Misery Loves Company II

<At the top of a large clock tower, 3rd POV>

"No, I can't let you do that. It could very well be a trap."

"But what if it isn't? I trust her, Oz, and though we haven't always agreed on things she has never done anything to harm us!"

Sighing, Ozpin grabbed the mug he always kept handy and filled, and took a slow sip, savoring the complex flavors he has come to love from his recent reincarnations. No one, not even his closest companions, has ever seen it less than half-filled; it's almost like it's magic…

'How nice it would've been for coffee to be made back then.' "I still can't entrust my people's lives to this mission of yours - it's practically suicide."

"But we can't keep going on like this! If things keep going this way, then Salem will-"

*Siren Noises*

In the midst of her sentence, sirens began blaring throughout the vast room filled with constantly moving gears. "What's that? I never knew you to be the 'alarm' type of guy, Oz."

Oz donned a look of confusion because he wasn't the type to make alarms, at least not like this. That was until a wave of fear overtook him, and he began furiously tapping at his glass table while a series of holographic screens began popping up around him.

This concerned the woman because Ozpin NEVER gets scared; in fact, it was rare if he ever showed a negative emotion other than a light bit of regret or sorrow. This concern only grew as Oz's face fell further at his fears being confirmed.

Without a shred of hesitation, he grabbed his cane and jumped over his desk, sprinting and appearing at a side elevator almost immediately.

Practically jumping into it once the doors slid open, he pressed a couple of buttons, and as the door began to close the woman flew through the almost closed doors, materializing next to Oz as a single remaining petal faded into her clothes.

"Oz, what is happening? Why do you look so panicked?"

"I was sent a signal, one I never thought I would actually receive."

"Signal? From who, and what does it mean?"

"It's from an old friend, and it was to only be used should they fight a battle they can't win."

'An old friend? Oz never refers to people as his friend.' Through the confusion, her concern could still be seen but was lessened from before. "I understand if you care for them, I want to help too, but what is so special about them losing that makes this signal so important?"

Finally reaching a platform a decent distance down, there was a landing pad, only big enough for a single medium or a few small-sized ships.

Oz stood before the empty platform and banged the ground with his cane, causing a mechanism to open the middle of the platform outward, expanding the overall size, and raising a platform.

On the platform was the highest tech ship possible, fitted with all of the most technologically advanced innovations to date, courtesy of his position and connections to a certain military figure.

As it continues to raise it turns on, opening the door, and Oz swings around to face the woman.

Her black, fading to red, hair rustled in the wind, and her concerned, silver eyes met Ozpin's now-intense brown eyes. "They have this signal because if there is a fight they cannot win, then I fear I may not be strong enough to win either."

With this sudden revelation, they both took off speeding, while Ozpin's desk continued to flash on and off as a message was displayed on it.

[Max: We've put our son in stasis. You know what to do.]

<In the forest outside Vale>

"Sir, we found her!"

Currently searching the forest was a well-sized group of armed guards, all with the crest of the Vanille family on their hearts.

Leading the search was a wall of a man, no less than 7 feet tall (~213 centimeters), covered from head-to-toe in metal armor and with a greatsword strapped to his back no shorter than himself.

"Have we found any of ours alive?"

"No sir, they have all been confirmed dead."

"Even Cromwell?"

"Yes sir, he was found next to Trivia."

"Alright, collect the bodies, and let's move out."

"But sir, the others that she would always go see haven't been confirmed dead. Shouldn't we check to see - gah!" Abruptly stopping because of being grabbed by the neck, the reporting soldier was lifted from the ground by the mountain of a man.

The commotion drew the attention of the others, who slowed down what they were doing to snoop in.

"I think you forget who's in charge here. Our mission is completed. We have found Jimmy's little shitheel, so we are done." Dropping him to the ground, the soldier gasps for air and begins coughing.

The metal-covered behemoth angrily swung his head around at the obviously snooping guards, who all flinched at the sight. "So as I said. Move Out!"

"Yes Sir!" With fear, the man's subordinates scramble to collect the bodies they recognized as their own.

Having not confirmed if any of the others are alive, the heavy stench of blood in the air quickly convinced everyone present that no one could have survived.

What none of the soldiers could see were two pairs of eyes expertly hiding in the treeline, observing as they quickly and efficiently departed with their charge and corpses in tow.

Once they were far enough away, both of them dropped to the ground, landing with the grace and sound of an assassin.

"So did you confirm the deaths of the targets?" Covered from head to toe in bandages, purely aesthetic in purpose, with loose black clothing on his torso and legs, was the leader of this two-man excursion.

"Yes, I confirmed it myself. Dead as a doornail~" The man he was talking to was a slightly above average-looking, blond-haired man. He would be your run-of-the-mill Joe if not for the crazy glint plainly visible in his blue eyes.

"Good, then we can finally leave and report back to -"

"Oh?" Suddenly interrupting the bandaged man, the crazy blonde looked deeper into the forest, roughly in the direction of Vale.

Noticing there was nothing for a while, all blocked by trees and foliage, the bandaged man understood the crazy blonde was looking through the eyes of one of his clones he sent out earlier.

"What is it?"

"They look like statues of Grimm, with bodies lying in the middle. One of them is alive but unconscious."

"Statues of Grimm…? Bring me to them." Swiftly jumping through the trees, the bandaged man thought it highly unlikely there would be both statues of Grimm way out here, already a near-impossibility in itself, and bodies lying in the middle.

There was only one thing that could've happened; and once he saw one of the statues, he knew for certain he was right.

