Chapter 33: Legends

Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown

I recieved a message from Ozpin hours after the round to see him in his office. As Ralphie and I arrive at the elevator, we met up with Pyrrha.

I asked her, startling her, "Coming to see Ozpin, too, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha nodded and replied, "Yes. I assume the same with you?"

"Yeah, but I don't know why, since he didn't explained the reason." I answered.

"Well, we'll find out." Pyrrha replied.

Then we stepped into the elevator and a minute later, we've arrived.

Then Ozpin saw us and said, "Ah, good. take a seat, you two. I would wish to discuss some topics with you both."

We did as we were told and took a seat, then Ozpin began, "Well Miss Nikos, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move onto the final round of the tournament. Your performance has been exemplary."

Pyrrha replied, "Thank you Professor Ozpin, but I would never have made it this far without my teammates."

Then Qrow came out of nowhere and said, "Personally, I think it's the other way around."

Pyrrha stood up, turned towards Qrow, and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced."

I asked, "Where the Hell did you come from, Qrow?"

Then Pyrrha turned to me and asked me, "Wait, you know him?"

I answered, "He's Ruby's and Yang's uncle."

Pyrrha simply nodded in response, then turned toward Ozpin and asked, "Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called us here?"

"Please, have a seat." Ozpin said.

Pyrrha sat back down and Ozpin asked us, "What are your favorite fairy tale?"

"Eh?" I replied, with Ralphie beeping in confusion.

"I'm sorry?" Pyrrha asked.

"Fairy tales. Stories from your childhood. Surely both of you must have remembered some of them."

Then Ozpin turned to me and asked, "Edward?"

"There's one, but more like a legend, about a king named Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. King Arthur was said to wield a powerful sword made by the Heavens, known as the Excalibur. It is also said that the sword can only be wielded by someone who's pure of heart and filled with righteousness, and whoever can wield it, becomes the true king. At the beginning, Arthur was only a poor boy, mistreated, alone, and such. But then, the boy came across the said sword, that was offered by the Lady of the Lake, which is a pure spirit, and Arthur became king, and so forth. Not really much into details, since almost all books were completely destroyed after the war." I answered.

"Impressive." Ozpin replied.

Then he turned towards Pyrrha and asked, "Miss Nikos?"

Pyrrha began to list them, "Well, there's the tale of the two brothers; Silver Knights, who fought the Grimm in a tower-"

But then Ozpin asked, "What about the story of the seasons?"

'Wait, did he mean the Four Maidens that I've read about?' I thought to myself.

Pyrrha answered, "Oh, of course!"

Then she began, "A callous old man, who refuses to leave his home, is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time to solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him. And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has and be thankful. In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accepted and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant until the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. The Four Maidens."

She pauses for a moment and then said, "My mother loves that story."

I thought to myself, 'I think I have now found a new favorite story.'

Then Ozpin said, "Would you believe me if I told you both that one's been around since I was a boy?"

Pyrrha and I chuckled and she replied, "You're not that old, professor."

Then Ozpin asked, "Well, would you both believe me if I told you both it was true?"

That caught our attention. A fairy tale... turning out to be true. That's... new.

Pyrrha asked, "I beg you pardon?"

I followed up with Pyrrha, "Yeah, I'm sorry, what?"

Ozpin continued, "What if I were to tell you both that there were four maidens existing in this world, that could wield such tremendous power without Dust?"

Ralphie beeped in confusion and Pyrrha asks, "You mean like a Semblance?"

"Like magic." Ozpin answered.

I was speechless, and Pyrrha began, "I-"

Then Qrow interrupted, "Yeah, first hearing it's pretty crazy."

Pyrrha asked Ozpin, "You're serious?"

Ozpin replied, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

I sighed as my response and Pyrrha answered, "No."

Then Pyrrha began to ask, "Why-why are you telling us about this?"

After a brief silence, Ozpin began, "We are telling you, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe that you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."

