We now see Ozpin and Pyrrha talking together in his office. "Well, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move onto the final stage of the tournament. Yout performance has been exemplary." Ozpin complimented.
"Thank you, Professor Ozpin, but I would never have made it this far without my teammates." Pyrrha said.
"Personally, I think it's the other way around." Qrow said, leaning against one of the pillars in the office.
"Yeah. You're definitely the best fighter on your team, little to no question." Kinshiro agreed, looking towards them and away from the window on the far side of the room he was standing on.
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced." Pyrrha said, turning to face to seasoned Huntsmen.
"Name's Qrow." He answered simply.
"Kinshiro. I'm Sai's brother." The other Huntsman revealed.
Ozpin stood up as well. "Qrow and Kinshiro are trusted colleagues of mine." He explained.
"Professor, if you don't mind me asking: why have you called me here?" Pyrrha asked, turning to face him again.
"Please, take a seat." He said, doing the same. He continued after she sat down. "What is your favorite fairy tale?" He asked.
"Fairy tales. Stories from your childhood, surely you must remember some of them." He clarified.
"Well, there's The Tale of The Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in The Tower..." She listed.
"What about The Story of The Seasons?" He asked.
"Oh, of course! A callous, old man who refuses to leave his home is visited by 4 traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second one 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 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 accept and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant until the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The 4 maidens. My mother loved that story." Pyrrha explained it with artwork taking over until she finished the story part.
"Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?" He asked.
Pyrrha chuckled at this. "You're not THAT old, professor." She said
"To be fair, that doesn't say how old Ozpin is, more so how old the legend is." Kinshiro corrected.
"Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true?" He asked, an ominous music playing.
She let out a more confused chuckle at this. "I beg your pardon?" She asked.
"What if I were to tell you that there WERE 4 maidens existing in this world? That wield such tremendous power. Greater than Dust?" He asked.
"You mean... Like a Semblance?" She asked.
"Like magic." He corrected.
"I..." She started before Qrow interrupted.
"Yeah. First time hearing it's pretty crazy." He said.
"Not the most, but one of the craziest things I've had to accept in life." Kinshiro agreed.
"You're serious?" She asked, looking at Ozpin.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Ozpin asked seriously.
"No..." She started, before getting a new question. "Why... Why are you telling me this?" She asked.
Qrow and Ozpin looked between each other before the Headmaster answered. "We're telling you, Pyrrha Nikos... Because we believe you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers." He explained.
"We?" She asked. At that moment, the elevator opened to reveal Goodwitch, Nightshade and Ironwood.
"Sorry we're late." Ironwood said as he stepped out.
"Wait... What is this? Who are you?!" Pyrrha demanded.
"You know who we are... We're still the same teachers and Headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon." Goodwitch said, surprisingly soft and gentle for her character.
"Except we've got a little part-time job." Qrow added.
"We are the protectors of this world." Ironwood continued.
"But that jobs getting a lot harder lately." Kinshiro said.
"Which is where you come in." Nightshade said, looking at her.
"Right. We need your help." Ozpin finished. Pyrrha stayed silent for a minute before they all rode the elevator down to the basement.
"Where are we going?" Pyrrha asked.
"The vault. Under the school." Ozpin answered.
They reached the bottom and exited the elevator, walking down a long hallway. Pyrrha looked around and stopped beside Goodwitch, who waited for her. "I'm sure you must have questions." She said.
"Maybe one or two." Pyrrha confirmed, slightly nervously as they continued. "I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's power. What do you mean by that?" She asked.
"They maidens have existed for thousands of years. Much like in nature, the seasons change. No two Summers are alike." Goodwitch started explaining (wait, does that mean the maidens die after their season's up?! Worst job EVER!). "When a maiden dies, her powers leave her body and seek out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no one holds onto the power forever." She finished.
"So, how does the power choose?" Pyrrha asked.
"Through a series of stupid, convoluted rules." Qrow said.
"Qrow..." Goodwitch and Nightshade growled.
"Hey, don't get mad, 'cuz I'm right!" He said.
"Seriously, if any other living species had this many rules, they'd be extinct." Kinshiro said.
"At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed onto young women. But as time went one, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... intimate." Goodwitch explained.
"I-intimate?" Pyrrha asked nervously.
"Appropriate response. That's what I was thinking when they first told me that." Kinshiro said with a chuckle.
