Chapter Text
Ozpin watched from his tower over the courtyard of Beacon, lit by the Monday evening sun. Students were milling about, doing their evening activities; some were making their way to the airships, others to the dorms, and a rare few ventured into the library. He smiled, basking in their ignorance of what was truly out there waiting for them. They could train, they could study, but no amount of preparation was enough to ready them for the horrors she would unleash on them.
He didn’t feel guilt; it was the first emotion he had ever conquered. If he were to actually succeed, he had to be cold and indifferent. If she was right about one thing, the hearts of men are easily swayed. How else would he convince so many children to sign up for a job with a forty percent mortality rate? He told himself it was for the greater good; it was preferable to send a small few to their deaths to allow his kingdoms to prosper.
He turned away from the window and sat down at his desk, patiently waiting for the elevator doors to open. Patience: that was another skill he learned early on. When you have lived longer than civilisation itself, it is another thing that is learned very quickly. The number just above the elevator painfully slowly pinged each number for twenty seconds. Maybe living in a tower wasn’t the best of ideas when the bulk of his ‘warriors’ were children.
His eyes drifted to the mug on his desk, not his, but for the new arrival. He made a look of disgust at the contents. The blood had sat there so long it was beginning to fill his office, his nice, clean office, with a strong metallic stench. Again. He thought he’d have learned his lesson twenty years ago, to install windows that could open up there, but if there was one thing he learned in his painfully long lifetime, he hated change.
Still, feeding her this way was preferable to letting her source her own nourishment; it wouldn’t do for a student to stumble upon a drained animal, or worse, a fellow student. Not that that was likely to happen. He had to commend Taiyang on instilling restraint on the energetic bloodsucker; sixteen years without a drop of human blood was not an easy feat. Even the blond’s late wife had succumbed to instinct earlier than that. Luckily, her soul remained untainted; otherwise, she would not have made a useful tool.
This latest tool, his new weapon, she was the spitting image of her mother. With a white cloak instead, she could easily have been confused for the other, if he didn’t already know that she had long since turned to dust. He hoped this new tool would last longer, with the right nurturing she could last for hundreds of years, and with the right guidence she should be invaluable in his eternal stalemate. An opportunity like this only arose once in a lifetime, and yet, to his fortune, he had a second chance a short time after the last one died.
He would have to be even more careful with this one. She had her mother's passion, determination and skill, yet she still wasn’t ready. With her childish innocence, it felt like she would never be ready, but he was a patient man.
He glanced back up to the floor number above the elevator. 45. He cursed himself again for designing this place with so many floors; perhaps he could install an express elevator directly to his office to avoid situations like this. Or perhaps he could block Ms Rose’s access so she could only ever access the top floor, though that could pose some health and safety concerns.
He smirked, ‘concerns’, concerns for the undead creature he was using in his endless war. The number pinged to 60, and the sliding doors opened, revealing the vampire that occupied his thoughts, standing awkwardly and digging the toe of her uniform shoe into the elevator floor. He wiped his smile off his face and returned to his usual composure, hopefully before the creature of the night realised his slip. “Ms Rose,” he greeted. “Thank you for coming. Please, take a seat,” The much older professor indicated to the chair opposite him.
The girl slowly shuffled to the chair, worried that she was in trouble. It was understandable; her team likely told her about his interrogations of them the night before. “S-sorry I took so long, I accidentally bumped into the elevator buttons on the way up.”
Ozpin gave her a practised disarming smile. “That’s quite alright, Ms Rose. I also want to wish you an early happy birthday.”
The vampire took her seat. Letting her cape drape over the back of the chair, like every week, she leaned forward to grab her meal, grasping the mug with both hands. “Thank you, sir.” She took a sip from the mug, savouring the taste before giving up all pretence of composure and began drinking as though she had been in the desert for months.
The professor willed himself not to be revolted at the sight of a monster gorging itself in front of him. He continued to watch her with his expertly crafted mask of calm, and continued talking while she drank. “Now, I must say that I arranged this meeting today with an ulterior motive.”
She pulled the mug away from her face and gave him a look of confusion; several droplets of pig's blood clung to the corners of her mouth. “Hmm?”
“As I am sure you are aware, last night I asked your team about the events that transpired at the docks. I hoped that you and I would be able to discuss the incident. Off the record.” He had hoped that the addition at the end would encourage her to speak more truthfully regarding the situation.
