Interlude 5 (Patreon)

Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon, POV.

I hummed to myself, stirring my hot cocoa gently, adding a dash of nutmeg to give it a little pop. Taking a sip, I leaned back and admired the taste.

After living for an uncountable number of years, one learns to appreciate the small pleasures in life. It gave scope, context, to why the fight was worth continuing each day.

Standing up, I walked towards the rotunda windows that circled my office, my tower that overlooked the school.

A wizard I may no longer be, but a tower I still built myself.

No longer did it house arcane secrets, magical facilities, and cosmic powers. Instead, it now overlooked the next generation. The eager, young faces of youth, the heroes of tomorrow. Those who would take up arms and defend humanity from the monsters that go bump in the night.

It was not a position to lord myself over those below, to create a sense of self important. Despite what my students may think.

A reminder.

To see, every day when I look out the window in the morning, what it was I exactly fighting for. Every face that would one day not return to their friends and family, their happy faces carved into my soul, that even after reincarnating, I would never forget.

The sins I had to bear.

So that, one day, this would no longer be necessary. Weapons would be let go because monsters no longer banged on their doors.

Unfortunately, today was not that day, nor would it be tomorrow, and most likely not be grasped within this lifetime.

My idle muse was broken as the door to the elevator opened. “Hello, Glynda.” I greeted my deputy headmistress.

“Hello, Ozpin.” She returned a small smile. “Have you started watching yet?”

“I was tempted.” I smiled lightly. “But you know how James gets when we start without him.”

She didn’t seem to give it much thought herself. “What about Qrow, is he –”

“I’m here.” A slightly slurred voice caught our attention, as the man shifted from his bird-form back into human.

It almost made me sigh how I couldn’t even sense his magic anymore. Without direct contact, my magical senses were practically nonexistent.

“Good morning, Qrow.” I greeted politely all the same.

“Heya, Oz.” He raised a flask in greeting.

“Qrow, do you really need to start drinking this early?” Glynda scowled, though we both knew it was a losing fight at this point.

No, after Summer died, he never let go of that Flask she gave him, its contents always filled.

I suppose we all cope in our own ways, I certainly can’t throw stones from my glass house. Atleast he can still be productive; it took me several lifetimes to get my act together after….

I didn’t wish to dwell on those thoughts right now.

“I didn’t start drinking this early.” He smirked. “I haven’t stopped drinking since last night.”

Well, that is certainly one way to rationalize it, I suppose.

“Oh, Oz, I got something I wanted you to look at.” He fumbled around his pockets until he realized he had a small sling over his shoulder. “Ruby was having trouble smelting this, even the smiths she visited couldn’t make heads or tails of it.” He took a rather strange looking ingot of metal out and set it on my desk.

“I have never seen a metal like this before.” Which was certainly a strange thing in of itself. “Where did you acquire it?” I put my hand on it, and I couldn’t help but have my eyes widen.

“Eh, some kid was saved by the shorty. Got lost somewhere and she helped him or something, I was barely paying attention.” He took another drink from his flask. “Said it was a reward for Ruby. I told her I’d go ask some people if they knew what to do with it.”

“This metal is magical.” I stated plainly.

“Wait, what?” Qrow paused mid drink, staring at me.

“Are you sure, Ozpin?” Glynda gave me a surprised look.

I couldn’t fault them for their reactions. Anything magical beyond Dust was practically lost to the world. Even finding the most primitive magical tool would be a large boon unheard of in several lifetimes. To actually hold a metal that held magical power in it…..it was a strange feeling.

“I am almost certain.” I nodded, staring at the strange metal. “Where did you acquire it, Qrow?” Hopefully he would have a more thorough explanation.

He scratched his head, seemingly trying to focus his thoughts. “Some strange kid was helped out by Rubes. She took him home, met Tai and myself. He was thankful for the help, said he got lost due to some ‘Semblance misshap’ or something.” He paused for a moment. “Oh, and he pulled a rabbit out of his hat, said he was a magician.”

I blinked at his statement, that was certainly not what I expected. “Like stage magic….or something else?”

“Well, he didn’t seem like a Wizard Oz, and I didn’t exactly ask him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

That was fair, and I’m merely grasping at straws here anyways.

“Well, actually…..” Qrow paused again. “Ruby did say something about them sparring and he beat her with a stick…”

“A stick?” Glynda asked. “Ruby is still very young, but her talent is undeniable. She would perhaps match the average at Beacon right now.”

