Unexpected Incarnate (RWBY Ozpin Incarnate SI)

Khan's POV

It appears that fate has decreed that I meet the boy foreseen by my seers fairly soon, yet I wonder why this is the case or why he and that Schnee girl happened to be there alone. Last I was informed, he was with the rest of his Huntsman friends in Mistral. Even more interesting as it is revealed by my second that he had apparently physically changed.

And I dare say evolved.

The thing is, the more I think further about how or why he seems to develop more animal traits, the more it reminds me of a tale long taught by my grandpa when I was a little boy before he withered away from the passage of time. A tale that the old leaders of our people were more powerful with powers beyond the imagination and thus possessed more animal traits than any other Faunus should have.

If this is the same case, then that boy has a much bigger role in this world's fate once he arrives.

Now I lay on my chair alone in my throne room. Pondering on my next move once that boy and his Schnee companion arrives at Sanctuary. I have already begun organising a proper meeting to happen once they arrive with me and the court, but there's another thing of concern.

The Schnee girl. The sins of her wicked company under the control of her father will overshadow her as soon as she reaches here. No doubt that those of my people, Human and Faunus who themselves or their friends or family have suffered under such unrepented greed and corruption, will seek justice against her, and I have no doubt that will cause unwanted tension.

May the Gods offer their guidance and strength to me to pursue onwards through this oncoming tempest.

For life is a challenge, and all challenges can be overcome should you have the will to never yield.

One of my royal guards, wearing much more imposing armour, approached before prostrating herself before me. "I bring news. Sister Nerium and her band will arrive in an hour with the boy and the Schnee Heiress." She explains before spitting out the last part. Ah, yes, I know her. She's one of those Faunus who's an outsider who managed to escape the Schnee mines in Mistral and stumbled across us before we accepted her into our society and worked her way to where she is right now.

Though it appears, she still bears ill to how the Schnee company treated her and her people as disposable workers.

An understandable grievance, but one that cannot be allowed to blind her to what needs to be done. I've already made it clear to all that once that boy and Schnee girl arrives. Neither of them are to be harmed or will face my ire. They may grumble and be discontent with this rule, yes, but my word is law here and if they have any complaints.

They better say it to my face.

"Understood, inform the rest to be prepared for their arrival. I must change to a more appropriate attire at once." I said as I slowly pushed myself off my throne chair.

"Yes my Khan!" And so, my royal guard stood back up and left while I did the same while thinking. "I believe the next few hours would be quite interesting and if he is truly blessed by the Gods themselves," I quickly narrowed at my arms as the blades on them glowed with life.

"I will see to it myself."

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Zack POV

Well… It has been hours since we encountered some unexpected help in the form of Nerium and her people and, surprisingly, an amnesiac Adam who happens to be with them. Currently, we're all riding on some horses since while we were making our way to a place called Sanctuary, as it turns out, their Khan had sent a group escorting enough horses for all of us to ride on our journey to that place.

Because of that, Weiss and I ended up sharing a horse, with me as the main driver of it with her sitting right behind me. The thing is, I had no idea how to drive one, but Ozma helpfully offered his assistance and guided me how to ride and control it without making a fool of myself.

It's uncanny.

This is the same experience Oscar went through when Ozma temporarily came back in at the end of Volume seven to help him control a Bullhead and stop it from crashing. Except this time, we're not in danger, and he's simply helping me ride a horse. That and it's surprisingly easy to ride one and an entirely new experience since I've never ridden one in both my lives. I even got a strange sense of nostalgia when I got on it, however it was quickly apparent to me that this was Ozma's nostalgia that I was feeling and reliving.

Not mine.

Once we all got onto our horses, we're back on the track deeper into the forest with me in the middle surrounded by everyone else bodyguarding me and Weiss with Nerium leading from the front with Adam on his horse besides me. We never talked since the fight. I was frankly not in the mood, but I really need to get some answers out of him later once I get some rest.

Still, we still need to know why Adam appears to have lost his memory and somehow found himself with this unknown organisation, or Hunters, according to how everyone else seems to call them if we guessed correctly.

And Weiss…

I guess she pushed herself more thoroughly than either of us had thought when we went up against that Wendigo Grimm. Because, hours after we resumed our journey on the back of a horse, the exhaustion she must have been going through hit her and she passed out.

The thing is, she's literally leaning onto me with her arms around my waist, and I couldn't see her face at all!

But I can feel her resting on the back of my shoulder, and the whole time my cheeks felt warmer than they should have been with my tails gently wrapping around her waist just in case to prevent her from accidentally falling out while she was resting. It didn't help that I could see every one of the guards occasionally turning their heads towards me as if to check on me and I couldn't even tell what they're thinking thanks to the masks they're wearing, whereas Adam was giving a confused look at my reaction.

This is so awkward because I don't even know what to feel!

There's a part of me that felt so ecstatic to have Weiss trusting me this much that she's resting on me as we continue on our journey. On the other hand, having more time to think about what happened earlier made me realise something. With how I felt my stomach fluttering that time and how I began to feel around her hours ago and the weeks past, I can only conclude after hours of silent thinking that I'm ACTUALLY falling in love with Weiss.

And I couldn't help but feel a slither of comfort and dread.

I mean… What is there to say? I always thought of her as just a character when I first found my memories in this world, as did my thoughts on Ruby and the others. But gradually the weeks go by, training and getting to know her and the rest of the gang. They're not just characters in a story. But people I grew fond for and wished to see them get a happy ending.

Even more to me, Weiss is incredibly beautiful by Earth standards, amazing, intelligent, someone that I bonded well with ever since we met months back when she caught up with us with Yang… A part of me actually believed that we had a good chemistry, which is mind-boggling since we knew each other for a month and less.

Nonetheless… Despite feeling like this.

I know how it ends…

I know how my story ends…

Eventually, my soul and memories will merge with Ozma, and everything that makes me 'me' will become part of him. And it would be extremely creepy for Ozma to gain my feelings for Weiss, and grow fond of her once souls merge. So, I can't fall for her, no matter how much it's clear to me that she's falling for me and I have for her. For the sake to spare both of us the pain when the time comes…

Furthermore, I can't afford to get distracted with this.

I have a war to win, and getting into a relationship will distract me.

"I am sorry…" Ozma whispers in my mind as I feel a throbbing bitterness of pain in my chest. Why are you apologising for? This is beyond any of our control, Oz. Besides, I think you knew all along that I was falling for Weiss, but I was too distracted or blind to notice it earlier.

"Why are you apologising for? This is something I have to deal with. Not you." I frowned.

