Ballad III: A Job Near Completion

DISCLAIMER

RWBY is property of RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum. JJBA is property of Hiroki Araki and David Productions. All art/vids/music shown are property of their respective artists/companies. 

A/N: Due to RWBY never specifying the larger bodies of water, I'll be calling the bodies of water by whatever nation is closest. Hope you don't mind :)

[Location: Vytality Sea (En Route to "Vale")]

[Time: 7:35am]

Much to his surprise, Risotto had no trouble sleeping aboard the ship. In fact, he had managed to sleep through the majority of the trip itself. Equally surprising, Risotto managed to procure two separate meals while "enjoying" the ferry. Both were courtesy of his current contractor, Ozpin. Even more surprising, Risotto couldn't recall the man paying for the meals. When asked about this, Ozpin shrugged the question off, briefly mentioning something along the lines of: "Friendly faces in higher places".

With his subtle slip up, Ozpin had managed to seal the undivided attention of Risotto. Whether this would also seal his life away in the process, was merely up for time alone to decide. Though he had provided two rather filling meals, Risotto held no sense of gratitude for the man. They had just met after all, and "La Squadra's" leader had killed men he had known for years for simply having price on their head. Generally, it was nothing personal. Money was money, and business was business. That was all there was to it, and that would always be the standard.

At present, Nero stood leaning against a safety rail whilst twirling his heirloom knife. As he did, he leisurely took in the view of the ocean. The crashing waves, the orange hue of the rising sun, the city growing closer with each passing second. It was a spectacle for the man. The very scene reminded him of the numerous times he travelled via ship in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Most notably, it reminded him of his countless trips to his home province of Sicily. The foamed waters were nearly identical. The sun, unlike the moon, was just the same. The city of "Vale" however, seemed vastly different from Sicily's own city of Messina. Most notably, Risotto failed to ever recall seeing a floating fucking castle in Messina.

This sight practically ruined whatever heartfelt moment Risotto could have had. It was simply absurd. His eyebrow twitched in response to the sight. Being in another world entirely was already difficult to grasp. Having to accept that select groups of people had animalistic features only bogged his mind further. The shattered moon only added to his growing confusion. And now, he had a castle straight out of Disney to worry about.

Closing his eyes, Risotto fought back the urge to scream at the rapid bombshells. This infuriated him to no avail. Was nothing in this world normal? Was he only sent here to slowly lose his sanity? Would he ever get used to any of this?

Accepting the cruel fate he had been given, Risotto let out a sigh. At this point, he might as well get comfortable with all the peculiar scenery. He doubted this world would ever let up on testing his patience and so, he relented. Sure, he may never get fully familiarized with any of the obscene characteristics or properties of Remnant, but he would at least need to try. 

Opening his eyes, Risotto simply glared at the floating fortress one last time. Giving into the absolutely strange nature of it, he shifted his gaze onto the city itself. From afar, the city looked just like any other major city on Earth. Again, that is excluding the somewhat advanced aesthetic of course. While he was busy sizing the city up, Ozpin silently made his way towards the Jester.

After just a moment of silence, Ozpin cleared his throat to initiate conversation. The conversation was held in Italian of course. Risotto unfortunately had very little time to practice his "Mistralian". Despite this, he at least now knew the basic greetings and goodbyes of the language.

Ozpin: "Mr.Risotto, we are just twenty minutes shy of docking. Upon arrival, we will go to Beacon Academy. I will have your payment in full once shortly afterwards.."

Not shifting his gaze away from the city, Risotto stoically offered his own reply.

"You are rather persistent on going to this 'Beacon Academy'. Answer me, why is this 'Beacon Academy' so important?"

Nudging his glasses, Ozpin thought over the question. With the contract so near it's completion, it was almost futile to hide away that information. Above all else though, Risotto would discover the importance of Beacon regardless of what the former wizard decided. Knowing this, Ozpin surrendered. It made no difference after all.

