The King of Steel (RWBY/ Ozpin SI): Chapter 10

“Traitor!!”

“How dare you!”

“You see us as nothing more than tools for taking out your spite!”

The grin I held on my face must have been quite the savage look since Leo squirmed in discomfort, all the while the video of Sienna Khan being berated by her own people was being played on the screen between us.

Just like I planned, the slightly magically altered footage I presented as a live feed for the world to see had painted her as a monster that directly gave up all the benefits I promised for the Faunus as a while for her pursuit of violence.

She tried to fight back, of course, trying to prove that she had been framed by me, which she really was, but no one would believe her because, once again, the live video feed of our meeting was broadcast everywhere and since no one aside from a handful of people was aware of the existence of magic, her case fell flat and she only solidified her image as a scheming woman who only cared about her goals and not the good of Faunus-kind.

“Hehe, quite the spectacle, isn’t it? Leo?”

The hidden traitor was sweating bullets as my magic told me that his emotions were in quite the chaos at my unexpected visit right after this controversial meeting.

Leonardo Lionheart, a bold name that once struck fear into the hearts of our enemies. There was even a time when he alone wiped out an iteration of Salem’s inner circle all by himself in his youth.

And yet, I don’t see that brave warrior in front of me. No, all I see is an old man who has succumbed to his own fears and has turned his back on everything that he once stood for.

That is why, I traveled here. To get rid of this hidden threat, away from public eyes and even the knowledge of my allies.

After all, I did not want them to face the emotional turmoil of knowing that the man who once helped mentor them alongside me had turned traitor.

“Ozpin, what are you doing? Doing something this drastic and public is bound to bring the Grimm in mass numbers everywhere. Why are you taking such actions when we still don’t know if she has formed another inner circle after the death of the last one?”

‘And the Academy Award for the best actor goes to Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy.’

‘Seriously, he should have tried becoming an actor instead of a Huntsman. Right? Ozma?’

‘……Why Leo? Just why? I thought you were one of the few who would never betray me?’

‘Cheer up, Ozma. You should know by now that there is no such thing as eternal loyalty. There is only profit and loss, survival and desire, greed and ambition. If you want someone to serve you, those are the points you need to provide, not foolishly relying on emotions.’

‘You say that, and yet, you still feel elation whenever you see Glynda improve. You feel pride whenever you see James make advancements and suppress the Schnee on Atlas. You still feel the gnawing guilt of Summer’s death whenever you see Qrow’s face. Even yesterday, when you used Ghira and the deal with Menagerie as a tool to corner Sienna Khan, you felt terrible guilt for deceiving him.’

‘If you really believed the heartless words you say, you would never have felt what you feel. And don’t try to say that those are my emotions because, at this point, there is no distinction between you and me. Soon enough, ‘you’ and ‘I’ will fade from existence and only ‘we’ will exist. So, you really cannot lie to me about your emotions like you lie to yourself.’

I wanted to smile at Ozma’s words since this is the first time that he has finally acknowledged that we are one being instead of distinguishing himself from me.

‘Ozma, I never said that I am incapable of feeling emotions. I am just as human as any other being on the planet and I do feel the full range of emotions as a human should. However, what I do is compartmentalize them, choosing when to let my emotions guide me and when to use cold logic.’

‘My point still stands. Your words of cruelty are nothing more than your attempt to deceive yourself. But, I know that there is no convincing you, especially after I relived your life in our dreams, just like you did mine. So, do as you please. But, know this, I will always be here, to stop you should you ever go too far.;

‘And that is exactly what I want you to do as well, Ozma. I know myself better than anyone and I always tend to go too far in my ambitions. With you, Glynda, James, and Qrow, I can be assured that you all would stop me should I ever cross the line.’

Ozma fell silent as I turned back towards Leo with a smile.

“Leo, old friend, you don’t have to worry about her for now. In fact, you don’t need to worry about her ever again after today.”

“W-What do you mean?”

I just continued to smile at him.

“Don’t worry about it. Come, let’s take a walk.”

Whether it was his own fear or the subtle magical suggestion I employed, he silently followed my words and followed as we arrived at the grand entrance to Haven Academy.

Staring at the massive statue Depicting Jinn in all her glory, I could not help but let nostalgia take over.

When I, or rather, Ozmandius, established the academies, he had hired the greatest artisans and workforce of his time to carve these institutes that represented the future of all life on this planet.

The beautiful visage of Jinn was carved in Haven from the purest of bronze and lovingly molded by artisans who had fallen in love with beauty despite the image I provided failing to capture her true essence.

The playful trickster Ambrosius was carved from the rarest marble and placed in Atlas Academy’s reception hall.

The serious but gentle visage of Abaddon, the spirit within the Relic of Destruction was carved from the rarest wood in Vacuo and housed within the Headmaster’s office.

Beacon was the only academy that did not have any such statues since the Relic of Choice was unique among its brethren with its lack of a spirit within it.

I silently extended my hand towards Leo, who understood what I wanted and gave me the clock he used as the key to the hidden elevator.

Soon, we arrived at the vault that housed the Relic of Knowledge as I felt Leo’s emotions spike exponentially with anxiety being the greatest of the mix.

“Ozpin, why are we here-“

“Shh, you’ll know soon enough.”

I walked forward, the clacking of my cane echoing within the cavernous depths of the vault.

Placing my palm on the door, I felt it search me for the fragment of my soul that I had synced with its dimensional and defensive barriers to keep Salem out.

She may have been a master of magic thanks to the time she spent alone in that tower and later being tutored by me, but, she can never hope to achieve the mastery that I had over the art when I roamed the world as Ozma the Great, the strongest Hero, the Emerald Wizard who single-handedly ended a civil war, who brought an entire kingdom of magic to its knees through his own power.

When the barrier felt my soul and recognized its rightful master, it silently disabled all the barriers and opened the door, revealing the fragment of a world long gone that I had stored within this place to isolate the Relic.

“Come, Leo, we have much to talk about.”

“O-Ozpin, I-I need to tell you-“

Whatever confession he was about to make fell silent as I let my rage take over the control of my magic, causing my body to shine with an emerald glow.

“Lionheart. It would be in your best interest to not test me right now.”

“….Yes sir.”

He walked into the room as the doors slowly closed behind him, sealing his fate.

Unlike anyone else, I did not even need to touch the relic to activate it since they were always linked to me in a way that Salem could never understand. Or rather, she refused to understand since trying to understand this link meant trying to understand the God who created such a link, which was something she would never do.

“Jinn, I have need of you.”

Instantly, blue smoke erupted from the lamp and engulfed our surroundings before condensing into a breathtaking form that was inhumanly beautiful despite the fact that her form was only similar to a human superficially.

“Hmm! It has been a while, old man. What foolish questions do you have for me this time?”

I just smiled at the smirk on her face as she stretched her incorporeal body.

“First, I would like to ask you something that I hope you don’t consider one of the remaining two questions.”

“Haha! You know the rules, old man. But, your current thoughts are too amusing so I’ll let it slide this time. Thankfully, I am not as strictly bound to my duties as dear old Ambrosius is, so I do have some leeway.”

“Good. In that case, do you already know of my current circumstances?”

She raised her eyebrow at those words.

“You mean the fact that you have once again been awakened from your slumber as per your contract and must once again save another world not your own? Then yes, I am aware.”

……Okay, this was not what I had in mind.

The shock must have been apparent on my face since she started to laugh hard while my heart started to thump wildly within my chest as the implications of her words swarmed my mind.

Fuck, this is going to be a long Q&A session, isn’t it?