Then he said to me, "And we are telling you, Edward Vaughn, because you're the Protector of the Four Maidens, related to the callous old man, the one who granted the power to the maidens."

We were both speechless from this, until Pyrrha asks, "We?"

Then the elevator doors opened to reveal Ironwood and Glynda.

Ironwood said, "Sorry we're late."

As they both came in, Pyrrha then asked, "Wait, what is this? Who are you?"

I pulled out my 'A Light in Shining Darkness', but kept it holstered without any of them knowing, in case if things go wrong.

Glynda answered, "You know who we are. We're still the same teachers and headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon."

Qrow added, "'Cept we've got a little part-time job."

Ironwood then said, "We are the protectors of this world..."

Then Ozpin finished Ironwood's sentence, "... And we need your help."

There was a moment of silence, and I thought, 'This is something... FUCK!'

XXXXXX

After a few minutes, we were in the elevator, then Pyrrha asked, "Where are we going?"

Then Ozpin answered, "The vault, under the school."

It took a few more minutes until we finally reached the vault. We exited the elevator, and Pyrrha, Ralphie and I began to follow the four.

Then Glynda stopped and said, "I'm sure both of you have questions."

Pyrrha answered, "Maybe one or two."

"Yeah... you could say that." I answered, followed by Ralphie's soft beeps.

We continued to walk forward and Pyrrha said, "I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the maiden's power. What do you mean by that?"

Glynda answered, "The maidens have existed for thousands of years, but much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host. Ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold onto the power forever."

I then began, "So, wait, how does this power choose?"

Qrow answered, "Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules."

Glynda began, "Qrow!"

"Hey, don't get mad cause I'm right." Qrow said.

Glynda begins to answer to us, "At first, the only thing was certain was that the powers were specifically passed onto young women, but as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was more intimite."

Pyrrha asked, "Intimite?"

Glynda answered, "As we understand it now, when a maiden dies, the one who was in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power."

Qrow added, "Unless it's a dude or some old hag, then the power goes to someone random and our jobs get a lot harder."

Then Pyrrha asked, "Why tell me and Edward all of this now? Why not wait until we've graduated?"

"Yeah, I'm with Pyrrha on this. Why are you telling us this at this moment?" I asked.

Qrow answered, "Honestly, we've run out of time. I don't know if you both noticed, but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are growing high, Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent, and it's not gonna be much longer before this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes out the window."

I replied, "What did you expect? War never changes. How many times do I have to repeat that in order for you people to truly understand it?"

Ironwood replied, "Maybe in your world, but-"

I interrupted, "No! War is in our nature. We are born to cause war. Humankind and Faunuskind are no strangers to war. We're not perfect. In fact, there's no such thing of perfection."

Qrow followed up, "You know he's right, James. You have to admit it."

Ironwood sighed and replied, "I guess..."

But then, Ironwood began, "But, it's not really a war between nations, that's certain."

Qrow then said to us, "We can fill you both in on the details once we know you're both with us. For now, all you two need to know is that one of the maidens was attacked and for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen."

I then began, "What?! By who?"

Qrow answered, "You should know, since you faced her before ever since you first arrived here in our world."

I remember now, I now know who the person was: Cinder. I has to be her, no doubt about it. I knew she's up to no good. I'll have to keep a watchful eye on her now.

Then we made it to the end of the hall, with two stasis pod and terminals and such. Within one of the pod was a... woman. The woman has short brown hair, a light tan skin, and looks like she's injured.

Then Pyrrha asked, "Is that...?"

Ozpin sighed and replied, "The current Fall Maiden, Amber."

I was in shock and replied, "Wait, she's... still alive?!"

Ironwood sighed and replied, "For now. We're using state-of-the-art Atlas technology to keep her stable, but there is a lot about this situation which is unprecedented."

Pyrrha asks, "What do you mean?"

Ironwood sighed and answered, "Well, we don't know what will happen if-when she passes."