Now standing in the middle of the slight clearing, there were the dead figures of two adults and the unconscious figure of a roughly 12-year-old girl. Moving forward and onto one knee, his bandaged fingers parted the child's eyelids, and sure enough, he found what he was looking for.

Once he stood up, he pulled a slightly fleshy, black, and viscous string out of his pocket, which was connected to an ear on one end and a mouth on the other.

"Mimic reporting in." This was not said to anyone in particular, just to the ear in his hand, but the wiggle it gave off, and the cough from the mouth was his signal that it went through properly.

"The targets have been neutralized, but while checking the surroundings we found an unconscious child who is not related to the target."

"Oh?" A seductively smooth female voice sounded from the mouth. "I'll assume you let them live because they were inconsequential, but why report such unnecessary information?"

"The child in question is a silver-eyed warrior, confirmed by the petrified Grimm currently surrounding me. Shall I eliminate her?" There was silence on the other end for a bit, but the bandaged man knew better than to interject; he may not be afraid of dying, but he wouldn't go out of his way to do it!

"No, bring her to me. Maybe after all these years, I can have my very own silver-eyed warrior by my side."

"It shall be done, my Queen." With no further communications to be had the bandaged man dropped the ear-mouth contraption on the ground and dropped a small fire crystal on it, causing it to burst into flames and almost instantaneously burn into nothing.

Picking up the child, all of the crazy blond clones behind merged together, eventually becoming one again, and with merely an afterimage the now-trio disappeared from the scene, leaving no traces that they had been there.

Mere moments after they completely disappeared a speeding high-tech ship could be seen rocketing over the forest, in the direction of where the altercation began.

As it did so a recording of the scenery was being taken, one of the many features of the ship, but would only be available when actively accessed.

Once it approached the origin of the signal, all haste was erased from Ozpin's mind as he blankly stared at the image in front of him. A sea of red and corpses as far as the eye could see, something he hadn't seen since the Great war.

"Oz, what happened here?" Not answering her, Ozpin guided the ship to hover slightly above a clearing, which held the bodies of two adults and a child.

An audible gasp came from Summer, as she struggled to imagine this child being caught up in the middle of whatever happened here.

Exiting the ship, the duo came to a stop as they finally stood before the collapsed family. First checking the two adults, Oz confirmed the truth he never thought he would have to; his close friends were dead, and he couldn't help them.

Now standing next to Argento's body, instead of checking his pulse, he held out his cane, holding the handle in one hand while placing the other end against his other hand's palm. A green glow began creeping out of his body, slowly radiating the whole clearing with a gentle green tinge.

As the seconds passed the green became denser, but with it, golden circles, some empty and some with shapes in them began appearing around Argento.

Though Summer wanted to know what he was doing, what was going on, and who these people were, she was too entrapped in the beauty of what Ozpin was doing.

Until finally the golden sigils all began cracking, and as his aura receded into his body a shower of golden light fell to the floor as they all shattered.

However, the shards did not get very far before they began swarming into the space directly above Argento, and slowly faded into a gaseous state, eventually forming two golden figures that looked identical to the parents that were currently lying on the floor.

As if they were fully living beings, they looked directly at Ozpin, though they did regard Summer.

"I am sorry we couldn't finish this together, old friend, but you know how these things go." Maxwell's voice came out of his golden doppelganger, though it sounded far more ethereal than his normal voice.

"We were ambushed by Salem's forces." Now the emotions running through Summer were even more varied because confusion was thrown her way at how they knew about Salem.

"We don't have much more time, because most of our life force was spent making the stasis and healing Argento's body. I'm sure you know this, but if She ever finds out he is still alive then he will be in grave danger. Promise us you'll protect him the best you can; he's lost so much already."

Summer was getting more confused and concerned over this family, but every emotion she was feeling became stagnant as she looked at Ozpin. With pursed lips and a pained face, a few tears were making their way down his cheeks.

"I promise, I will do everything in my power to keep your child safe."

Now with their own ghostly tears gently falling from their eyes, disappearing in particles of gold once they fall from their faces, they give a sad smile and a nod to Ozpin one final time, and as they turn and kiss each other, their definition fades, and they dissipate into the air.

The duo is silent for a time until both of their emotions eventually stabilize enough to hold an actual conversation.

"I don't mean to pry Oz, but how do you know these people? How do they know Salem, and how were they able to fight off so many people?" Ozpin kept silent for a little, wondering how much he wished to share.

"I know I haven't shared much of my personal past with you all, but these two were the closest thing to siblings I've ever known. They knew everything about me; we grew together, we fought together, and we barely survived Salem's forces several times together.

Through it all, they had always been there, and eventually the inevitable happened. Amelia got pregnant. They wished to settle down and start a family, and I happily gave them that chance.

However, they were as much an enemy of Salem as I am, so they were forced to go into deep hiding in order to make this happen.

These two were individually about as strong as I am, but together they were a team to be feared, so I worried very little about them being in danger; nonetheless, I gave them a device that would allow them to contact me in their hour of need.

No matter where we were on the planet, I would get this alarm, and I would drop everything to be by their side. It feels like centuries ago since the last time I saw them, and now I never will again.

I do not know if I am to blame for being too slow, or if Salem is to blame for being so conniving, but I will keep good on my promise. This child will live until he is able to protect himself, even if I have to give my life to ensure that."

No matter how much he would do it, obstructing the truth from those he called companions and allies always hurt. None of them really knew his full story, just the basics of his reincarnations.

None knew his past, and in this reincarnation, there was no one living who remembers it; because the last two people alive who knew him for his true self, Ozma, were lying dead in front of him.

The only two people he could ever tell the full truth, share all his secrets with, were no more.