"What is your favourite fairy tale?"
Ruby wondered if there would come a time when she would acclimate to the insanity around her and not be surprised by every little twist and turn to make its way into her life.
She had been accosted, early in the morning, by several armed guards. They had found her sleeping in Kirakishou's room and made enough of a ruckus to wake Ruby from her comforting rest before demanding she immediately accompany them to the headmaster's tower.
Were it not for the actions of her drowsy little doll that had also inadvertently been awoken by the noise, she wondered if she would have been yelling a few choice wordsat the guards that would surely have resulted in a talking to by... nobody. Huh. Ruby had almost forgot that she wasn't in her team's room for a moment. Whilst either Weiss or possibly her big sister would have made a hassle over it, she doubted that her doll would even mind the choice language.
She was very lucky. Ruby was, also, pointedly aware that the grey-haired headmaster was awaiting an answer to a question that she had long since forgotten in her musings. Likely because of a lack of sleep. Probably.
"U-Um, what? Sorry. I wasn't listening."
A few chuckles were heard across the room. She tried not to focus too much on the grating sound of the Atlesian headmaster's gruff voice. Ever since Kirakishou had told her about what was happening with General Ironwood, namely the man holding her mother's corpse and experimenting on it, Ruby had been less than comfortable with the idea of conversing with the man at all.
Frankly, were it not for Kirakishou's words, she'd likely be attacking the man with the same ferocity as she had demonstrated against Laplace-no-ma. Whilst that style of assault had technically led to a serious concussion on her part and she'd likely experience far worse against a man of Ironwood's calibre, Ruby barely care anymore.
The man was experimenting on her mother's body. Because she was a doll. Because of some bullshit moral reasoning that didn't make any damn sense to her whatsoever.
"Ah. The innocent truths of youth." the general chuckled good-naturedly. "What Ozpin was trying to ask was to which fairy tale you find most interesting." Ironwood explained, a note of humour in his sick voice. "Surely you must have learnt quite the fair few. Even during his time walking these halls as a student, Taiyang already possessed quite the repository of age-old tales- surely he's spoken of some."
Ruby forced a grin, pointedly keeping her focus on the Vale headmaster to avoid the eyes of the military general seemingly looming over her shoulder.
"Oh, that's easy! The Girl in the Tower!"
"A-Ah. Really?" Ozpin stammered, much to her increasing bewilderment, seemingly overwhelmed by what should have been a simple answer. She supposed that he must have been assuming that a girl like Ruby would have preferred a different fairy tale. That one wasn't the most well-known of stories, even in this day and age. "Any particular reason?"
"What's not to like?" Ruby boggled. It was such a ridiculous question to her, like asking why a certain colour was somebody's favourite colour. It just was. "I mean, a young woman stays trapped within her ivory tower, unable to escape and see the world. It's all that she's ever wanted. One day, one fateful day, she's finally able to go out and it's all because of a dashing knight's kindness," she gushed enthusiastically, before blushing when she noticed the look that the headmaster was currently sending her way. "...Sorry. I just really like it. Yang would read me stories all the time."
"An interesting choice." Ironwood remarked from the side. "Few have heard that exact tale, fewer still would refer to it as their favourite. Though, with Taiyang's influence anything is possible, so it seems."
"U-Um, yes… right." Ruby muttered, shaking her head at the onset of memories currently running through her mind. Her dad had first told her and Yang that story long ago when they were really young, perhaps around when Ruby was six or so? She wasn't that certain about the date, only that it had occurred a few months after mom had been pronounced dead. They'd both had trouble sleeping one night and Tai had stayed up reading stories to them until they fell asleep.
It was… a beautiful memory, but it also held a lot of pain for her. In honour of her mother, she would treasure the moment for as long as she could remember, no matter what feelings it managed to conjure up in her heart.
"That is quite the old tale." Ozpin added after a moment. "Yet, conversely, I find myself not too surprised to find some still remembering the Girl in the Tower. A timeless classic, of sorts." He gave a low smile, but for some reason all that Ruby could find in his smile was pain. "However, Miss Rose, take a moment to ask yourself this question; how do you believe myths and legends came into being in the first place?"