"Do you ever shut up? It's nothing like that." Nightshade snapped.
"As we understand it now, when a maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts was the first candidate in line to inherit her power." Goodwitch finished.
"Unless it's a dude or some old hag. Then her powers go to someone random." Qrow explained.
"Apparently, men can't be trusted with the power." Kinshiro said as if annoyedly referring to someone high and mighty.
"And there's no use in handing power over to someone to old to use it." Nightshade finished.
"Then the power goes to someone random and our jobs get a lot harder." Qrow added to what he was saying.
"Why tell me all this now? Why not wait until I've graduated?" Pyrrha asked.
"We DAMN SURE don't have that kinda time." Kinshiro said.
"Crude way to put it, but accurate. The Grimm on the rise and the White Fang getting ready for the gods know what behind the scenes." Nightshade said.
"And it's not gonna be much longer until this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes out the window." Qrow said.
"You're not... talking about war?" Pyrrha asked.
"Not a war between nations..." Ironwood said.
"If what we're expecting is true, it's gonna be a lot worse than that." Kinshiro said.
"We can fill you in on the details once we know you're with us." Qrow said. "For now, all you need to know is that one of the maidens was attacked and for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen." He finished.
"We have only the faintest idea of what we're dealing with, but to steal the powers of the maiden, you'd need power from the Grimm themselves." Nightshade said.
The group then reached the end of a hallway with a giant stasis machine in the middle of the room. "Is that-?" Pyrrha started to ask.
Ozpin sighed. "The current fall maiden: Amber." He answered. She was in a stasis tube on the left, a terrible scar covering the side of her face.
"She's... still alive!" Pyrrha said in horror.
"For now." Ironwood confirmed. "We're using state-of-the-art Atlas technology to keep her stable. But there is a lot about the situation that is... unprecedented." He explained.
"If we'd only been a little faster, we could've stopped all of this." Kinshiro said regretfully, putting his hand on the glass.
Qrow put a hand on his shoulder. "The past is the past. What matters now is making sure they don't get the rest of it." He said.
Kinshiro sighed, but then nodded. "You're right." He agreed.
"What do you mean, general?" Pyrrha asked as Kinshiro recovered from his momentary guilt.
He sighed before answering. "Well, we don't know what will happen if... when she passes." He said.
"Won't her power just transfer to the next host?" She asked.
"Look who's been listening." Qrow said as if to make a big deal. "She's smart." He whispered sarcastically to Ozpin.
With us...
"Huh... I don't know why, but I suddenly have the urge to punch Qrow in the face..." I said to myself.
With them...
"Qrow, don't be an ass FOR ONCE, this is serious." Nightshade snapped.
"That would happen under normal circumstances, yes. But this is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be their attacker." He said, before looking at her. "And to make matters worse: no one's ever seen their power stolen like this before. For all we know, it will seek out its other half." He finished.
"Her assailant..." Pyrrha thought aloud.
"And then we're fucked nine ways to Sunday." Kinshiro said emphatically.
"Correct. That would not bode well for any of us." Ozpin said, turning to her.
Pyrrha looked down at her chest (presumably), before walking up to the stasis chamber and putting her hand on it. "If all of this is true... Why keep it secret?! If this girl is so important... if we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell everyone?!" Pyrrha demanded in sorrow.
There was a short pause before Goodwitch spoke up. "From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge." She said.
"Excuse me?" Pyrrha said, not understanding.
"How do you think legends and fairy tales get started? Even the craziest ones come from somewhere." Qrow said, drinking from his flask.
"Like the fish-man. The man who drank so much booze he became a damn fish!" Nightshade growled, looking at his colleague.
"Back to our goal here!" Kinshiro said loudly.
"Our group was founded to protect both mankind and the maidens. Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength." Goodwitch explained.
"And as you can imagine, the ones that succeeded weren't exactly the ones you'd want to have unimaginable power." Qrow added.
"And so this brotherhood chose to remove the maidens from the public eye, allowing their existence to fade away into legend." Ironwood said.
"And yet, with our best efforts, they didn't fade far enough." Nightshade said, looking at Amber.
"The things we're telling you go against hundreds of years of human history... religion-" Goodwitch started.
"No one would want to believe us. It'd cause an uproar." Ironwood started.
"It would cause panic! And we all know what THAT would bring clawing to our kingdom's walls." Ozpin said.
