King: Intermission time again.

Knox: Back in the groove, huh?

King: Of a sort. Doesn't help I can't see a word count anymore. Oh well. Such is life, I suppose. Anyway, hope you all enjoy as per usual.

Inspiration: N/A

/\

The group finally started to disperse and Emerald knew it was now or never. If she could get to the Beacon teachers, she'd be in the clear. Ducking out to avoid Cinder's gaze, she found her target and moved quickly. She was soon face to face with the Beacon teachers with Ozpin being the closest to her. "Sir! I need to speak with you."

Ozpin looked back toward her and was silent a moment. After a pause that felt like an eternity to Emerald, Ozpin turned back to his coworkers, "Go on ahead. It seems I am needed."

Glynda moved a step closer, "Are you sure, sir? We saw her with…"

"I'm aware. Go on. If she meant me harm, she can't do so within the theater anyway."

Glynda sighed and shook her head. "Alright. We'll see you in the lounge when you're done." With that, Glynda shuffled the rest of the group away, leaving only the Headmaster and the thief.

Emerald stood before this man who seemed so much greater than anyone she'd ever seen. Being face to face with Ozpin would make even the mightiest warriors tremble. Yet here she was, a lowly thief with a dry throat, making it hard to begin. She eventually found her nerve, "Sir! I…"

Ozpin held a hand to her, "I know."

This caught Emerald off guard more than she expected, "You… you know what?"

"I have seen so many things in this world that it would be difficult not to recognize a repentant soul, especially one as blatant as yours."

Emerald was amazed at how easily he read her. "I…" She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves again. "I want to come clean. About Cinder, the Breach… everything."

\/

Raven growled as she walked through the hallways of the theater. Being back here was annoying enough as it is, but her daughter's open defiance against her didn't sit right. She doesn't know what's out there! How powerful Salem is… She was interrupted by running into General Ironwood from behind.

Ironwood turned back to her and his eyes narrowed. "Raven."

"James." Raven tried to move passed him, but something compelled her to speak. Maybe if he knew the truth, he could talk sense into the rest of them. "I think I might have something to tell you."

"After all this time? What changed?"

"This is important, James." Her glare sharpened as she crossed her arms. "I need to tell you about Salem. What I know."

"About her being immortal?"

Raven blinked in shock. "What?"

"Ozpin had to come clean after the other version appeared in the theater."

"But you… You're okay with all this?!"

"Okay? No. No one can be expected to be okay with that."

"I meant Ozpin's lies!"

"What lies?"

"He was hiding this from us! From everyone!"

Ironwood scoffed for a moment, "Alright then, Raven, tell me, what have you told your tribe about her?"

This caught the Bandit leader off guard, "What are you…?"

"Well?!" Ironwood's narrowed eyes sharpened further. "Surely, if you're going to condemn Ozpin for hiding information, surely you've told your tribe that everything about how Salem cannot be stopped and that it's hopeless, right? But I know you didn't. And do you know how I know?!" Ironwood puffed out his chest, looking down on her. Not down toward her, down on her, like her very existence was an affront to him in that moment. "Because they're still alive. If you killed any hope in humanity, the Grimm would have swarmed you far faster than you could ever handle."

Raven grit her teeth, "And what about you, huh?! You're going to just sit by and accept that everything is hopeless?! That we're fighting a losing battle?!"

"Losing." Ironwood's voice calmed a bit. "Not lost. Let me ask you a question, Raven. If your camp was surrounded with no way to escape, would you give up and throw open the gates? Or would you hold out as long as you can, cling to hope until you can break out? It takes a strong person to hold onto hope when all seems lost."

"More like a foolish person." Raven growled and grit her teeth. She huffed and pushed passed him, ramming her shoulder into his on purpose. She stormed away, dissatisfied by the outcome.

Ironwood called after her, "I finally get you, Raven. I know what you are. You're a defeatist coward. The moment someone stronger than you appears or you get spooked by something, you turn tail and hide. You pretend to be strong, but it's all an act." With his point made and an angry Raven behind him, Ironwood walked off, not hearing Raven make any sound other than an enraged roar.

\/

The arena was just as active as it had been in the past intermissions. Right now, Tai found himself racing with Ruby. Once the young silver-eyed girl learned about her father's semblance, she wanted to test her own speed against his. Granted, he had to reduce his aura to half to match her, but that also left 35 percent open for him to outspeed her. Right now, though, it was a fair race. Tai slid into the end of the track and grinned, having won the race by a few inches, "Sorry, Ruby. Looks like your old man's still got it."

Ruby huffed, "No fair! You're taller than I am and your legs are longer."

