CW: Character Death, Gore

Beacon Academy was the hope of the world. The forefront of Huntsman training in Vale and paramount among the Academies of all the Kingdoms. Students from all of Remnant, from the wealthy and elite families of Atlas to the lost wanderers of Mistral and Vacuo, and the finest aspirants of Vale—plus one aggravatingly notable fraud—came to this place to become Huntsmen. They were entrusted with the future of the Kingdoms, and so they were given a degree of freedom and latitude students wouldn't get in a more militarized academy.

It was also a fortress of hidden secrets.

Unsurprisingly, the two did not fit well together.

Really, Roman was almost offended by the amateurishness he'd seen in this operation. Their opponent, this global conspiracy of near-total power, had been so preoccupied with a sense that no one would ever make a move against a Huntsman Academy—despite the fact they were abundantly aware of whatever it was that Cinder and Amber's faction was up to—that they'd done almost nothing to resolve this contradiction. Frankly, it was an insult. They had to choose between presenting an open environment for students to grow in or a closed environment to keep their secrets hidden against people like Roman and Cinder, and they'd chosen the former.

It'd only taken a little forensic accounting—Beacon was publicly funded, and while Vale had a black budget for certain matters, they weren't expecting someone like Roman to take a look at it—to turn up payments to an Atlesian security contractor who, with Cinder's connections, "misplaced" some schematics. With their hack, they had acquired the info needed to print a copy of Ms. Glynda Goodwitch's ID, and with the schematics for the keypad, Roman just needed to put a lockpick riiiiiiiight- yep, the click of the lock opened, "passcode" recognized and access granted.

He opened the door, using Melodic Cudgel to gently nudge the security camera—seriously, he'd burgled houses that didn't make so many basic security mistakes—out of the way and gestured for Cinder to follow behind him. There wasn't as much point in being subtle now, they were very much leaving a trace of their passage when they made Amber disappear, but keeping their faces, or maybe just Cinder's, off their records would help keep things neat and tidy.

Come to think of it, they probably were going to drop the hammer on him after this went down, what with him being their only lead to find Cinder. Not that it'd be hard to avoid, there'd been more manhunts after Roman than he could count by now and they never figured out enough of how the underworld actually looked to catch him, but with Atlas money… they'd probably be after him for a good long while. Might even have to escape a Specialist team at some point. Ah, but he was getting ahead of himself…

Double checking for any signs of additional security features, Roman signaled the all clear, then gestured to the stairs. "Ladies first," he said with a bow.

"Always the gentleman..." she said, an amused grin on her face as she took the lead.

Roman had… made some bad decisions in his life. He'd made some exceptionally bad decisions recently. And the worst decision of all, the worst he could ever imagine making, he'd done the night of their infiltration of the CCT. The long night of their infiltration.

A night spent in the boudoir of Cinder Fall.

They had both seemed more surprised that they were doing it than anything, a level of surprise that had meant they hadn't done all that much, but Roman's emotional maelstrom of stress, worry, loneliness, and that seething paternalistic rage that was aimed right at Jaune Arc as he no doubt was trying to steal a base, had all come together to make him weak. And Cinder wasn't a woman who let weakness pass her by without striking, even when she herself seemed to realize that neither of them should have wanted this.

A night of idiotic passion, like he was a teenager, and now she had hooks in him Roman didn't like thinking about. She'd given him one barb the next morning, complimenting his skill as a "lockpick," then adding, "You know, most men don't enjoy it when I-" before he cut her off with a pillow to the face.

And then she swiped his hat, which was definitely a barb, but she looked… rather fetching in only a bowler, so Roman wasn't able to really count it against her.

But that idiocy had, at least, made the last steps of planning… easier in some ways. She'd gotten her leverage on him which meant she didn't have to go for Pyrrha and Jaune. Never anything that had to be said, but a knowing look (made, of course, in front of Neo who had chewed him out for it later) was all she needed as she passed over the intel from the hack. Roman was able to put this plan together from there, and now, they were at the final door.