An answer came to her mind immediately.
"That's easy. It's a story of a story," she responded curtly, gazing off through the nearby glass window and into the distance. "...Out there, somewhere, a person does something interesting. They decide to tell somebody about it. That person tells another, but they don't quite get the facts straight. Certain points deviate over and over again until the current iteration of the story isn't quite the same as the original."
"Perfect. A sound answer." Glynda's voice rang out, startling Ruby considerably. Oh. Right. The deputy headmistress had been silent throughout their chat that she hadn't noticed the woman's presence whatsoever. "However, there comes a time when a myth or legend continues to hold a grain of truth inside even after many repetitions and revisions."
Ruby eyes narrowed suspiciously at blond deputy's words. She knew all that already. It had been one of the things that made her so fascinated with all of the stories that dad would tell her as a kid. Trying to discern the truth from all the made up stuff had been one of the main topics for discussion with her dad, when they weren't talking about school or reminiscing about mom.
But she was certain that Glynda had already known that about her. So, especially coming from the rather stern deputy headmistress, why would she bother to say it in the first place?
"I-I get what you're saying," Ruby tried to explain in a way that didn't come off as too confrontational, "but what does all this have to do with me? If this is about history class with Professor Oobleck then, um, I just have trouble writing things down in the way he likes. It's hard to get my words out sometimes, ya'know?"
The silence that pervaded the room for a brief moment told Ruby she had failed entirely in setting an appropriate mood.
"Well…" Ozpin spoke, glancing around the room before sighing heavily when Ironwood gave a heavy gesture for him to continue. "...Very well. Miss Rose, have you ever heard The Story of the Seasons?"
She perked up immediately. This was a topic that she could understand, even if she wasn't entirely certain what an old fairy tale had to do with Ozpin and Ironwood's request for her presence. Nevertheless, if she was to find out what was happening with her mother and discover the sudden interest in herself, she had to play nice with everyone.
Even if all she wanted to do was spend some time with her doll. Perhaps read her a few stories…
"W-Well," shaking her head in order to get rid of the blissful fantasy playing out in her mind Ruby opted to speak up, "I guess… I know a bit about it. Not really a favourite story for me. But from what I remember dad said it had to do with four women. They had mysterious powers and were capable of killing off a whole bunch of grimm seemingly without much effort." She paused, before blushing. "Sounded kinda weird to me, to be honest. I mean, isn't that just a semblance then? Perhaps it was an early legend before people really caught on to semblances and aura."
Ozpin chuckled, but there wasn't any mirth in his eyes. If anything he seemed rather bitter about the topic. But that didn't make any sense to her. Why would he be annoyed at a discussion that he himself started? It was yet another odd reaction to an older story by Ozpin that was beginning to become rather off-putting in her mind. If anything, the Atlesian headmaster seemed rather reluctant to continue, requiring General Ironwood to continuously goad him forwards.
"Tomorrow, Ironwood will summon you again. He will explain."
Yes. That was right. Kirakishou had said those words to her yesterday whilst they were eavesdropping on a conversation with Ironwood and Ozpin using her weird N-Field power. Whilst at the time Ruby had been far too overwhelmed with the doll's unique abilities and her demonstration of them, now that she was speaking with the two headmasters, things were starting to make sense.
He's not happy because he doesn't want to talk about it. Ruby realised suddenly, looking up at the Vale Headmaster with some degree of surprise. Something about this topic really bothers Ozpin and if it wasn't for Ironwood pressuring him, he'd likely have never spoken about it in the first place. Pain and loss. Something happened involving these stories.
But what was it about the topic of fairy tales that had generated such a reaction? That was the question that Ruby desperately wanted answered. What, also, did it have to do with Ironwood's request that had fascinated her doll so much?
How is this all connected? What was Glynda hinting at before? Myths and reality, fiction and non-fiction. Somewhere there is a string tying all of this together. I just need to find it, or at least hold off from getting too annoyed at Ironwood before he forces Ozpin to tell me.
