He admitted she wasn't the first choice. It was the first time anyone had told her she was someone's second choice. It was also the first time she'd let that sort of thing slide without some snarky comment.
She didn't have time to dwell on a bruised ego. She didn't unleash her acid tongue now, when they were already facing dire straits.
Velvet had been taken down by the Paladin. Yatsuhashi was off protecting as many others as he could, recklessly wearing down his Aura in the process. Only Fox was there to accompany her when Ozpin waited for them atop Beacon's steps.
When Ozpin's back was to them, he found her hand and gave her an encouraging squeeze. He alone knew she felt the trepidation, and he alone acknowledged it. Ozpin wouldn't look back, and she'd never say a word.
She gently squeezed back. Just being crammed together in the elevator was hard enough; she was already reminding herself there was more than enough air for everyone. He helped her find her rhythm again.
She hadn't realized how many levels the tower had. She had expected there might have been something below ground, but not several floors underneath...
"Mr. Alistair, stand guard here," Ozpin requested. "Just in case we were followed."
Followed...?
She didn't have time to think on any of that. She was too busy looking at what lay ahead of her to bother looking back.
She didn't know the technology, but she assumed it had some medical purpose. The brown-haired woman in the pod... it had to be some method of sustaining her life, of...
She noticed the connection from one pod to another. She may not have known the exact purpose, but she had an inkling what it was for...
Keeping her alive, perhaps, but only temporarily. Only long enough for-
Coco finally turned to meet Ozpin's eye. He was tapping away at a console, unsealing the second, unoccupied pod with a sharp hiss.
"Are you certain?" Ozpin asked her.
Certain...?
How could she be certain of anything? How could she look at all this and find any sort of coherent thought?
What Ozpin was asking of her...
Coco believed in duty. She believed in giving of oneself for some greater, communal effort. She became a Huntress rather than rest on her laurels -rather than know a life of wealth, privilege, and safety- because she believed in something bigger than that... something more than the material, something intangible and built on will and faith rather than cobbled from the riches of the world.
But she also believed in freedom. She hadn't gone to Atlas to sign up to fight for their military. She hadn't intended to become a Huntress to serve the kingdom of Vale, or be consigned to a single village as a guardian. She wanted to see the world and experience its wonders and to meet new people in the process of protecting them from criminals and monsters.
This girl... Coco didn't even know her name. Coco didn't know what this... Maiden had wanted for herself; if she even knew she was still alive, and able to consent to this process. And once Ozpin completed it, what became of that life?
Would she die? Or would her soul -not only her power, but something greater- join Coco's own and result in someone entirely new?
To give herself so completely to duty and service... she had never intended to do that.
Coco was not used to hesitation. It was not like her to waver.
"I... need to hear you say it," Ozpin gently nudged her.
He wouldn't force her to choose. He only reminded her the urgency of making that decision.
When faced with the threat of her friends and loved ones being overrun by the Grimm, Coco thought herself selfish for hesitating.
When faced with the prospect of ceasing to be who she was -or taking another person's life to steal the power they'd inherited- Coco wondered if anyone was capable of making such a choice in any sort of rational state of mind.
She liked who she was. She didn't want to be anything more than that.
But she understood needing to do more. She understood making sacrifices for the sake of others. She'd already seen people carried off by the Grimm as they swarmed through Beacon... including students from other kingdoms who could've chosen to run away instead of defend a foreign school.
She didn't want it. She didn't want this power, because it was a burden that would forever mark her, deny her the freedom to travel the world and have the adventures she'd looked forward to.
But if she didn't act, the Grimm would continue their attack. Velvet and Yatsuhashi could be overwhelmed. If the Grimm massed in enough numbers, they could break through Vale's defenses and threaten her brothers, her parents...
She hated to think she had no choice. But right then, choice felt more like formality.
Coco nodded. "Do it."
She insisted -always- on sounding more confident than she felt.
She was wary about stepping into the chamber. When the pod sealed around her, she carefully counted every breath and told herself -again and again- there was enough air in the tight space. She wouldn't be long...
Fox was facing away from them. He could see nothing, but he could listen... he could focus on any enemy who may have followed, and find them before even someone like Ozpin noticed.
Ozpin pressed on the console. Lights illuminated the adjacent chamber, and Coco heard it start to shake and rattle at her side.
She pressed her hand against the glass. Just a few moments. Just long enough...
The energy surged from the second pod. Coco felt it strike like a burst of electricity into her back.
She bit her lip, trying not to scream. If Fox heard her cry out, he'd turn back, he'd rush over to help her. Her resolve to act would be undermined, and maybe this would've been for nothing.
Coco scratched at the glass, breathing hard. She had nowhere to go... the space was getting tighter... the air was running out fast... Coco clamped her eyes shut to not see the tight confines, to not think about where she was as she was bombarded by energy.
No, she insisted. No, she was fine. She was going to make it. Ozpin would finish the process and open the chamber... she just had to hold on... just had to believe this would all be enough to make a difference...
When she dared to open her eyes, Coco saw a flash in the darkness of the chamber; a glint of clashing steel. She saw a burst of red as Fox parried... something in the dark.
He was in danger. Someone had followed them... someone was trying to stop this...
She saw Fox stagger back, an arrow jutting from his shoulder. Still he defended her, still he held the line...
The stabbing in her back... if he could bare the pain, Coco would just have to do it too...
A hiss. The pod opened, and Coco drew in as many greedy breaths as she could. She quickly dragged herself out, falling to the tiled floor.
When she looked up, she saw a woman standing over Fox... beautiful amber eyes, long raven hair... Coco might've asked her for her number had she not just hurt Coco's partner. That action alone was enough to sour her on any pretty girl.
Coco didn't know her name, but knew why she'd come. She wanted power, she wanted the incredible magic that had dwelled in that chamber. It burned in those amber eyes... literally burned, as Aura swirled around like fire.
Coco felt her anger build as her strength returned. Free from the pod, out in the open air, and with her friend in danger...
Her sunglasses contorted. Coco didn't even have time to pull them away: they melted, splitting into pieces and sliding off her face as her own fire poured from her brown eyes.
In that moment, there was never any choice. She didn't need to be Coco Adel, the woman with goals, with faith... she was the Fall Maiden, the guardian against threats emerging from the darkness.
Coco spread her hands and illuminated the room with fire and lightning, facing down this assassin in Fox's stead. She didn't know if this new power would make her any more effective at fending off this unfamiliar threat, but so long as her friends remained in danger... that was all she needed to know.
Coco stepped forward. Her feet lifted up from the tiled floor, stepping on the cushioned air as easily as she walked along the ground.
Confidently stepping forward... whatever she was now, she still had that.
Her assassin stepped forward to meet her. The two Fall Maidens clashed, illuminating the darkness with every strike.