Damn it…

Just thinking about this is making me more upset than it should be…

"Perhaps. But it is because of my burdens imposed on you that it prevents a chance of a normal life." You got to stop apologising for everything that happens, old man. Besides, with my ties with AWOR and Ishmael, I doubt I'll ever have a normal life as their chosen.

"And a chance for a normal relationship." He quickly adds in.

Hearing Ozma's words made me hitch my breath for a split second. Well, not shit old man, we both know how this story ends! "You knew this from the start, did you? All the times you were chuckling in the back of my mind." I hissed. You knew this was going to happen eventually, and you chose to remain silent instead of telling me?

"Why? Why didn't you say something earlier when you noticed that I was falling for Weiss?" I could only ask before I got a response from Ozma replying sincerely.

"Because I do not believe that it is my part to intervene and tell you who you are falling for, nor help you notice it when it is right in front of you. And besides, you deserve a chance to be happy, Zack. After everything you've been going through. It may be limited, yes, but even you deserve to be happy." Silence overtook the both of us for minutes straight.

I… I'm thankful that Ozma cares about me, but a part of me still felt peeved that he knew all this god-damn time. Do you know how fucking awkward it's going to be for me now? Though, all this talking about relationships made me wonder.

"This may be awkward for me to ask, but you had lovers before in the past, right?" Asking this makes me feel like I'm walking into something I shouldn't, but frankly, I'm morbidly curious about it since I'm sure there's a scene in which Ozma apparently had sliver-eye children with a woman in one of the show's flashbacks during Jinn's reveal.

A moment of silence passed by as I heard the sound of leaves rustling, hoofs clop against the snowy ground and Weiss's soft snoring as she clung onto me before I got a response from the old wizard within me. "Yes… As you no doubt have seen from your show. I do have lovers in the past, even children. But… I am barely able to remember their names and faces any more. Thinking about them is painful, especially when I am forced to make some difficult choices for some of them."

"...In what way, Oz?" I asked as I felt a wave of self-loathing washing over me. I've always wondered how he handles it, and from what I'm feeling from him, I do not like where this is going…

"It is a complex matter to explain. But it depends on when I find myself in my new incarnate. Should I end up with them while they are still single and have family members, the situation is much easier to digest, excluding the decision that I must act like their brother or son as soon as my merger with them is completed and deal with them, likely trying to seek help for something that cannot be cured. But after the merger, I am… free to seek out companionship to help me remain grounded."

"And then… the other?" I find myself dreading asking. If Ozma always finds himself in a compatible host, he could become part of someone's brother or… husband, and that means…

Oh, no…

"There… There are times I find myself reincarnating into a host that already has a family. A loving wife and children, even. In this situation, the merger becomes more problematic since I'm left with a choice: Either I spend my days after my merger with my reincarnation pretending to be their husband or father… Or I'll have no choice but to fake my death so I can move on and focus my efforts to safeguard Remnant with those I trust…"

Another wave of self-disgust washed over me from Ozma and… I don't know what to say. To resort to faking his own death after the merger is completed so he can focus on his mission to safeguard the world from Salem and not bother his incarnate's family but cause them so much pain?

Fuck man…

Why did the Brothers come up with such a reincarnation process?

I never put much thought into Ozma's reincarnation process back on Earth, but if this is just a glimpse of what he had done to his incarnate's family and friends, then how many times has this already happened? Tens? A Hundred? Thousands of times? How many families and friends have lost someone they care about, all because of a like-minded person, had Ozma had them as a host?

How many spouses and children did he call his own, but never saw again after he reincarnated into a new host? "I do not take any of these decisions lightly, if you wonder, but talking about this made me wonder what happened to most of them over the years…"

"I see…" I thought silently while closing my eyes.

After that, the rest of the journey passed smoothly as well as it can be after that talk and eventually, around one in the afternoon, I saw it. Not far away were countless smoke trails rising into the sky alongside wooden walls, a kilometre or two right in front of me with more of those masked people in grey standing guard with either melee weapons or guns.

A lot of guns that look like bolt-action rifles.

It appears that these Hunters are more than just a tribe, they're an entire society here!

But just how did they remain hidden in Anima for so long without detection from the other Kingdoms? "This is fascinating…" I heard a murmur coming out from Ozma within my head as we slowly got closer towards this… Sanctuary.

"It sure is…" I agreed before having one of my tails slowly poke Weiss in the face, and I heard her groaning awake after gently poking what, I hope, was her cheek since I couldn't see where I'm poking.

Ideally, not her chest. She will definitely kill me for accidentally touching her there.

"Mmm… Stop poking me, Ruby…" I heard Weiss softly groaning and as she slowly moved around for a bit and pushed my tail away from her. Heh… How cute for her to act like this while I continued poking her awake. Though I can see that much of the people escorting me and Weiss were somewhat amused by this.

I think.

I can't really tell since they're all wearing their masks.

"Hate to interrupt your nap, but we're here already, Weiss." I muttered before feeling a yawn coming in. Right… Haven't had a proper rest ever since we went up against that Wendigo a while back. And some food too would be great to have!

"Already?"

I heard her whispering as my ears twitched from the cold wind blowing against them, while I could feel Weiss slowly pushing herself off me. Had I been able to see her face, I would have noticed that her cheeks had become a shade closer to Ruby's cape after sleeping on me. "How long have I been asleep for?" She asks behind me as I answer with my cheeks slightly warm from the whole experience.

"A couple of hours, actually. How about you? Are you feeling alright after your nap?" I answer her before asking, while I hear her groan out. I think she must be stretching her body to the best she can on a horse.

"Much better after that, I can say. How about you?" She swiftly answers me before asking while I nod my head.

"Well enough, I suppose, I'm just tired and something to eat would be nice to have. That breakfast we had wasn't enough." I gave a response before Weiss gave me an affirm nod as she leaned to the side to have a look at where we're heading off to. Frankly, I cannot deny that I'm curious about this village. Town? Small city? Remained hidden for quite a while from the rest of the world and the Grimm.

Turning to my left, I can see Adam gazing far into the walled town. It's strange that this is the same Adam responsible for his part in the destruction of Beacon, yet everything about how he reacts or even acts reminds me of a newborn or someone going through amnesia. The only thing I have is how he suffered it? And how could he possibly react upon regaining his memories?

He could become a threat to us for all I could know. Again, perhaps he can give us some hints on how that happened.

"Open the gates! Sister Nerium has arrived with the Khan's guests!" I heard one of the masked people on the wall yelling as the gates slowly began to open, way before we even arrived close to it.

"Time to see what this place's all about, I guess… "And with that, I quickly brought my hood down over my head. Oh yeah, thanks to my fox ears, I had to modify it to have some holes for my ears to go through.

Fun fact, I guess.