"The good old Grimm! The scum of the Earth that wants to kill humans and don't seem to get the message they should fucking die." Kinshiro said.
"Which is why, we would like to-" Ozpin started.
"I'll do it." Pyrrha said, all of them looking at her in surprise. "If you believe this will help humanity, then I will become your Fall Maiden." She said.
"Kid's got a good head on her shoulders." Kinshiro said.
"Your decision is a brave one, but you may want more time to think it over." Nightshade said, somewhat worriedly.
"That's what you wanted... Isn't it?" She asked.
Ozpin then stepped forward. "It is... but I'm afraid it's not that simple. Given Amber's condition, you won't be able to inherit her powers naturally... However, general Ironwood believes he has a solution." He said, stepping away and nodding his head towards the general, who then stepped forward.
"For the last few years, Atlas has been studying aura from a more scientific standpoint. How it works, what it's made out of, how it can be used. We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it." He said.
"And this is why the entire RWBY fan-base thinks you're evil, shady and can't be trusted." Kinshiro said.
"Capture it and cram it into something else." Qrow said disgustedly. "Or in your case..." He said, looking at Pyrrha.
It took a few seconds, but she understood. "That-!" She started.
"Classified." He said.
"Wrong!" She finished.
"The feeling is mutual, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Goodwitch said.
"And these are indeed desperate times." Ironwood said, walking forward. "We can't transfer Amber's powers to you, but we can give you what those powers were bound to." He explained.
"Her aura..." Pyrrha said.
"Her life would become intertwined with yours. The question is..." Ozpin started.
"What's that gonna do to you?" Qrow finished.
She looked down sadly at that moment, unsure of what to do. "You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this transfer 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 I need you to understand, that before the Vytal festival is over, we will need your answer." Ozpin said. Pyrrha turned back one more time and put her hand on the glass again. "The assailant who attacked the Fall Maiden have made their first move. And there's no telling when their next move will be." He finished.
Back in the arena...
"Welcome to the moment you've all been waiting for! The 1-on-1 finals!" Port announced as the crowd cheered. Yang, as well as myself and a few others, including Mercury, Penny and Pyrrha, who was looking incredibly uneasy and unsure, were up on the stage, the crowd cheering for us.
"Pyrrha, are you okay?" I asked her gently.
She looked shocked, before turning to me and smiling. "Oh... Yes!" She said, forcefully, but I caught it. "Well... I'm not terrible, but Ozpin just asked me something that will take a while to set in." She said.
"Whatever it is, I'll be there to help you through it whenever you need me." I told her, to which she smiled a bit.
"Barty, why don't you explain the rules?" Port asked, turning to Oobleck.
"Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket, each random finalist will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!" Oobleck said.
"Surprisingly short and sweet coming from him." Damion said.
"Much like any good hunt, there will be ZERO time to prepare!" Port added.
"What?! You should ALWAYS prepare for hunting!" Draco said.
"Ah, yes, yes! Now let's see who our fist match will be!" Oobleck said, pointing to the screen. The randomizers quickly spun until finally stopping on Mercury and Yang.
"Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!" Port announced.
"Break a leg, sis!" Ruby shouted.
"Would all other combatants please leave the stage?" Port asked.
Pyrrha looked down and sighed, but I put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll talk about this later, okay? For now, let's just watch another epic win for team Beacon." I said with a smirk, to which she nodded and went back to her seat with the rest of the finalists except me, as I went back to my medic station.
The stage slightly parted from the rest of the arena as hard rock began to play while Yang and Mercury took their stances.
"You better not go easy on me." Yang said slightly sassily.
Mercury chuckled at this. "You wish." He said.
They slowly approached each other as Port counted down until their hands were close enough to touch in the center and Port announced for them to fight. They both threw their strongest punch or kick right off the bat and created a large, powerful shockwave and pushing each other back slightly. Yang jumped over a flying kick from Mercury and fired off rounds from her gauntlets at him, but he deflected them and the two once again forced each other back. Yang fired more rounds at him as he rushed in at her in a confusing serpentine manner and throwing an axe kick, which she stopped with both arms and forced him back, throwing a few punches like a lariat, but he ducked under them and did a rising kick like Guile's Flash Kick to knock her back, but she landed perfectly and rushed in again, the two dodging, deflecting and exchanging a few more blows, each having a moment where they gained the upper hand against each other until Yang uppercutted him and knocked him to the floor.
