knowingly, then laughed and rubbed her palms together to somehow warm them. "Ozpin has everything to do with everything. The world, the Relics, the Maidens, our very existence. As you know, the man is a geezer. Like, older than anyone else alive besides Salem. Their fates are... intertwined. Like..." she crossed her fingers. "Like vines, wrapping around a tree to reach the highest point. He wants to protect the world, she wants to destroy it to reach her real goal."
That confused her. "Her real goal?"
Kassandra chewed her lip in contemplation, trying to think of a way to explain. "What if I told you that we aren't the first people on Remnant? Like... Gods, this is frustrating," she held her face in annoyance.
Sera could only sit there, even more confused than ever. "What do you mean not the first people on Remnant?"
She dragged her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. "Can I please just show you? I don't know how to explain. It would be... easier. For both of us."
Sera shifted hesitantly. She didn't like the flashbacks. They were jarring and more than a little existential crisis-inducing. But if this was how she got answers, she'd have to suck it up and deal with it.
"Fine," she sighed. "Show me."
Kassandra nodded determinedly and leaned closer to her, placing her fingers on Sera's temples. Again, she was startled by the fact that she could actually feel Kassandra's touch. Her hands were warm and made her skin prickle, but in the cold of the night, the feeling wasn't unwelcome. Still, it made her nervous.
"Relax," the dark-haired girl chuckled, noticing the way Sera stiffened under her touch. "I'm not going to bite you."
"Bet you'd like to," Sera scoffed.
"I can't help that we're hot, dude," she smirked.
Sera fidgeted with her fingers and mumbled, "Yeah I guess we kinda are."
Kassandra smiled and lightly pressed her fingers into the sides of Sera's face. "Okay, hopefully this works..."
She furrowed her brow. "You don't even know if this-?"
Suddenly, a rush of aura spread throughout her skull, and her vision went dark. Sera gasped sharply at the sensation, her muscles tensing as she was pulled deep into her own mind like her psyche had suddenly been yanked into herself by an invisible hand.
In an instant, she was looking through the eyes of Kassandra Kallisto. She could feel her physical body still sitting on the log, her head tilted back and her eyes staring up into the night sky. But she couldn't move. When she tried, it was like she'd been put on lockdown. Her limbs wouldn't respond to her commands. That usually happened in a flashback, but since she was awake, she'd hoped the memory would be a little less... constrictive.
"Ah, Kassandra," Ozma said. He was standing at the edge of a steep cliff with his hands folded behind his back.
Kassandra walked right to the edge of the cliff and looked down, her hand on the hilt of her sword in its scabbard. Far below sat the city of Mistral. The people looked like ants winding through the streets and going about their usual business. At the edge of the city, construction was underway. The foundations for a large structure were being put in place at the top of one of the shorter mountains.
"So, that's where it's gonna be?" she lifted her chin in the direction of the mountain.
Ozma chuckled and scratched the short beard on his chin. "I thought it would be fitting. People are already signing up for lessons, you know. Everyone wants to fight the Grimm."
"Good," she murmured tiredly. Kassandra had been walking for days trying to make it back to Mistral. Her feet were sore, she hasn't eaten in days, and she generally felt like she was about to collapse.
The older man looked around her quizzically. "Where is Augustus? Has he returned to the city early?"
"...No, sir," she answered, her eyes still on the many buildings below. When her vision suddenly blurred, she wiped her eyes and suppressed a sniffle.
Ozma's eyes widened slightly and he returned his eyes to the horizon. "I see. My condolences, Kassandra. He was a good man."
She nodded silently. Her throat felt like a frog had crawled into it, and if she spoke, she wouldn't be able to find the words. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Usually, she'd pull away from contact like that, but she didn't. A few tears spilled down her cheeks, and she wiped them away.
Kassandra reached into her pack and pulled out a gilded lamp with blue jewels reflecting the sunlight. "I hope this was worth it."
Ozma's eyes glittered at the Relic. Then he regained his composure and squeezed her shoulder. "Nothing can make up for the loss of Augustus. But I am glad you were able to retrieve the lamp. With it, we can know if our efforts come to fruition. May I...?"
Kassandra took one last look at the Relic, then handed it over. Ozma took it gingerly and ran his thumb across its smooth surface, a sigh of relief escaping his lips.
