As the time for the dance slowly ends, Edelgard finds herself in Ozpin's office, and she's about to learn more truths about the world of Remnant.
Just a few hours were left for the dance, and the students were finishing preparations while the teachers finished with the last of their asignments before joining the fun, exactly what Edelgard was currently doing.
The woman admitedly enjoyed the calm of Beacon, totally different to her last moments alive back in Fódlan, yet she always felt like something was off, especially when it came to speaking with Ozpin. He said at the start that he made more mistakes than any man, woman or child alive, and she couldn't get that out of her mind.
Despite the calm a few seconds ago, she decided to solve her doubts. Getting out of her room, she made her way towards Ozpin's office. Lucky for her, she found him there, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.
"Hello Edelgard, is there anything I can help you?" - the man asked without looking at her.
"I want to talk about something, more specifically related to you" -
"What exactly do you want to discuss?" -
"When we first met, you said that you made more mistakes than any man, women or children, what did you ment by that?" -
"It's just an old saying here in Remnant, don't think too much about it" -
"Is that so? Ozpin, remember well that this isn't my first life, I know when someone isn't telling the truth" -
The man simply kept quiet for a second.
"Why do you want to know? It's not important" -
"From my previous experience, I know the problems of keeping the truth from your allies, as small as it is. I told you everything about me, down to the reason as to why I'm like this. Now, tell me everything about you" -
Ozpin got backed into a corner by Edelgard, and the woman wasn't going to leave until she got answers. He was going to tell her, or at least what she needed to know.
"Please, follow me" -
Both got into the elevator, with Ozpin selecting a specific hidden button which when pressed, sent the elevator downwards, going even past the regular school grounds and deep below the academy itself.
"Where are we going Ozpin?" -
"Tell me Edelgard, have you heard the fairy tales of Remnant?" -
"Sorry but no, I haven't read them" -
"Well, there's one that I particulary like, the Story of the Seasons" -
"What does it..." -
"Let me finish. Long ago, there was an old hermit who lived alone without contact of the world. One day, he was visited by 4 young girls. Each one, in their own different ways, were nice to him. The names of the girls were Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall..." -
After he finished saying that, the elevator stopped and the doors opened, leaving way to a large hallway, barely lit by a few lights along the way.
"As a thanks gift for being nice to him, he showered them with great powers, and as such they became the embodiment of the seasons" -
"Why are you telling me all of this? Those are stories for childrens" -
"That's what normal people believe in, but only a few know that there's more truth to that story that one would think" -
They stopped in front of a giant machine that looked like it was built to have someone inside. Edelgard checked, finding a girl with brown hair unconscious inside.
"You better have a good explanation Ozpin, or what I'm going to do to you won't be pretty" -
"She's Amber, the Fall Maiden. She was attacked a few months ago by 3 individuals seeking to steal her powers. They took half before one of my allies, Qrow, managed to drive them off. This machine that you see is keeping her alive until we can find a way to recover what was stolen from her" -
She looked at the body of Amber, barely holding onto life with slow and heavy breathing.
"Who did this?" -
"We haven't been able to locate them, but we're working hard to find them" -
"I'll do it too, do we at least have any indications of what they looked like?" -
"Qrow does, but we'll have to wait until he gets back if you wish to know that" -
"I'll wait. Once I have the information, I'll hunt those 3 down" -
"Edelgard, don't do that. I need you here at the Academy. Despite your somewhat rough methods of teaching, the kids trust in you, at least for the moment we need you here to ensure nothing will happen" -
She said nothing about that, simply got away from the machine and returned to Ozpin's side.
"They are criminals, and I will treat them as such. Any information about them, let me know as fast as you can" -
With that, they both returned to the school, but before Ozpin could return to his office, Edelgard stopped him.
"Thanks for telling me about this. I'll do my best to catch them should the opportunity rise" -
"Understood, but don't put yourself or the students on unnecesary danger" -
As Ozpin left, Edelgard whispered to herself "I never would. I... Took a liking to them" -
"Miss Edelgard!" - Ruby came running through the rooms of the school - "Are you going to join us in the dance?" -
"Of course, just let me go to my room and change to something different" -
As she walked towards her room, she accidently bumbed into someone, making them fall.
"My apologies, are you alright?" - she said extending her hand.
"Yeah, thanks" - the girl that fell answered. She had tan skin and green hair and was walking with a boy with white skin and silver hair.
As each one continued their walk, Edelgard turned back to look at them. They felt... Odd, something wasn't right about them.
"I'll have to keep an eye on them" -