“Well, I didn’t really give it any thought and –“ Qrow looked like he just realized something. “She said it was after he cut a tree in half…..with the stick.”

I let out a sigh, but once again, I couldn’t really fault him. How much of what Ruby said could be interpreted as merely her youthful imagination or exaggerations.

“That’s still not evidence.” Glynda raised a very fair point.]

“She is correct. We’ve been fooled into thinking that a semblance was magic in the past.” Well, we’ve fooled ourselves before. It was easy to jump to conclusions about such a thing when you truly hope for it to happen.

“Oh, right. He said his semblance was space manipulation or something.” He leaned against the wall. “

Oh, well. I suppose that is still impressive in of itself. “That explains it then.” I nodded. I could think of many ways to utilize a broad semblance like that for the applications witnessed.

And it isn’t hard to assume he merely found the metal somewhere.

Magic was dead, it wasn’t coming back anytime soon.

“What kind of space manipulation? Raven also has a variation of that.” Glynda asked, drawing our thoughts to Qrow’s wayward sister.

It made tracking her down very difficult when she could open portals to people she had bonds with.

“I don’t know.” Qrow shrugged. “I didn’t really ask him anything other than seeing if he knew Raven.”

Ah, that was be a quick conclusion to jump to for him, even if it was a complete shot in the dark. Just because semblances are related in some aspect, does not mean the people possessing them are.

“What was he like?” I asked. If nothing else, it might be beneficial to get him on our side.

“Dressed well, seemed like he had a sense of humor.” Qrow took another drink. “Nice enough, I guess. He gave off the feeling like one of those ‘aristocrat’ types in Atlas, but with a lot less snob.”

Qrow was being flippant, but that was helpful information. I would need to check in with James, maybe ask around. “Did you get a name?”

“Uh….” He scratched his head again. “It was something long, didn’t follow the colors.”

“That’s rare these days.” Glynda added, seemingly used to Qrow not giving detailed information.

I did enjoy the color naming conventions that popped up. A show of unity across both Faunus and Humanity in a dark hour. But the fact that he didn’t use it was good information in of itself. “Just keep an eye open, he could prove useful to pull to our side if he has a powerful semblance.”

“Righto.” Qrow replied nonchalantly.

At that moment, the scroll began to buzz, a familiar man on the other end as I answered, his face showing up on the large screen at the front of my office. “Good morning, James, I hope you are having a wonderful day.”

“I wish, Ozpin.” James Ironwood’s stern voice came out of the speakers. “The council is dragging its feet on several issues.”

“Ah, something I know all too well.” I nodded at his plight. I too had to deal with the Vale Council too much for my liking.

“Are we all here and ready?” James asked.

“You were the last one, Tin-man.” Qrow stated.

James didn’t deem it necessary to respond, his gaze turning to Glynda. “Glynda, a pleasure as always.”

“James.” She nodded to him.

Ah, the tension that never went away after their small tryst a decade ago. I decided it was a good idea to move along. “I am looking forward to this years Tournament we have quite a few good seeds.”

James’ eyes lit up. “Don’t you dare steal all them again, Ozpin.” He stared at me, though a small bit of playfulness in his voice. “Lionheart already has a huge advantage, and I heard he was doing tours of Haven as well.”

“Oh, that is smart.” I rubbed my chin. “Perhaps we should start doing something similar before the school year begins? Offer tours of the facilities, it may draw up some potential interest.”

“I wouldn’t be against it, but we’re already running around before the year begins, we need to look into hiring more hands.” Glynda replied.

She’s been pushing for more staff for awhile now. “Alright, Glynda. Provide me with a list of potential teachers and I’ll give it a look.” It is true we need to expand a bit. And more trusting hands around here would be a boon.

Glynda practically beamed under my words. “I already have one created, I will deliver it to you later today.”

Of course.

Just as I would expect from the woman I chose as my successor for Beacon.

“As fun as this is, can we start.” Qrow interjected.

“Yes, of course.” We were getting quite sidetracked. “We’re a little behind as it were.” I began to play the stream of the tournament.

“Go fuck yourself, Lil’Miss Malachite. Love, Roman Torchwick.”

“Pffft!” Qrow spit his drink out in surprise and I had been lucky I also was not sipping my beverage for I fear I may have had a similar reaction.

“What?” Glynda looked on in shock.

“Roman Torchwick, isn’t he that Thief in vale, why is he calling out Malachite like that?” James immediately began to contemplate the message, seemingly uncaring about the words themselves.

“Forget that, Oz, that’s the kid!”

