Ruby stepped into the elevator with her team and leaned up against the wall, adjusting her new outfit for the millionth time. With all of them in their altered clothing, it felt like they were becoming a proper team, growing up, all that stuff you were supposed to do. Yang leaned up next to her, looking just oh-so-cool in her coat. "So c'mon sis, spill. Ozpin must have told you something. Or Qrow? He has a way of letting too much information slip."

Ruby shrugged and shook her head. "Seriously, not a dang word. I kinda hoped we were past all this cloak and dagger stuff. Or maybe they just like making things extra dramatic for us."

Blake smoothed out her own coat and sighed. "I just hope it's for a good reason. I'm not a fan of missing class. It makes me... uneasy."

"I know what you mean. Even if Oobleck can be a bit overbearing, I have to admit I enjoy his lectures. They're... engaging." Weiss crossed her arms, her hip cocking slightly as she waited for the box to climb up to Ozpin's office.

The doors eventually slid open, and Ruby was surprised to see it more populated than she was expecting. Of course Oz was there, and Qrow. But there was also a collection of three women standing nearby, watching them intently as they walked forward and stood before his desk. "You called for us, Professor?"

"Yes, thank you for joining us, girls. Please, take a seat..." Each of them took a chair and settled into it. She really had no clue what to make of this. "I don't want to draw out the mystery any further than I have to. I'd like to introduce you to the other three Maidens."

Four pairs of eyebrows shot up, and the team looked over at the women in disbelief. They were just... here? Now? Standing right there?

The first of them stepped forward. She must have been in her mid-sixties, possibly older. Her white hair was pulled back into a long, tight braid, and she wore a very simple robe. "Hello girls. I've been told a great deal about you. My name is Kori. I'm the current Winter Maiden."

"Hey. Name's Ilanga. I'm the Summer Maiden." Ilanga was a tall, muscular woman with dark skin and a shaved head. She was... an impressive sight to say the least.

The third was a younger girl, a fox faunus with hair dyed a vibrant blue. She waved at them with a cheery grin. "Sup? I'm Hyacinth. Spring. Etc."

Everyone looked back to Oz and Qrow for some kind of explanation. "Isn't it bad for us to all be in the same place at the same time? Isn't that the whole... thing?" Ruby ventured.

Qrow just shrugged, Ozpin shaking his head. "That has long been the preferred method, but I think we can all agree that recent events have taught us that the old ways are not inherently better. So we have decided that it might be time to allow the Maidens to act like they belong together again. An opportunity to make each other stronger. And..." His eyes flicked to the rest of Ruby's team with a little smirk. "And perhaps a chance to try something daring."

Ruby's uncle stepped forward, lightly backhanding his shoulder. "Would you stop with the theatrics already? We want the Maidens to try taking on the rest of you as apprentices. That way, we'll know well ahead of time who is going to inherit their powers. And it will interrupt the plans of anyone else like Cinder and the people that sent her into this city with chaos on their minds."

They all exchanged nervous glances as the news was finally broken. It had been dangerous and shocking enough for just one of them to gain new powers. But an entire team of them? That was a crazy twist. "Um, professor, I appreciate the vote of confidence. But how in the world did you ever reach the conclusion that all of us are the best candidates, just because Ruby got the Fall Maiden powers?" Weiss was saying what they were all thinking. It was part of her job.

Taking a seat back behind his desk, Ozpin looked directly at her, then at the others intently. "In all honesty, I'm sure that if we put our full resources into scanning the entirety of Remnant, we could perhaps find three prime candidates who would fit the role perfectly. But we want to change the tradition. We want the Maidens to know one another, to be prepared to work together to fight large problems."

"Cinder and that dragon were only the beginning. There are more killer Grimm out there, and Cinder definitely had a boss. We need to be prepared for trouble bigger than what we've seen so far." Qrow sounded more serious than Ruby had heard him in a while. It was always pretty scary when he got dark like this. "We need Maidens that are strong, smart, diverse. They have to be able to work in a variety of cities and nations."

"The particulars cannot be ignored either. Each Maiden represents something different. According to legend, the Fall Maiden taught the old man thankfulness. Ruby, you show gratitude on a level I see very rarely. Yang, the Summer Maiden must be bold, the kind to encourage one to step outside their front door. Your uncle assures me that 'when you teach someone to swim, you push them in the water.' Weiss-"

"Like the Winter Maiden I emphasize careful thought and contemplation?"