Ms Belladonna, while she was cagey about her past, although it seemed now she was determined to be public about her faunus heritage. She was reluctant to answer any questions regarding the attack at the docks, namely, how she learned of the White Fang attack ahead of time. Ozpin was no fool; he recognised the daughter of the previous White Fang leader as soon as he saw her enrolment papers, but Blake was determined to keep that part of her past in the dark.
Ms Schnee was a different beast entirely; she expertly evaded questions at every turn, only sharing the basic information that he already knew. Every time she had the chance, she would point him to the official report the Schnee Dust Company was in the process of writing enquiries like that could take weeks and months, and she knew it. She was hoping the headmaster would be so buried in red tape that he would just have to drop the subject. She even refused to provide information on Mr Wukong, which was a surprise for the old man.
Ms Xiao Long’s stubborn loyalty to her partner would almost be admirable if it weren’t so frustrating. Instead of deflecting questions like Ms Schnee, she steadfastly refused to answer any questions regarding her partner’s involvement, attributing it to, ‘That’s Blake’s business.’ Just like the vampire before him, she was just like her mother.
Since Mr Wukong was a Haven student, he fell out of Ozpin’s jurisdiction, even if the incident took place in his kingdom. As such, it was up to Professor Hawthorn to interview the boy whenever he was able to, but he had a sneaking suspicion that said interview would be less than useful.
This led to Ms Rose to fill in the blanks for him; hopefully, she would provide some enlightening insight that her tight-lipped teammates left out. The girl put the mug back onto the glass desk in between the two of them and shuffled in her seat awkwardly. “Y-yes, sir. What did you want to know?”
“Could you tell me how much of the altercation you saw?” He angled his head downwards slightly to look over the rim of his glasses.
“Well, I didn’t see much. When I got there, they were already fighting. Blake and Sun were fighting Torchwick and some security guard.”
“Security guard?” Ozpin questioned.
“Yeah, he ran up to defend Torchwick, then used some kind of semblance to escape with him.” Ruby recounted her memory of seeing the crime lord shatter into a million pieces of glass from her position on the roof of the warehouse.
“I see, there was only one guard on duty that night, a Mr Copper Duvall, who was interviewed by police after the incident. Where he then implicated your teammate and Mr Wukong as White Fang fighters.”
“W-what?! Blake isn’t in the White-”
Ozpin cut her off by raising his hand, “I am aware, which is why his testimony will be stricken from the record. What is odd, however, is the presence of a second security guard.” He leaned back in his chair before continuing, “Was there anything else strange about last night? Did you happen to see the direction the Schnee airship arrived from?”
“Not really, when Penny and I got there, the ships were just circling the area.” Ruby picked up her mug again and took another hearty gulp, still not satiating her appetite.
“Penny?” Ozpin asked.
Ruby swallowed the mouthful and explained, cradling the mug in her hands. “Oh yeah, we met her on Saturday and she just kinda…” She paused, looking for the right word. “Followed us? I mean, she’s nice, but she just appears and disappears out of nowhere.” She finished with another drink from her mug.
“Did she happen to say which school she attended?”
“Uhhhhmmm.” Ruby brought her finger to her chin as she recalled her conversations with Penny. “Atlas.” She answered definitively with a nod.
“I see…” He paused and reviewed all of the information he had available to him in his mind. Whether this was just an unfortunate coincidence or part of some larger scheme, he was unsure, and he hated not knowing. “Thank you, Ms Rose. You have been very helpful.”
The vampire girl smiled at the appreciation. “You are welcome.” She quickly finished the rest of her ‘drink’ and pulled the mug away with a satisfied sigh.
“Please, enjoy your evening, Ms Rose.” He nodded and gestured to the elevator in a silent command, asking her to leave. “I’ll hopefully see you next week.”
Ruby stood up and walked over to the open elevator she used. “See you, Professor.” She waved back to him with an earnest smile. He didn’t respond; instead, he continued to silently think. As soon as the elevator doors shut, his neutral expression dropped to a frown.
Ozpin tapped a holographic button on his desk, bringing up an entire holographic display in front of him. With another tap, he stopped the ongoing recording. The software already formatting it into a playable video file with a thumbnail of Ruby sitting at the desk with him. Another tap and the windows tinted, blocking any light from entering or leaving.
It seems he would have some questions for James when he arrived after the break, but he could wait. After all, he was a patient man.