Things had settled down for some time, and eventually Ozpin put the bout of uneasiness behind him, happily playing it off as the stress he had been reluctant to pin it down as initially.
As Glynda walked out of the elevator and into his office, however, the look on her face gave him the impression that such thinking was… premature.
“Is something wrong, Glynda?”
He took a long sip of his coffee to soothe his sudden nerves.
Had Salem’s pawns struck somewhere? Had there been an incident with one of the students?
Glynda schooled her expression. “I haven’t the slightest idea, and that’s what worries me. James has just informed me that he’ll be touching down shortly, and that the presence of several people would be required. He would not tell me the nature of the sudden visit.”
Oz pulled out his scroll, double checking that he had not gotten any sort of correspondence from the man.
There were no new notifications.
“And he has said nothing to me. How odd…”
What could the reasoning be? James tried his best to be a logical man, even if his actions could be seen as overbearing or deceitful by many. The legions of Atlas soldiers had been removed from Vale and Beacon for a reason, and Oz would not be quick to forget the hidden robotic nature of one of James’ students.
The recent nature of Leo’s betrayal being brought to light initially sent his mind down a dark path, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts. If James was intent on betraying him in some way he wouldn’t be so obvious about it, the man had far too much experience to do something so foolhardy. Besides, what would he even do? Just come here to kill him? He would simply be ejected into another poor soul’s head. There was no true way to get rid of him, such was his curse.
Obviously it was a matter of some importance, and likely was time sensitive, given the abruptness of the situation. But to contact Glynda and not him?
Could it have something to do with that Watts fellow? Contacting her instead might throw anyone snooping off the trail for a moment, but that didn’t account for much when the contents of the conversation so obviously included him.
Stumped, at least for the moment, there was only one thing to do.
Ozpin stood from his desk, grabbed The Long Memory, and made to join Glynda.
“I suppose we shouldn’t keep him waiting. Who else has he requested to be present for this meeting?”
Glynda let out a deep sigh.
“Well to start with…”
----------------------------------------
Roman didn’t like not being in the know.
Information was power… or however the saying went. Of course, information came second to actual power. He hadn’t been stuck as Cinder’s lapdog because she was particularly bright, but because she could very well kill him with ease. Neo would have gotten revenge, but what was the point of revenge if you couldn’t live to experience it?
Still, though, while info wasn’t true power, it came in at least second place in terms of importance.
So, when he found himself being led out of his guest suite that Beacon somehow considered his “cell”, or whatever they wanted to call it, by Bart with Neo at his side, no explanation given, he thought it was fair to be a bit concerned.
He made sure to give Neo a look, politely asking the little monster for even a smidge of info with a bat of his eyes that would surely send the average woman swooning…. But she only shrugged in response before half-heartedly miming out that it might have something to do with the Maiden’s power that she had stolen.
And while that was the only thing he could come up with off the top of his head as well, it didn’t add up for several reasons. The lack of a real security detail to ensure that Neo didn’t try to make off with him and the power before they could pull it from her or kill her, the way that Bart’s hands were twitching in a way that didn’t add up with the man’s coffee addiction, the fact that it was Bart at all instead of Ozpin…
“Sooo….” he started before he had even thought up a proper question, “not even a hint at what’s going on?”
There was silence beyond the sound of their footsteps for a moment, but eventually Bart cracked.
“It has been deemed… acceptable that the two of you participate in a certain meeting. Though perhaps participate is a strong word, given that you’ll need to be silent. I imagine that will not be an issue for Miss Politan here,” the pint-sized demon nodded with a smile, “but there has been talk of gagging you if you cannot hold your tongue.”
“...excuse me? I must have misheard you. Did I hear him wrong, Neo? Because I swear that Bart just said he wanted to drag me to some secret meeting and then gag me for the duration of it. Me!”
Neo nodded along, miming out holding back a laugh.
“You heard correctly. I was and am of the opinion that you know better, but after…” his gaze fell to Neo, “recent escapades, shall we say, the others are not so keen to trust you. Really, I think it a miracle that we were able to convince them of your presence at all, so if it comes to it you’ll just have to accept the indignity of it.”