"No." Weiss' face fell and Ruby reached for her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "Like the Spring Maiden, you create something from nothing, you have much, but you share it with those around you happily." That was an unexpected announcement. But slowly, her partner started to look even more proud than before.

"Then... You assume that I could be the Winter Maiden?" Blake spoke softly – which admittedly wasn't new, but she sounded unconvinced.

"Yes, Miss Belladonna. You are considerate, quiet, often in your own mind even while present in class or among friends." He looked toward the other women standing nearby and nodded. "This is still ultimately just a trial. Perhaps this shall turn out to be only an experiment. Please don't suddenly adjust any of your lives under the assumption that things are going to change immediately. That being said, I would like you to each take some time getting to know these students, see if our assertions are fitting, try and decide if this is even feasible."

Ruby raised a hand and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uh, and me?" Amber wasn't around anymore. Who could show her how to use these powers?

Qrow chuckled. "You're stuck with me kiddo. I knew Amber better than most. I can't give you the training she would have. But we can get a rough approximation between the two of us."

Ruby laughed nervously and saluted. "Sounds like a recipe for destruction, should be fun."

"Funny you should say that..." he replied mysteriously.

Yang's head was still in a bit of a whirl as she and Ilanga stepped across the lawn of Beacon, soaking in the bright sunshine.

"You are troubled."

Yang scoffed and found a sunny bit of grass to settle down onto, and Ilanga happily joined her. It was nice to see that being a Maiden didn't preclude you from just... stretching out and relaxing. "Uh, yeah. It's kinda big."

"Yes. It really is." There was comfort in the honest reply. "The Maiden before me was my auntie. I didn't know that until after she had died. Being told who she was before, having her tell me directly that she might choose to pass her abilities on to me earlier? It would not have been easier, but it would at least have helped the transition. This is why I and the others have chosen to attempt this."

"Hmm, that makes sense. Well, as long as we're not expected to throw ourselves into this immediately." She glanced back at Ilanga, admiring her for a moment. "So what does it mean? Being the... the Maiden of Summer, specifically I mean? Would I get rad magic powers like Ruby?"

Ilanga laughed brightly, throwing her head back and staring up at the sky more intently. "Yes and no? You may find that you take to certain kinds of magic more than others. That comes with time. What I can tell you... Well, do you know the story of the creation of humans?"

"And so they created mankind, given four specific gifts – knowledge, choice, creation, and destruction." The words rolled off Blake's tongue as easy as anything. She remembered the old stories growing up, when her father would tell her about the forming of mankind, to instill in her the understanding that humans and faunus came from the same core elements.

"Yes. And it is said, in some circles, that when the old man blessed the Maidens, he gave each of them access to one of these four elements. To the Winter Maiden was given the power of knowledge. She taught him patience and understanding, and so he gave her the ultimate insight."

That definitely sounded useful and important to Blake, though she didn't quite understand what 'the power of knowledge' could look like. "I can follow the logic, but... Do you mind me asking you how that translates into a practical application?"

Kori laughed softly, her head nodding with a sage look on her face. "In the beginning, it will be little things. Perfect recall and memory. High attentiveness. Keen perception. Over time, your reasoning will improve, your logical processes. You start being able to read other's minds, even affect their minds, and moving things through telepathy. Like Ilanga, my powers are internal. Hyacinth and Amb- Ruby's powers are external."

"Okay, so... What exactly does creation mean, then? I mean, for you? In this uh... context?"

Hyacinth looked her over carefully, eyes narrowing dramatically. "Well honestly, I don't know what you're asking me for. You already know all about creating things!" The fox suddenly bounced on her feet, surprising Weiss, causing her to stumble back slightly. "Word has it you've got a genetic semblance that lets you summon up Grimm!"

Weiss nervously scratched at her cheek, looking anywhere but at the diminutive faunus. "I mean, technically speaking? I've managed to conjure... an arm... Winter is way better at it than me.

