The King of Steel (RWBY/ Ozpin SI): Chapter 2

“Ozpin! No!”

I just grinned at Glynda’s appalled look and her scream while I continued staring at the screen, communicating with James.

“….Are you sure about this? Make no mistake, I am glad that you are finally looking at things my way, Ozpin, but I don’t know how you will convince your council to accept such a deal and offer.”

“Leave the Council to me, James. I’ll handle it. I just need you to help me secure the designs for the Atlasian Knights at a fair price and prepare the Maiden for my arrival. Once I am done retrieving what is mine, we can properly start preparing for what is to come.”

“Ozpin! This is madness! The council will never agree to reinstate a military force under your command when you already hold such power as the headmaster of the sole huntsmen academy of the Kingdom.”

I just continued smiling and answered Glynda’s question in a casual tone.

“Like I said, leave the council to me. I know exactly what to do and make them see things our way.”

The general of Atlas armed forces barely managed to conceal the awe in his eyes as he saw me take charge for the first time since we brought him into our little circle.

In fact, I think this is the first time that anyone has seen ‘me’ going all out and proactively preparing plans to deal with Salem and her forces.

“Very well. I will contact our R&D and have them coordinate with Glynda. You should have the blueprints for the previous generation of Knights within a week at most. But, be warned, Ozpin, the materials and technology required to create them will be hard to come by in Vale given the way the Valean council censors certain Dust Technology. Especially the power generators.”

“I know, James. I’ll just have to look into changing things a little bit and make them work with our technology. If that does not work, I have a few ideas that I would love to talk about with your research teams.”

“Alright then. Tell me when you manage to convince your council. I’ll have a few of my instructors ready for transit so that they can train any recruits that you might bring in.”

“I appreciate it, James. Thank you for your time.”

“The pleasure is mine, Ozpin. Truly.”

I knew that the general genuinely felt glad that I was finally stepping up and taking things in a direction that aligned with his way of doing things. I also knew that Ironwood truly had his heart in the right place.

Thankfully, with my presence, I can avoid the future where he goes rogue due to paranoia and desperation especially since I plan to tell the truth about Salem’s immortality and most of the things that Ozma kept from his inner circle soon enough.

What I wanted to do required great loyalty and trust from the people around me, and trust cannot be built on secrets, it was something that Ozma always forgot which resulted in the bleak future I knew of thanks to my limited knowledge gained from the wiki articles.

I ignored Glynda’s continued glare as I pressed a button on the intercom, accepting the call from my academy's delivery team.

“Headmaster, we have the delivery you wanted.’

“Good work. Send them up to my office.”

“Of course! Sir!”

“….Ozpin, tell me the truth. Are you doing all of this because of Summer?”

I paused at those words as guilt and exasperation filled my mind, both from Ozma’s mind and my own thoughts.

What happened to Summer Rose a few weeks ago, was a tragedy born out of various factors. However, there was no denying the fact that Ozma and his secrecy played a major role in the incident, making him, and by extension me, partially guilty of her death.

Summer Rose, the mother of Ruby Rose, the primary protagonist of RWBY, was a powerful huntress and leader of Team STRQ. The strongest Beacon Graduates to date.

She was also one of my most trusted subordinates in our ‘fight’ against Salem thanks to her skill set and her silver eyes.

A stubborn woman that would go to any lengths to complete the mission. An amazing but unfortunate trait that led her to her death at Salem’s hand when she went to the witch’s castle with Raven on the little information that she had from Ozma.

Not knowing that neither her eyes nor her status as the Summer Maiden would have been enough to deal with the immortal witch. A truth that was hidden from her by Ozpin.

A truth that took her life, leaving behind a broken family.

I do not know if it is appropriate for me to feel guilty and remorseful for Ozma’s mistakes, but it does not change the fact that the memory of a grieving father, holding onto a crying young girl with blond hair and a clueless toddler in front of a fresh grave was imprinted in my mind and twisted my heart every time I remembered that scene.

Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I turned a serious look towards Glynda who looked at me with concern.

