So. I'm back! Hopefully for a bit longer now. I understand not getting chapters sucks. I do too. There was a whole thing about one commenter being very rude, and I happened to be super stressed at the time, and I just decided to step back from writing and pursue other stuff. It's been pretty cathartic, and I've really improved with my 3D modeling skills. If you're interested in my work, check out AbaddonArts on ArtStation, Youtube, or other social media!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enjoy!

Aurum and Argentum Oculi
Chapter 7: Prep and Paranoia

Yang shifted uncomfortably as the students gathered. A feeling of guilt pooled inside her chest as she scanned the crowds for Ruby. There had been no sign of her since she had seen Edward earlier. She wanted to hit herself. Ever since that night in the bar, she had kept the actual truth hidden. What would Ruby do if she found out Yang nearly killed someone? She would be horrified, and probably hate Yang. It would have to never get out. The complication was the fact that she seemed to have become great friends with Edward. Now Yang couldn't just hang out with them, she would be constantly worried about slipping up and revealing the truth. He might even give it away himself, as her actions caused him to be forced into working at Beacon, something he seemed to loath with a passion. It was a vicious cycle.

She turned and looked over an purple haired girl to see Edward enter the room, now holding the case Ruby had brought with her. She noted his leg had been replaced with some kind of prosthetic. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't something you could just buy in stores. She hadn't heard of anything like that available to the public. Probably a perk of being ex-Atlas military. Ruby was following him, chattering on about something. Yang's scroll edge creaked as she clenched her fists around it the expression on Ruby's face filling her heart with guilt. She still hadn't told Ruby the truth about what had happened at the Club. She had planned to, but Ruby had been so happy to talk with Edward that Yang didn't want to accidentally have her sister hate her.

As for Edward, he was definitely doing something illegal, no doubt about it. He had been with those goons at The Club, so clearly he was a bad influence. Ruby was keeping the item she 'commissioned' from him secret, but it had to be related to whatever Edward was talking to Torchwick about, or something equally bad that Ruby, bless her innocent heart, would never expect to be used for villainy. There was a constant aura of secrets around that man, covered by his unassuming appearance and attitude. Not to mention he had been hanging out at a known gang hangout when they had met. If anything happened to Ruby, or if she were influenced negatively by Edward, she'd find some way to make Edward pay.

Someone like him didn't just show up and not have an aura while being able to fight as well as he did. She would find some way to reveal his secrets and fix this mess, for Ruby's sake.

After saying his goodbyes to Ruby, Edward made his way to the stage. He arrived just as Ozpin approached with Professor Goodwitch.

"Old Man. Glynda." Edward nodded to them in turn. Ozpin smiled at Edward's attitude, and Glynda narrowed her eyes, her gaze inspecting his appearance. He could hear multiple students muttering about him already, confused by the fact an apparent student was on stage with the headmaster.

"Major, it's good to see that you actually arrived. I was half expecting that I would have to send someone after you." Ozpin said, shaking his hand. Edward returned it, careful to not to squeeze too tightly with his automail. "Now, if you're ready, we will begin."

Edward nodded, placing his small amount of luggage and briefcase on the ground. He stepped to Ozpin's left, naturally falling into position to protect the Headmaster should there be an attack. He paused. Goddamn, it was hard to drop those 'protect the VIP' habits Hawkeye had pounded into him.

Ozpin tapped on the microphone a few times, the students quieting as they turned to face him. He leaned forward on his cane before speaking.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." The room was silent, considering his words. He turned and gestured to Edward. "This year we are having a new addition to our teaching staff. Professor Edward Elric is going to be assisting with combat instruction, demonstrating aspects of combat we have not focused on before." That was one way of putting it. It was ridiculous that these overpowered children were being taught to fight fairly in an arena, when their end goal was to fight mindless monsters. There was a vast difference in skill and strategy needed when your opponent was less intelligent than you.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. You are dismissed. Goodnight." Goodwitch said, her authoritative voice forbidding any complaints. She turned to Edward. "Professor Elric, follow me." she said sternly.

He quickly gathered his belongings, and made his way off the stage. As he left, he could see the reaction from the students. The most common reaction was confusion. More than a few students were upset, displeasure clearly shown across their faces. He memorized the faces of the most expressive students, notably a larger boy who was glaring openly at him.

