51

Chapter Forty-Six

The air outside had become brisk and a bit chilly while she had been in the ballroom. Or maybe it was the warmth of the dancefloor and of so many bodies pressed together that got her used to a warmer temperature than what could be found outside.

The difference wasn't stark, but it had her crossing her arms and wishing for a coat. Her dress, as pretty as it was, wasn't exactly warm. "Where did you want to talk?" she asked the headmaster.

Ozpin eyed her carefully, then gestured to one of the school buildings nearby. "If we go through there we'll find a little sitting area. There are benches and such. It's quite peaceful."

She nodded, her grimmsects having found the place he was talking about already. Just an open space with walkways linking different parts of the school together. A big tree sat in the middle of it all, canopy acting as a sort of roof to cover a few picnic tables and benches and some boxes filled with flowers.

It was probably a nice spot for students to take their lunches. Very romantic, though she doubted that was what Ozpin was aiming for. Her Grimmsects couldn't find anyone, spot any snipers, or sniff out any high-yield explosives or dust in the area, so it was probably not a trap.

"We should sit," Ozpin said as he moved towards one of the picnic tables.

Akelarre followed after him, eyeing his cane until he leaned it against the side of the table and let go of it. She slid into the seat across from him with some difficulty. Pretty dresses might be, but made for easy movement they were not.

Ozpin took a long breath to gather himself, then he began. "I read the letter Salem sent. She said that you were enjoying your time in Vale. I'm sorry to have interrupted that. Ironwood can be a little overzealous, but the fault really rests on my shoulders."

Akelarre nodded with the uncertain slowness of someone facing a rabid animal. Not that she thought Ozpin was rabid, but no politician opened with a statement of guilt if they could avoid it. "Okay. Yeah, that was sort of mean of you, but I can understand why you did it. You and mom haven't exactly been on talking terms for a while."

"I think that is something of an understatement. We have been at war for millenia."

She leaned onto the table elbows first. "You know, I never got that. The whole eternal battle you have going between the two of you. Wouldn't it be easier to just learn from your mistakes and change the game?"

"I don't think it's quite that easy," Ozpin said.

"Maybe not. I am something of a sore loser, so my opinion might be biased." She tried a smile and felt it become genuine when she noticed the tug at the corner of Ozpin's lips.

"To think that Salem raised a girl that is so much like her. Who would have thought."

"Hey now, I'm nothing like mom," Akelarre said. "For one thing, she outsmarts me at every turn. For another, we have an entirely different approach to... well, lots of things."

"Oh? Well, now I'm curious."

He was fishing for information. Almost blatantly so. She would have done the same were their positions changed. "I've always been an advocate for the survival of humanity, for one," she said. "I want to see humans prosper, to see us take to the stars one day and reach across the solar system and even beyond." She stretched her neck back. The stars were subsumed by all the lights from Beacon and Vale, but there were still some just bright enough to sparkle through that haze of light.

"That's... ambitious," Ozpin said.

"I'm an ambitious sort of girl."

The headmaster nodded at that. "I think I can tell. You've been quite friendly with some of the students here. Miss Rose, Miss Scarlatina..."

She looked down from the heavens and hoped that the few locks of hair sliding before her face would hide her faint blush. "Of course. They're good friends."

"Friends," he repeated.

"I'm not discussing my love life with my mom's ex," she said.

Ozpin raised both hands in surrender. "Fair enough. I just worry for the safety of my students."

"You would think, then, that having them near me would be a good thing. I don't want to boast, but I can keep them safe. That much is easy. It's the keeping them happy part that I find tricky sometimes. I just hope that being the best friend I can be will be enough for that."

He looked at her for a long time, eyes judging and measuring. "You actually want the best for them, don't you?"

"I do," she said. "I really do. That's why I wasn't averse to talking to you here." She took a deep breath to settle her nerves. "I want this war to end."

He raised both eyebrows. "You would go against your mother?"

"You assume that I need to go against her for the war to end?"