Ozpin: "Beacon Academy...It is one of the four huntsman academies. Beacon and the other academies act as combat schools for those who seek to protect our world."

"School for hunters, eh? What exactly do these so called 'hunters' guard this world from?"

Ozpin: "The creatures of Grimm. They are bloodlusing monsters made solely of negativity. Without the hunters, countless would fall to the merciless beasts."

"Creatures of Grimm, you say? I suppose I'll see one in due time. But Ozpin?"

Ozpin: "Yes?"

"You did not answer my question. Why do you personally want to get to Beacon?"

Ozpin: "Mr.Risotto, last night I informed you that I had important business there. I was not lying. I am the next headmaster for the academy."

With this revelation, Risotto stood up from his position. If Ozpin indeed was the leader of such a facility, then a partnership would be essential. This was a prime opportunity and Risotto had seemingly struck a figurative gold mine. Then again, Risotto was not a fool. There was bound to be political powers or internal struggles somewhere. Despite these "Grimm", Risotto heavily doubted every living man or woman in this world completely saw eye to eye. This of course, exponentially increased Nero's interest in Ozpin.

Either Ozpin had potential as a long term contractor, or he had potential as a priceless contract. In both instances, Risotto gleamed in ecstacy, though his face remained as neutral as ever. Still though, Ozpin had been quite literally the only man thus far to communicate with Nero.

"Being a headmaster is no easy feat. Are you sure you're capable of it?"

Unexpectedly, Ozpin's lips curled into the slightest smile. From his facial expression, Risotto could tell the man was seemingly amused by his words, almost confidently so. The shorter man's smirk was comparable to the smug smile of a con artist weaseling his way into another man's own wallet. 

Ozpin: "Indeed I am. I have an adequate amount of experience under my belt."

"You are quite young.  I'd wager against that statement."

Tilting his head, Ozpin stared at Risotto in a manner that screamed "look who's talking". After raising an eyebrow, Ozpin merely chuckled the comment off.

Ozpin: "Oh? But you look quite young yourself Mr.Risotto. Most importantly though, looks are quite deceiving."

Risotto offered no words to rebut this. Ozpin was correct after all. Risotto did look young. In fact, if he recalled correctly, he looked just like he had nearly ten years ago. This still had not bothered the assassin nearly as much as the other occurrences thus far. Despite this, Risotto knew he wasn't that young.

The headmaster then turned his gaze to the approaching city. It appears the two had officially arrived, taking the gradual decrease in speed into account. Returning his attention to the "goth clown", Ozpin began to speak.

Ozpin: "We've arrived. Welcome to Vale, Mr.Risotto."

Storing away his knife, Nero broke his position over the guard rail. Without skipping a beat, the two made their way towards the designated "exit" port. Taking a tired breath, Risotto thanked the approaching conclusion of the tedious job. However, now that the two were finally in Vale, he had one question.

Just where exactly was Beacon Academy? Stealing a quick glance at the floating castle, Risotto felt his stomach churn. Hopefully, his prediction was incorrect. For the first time I'm ages, Risotto wanted to be wrong.

"Now that we've arrived, where is this 'Beacon Academy'?"

Ozpin: "Do you see that station on the north side of the city? The one that looks like a checkpoint?"

In relief, Risotto exhaled. Oh how he would have hated to traverse to skies to reach the castle. Look towards the area Ozpin mentioned, Risotto could faintly make out a scene reminiscent of training grounds. It seemed quite militaristic to the assassin. Though, if the world really was plagued by 'Grimm', he found it inappropriate to blame the cliche appearance of the school.

"I see. So that's Beacon Academy?"

Ozpin: "No. That's the police academy, see that castle? That's where we are actually heading." He called back almost amusingly.

Risotto meanwhile, felt his heart drop. Sighing once more, he cursed his luck. After regaining his composure, he reasoned that perhaps a floating castle wasn't too bad. If he was stuck here, his life would only be as miserable as he let it be. With his decision to simply accept any future reveals, Risotto followed the headmaster toward the docking bay. Once stepping onto the pier of Vale's Docks, the two swiftly made their way towards their next immediate destination: Beacon's Ground Level Hangar.