"What now?" she asked.
"I suppose... I use it. Hope the password still works..." he said.
"Password?"
He stared at the golden lamp and murmured, "Jinn."
In the blink of an eye, a bright glow flashed from the lamp. Thick blue smoke filtered out of it and blanketed the area around them. Something felt off, and she wasn't sure why until it hit her. As soon as Ozma had said that word, everything around them froze. The wind, the birds in the sky, the swaying trees and leaves around them, had just halted like someone had frozen time.
From the smoke, a distinct woman-shaped person formed in the air until the blue solidified. It was definitely a woman, if her bare glowing blue body and long azure hair was any indication. Golden jewelry adorned her neck, ears, and hands. On her wrists were wide gilded bracelets with chains attached to them. A beautiful circlet of gold was tucked under her long hair. The blue woman looked like she'd been crafted from pure energy to be the most beautiful in the land.
She opened her magnificent blue eyes and smiled softly at them, floating in the air like a holy being.
"Hello," she said warmly, azure eyes twinkling at each of them.
"Er..." Ozma shifted from heel to heel. "Hello. I am Ozma, and this is my friend Kassandra. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jinn."
"Ozma?" the genie said, her blue eyebrows raising in surprise. "Well, this is interesting."
Kassandra shot him a curious glance, but Ozma just waved it away. How did Jinn know his name?
"Can you answer our questions?" he asked.
"Yes, yes," Jinn said. "Three questions per century. No more, no less."
"Only three every century?" Kassandra blurted. "What, do you get tired or something?"
"Those are the rules," she shrugged.
"Very well," Ozma said. He didn't seem too upset by the news. "Can you show us where the other three Relics are located?"
Jinn quirked an eyebrow at the request. With the wave of her hand, a circle of smoke spun in the air until they were looking at a crystal-clear image inside of it. A vast city surrounded by a sea of white snow and thick trees lay in the middle of an icy wasteland. Enormous stone walls took up the city's perimeter,
"Atlas," Ozma murmured.
Then the scene changed, revealing green forest full of dense foliage and trees taller than any building Kassandra's ever seen. An old fortress overgrown with plant life rested in the forest.
"Vale," Ozma said, eyeing the image in the smoke.
The strange portal-like window shifted again, and a vast wasteland of sand appeared in it. Enormous dunes dominated the scenery as hard wind blew dust devils all over the sandy terrain. The image blinked and was replaced by a view inside of an old, dark tunnel with a gilded sarcophagus sitting at the far end. Then the blue smoke dissipated, and their view of the Relics' locations ended.
"And Vacuo," Ozma tapped his fingers against his folded arm.
"Creation, Choice, and Destruction in that order," Jinn noted. "Satisfactory?"
"Yes," the old hero nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Jinn. You've just helped humanity a great deal."
"My pleasure," she smiled softly. The genie winked slyly at Kassandra, then slowly retreated back into her lamp. The last whisp of blue smoke dissipated as its tail disappeared into the Relic, and time seemed to resume around them.
The wind blew, the trees swayed like usual, and the birds high in the sky chirped and flew at full speed. The Relic floated downwards and hovered just above the ground, and Ozma bent down to scoop it up.
"So," Kassandra cleared her throat. "We have a better idea as to where they are now. That was... something."
"Yes," Ozma exhaled. "We're one step closer, Kassandra."
She gave him a wary glance, scrutinizing his face. Finally, she asked, "How did she know your name?"
Ozma took a deep breath, as if he knew she was going to ask that. "Come with me. There's... There's something you should know, if you and I are going to go through with this."
Almost as a show of good faith, he held the lamp out to her, and Kassandra took it gently. Admittedly, she was a bit nervous that the thing might explode in her hands after what she just saw. More than ever, she was convinced that Ozma had been telling the truth about the Relics and their power. The evidence was undeniable, even if it did make her feel very small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
She looked down at the Relic in her hands. Its gilded surface twinkled in flux, almost seeming like the thing was laughing at her. Suddenly, the lamp felt heavy and sinister, and she didn't want to touch it anymore.
"Okay, let's get back to the city," she shoved the artifact into her pack. "I need to tell you about what happened with Gus."