Putting his "lockpicking fingers" to work, Roman easily cracked the system's security measures and, applying the gentlest touch to give a small electrical charge right to the node that…

Access granted.

The door swung open and… well mo-ther-fuck-er.

"Well… damn," Roman whistled. "Like something out of a horror movie."

He'd expected something like a surgical unit, sterile, clean, and white. But this was… like a dungeon. Like, the lights were designed to suggest torches, and the sickly green color palette was just… unsettling. A reminder that Amber was a prisoner, he supposed, and Roman saw why Pyrrha was so horrified to witness it. There were two chambers, one holding the comatose body of Amber, the other clearly to contain the poor sap who'd be their guinea pig.

"No time to gawk," Cinder replied crisply, "Get to the console; we don't have time."

Roman, muttering under his breath that he already was moving towards it, quickly stepped over to where the command console was. If the virus worked, he should have access, and with it, the ability to both disconnect Amber from the system and not trip any alarms. If she could survive being disconnected from her life support… well, that was a question they had to-

He heard the shattering of glass.

Eyes shooting up, he saw Cinder, her bow drawn, and… and an arrow blooming like a black rose from Amber's chest, where another bloom of red accompanied it, the life blood of a young woman spreading across her chest. Roman was too shocked to say anything, seeing the cracked glass dropping around her, tinkling like crystal. And then her body… a yellow glow pulsed around her, fast fading, as Cinder...

Flames swirled around her, her eyes glowing with that same yellow glow as Amber. But what had seemed serene, even peaceful… on Cinder, it was terrifying. The crackling power of a very bad decision made manifest.

Cinder threw her head back and cackled with mad laughter. "At last! At last! The power, it's… yes, this is the full power of the Fall Maiden!"

"You..." Roman said, his jaw hanging open, "You weren't… she wasn't..."

Turning to Roman with a look of annoyance to be interrupted in her moment of glory, Cinder rolled her eyes. "Come on now, Roman. I lied. The children would never have followed me if they knew I was here to finish the job. I didn't expect you would need to be coddled as well—or did I misremember hiring you to assist me in the mass slaughter of innocents in Vale?"

Roman looked away, more embarrassed than anything that he didn't see it coming, but he felt a tug deep in his soul, reminding him… that Pyrrha expected more of this. Expected more from him. "Whatever," he growled, "Couldn't have hurt to keep me in the loop that we didn't need to exfiltrate her. Could have saved me some time, but… whatever, let's go."

"An excellent suggestion," she said, her voice… for the first time since he met her, Roman heard Cinder speak with an undeniable joy in her voice, "You've done excellent work getting us here, but now… now nothing those fools have can stop me."

"Let's not put that to the test," Roman muttered, running through their exfiltration plan in his mind. A lot easier now that they weren't moving a comatose person, but now he had to carry something even heavier than a body and no less familiar.

Pyrrha had believed in Cinder. Had really believed in her. Just like her friends did, and now… now Roman had made her a fool. A patsy, a mark… all leading to the murder of an innocent woman in Cinder's quest for power. He'd been so preoccupied with keeping Pyrrha safe that he'd… made her an accomplice to murder.

And he felt a pit in his stomach open up when he thought about that.

He'd anticipated they'd need a staging ground to temporarily hold Amber in Vale as they found a way to get her back to her comrades, so Roman had prepped a warehouse—the same one he'd first had his conversation with Pyrrha in—to give them a space to lie low as Cinder's people moved in. Of course, that wasn't necessary, he now knew it never was necessary, but Roman's exfiltration plan led him and Cinder back to the warehouse, so… that's what he did.

He didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to talk to Cinder. Checking his scroll, he got a heads up from Neo that Jaune's plan had run its course, their diversion had drawn out the conspiracy for as long as they could, and now they were returning to Beacon as Neo was heading towards the warehouse. Knowing Neo, she'd swing by for ice cream to celebrate a successful heist, unaware of what success really meant... But it didn't matter. They had very little time before the powers that be would find their handiwork, the body left behind, and they would bring the hammer down.

