The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

New Objective

If he hadn't had my full attention before, he'd have had it now.

"What did you see, then?" I asked.

Ozpin took a breath, lifting his eyes to the moving gears on the ceiling.

"Where there had been ruins, towers rose into the sky as if they were new—and around them, an entire city. It was so different that it had taken me some time to realize that they were even connected to the ruins; if you could have seen the difference…" The headmaster shook his head. "When I'd finally understood what I was seeing, I'd thought the old tales had been right after all—that the people of Babel had reached so high and far that God struck them down for their arrogance."

"Well," I mused, trying to imagine it. "Thousands and thousands of years will do that, I guess—and the Grimm can be pretty hard on buildings themselves."

"No," He shook his head. "It was more than that. I…I struggle to even put it into worlds. What I saw was a city that could have housed millions of people and all that had been left of it was the shattered remains of a few buildings. There had been so much gone, an entire city razed to the dirt such that not even its bones remained…I've seen other ruins since then and the remains of Mountain Glenn and there was always something left. But that city had been scoured away. I don't know how and I don't know why, but can you imagine what it would take to make something like that vanish? But it had. Whatever happened there had been more than the hands of time at work—more than even the usual predations of the Grimm. It was something massive but, more than that, deliberate. Perhaps even methodical."

That was a chilling thought—but I put it aside for the moment, letting my thoughts race. First things first, I needed to find out what we knew before getting into what we might know. The city—apparently a huge city—had been basically ground to dust in this world, even though it should have been enormously difficult to completely erase such a thing. And yet…

"And yet for all of that, the city still stands inside the barrier," I muttered aloud. "And presumably has been there since Babel fell, if not longer. That's, what…ten thousand years? Do we know?"

"No one's completely certain as there have been conflicting results," The headmaster answered. "Dating generally places Babel artifacts between seven and twelve thousand years old, but there exists the possibility that the younger artifacts were actually created by cultural holdouts in the aftermath of the fall, or that the older examples are actually from cultures predating even Babel's rise to prominence. But ten thousand years ago would seem like a fair guess under the circumstances."

"So a really long time," I said. "Which means a lot of power to keep it going. But you didn't see any people inside? Or anything else that could support the barrier?"

"I didn't find any people," He answered. "And I looked quite thoroughly, I assure you. After what few supplies I'd had with me ran out, I tried to scrounge something up, but…there was nothing."

Ozpin shook his head slightly.

"However, I did find something," He continued, meeting my eyes. "In the highest tower—the place that mirrored what little is left of the city in our world—I found that there was still power and, even more astonishingly, a computer that appeared to still run."

"A computer," I said, eyebrows rising. "That's…"

"Amazing," Ozpin agreed. "A goldmine, even, but for a few problems?"

Of course there was a catch.

"What's wrong with it?"

"When you turn it on, it asks you for a password." He said before pausing. "Or I assume that's what it asked for—naturally, it did so in Babel. Presumably all the files on it are also in Babel."

I winced.

"Yeah, I could see how that could be problematic," I agreed, frowning to myself as I considered it.

"There's also the matter of getting inside, of course," The headmaster added, taking a slow sip from his mug as I lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Well…what did you do to get inside?"

"Nothing," He answered. "I've reviewed that day in my mind countless times, considering everything that happened and might have happened, but to this day, I am certain I didn't do anything to enter that barrier nor have I ever been able to repeat the feat under any other circumstances. After years of consideration, I began to suspect something had push or pulled me into the barrier, for some reason."

"To save you?" I asked a tad hopefully.

Ozpin looked into his mug as he swirled the contents lightly.

"Perhaps," He mused. "I'd have an easier time believing that if not for everything that followed. You must understand that when I first found myself inside of it, I was already in dire straits—and there was little in the way of supplies to be found. Worse, I did not know how to exit such a barrier, at the time—it was only luck that allowed me to figure out how to escape before I starved to death. While I certainly appreciated not being torn apart and devoured, it was not a pleasant trip. But what has haunted me for years was what happened when I managed to escape."