They would learn not to underestimate him, even when they would find out he doesn't have aura. If they did, he'd show them how a real alchemist fights. With a quick turn, he ignored the room and followed Glynda.

"These is your quarters for the school year." Ms. Goodwitch said. "The lock on the door is digital and fingerprint locked for privacy, although in emergencies other staff may enter. It isn't very likely for that to happen though. In the morning, please report to the hall to help the students prepare for their initiation. Breakfast will be given to the staff shortly before the actual initiation begins. I would like you to go replace Professor Port before initiation and keep an eye on the students in the morning so he may rest. Please make yourself at home."

The room was more clean than Edward was used to. The military dorms weren't necessarily the cleanest places, even as a State Alchemist, so this was a pleasant surprise. His window gave a rather nice view of the courtyard in front of Beacon, and was placed between the student's dorms and the cafeteria.

"Thank you Glynda." Edward said, setting down his briefcase. "I'll see you then."

She looked him over once more before nodding and leaving the room. Once she was out of sight, Edward began unpacking. He didn't know how secure these doors at Beacon were, not when everyone living there had super strength. He didn't exactly want anyone getting into his office when he was away, especially since he didn't have a better place to store his notes and other theories on notes. His knowledge of military weapons and the mechanics of Dust would not be a good combination for anyone to get to.

As he had expressed to Roman, he was excellent at coding. It was basically a new language, but it was math. It was literally like it had been made for Edward. In the manner of his journals, he had created a new encoding system based on the equations in alchemical circles. Even if someone got to his code, they'd have no idea where to start, especially when the code translated to a highly specific chemical reaction and not some simple password. The teacher's overrides would still work, but if someone got in using those to rob him then at least he'd have a way to track down the culprit.

The fingerprint password was a bit of a security risk in of itself. If people could move fast like Ruby or store kinetic energy in themselves like Yang, then who's to say someone couldn't shapeshift like Envy. Edward had every right to be paranoid after Amestris and the amount of corruption they had in the military alone. Who knew what kind of people resided in Atlas, especially with the information gathering abilities they could use. Instead of putting in his fingerprint, he actually used Alchemy to destroy the wiring inside the system. To open the door, someone would have to replace all the wires and have his fingerprint, but Edward could just clap for a transmutation, placing his fingerprints and fixing the wires at the same time.

He made a few small adjustments here and there, creating sealed spaces in the walls to store things he didn't want left out, like an emergency copy of his notes and his automail blueprints. He definitely didn't need someone duplicating that and making a monopoly on it. He wouldn't let anyone take Winry's work for themselves, not on his watch.

Once he finished with all of that, feeling safe in his living space, he finally opened up the case that held his leg Ruby made. He looked over the sleek design with an eager grin. His abilities allowed him to sense the chemical makeup of the material as well as how it actually looked. He had to say, Ruby was really good at fitting a lot of mechanisms into one device. He could feel how expertly forged the casing was, and that wasn't even including the other little toys she had slipped into it at the same time. He couldn't wait for when she would be making his new arm. Just think of how much pure awesome he could fit into it!

He detached his temporary limb and attached the black and red one. It was a little jarring seeing his old port in his leg connected to such a shiny new piece of tech. He winced as it connected to him, but nearly laughed aloud as he realized how light it was. It wasn't amazingly lightweight, but it certainly wasn't the ridiculous weight of his past limb. If it had just been a leg, it would probably weigh as much as his real one, but with all the add-ons Ruby made, it certainly weighed similar to his old automail. At least this meant he wouldn't have to adjust his combat style too much to compensate for his change in balance. Throwing a few punches and kicks in the air, he quickly adjusted. He even realized the fingers were tipped with a material that could write on his Scroll easily! Sadly, he still hadn't figured out how to get actual feedback from the limb to feel with it. That would take quite some time, but he was sure he could pull it off. Once he felt everything was dealt with for that evening, he quickly went to bed for the night.

In the morning, he awoke as the sun was rising, when the air was still cold outside. After getting ready for the day, he remembered to slip two Dust canisters into his leg. The instructions in the case had been quite interesting to read through, and he was excited to see if the dust would work as intended. He already had more ideas for his arm and how it could help him transmute even faster. For now it was just some fire Dust, which he had worked with the most, so he was confident he could control it if something went wrong. Not that he expected it to. He trusted Ruby's expert work.

