Everyone relocates to the second-floor living room, with Weiss and Yang having finished being filled in on what everyone else knows so far.
"Mrs. Xiao Long. Is this what your mother told you?" Ozpin asked. Yang didn't say anything so weiss answered "yes." Yang spoke now. "Actually. You forgot to say what you did to my mom and Qrow"
We all had confusion. "Qrow? What did he do to you?" "Hm, that's not a secret I thought she would give up so easily. Your mother must trust you a great deal."
Ozpin took a breath "My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn't without a few key benefits. Much like the Maidens, I too possess a certain... "magical" power."
He walked over to qrow "Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to "see" more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I... well... gave them the ability to turn into birds. Rather ridiculous sounding out loud, isn't it?"
"You...made them birds?" Ruby asked "what else is new" jaune said as he scoffed. Disappointed.
"Look. I believe in stopping time. That shit happened. But birds? Shapeshifting? Nah. Nah that's bullshit" I said from next to Weiss.
"No. He's telling the truth. We saw yangs mom...change right in front of us" Weiss looked at me as I looked over at Ozpin. But then jaune growled "what is wrong with you?!"
Qrow held his arms out. "Hey calm down! Nobody freak out. We wanted this. It was our choice"
"Granting this power to them was no trivial task, and I can assure you it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem's plans, as well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear."
"Have you done this with others?" Ruby asked. "As helpful as that might be, unfortunately, it is not that simple. My power is finite, and if I'm being honest, dwindling.
The amount that I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather miniscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens.
Miss Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to... "play close to the chest". I believe that's how you phrased it?"
Ozpin looked at qrow as he nodded slightly.
"Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest. Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave, now is the time. There's no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat."
Nobody said As Ozpin nodded "very well" just then yang stood up "If Ruby sticks around, then I will too. If there's one thing I know about her, it's that she somehow always knows the right thing to do."
Yang smiled at Ruby "But, if we're going to help, if we're going to keep risking our lives, no more lies. No more half-truths."
Qrow and Ozpin looked at eachother before nodding. "Alright then" qrow said.
"So what now? What's next?" Jaune asked as Ozpin sat back down "that's a question best answered tomorrow." "What do you mean?" Jotaro asked
"The road ahead is undoubtedly filled with hardships and peril. However, it's been far too long since you have all been together. Please, take tonight, enjoy this moment." Ozpin spoke as we all looked around at eachother.
I put my hand around Weiss's shoulder "in that case, weiss you and me have a lot of catching up to do" she smiled
---
