Chapter 34

Robin sat, arms folded and back straight as she studied Ozpin's face. "He told you."

"Qrow had his concerns and asked that I keep an eye on you."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes or tsk but she glanced over his shoulder to stare out of the window behind him. It was still bright outside, her team having gotten back to Beacon just after noon and she was still expected to meet Yang and Ruby for some fun and games later on. "What does my semblance have to do with anything?"

He hummed and stood up, grabbing his cane as he moved to stand in front of the window. "There are many things out there that people are still unaware of. Tales lost and stories buried. Some are beautiful, others dangerous and some are cruel." He let out a breath that was close to a sigh and turned to face her. "I've been around a lot longer than I'd have liked, seen things I wish I could unsee and made more mistakes than anybody else. Tell me, did your semblance have anything to do with why you were looking at fairy tales and Salem that day in the library?"

Robin raised a brow. That was more direct than she'd expected and Raven's words came back to her. She hesitated before she narrowed her eyes a fraction and said, "Perhaps. Why lie about Salem?"

Ozpin's face was unreadable as he said, "What did I lie about?"

"Living forever."

The ticking of the clock tower filled the silence and Ozpin finally moved, walking past Robin and towards the elevator. "Come with me," he said over his shoulder. After a few moments Robin stood and followed him, curious to exactly was going to happen. Once the elevator arrived he held a hand out and she entered first, watching as Ozpin pressed a button. He started speaking once they started to move, "I'm old, Robin. I've been around for centuries, long before Beacon or Vale existed. I come from a time when magic was plentiful and commonplace. It was everywhere and everybody could use it. Then Salem came and it was taken away from us."

She stared at his back, lips parted. Magic? How old was Ozpin? How was that possible? "I thought people couldn't live forever."

Ozpin glanced over his shoulder at Robin, "It's not by choice and it's more akin to a curse." The elevator dinged and Robin's brows furrowed deeper. "You remember the tale of the four Maidens?"

"Uh huh," she mumbled, following him into a long, what looked like grand hall of some kind. She couldn't help but to eye the roomy space she was in, their footsteps too loud.

"Would you believe me if I told you that it was true?"

Something clicked in Robin's brain, Raven's conversations, and she shrugged a shoulder, "Surprisingly, yes."

"They were once widely known and regarded by the public, until the wrong people started to hunt them down, wishing to inherit their powers for themselves. A group was set up to ensure their secrecy and protection, letting their names and stories fade into fairy tales, myths and legends."

One thing she noticed about the place they were in was that it was ridiculously long. "Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall," she mumbled. A thought crossed her mind and she stopped walking, waiting until Ozpin stopped and turned to face her and she narrowed her eyes at him, "If these Maidens were as powerful as the legends say they are, then how does somebody bring them down?"

"They do possess great magical power that doesn't require the help of dust crystals or semblances, but if well trained with the right information and expectations, with the right partners, somebody would be able to bring harm to them."

"Like Fall."

Silence. They stared at one another for almost three minutes before Ozpin turned and started walking again. Finally his voice echoed, "If you know about Fall, then I don't need to explain to you about Spring either."

Robin glared at his back and started walking again, "She left. Why? Did you promise her something that wasn't true? Was she too afraid for her life to trust you?"

"The Maidens do not live forever and the powers pass on, either to a close loved one or a complete stranger. Spring happened to be a stranger, new to the world of Huntsmen and Huntresses, Academies and Grimm, not used to being put on the front lines. It overwhelmed her and she ran away from it all."

She let out a breath and noticed that Ozpin had stopped walking. Her eyes widened as he stepped to the side to let her see what had been hidden beneath the school. A girl was locked in a life support chamber, half of her face scarred in an unusual pattern and a shiver ran down her spine. "Fall," she whispered.

"For the first time, somebody, with Salem's help, was able to steal part of her powers. Our fear is that her assailant will look for Fall to finish her off and gain the rest of her powers."

She finally glanced up at him to see him staring at her, studying her face carefully. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Without any word from myself or Qrow, you've managed to learn more about the evils of this world than most people learn in their entire lives. Spring's location may be unknown, but perhaps you could help point us in the right direction." Silence was a common companion today and Robin stared at him for a moment before she looked back to the Fall maiden, her face softening from its glare. She stepped up to the compartment and studied her face for a moment before she looked away and glanced at Ozpin. "The assailant and their accomplices are out there, getting ready to make their next move. We don't know when that will be, only that we're running out of time. With each passing day, they're getting closer to their goals of bringing harm to everybody and resetting the world. Your father is one of the few I trust to help protect our world and everybody in it."

"So you're the reason my Dad's been going away on so many top secret missions."

He stared back at her, his face a blank mask as he said, "I can't order him to go."

Robin scoffed and shook her head, turning back to face the Fall maiden. The scowl couldn't be removed this time and she ducked her head. "What do you want from me?"

"Honesty. If you know anything about Spring then I ask that you tell us, help us to find her before Salem gets to her and harms her too."

"One question," she mumbled, looking back up to the Maiden behind the glass, "can Salem be killed?"

There was a brief hesitance before Ozpin said, "She can be stopped."

"Can. She. Be. Killed?"

"Yes."

She ground her teeth together and stuffed her hands into her pockets, refusing to look at him. Raven had told her that the answer should be a resolute "No." So who had been lying to her? She closed her eyes and turned, shoulders slumped and her hand wrapped around the small bottle that she had kept topped up in her pocket. She could feel Ozpin's eyes boring into her back as she walked back to the elevator, "If you really want to know where Spring is, ask Raven. She seems to know all about her."