"What happened, sir?" I asked as he put his mug on the desk and clicked a nail against its surface, still looking at what was within it.

"I developed the ability to leave the barrier completely on accident," He continued after a moment. "After days of fruitless searching, I'd returned to where I'd entered and tried to make peace with my death. But as the hunger and thirst grew worse, I wanted nothing more than to escape, until that single desire consumed me—and suddenly I was outside as my Aura responded to my will."

He paused to make a slight face, as if recalling something unpleasant.

"Which I was surrounded by the Grimm again, of course, which made my elation rather short-lived. I'd thought I'd escaped only to find death, but…they did something odd."

"What'd they do?"

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I wondered how often he'd told this story. I couldn't be the first to hear it, could I? No, but I doubted he spoke of this often.

"Nothing," He said at last. "They did nothing. I started running and didn't stop until exhaustion finally dragged me down. At the time, I'd simply thought I was lucky to have outrun them all even though I was half-starved, dehydrated, and unspeakably tired," He said. "I escaped all of the monsters gathered there, from the mightiest of the Humbaba to the lowliest Beowolf, even though I was scared out of my wits—truly, I must have been lucky indeed that they didn't notice my terror or give pursuit. But as time went by, I realized something else."

"What?" I asked.

"No one's that lucky," He stated flatly. "There's no chance that I escaped the notice of that many Grimm, frightened as I was. There's even less of a chance that I outran them all in such a state. I've tried to find an explanation for how I might have gotten away and could only think of one—that they let me go. It may sound strange, but if you truly intend to look into this, you should know that, on rare occasions, groups of Grimm would display strange behaviors. Over the years, I've heard of others who survived encounters with the Grimm for no logical explanation beyond 'they were allowed to.' It's far from common, but there have been times—"

"Sir," I interrupted and kept talking to moment he glanced my way. "When I was in Mistral…I fought a Goliath. That's how I came across the manuscript I spoke of—the book, really. I'll explain that in a minute, I suppose, but…the Goliath I fought behaved oddly, too. All throughout the fight, it acted patiently, giving me chances and opportunities it didn't need to. And even…even as I was killing it, it had a look in its eyes, like it had somehow won, and I still don't know why."

Ozpin watched me for a minute before nodding slowly with a slight smile.

"I suspected as much, somehow," He said. "Not your experience in Mistral, of course, but somehow I thought that perhaps you would understand. Perhaps it was your masks or perhaps…"

He trailed of thoughtfully, leaving me to wonder about what he would have said—but I pushed that aside, staying focused on the present matter.

"Sir," I asked. "Why did you tell me about the ruins? And about your story?"

The headmaster smiled back at me.

"Several reasons," He mused. "The first, of course, is quite simple—if, as you said, you learnt your new skill from a Babel text, it stands to reason you had some way of reading Babel."

"It's not quite that simple, sadly," I said, holding back a wince. "But I can understand the basics, at least."

He nodded at me, gesturing slightly.

"I also assume that after you told your Grandmother this, the two of you gained an interest in investigating this matter—a suspicion supported by the fact that a close friend of mine received a request that led back to one Jeanne Roma, concerning Babel texts in his possession. It stands to reason, then, that should you not find what you're looking for in those texts, you might turn an eye towards investigating ruins, instead. So on one level, I wish it as a warning; I mean no offense to skill, but I feel that if you were to somehow walk into such a place unknowingly, you may not have the chance to walk back out. Consider this a cautionary tale about wandering into ancient ruins."

"Yeah, thanks for that," I said honestly. I would not want to walk blindly into a place that had chewed up fifty hunters.

"But on another level," The headmaster continued. "I am intrigued and…curious. Well you opened your barrier and I recognized the similarities…"

He shook his head slightly.