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As Nerium and her band finally arrived at the gates of Sanctuary, with Zack and Weiss with them, she and her people suddenly got off their horses, with Adam doing the same. "Come off your horse, both of you, they need to be taken to their stables." She firmly states as Zack and his companion slowly get off the horse before the Fox Faunus gently pats it on the head with a smile as he takes a glimpse at the large town before him.

"Wooden houses with sloped roofs with Japanese inspired design. Clearly taking more eastern based cultures than Greece or Roman influence back in Mistral. Yet, this place has both Humans and Faunuses living here with no discrimination from what I can tell…" The fox Faunus muses to himself. "And… is it me or there seem to be a lot of statues all over the place? I might need to have a closer look at them once we're inside."

"Brother Asphod, would you mind escorting these horses to their stables? I'll take them to the Khan with the others." Nerium says as she lets her hood down and sets free her ponytail. "And while you're at it, can you look into our newly acquired labourers and see to their health? If they're good enough, put them to work." The Sword of the Khan added in as Asphod bows his head while Weiss and Zack perk up.

"Labourers?" The ex-heiress asked but was thoroughly ignored, while Zack blinks and glances at everyone with a hint of suspicion.

"Labourers? Why would she say it like that?" He could only wonder to himself before Ozma threw his thoughts into his head.

"I believe we're about to see what kind of labourer we're talking about… But I find myself a bit concerned about the way she appears to be dehumanising whoever she's calling labourers."

"Of course, Sister. Would any of you wish to assist me in this matter?" He asks as several of them nodded their heads and began gently reining in the horses away from the group into the town first. As that was in the process of happening, Nerium turns towards her guest and beckons them to follow her.

"Come, he awaits you deeper in our home." Weiss and Zack could only glance at each other with uncertainty about the whole thing, but since they're this far in at this point. Might as well see it through, and the Fox Faunus gave a shrug as both began to follow the Khan's sword into the town.

And as expected from Zack not really hiding himself from everyone nor deciding to turn into his fox form, his unique looks attracted the attention of every individual in the streets, ranging from Humans to Faunuses, from the old to the young, to guards, civilians and whatever jobs they may possess.

All were captivated by the sudden appearance of a Fox Faunus with ears bearing two tails suddenly showing up in their town.

And as expected, from drawing so much unwanted attention to himself, this caused Zack to feel a little uneasy about the looks they were giving him. Others had their attention on Weiss, with some giving her bitter and suspicious looks upon realising that she's a Schnee from her dress and looks, while others wondering why she is doing here.

"I don't like this much attention on me." The fox Faunus murmured to himself as he glanced around while being escorted. The same can be said for the ex-heiress who spotted numerous Faunus and Humans around the bystanders glaring silently at her, and she already knew the answers why.

"Me, too."

Besides the stone tiled roads, most of the houses were wooden and had sloped roofs, which both Zack and Weiss were familiar with seeing back in Mistrial. Yet, there were also large tents that seemed to remind the fox Faunus of those round tents with a conical roof from Central Asia. Except they have a more eastern look. In fact, for every six normal buildings, there is one of these tents littered among them.

Curious about whether this group appears in the show, despite how unnerving it was initially to learn that they existed as a show in Zack's Earth memories, Weiss quickly shuffles close to her infatuation and whispers into his ears. "Zack, back on Earth, do these people ever show up?"

Yet, the fox Faunus could only shake his head. After all, this is entirely new to him as well, and never has there been any reveal of this secret society at all in canon. Then again, Zack could only speculate to himself a long while back that he's in a different version compared to canon, since there's the presence of the Sisters of Twilight and other aspects that didn't appear at all.

"Nope. Completely blind as you are." He says when a human mother woman, who happened to be holding her bird Faunus child's hand with feathered plumages on her head, was in the middle of watching cautiously when the little girl suddenly broke away from her mother's grip and rushed towards Zack.

"Agria! Come back here!" Her mother cried out to have her daughter come back to her, yet the little bird Faunus did not listen as she giggled as she stared up at Zack, looking down surprised at her sudden appearance.

"Who are you? And why do you look so different?" She innocently asks out as pretty much everyone took a pause while Zack glanced at Weiss and back at the little bird Faunus asking him a question. Without any time to waste, the fox Faunus kneels before her while everyone watches him cautiously, just in case this strange Faunus who has multiple fox traits gets any funny ideas.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. "Well, my name is Zack. It's a pleasure to meet you, and as for your question, I can't say anything right now." He explains, but the little girl pouts at the vague response.

"Aww… Why can't you? You look so different from everyone!"

She chirped again before her mother finally arrives and gently pulls her away before giving an apologetic bow. "I am so sorry about my daughter's rudeness Sir, she's always a curious one and speaks her mind about whatever catches her attention, I should've taught her better."

In fact, from Weiss's point of view, it looks like she's apologising to both her crush and to the others. "There is no harm done here," Zack smiles at her while most of the masked people, including Nerium, silently watch them. "Your daughter's a curious one, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"He is right, there is no harm done here." Nerium suddenly spoke up as the woman's eyes lit up in recognition and…

Reverence.

"The sword of the Khan… I wasn't aware that you'll be escorting him, my apologies for delaying your purpose. I will not take any more of your time." The woman bowed as she took her daughter away from them. "Come on, dear, let's not hold them back any longer."

"Aww… But I want to ask him more questions!" The little bird Faunus pouts while Ozma voices his observation.

"Interesting… It appears that the title of the Sword of the Khan is quite prestigious in Sanctuary to earn such reverence from the local civilians. Perhaps that title is meant to enshrine that Nerium is the Khan's second?"

"Or personal executioner and attack dog." Zack countered grimly in his mind. After all, earning the title of their leader sword means much as it could mean as she's their second or as the literal sword of them. "Still. Whatever the case may be, I still hate her for what she put me through and made me do without any self-control."

"Understandable." And with that, the journey continues on with Nerium escorting them until they walk past a very familiar statue with incense and food offerings at its base, and as expected from the fox Faunus he was stunned because it was none other than a statue of AWOR! In fact, the sight of it was so shocking that it froze the Sister's chosen in place, with his thoughts stuck processing it.

"That's… That's the same statue of AWOR we saw weeks back… But how? How is it here and these people worshipping it? By that conclusion, that would mean that this entire society hidden away from the rest of the world worships the Sisters all along!"

"More mysteries of this place that need answers."

Ozma calmly hums, but even the old wizard was sharing the same emotions as his host was. After all, it just brings more questions about whom these people are, and how they appear to treat both Humanity and Faunuskind with the same respect judging from earlier and appear to worship AWOR in particular.