"Yeah! That's my baby! Kick his ass, Yang!" Damion cheered.
"Glad you're enjoying this, buddy." I told him.
"Of course! It's fighting and it involves Yang! Two of my favorite things." He told me with a smirk.
"Yeah. She's got this." I said.
Yang fired a few rounds from her gauntlets at him again, but he did a few backwards summersaults to avoid them, eventually taking himself off the ring. "It's over!" Team BDSS said together, throwing our arms in the air, but he managed to launch himself back into the ring before he touched the ground. "Dammit!" We all said together.
He landed right in front of Yang and the two traded blows again before he threw a powerful jumping rear kick to knock Yang back and fired a round from his grieves, which she dodged. He then smirked and spun on one foot and throwing kicks to launch more rounds with the other, the round spinning around the arena as Yang struggled to dodge a few. Yang and Mercury exchanged a few more blows before he knocked her into the air and slammed her in the ground, the dozens of rounds he fired stopping their spinning motion and crashing down on Yang. "Seriously, what the fuck are those that they can do that?!" I demanded.
"I know, right?! What the fuck!?" Damion asked, both angry at Mercury and his cheating-ass ammunition while being worried for Yang. The crash/explosion left a small area of smoke/mist in the arena that covered Yang and Mercury smirked, dusting himself off and walking away as if he'd won. No FUCKING way. There was then a big explosion and the ring was surrounded by fire as she came out, looking unharmed as she rushed in towards her opponent, who was in disbelief she was still standing. She easily dodged or blocked all of his attacks while throwing her own savage ones and eventually slamming him in the chest, depleting his aura and sending him rolling across the ground, winning her the match.
"What a way to kick off the finals!" Port announced as the crowd cheered and Yang raised a fist in celebration.
"That's it, babe! You did it!" Damion cheered.
"Yeah, Yang!" I cheered as well.
"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Oobleck announced as the arena reconnected with the stadium.
"Yeah! You did it, sis!" Ruby cheered.
"Way to go, Yang!" Blake also cheered.
"No way Yang was gonna lose THAT!" Serena said.
"It came close for a minute, but as always, she turned the tides in an INSTANT." Selene agreed.
Yang wiped the sweat from her forehead as she spoke to Mercury. "Better luck next time." She said, walking away.
"There's not gonna be a next time, blondie!" He said in a murderous tone as he stood up and thew a flying kick towards her.
"Hey!" I snapped.
"Yang!" Damion shouted in warning.
Yang turned and glared at this, slamming her fist down on Mercury's knee, sending a chilling snap through the stadium as he screamed in pain and fell to the floor, the crowd gasping and screaming in horror."My word!" Oobleck said, standing up and leaning in.
"Cut the cameras!" Port ordered.
Angry shouts and insults raged from the audience towards Yang as she glared at Mercury and we walked in as well, ready to restrain him. "What the hell were you thinking?!" Damion demanded, grabbing him by the collar, getting another gasp of shock and horror from the crowd.
Unbeknownst to us, the dinner bell had just started ringing in the abandoned territories of Mountain Glenn, ringing the dinner bell for even the Goliaths that normally ignore humans, telling them all to come to Beacon.
Mercury struggled and eventually pushed off Damion, focusing on holding- "My leg! MY LEG!" He shouted in pain until we started restraining him, but were quickly pushed away and towards Yang by Atlesian Knights that started to surround us all.
"That's what you get, you little- huh?!" She asked when she realized we were surrounded.
"Yang Xiao Long! Team BDSS! Stand down!" They ordered.
"What? Why?!" She asked.
"Oh, come on! You didn't see what just happened?!" I demanded, pointing back to the screen, but then looked in horror at what I saw.
"Mercury!" Emerald shouted, running to his side and glaring at us with hatred in her eyes.
"Why did she do that?! Why did she attack me?!" He demanded.
"You know damn well why!" Damion snapped, starting towards him before being stopped by the knights.
Yang and the rest of my team then looked towards the screen to see Mercury getting up harmlessly while Yang circled him, before starting to walk away, then stopping, turning and throwing a fist to his knee, breaking his leg and knocking him down, completely unprovoked. She then looked around at everyone screaming bloody murder at her and looking to see the terrified faces of her teammates. As we stood there, now pretty much under arrest, even I not having anything to say at this moment, Draco seemed to know exactly what to say. "Well, we're boned!" He said, raising his hands in surrender.