"That was the place where my first team died," He said. "And so many friends alongside them. And surrounding it all were unanswered questions—questions I'd given up on ever answering. But perhaps now I have begun to wonder again. There must be a reason that place is so fiercely guarded by Grimm and there must be a reason behind that barrier. And the computer…my, but you must understand, when I'd first understood what I was looking at and realized that all that stood between me and the answers to a thousand questions was a password…well. You can imagine, I'm sure. The idea that it might be possible to learn such a thing…"

I was silent for a moment, considering his words carefully.

"I might be able to get us close using Naraka," I said slowly, thinking things through. "Without disturbing the Grimm, I mean. I'm not sure how an area with multiple barriers in it would work or how such powerful Grimm might respond, but…it's possible. I might be able to handle the password, too. If you could tell me everything you saw inside, then maybe…"

I trailed off as he lifted a hand.

"Now, now," He said. "I wanted you to be aware of the place so that I might ask for your assistance at a later date, but there is still time to prepare. Admittedly, perhaps not as much time as might be ideal, due to the matter of Dust, but time nonetheless. Should we wish to undertake such a venture, a great deal would need to be done."

I nodded, looking at my hands for a moment before glancing back up at him.

"Yes, sir," I said, nodding. "But can I take it that you'd be willing to assist my grandmother and I in researching Babel?"

"Of course," He smiled again. "I have, perhaps, more reason than most, but who wouldn't want to assist in this matter? I will do what I can."

I bowed my head in thanks.

"And concerning Dust—and now this as well, I suppose—I offered to tell my mother, but she chose to let you decide whether she needed to know or not. I think she spoke to my dad about it and he chose the same thing. So…well, I just wanted you to know."

"I see," He appeared to consider that. "I've actually considered informing them of the issue with Dust several times; though their powers would not be able to address the matter, there have been several contingencies that they might be of assistance with. Perhaps this is a good time to speak to them about it. As for the matter of old ruins…I think they might be of assistance there as well, when the time is right, don't you? And in this matter, we could use all the help we can get."

"Yes, sir," I agreed before looking down in consideration. There was one other thing I wanted to speak to him about, but I wasn't sure if I should. Terrorist mastermind or not, she was an ally now—and a maybe, sort of friend. But at the same time, for something like this…well, this was why we were allies in the first place. But should…

I sighed and shook my head before meeting Ozpin's eyes.

"There's one other thing…but can you keep it a secret for me, sir?" I asked. "I think you should now, maybe even need to know, but it's still not really my secret to tell and I really can't say I know anything about what happened. I know it's a big secret, too, but…could you keep quiet about it, at least for now?"

"I suppose it depends on the nature of the secret," Ozpin mused. "But I will do my utmost to keep anything you say to me in confidence—especially something that might endanger you or your family."

I nodded and took a deep breath.

"Grandmother and I actually have another ally," I said. "Or rather, I have another ally, as Jian Bing. Officially—if that applies to things we don't want anyone to know about—Jian Bing brokered that agreement and…maybe that should be the story behind this, too? We can figure that out later. The point is, there's another person involved and you should probably know about her, especially in regards to something like this."

"Who is she?" The headmaster asked, leaning forward slightly.

"You know her, I hear," I replied. "Her name's Raven Branwen."

Ozpin paused.

I could all but see gears turning in his head at the mention of her name, as if the pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place and questions had suddenly received answers. Raven had apparently vanished around the time I was born, which would have put her as leaving not too long before the Faunus Rights Revolution, and from some of the things she'd said, I assumed she'd had some bad experiences when it can to authority figures like the Council—and maybe even Ozpin himself. Bad enough to apparently leave behind her brother and team to go do…something. The way my grandmother had spoken, I assumed she'd gotten involved with the Rights Revolution in an active capacity, though what that meant I couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, it had apparently been enough to cause a few things to make sense to my grandmother when her presence was revealed.