Perhaps that's why Kirakishou wanted Ironwood to speak with me? He's like a social battering ram that ensures Ozpin keeps speaking, no matter what happens.
"A… concise description." Ozpin was saying, "The Four Maidens visited an old man who refused to leave his home. Though their combined effort, they were able to bring him out of his reclusive nature and encourage him to venture out into the world. In thanks for their efforts, he rewarded them with great powers so that they may continue to help others. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The Four Maidens."
She found herself almost underwhelmed by the Headmaster's retelling of the tale of the four seasons and their maidens. It seemed remarkably lacking in tone, as if the man was simply reading from a book instead of trying to engage her. It... just seemed so utterly alien compared to the previous times that she'd been read the story as a kid. How long had it been since she had listened to her father telling her that particular fairy tale before bed? How long since Yang had done her own funny little retelling with robots and ninjas and pirates? Oum, a part of her missed those moments of simplicity.
Before Yang grew to become the overbearing sister she was today. Before her dad came to Vale with her mother's dead body and pronounced her a fake. Before Ironwood dared to conduct experiments on Summer's corpse in some ASININE-
No. She couldn't think of it. She mustn't think of it. Not now. She needed to get her head in the game and finally start to figure out all this convoluted bullcrap so she could go back home to her doll and play with her again.
"T-T-That's a really nice story, but, um…" Ruby tried to force out her sentence whilst pushing away all of the bad thoughts that were occupying her mind, "I, um, that is to say…."
"-You don't know how it all ties in with why we've called you here today?" Ironwood finished before her, chuckling lowly. "Well, the answer is quite simple. What if, Miss Rose, that the fairytale Taiyang used to tell you was real?"
"R-Real?" Ruby blurted out, her heart hammering in the confines of her chest seemingly out of its own accord.
Ozpin gave a long drawn out sigh, taking a sip of his hot cocoa and leaning back in his chair. The sound alone was enough to attract her attention. "Yes, Miss Rose. There were four maidens existing in this world- able to wield a power in this world without the use of dust or the activation of a semblance. Almost as if by magic."
The question slipped out of her lips before she had a chance to stop it. "W-What happened to them?"
In response, the Atlesian Headmaster had a single curt answer. "What do you believe would happen if the world would learn of the existence of four maidens wielding what is, essentially, magic?"
She looked down at her hands, which had reflexively curled into tiny fists atop her lap. Unbidden, the memory of Laplace-no-ma's smiling visage warped with Qrow's face flashed through her mind like a sudden jolt of electricity.
"...They would be hunted down for their powers."
"You are indeed correct." Ironwood said, his tone lightly praising despite the dark atmosphere permeating the room. "When the world originally found out about the four maidens, groups arose which sought to end the maidens. Whether it be out of a fear for their power, or a mad desire to harness the power for their own means, that much varied from group to group. In the end, however, the result was the same regardless of their intentions. The four maidens were slaughtered. One by one."
"That's horrible." Ruby whispered, reflexive tears welling up in her eyes. It was enough to remind her of her previous talk with Ironwood about Kirakishou's confinement and his belief regarding Ozpin's reason for the actual confinement. People would be hunting the doll for her power. Would the same thing happen to Kirakishou like it did for the four maidens?
Like what had happened to her mother? Hunted down because she was different? It was a terrible thing to imagine. Kirakishou was hers and hers alone. She wouldn't let anybody touch her. Nobody would harm her doll like Laplace had harmed her mother.
Nobody.
Even if she had to beat up every freak that came running to her that wanted to steal away her doll, she'd never stop fighting until they were all gone.
"Only after the four maidens were killed, did humanity discover a terrible truth." Ozpin slowly continued when she failed to respond. "The power of the maidens- Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall… it did not fade with its owners. No. It sought out new hosts." he revealed. "Since then, the game changed. People became utterly convinced they could steal the power of the maidens for themselves. All factions who once hunted the maidens soon united into a singular group with the sole intent of capturing the maiden's power for their own selfish purposes."