[<~Time Skip Brought To You By Chibi Ruby Poking Chibi Risotto's Cheek While He's Trying To Read~>]

After nearly an hour of awaiting transport, the two men now stood on the courtyard of Beacon. With a closer look at the citadel, Risotto was awestruck. Earlier, he had thought the castle had been floating. As it turns out, it was merely a trick off the mind. In reality, the castle merely sat atop an elevated plateau like fixture. In addition to being on the outskirts of the city and having been on a rocking ship in the middle of a raging ocean, Risotto found he had only imagined the feat.

For whatever reason, Risotto found it quite humorous. He had heard of instances such as this from his own world's folk stories. Stories of sailors imaging implausible cities of gold, sonnets of the mythical "sirens" who lured men to their graves with sweet melodies, and even poems of men confusing land with rock riddled wastes. Alas, he was relieved to not need to deal with a city in the sky.

While he lost himself in his mind, he only followed Ozpin through a series of pathways. Eventually, the two found themselves traversing through the corridors and many hallways of the school. This was enough to snap Risotto out of his trance like state.

Truth be told, the Academy was quite...predictable. It was generic yet also quite eloquent. Expertly fitting for a school at least, he thought. To "Passione's" assassin, the facility was comparable to a prestigious boarding school. Setting the castle and fantasy theme aside, it was quite ordinary to the man. Oddly enough, this was a relief to the man. Though...the lack of students did work to unsettle and rile a red flag.

After several minutes, the duo found themselves in a lofty elevator. Once situated, Ozpin pressed a button, Risotto figured it may lead to the man's meeting room. Following this, the doors to the steel coffin came to a close. On the other hand, the elevator itself began to ascend. With the technology of the world, Risotto deduced the ride to wherever the pair would be should only take a handful of minutes at most.

Admittedly however...the ride was taking quite some time. An almost comedic amount of time. The awkward silence did nothing to quell this tedious process either. Luckily though, the door to the compartment swung open just as Risotto was becoming visibly frustrated.

Stepping out of the elevator, Risotto was greeted by an impressive sight. Impressive it was, he also felt another presence nearby. Using his stand, he scouted the area to confirm his suspensions. There indeed was another person present. By the amount of iron present in their body, Risotto deduced it was a female.

The room he found himself in currently, had the aesthetic of the interior of a clock tower. The walls were almost entirely windows, with the exception of the wall he had exited from. Had the turning gears and cogs not been present, the transparent walls surely would have been blinding with the amount of natural light they gave off.

Additionally, the ceiling seemed to form a near cone shape. Obviously, more gears and grinding cogs of a clock were present. For a brief moment, Risotto was worried if one of the many overhead gears would fall to crush whatever poor soul found themselves underneath. Shaking his head from these thoughts, he now focused on the man who led him here.

The man in question, swiftly made his way behind the desk of the room. Admittedly, even the man's supposed office space was interesting to the assassin. The work area screamed of elegance. However, Risotto also took note of the lack of paperwork present. Furrowing his brows, he guessed Ozpin was the type to shove all the work onto his secretary. Speaking of which...

A woman stepped from the adjacent elevator Risotto and Ozpin had been mere seconds ago. Unsurprisingly, she wore a traditional secretary uniform. A white buttoned blouse, black tights under a mid length skirt, a deep shaded pair of purple heels, and the cliche pair of glasses. Finally, she also wore a short black cape with a purple interior.

As for her physical appearance? Risotto internally chuckled at the tight hair her blonde hair was tied into. Oddly enough, he cared little for her rather impressive figure. She was curved and voluptuous, despite giving off the impression of being an uptight and work focused woman. His chuckle became audible when noticing the scowl she seemed to wear constantly.

Obviously, she was a prude or unlikable gal for most of the seemingly absent students. Though, Risotto rightfully figured the male students were head over heels for the lady. The woman in question, glared at the abysmal Jester before focusing her attention towards Ozpin. Clearing her throat, she began to address the man.