Whatever the case, seeing him suddenly frozen made Weiss's concern for him grow as she gently confronts him while earning the interest of Nerium and the others with her as to the sudden freezing of one of their guests. "Zack, are you okay there? You suddenly froze up when you saw that statue, what happened?" The ex-heiress asks, as her voice appears to have snapped the fox Faunus out of his bewildered state.

"I'm good." Zack mutters with his ears twitching and tails moving again after remaining completely still for a moment. "I'll explain later." The fox Faunus whispers, only for Nerium to suddenly butt into the conversation.

"Excellent. We've delayed enough time and my Khan expects to meet you in a couple of minutes. Let us not waste any more time." The Khan's sword states as if her words were law and with no objections, everyone began moving towards the massive tent-like castle right in the middle of this town.

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Back in the Khan's courtroom, the Khan himself can be seen resting calmly on his throne waiting for his guest to arrive, and he has prepared himself for the occasion. In fact, his current outfit is notably different from what he usually wears.

Unlike the basic purple tunic and black pants he's normally seen wearing, the Khan now wears an asymmetrical outfit with an upper torso black bodysuit that shows off his defined chest muscles and abs underneath it, with the left side of his body covered with a white jacket and its sleeves long enough for most of his arms. Furthermore, the jacket covering only half his body has a wolf design on it out of golden threads that shimmer in the light that seem to extend down the sleeve opening up V shape style just above the elbow.

Another thing to notice is that despite his right side of his body appearing exposed, there are still small segments of black metal armour plating with gold on his shoulder and neck area. As for the lower part of his body, the pants mostly remain the same, but it now has belts that help hold the jacket in place as well as supporting several pieces of grey cloth with more gold outlining that seem to stretch just below the knees with each of them having esoteric yet traditional designs to them at the ends of them.

The boots remained the same, except they are notably more streamline, with the blades on them thinner and sharper. Lastly, with him no longer wearing a hood over his head, it exposes his snow-white hair tied up into a simple braided ponytail that goes down to his neck with a piece of silver jewellery embedded into it with the usual mask he wore still on his face.

In a way, he now looks relatively like a Huntsman. But he is not them. He is a leader. A ruler tasked with ensuring his people's protection and survival from the darkness that loomed over the world after defeating his own father who lost his way and turned them no different from the bandits they hunt.

And to one day repel the darkness and retake this world. Though that time seems to draw ever closer…

"My Khan, forgive my transgressions, but must we put our trust in this seer that this boy you're bringing here is the one who will play a role in our future?" One of the younger men among the court voices his thoughts with others similar to his age, and others among the elders voice their agreements. The discontentment and scepticism among them have been escalating due to the Khan's lack of decisiveness throughout the years.

Especially his inaction when the world, and by extension the CCTS of Beacon, fell to shadow, and the silence grew ever bolder.

"You dare doubt his words?" Another court member accused the former, much to the Khan's silent annoyance. Not this again. "By the trail of our sacred duels of ascension, our leader's words are law! And the Seer has never failed in their prediction of what must be done for our people until her death, now this boy foreseen in our people's future is coming, and now you deliberately choose to doubt him?"

"I do not! But I do when we stand by and watch idly while the rest of the world suffers while we wait for this boy to play his part in our future! How long must we remain silent while the darkness looms over the Kingdoms and slowly wither away its bulwark defences one by one? Beacon has fallen alongside the CCTS, Haven was attacked not too long ago! How long must we wait before the other Kingdoms will eventually be attacked?"

One of the court members counters before they were all silent when the Khan slowly raised his hand as soon as he had enough of everyone's bickering while still relaxing on his throne. "Be silent. Our guest is about to arrive, with Nerium leading him here, and I intend to give a proper welcome. Now grant me a moment's silence to clear my mind before he arrives here with his companion."

"O-Of course, my Khan…" Just like that, there was no longer any bickering from his court as they all kept their lips shut while the Khan proceeded to lean on his fist while his eyes under his mask were glancing at his prosthetic hand. In the next few minutes, he will officially meet this boy who apparently has an important part to play in the future of his people.

The only question is, how is this boy going to do it?

By joining them as allies?

Or enemies?

Or as something new that will shape the future of not only his people but this whole world?

Honestly, the Khan himself doesn't know, but the winds of fate have made it that he will officially meet him. The only question in his mind is how this will all go and end. It would be preferable on a mutual term than a tense one, though that might have been crossed already with what Nerium had already done to him. Hopefully, he's not one of those who would hold on to their grievances for a long time.

Hearing the sounds of multiple footsteps heading straight for his courtroom, the Khan swiftly sat up straight with the court doing the same as his second walked in, with the boy seen by his seer and his companion following right behind her. Some worth of attention was that Adam was not with them, but he rubbed it off that the bull Faunus had chosen to take his leave elsewhere.

Most likely to see if his eye patch is ready.

Now bringing his eyes towards the boy, the first thing that caught his attention was his pair of white large fluffy tails that went down to his ankles, as well as vulpine ears on his head. Though, he had his hood down, which makes it tricky to get a good look at his face. Another thing was his stance, though his Schnee companion is guarded subtlety, the boy's body language was notably more tense and alert.

A clear sign that he's keeping himself disproportionately ready to respond to an attack even when he's in safe hands.

Besides that, there's also his equipment, which seems Huntsman standard from what can be seen, with a sword on his waist as well as armour and some sort of gauntlets on his arms that has some sort of gun on his left with a shield function, and a grappling hook on the right. But it's the ethereal lamp in teal and gold plus the cane-like thing on his belt that caught the Khan's attention the most but chose to say nothing.

As soon as she was within an acceptable distance from her leader, Nerium kneed before her superior and addressed him. "Our guests have arrived here without any harm to them, my Khan." She says while the Khan still has his eyes on the fox Faunus glancing around with suspicion, as was the Schnee heiress who seemed to be uncomfortable from the glaring she's getting from some of the court members.

Though, thankfully, chose to remain silent instead of spouting threats and insults at her. "Good. Now come and stand by my side, I'll take it over from here."

"Your will be done."

Nerium utters with pure devotion in her words as she stood up and walked next to the Khan's throne as he extended his hands out to his guests. "Greetings to both of you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Khan who leads those who stand here and outside my court, and I welcome both of you here in Sanctuary." After a pause, the Khan slowly stands up to his full height.

"Care to introduce yourselves?" He asks as the fox Faunus subtly glances at his companion before the both of them give a bow.

"Greeting Khan… I am Zack. A pleasure to meet you…"

"And I am Weiss Schnee. A pleasure to meet you, too."

Somewhat satisfied with the greeting he received and suspicious as to why the boy never mentioned his full name, the Khan nods his head. "Yes… I am aware of your family's infamous reputation, Miss Schnee. But let it be known that as guests to our home, you both are under my protection and no one will harm the both of you. After all, my word is law here, and anyone seeking to harm either one of you will face severe repercussions."