"But something had to have happened." Ruby pressed suddenly, emotion flooding through her body at the sheer thought. "The story of the seasons is just a myth! If-If it was as you say, that these maidens and their powers are real, then we'd know about it! Because it's a myth, and not a popular one but an older one, then something had to have happened in the past to make people forget about it."
"Exactly true." Ozpin nodded. "Decades ago, there also existed certain groups who saw the destruction caused by the various sects hunting Maidens and sought to end it once and for all. Through careful manipulation and enough time, the story of the maidens faded into obscurity and so to did those who hunted their powers. But, the power of the maidens did not fade with their story. It continues to exist today."
"Okay… But, um, why are you telling me this? Wouldn't that big kind of a big secret to tell to just anyone?"
For a moment, the headmaster paused, looking off to the side. In the reflection of the glass window nearby, she could catch a glimpse of hardened eyes and a cold expression. When the man turned back to face her the expression was gone and replaced with a weary frown.
"We're telling you, Miss Rose, because it has come to my attention that you may be next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."
"Having fun, ladies?"
Emerald rolled her eyes at the sarcastic question coming from her partner as he walked into the door, interrupting the previously relaxed atmosphere that she'd been enjoying with her beloved mistress.
From what she had been allowed to know, Cinder was preparing for the next stage of the plan at the current moment. Through their connection with the Loki virus implanted within the Vale Cross Continental Transmit Tower, her mistress was able to hijack various incoming and outgoing signals and alter their properties to suit her needs.
Up to and including affecting the Vytal Festival Tournament.
However, her mistress had been uncomfortably silent about the Loki virus following her previous order to Emerald just last night. They hadn't had a chance to truly speak yet, as the VPD and Atlas Security officials had been sent into a frenzy following the brawl surrounding the CCT Tower.
"Tsk. Fun. Definitely." Emerald snarked, throwing a pillow at the silver-haired boy. "Come on. Get in. We need to talk about last night."
"Yeah yeah~" the assassin caught the pillow, opting to use it to slump against the wall with a pleasant grunt of relief.
She tried not to fidget at the movement.
Honestly, she mentions that damaging the wall may have the potential to ruin their cover one damn time and suddenly all the infuriating boy wants to do for the next three weeks straight is lean against the wall whenever he had the chance. Always in the same spot as well. It was freaking horrible.
She did not want to have to talk with oum-damned Ozpin himself and have to explain why her patricidal teammate decided to leave an idiot-shaped hole in the drywall. Especially when all of their plans, essentially, revolved around absolute secrecy.
They NEEDED to be the perfect team. Or else it would hinder her mistress' plans. Why couldn't he just understand that?!
"Now now, play nice, Emerald." Cinder cooed softly, her blazing amber eyes never leaving the scroll in front of her. "I'm sure our dear friend understands the gravity of the situation, no?"
She shivered. Cinder may not have looked up, but she damn-well didn't need to. The tone of voice enough was frigid enough on its own. Were it to be combined with the heat of her glare, it would have been pointless overkill.
Or, conversely, enough to taunt Mercury into provoking her mistress. She would prefer if she didn't have to fight the boy on Cinder's behalf. Purely because finding another fool would be far too difficult at this stage of the operation. Not at all because the remorseless killer assigned to be her partner scared the pants off her at times.
"Right, I gotcha." Mercury huffed, leaning up against the wall with a little extra force. Enough to make a sound even with the pillow muffling things. "You want to hear about last night, huh? Ems didn't fill you in?"
She crossed her arms, looking away. "You know how it was, Mercury. You saw what happened. A covert meetup would have attracted unnecessary eyes."
Much to her ire, looking away from the infuriating assassin didn't do anything to stop her from hearing his scoff of derision. "...In our own dorm room. Right. Of course."
Cinder finally glanced up. When she did, her eyes were blazing. "Enough. Begin your report. What exactly happened when you two followed after Ruby Rose? What did you find?"
"What'd we find?" Mercury repeated, frowning as he looked down. "A pissed off little girl with a scythe coupled with Kirakishou, the two of them fighting some freak looking like Qrow Freaking Branwen."
