1,382In which nothing is as it seems, and Riddle is Ruby's twin.
Of all the things to happen, having someone contact him through a very obscure, pretty much forgotten method of communcation was not one of them.
Ozpin remembered the lost Hunter Academy known as "Night Raven College". He also remembered the headmaster of that academy, who protected the ancient relic known as the Dark Mirror, which had the ability to traverse other realms. It had been a curious item, one he had studied extensively to no real effect, but was too powerful to leave alone.
"Crowley," he greeted, sipping his coffee.
"Ozma," greeted the other male in the mirror. As if he needed more proof of his identity.
"How is this possible?"
"I don't have long to talk. Salem's spell was weakened, not broken. I need your help evacuating the survivors," said Crowley flatly.
Ozpin slowly put his coffee cup down.
"What do you need?"
"Ships to evacuate my students off the island, and medical facilities," said Crowley tiredly. "Some of them have been trapped in this spell for a considerable amount of time and will need help to recover."
Ozpin considered the idea that this was a trap by Salem...except he highly doubted Salem would bother with such trickery. She was far more subtle, and he recognized the feel of the Dark Mirror from the line.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"Follow the beacon," he said. Mostly because he had no idea what the countries called themselves these days, or what the world looked like now.
Ozpin didn't waste any time. If this was real, then he needed to get to Crowley as fast as possible and find out what was going on.
Goodwitch was not very pleased at his sudden departure, or for taking three ships with him. Particularly since he took three of the senior teachers as well, to help in case of any Grim.
From the way Crowley spoke, it was unlikely they were in any condition to fight.
Ozpin leaned closer to the window, as he was the only one who could sense the beacon Crowley had set. He could see the dark mists covering an island, so far out of the regular trade routes that it was unlikely to be found.
The mist was ominous to look at, and he could already see the lesser Grim congregating around it.
Oobleck and Port were already preparing to fire.
"Hold your ammunition. I suspect we may need them more for when we leave," said Ozpin.
His words held true, as the Grim ignored them while they landed.
"What is this place?" said Port.
"A fallen Academy, according to the records," said Oobleck. "According to what I read on the way here, Night Raven and Royal Sword were training academies the same as our own. However one day both suddenly vanished without any explanation."
"All communications ceased one year, and nothing was heard since," confirmed Ozpin. "We need to work fast. Something feels off about this island."
The three headed towards the closest school, which was Night Raven.
Fortunately, it seemed that someone had taken it upon themselves to retrieve the others from the second Academy...of which there were only nine.
"Ozpin," greeted Crowley, walking up to the man. The two clasped arms, as it was clear they were old comrades.
"Crowley," he said.
Ozpin looked at the people present. The adults were in rough shape, but the "students" were worse off. It was clear they had been held captive for some time, though some longer than most. They looked emaciated, barely able to move for long periods of time.
"Headmaster," said Port. "How do you wish to handle this?"
"The spell was weakened, not broken," said Crowley simply. "It's tied to the dark mirror as the siphoning point. The longer we stay here, the more likely it is that you will be affected."
It took some time, helping the students into the carriers to take off the island. Crowley and Ozpin looked towards the direction of the school...or rather towards the location of the relic known as the Dark Mirror. It was a shame that they had to leave it behind, but there was no feasible way to remove it, especially since there was still a risk that the spell Salem placed was still active.
As the door closed, Ozpin prepared for a nasty fight out. He knew the Grim would likely attack them with everything they had to keep them trapped.
He would be right.
A week later...
Ozpin looked at the slumbering form of the second youngest survivor from Night Raven. Specifically the tiny, fragile form of the 'cat' that he was cuddling almost as a beloved pet.
He could tell even from this far away that it was not a cat in the least, but the thing was so weak that it would take nothing to end it's misery.
However he was loathe to do so since according to the limited reports he had from the students (specifically the fae-kin known as Malleus and his subordinate Silver) that a cat faunus with odd purple striped fur had appeared before them and gave Malleus the clue to weaken the spell to the point that they were able to partially break free.
The same 'cat' that the small red head was cuddling so protectively, like a child with a beloved stuffed animal.
Riddle Rosehearts insisted on bringing the cat with them, refusing to leave it behind. Ozpin didn't know what the history was behind them, but he was keeping a close eye on the cat regardless.
Every student and teacher from that island needed physical therapy. Some, more than others. The child known as "Cheka" among them.
The entire thing was an absolute mess, and they had only scratched the surface of how bad things were.
Case in point, Leona Kingscholar and his nephew Cheka were the last of a royal line everyone assumed was dead after the loss of their king and his wife. The child was too young to take over as king, but his uncle was more than old enough to act in his place until he was ready for the responsibility.
Ozpin sighed, then debated on whether he should brew another pot. He cast a glance towards the cat, then resolved to add something a bit...stronger...to his cup.
The thing was, he vaguely recognized the features of Riddle Rosehearts. He was a near ringer for his mother and sister.