Pyrrha then asked, "Won't her power just transfer to the next host?"

Qrow spoke up, "Look who's been listening. She is smart."

Ironwood answered, "Under normal circumstances, yes."

"Let me guess, this is not the normal circumstances, right?" I implyed.

"You're right, Edward. This is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for last thoughts of the slain to be that of their attacker, and to make matters worse, no one's ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out it's other half."

Pyrrha said, "Her assailent."

Then Ozpin said, "And that would not bode well for any of us."

Silence came, but then Pyrrha walked up to Amber's pod, then Pyrrha turned to us and asked them, "If all of this is true, why keep it a secret? If this girl is so important, if-if we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell everyone?"

Glynda answered, "From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge."

I asked out, "What?!" Ralphie even beeped in question.

Pyrrha began, "Excuse me?"

Qrow pointed out, "How do you two think legends and fairy tales get started? Even the craziest ones came from somewhere." then he took a drink from his canteen.

Glynda began, "Our group was founded in order to protect both mankind and the maidens. Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength."

Qrow added, "And as you can imagine, the ones who succeeded weren't exactly the kind of people you'd want to have unimaginable power."

Then Ironwood began, "And so this brotherhood chose to remove the maidens from public eye, allowing their existence to fade away into legend."

Glynda began, "The things we're telling you both goes against hundreds of years of human history, religion."

Then Ironwood began, "No one would want to believe us. It would cause an uproar."

Ozpin added, "It would cause panic and we all know what that would bring clawing to our kingdoms' walls, which is why we would like to-"

Pyrrha interrupted, "I'll do it. If you believe this would help humanity, then I will become your Fall Maiden."

Silence came and after those moments, Pyrrha asked out to them, "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Ozpin began, "It is but I'm afraid it's not that simple."

I sighed and thought, 'It never is simple.'

Ozpin continued, "Given Amber's condition, you won't be able to inherit her power naturally. However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution."

"Well, let's hear it, general." I responded.

Ironwood nodded and began, "For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint. How it works; what it's made of; how it can be used. We've made significant strides and we believe we've found a way to capture it."

Qrow added, "Capture it and cram it into something else... or in your case..."

Pyrrha and I were horrified by this, and the Pyrrha responded, "That's-"

Ironwood interrupted, "Classified."

"-wrong!" Pyrrha finished.

I replied, "Yeah, so wrong on many levels."

Glynda replied, "The feeling is mutual, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Ironwood added, "And these are indeed desperate times. We can't transfer Amber's powers to you, Miss Nikos, but we can give you what those powers are bound to."

Pyrrha replied, "Her Aura."

I muttered, "What?!"

Ozpin began, "Her life would become intertwined with yours. The question is..."

Qrow followed up, "What's that gonna do to you?"

We were all silent for a few moments, until Ozpin concluded, "You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this will work and there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time to think on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer."

After a brief moment of silence, I began, "Well I'm still confused on why I'm here. What the hell do you mean that I'm related to the callous old man?"

Glynda began, "It is said that the decendents of the old man were the protectors of the Four Maidens. That is, until after a few thousands years ago, after six generations, the last Protector was killed by the people who were hunting down the maidens."

"Okay, but what makes you think I'm related?" I began.

Ozpin replied, "It is said that each and every Protector has the same Semblance to one another... your Semblance, Edward."

Okay, that caught my attention. I asked, "Come again?"

Ozpin replied, "Each and every Protector has a Semblance that is the same to your Heaven's Trinity. Especially, with the wings you have."

"Okay, one more question: If I was the so-called Protector, then how did I end up in the world I was born in?"

Ironwood began, "That's the thing we do not know, but one thing is for certain. You're the next Protector to safe-guard the Four Maidens."

Silence came again, then Ozpin asked, "So, what do you say? Are you in?"

I slowly nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm in."

Then Ozpin began, "Now, the assailent that attacked the Fall Maiden has made their first move and there's no telling when their next move will be."

To be Continued...