"Qrow Branwen, you say? The brother of the bandit leader?" Cinder raised an eyebrow. "And, am I to assume by the 'pissed off little girl' you are referring to is Ruby Rose?"
"Yeah, it was Ruby alright." Mercury admitted with a nod. "Hard not to recognise her after all the hassle last night at the dance. But-"
"It wasn't Qrow." Emerald felt the need to refute, "It looked like him, but he didn't fight like his dossier described. Ruby, who indeed was there fighting him, kept screaming at him and calling him 'Laplace Nomar'. So I'm assuming either a shapeshifting semblance or even an illusionary semblance of some kind." she answered, before blushing in embarrassment. "I… tried to search up the name with known aliases, but nobody's ever heard of him. Admittedly it's possible that I may have misheard the name. Sounds foreign enough."
"If it's any consolation once the blond squirt's little girlfriend arrived they were able to capture him pretty quickly." Mercury added derisively, looking upset about the mere mention of the girl who knew his past. "From what I could tell, Kirakishou used some form of flashbang to knock out the impostor before it could break free of a bunch of her vines. Lucky break, too. Guy seemed pretty strong. Should be under either Atlas or Vale custody right about now, provided ol' Ozzie hasn't interfered."
She rolled her eyes at the stupid little name that Mercury seemed to think was fitting for their number one adversary and the current headmaster of the school they were currently in the middle of infiltrating. Apparently he felt like being a nicknamer today, of all things.
"Laplace…" Cinder muttered lowly, a quizzical look on her face as she opened up her scroll once more. "Interesting. Very interesting."
"Oh?" Mercury caught on immediately, perking up from his prone position to try and get a good look at Cinder's scroll. "You know this creep?"
Rather than lashing out as Emerald half expected her mistress to do, as was practically tradition at this point regarding Mercury's lack of tact, Cinder merely gave a low hum at the question as she frantically scrolled through what appeared to be a large mass of data.
"...There is something." she muttered underneath her breath, just loud enough that Emerald was able to hear it. "The data is encrypted, but I'm certain I've read that name before."
"W-What about the VPD?" Emerald spoke up, flinching when Cinder's eyes snapped to her in an instant. There was a wildness held in those eyes that frightened her immensely. "If there's a third party wrecking things with everything that's happened recently it could send them into a frenzy. It may even be enough to shut down the Vytal Festival, or even have it moved somewhere else."
"Whilst your insights are concerning in theory, you needn't worry." Cinder answered, flicking a hand dismissively. "By the time the VPD learn about what has transpired, we will be long gone."
"...You're implying that the VPD won't be learning of our involvement anytime soon, then." Mercury noted with a tone of suspicion.
"Correct." she nodded, glancing out into the window. Her eyes flared with power. "It would seem our little duumvirate of headmasters has chosen to keep things under wraps for the meantime. If we are to consider the past experiences of both Ozpin and Ironwood, their policies concerning secrecy likely will not be changing anytime soon."
"Guess that's one thing we don't have to deal with, then." Mercury noted before flicking open his scroll, quickly losing interest in the conversation once his point had been made.
Emerald sent a frustrated glance in the assassin's direction before turning back to her mistress.
"...Neo has also been requesting an update. She's saying that it's for Torchwick, but I'm guessing she's just all concerned about Kirakishou. It's all the girl ever talks about." Emerald said, before pausing. "W-Well, not talks about considering- but, you know what I-"
"Yes, yes. She's mute. She texts." Cinder nodded disinterestedly, a touch of distaste entering her tone. It was a troubling time for such a prestigious asset to essentially go rogue. Having Neopolitan shadow the group had been an unexpected boon after encountering Tourchwick- whilst none of her major plans outright required the girl, Cinder had found having her around to be useful in smoothing over the more dangerous operations.
It also helped that most of the lower-echelon White Fang were terrified of the mute lunatic. If any further deviations could be avoided by placating the girl, then it would spell less potential for complications in the distant future.
"Give her what she wants. Full information on Kirakishou. Everything we know. Exclude, however, all mentions regarding the device in her room. If she asks, state that it was a simple sweep to check for information. Nothing more."