I didn't have any illusions of knowing Raven's story and for all that she'd fought her a few times in the past, it had been pretty obvious my grandmother didn't either. But Ozpin…he must have known a lot more, having known her personally. If Raven was from around here and the sister of one of his friends…

I saw him look down at his cup again, saw him nod to himself slowly, but for a long minute he was silently. Finally, he took a breath and looked at the window, giving a quiet sigh.

"So," He said, nodding in acceptance. "That's what she's been doing. I suppose that makes sense, considering. Thank you for informing me, Jaune."

I looked at him carefully for a moment before nodding and continuing.

"Like I said, she and I have an arrangement of sorts," I continued. "We found out about the issue of Dust together and I told her a modified version of my findings with Babel and Naraka. It's a bit tense, because before that…well, I was pretty nervous about what Raven might do to me and my family if I got found out. You know about her Semblance, right?"

"Yes," He said simply.

"Do you also know that she can use it to spy on people?" I asked. "I'm not sure if it's some kind of really tiny portal or something like an aiming part of her Semblance, but my grandmother had no idea she could do that."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Few do," He said after a moment. "Outside her team, I was one of the few people she told about it, though she passed that information up the line when she felt it became necessary."

He didn't need to spell out the implications. I could imagine why just as I could imagine what they'd probably had her do. I wondered again if her departure from her previous life had been the result of a single thing or something long in coming.

And yet, even though I was standing in front of one of the few people who probably knew…I hesitated to ask. It didn't seem like I had the right or perhaps…

"I'm a bit surprised you know about that, though, Jaune," Ozpin continued, interrupting my thoughts. "Those who know like to keep it a secret. How did you happen to find out about it?"

"I can sense them," I said and at that I got a look from him. "Its…well, it's one of the things about my power that I'll explain later. As far as I could tell, though, nobody else could."

"Very few have ever been able to," He nodded slightly. "There have been several Semblances that have allowed people to respond to a sudden attack, such as those that sense danger or allow forms of precognition, but few can notice her when she merely decides to watch. And of course, awareness rarely enables one to actually prevent her actions; if anything it tends to just draw her attention. I would be careful if I were you, Jaune."

"Luckily for me, I don't need to sleep, anymore," I said. "There just aren't enough hours in the day to waste on stuff like that. But yes, I'm well aware of the dangers; I assume some of these people got their throats slit in their sleep for being overly observant? Well, even beyond that, she seems like a pretty terrifying combatant. But she doesn't know about me—by which I mean, Jaune Arc—and has, at least for now, made peace with Jian Bing. We've agreed to work together when it comes to this and if needed, we can contact one another. With her help…"

I saw him consider it as he leaned back slightly in his chair, and pressed on.

"She could use her portals to survey the area, as well as get us near," I said. "We'd have to test how it interacts with an area that already has a barrier over it, but I could use Naraka to shift us out of any danger, too. My senses are no joke—I'll let you test them later, if you want—so I'm pretty sure that if I got close enough, I could sense anything that was there."

He seemed to ponder that, nodding slowly.

"Yes, in that case, it might be possible—but there's a chance that we may need to do something in this world to enter the Babel city," He said. "If that were the case…"

"I can draw power from Dust," I replied. "A lot of power, too. If I have enough of it, I could drop and recreate Naraka a number of times, especially if I have a while to keep training it. Considering what happened to you, it's obviously possible to get into barriers as well as out of them; if we could figure out how, I should be able to get in. If it was something we could teach to others, too, I could set Naraka over the entire area and everyone who managed to learn could move in and out of it to enter and exit key points. We could find what we need and then go with minimal fuss. I can carry a lot of supplies, too; I'll show you how in a bit."

Ozpin took a breath and then a sip from his mug.

"It could work," He said again. "If we could get enough information, if we could figure out how to do all of that…it could work. If that was the case, we'd be able to walk right past most of the dangers, but there is one that remains, and it is both enormous and impossible to predict. There is something there that can push things across barriers. We don't know how and we don't know why, but it can, and with no way of knowing what it seeks to accomplish, there's also no way of knowing how it might get involved. If it began to push Grimm into your barriers, it could tear this plan apart in short order—and who knows what else it is capable of."