"Isn't that the case?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, of course not. Wars are fought for reasons. The last one I was in was a war for survival. Humanity fighting tooth and claw for the right to live. This one... this one isn't against a god or some alien power. This entire war is between you and Salem, because both of you are unable to just let things be."

"I wish we could change that, but I don't see it happening," he said.

"Don't, or can't? She asked. "If mom stopped sending the Grimm against humanity, if she pulled back and let humanity grow once more and let the world prosper again, would you allow it, or would you use it as an excuse to resummon your gods?"

"I can't imagine that happening with Salem in charge."

"Imagine it anyway," she asked.

"I... I suppose it would be nice, to rebuild humanity, to open the gates and extend beyond our fortresses." He ran a finger around a whorl in the table's wood. "For so long much of the world has been locked behind walls."

"Then you'd accept defeat?" she asked.

His head snapped up. "Pardon?"

"Ozma," she said. "You have been leading your side of things against mom for millenia and I don't think you've ever come close to winning. It's time to change the game. I'm willing to do that much, and I think mom would be too. Stop trying to kill her, stop trying to put everything at risk and just... surrender. I don't mean that you should walk up to mom and get on your knees or anything. Goodness knows she can hold a grudge and would probably torture you just for fun, but that doesn't mean you need to keep fighting what is essentially a losing battle."

"You make it sound easy."

"It is. I want to pull back the Grimm. To institute changes on the societal level that should help with things like organized crime and the rampant racism you have been suffering with. If you work from your end then... maybe the stars aren't so far away after all?"

"Ambitious," he said. This time there was something in his voice, a catch that hadn't been there the last time.

She had the impression that this time it was something of a compliment.

"I want this war to end. I want all wars to end. I want to be happy with my friends. I want all sorts of things, but most of them can't happen if the fighting doesn't stop."

She scooted off the bench. She wished she could have stood up with some flair, but that was impossible with a picnic table and flowing dress, not unless she contorted herself out of the bench and risked flashing the old man across from her.

"One way or another, Ozpin, your war ends, not with a bang but with a whisper. Maybe that's for the best?"

She walked away.

***

"Ruby, help," Akelarre complained as she found her favourite bundle of hyperactivity talking at a million miles an hour to an attentive Neo. She crashed into the shorter girl from behind and nuzzled her cheek against Ruby's. "I need help," she whined.

"How come?" Ruby asked. She ignored the nuzzling. Her eyes reminded Akelarre of a dog that knew its friend needed help, full of the desire to make things better. "What happened."

"I had a really stressful meeting," Akelarre said. "And the only cure to stress is hugging cute things," Akelarre said before squeezing Ruby close.

The girl giggled. "Did you need help finding something cute?"

Akelarre mock-gasped. "There's something cuter than you?" She looked around the room as if searching. Neo raised one hand and pointed it towards her own face. "Nice try Neo, but you're only nineteen twentienths as cute as Ruby."

Neo's cheeks puffed out in immediate indignation.

"Ruby, use your puppy eyes on Neo, quick," Akelarre said as she pushed Ruby before her. She couldn't see the expression Ruby wore, but it had Neo looking away and pouting even harder. That was a victory. "See, Ruby is the cutest one here." She nuzzled against Ruby again, earning another round of giggles.

"We should dance!" Ruby cheered. "I promised Neo I would dance with her, but you're my--my date tonight so we should dance together first."

"Ah, but then who will I dance with while you're with Neo?" Akelarre asked.

"I wouldn't mind volunteering, if you'd have me?" The three girls turned to find Velvet standing just close enough to overhear them. She stepped closer, head tilting forwards so that her floppy bunny ears covered her eyes a little. "Ah, that is, if you don't mind."

"Ruby, scoot to the side," Akelarre said. "Velvet is being silly and she needs group hugs to squeeze the silly out."

The night ended with many hugs, and lots of terrible dancing.

***

Woo!

I think... I think this ends the first book of this story. Kind of a slow, somewhat anticlimactic ending. Hopefully the Epilogue will cover things a bit more.