“The Kid?” I questioned until Realization dawned. “He is the one who gave the metal to Ruby?”

“Yeah, would recognize him anywhere.”

“What metal?” James asked.

“Magic metal, gift to Ruby.” Qrow abbreviated, which was surprisingly accurate.

“I would like a further explanation later.” James commented. “But is there anything I should know about him?”

“Nothing important just yet, he seems to posses a space-based semblance.” I commented.

James’s eyes twinkled. “Is that so?”

I suppose he would try and get his hands on this person himself. I would not stop him, if he were successful then it would be beneficial to us as well. I took out my own scroll and looked through the information available.

Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg.

Certainly a unique name in this era.

“I’m going to pound him so hard, his mom is gonna be jealous.”

His opponent providing some mocking words, and I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Wilhelms face. This would not bode well for young Gundy, I could recognize a cold anger well enough.

“Uh, why does his record say all ‘byes’?” Qrow was looking over his own scroll.

“Looks like someone is messing with the Tournment.” Glynda herself was pulling up her own information. “They aren’t even being subtle about it.”

“Roman Torchwick, perhaps?” James offered. “But he usually doesn’t venture out of his own lane. This is a far cry from his thefts.”

Hmm, Roman Torchwick. He’s a very notorious thief here in Vale, but he’s never been close to a priority. He’s smart enough to stay away from anything that drags too much attention, hurting innocents, murder, theft of government and such.

Why would he be doing this now?

“It is a good theory as any.” I agreed with James’s initial assumption.

*BOOOOOM* The cameras shook from the arena, the entire thing filled with smoke as one of the fighters was blasted out of the ring. And Wilhelm just casually strode away without another word.

“A dust bomb?” James muttered. “No, that was just a crystal, how did he achieve that kind of payload with only a single crystal like that?”

“Most peculiar.” I agreed.

“As much as I hate to admit it….it was a sufficient strategy to deal with an armored opponent like that.” Glynda grumbled.

“Please, we all know he wasn’t doing that as a ‘strategy’.” Qrow rolled his eyes.

“Quite. And I do not believe it was technically against the rules.” I stroked my chin.

James didn’t seem to mind either as he kept rather quiet. He was quite the stickler for rules but he also appreciated a creative use around them.

“If you all wouldn’t mind, how about we fast forward to his next fight, I wish to see this young man again.”

“Whatever.” Qrow didn’t seem to care.

“The next few matches don’t look like they will hold any suspense, if you wish to jump ahead I’m not against it.” Glynda also agreed.

“Go ahead, Ozpin.” James agreed as well. “I’m also a bit curious.”

“Very well.” I began tapping away at the screen, catching up with the live broadcast a bit until this Wilhelm appeared again for his next match. “Ah, here we are.” He took a corner of the ring with a new opponent.

“That is Cobalt, I believe.” James spoke first. “I was eyeing him previously. I thought his Semblance would be quite beneficial as a specialist.”

“I don’t see his Semblance listed anywhere.” Glynda frowned, staring at her scroll.

“I have good people under me.” James smirked. “We narrowed it down to a few possibilities, but they all would be a boon to have.”

James was usually quite proficient with his information gathering, I had no reason to doubt him.

We all silently watched the upcoming fight.

Young Cobalt was the first to engage, and I could immediately tell he was out matched. Wilhelm barely moved from his starting position, never unsheathing his unique looking sword. He used the barest effort necessary to deflect or block each attack Cobalt initiated.

Cobalt eventually retreated back, as they started to exchange some words. Not something rare in these types of matches, but the content was quite interesting.

“Some kind of precognition?” Wilhelm voiced his thoughts on Cobalt’s Semblance.

I looked up at James’s face that seemed to confirm the young man’s guesses. “He has good eyes.” I commented.

No, Cobalt revealed it as a sort of Danger Sense. A more whimsical variation of precognition, one I have not heard of before.

But his next words were the most surprising to hear.

“Why do none of them come close to the danger you give off?”

“James, do you have information on Wilhelm?” I asked. It appears as though this young man is going to have my undivided attention for now.

If what Cobalt said was true, then this young man is someone we need to protect before Salem’s forces are able to get their claws into him.

Supposedly more dangerous than even Haven’s teachers? I know they aren’t the peak of Huntsman, but they are still extremely well trained and have decades of experience.

Even if Cobalt was exaggerating, they needed to know more about this Wilhelm, too many things are starting to appear around him that were strange.

Too many coincidences.

“I’ll have my people look into the records, but that isn’t a name I can recall off the top of my head.” James replied.