"Pshaw!" She waved a hand dismissively. "Ohh, someone's big sister is better than them at something. Tale as old as time. You'll get it someday." She bounced again, eyes widening for a moment. "Oh! And healing. Healing is basically small-scale creation, so it's one of the things you figure out PDQ. That being said, I haven't been at this long and I can already do stuff like this..." Hyacinth began whirling her hands through the air over her head and the wind started picking up. They coalesced into a vortex over her head that then turned into a creature of living air – an elemental. "And that's an easy one. If you end up being my successor, you could surpass your big sis in no time!"

Weiss just couldn't help the grin that grew across her face. She and Winter had been growing closer since her sister became an adjunct at Beacon. But a sibling rivalry was a sibling rivalry. And you didn't get this kind of potential edge every day.

"Choice? The... The power of choice. What even. What is that?" Yang knew she should have been using a more respectful tone with a Maiden. But out of the four possibilities, 'choice' definitely had a ring to it that said 'short straw'.

If Ilanga minded her lack of filter, she didn't show it. Hell, Yang might have almost called her amused. "The power of the Summer Maiden is the most... misleading in name. Your arm. What happened to it?"

"During the fight to save Vale, Blake and I were fighting a terrorist with a nasty edge. I went in full-force and he showed me what happens when you bring a fist to a sword fight." She raised the arm and held it high, spreading out the fingers and staring at the sky through the fingers.

"Suppose you knew absolutely and precisely in that moment what was going to happen. I'll even give you an extra bit of clarification and say that you would also know how things would happen if you did not fight as you had. Your arm would remain whole, this terrorist still defeated, but Blake were injured instead. Would y-?"

She didn't even need her to finish the question. It was easy. "In a heartbeat."

"As would any Summer. We are the impulsive ones who greet the world with hearts open. And so the Summer Maiden is blessed with the most physical ability of any of us. The freedom to make the difficult choice. Our very bodies are under our direct control, allowing us to move faster, hit harder, see sharper, last longer. In time, you even learn to control your own hormones and organs so that you no longer need to worry about hunger pains or exhausted muscles." Ilanga flexed for added effect, and Yang watched in fascination as the muscle grew through sheer force of will.

"That. Is. Awesome!"

"But uncle Qrowwww... 'Destruction' sounds so negative!"

The old man just rolled his eyes like he usually did when Ruby started getting... tantrum-y. This was nothing new for either of them. "You destroy things all the time, Ruby, don't go getting sanctimonious on me now. But fine, lemme learn you somethin'. You wanna harvest food, you gotta destroy the stuff you don't need. You wanna build a house, you gotta demolish and clear the land first. You wanna save people, sometimes you need to kill someone. You know that better than most."

She pouted, but only because she knew he was right, ruining any further tantrum-ing. "...okay you've got me there..."

"Amber always tried her hardest, figuring out how to balance her lively positivity and the reality of her job. How to be grateful like the first Fall Maiden, but also wield her intense magical abilities for dangerous purposes." He stared off at the horizon wistfully, then looked back at her with a more gentle smile. "And I know you're gonna be just fine. Ever since you were itty bitty, you've always been quick to pick yourself back up when you trip and fall." He clapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her closer, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"So uh... are we doing this?" Back in the girls' dorm, no one seemed to be broaching the subject of the Maidens, so Ruby decided to get the ball rolling. "I mean, I guess I don't have as much of a choice here. But... it would mean so much to have you guys on the journey with me."

Yang offered her usual knife grin. "I'm in. It's a crazy idea, and I love me a crazy idea."

"Likewise. We obviously decided quite some time ago that we had no interest in being mediocre. Perhaps nothing will come of this. It may be some time before we inherit these powers. But I know I would be honored to serve as a Maiden if need be." Blake spoke so calmly. It was clear that her conversation with Kori had gone well.

Even Weiss looked relatively energized. "Yeah, it's... Is it weird that it feels almost easy to do this? It just feels right?" She giggled and leaned against Ruby lightly. "You know, you should probably spend some time with the other Maidens yourself. I get the distinct feeling you and Hyacinth would get along like gangbusters."

"Yeah, Ilanga's a blast. I think you'll enjoy working alongside her."

"Kori really has that whole... cool old lady thing going on."

Ruby considered what they all said before shrugging and cuddling up closer to her partner. "You guys are probably right. But for now? I'm still Team RWBY before I'm Team Maiden."