Idly, Roman wondered if it'd be for the best if they just got caught. If he could sleep better at night if his plan failed, sleeping in a jail cell, for sure, but sleeping with the contentment of knowing that Cinder didn't get away. That she, too, could lose. But they were already in Vale, and the two of them knew how to evade the best efforts that the Headmasters had thrown at them before. Hell, they didn't even know who Cinder was.

And they didn't know about Pyrrha. Junior had made a damn fool idiot risk in bringing her up to the dog who came sniffing, but Roman was relieved to know that they weren't even suspecting she might be a part of this.

Approaching the warehouse, he glanced at Cinder. "I don't know where you're going from here, but it's not my business anymore. You got your power." he said, gruffly, "and once your last payment clears, we're finished."

"Of course," she said, far more focused on the small tendrils of flame she could conjure from her fingers. This wasn't like her Semblance, and watching even the tiniest spark of her power coil and uncoil at her command… it unsettled Roman. Deeply unsettled him, almost as much as the undeniable giddiness on Cinder's face. He'd seen people get drunk on power before, but never on a power like this. And even if that led to carelessness… sometimes, a powerful person in the process of making a fatal mistake was the most dangerous person in the world.

Grabbing the door, he opened it, leading Cinder into the warehouse and…

"Pyrrha?" Roman croaked, seeing his niece back at the warehouse. "What are you-"

"Cinder said to rendezvous here?" Jaune said, giving Cinder a quizzical was this not in the plan look. Cinder just smiled, her meaning obvious. Roman shot a silent glance to Neo, keeping watch in the corner, the both of them slowly piecing together that this wasn't good.

"And where's… where's Amber?" Pyrrha asked.

"Sadly..." Cinder gave Roman a heavy, dolorous, highly forceful look, "We… there was, we knew, a risk in the operation. Her injuries… she was not going to survive without the life support she was attached to. Amber… Amber knew the risks of being a Maiden. She wouldn't have wanted to be held by Ozpin, she wouldn't have wanted her power stolen by her enemies, and so… we had no choice. I… have taken the Maiden power for myself."

Everyone bowed their heads in a moment of silence for the fallen "comrade." But the wheels were spinning in Roman's skull, an unconscious fear, deep in his gut, telling him that danger was here. Why would Cinder surprise him now? A test, to see if he could keep Cinder's secret before Pyrrha? It was too soon, too quick, and besides… what did she care? She was leaving Vale, she wouldn't need to leverage his…

Oh no. Oh no, no, she couldn't-

"But the fight goes on," Cinder said, her tone becoming nauseatingly heroic.

She could.

"Before we carried out this operation, I spoke with my superior, the leader of our movement. Her name is Salem, and… and she agrees with me that you two have shown exceptional courage, brilliance, and ability in the fight against the conspiracy that holds Remnant in its clutches. She wishes to meet you and-"

"That wasn't part of the deal!" Roman hissed, "In and out, no further-"

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "You are free to leave Roman, but this is an issue bigger than some small-scale burglary."

"It's okay, Uncle," Pyrrha said, her eyes alight with determination. "This… this is the right thing to do. I want to be a part of this."

"No… no," he shook his head, feeling the pieces of his life slip through his fingers, "Cinder, we had a deal and you-"

Giving Roman an infuriatingly self-satisfied look, Cinder just gave him an invisible grin and said, "My dear Roman, as I told you, this is bigger than a simple heist. You were there, weren't you? At the meeting, where we discussed how Ozpin's conspiracy holds the world under their boot. This is bigger than any of us."

The meaning was clear. Oblivious to Pyrrha, who just gave her uncle a sympathetic, but pleading, look, Roman could see what was really going on. Cinder was at war with the world, and wars needed soldiers. She'd asked him to calculate what it'd be worth to antagonize him to recruit two teenagers, and he'd done the math like she was a criminal, someone operating on the fringes, keeping her head low, moving from one score to the next.

But Cinder wanted to change the world.