???: "I draeh 'what' deripsnart. Rehto 'then' a llams elffucs, gnihton rojam deneppah. 'I'm' dalg ot ees 'you back so soon', retsamdaeh."

Ordinarily, most men would not bat an eye at the woman's statement. Risotto however, was far from being like 'most men'. The language was still largely unknown to him. From what little he could understand however, He took notice of how the lady said 'back so soon'. It was after all, the only amount he understood from her sweet little "greeting".

Narrowing his eyes, he analyzed Ozpin further. In his conscious, he debated whether or not Ozpin truly was the "new" headmaster if the apparent staff member had addressed him like she did. The two were clearly friendly, as friendly as two colleagues could be. Internally, Risotto narrowed his suspicions at who Ozpin truly could be. As a consequence, the man thought that perhaps this man was far more interesting then he already was.

Ozpin: " 'I'm' deveiler gnihton rojam derrucco ni 'my' ecnesba. 'But' snoitcudortni era dedeen..."

Politely gesturing towards Risotto, Ozpin nodded to the woman. In turn, the lady focused her attention to "La Squadra's" leader. Risotto felt the heated glare of the woman. From her expression, Nero figured she had been sizing him up to determine if he was a threat. 

Ozpin: " 'Glynda Goodwitch', siht nam si 'Risotto.' Risotto, meet Glynda Goodwitch, Beacon's Combat Instructor and secretary of yours truly." Ozpin said, switching to Italian when addressing Risotto.

The man, Risotto, simply crossed an arm, bringing the other to hover mere inches from his face. Remaining silent, he merely half heartedly glared back at the woman in disinterest. Luckily, she had caught the memo and relented with her threatening gaze. For just a moment, Risotto swore he saw a slimmer of doubt in her eyes. Additionally, Risotto found her name to be quite humorous. First Ozpin, and now his secretary. Was this world a twisted and contoured one of "The Wizard Of Oz"?

Glynda: " 'I've' reven nees mih erofeb. Fi 'he' si a taerht, 'I' tnow etatiseh ot evomer mih morf supmac sesimerp."

Ozpin: "Raef 'not Glynda', 'Risotto' saw dnik hguone ot trocse 'me' ereh morf 'Mistral'. Fi 'he' saw a taerht, 'I' tbuod 'I' dluow eb ereh os noos."

Now, it was Risotto's turn to speak. In his deep and dominant voice, he returned the unknown words of kindness back to the man. Unfortunately, Risotto had only agreed to come for one reason alone and regretfully, he still did not understand "Mistrialian" fully. Had he known the language, perhaps he would have been just a tad more compassionate for Ozpin.

"Ozpin, The payment. I trust you did not forget?"

Ozpin: "Of course not. I will fetch it."

Turning to Glynda, he offered a translation to the combat instructor. In response, Glynda scoffed at the man. It had confirmed her suspicions of Risotto only acting out of his own self interest. The sheer audacity of the man to talk with Beacon's very headmaster was appalling to say the least. Not to mention, Ozpin had just defended the man.

Ozpin on the other hand, had already begun digging through a drawer from the desk. After a second of ruffling, he retreated his hand, tossing a wallet at Risotto. Instinctively, Risotto caught the parcel with ease. Opening the black wallet, Risotto's eyes scanned over the currency.

If he recalled correctly, this specific color had represented "five thousand Lien". After counting each plastic card, he found there were ten total. Obviously, this added up perfectly to the arranged price. Satisfied with the amount, Risotto stored the wallet within a pocket. Clearing his throat, he spoke up once more.

"The amount is good. However, despite my heavier pockets, I still lack an understanding of your language."

Registering the words, Ozpin nodded sympathetically. After this, he simply nodded to the secretary. She of course, spun on her heels, exiting the same way she had entered. However, before fully leaving, she gave words of warning to Risotto, not knowing they were wasted.

