Knock Knock Knock…
I steeled my resolve as I waited for the door to be opened. My scroll rested in my hand, squeezing tightly so that I don't lose it, though, part of my tight grip was due to other factors.
No one would approve of me doing this. That's why I snuck off at morning's light. I'm sure someone would have noticed, but I don't care. By the time they know where I was, I've already done what I needed to do.
The door opened up as a man with bags under his eyes and a scraggly goatee was in front of me.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"No, but I can help you. You want to know what happened to Heather, right?" His eyes lit up a bit before he frowned.
"No… She's…" The face of a grieving man. I've grown to feel sorry for the Huntsmen, leaving behind their family to face their fates. I could only nod.
"I… have worse news. It's how…" I choked. "You're not gonna like it." That was the inconvenient truth. I showed him my scroll. A moment passed. If he rejects my offer, that's it. I resume my normal life of hanging around with RWBY. But, he nodded.
Now is the point of no return. I walked in and found a place to sit. Heather's husband sat next to me as I showed him my scroll.
"I happened to have had a meeting with the Headmaster of Haven over the steps we need to take to prevent the school from possible attack. However, we found that he had been operating behind not only my back, but the backs of the council and even your back as well." There was no turning back. I played the video that highlighted the meeting with Professor Lionheart, the very same one that turned into the Battle of Haven.
More importantly, this piece of information.
"It was you… you sit on the Mistral Council. You had information on every Huntsman and Huntress in the Kingdom, and you gave it all to her? I couldn't find any of them, because you let her kill them!"
"Aw now, don't beat yourself up about it, Lionheart, I'm sure Tyrian and Hazel would've found them on their own eventually."
I stopped the video. The man was shaken up.
"H-he compromised my Heather?" He muttered.
"That's not all. You recall how there was a police stand off at Haven Academy that led to the White Fang getting arrested?" I said.
"Y-yes." He said. I rewound the footage to when Hazel came in.
"The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds. No one's getting in, and no one's getting out." I then looked to the man, paused the video and pointed to him.
"That's Hazel, by the way." I said.
"L-lionheart sold out his own Academy to the White Fang? And wanted to blow it up?" He asked.
"Yes. Well, not to the White Fang, but I've said too much," I dropped an extra scroll by his feet, "this one contains a copy of what I recorded that night. Do what you want with it. Hide it for your daughter to find years down the line, make extra copies and share them with the city, throw it in the trash, I don't care," I turned away.
"… I appreciate you telling me the truth, but why give me a copy?" He asked.
"Because I believe that the truth can set you free." I replied.
I walked back to the Academy where the others were…
That's when I saw a crow flying about.
"Drop the disguise." I spat. The crow flew down and transformed.
"What the hell!?" Qrow grabbed me by the collar, the stench of booze was enough to make me dizzy.
"What? You wanted me to leave him in the dark?" I glared.
"Lucy… You know why we must keep Lionheart's betrayal a secret. If people know-"
"Let them know! It's better to know there's a common enemy we can face than point fingers at each other!" I barked.
"… Wow, and here I thought my niece was optimistically naïve. Here you are thinking that what you're doing isn't gonna cause a panic!"Qrow said.
"Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But at least the people will know." I said.
"You know, it's like Ozpin once said… Knowledge can only carry us so far. So, let's assume the news of Lionheart's betrayal goes public. What then? What do they gain from knowing Lionheart compromised their Huntsmen and almost let the White Fang blow up the Academy? Nothing. It only fuels more justification to be afraid of Faunus and unneeded distrust towards the council."
"Big talk coming from Mr. Damn The Council. Last I checked, they weren't doing Ozpin any favors either." I shoved him off of me, then walked off to the airship. "I wanted him to know who he should really blame for his wife's death. I want his daughter to know who it is that forever separated her from her mom. I want them all to know who really helped cause the Fall of Beacon." I said.
"And just what do you accomplish from making people panic?" Qrow said.
"Closure. I know I would thank the person who would tell me why my father can't come home ever again. Someone who would cut the bullshit and stop dancing around the topic. Someone who would pull the wool out of my eyes and make me see reality for what it really is." I sighed and shed a tear. "I really don't care what they do with the information I give them. I just wanted them to know. It's… It's the least any of us can do." I struggled to walk.
"Where are you going? Back to the Academy, I hope." Qrow asked. I shook my head.
"I need to find the Nikos family." I said. I could hear the gears on his sword whirring. "They need to know too!" That's when I saw the scythe's blade reach my neck. I tensed up.
"And what will you tell them?" He asked.
"Everything. The Maidens, the aura transfer, Cinder, all of it. They deserve to know as much as your nieces and their friends." I gripped my fists. "If you want to keep the Maidens a secret though, then you know what you have to do." I growled.
"… Why? Why are you being so stubborn? Why are you insistent on the truth!?" He asked.
"Because you and Ozpin promised that there'd be no more secrets!" I shouted. I tried to keep calm despite me being basically held at knifepoint by a drunkard. "I'll never compromise that. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Not even in the face of death. So what are you waiting for? If you wanna do it… DO IT!" I trembled. I soon noticed my tears hit his blade. He's not moving… Why? Why isn't he going to silence me?
I heard a sigh as the scythe left my view. I heard it fold back to its static form.
"You're stubborn. But determined. Oz isn't gonna like this, and chances are Jaune has beaten you to the punch with telling Pyrrha's parents." Qrow patted my back and walked ahead of me. I just stood there.
"… We never did know the name of that girl who ran from Haven, have we?" I asked. Qrow just shook his head.
"Best not worry about it." He then gripped his fist. "She'll be avenged. I'll swear to that." He then walked off as I just began to cry. My body quaked as I could still feel Qrow's blade against my neck.
This is the price I pay for sharing knowledge.