He nodded, still clearly a bit shaken from whatever vision he'd had, then the two of them hurried down the mountain and into Mistral. Once they were back at Ozma's place of residence, the same wide dark oak building she'd been in before, they sat in his study. Ozma was shaken the whole trip down, and he refused to say anything when Kassandra asked besides, "I'll tell you everything soon enough."
Once she was in her seat at his table and had removed her bronze breastplate to be rid of its weight on her shoulders, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Ozma set a wooden mug in front of her with honey brown liquid, and she eagerly guzzled a few long draughts of the mead and let it cool her body. Warmth spread through her chest from the fermented honey, and a soft smile graced her features.
"Not much a bit of mead can't fix," Ozma chuckled dryly as he took a seat across from her, interlacing his fingers. "Feeling better?"
"I don't think I'm the one who needed the mead," she said.
"True," he shrugged. "It wasn't for that, though. It was to prepare you for what I had to say."
Kassandra took another drink and set her mug down, the honey liquid sloshing at the impact. "Before that, I want to tell you about Gus."
"Of course," he dipped his head slightly. "What happened? Augustus is one of the most powerful warriors I've ever met."
"Was," she muttered into her mug.
"What?"
"Nothing," she cleared her throat. "Have you ever... heard of 'The Black Dragon'? It's a scary campfire story to make kids behave."
His eyes widened slightly, hands tightening on the table's surface. After a few seconds, he said, "I have heard of this dragon. Are you saying it's what... killed him?"
"I don't know what the hell else it could've been," she said, her eyes glued to her mug. Kassandra took a deep breath and relayed what had happened to her and Gus in the ruined fortress. When she got to the part where the dragon attacked, Ozma's posture stiffened.
"I am sorry, Kassandra," he said once she was finished. "To be honest, I wasn't sure if the creature even existed. My advice if you ever encounter it again? Run. As fast as you can, as far as you can. If it exists, that means the stories are true, and if it desired, that creature could destroy all of Mistral. It's very old, and very powerful. Almost as old as me," he chuckled dryly.
Her eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"
"That's what I wanted to tell you," he sighed, shoulders dropping. "You may not believe me, but I'm asking that you hear me out and trust what I say. Can you do that?"
Kassandra had watched Ozma envision a new world hand-crafted to be free of the Grimm. They've spent a lot of time discussing how this would be accomplished. Sharing ideas, planning the huntsmen academies, and figuring out how they'd use the Relics to accomplish it. She trusted him completely, and he's proven himself genuine in his ideas more times than she could count. He was a good man, she knew he was.
"I trust you, Ozma," she said with conviction.
"Good," he exhaled a sigh of relief. "A very long time ago, long before you were even born, I was a very different man, and Remnant was a very different place. There were no Faunus, no Grimm, and the gods were still among us. They had two shrines, one for each Brother of Creation. Light and dark, creation and destruction. And, magic was still vibrant in the land. Now, there is little trace that it had even existed.
I'd heard of a princess locked in a tower by her father, and I desired to rescue her and bring her to safety. Her name was Salem, and I..." he shook his head, a snort of a laugh exhaling through his nose. "I was bewitched by her, and her by me. We escaped her father's castle and ran away together, then fell deeply in love."
"Wait, what?!" Sera screamed. She'd been silent the whole time, wanting to scrutinize every detail of the memory that she could. But that just shattered everything she knew about Ozpin up to now.
"Be quiet or you'll miss it," Kassandra told her, her voice monotone. "There's a lot more."
"One day, I fell ill, and died shortly after," Ozma explained.
"Wait, what?" Kassandra said.
"Ha, I just said that," Sera snickered.
"Shut up!" Kassandra hissed, but Sera could hear a hint of amusement to her tone.
The past Kassandra continued, "How is that possible? You're... here."
Ozma chuckled and rolled his wrist. "If you'd let me finish..."
"Sorry," she muttered, then took another swig of mead.
He cleared his throat and splayed his fingers across the table. "As I was saying, yes, I died. While I was dead, Salem got... busy. She went to the shrine of the Brother of Creation and begged him to resurrect me. When he refused, because it is unnatural for such a thing, she went to his younger brother with the same request. She lied, said that she knew that only he could help her. She tricked him and played to his ego, claiming that his older brother, his eternal rival, was incapable of resurrecting her love. He believed her, and wanted to spite his brother. I was given life again, but then the older brother appeared, and returned me to the grave.