Mercury snorted distastefully. The two spared him a glance. Ever since Kirakishou had revealed sensitive information regarding Mercury's departed father, the boy had grown increasingly agitated upon mention of her name. If the device they had planted failed to kill the girl, it was possible that the assassin would attempt to end her life personally.
Which, needless to say, would significantly upset their plans. Kirakishou had shown herself to be volatile at the slightest provocation, plus she had doubts as to Mercury's chances of success against the crazed blond. Doubts that judging by Cinder's troubled expression were equally shared.
Perhaps it was best to change the subject away from the topic of the interfering girl. "S-So the Loki virus was able to remain undetected?"
"Yes yes, of course. However, it is behaving… strangely." Cinder muttered. "Information is being sent in sudden bursts of heavily encrypted data chunks, not a constant unencrypted stream as he said it would… It will take time to decrypt it all manually. But the files I have decrypted are rather unsettling."
"Oh? How so? Shouldn't the standard lien-a-dozen ops-code be relatively easy to decrypt with the right ciphers?" Mercury inquired. She looked at him weirdly and the boy raised his hands defensively. "What? Lot of gigs feature a need for a bit of technical know-how. Don't bust my balls for attempting to learn a bit more. Sheesh. Though I may get the wording wrong occasionally, at least I'm trying ems."
"There are large scrambles of text that seemingly make no sense. Junk combinations of phrases and words that make no sense. At this point I'm almost certain that it's corrupted, or is encoded somehow. All I can hope is that the rest of the data sent over remains usable once I've managed to decrypt it. The largest file to be decrypted so far has proven almost completely useless."
Emerald blinked at the mass of information. She had no idea her mistress was so tech-savvy. Or that her partner Mercury could display interest about anything other than killing people.
"...Is there anything interesting on it?"
"There's one thing." Cinder murmured as she brought up a holographic display. "A single page of text. All it does it repeat a singular word. I'm thinking it's a passphrase of some kind, or a key for another cipher. Similar to another file I found which featured Laplace's name. Though this is… different somehow."
She stared up at the blue-light holographic illuminating the room. As her mistress had stated there was indeed a text document on display repeating a singular word over and over again.
THORNS THORNS THORNS THORNS THORNS THORNS THORNS.
Down.
Down.
Down.
How far is this damn elevator? Ruby thought grumpily, feeling more than a little self-conscious sandwiched between two headmasters and Beacon's deputy headmistress. Following Ozpin's reveal about the Four Maidens and his supposed belief in her being the next in line to receive one of their powers, she had been all-too eager to learn more about the maidens themselves.
Which, much to her surprise, had led to the revelation that one of the four maidens was held beneath the school itself. From what she had been able to gather so far from the suddenly tight-lipped professors, the current maiden was suffering from some medical issue of some kind. When she had probed further they had clammed up and refused to answer anything until they arrived.
Thus she was stuck.
Stuck in the damn elevator that had been playing the worst music she had EVER HEARD-
click.
"OhfinallyIthoughtIwasgoingtodieeeee." Ruby breathed out in relief, all but rushing out of the elevator as quickly as she possibly could. From the awkward chuckles she could hear behind her, at least they weren't mad or offended or whatever the appropriate term was.
Not that she cared. Not really. But she wanted to learn more about the maidens and people tended to withhold information when they were mad at you, as she had learnt from her lovely big sister when they were growing up.
People were really petty. It was a trait that she was glad wasn't prevalent in her wonderful Rozen Maiden. The doll actually listened to her. And, were Kirakishou to have been completely honest about her powers, was actively listening to Ruby right at this very moment. While she was not entirely certain how it worked (as the doll hadn't actually told her on the account of Ruby being a little emotional at the time) she supposed that the intricacies didn't matter too much in the end. People listened in a bunch of different ways- whether it be using big faunus ears, little human ears, or mystical doll powers.
It saved her having to carefully explain what had happened to the doll. Instead, they could go straight to planning about what they were going to do with all of the information presented to them. Hopefully Kirakishou wouldn't react too badly about the maidens, because gaining what was essentially magic superpowers was a childhood dream that had persisted for a little longer than it should have.