"How kind of you…"

Zack sarcastically mutters softly, but the Khan picked it up but chose to say nothing amid curiosity as to why he had his hood down to hide his face. "Now, while I am sure that you have reasons for hiding your face, Zack, are you willing to bring up your hood? Unless you have something to hide here." The Khan chimes in.

"Right…" The fox Faunus mutters as he slowly begins to bring up his hood and let down his hair. But to his and Weiss's confusion, everyone in the court let out bewildered gasps as soon as his face became visible for all to see. "What? Is there something concerning my face?" Zack could only ponder out while the Khan was frozen solid, while Nerium glanced at him as if she suspected something already.

Before long, the entire courtroom erupted into a cacophony of shock and disbelief, with numerous voices screaming over each to the point of the meaning becoming unrecognizable, right before all were swiftly reduced to silence when Nerium changes her canon into its machine gun form and fires a single shot onto the ground.

"Impossible…"

The Khan's voice came out slowly as soon as the court was rendered silent. His tone notably became as cold as the blizzards before walking straight for the fox Faunus who could only take a step back and get into his stance just in case the Khan chose to attack. But that didn't happen, instead, the Khan walked until he was right in front of him and stared seemingly at his features before uttering something that caught him off guard.

"Take out your sword."

"What? Hang on, what do you-"

"Take. Out. Your. Sword. Now." The Khan orders more firmly, with his voice full of authority, and it became clear to the fox Faunus and the ex-heiress that he's not going to take no for an answer. In fact, Weiss was about to intervene before it could get hot, but a quick glare underneath the mask was enough to make the ex-heiress have second thoughts.

"Alright alright. I'll take it out, but you have to tell us what's going on." With that, Zack takes Oathkeeper out and shows it to him. But seeing it just cause the Khan takes a step back as his head turns from Oathkeeper to the fox Faunuses face and back to the sword.

Yet, despite hoping to get an answer about why everyone was suddenly acting strange, the Khan just silently turned and returned to his throne. "I've seen enough. Now, Zack and Weiss Schnee. It is a tradition for guests, especially those of Huntsman occupation, to participate in a… trial of strength." He explains as both of them glanced worriedly at each other as he points at the fox Faunus.

"Right now, I've decided that you will be the one who participates against an opponent of my choosing to show your worthiness to everyone. Do not fret, I am aware of your circumstances, and you will have the entire afternoon to eat and rest before the trial."

"Hang on a minute! Why do I-"

"Have to do this?" The Khan swiftly cuts Zack off without pause. "Simple, to prove that you are strong enough and not as weak as you appear. Nerium, take them to their assigned sleeping quarters and have food be provided for them at once. Preparations must be made for later."

"Your will be done. Come, both of you. The Khan has a room prepared for you." Nerium orders as he walks towards the two while gesturing them to follow her

"I don't like where this is going…" Zack growled while Weiss sighs.

"Neither do I, but it's clear these people won't take no for an answer. All we can do for now is to go along with them and see where it goes from there."

"Right… I only hope we can resolve this fast enough to resume our journey to Argus." With that, both quickly follow Nerium as she takes them out of the courtroom.

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Weiss POV

Well, this is quite a mess we found ourselves in.

After our meeting with this 'Khan' and his insistence to have Zack participate in this trial of strength, Nerium had taken us to our sleeping quarters, and it is something I have to admit. It has everything one could need, though a bit too much on the decorations and luxury, since it reminds me too much of my home in Altas.

But with much more gold and colours, with less white.

But there's a problem that, I feel, needs to be addressed.

…

There's only one queen-sized bed for us to sleep in our sleeping quarters.

Did they really expect us to share a bed? Or is there some sort of cultural aspect of this place I'm missing? Perhaps I should see if we can have another bed accommodated for us.

Nevertheless, as soon as we were brought here, food was also given to us to eat, and it was filled with meats and vegetables as well as fruits. The sandwich we had in the morning wasn't enough for the both of us, since we have to ration it. To add further add in, it seems like they don't have rice or noodles and instead use a kind of bread that tastes tangy and earthy for their carbohydrate needs.

Yet, it appears that Zack had it back on Earth and it's called sourdough bread. How interesting. I am curious if it would be possible to obtain additional quantities of it in the future, as it has a pleasant taste unlike anything I ever had before, and Zack appears to go through another nostalgia after consuming all of it provided on his plate for lunch.

Not that I can blame him, it feels wonderful to have a full, delicious meal after everything we went through recently.

And speaking of my friend, he's been silent so far after our meeting, and we have many topics to discuss. After all, his stunned looks just now at those statues we came across earned my concern, as well as how the court and the Khan seemed to react to him. Frankly, the lack of understanding or reason about why they react that way is aggravating.

"Weiss." I heard my friend I am infatuated with calling out to me. I will never admit it, but I found it comfortable to rest on Zack following the battle against the Bloody Hidesman on a horse. Not only that, but I hope he didn't mind me doing that, since he never really mentioned anything when I rested on him a while back. "I know that look you're having, you have questions to ask me."

"Yes." I confirmed after swallowing a grape provided to us, alongside other fruits provided to us. Where did they even get it at this time of month? They must have imported them from somewhere. "What is so special about that statue on the way here that made you freeze earlier?"

Hearing my question made him visibly pause as if trying to grasp the situation while I calmly waited for him and thankfully, it didn't take long for me to receive an answer. "That is the statue of AWOR. The very same statue I saw months back before I got the tattoos on my arm and my tail growing, though more maintained…"

Oh… But that would mean,

"That the fact there's a hidden faction the whole time in this world that we're in that happens to worship the sisters and left us with more questions? Yes."

Well… I suppose you can say it like that, Zack. Though less abrupt. I'm more concerned about how the Khan and his court seem to react to him, or how stunned he seems to be upon seeing Oathkeeper. There must be some sort of history we're missing as to why they seem to be surprised by his face. Could it be related to his heritage or parents, causing them to act like that?

They both do have white hair, but that doesn't seem like a good reason for the entire room to become an unpleasant mess for our ears.

I hope we can get some answers soon. "I understand. But enough about them. How are you feeling right now?" I decided to change the topic, he looks as if he's going to collapse onto the floor any second now. And as if reinforcing my suspicions, my infatuation lets out a tired yawn, while his ears and fluffy tails seem to twitch in response.

"Tired, to be honest. Our shuffling through the frozen hellscape, fighting against that monster and making sure we reached here have taken much out of me, and some sleep would be nice…" Zack says, while I couldn't help but smile at him. "And with that trial coming up by sun down, it might be best that I take hours' worth of naps before I have to go up against someone later in a trial."