I bobbed my head to the side, conceding that point. That was a pretty big wild card in all of this, because we had no idea what it might be capable of. But…

"There's a lot of risks," I said aloud, as much to myself as to him. "We have no real way of knowing what might happen, much less what we might find. There are a lot of bases we'd need to cover, a lot of things we'd need to prepare for, and even then there's no way to be sure of anything. But…it's still possible. With all of our powers, with enough time, I think we might be able to do it. It's something to keep in mind, I think."

Then I smiled.

"But who knows if it'll even be necessary. There's a chance we'll get lucky and find what we need elsewhere. That computer may be our best bet, but we might be able to do without, right?" I said, even though I wasn't sure I actually believed that. Hell, I wasn't sure Ozpin believed that, either, given how he frowned slightly and turned towards the window. Was he looking at the school outside, though? Or something farther away?

"Perhaps," He said quietly. "At the very least, we should explore our other options while we prepare. We still have some time; we should take advantage of it."

"Yes, sir," I said. "I'll tell you what we find in the ruins and texts, then?"

"Please," He nodded. "Now then, I believe you wished to tell me something about your power?"

I smiled at that, cracking my neck once.

"My Semblance," I said. "It's called 'The Gamer.' To put it simply, it allows me to live as if I were a character in a video game, but what that means is a little more complicated…"

I laid it out for him. I'd done this several times already, so I'd gotten fairly good at covering the important bits of my power and Ozpin listened without interrupting, so it went pretty smoothly. I told him about the Gamers Body and Mind, how I could gain and grind skills, and about my stats. The headmaster nodded occasionally, seeming to file that information away, but otherwise seemed to just accept it even though he looked fairly impressed as he considered it. I assumed he'd just developed a high tolerance for weirdness as the headmaster of a school for Hunters; there had probably been some pretty weird powers over the years.

"That does explain a great deal. I must admit, I have been quite surprised by how much you've grown over these last few months," He said after I had finished. "But it seems the very purpose of your Semblance is to allow you to grow quickly, no? I've seen a number of Semblances that may have had more initial power, but I've never seen any with as much potential as yours. Given time, you will go very far, Jaune Arc."

"Thank you, sir," I answered, smiling at the complement. "My power is part of why I think this may be possible; if I have a few months, I can get much stronger than I am now and I can learn whatever skills we need. Just tell me if you find something we need and I'll start working on it."

"Indeed," He looked at me considering. "It's an invaluable ability, in that regard; I've never seen anything so broadly useful. In a supporting role especially…yes, it's certainly possible. What is it that you intend to do now, though, Jaune?"

"For now, mainly just training," I said with a shrug. "I'll go on missions with my dad, too, and go hunting whenever I can, but otherwise I'll keep focusing on improving my stats and skills. If I keep working at it, I might be able to get all my physical stats to a hundred before the year's out—maybe even in as little as six months, if I'm lucky. I can train a lot of my skills even while doing that, so I'll do that as well. Otherwise, I'll mainly keep looking into Babel and such, try and improve Observe, maybe see what else I can figure out. Try to think of some solutions to our problems, help some people, that sort of thing."

"I see," Ozpin said, furrowing his brow as he looked at me for a minute. He tapped a finger on his desk before nodding. "Very well, then. We'll likely see a lot of one another in the coming days, if you'll be going on missions with Jack, so we should be able to keep one another informed. I will see you soon, then, Jaune?"

"Yes, sir," I nodded. "Have a nice day, sir."

As I turned to walk away, though, he stopped me.

"Jaune," He said and I glanced back. "Be careful."

I nodded, wondering which particular dangerous aspect of my life he was referring to. It wasn't immediately obvious, which was probably something to worry about in and of itself.

"I'll try my best, sir," I replied.