It’s possible he’s from outside the kingdoms, but that is a long shot.

And Cobalt all but confirmed that Wilhelm was holding back, substantially at that.

I think we all held our breaths when he finally moved. The cameras didn’t even correctly catch what happened. One moment he drew his sword, the next, Cobalt was falling to the ground in a puddle of blood and Wilhelm was sheathing his blade once again.

“How old did his application say he was?” I asked.

“20, years old.” Glynda replied.

“What?” James suddenly shouted, turned away from the screen.

“James, is something the matter?” I looked up at him.

“OZ, change the channel to the news.”

I blinked at his comment, we weren’t quite caught up with the live stream yet, but it seemed rather important. I messed with the device until a large ‘breaking news’ flashed across the screen.

“We received word that notorious criminal Roman Torchwick and his Partner Wilhelm Schweinorg have stolen a bullhead with Mistral authorities in pursuit. We have yet to calculate the damage they’ve caused in their wake, but my sources say that lethal force has been authorized.”

“What the hell?” Qrow reeled back at the scene of a bullhead being chased by several more of Mistral’s insignia on them.

His words echoed my own thoughts as well. What happened between the end of his last match to now that he was now a wanted fugitive?

The Mistral authorities were gaining on them, prepping their weapons which would be a slaughter on that civilian craft they were trying to escape on. That was, until the back hanger door of the criminal’s bullhead opened up, revealing Wilhelm staring at them from the distance.

Suddenly, several swords appeared around him and shot out at the oncoming authorities. But that isn’t what grabbed my attention.

I couldn’t help but abruptly standing up, slamming my controls to pause the screen.

“Ozpin!?” Glynda exclaimed in shock as all eyes were on me that.

“That’s the Relic of Destruction!” I pointed towards the screen.

“Wait, what?” Qrow looked at me.

“Isn’t it supposed to be locked under shade Academy!?” James mirrored my own expression once he realized the significance of what I had just said. “Are you sure that’s the Relic, Oz?”

“James, I personally stored the Sword under the Academy, I would never forget what it looks like.” How I wish it were that simple. Even its design was something not know to the greater world. The Vacuo symbol not giving the details of their relic away.

“Oz, how did some brat get his hands on the Relic?” Qrow actually seemed a little worried himself.

“I don’t know, Qrow. I don’t know.” I couldn’t fathom how it was possible. The pocket dimension I created should have been inaccessible to anyone but the maiden whose magical signature I used to lock it in place.

I hesitated, but I continued the video, at this point, we needed all the information we could get.

The sword cut through the oncoming bullhead likes a scythe through wheat. It made me question the other sword next to the Relic if they were able to keep up like that.

Magical Items?

Who was this young man?

“Holy crap, that is a big fucking Sea Fei long.” Qrow muttered as the massive beast appeared on screen, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“Ozpin, how far away are they from us?” Glynda’s mind immediately went to assistance.

“Too far.” I mumbled. “It would take a couple hours to get there if we left this moment.” I watched as she clenched her hands in frustration.

A Sea Fei Long of that size, it was probably a few centuries away from becoming a Titan. Even if we could muster some forces, it would probably take the Atlas Military to put it down, and even then, it was probably smart enough to submerge if the fight looked unfavorable.

“Ether Canon!” The words of Young Wilhelm echoed out through the video.

The boy appearing high up in the sky through a portal, a question I had before now answered. But my attention was more on his glowing sword and the unleashed attack that seemed to completely obliterate the large grimm.

I was left utterly speechless.

A feeling in my heart I had not thought would come again.

A single word jumping to the forefront of my mind.

“Magic.”

***

“Ozpin, are you listening?”

I was broken from my thoughts. “Yes, Yes.” I looked up at the screen with James. “I apologize, my thoughts have been all over the place these past few days, can you repeat what you said?”

“I was going over the report by my subordinates in Vale.” He grumbled, but let up with a sigh. “It would be easier if I was allowed a full operation.”

“James, we both know the Council would never allow you to wantonly move in their territory with your military assets unless it was an emergency.” James was many things, but sometimes aggressive took the top of the list.

James grunted in agreement but continued. “As I was saying, reports are that Roman Torchwick and Wilhelm Schweinorg were gathering at a place known as ‘Juniors Club’, but we can’t seem to find them after they entered. We searched everywhere, my agents even infiltrated the establishment during late hours, but there was no sign of any of them.”

“It seems we missed our window of opportunity, they are in the wind already.”