Roman got a glimpse of the future in that moment, in the realization that he was never in control, never ahead of Cinder. He thought of her as a monster, something to be placated with fresh meat until Roman could make his escape, but now she was fused with something fundamentally beyond his ken, a literal force of nature itself. She was a whirlpool, and he was caught- Pyrrha was caught in the spin, drawn down, down, endlessly down until she'd face the real Cinder, face her with enough blood on her hands that Pyrrha had no choice, like Roman had no choice, but to keep on doing more. To keep on doing worse. Just to keep the past from-

"You killed her."

Everyone turned to look at him, shocked to hear it. Pyrrha and Jaune's eyes went wide in disbelief, Neo cracked an eyebrow, but Cinder… Roman could see the rage, the blood in her eyes. She was drunk on power and Roman had just made the greatest offense of all: showing her that her power had limits.

But in for a penny…

"You killed her for her power. You never knew Amber before this, and you've lied to them this whole time," he said, his voice as steady as a rifle even as he felt his stomach churn and the stupidest words he'd ever said slipped past his lips, "I helped you lie to them because I thought you were honest about your cause, but you… you're just a murderer. Just another woman who kills for power. And I helped you do it."

Pyrrha's eyes darted from Roman to Cinder and back again, struggling to make sense of it all. "No, it- you couldn't..."

"You stupid, stupid, man," Cinder hissed, her voice crackling like a fire—if it wasn't her crackling like a fire, the air above her distorting from the heat and power radiating off her body. "You could have just kept your mouth shut, done your job, and stayed alive but you had to find your conscience, didn't you?"

"Cinder, what- what are you-"

But Pyrrha's words were cut off as a burst of flame soared around Cinder, a display of power that made all of them step back as she displayed that the Fall Maiden was more than anything any of them had ever contested with before. This wasn't Semblances or aura or dust. This was magic. The rules were off and Roman was now very aware that four-on-one was not the odds he might have thought they were.

"You have no idea the power I now wield," she said, giving a demonstration as the air itself shimmered around her, condensing into a red and gold javelin that seemed to be made out of pure magic. "I changed our deal because I could, you fool. I don't need you, I don't need anyone, because now, I have the power of the Maiden."

Neo's blade was in her hands already, bracing herself for whatever came next. Even Jaune had his shield deployed, bewildered as he was. Roman gripped Melodic Cudgel, but Pyrrha… her eyes just darted in disbelief, in confusion, in horror… as she slowly put together… that for the second time in her life, her uncle had drawn her into a crime, used her as a pawn… and ruined her innocence.

Not that Cinder cared. "You could have been a good little minion, keeping your head down, keeping yourself alive, keeping your niece alive, but now… you stupid, arrogant fool, you've brought this upon yourself."

Instinct, however, could not be frozen by fear, and Melodic Cudgel snapped upwards to take a shot, but he was too slow, far too slow, his finger going slack before he could pull the trigger, a blur of red and gold, Pyrrha's colors, streaking from Cinder's arm like a thunderbolt from an ancient and unforgiving deity.

The breath caught it his throat as Roman felt the sudden pull of air from his lungs… as they exploded out behind him, the javelin ripping a hole clean through his chest.

Thanks to Renarde and Six02 for feedback on this work!

I always found Maiden powers underwhelming in the post Vol. 3 fights. They didn't feel like the sort of thing a global conspiracy was keeping on lockdown for fear of setting off a murder frenzy of people trying to get the power for themselves. Only thing that should beat a Maiden is either another Maiden or ambush/ganging up/magic bullshit like Cinder had to spring on Amber. Pyrrha going fatally toe-to-toe with Cinder should have been her swan song, a testimony that she was head and shoulders above her peers before she died.

So I'm playing a little bit with canon and giving Cinder a bit of a boost here. For instance, taking a javelin through the chest? That's not just gonna make a hole in a body, it's gonna take a whole lot of the body out with it. And so on top of a sucking chest wound and an unexpected pneumonectomy, there's a pissed-off Maiden about to show that a pissed-off Maiden is something straight out of myth and legend. Things looking pretty bad!