At least he didn't have to deal with the kids from Royal Sword Academy. Neige and the dwarves had already been relocated to Atlas Academy. Some of the students and teachers from Night Raven had opted to study in other academies as well, which lightened the burden.
It was a complete mess, to be certain.
Riddle slowly began to stir. He looked blearily at Ozpin, but managed to put Che'nya onto a pillow before making a wobbly beeline to the bathroom.
He would need at least another week's worth of physical therapy before he could even begin to catch up to living a normal life. And that was before Ozpin could run his DNA to confirm what he suspected.
With circumstances being what they were, Ozpin began to form teams from the survivors. It would make housing them among the other students easier.
Riddle was just glad that he was among his own dorm members, even if Trey was in another team entirely. He found it ironic that their team name was "CARD", with him as the team leader by unanimous vote.
Trey had become part of a team with the Pomefiore crew, which was going by the name "VERT". By mutual agreement, Vil was the leader of that group.
Leona was still trying to untangle the mess left behind due to the fact he had gained the title he had so desperately craved. The place was a mess due to all the political backstabbing, as the succession had been in dispute when he and his nephew went missing so suddenly, followed by the unexpected death of his brother and sister-in-law. Ruggie was already being run ragged due to the fact that Leona didn't trust any of the faunus that had been running the place just yet.
The book work was easy enough to catch up on, and Riddle had the more basic things like math and language mastered within two weeks. History was a bit trickier, as was geography and basic politics.
The real headache was that magic essentially did not exist, and in the place of Signature Spells, they now had to unlock their aura and Semblance.
Some had an easier time than others. Deuce for instance only needed a bit of instruction to get the hang of it, and while Cater had figured out how to recreate his Split Card technique, Riddle was having a ridiculous amount of trouble with it all.
Every time he thought he had the hang of aura, it felt like his energy levels would drop to unsustainable levels and it would slip out of his hands.
Ozpin had a pretty good theory as to what was causing it too...Che'nya. He suspected the cat was draining Riddle's aura to sustain itself, but Riddle was still too weak to do more than keep the odd cat alive.
If that was the case, then Riddle had no issue with sustaining his friend. After all, he could still use Dust to destroy the Grimm. Besides, they were stuck doing school work until the doctors cleared them.
Riddle was peripherally aware of the fact that he had family out in the world, and that Ozpin was well aware of who they were. However, only his uncle and father had been alerted to the fact he had been found and was in Beacon. His older sister would be attending Beacon this year, according to Ozpin and it had been confirmed she would be coming.
As such no one really saw any rush to reintroduce him to his family just yet, as he was still adjusting to the suddenly shock of being free of that awful program.
So you could imagine his surprise when Ozpin informed him and his team that both his sisters would be attending, even though one of them was technically two-years too young.
"Isn't that against the rules?" said Cater.
"I'm the headmaster. If I want to invite a student two years early, then I'm allowed. She was already slated to attend Beacon later anyway," said Ozpin, sipping his coffee. "Besides, her father signed the permission slip almost immediately, and she had no objections to joining her sister."
Riddle was silent. He had been aware of his sisters, but he hadn't expected to meet them this soon.
The initiation ceremony was rather boring, as they didn't have to suffer through it. They were already registered as students after all.
However the real tension began when Ozpin called in Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. Both were very confused...until they saw Riddle there, with a very sleepy Che'nya wrapped around his neck like an odd scarf.
Che'nya was still too weak to do more than eat and sleep, but he was already looking quite a bit healthier than when Ozpin found him.
"Um...hi?" said Ruby.
Yang was staring at him, her purple eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
"It can't be...Riddle?" said Yang.
Riddle stared at her for several seconds. Ruby looked confused.
"Yang, do you know him?"
"You would remember him too...if he hadn't been taken from us," said Yang quietly. Ruby's eyes widened at that.
"What?"
"You had a twin named Riddle Rose. He went missing when you were about two or three years old, and we all thought he was killed by a Grimm or something."
Ruby was wide-eyed at this information. She looked to Ozpin for clarification.
"Your twin was a victim of a rather nasty character who trapped him and several others in a simulation designed to drain their aura over a long period of time. Because of how young he was when he was captured, he still has to undergo another month or two of physical therapy," said Ozpin.
Riddle looked incredibly nervous, as he hadn't anticipated meeting his sisters so soon. He still didn't know how to process having sisters in the first place.
Needless to say, the whole situation was a major topic of discussion among Team RWBY.
In Team CARD's room...
"So how did the meeting with your sisters go?" asked Cater.
"Awkward, to say the least," said Riddle. "Ozpin neglected to tell me that the younger of the two was my twin sister, or that my older sister was from a different mother."
"It could have gone worse?" offered Cater.
"At least Che'nya's check-up went well. The doctor said he might be able to properly move around by next week."
Che'nya let out a tired meow, before going back to sleep.