The younger brother accused him of acting against him, defying his will. The older brother revealed that Salem had deceived him, and they came to an agreement—I would forever remain dead, and she would be made immortal so that we may never be reuinted."
"Immortal?" she blurted. "That's impossible."
Ozma smirked lightly. "Believe me, she put it to the test. Over and over, Salem attempted suicide. It never worked. Then she got an idea. She'd deceived the all-powerful Brothers. They weren't incorruptible as everyone had believed. The Brothers were fallible, just like any man or woman. If she'd done it once, she could trick them again. And so, she went to every kingdom in the land, proving her immortality and deceiving them as well. She wanted them to believe that their gods were unjust, and spun a tale of how they'd been cruel to her for simply asking their help. Sadly, it worked. They bought her story, and believed that they'd be granted immortality as well if all of humanity had united to defeat them. They sought to become the new gods in their place.
They were wrong. The Brothers decided that humanity was corrupted by their blasphemy, and wiped them out. Everyone on the planet had been eradicated, but guess who was left?"
Kassandra gulped. "Salem."
"Precisely," he nodded sadly. "After they'd left her alone, there where she'd united all of mankind against them, they vowed to never return. That Salem would walk the planet, forever alone. And she did, for centuries. One day, after trying to end her life in every way imaginable, she realized that if the Brother of Creation's light could grant her immortality, then maybe the Brother of Destruction's darkness could undo the curse. She returned to his shrine, and cast herself into his black pools in an attempt to end her suffering once and for all. It didn't work. Instead, the Brother's darkness only corrupted her further. Twisting her mind and body until she was a shell of her former self. She was immortal, yes, but that day she truly became cursed. Now, she resembles a creature of Grimm, but human. Her skin is pale as snow with dark veins, a mixture of her own blood and the black pools she'd thrown herself into. Her eyes became red like that of a Grimm, and the whites of her eyes as black as the same pools of darkness."
"That sounds like The Witch," Kassandra murmured. Another tale she'd heard as a child growing up. If someone was to venture into the Grimmlands, they'd be kidnapped by The Witch and have dark magic cast on them. That is, if the Grimm didn't get them first. The Grimmlands is a desolate, shadowy land that only Grimm can survive in.
Everyone that's ever gone into it has never returned.
"The story isn't entirely inaccurate," Ozma said. "The Grimmlands are where the Brother of Destruction's shrine was located. His black pools spawned the Grimm, and have never stopped producing them since the Brothers left. But yes, Salem is The Witch. She exists, just as The Black Dragon exists."
"You never explained how you're here," she said. "You died."
"I thought I would explain Salem's tale first," he chuckled. "But yes. When they abandoned humanity, they summoned me from the afterlife. They told me about what Salem had done, and gave me a mission."
"Which is?" her fingers tightened around the handle of her mug.
"The Relics," he said. "They told me that if humanity could prove that they were unified, I need simply bring the Relics together, and they would return. They called us a 'remnant' of our former selves. But if humanity was not united when they were summoned... that would be the end of the planet once and for all. That's why we need to guard them. If Salem finds the Relics and summons the Brothers too early, it would mean the end of everything. It is solely my responsibility to ensure the safety of human kind.
Then... there's the matter of how I'm here. The man you see before you? His name is Trajan. I'm... occupying him. When the Brothers assigned me to this quest for unity, I was cursed to 'join' with others. Every time I die, I reincarnate into the body of a like-minded individual to continue living. Two souls, one body. It's a very... complicated ordeal. But I assure you, Trajan is perfectly fine mind-wise. There is a process that occurs when I reincarnate. Our souls and minds become one, but I am primarily in control. I can still communicate with him, however. He," Ozma chuckled lightly. "He says he considers you part of his family, now. As do I."
Kassandra mulled over his words, trying to process everything he'd said. The topic was more than a little disturbing, especially because this was humanity's second time around. She would've panicked, but she was too drained to even work up the energy.