Roman scoffed. “How am I meant to exude my charm if I’m gagged like some sort of common kidnapping victim? I’m a gentleman thief, not some damsel in distress!”
Neo and Bart rolled their eyes at that one.
“If it makes you feel better…” Bart explained, “I don’t think you’ll be the only one getting that treatment…”
----------------------------------------
Jaune could feel their eyes boring into his back as he and Second Thoughts led the way to General Ironwood’s airship. Or maybe it was Winter’s? It was nowhere near as big as the one Ironwood had brought to Beacon the last time he was visiting their school, but the thing still looked pretty fancy.
When Ruby had knocked on their door with the rest of her team behind her and informed JNPR that her uncle wanted all of them on the airship touching down, he and Second had quickly put two and two together.
This must be it. They had the Relic of Knowledge.
Given all the secrecy around the whole thing, he hadn’t explained anything to them before they set out, but the guilt must have been obvious on his face because they wouldn’t stop staring at him.
“I expect this from team RWBY and Nora, but you two? Really?” Second glanced back with a disappointed look at Pyrrha and Ren.
“You could just tell us what this is about…” Ren directed the words at his team leader, knowing he was the weaker link when it came to peer pressure.
“No point, you’re about to find out anyway.” Second replied as the door opened and the steps lowered down.
When they stepped on board and saw the welcoming party, Second frowned. “This isn’t nearly as many people as I wanted here.”
Winter glared at him, General Ironwood rolled his eyes, and Penny greeted them with a smile and a wave. “Salutations, friends! It has been some time since we last saw each other!”
Weiss greeted her fellow Atlesians with a small curtsy. “Indeed it has. It is nice to see you again Penny, General Ironwood, sister.”
Winter’s glare melted into a smile upon seeing her younger sibling.
“Why are they acting like it’s been months? The festival was only a few weeks ago!” Ruby attempted to whisper to her sister, but the whole group heard her.
Weiss elbowed her partner in the side.
General Ironwood addressed Second’s dissatisfaction at that point. “Your expectations were unrealistic. We had no reasonable excuse to pull Haven students away from their studies and other parties…” his eyes flickered to Yang, “...declined our invitation.”
That must mean no Raven. But even then… “What about Qrow, though? Isn’t he supposed to be with you guys?”
Yang turned to him. “Why would you know where my uncle is?”
Winter quickly moved past that with an answer. “The drunken buffoon is currently raiding the last of the alcohol stored on board.” Her eye was twitching as she said it.
“And you just let him become inebriated?” A familiar voice came from behind as Professor Oobleck walked up the ramp, Torchwick and Neo behind him.
“Qrow operates at a higher capacity when under the influence of alcohol!” Penny informed the man.
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Roman laughed. “And you believed that? I know kids aren’t the brightest, but that’s almost impressive…”
“Why are you here?” Blake inquired, her hand falling to her hip for Gamble Shroud.
“What a great question from dark and brooding! Would anyone care to answer? Because I’d love to know as well!” Roman looked around the hold expectantly.
“Oh! Oh!” Nora jumped up and down with her hand in the air. “Is it because we’re going to fire you out of a cannon as punishment for your crimes? Though you guys really should have brought the big ship if that was your plan. I’m not sure he’ll fit in the barrels on this one…”
Ren sighed, and moved to restrain her, but notably did not tell her that she was incorrect for once. He almost looked like he was a fan of the idea.
“Nobody is getting shot out of a cannon!” Oobleck quickly cut in. “Now, do you have the duct tape with you?” He eyed the Atlesians expectantly.
“Professor!” Pyrrha looked at him with shock in her eyes. “I’m not sure that wherever you’re going with that sounds much better! Why would we need duct tape?”
“It’s Doctor Oobleck! How many times must I remind you all!”
“I would see Miss Nikos’ question answered, Doctor Oobleck.” A stern voice called out. “I would also like to know why the criminals are here. Or are we finally dealing with them?”