"Maybe, but you were holding your own."

The parents and parental figures, inspired by some of the things they'd seen on the screen, had taken up training with the Beacon students. To the side, one could find Gira teaching the Kuji-in meditation hand signs to whoever would be willing to learn them; in this case, Sun and Ren. Velvet also found them to be helpful for controlling her stress levels. To another side was Qrow teaching the finer points of environmental control, or using the environment to your advantage in battle. Nora, Neptune, and Weiss found this quite helpful, though Weiss had issues with the teacher's mannerisms and constant drinking.

Blake didn't join any of the groups just yet. Her mother said she would train with her, but Kali was out for the moment. Blake took a deep breath as she waited against the wall. "So much for training."

But she gave up on that too soon. "Blake~!" Kali called from the entrance to the main arena. She jogged back into the arena, dressed in her lacquered armor and with her twin katana at her side.

Safe to say, Blake was a little surprised. "Mom?"

"Yep!" Kali grinned as she reached her daughter, "You ready?"

"Um… sure."

Blake and Kali made their way to the central area, set aside for sparring matches. Blake drew her weapon from her back and Kali took a wide stance with one of her blades drawn. They shared a tense moment of silence before Blake leapt up using her semblance to redirect away and to the left of her mother. Kali's eyes tracked her daughter and parried the attack. Kali's fighting style was close to home and focused on keeping her opponent on their toes. As Blake ducked another attack, she then found out her mother was ambidextrous, by getting a face full of the back of Kali's second katana. As Blake used a clone to get distance, she found her mother duel-wielding her weapons. Kali, rather than continuing to do so, placed one of her weapons away with a loud metallic snap. Blake was starting to figure her mother out. That second blade is used for counter attacks.

That was her mistake. Kali grinned and tossed her weapon in hand into the air with a slight twirl. As it descended, she kicked the hilt forward and sent it flying toward her daughter. As Blake ducked to the side, she found her mother had followed the blade with her second drawn. A slash took a heavy chunk of aura out of Blake's pool and Kali rolled around Blake to meet her first blade on the ground. Taking it in hand, she was back in her twin-bladed stance.

Kali smiled in her good natured way, "Bet you didn't know your mother was this good."

Blake couldn't help smiling either, "If I'm being honest, I never really pegged you or dad for being too good at fighting."

"Fighting?" Kali laughed, "Oh, honey…" Kali cracked her neck and widened her stance a bit. "I'm a warrior." As she flew forward this time, her blades swung in a dance of steel and light. A graceful spin and a great swing knocked Blake back a bit. Her stance fell as she brought swung both blades into Blakes with enough force to knock it out of her hand. With one blade at her daughter's throat, Kali was the winner of their match. After helping her daughter back to her feet, Kali had to move them both off the circle. It was unspoken, but it was a courtesy to leave the arena once the match was over and allow whoever was waiting to take their turn.

As Blake and Kali went over what happened, Jaune stepped up into the arena. He was hoping to improve his skills with his knives and the handcannon before returning home. Standing opposite him was, interestingly, Sienna Kahn. He had planned to ask Pyrrha for help, but the White Fang leader was insistent. To Jaune, it made sense. Pyrrha would continue to help him with his swordplay, but the knives and a hand cannon were a bit of her training regimen. Jaune took a deep breath and opened his shield with his gun in his hand instead of his sword.

Sienna, after learning his family's history with faunas rights, agreed to help train him if she could. "Alright, now, I'm going to test you to see what I have to work with." She held up a set of freehand targets, "I'm going to toss these and you're going to shoot them out of the air."

Jaune stuttered a bit, "Wait, but I've barely even…"

"Go!" Sienna tossed the first one into the air over her head.

Jaune had to snap to attention and pointed Durendal toward the target. He fired the shot, but the target landed without a scratch.

Sienna looked at the target and nodded, taking the second and throwing it upward, "Again!"

Jaune fired another shot, but found the circular target unscathed again. This was a little disheartening, but Jaune knew the only reason he hit Weiss with it before was because she was point blank.

Sienna nodded and grabbed a third target, "Fire!"

Jaune leveled his weapon again and fired a shot. This time, however, the target flipped in the air as Jaune's shot hit the lower section of the target. Jaune felt his spirits improve almost instantly.

Sienna nodded. "You're quick on the uptake. Or just lucky. Let's test those knives."

Jaune put on a serious face and nodded. He placed the weapon away in a pouch resting behind his shield and grabbed the three knives hidden behind the metal. "Okay."