"So... That's what this is about? The academies, I mean. Guarding them until everyone is united to summon The Brothers? How 'united' do they mean? Like... no violence? No wars? That's a little hard to imagine," she scoffed.
For as long as she knew, people have been fighting. Kingdoms fighting over land and treasure, petty squabbles in the streets, you name it. Humans were violent. And the Faunus were another matter entirely. She could go outside and see a Faunus slave within ten seconds. Did they even count towards the unification? Did they even matter in the eyes of the Brothers? She's heard some crazy stories, but this... this was outrageous.
"Which is why we need to ensure their safety from Salem," he said determinedly.
Kassandra leaned forward, pressing her palms to the table. "How does she even know about that if she's been alone all this time?"
Ozma shifted in his chair, a sort of pained expression on his face. "I may have... found her."
Her eyes widened. "You what?"
He sighed heavily. "Have you ever been alone, Kassandra? Truly alone? Salem has. Salem knows exactly what that is like. She'd thought I was dead for so long, I... I'd hoped that seeing me alive, even in a different body, could cure her and bring back the woman I fell in love with. For a time, I was right. After the Brothers wiped humanity off the planet, the magic in the land vanished in their absence. No one could use it like before," he raised his hand, and a ball of green energy appeared in his palm.
Kassandra's eyes bulged at the sight. She watched the ball float into the air and burst, bathing the room in a cascade of tiny green constellations before dissipating into the air.
"Except for her and I. Together, the two of us became revered. We were looked to as gods, just like the Brothers had been. I... admittedly got a little caught up in the act. Mostly because I was happy. And for the first time in centuries, Salem was at peace. We built a house, and after a while, had children. Four daughters, each blessed with the ability to use magic just like us. They were beautiful, kind. I," he laughed briefly. "I liked to call them my little Maidens because of their purity, and innocence."
The light in his eyes dampened as his shoulders fell. Ozma inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.
"What happened?" she asked gently.
Ozma stared at the tabletop, his head hanging in shame. "I told Salem why I'd been revived. Something in her... changed. In a matter of seconds, I watched the woman I knew become a stranger. I... was afraid of her. So, I took our daughters, and tried to escape before she knew I was leaving. She caught us. I watched my daughters die at the hands of their mother, and then she killed me too."
Kassandra dropped her gaze, her hands curling into fists under the table. "I'm sorry," she murmured.
"As am I," he said. "If I hadn't ignored my suspicions about her, I would've never told her about the Relics. Now, she wants to gather them and summon the Brothers. Not to end humanity, not to spite me, but to finally end her immortality. I cannot let her do that," he looked up, the familiar fire in his eyes back in full force.
"And she won't," Kassandra nodded determinedly. "We'll be there to stop her."
Ozma perked up, his eyebrows lifting. "Even after what you've learned, you intend to continue helping me?"
"It is quite a story. Gods, immortality, magic? That's enough to drive anyone crazy. But it's hard to believe you'd lie about something like this. Plus, that lightshow only proved that magic was real. And if that's not enough, we've got one of the Relics right in this building. So yes, I'm still in."
He exhaled the breath he'd been holding. "That is very good to hear, Kassandra. I was afraid I'd scare you off by telling you my true origins."
"What can I say? I'm just doing what heroes do," she spread her arms, a confident grin on her face.
Ozma smiled and slapped his hand against the table happily. "I'm glad to hear it. Now," he lifted the tankard of mead he'd been neglecting for the entire conversation. "I believe we should raise a toast for our fallen comrade."
Kassandra raised her own mug and forced a smile. "To Augustus."
"Augustus," he repeated, then they downed their mead.
Kassandra's head buzzed pleasantly, her chest and limbs warming from the mead. She tapped her mug against the table in unison with Ozma, then eagerly went for a refill. After hearing Ozma's story, she needed more than one cup of the sweet honey wine.
"There's one more thing I wish to ask of you," he said, his expression turning serious as the hero poured another mug.
Kassandra quirked an eyebrow and leaned back in her chair, tankard in hand. "You mean something more than tracking down the magic items that could bring about the destruction of our world? Oh joy."
Ozma chuckled lightly. "I understand your apprehension. And what it is won't exactly be safe by any means."
"That's it, really sell it to me. I'm at the edge of my seat here," she cracked a sly grin.