“They have to have left some kind of trail!” James slammed his fist on his desk. He was a prideful man, getting outsmarted by a young man and a lowly ‘thief’ probably didn’t do his ego any favors. “Not only that, but I can’t even touch the owner because the council keeps stonewalling me.” He practically growled.

“Junior.” I muttered the name. “Ah, I believe he is the ‘information broker’ that Qrow sometimes visits? It would make sense that he knows a few secrets the council does not wish to leak.”

“Ozpin, I need you to sign some papers regarding – “ Glynda walked into the office and pauses when she noticed Ironwood on the screen. “I apologize, I did not realize you were in meeting, shall I come back?”

“It’s fine, Glynda.” Ironwood hastily reassured her. “It’s nothing ‘official’” He emphasized what they were speaking about, or rather the lack there of.

“I see, I suppose I shall listen in then.” She stepped behind me, setting some papers on my desk that I would no doubt be going through in a few minutes.

James noticeably perked up now that Glynda joined in. I resisted the urge to lightly tease them about it, but I held back the urge. Their relationship was already an awkward one, I did not wish to rock the boat any more. “And what is your next plan of action, James?”

“Well, I already have my people looking up every suitable physician with the correct credentials.” He stated.

I let out a long sigh, taking my glasses off and rubbing my eyes.

“What?” Glynda looked at me.

“Qrow decided to contribute the theory that Wilhelm Schweinorg is the Summer Maiden who had a sex change operation. James has taken that theory to heart.”

Glynda blinked at that, before face palming. “James…”

“I know how it sounds.” James cut her off. “But hear me out. We know he possess the Relic of Destruction which requires the summer maiden to access below shade academy.”

“That doesn’t prove anything, James. Maybe he’s working with the summer maiden? Maybe the maiden stumbled on the sword at some point in the past hundred years or so, and sold it, not knowing what it was.” Glynda offered a very valid explanation.

“Then how do you explain the magic?!” He countered, but neither me nor Glynda had an answer to that, so he continued on.

James clicked a few buttons on his console, bringing up a close-up of Wilhelm Schweinorg. “Look at his features.” He pointed at the screen. “The cheek bones, the angles of his face. They’re too delicate. Not to mention the curvature of his nose. My people analyzed it and they gave a 42% chance of it belonging to a female, based on comparisons.” He didn’t finish there. “Not to mention the testimony from your own student, Coco Adel.”

“Coco?” Glynda asked. “How does she know him?”

“They met at a clothing store. According to Coco, Wilhelm made comments regarding her choice in fashion which they had an argument about it.” James nodded to himself.

“James, that is approaching the boundary of sexism.” I pointed out, Glynda seemingly raising an eyebrow in response to his words.

“I know how it sounds, but tell me I’m wrong, that this isn’t behavior predominant for women?”

“That’s…..not untrue.” Glynda admitted. “Objectively, I can agree that is behavior I would expect from a female opposed to a male.”

“Not to mention that Qrow himself said that Wilhelm seemed ‘soft’ and ‘delicate’ when they first met. You know how much of a womanizer he is. While I would never take his word as gospel, he is technically an expert in this area.” James stated.

James…..he was saying that to mess with you.

“Oz, admit it, we have ample evidence to at least gives credence to the theory.” James turned back to me. “The relic under the watch of Summer in his possession, his apparent ability to use magic! Statistical evidence of his features leaning towards a female variation. His behavior with Coco, even with Glynda’s agreement. And Qrow’s words added on.”

I blinked for a moment, mulling it over.

Truthfully, it was quite a few coincidences piling up…..all of it mere circumstantial evidence, but when presented all together like that, it started to paint a vague picture.

I still can’t fathom a way for him to have acquired magic. All tests in the past several centuries shown that my magic could not be passed down genetic lines, regardless of if it was me or the maidens I gifted magic to all those years ago.

Those four girls, I never conceived that they would suffer a fate similar to me. But instead of reincarnated like I do after death, the magic I gifted to them was instead transferred to the person they were thinking about at their last moments, or rather, the woman. But if no woman was in their thoughts, it drifts through the world and attaches to a woman at random.

The thought of Salem doing something similar never crossed my mind. I refused to believe she would ever trust someone enough to give up a portion of her magic to them.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it. “Fine.” I acquiesced. “The evidence – and I use that term very loosely here – seems to support the notion.”

James looked rather smug, and Glynda, surprisingly didn’t admonish me for the confirmation of James’s theory.

Brothers help me, I can’t believe I’m even considering this.