“Now, now, Glynda, let’s not be hasty.” Ozpin’s eyes swept over the lot of them as he stepped in as well. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for all of this. Isn’t that right, James?”
Ironwood sighed. “There is. It’s time for some answers.”
Winter pressed a button, and the door began to close, sealing them all off from the outside world.
----------------------------------------
“Let me begin by stating that several of you are here for transparency’s sake,” James began. “We could very well have done all of this without you present, but are extending a hand in good will in hopes that the same will be granted to us in return. With that said, however… the votes on who should be involved were not unanimous, and thus it has been agreed that some precautions are necessary.”
Roman held his hands up in surrender as everyone turned to him and Neo. “What did I do to deserve this treatment?”
“Would you like the list in chronological order or alphabetized?” Penny asked him.
“That was rhetorical, brat.” The thief rolled his eyes.
“I’d like to hear them in chronological order, please.” Second looked far too interested in the criminal’s exploits. Hopefully this would shine some light on that, but for now he put a hand on Penny’s shoulder and told her to ignore that request.
“What sort of precautions?” Glynda asked with a critical narrowing of her eyes.
Winter pulled out the roll of duct tape. “It is imperative that certain attendees of this meeting be unable to speak for a duration of it. We would ask that you ensure the tape stays in place with your semblance.”
“What’s the point of silencing them for only a portion of the meeting?” Pyrrha asked, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
Before anyone could answer her though, Ozpin seemed to put the pieces together.
“...you didn’t.”
“Would it be a problem if we did?” Bart adjusted his glasses. “I seem to recall your assurances that such a thing would be a surefire way to repair the trust between us. Surely if we went along with your plan there would not be any issues.”
Second Thoughts stayed silent.
“We’ve thought about it a great deal, Ozpin. In fact, even though we were the ones to go through all the trouble of arranging this, we thought we would be fair with you. We get one question, the entire group comes up with a question together, and then you can use the last however you wish. It can even go unused if that’s what you’d prefer.” James ignored the confused looks from the majority of those present, his eyes focused on Ozpin’s expressions.
Laid out in that way, they would come off as perfectly reasonable.
Based on the lie Ozpin had fed to them, anyway.
The question was, would Ozpin out himself as a liar immediately? Or would he play along, hoping to have them lower their guard so he could try and sneak in the second, which was also the last question for himself?
Whichever option he went with would cause turmoil, and even if Ozpin picked up on the trap laid before him, there was no way to escape unscathed. Pointing out the possibility that Second had told them the truth would lay everyone’s cards on the table, but it would not grant him a winning hand.
Torchwick groaned. “Why is it always damn riddles with you lot?!”
Glynda gently prodded him, looking for his guidance. “Ozpin?”
James couldn’t begin to guess how the man was trying to justify his choices to himself as his eyes wandered to the semblance among them. Perhaps it all came down to how much he thought Second might know.
“...very well. I will allow it for one question, if only to assuage your silly concerns… so long as you tell me the nature of the question now. It would not do to waste one.”
Glynda and the students looked shocked at that answer, and he couldn’t blame them with all of the context they were missing.
“They’re gonna ask about me,” Second spoke up. “That’s what you want to know too, isn’t it? A win for everyone.”
Ozpin seemed slightly calmer with that explanation. “I see… you may proceed.”
The tape was applied to Torchwick’s mouth despite the man’s protests, and Ozpin silently accepted it. Glynda hesitated, looking like she wanted no part of this, but Ozpin’s reassuring nod had her flexing her semblance to ensure that the tape couldn’t be hastily ripped off to allow for a last second question.
“We’re ready, Qrow.”
----------------------------------------
Qrow sighed in relief as he got the all clear.
He’d had his hand on the emergency exit the whole time, ready to bail with the Relic if and when things went south.
Was it a good idea to trust the guy with the bad luck semblance with it? Probably not. But beggars can’t be choosers, and with his bitch sister wanting no part of this, his ability to fly away with it might have been make or break for a quick escape.
Stepping out into the hold where the party was happening, he kept a tight grip on the freaky lantern.