“….While I cannot deny that she might be a part of the reason, it is not the entire truth. The truth is that I’ve had my eyes opened. I see now that every action that I have taken till now has been a purely defensive move, aimed at keeping her at bay while hoping to defeat her someday. But, it is clear to me now that this approach is no longer viable.”

I got up from my seat and walked over to the windows overlooking the city of Vale.

“If we are to ensure that this world is finally rid of us two immortals, finally being allowed to live in relative peace and free of our threat, I need to change. I need to stop holding back.”

“Ozpin, you don’t need to place the entire burden on your shoulders like this. It was the primary reason why you formed this inner circle, was it not?”

I smiled at Glynda.

“You are right. And rest assured, I will never dream of doing everything by myself since I am not that arrogant. I know that I can’t do everything and I can’t be everywhere at once. But still, I will need to start taking action seriously from now on.”

I felt my magic stir in response to my determination as my brown eyes glowed with emerald light in the reflection, all the while Ozma’s reflection in the windows continued observing our conversation silently.

I will not deny it. His presence is a soothing reminder that I am not alone in this venture.

Our views on how to handle matters are polar opposites, but our end goal is the same. As such, I find his presence to be my greatest support since he can pull me back on the right track should I ever lose myself in my ambitions and lose sight of what is important.

Glynda must have sensed the stirring of my magic as she straightened her back, like a soldier ready for orders.

“The time for staying passive is over. It is about time that I bring back my previous identity that struck terror into the hearts of our enemies. The power that brought entire kingdoms to heel and painted me and her as gods walking the mortal world.”

“The time of Ozpin, the Huntsmen and Headmaster of Beacon, is over. It is time for The Emerald Wizard, the Warrior King, to emerge once again.”

I felt my grin twist into an ugly sneer that made Glynda flinch, much to my shame.

“And anyone that stands in our way shall know my wrath. The wrath that decimated an ancient king of magic’s military forces and rescued a girl trapped in a lonely tower.”

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“Ok. Remember to take the medicine two times a day, in the morning and evening, and don’t forget to take the Aura boosters, your body is still weak from whatever training you had with the headmaster so don’t put too much strain on it.”

Amber Autumn nodded her head at the doctor assigned to her as she bowed her head in thanks and walked out of the infirmary, wishing to quickly leave this place and leave this part of her life behind for good.

Walking through the walls of Beacon, the building that once served as her home and then, a prison, she could not help but let her nostalgia take over as she slowed down her pace, forgetting all about her troubles.

But, just as quickly as those emotions rose, they also vanished just as fast as she spotted a delivery team carrying a large crate of spent Dust crystals into the elevator that went straight to Ozpin’s office.

Even after two days, she still could not get the image of his cold face as he sucked out the Maiden’s magic from her body from her mind. How could she when she had been seeing the same image as a nightmare every time she closed her eyes for some rest?

‘I never asked for the burden of that power. It was thrust onto me by you, and yet, it was also you who suddenly decided that I was not worth it. Am I a plaything to you? Ozpin?’

Shaking her head to get rid of those dark thoughts, she sped up her pace, dragging her luggage behind her, and headed straight for the landing pads.

Whatever the case may be with her newfound hatred and fear, she could not deny that Ozpin paid her well for her troubles, affording her to hire a Bullhead straight to her frontier village on the outskirts of Vale.

It may be his way of compensating her for the pain he caused her, all the way from faking her death, causing endless grief for her brother, all the way to the recent event of pulling our her powers, but Amber Autumn was not in a position to decline that compensation since she knew she would need the money for starting a new life in her home village, away from this manipulative and cruel wizard and the monstrous entity that controls the Grimm.

‘I hope Hazel doesn’t feel too shocked when I show up at our house.’

She chuckled as the last memory she shared with him rose to the forefront of her mind, showing her little brother’s crying face as he hugged her tightly just before she left for Beacon.

Walking into the passenger hold of the aircraft, she secured her luggage and sat in her seat as the bullhead took off from Beacon.

‘Wait for me, my little crybaby of a brother. Your little sister Gretchen is coming home.’

With those thoughts in her mind, Amber Autumn, formerly known as Gretchen Rainart, closed her eyes and leaned back into her seat, waiting eagerly to reunite with her brother after four long years of separation.