...Though the whole being hunted for having them spiel wasn't quite what she had previously imagined as a kid.
When she found herself looking up, however, any thought of speaking up about her concerns died a vicious death. She found herself inside a vast and dimly lit marble hallway of sorts, barely illuminated by glowing torches mounted atop a black stone wall on either side- the torches seemingly casting a pale green light not unlike the subtle glow from the crystals that Kirakishou had worn to the Vytal Festival Dance.
But what scared her most was the atmosphere. Unlike Beacon Academy above them, this corridor was almost completely silent barring the low whirring of a machine in the distance and the subtle crackle of the various torches. The air seemed thin, yet conversely heavy in a manner she'd never experienced before in her life. Each breath felt as if a weight was settling deep inside her lungs, suffocating her from the inside out.
Yet, her breathing never faltered, not even for an instant. Perhaps it's just a trick of the mind or something. She thought. They wouldn't have brought me down her just to have me suffocate alongside them. It's not like they're wearing gas masks or something…
"Are you alright, Miss Rose?" Glynda's voice startled her out of her funk as they walked, "While the sight of the vault can be overwhelming at first-"
"I-It's not that." Ruby interrupted nervously, fidgeting as the conversation drew the attention of Ironwood and Ozpin. "It's the air. It feels weird. Plus it's just so quiet here. It feels wrong, somehow. I don't know. Maybe I'm just claustrophobic."
"I can assure you that their air is completely safe." Ironwood spoke up, his voice low yet easily distinguishable in the absence of outside sounds. "The feeling you are experiencing is common at this depth. Keep your wits sharp and you'll be fine."
She reasoned that the general was probably trying to sound reassuring, but whenever she heard his voice all that Ruby could think about was the knowledge that this man held custody of her mother's body.
"R-Right… Of course..." she muttered, wringing her arms nervously as she hesitantly followed along with the group of adults as they led her further into the vault. "W-What even is this place?"
It was massive. She could spot several hallways branching off in different directions, all lit by the same pale green wall-mounted torches and sporting similar architecture to the main hallway. It seemed almost like a maze filled with multiple subsections and branches. Who knew how much was contained in this forgotten place?
"You could say that it is a type of vault." Ozpin explained, gesturing about. "Throughout the years there are numerous objects that students of hunters in the field discover that are, shall we say, unfit for exposure to the public eye. In the interest of safeguarding humanity, these objects are stored here."
Including the Fall Maiden herself went left unsaid, but to Ruby's mind it was all too clear. She just couldn't understand how someone would ever want to be confined in such a lonely place. Hopefully there was good wifi or something.
It was just so empty, so quiet, if not for the buzzing of some machine in the background. Come to think of it, she could actually make it out now. They were getting close enough. Looked to be a… generator of some kind? Wires running all over the place with two large cylindrical objects. One of them was open and looked like a generic metal tube whilst the other was closed up.
She could see something inside, through a tube of glass-
"Now," Glynda spoke up with a resigned tone, "now you meet our Fall Maiden."
"Is that..?"
"Amber. Yes." Ironwood affirmed with a nod, glancing down at a nearby terminal as he flicked through a vitals display similar to those she had seen in the Beacon Academy infirmary. "As you can likely estimate, her condition is not medically stable."
She looked so… so lifeless… held in a glass container and attached to a respirator of some kind. Too weak to even breathe on her own. There were horrid scars on her face, looking almost like severe chemical burns.
"What happened to her?"
Ironwood tore his attention away from the terminal to focus on her. She wilted under his steely-eyed gaze. Only when a gloved hand touched her shoulder did she think to stare up at him.
There was an odd warmth to his gaze in place of his previous expression, one that vaguely reminded her of her dad in a weird way. Albeit a really grumpy version that has horrible taste in fashion.
"...Do you remember how we spoke of the various groups that sought to attack the Four Maidens?" she nodded her head slowly, squirming under his grip. Unlike Kirakishou his hand was uncomfortably tight against her and her discomfort was flaring something fierce. "For the first time in history, someone seeking to harness the power of a maiden for themselves was met with some degree of success."