Glynda: " 'I'm' gnihctaw uoy, retsej."

After hearing the elevator doors close, Risotto approached the headmaster's desk. Taking a seat in the vacant chair, Risotto was met by Ozpin taking his own seat.

Ozpin: "The language barrier...yee, I'm aware of that. I have a proposition for you, if you'll hear me out."

"It's not like I have much choice. Speak it, headmaster."

Nodding his head, Ozpin let out a sigh. With any luck, Risotto would be open to agreeing. Though it was selfish, Ozpin felt Risotto had more to offer then he led on. Additionally, Ozpin decided it was his responsibility to help sort Rissoto's circumstance.

Ozpin: "I will be blunt with you Risotto. I find you rather fascinating. I can sense you hide away something. Simply put, I've taken an interest in you."

"Oh? If we are being truthful, then I would say much the same about yourself. You're obviously much more influential than I initially believed."

Ozpin: "Very well...Here is my offer in the swiftest manner possible. You are from an entirely different world. Our own world is quite dangerous, yet I sense you are more than capable of defending yourself. I will teach you 'Mistralian' in addition to offering payments, very much similar to the one you received seconds ago."

"Knowledge and income? With offerings such as this, there is bound to be a catch. Out with it, Ozpin."

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Ozpin confirmed Risotto's suspicion of there being a catch. Before the headmaster elaborated further however, he withdrew a hand under his desk. What sounded like the popping sound of a fridge opening was heard. Shortly afterward, Ozpin presented two mugs of a brown sweet smelling liquid.

For whatever reason though, Risotto swore he saw steam from the cups. Ozpin then raised a mug to Risotto, who refused by waving his hand. Though the wizard was slightly saddened by his refusal, he merely stored the mug away in the compartment under his desk. Taking a sip, Ozpin cleared his throat to explain further.

Ozpin: "Firstly, I will need your agreement to cooperate. I apologize for the vague implications this entails, but it is necessary. I require your fill cooperation. A man such as myself, cannot afford to take any more risks than I already have. If you refuse, you may see yourself out with next to no resistance. If you somehow manage to procure a huntsman license elsewhere, you are more then welcome to accept job offers from Vale, but Beacon Academy will personally be closed to you, I'm afraid that is due to the laws and restrictions of our realm."

If Risotto was not offended then, he surely was now. To think a man such as Ozpin could even dare threaten "La Squadra's" leader. Still though, he understood Ozpin's intentions. The headmaster wanted complete cooperation. If the subtle hints were anything to go by, perhaps Ozpin made this statement out of piecing together Risotto's true occupation. If so, he was almost completely forgiven for the manner of his demand. If not...Risotto could simply kill the man at a later date and be done with this needless banter.

To aid Ozpin now? Or claim his head later? Or perhaps...both? Risotto weighed each decision. There was no true reason to deny the man. Then again, Risotto also felt Ozpin was hiding a multitude of secrets. The man was confident in being able to tale care of himself, so walking away now would only be a minimal set back. Alternatively though, Ozpin was an easy way to make Lien and obtain information.

Leaning forward, Risotto thought over the decision once more. Ozpin meanwhile, awaited his answer patiently. He had quite literally, an eternity for a reply. He was in no rush and understood this was quite a daunting question to ask. Taking another sip of his hot beverage, Ozpin leaned back, figuring Risotto would be lost in thought for longer than anticipated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[♤~END OF CHAPTER ~♧]

A/N TIME

This I, LORD KIWI!

Let me know what you thought :)

Did I do good? Did I do bad?

Any guesses on the other JJBA guest yet? I'm not giving out hints just yet...so sorry if there isn't much to go off of.

Sorry if some of this seemed rushed. I know Ozpin's initial meeting with Risotto came off that way, just know...It was intentional. It has something to do with his reincarnation process as well as our other JJBA MC.

Without a further ado...

[♤Arrivederci, My Fellow Plague Doctors♧]

[♡"...You are already complete..."◇