He arrived down at the hall where the students were staying shortly after going through some stretches and brief exercises to warm up for the day and calibrate his automail. Glancing inside, most of the students were asleep, but a few were beginning to wake up and get ready for the day. He was greeted by a rather large man with an impressive mustache. The man appeared rather exhausted, but had a jovial personality nonetheless. "Ah, you must be young Edward!" the man boomed loudly, waking up a few students nearby. "It is quite wonderful to make your acquaintance. Yes, quite wonderful indeed!" Edward couldn't help but make connections to Armstrong from Central, especially with the man's outgoing attitude. If this man was going to keep his shirt on, then it would be a massive improvement already.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Who might you be?" Edward asked.

"I'm Professor Peter Port, in charge of Grimm Studies! It's a disappointment I won't have such a nice young man like you helping me with my classes, but alas, we cannot have everything in life. Much like last week when I was out in the woods, stalking Grimm for today's initiation. There I was, following the scent..." he began, pulling himself up to regale Edward with his tales. Edward pulled back, already seeing how long this would go.

"Actually," Edward interrupted. "That sounds like a lovely story, but you should really get some sleep. You were keeping an eye on the students, but I'm here now. Why don't you go get some food and I'll stay here for now."

"Ah, yes." Port yawned. "That would be lovely. I'll be seeing you shortly at initiation!" he said, leaving the room. Edward let out a sigh of relief. It was obvious the man was nearly as aggressive as Maes Hughes when he started talking about his stories.

Edward settled down in the chair Port had vacated, watching the students make their way around. A redheaded student was wearing some form of older looking armor and a spear and seemed to be getting along with Weiss for now, both of them getting their weapons together in the locker room.

Yang and Ruby were both just waking up. Ruby noticed him first, waving shyly. Edward smiled and pulled up his pant leg to his ankle, showing the automail. Ruby smiled happily, seeing her project was successful. Yang glanced over with a frustrated look on her face a moment after he had covered his leg. Edward smiled wider, enjoying her frustration. "Don't be such a sore loser Blondie." he chuckled to himself, "I'll see you again in class." Despite not being able to hear him, Yang understood what he meant, and turned away with a grumble to pay attention to Ruby.

"Enjoying yourself?" a voice said from next to him. He looked over to see Blake already prepared with all of her gear, leaning against the wall next to him.

"Hey, someone's got to be the optimistic one here. Too many people are too self-centered to see the sunny side up." he replied. "How was sleeping around a bunch of hormonal teens?" he asked.

Blake shrugged. "Could have been worse. Apparently Weiss Schnee needs to outgrow a few habits, but it was otherwise productive." At Edward's raised brow, Blake blushed. "Well, I finished a book."

Edward smiled. "Need me to get you some more from Tukson's? For the time being at least. I don't think he'll be in Vale soon, so I'd get what you can while he's open."

Blake looked towards him in surprise. "What do you mean?" She had been aware the White Fang were interested in Tukson, but not that it was so important that he had to run for it.

"I guess he decided Vacuo was looking really nice later on this year. Decided to get some tickets and go on a vacation soon enough. Just thought you might be interested, since you seemed to know him." he explained.

Blake blinked. "That's... rather nice of you to let me know. I'll get back to you on that once I get through my remaining books." He didn't seem to know about the Fang, so she didn't ask further.

Edward waved her off. "No problem. Good luck on initiation." He turned his gaze to his notebook, pulling out a pen to make some notes in it. Blake recognized the notes as being the same as the ones she got a glimpse of on the Bullhead, but still couldn't make heads or tails of it. Some of those designs were almost ritualistic. Was Mr. El- Professor Elric religious in some way? No, it wasn't her business, so long as he wasn't harming anyone. He probably researched old artifacts or something.

"All Beacon initiates, please make your way to the cliff side behind the school." Glynda's voice announced through a loudspeaker system. Edward got a notification on his scroll, alerting him to meet the rest of the staff at a different location to observe the initiation while Ozpin and Glynda explained the rules.

"See you later." Blake said, moving towards the exit. Edward nodded, pocketing his notebook and leaving to meet the teachers.

Not 100% sure where this story will go, because despite it being a crossover, I don't like derailing canon too much. It'll be a while until then, so we'll see where it takes us!