"...I need you to find Salem."
Her jaw dropped. "What? The same Salem that you just told me about? That's gotta be suicide," she set her tankard down and crossed her arms stiffly.
"Believe me, I know," he said gently. "But we need to know what she's up to. After the incident with my daughters, I have no idea what she's doing. I can't do it myself. She'd know when I'm nearby, and the attempt would be pointless. An outside pair of eyes needs to get close. You need to get close."
"Going into the Grimmlands would be insane!" she retorted.
He lifted his shoulder slightly, a sort of light shrug. "I don't think she's in the Grimmlands anymore. Even from here, I can feel her presence. I suppose she hasn't pursued me because if she kills me, I'd simply move to another body. And if she captures me, the result would be the same. She can't harm me in any way that matters, and the same applies to her. You need just get close. Charm her with that intoxicating personality of yours, gain her trust, learn all you can about her. If she's planning something dangerous, we need to know about it. The very fate of Remnant depends on it."
Kassandra stared at him critically, weighing her options. Certain death vs. valuable intel. Finally, she sighed.
"Where is she?"
Ozma smiled. "Thank you. I believe she's in that newer kingdom across the sea—Vale. They seem like an honorable group. The king is quite kind, for someone attempting to wage war to expand his kingdom. I know him fairly well—his name is Vespasia. I don't think he's harboring Salem, however. More like she's taken refuge in the southern area of the continent."
"That's a long trip," she noted.
"It's also where the Relic of Choice is located. You'll be going there, anyway," he chuckled.
"I take it you'll be overseeing construction of the school while I'm gone," she idly spun her tankard on the table, spinning it by its handle.
"Of course. I still need to plan the sort of curriculum, find experienced fighters to help teach the young, and find like-minded individuals to oversee the academy. There's so much to do, we'll be lucky if it's finished in your lifetime," he chuckled dryly.
Kassandra tilted her head slightly, conceding the matter. "Fair enough. This school needs a name, you know."
"That's another thing that needs to be settled. I have a few ideas, but what do you think?"
Sera stopped turning her mug. She thought back to the fortress she'd found in ruins with Gus. Its name, Hinansho, meant "shelter" or "haven." In a way, the academy would be a safe haven for the people of Mistral. It would create warriors to guard the kingdom and shelter them from the Grimm.
"How about Haven? That has a nice ring to it," she opted.
Ozma's eyebrows raised, impressed. "Very well. Haven Academy, it is."
Kassandra flashed a smile, then reached for her tankard. It seems she'd be going across the ocean for the next Relic, and to find an immortal witch bent on genocide.
As soon as the mead met her lips, Sera was pulled out of the memory and dropped back into her body. She gasped sharply hugged her chest, trying to reacquaint herself with her own body.
The cold air sent a shiver down her back and bit into her skin. Then she looked up and realized she was laying in the snow. No wonder she felt like ice was pressing against her skin.
The huntress sat up and brushed the snow off herself. She'd fallen backwards off the log while she was busy reliving the past.
Kassandra flickered to life sitting on the log. Her hands were clasped together and her head hung low, her dark hair covering her eyes. Sera waited for her to speak, but she said nothing.
Once she got to her feet and dusted herself off, the huntress sat beside her past self and stared into the fire. It had begun to die down, so she reached over and tossed a few more logs onto the flames.
Everyone else was still sound asleep. Neo was curled up in front of the fire with her blanket wrapped around her. Sera pulled the edge of it over her shoulder and patted the short girl on the head, and Neo nuzzled into her blanket. Isaac and Bela were passed out on the other side of the fire, and the pale girl looked just as catatonic as when she'd gotten knocked out.
Dale looked like he hadn't moved an inch. His wide-brimmed pinched-front hat rested on his forehead and obscured his face, and his arms and ankles were crossed. She could see the spurs on his brown leather roper boots digging into the snow. She bet it was nice to have a big duster coat like that to keep warm.
Kassandra glanced over at her. "Was that good enough?"
"...Yeah," Sera said, not bothering to hide her voice this time. "That was... a lot. I didn't know any of that about Ozpin. Gods!" she swept her hair back. "Who would've thought that..." she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
"I know," she said.