"Indeed, you can rest on the bed there, I'll wake you up when it's closer to that time." I continued smiling as he nodded his head at me.

"Great. I'm just gonna hide in my fox form under the blanket, just shake me up or call me when we have an hour before it so I can do a quick wash up." Without needing a reply from me, Zack immediately turned into his adorable fox form, while I watched as he went to the bed and crawled underneath the queen-sized blanket to rest. As for me, perhaps I should have a look at the bathroom.

I wonder if they have toiletries unlike my treatment under the Branwens who just gave me a bucket to do my toilet business in.

Or I would have thought about that if it weren't for someone knocking on our door. I hope it's not Nerium. I seriously do not like her personality at all and for what she did to Zack, nor do I wish for anyone to come knocking. Unless they're here to pick up the dishes for, it would be troublesome having to explain where Zack went off to.

Or worse, find him in his fox form underneath the blanket.

Sighing and pushing myself off the chair, I made my way towards our room's door and when I opened it, it wasn't Nerium or one of those servants outside, but Adam! And it appears that now he has taken that cloth off his face to show something that terrifies me. What I saw was an awful SDC scar that happened to be burned into the left side of his face and rendered his eye blind.

"Oh my god…" I found myself losing my composure briefly when I noticed that scarring on his face!

I cannot believe it, I never knew that this was going or that it is likely he orchestrated that at all throughout my entire life without me ever being aware of it! It's… wrong. Wrong on an indescribable amount for what the man who happens to be my father did to Adam! Is that why he joined the White Fang? And why does he hate Humans so much, according to what Zack had told us about him?

Who knows how many others were branded like Adam for speaking out.

Quickly recomposing the horror away from my face, I ask him slowly. "...Can I help you?" However, I did not receive a response as Adam evidently stared into me for an uncomfortable duration before speaking.

"You are Weiss Schnee, right?" I won't lie, I felt my body tensing up slightly when I heard him calling my name. Though he appears not to have his katana with him… That's on the plus side, I suppose.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"I need to talk to you. About my past, more precisely."

Okay.

This was unexpected. But then again, Zack and I have our suspicions that Adam must suffer from amnesia to act like this for a while now, and what is going on here just reinforces our presumptions. It would also explain why he seemed to react with confusion when I accidentally called him out, and not fly into a frenzy over witnessing my presence recently.

Taking a quick glance at the bed where Zack is right now, I can see that he is likely asleep now underneath the blanket before looking back at Adam and humming out. "I see… I suppose we can talk, but we do it outside the room. My friend is sleeping right now in preparations for his trial, and I prefer no one waking him up right now." Thankfully, he seems cooperative as he nods his head and takes a step to the side for me to walk out.

Gently closing the door, I turned towards Adam, waiting patiently without any emotion. Never thought I would say that, knowing his track record with father's company. "Okay. Before we start, "What happened to you and how did you find yourself among these people?" I asked before I saw Adam pondering, almost childishly, for a second.

"I don't know."

You don't know?

"I only remember waking up in a forest without much of my memories except for my name and the sword and gun that happened to be by mine, and a glimpse of what I've done." Adam nervously gulped as he continued. "I… I remember seeing echoes of me spilling so much blood from those who I deemed guilty, but many of them were not, and seeing how I fought alongside others who call me leader as we tear down a school. Remembering and seeing it all scares me…"

Adam explains while looking haunted by his actions as I quietly listen. "After a while wandering in the forest, I encountered other travellers, but they all called me a monster or a terrorist for everything I've done, even though I don't recall doing it. And after having heard what people think of the man I was before, I can't help but agree with them."

How curious, so this version of Adam is remorseful about what kind of man he was. It still doesn't explain how he lost his memories, nor how he came across this particular group and joined them. But at least it brings a slight reassurance that he won't attempt to kill me. Assuming, regaining his memories won't reignite his hatred of Humans or my family in particular.

Speaking of which, perhaps I can probe him for answers as to who the Khan and his people are. "Then, how did you meet the Khan and his people?" I ask next.

"I met one of the Khan's caravans in the forest much later, and they're one of the first people who didn't run or attack me on sight. After talking to them and explaining how I have forgotten most of my memories, they agreed to take me here and hopefully recover them."

"So, you joined them to get back your lost memories?" I found myself asking out as Adam nodded his head at me, confirming what I've just said. "Why? I don't understand. Why do you wish to get your memories back after learning what you've done?"

To my surprise, Adam shrugs his shoulders at me. "To be honest, I don't truly know myself. I just believe that retrieving them all would help me learn from my mistakes and hopefully redeem myself for everything I've done. The Khan believes in second chances and gave me one, and despite learning what I've done and his court demanding my death over my sins."

I see… At least this brings some ease about the Khan. Though, Zack and I did see people in winter clothing working out on construction or overall laborious jobs with some sort of metal shackles on their neck with guards watching them. I swear I felt like they were being used as indentured labourers forcefully, with arm guards ensuring they didn't try anything funny.

It's just the way they were being scorned by every passer-by, not distracted by Nerium or our presence, that tipped both of us off.

"I can say that this conversation is… enlightening." I mutter out. Since he answered my questions, it's only fair that I do, his. "So, what do you wish to ask me?" And thus, for the next half an hour, Adam and I had an informative conversation about my family's past with him and the White Fang.

Speaking of which, I never thought that one day I would say that line ever in my life…

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Hours later at around 1830 in the evening at sun down. Zack and Weiss found themselves taken out of their sleeping quarters and found themselves taken to a massive colosseum that could fit tens of thousands of spectators, with sloped roofs and a space large enough for all to see. Even more so when it appears that this test has to gain a crowd, with thousands of Humans and Faunus lining up outside the building with eagerness to witness this momentous occasion.

As they were taken deep into the colosseum, Weiss was taken aside by Nerium to watch the fight from above while carrying the Relic of Knowledge as well as Ozma's cane, since the fox Faunus passed it to her back at their sleeping quarters. In fact, for the period of his journey with Weiss to this colosseum, he has been incredibly silent while preparing himself for this trail.

The only question is who is he fighting against.

Tugging his jacket and making sure everything is in place, Zack's ears perk up when a voice calls out in the background, with the gates in front of him rumbling to life as it slowly rises and shows the massive area with guards with spears waiting for him.

"Enter the arena!"

"Alright, let's get this show on the road…" Zack mutters as he slowly walks towards the open area, with the silent crowd watching from their seats from above. And further up, Weiss was up there nervously sitting with the Relic on her waist with Nerium by her side, as were the court members from earlier.

Strangely enough, the Khan wasn't there at all.