Sienna noted how he held the knives, a certain level of familiarity that made her think she might need to push him harder with the knives. That, or he was just used to holding them and had little skill with actually throwing them. "Alright, get ready." She held up a wooden version of the targets and tossed it upward, "Now!"

Jaune's hand blurred a moment as his knife was sent into the air, hitting the target square in the center at the height of its rise. The target fell to the ground between them with the knife stuck deep enough inside to remain despite the shock of hitting the ground.

Sienna blinked, shocked at first. "That was… impressive." She took two of the targets in her hands this time. "Now, for a real test." This time, when she threw them into the air, she was silent in order to test his reflexes. She could see his hand swing twice, sending the knives into the air at two separate times. The first stuck into the target at its height while the other hit the second a bit after.

Jaune took a much needed breath he didn't know he was holding. "How was that?"

Sienna took one of the knives from the targets, "You said your mother taught you how to do this?"

"Um… yeah. Why?"

"Because she's either an excellent teacher, or you learn freakishly quickly."

Jaune nervously scratched the back of his head, "Well… my mom does have a knack for this kind of stuff."

Sienna collected the knives and tossed them back to him. Despite being off guard, he caught them without hurting himself, though lacking in any sense of grace. She watched and decided to test something. She had tossed the first two together, one after the other. The third, she tossed in the same way as she tossed the others, and found he caught this one just a bit better than the others. "It's a start, at least." Their time in the arena was over for now, so they had to shuffle out and to the side.

As everyone was focused on their limited time for training, Oscar sat up and away from everyone. As he watched them, something stirred within him, an unfamiliar sensation. What is that?

Despite the fact that an Ozpin was in the very building and very much alive, the Ozpin in his head remained. "Nostalgia. As you grow older, you feel it when looking back on things as they were."

Oscar looked back down toward the groups. It's so weird… I know these faces, but they're so different.

"Age will do that, Oscar. Get used to it."

It's not just that.

"You're referring to Ms. Xiao Long's arm and Ms. Nikos."

Yeah…

"It's likely that they were brought here from a time before the Fall of Beacon. And as things are going now, that may be avoided altogether. I admit, I'm a little jealous of that."

That's something else I thought about. What happens when we go back? If you don't die in the Fall, our souls won't end up bonded. Will we just… fade away?

"Based on what we've seen, I doubt it. We will likely return to our version of events. The Fall had passed and we will return to how we were, though with a bit more knowledge."

So… we're going to have to live with that? We've seen their future. We have to live with how things turned out for us, knowing what could have been?

"Oscar, I have lived many lives thinking that exact thought. 'What could have been' is a phrase that haunts me more than I care to admit. But I have learned something in my time on Remnant, I had to make a choice. I could either wallow and sulk in what could have been, or I could stand tall and ensure no one has to live with those regrets. When we return… I cannot say things will not be difficult, but few things are easy. Surely, we can stand and create a world as grand as their future."

Oscar took a deep breath and nodded with a slight smile, Yeah. Let's do that.

The intercom let out a tone before they heard King, "Please make your way back to the main theater. Our next viewing will begin soon." With the familiar click of the PA system, everyone in the arena moved to put their weapons and armor away before making their way back to the theater.

\/

Before the announcement sounded out over the theater, Emerald finished her story and plea to the Headmaster. "And that's all I know."

Ozpin nodded, having let the girl tell her story without interruption. Now that she was done, he voiced himself for the first time. "I'm thankful for what you've told me, and we will do whatever we can to act on this when we return. But I have to ask what you plan to do after that."

Emerald's eyes lowered to the floor, still uncertain. "I… I don't know."

Ozpin nodded in empathy for her plight. "I understand your state of mind. Everything you've known has toppled down. It's a feeling I'm too familiar with. But, if you choose to, we are more than happy to find a place for you at Beacon."

The intercom sprang to life and signaled for everyone to return.

Ozpin turned to Emerald for a moment, "Think it over." With that said, he walked back to the theater.

Emerald was left standing there in the hallway. She didn't know what to do next. Cinder had commanded her and planned everything in the time they'd known one another. Many would think it would be liberating for her to get to think for herself now, but it wasn't to her. She'd been alone most of her life and now she'd abandoned what little she had. She was alone again. She turned back toward the main theater, wondering. She could go off to the theater, or she could leave and hope things worked out when they all returned and time moved for them again. Where do I go now? She was silent, still, and uncertain.

Emerald shook as she made a step toward the theater. She thought back over what Mercury said to her. That if she wanted a real bond with others, she should try to find it with those kids from Beacon. She said kids, but they were actually the same age, save for Ruby, of course. For now, she'd stay and see if there was still hope for her. Maybe, just maybe, she didn't need to remain alone.