Robin stepped out of the elevator, frown furrowed deeply on her face. She stopped and glanced back over her shoulder as the doors closed behind her. So her Dad was in on Ozpin's little fanatics. Raven had known about them and undoubtedly probably left due to them, which doesn't excuse her but certainly explains something about the woman. Surely it wasn't just the Branwen's that knew? Did Summer know about this? Was her mission-

"Robin!"

"Huh?" She turned just in time as a blur of red rose petals invaded her vision and she was tackled to the floor. "Ow!"

"That's cheating!" Yang's voice said.

Robin finally looked up to see Yang peering over Ruby's excited shoulder and she grinned up at both of them, pushing Ozpin and everything else out of her mind. "You guys just couldn't wait five minutes, could you?"

"We've been waiting forever for you!" Ruby shouted, finally getting up and off of Robin, holding a hand out to help pull her up.

Robin chuckled and dusted herself off, "Sorry about that."

"Are you in trouble?" Yang teased. "Again?"

Robin's smile faded and she stared at Yang, "Have you been speaking to Tawney?"

"I might have been. Sleeping in class, detention almost every other day, screwing around in class?"

Robin shrugged, "She's a bad influence." She wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders and turned her around, "Come on, give me a proper introduction to your team."

"Only as long as you bring yours along," Ruby chimed, bouncing on her feet. "It will be a great way for us all to meet, get along and have fun. Although Blake's, quiet and Weiss is..."

"She's Weiss," Yang said.

Robin chuckled. "Looking forward to it. What room is yours again and I'll ask them to meet us there."

"We're back!" Ruby announced as she threw to door open to team RWBY's dorm.

"And we brought snacks and friends!" Yang said.

Blake looked up from her book whilst Weiss glanced at them from the desk before she stood up, a curious frown on her face, "Malcolm?"

He turned to her and raised his brows, "Weiss. I didn't know you were attending Beacon."

Ruby peered between the two whilst Yahto and Tawney looked over Malcolm's shoulder to stare curiously at Weiss before they looked back at Malcolm, all three of them uttering, "You know each other?"

Weiss folded her arms with a small smile, "The Adham and Schnee families have been partners for years. We practically grew up together, and" her tone changed to one of displeasure, "our parents had arranged for us to be married when we graduated school."

"Married?!"

Robin chewed on a liquorice stick, dropping an armful of snacks onto one of the beds. She pulled her scroll out and sat down on an empty bed, opening her Dad's contact to send him a message: We need to talk. You told Ozpin about my semblance.

"That's a thing?" Yang said.

"It's fairly common in Atlas," Weiss said.

Malcolm shrugged his shoulders, "She's right, it's common practice that a lot of marriages are pre-arranged by the time your fifteen."

"But what about-" Tawney said, turning to stare at Robin.

Robin waited, glaring at her scroll to see if her Dad would respond and she furrowed her brows, her skin itching. She glanced up and froze, six pairs of eyes staring at her. "What?"

Yahto gestured between Weiss and Malcolm, "Did you know about this?"

"About what?"

"They're going to get married!" Yahto said.

Robin's eyes widened as she stared up at Malcolm. Her scroll buzzed but she ignored it as he held his hands up and said, "We were supposed to be."

"But the Adham's called it off last year," Weiss said, "thankfully. My Father wasn't pleased when they didn't give a reason. I was thankful, however."

"Well," Malcolm started and Robin stared at him as he met her gaze, "it wouldn't have been fair to marry you," he turned towards Weiss, "when I was already head over heels for somebody else."

"Awww," Yang said, "that's so romantic."

"Do we know her?" Ruby said. "Or is it a him?"

"Wait," Tawney said, pointing to Ruby and Yang, "you don't know?"

Yahto slapped his hands on top of Tawney's shoulders and stage whispered, "They don't know. Really?" he turned to face Robin, "You didn't say anything?"

"Wait," Yang said, "are you saying-"

"Her?" Weiss said, gesturing at Robin.

"Problem?" Tawney mocked.

"Does Qrow know?" Yang said. "Does Dad?"

Robin rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the blush in her cheeks, "No and no. Speak a word of this to them before I do and I'll murder you in your sleep." She looked down at her scroll and opened the new message from her Dad, earning a small frown on her face, "Are we going to play games or not?"

I'm worried about you, Qrow's message started, Tai's told me everything, nightmares, mission scars. You really want to talk? I'll be in Vale in six days. We'll talk then.

A/N: Here it is! Ozpin's talk! Let me know if it was what you were expecting or not. And thus Ruby and Yang know about Robin and Malcolm! I told you Weiss had something to do with it...

Diego Silver: And things are still getting difficult!

jaffa3: You have no idea how long I've been waiting for them to meet.

xenocanaan: Funny you should mention that time Yang tried to find her Mother. I do have something in mind for that...

Sabert00thsa: Malc will murder her. The Qrow and Robin chapter is next so that should be interesting. You did call it. I want to imagine that Raven has always been keeping an eye on Robin out curiosity (you know with her being her brother's daughter) and because she's crazy skilled, Raven managed to figure it out a lot better than most other normal people would. Raven's been trained to murder people... but yeah. (Love you too.)

1228248: It's definitely Alcohol. I think it's a Branwen thing that alcohol helps them to fight better.

GrimmDzzzy: Don't sweat it! We're still in volume 1 and I love Ash. He may come back at some point.

G-Guest: I've heard of Fire Emblem but I've never seen/played it.