Somehow, he’d been the one they’d decided to have ask the questions. Discounting the Atlas crew’s dislike of his personality, and the criminals’ irrelevant opinions, he was someone that the entire party trusted to do the job and do it right.
He let his eyes run over them. The Atlas crew looked tense. Well, he wasn’t sure what counted as tense for a robot, but Penny was at least good at faking it if it wasn’t real. Ozpin looked resigned. Glynda still seemed a puzzle piece or two short of recognizing what was in his hand. Everyone else seemed completely lost.
Except for the kid and his semblance.
Those two were what this all came down to, wasn’t it? The semblance had orchestrated his whole mess, and the kid his semi-willing partner in crime.
Jaune’s face held a confusing mix of emotions. Eager to get answers, afraid of what he’d learn.
Second… he definitely recognized that one. He’d worn that face a lot after Summer died.
A mask of bravery and confidence over someone who couldn’t escape their worry.
Qrow had always been more of an action guy, so without further ado, he held the Relic of Knowledge up for all to see.
He hoped Second had been serious, or he was about to look really fucking stupid.
“Jinn.”
Something changed as soon as the name left his lips. There was a new weightiness to the air. It was like the few times he’d seen Oz use magic, but… somehow more.
The lamp started to emit a blue smoke, and suddenly felt weightless in his hand. No, not weightless… it was escaping his grasp. Floating to an empty spot in the admittedly cramped hold.
The light puffs of blue smoke erupted into a flood of gas, some of it coalescing into the form of a…
Woah.
Qrow averted his gaze when he realized that this Jinn lady, while just as blue as Second Thoughts, was much more exposed. The golden chains and shackles didn’t hide much, but thankfully she was lacking certain… features. She sure was a looker though, even with that.
The blue beauty stretched her limbs with a groan, before staring into his soul with a knowing look. “Wonderful.” She smirked at him, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. “Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?”
Nobody was in the right state of mind to respond after that reveal, though the way she cocked a brow and looked at Neo concerned him.
The giggles concerned him more.
When nobody spoke up, she continued. “I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I’ve been graced with the ability to answer…”
For some reason she paused there. Her smirk grew as she looked down at him. At Ironwood. At everyone who was in the know.
“...questions with certainty, so long as they do not pertain to future events.”
He swore he saw Oz sag slightly.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, old man.” When she very clearly gave Oz her full attention, he stiffened back up.
Her eyes didn’t stay on him.
“And you…” She floated over to the kids.
To Second Thoughts.
“How interesting…”
Her blue counterpart looked like he wanted to curl up in a ball and die, but he managed to shoot Qrow a glare that urged him to get on with it.
“Jinn,” he repeated, drawing her attention back to him.
“Tell us…” He struggled to get the words out under the pressure. “What is the truth behind Ozpin and Second Thoughts?”
Oz’s eyes widened at the unexpected addition, but before he could do anything about it, the world went white.
Completely white. Blank. Like he was in an endless void. It was almost blinding.
Just him, and vast nothingness.
“What the fuck…?”
A giggle came from nowhere, and yet everywhere at once. “Do you think you’re clever? Trying to force two questions into one with your phrasing? Ozpin gave up on that long, long ago, you know. It’s not very sporting to try and cheat the system like that, and I made sure to punish him for his attempts.”
Qrow’s heart sank. Had he seriously fucked it up? Bart had gone on and on about how they needed to be specific with this thing, and he’d thrown that all away in the heat of the moment. Shit. What was he going to-
“But…” Jinn continued, “...just this once… I suppose I can let it slide. You truly are such a curious bunch, and I can’t help but respect those who seek Knowledge as you do. Hmmm, where to begin though, when you ask a question like that?”
All at once, the blue smoke that had been coming out of the relic rolled over the “floor” he was standing on like a dense fog. As it passed, it was replaced by rolling crop fields.
“Once upon a time…”
There was something off about these fields. He couldn’t make out a single defensive measure, and they went on for miles.
“...there was a boy who liked to read.”
A farmhouse formed nearby, and then a boy. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the kid. Was this one of Oz’s past lives? Maybe even the first…
“You know him as Second Thoughts.”