"S-Success?"
He nodded, pulling away from her much to her inner relief and turning to walk up to Amber's life support pod. She could see his reflection in the glass. "Only partially. The assailant used an unknown ability to harvest Amber's maiden power for herself. Were it not for the intervention of an operative of ours that had been surveying the scene, the assailant may very well have succeeded in fully harvesting Amber's power."
Ozpin coughed loudly, drawing her attention away from the general. "...Which leads us to our problem." the headmaster said with a particularly hard tone. "Whilst the one behind Amber's condition did not fully harvest the Fall Maiden's power, they were able to steal a sizeable portion of the power. It is now split between hosts."
"W-What does that mean?" Ruby asked, confused.
"As you have been informed," Ironwood began with a cough, "the Four Maidens were once hunted for their powers under the belief they would transfer to a new host. This was only discovered after the original maidens were killed and their powers manifested in another. Yet for the first time in history there exists a situation where the Fall Maiden's power currently resides within two different people. The original maiden herself- plus her assailant. There exists the concern that were Amber to be allowed to pass on, her power would not seek out its next host, but the other piece."
"The piece that is held by her assailant…" Ruby realised with a gasp of horror. "So, um, is that why she is being kept… like this?"
"You are indeed correct." the general nodded, looking pleased with her inquiry. "For a long time, keeping Amber medically preserved in a coma-like state has been all that we have been able to do to prevent the maiden power from potentially seeking out its other half. Until certain scientific developments led to the creation of an… alternate route."
But what could possibly be the alternative to, well, death? If the maiden powers transfer when the previous host dies, then what do I have to do with all of this?
Ruby just didn't understand what was going on. Having so much nonsense thrown at her by people she didn't trust was beginning to become overwhelming. It was like one of Oobleck's lectures all over again.
At least when Kirakishou was revealing her Rozen Maiden powers there had been at least some form of demonstration involved. All that Ruby had to rely on was Ozpin's word, some secret vault underneath the school and a girl hooked up to some funky Atlesian life support machine that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie. And she didn't even like sci-fi!
"Recently," Ironwood continued, "Atlesian scientists have directed their interests towards the concept of aura itself. How to harness it. Control it. And, most importantly, transfer it into unique vessels. Rather similar to the transference of Maiden Powers, in a way."
Harnessing aura for some scientific interest? That's-
"Despite the questionable nature of James' recent advancements, it is frankly the only option we have left." Glynda interrupted her musings with a cold tone sent to the Atlesian headmaster. Judging by the look on the deputy headmistress's face Ruby suspected that it was a rather sore subject for the woman. "If you would allow us, we would attempt to transfer Amber's remaining aura to you and, in doing so, hopefully also transfer her maiden powers to their rightful successor."
"However," Ozpin spoke up, "do not make your decision rashly. Transferring aura between two living candidates has never been attempted in known history. There exists the possibility of certain complications, namely in how your own aura may interact with a foreign presence. I urge you to take some time to think about what exactly we are offering. For now, return to your classes and consider your options."
She breathed in a harsh breath, feeling anxiety bubble up in her heart. This was so much more than what Ruby had been expecting when she had been forcibly taken to see the headmasters. A fairy tale turning out to be real, the existence of the four maidens, people hunting their magical powers to take for themselves, believing Ruby herself to be the next candidate for the Fall Maiden's power… it was too much to deal with.
Ozpin was right. She needed time to think about things. She couldn't be making any rash decisions.
But what should she do?!
A/N:
And so it begins, the spiral into some major scenes. To think that a whole thirty chapters have been published, oh my. The story is progressing and, as you all can see, has deviated significantly from canon. I do hope you're all enjoying it so far!
One can only wonder what else will be occurring in the future, now that so much has changed.
But, above all else, how will Ruby take all of this?
Until next time! Please, feel free to write a review! We're so close to a hundred total reviews for the story now! A big thank you for all of your support in the story so far. I couldn't have managed this without you all.