As the fox Faunus continued to make his way deeper into the arena, every single Faunus and Human guards in esoteric armour began slamming the butt of their spears against the ground and letting out echoes of synchronized thuds against the snowy ground like a royal procession. It was then that Nerium suddenly stood up and grabbed a microphone she had underneath her cloak the whole time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters! Today's ascension procession will be unlike anything we will see ever before! The boy the seers foreseen his arrival has finally come to us and is marked with more traits than any Faunus should! I welcome you all to witness the trials to see if he is deserving of their blessing! So, rise onto your feet, and rejoice! The time has come to see if the gods truly stand with us with his blessing and coming! Rise! For his opponent is none other than the strongest and best we have to offer!"

Nerium roars out into the microphone, projecting her voice with insatiable passion to everyone in the colosseum to hear, while also bringing her empty fist into the air. The rumbling of the gates caught the fox Faunus's attention, as did the echo of the roaring crowd's cheering before the gates opened to show that Zack's opponent was none other than the Khan himself! And he wields a black sword in hand with his jacket dancing in the wind, all while stalking slowly into the arena.

"Undefeated since his ascension decades ago against the previous Khan who lost his way and crushed all who sought his position through the Trail of Ascension. Suffered mortal wounds at the hands of scum that would have ended many in their tracks, and yet lived on to become stronger! Show your dedication and your reverence, brothers and sisters, and welcome the strongest of us all into the arena! Welcome our Khan and praise be his name!"

"PRAISE BE YOUR LEADER AND KHAN, FENRIR!" Nerium's roar grew ever louder, as did the rest of the crowd in the Colosseum, proclaiming his name in a fervent chant of the Khan's name.

"Fenrir!" "Fenrir!" "Fenrir!" "Fenrir!"

"Fenrir, huh? Based on the Norse wolf that played a part in the events of Ragnarök. It's good to finally know his name, though it's not good news if someone from this world gets such a name, knowing where it comes from in my world." Zack thought to himself, though he couldn't help but frown at the sheer fanaticism he's witnessing from everyone. "Oz, is it just me, or are the people in Sanctuary acting more like cultists than a normal society? Either way, I am extremely creeped out about it."

"I concur." The old wizard agrees with his incarnate. "Reminds me of the old times when I had to deal with Salem or Grimm cultists in one of my earlier lives when she was more proactive, though I am unable to remember the full details as they're long forgotten to me. Be ready for anything, Zack, if what Nerium said earlier is true and the Khan is the strongest of all of them and lived through wounds that would have killed him, you are in for a fight. As you would say."

"Yeah… Care to lend a hand and watch my back here, Oz?" Zack softly says before giving a somewhat confident grin before getting the desired reply.

"Of course."

"At last, we finally meet. I've been dying for the chance to test against you. Ever since my second had told me that she's escorting you here, I've been waiting for this moment." The Fenrir spoke with eagerness as he pointed his blade at the fox Faunus who quickly drew Oathkeeper.

"Why the eagerness to begin with?"

"Only in battle can one understand the heart and soul of a warrior. And whether they have the strength and will to stand against overwhelming odds and overcome them." The Khan explained as he and Zack began to walk in a circle, though he was more casual about it as he wasn't even in his stance compared to the fox Faunus. "Besides, you have mine and everyone's interests in mind." The Khan added in before the fox Faunus asks.

"And care to tell me about why I'm so interesting to you and you people? Or why Nerium says something about some seer foreseeing my coming?" He asks before both he and the Khan stop walking in a circle and finally Fenrir gets into his stance with a familiar looking blade to Oathkeeper.

"My lips are shut until you're either impressed or beat me in combat. Only then will I deem you worthy enough to tell." Fenrir counters before the fox Faunus clicks his tongue.

"Tch. Fine then. Have it your way." Zack clicks his teeth as he mutters before sensing Dust in the Khan's sword and Electricity Dust in his prosthetic arms before bringing his gauntlet up and firing an ice shard at the Khan and the fight begins.

Upon the beginning of the fight, with Zack attacking first, the watching crowd let out their cheers as Fenrir swiftly took a side step and zipped as fast as his legs could carry him and send an obvious attack at the fox Faunus who predictably dodges to the side which the Khan swiftly respond with a high kick. However, Zack's quick reactions made him immediately call out his shield and block it.

"Quick reactions and senses… Not bad. But let's see what you would do when they turn against you. Fenrir smirks beneath his mask before suddenly using the fox Faunus's shield as a springboard, and launches himself into the air before pulling the pin off something and letting it out of his jacket. To a normal person, it looks like a simple Dust grenade, but thanks to the ability to sense Dust in anything nearby, the fox Faunus could tell that inside it has fire and wind Dust within it.

If that wasn't all, the overall design of the grenade is disturbingly familiar before it clicks in his mind a few seconds too late.

"Shit! Flashbang!"

BANG!

Without delay, the grenade the Khan threw explodes mid-air before lets out a flash of light and an ear-piercing bang that's even more effective against Faunuses thanks to their enhanced sensory capabilities. Taking a face full of that blast sent the fox Faunus groaning in pain, followed by stumbling back with an arm holding Oathkeeper over his eyes. As expected, Zack eventually collapsed onto the ground with his ears ringing.

"What the hell?! Where did he learn to make that kind of grenade from?!" Zack hissed while feeling incredibly disoriented with his ears ringing while on his knees.

"I do not know, but focus your aura on your eyes and ears. It'll help you recover from that experience faster. Meanwhile, allow me to help you until your sight returns." Ozma says as his host just did that, while Fenrir strolls in while he is still dazed before kicking him with the heel of his foot and knocking the fox Faunus onto his back.

"Not a great start, but an understandable reaction to it." He hums while Zack sloppily gets back onto feet while still rubbing his eyes.

"Perhaps…"

With his eyes still shut from temporary blindness, the fox Faunus suddenly swung Oathkeeper as Fenrir and made the Khan instantly react by blocking his attack, only to be swiftly thrown back when Zack followed up his attack with a kick through his guard. Taking Ozma's advice, the fox Faunus has to resort to using his aura to help him get a sense of his surroundings and can feel the Khan's blue aura and his relative location.

"Hah! So you can really fight with your sensors affected, let see how long that can last." The Khan proudly utters before he charges again, while Zack's blindness wears out just in time for both to clash in the middle of the arena. With both blades now locked and able to see again, the fox Faunus finally was able to see that the Khan's blade was uncannily similar to his, except that instead of the red lining it has, it had a blue instead and looked more menacing with more serrated edges.