Sera's eyes widened. She'd remembered a crucial piece of information from the flashback. "But Salem's immortal? How the hell are we supposed to win against that?"
"We're not," Kassandra said. "What do you think would happen if we told everyone about Salem and the Relics?"
She blinked. "Panic. Gods, everyone would lose their minds."
"And then?"
"The Grimm would come, drawn by the negativity of mass panic," she said.
"So...?" Kassandra raised her eyebrows, motioning for her to keep going.
Sera's shoulders fell. "So, Ozpin hasn't told anyone because it'd end up killing them. He's kept the Relics in those Vaults so Salem can't get them. It's just a big standoff."
"Atta girl," she bumped their shoulders together. "We keep the Relics away from her, she can't do anything but try to take them. Only the Maidens can open the Vaults, she has Cinder, and she can't even find the Relic in Beacon. At least, as far as we know. But now that the one in Mistral is out in the open..."
Her eyes widened. "She'll be after the others. I know they got the Relic of Knowledge. Raven said so."
"Exactly," Kassandra nodded, happy that Sera's finally all caught up. "We just need to find your friends soon, and we can help make sure Salem doesn't get it. If they're going to Atlas, maybe we can put that Relic in the same Vault as the Creation Staff. Then we're back to square one. Relics in Vaults."
Sera grinned and held her fist, and Kassandra happily gave her fist bump.
"It's you and me, Kallisto," Sera said. "Saving the world and kicking ass all over Remnant to do it."
"Glad to see we're on the same page now," the dark-haired girl smiled. "Took you long enough."
She raised her eyebrows. "Took you long enough to fill me in, asshole."
Kassandra clapped her on the shoulder. "Told you, I hadn't had a chance to yet. We haven't exactly been in a quiet place for long enough to talk."
"True," she shrugged. "I'm glad we are now, though. It's kinda nice."
Kassandra's smile widened. "Me, too."
For the next few minutes, they sat in silence, watching the fire. Kassandra rested her head on Sera's shoulder, and the white-haired girl tried not to feel too weird about it. After all, it was herself that was doing it.
"So," Sera looked over at her, and Kassandra lifted her sapphire eyes to meet her gaze. "How did you die, though?"
"Ha," she said and returned her eyes to the fire. "I think that's enough story time for one night. You look like you're about to fall over."
She hadn't really noticed, but Kassandra was right. Sera was tired. Her eyelids were heavy, her muscles were sore, and her brain felt muddled like it was turning into sand.
"Fine," she said, suppressing a yawn. "I'll wake up Isaac and get some sleep. But when we get a chance, we're talking again. And I want to see why we're still alive."
"Don't worry," Kassandra laughed. "I don't have anything to hide. You'll know everything soon enough, I promise. I'm just glad you know Ozma's reason for doing... everything."
She nodded tiredly. Her left eye wouldn't stay open and seemed frozen in a half-lidded state. Before she could pass out right there, she got to her feet and walked around the fire to reach Isaac.
Sera nudged him with her boot, and the huntsman came up fast with his bow in his hands and a wild look in his green eyes.
"Whoa," Sera raised her hands. "I surrender."
Isaac lowered his bow and yawned. "What's wrong? My turn?"
She nodded and rubbed her eyes. "I feel like I'm about to pass out. Wanted to wake you up before I did."
He crawled out of his bedroll and sat heavily on a log, resting his bow in his lap. "Go ahead, then. I've got it from here."
Sera nodded again, too tired to say anything else. She hurriedly (and sleepily) rolled out her bedroll near Neo and crawled in. She wrapped her coat around herself and pulled the bedroll up to her chin, then closed her heavy eyelids.
"Before you're out," Isaac said. "I just wanted to say nice job today. And thanks. I don't think that train would've survived without your help."
"Mhm," Sera murmured. She was already halfway to being asleep.
She had a feeling tomorrow was going to be a fun day of trudging through snow and getting to bond with her new ragtag group of huntsmen. If it was anything like when she was on the train, she'd probably get the fun opportunity of being the leader again.
Just before she fell unconscious, she heard a rendition of Ozpin's words like it was the first time he'd said them.
"Like it or not, you are someone that others look up to. You're a natural leader, Sera. It's probably time to start owning up to it."