But before he could even ask why the Khan's sword looks uncannily similar to Oathkeeper, the Khan suddenly locks his blade against Zack's and in a surprising move that surprised him, the Khan then pushes his and the fox Faunus's blade down before headbutting him in the face. Feeling his face ache from the pain before letting his combat instincts take over, Zack allowed himself to take a few steps back before firing ice Dust from his gauntlet right below his feet and creates a wall of ice to buy him to recover, but it appears the Khan wasn't going to let that happen.

Moving quickly and with the help of aura, he cleaves through the ice wall as if it were paper and continues pursuing his opponent who swiftly changes Oathkeeper into his spear mode before using the Khan's sword's own serrated edges against him by locking it and in an act of brilliance after trapping him, the fox Faunus manages to kick Fenrir in the face and disarming him of his weapon.

But it appears to be a poor decision because the Khan swiftly recovers and grabs onto Oathkeeper and, with a single hand, he throws Zack away while the fox Faunus could only helplessly tumble in the air as the crowd cheers in the background.

"Come one! Is that all you got?" Fenrir demands with his arms open before pointing straight at Zack, landing on his feet. "I know when someone's not giving their all in a fight! So why aren't you? Or do you deem that I am not worthy enough for you to give your all?" And as if sharing their Khan's feeling, the crowd's mood became more annoyed, with others calling or chanting for Zack to fight harder.

"You're not kidding about wanting me to go all out, huh?" Zack gasps for a breath while clinging onto Oathkeeper while the Khan nods his head.

"Yes, all trials expect their participants to give it their all, and refusing to do so is a major insult! You haven't used your semblance on me yet! Or are you lacking one?" The Fenrir mocked while the audience watching above chanted in agreement, before the fox Faunus nodded his head and pulled out a vial of fire and ice Dust.

"Guess I have to do it…" Zack thought silently as he planted the butt of Oathkeeper into the snowy ground and, either as a show of force or spectacle, he crushed the two vials in his hand. And just as it had happened when he went up against Yang, one of Zack's tails immediately caught fire while the other was encased in purple ice.

In fact, that earned the awe of everyone watching while the Khan became deathly silent before Zack rushes after grabbing and doing a full twirl with Oathkeeper before launching a huge wave of purple fire at the Khan. Seeing that an attack was inbound, the Fenrir quickly jumps over it to see Oathkeeper ablaze in purple fire before he had to block the barrage of ice seemingly materialising right behind the fox Faunus.

Knocking a shard of ice the size of his arm aside, Fenrir comes crashing down while Zack jumps back and fires another hail of ice, but the Khan dodges them and closes in for the devastating punch for the fox Faunus's face if it wasn't for his trick card at play. Instantly, as soon as Fenrir's fist closed onto Zack's face, the Fox Faunus suddenly turned into his tiny fox form to avoid it, much to the shock of everyone watching.

In fact, above where Weiss and Nerium were watching, the ex-heiress could only gulp nervously when the whole Colosseum became deathly silent from shock before Nerium slowly turned her head towards her. How are they going to explain how he just did that? And more importantly, what was that dolt thinking, turning himself into his fox form with such a big crowd watching him!

He is in so much trouble after this!

"How did he do that?"

"I can't say it for his sake…" Weiss whispers out with her eyes still on the fight as Zack down below ran up Fenrir's arms and jumped behind him before changing back into his Faunus form and sending a blast that managed to hit him! In fact, the combined attacks of Ice and Fire Dust at such a close range that, and the Khan did not anticipate, resulted in the explosion launching him from a considerable distance.

"Impressive." Nerium hums with a hint of awe in her voice. "Few managed to capture the Khan off guard…" The sword of the Khan admits as she continues watching as the Fenrir recovers from Zack's surprise, with both immediately resumed fighting in the arena in a constant back and forth, with Zack and the Khan trading attacks, featuring the fox Faunus now utilising more of his abilities to bear.

Furthermore, seeing that the fox Faunus was bringing his tricks into the fight, the Fenrir did the same as he finally reveals that his sword can suddenly split into two and now wields them like a storm of blades with unnatural grace and agility that puts both of them in a stalemate for minutes straight. It got to the point that Zack used up his fire and ice Dust he absorbed and was forced to clear some distance with his grappling hook to avoid the relentless barrage the fox Faunus only barely able to keep at bay thanks to Ozma's quiet assistance.

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Zack POV

Well… I am in for a bad time.

I suppose it's only a matter of time before I accidentally reveal my ability to change my form to the world, or in this case, purposely. The only reason I did it was because if I didn't, I would have been decked in the face and lost a chunk of my aura! On the plus side, that move caught him off guard just long enough to land a devastating hit if I were to guess from his aura responding. After that, it appears that Fenrir has adapted uncannily fast to my new cards on the field.

Even bringing out his own tricks of his own. In fact, it was only because of Ozma covering my back and even lending a bit of his combat experience is why I'm fighting him to a draw. But bloody hell. The Khan is like a god-damn berserker when he began dual wielding suddenly and even caught on to me, utilising my fox form to evade or gain advantage.

"Zack, stay alert, Fenrir isn't giving his all." I heard Ozma whispering in my head while I managed to get the jump on him by smacking the top of his head with the flat part of Oathkeeper's blade before bonking him back by slamming the butt of it into his mask. I think I got this. While he was in the midst of recoiling back, I landed a full blast of ice Dust from my gauntlet that managed to encase his body in a coat of ice while leaving the head exposed.

But to my surprise, he didn't seem that bothered being frozen in place, which made me suspicious. "It is over." I declare.

"Not really. Not by a long shot." Fenrir mused to me. "But I wonder one thing, what is your mother's name?" My mother's name? How does that get to do with anything going on here? Yet, the very thought of this man asking about my mother irks me more than I would've liked.

"What does she get to do with everything going on here?" I ask with a frown, yet he simply insists on his question.

"Everything, boy. And I already have my suspicions about who your mother is." In seconds, Fenrir quickly breaks his icy prison while I prepare to fight. But what he said next stunned me solid. "Your mother is Leth Arakan. Am I right?" I felt my whole world froze for a second upon hearing the Khan utter my mother's name.

How?

How did he know that name?

And as if knowing what was running in my thoughts, Fenrir, chuckles. "Right on the dot, am I? Frankly, I was surprised too when I saw your face the first time we officially met." Without any time to spare, he gently pulls his wolf mask off his face and drops it onto the floor.

And what I saw was…

Me…

More accurately, a much older man who looks like me but has sea-blue eyes as well as scars all over his face and a goatee. If I were to guess, he looks to be in his forties… "Allow me to fully introduce myself." Fenrir bows to me while my breath hitches in disbelief.

"I am Fenrir Arakan, leader of the Forgotten Ones, once upon a time christened as the Arakan Clan. Leth Arakan is my twin sister, and by extension from everything I've seen from you."

"You are Zack Arakan,"

"My nephew."