Ruby looked out the window from the co-pilot's seat of the Huntingbird. She kept expecting to see a flock of Grimm appearing on the horizon, or for a roaring fireball to come and strike down the jet, but the skies had been clear since they'd taken off in Atlas. Hours of flight, and no sign of trouble. Her eyes remained peeled nonetheless.

"Half an hour and we'll be there," Blake said from the pilot's seat.

"Yup." Ruby looked out the window again. "I think we're in the clear."

Blake hummed in agreement, though she still looked on edge – not that she'd been anything but these last couple days. "You can go check on the others. I'll yell for you if anything comes up."

"Alright," Ruby said, standing up. "You sure you're going to be okay here on your own?"

"Sure," Blake replied. Her eyes didn't stray from the horizon.

Ruby held Blake's arm for a moment before she walked to the back of the jet. Amber sat on one side, while Weiss sat opposite her, Yang's head resting on her lap as she slept.

"How's she doing?" Ruby asked, nodding at Yang.

"She was feeling a little queasy, so she went to sleep, but aside from that, nothing alarming. That's the story she sold me, at least," Weiss said. "We need to change her bandages as soon as we land. And it'd be good for her to have a good warm meal, too. Something that's not much trouble to eat."

"You could call Jaune about that, he'll have something ready when we arrive," Ruby said.

"I think I'll do that," Weiss said, taking out her Scroll. "Is there anything you need me to tell him?"

"Just tell him we'll be home in half an hour."

Ruby turned to look at Amber. As usual, her mind seemed to be elsewhere altogether, For once, though, Ruby didn't have to break her out of that, as after a moment Amber raised her head to look at her.

"You said we are close?"

Ruby nodded.

"I thought so. I can feel Ozpin now," Amber said. "He's not entirely as I remember him. His presence is… faint. Though perhaps what I feel is but a reflection of my own self."

Amber bowed her head, and Ruby frowned. She'd had trouble believing Amber was dying yesterday, but today it was almost obvious. Her strength of will was still there, but otherwise she was weak. Ruby could see it in the haziness of her eyes, and in each sharp, drawn-out breath she took.

Ruby looked away. It didn't feel right to be staring at Amber like that, especially considering how she'd gotten in that condition.

"You needn't avert your eyes," Amber said. "The blame is not yours."

Ruby turned to look. "What?"

"I can see you've made a connection of some sort with Cinder Fall, and you feel guilt over the pain she's inflicted upon me. But that guilt is not yours to bear."

Ruby grimaced. Amber hadn't gotten to that conclusion just by reading the emotions on her face, and Ruby didn't know what to make of that. She almost didn't want to think about it.

"We're not friends, if that's what you're thinking," Ruby said. "I just used to visit her in prison, that's all. I was trying to figure out what her whole deal was. You know, why she tried to end the world and stuff."

"I see," Amber said. "And did you discover anything interesting?"

"Not really. She's annoyingly cryptic," Ruby said. "I think I got to know her a little bit, but I don't know how much of that was real. She told me where she came from, and how Ozpin recruited her."

"I believe you can trust her on that, at least," Amber said. "Cinder was always a troubled child."

Ruby frowned. "You knew her?"

"I have only vague memories. When I think of her, I feel such pity - and anger." Amber shook her head. "It is hard to reconcile the two."

"I hate that I get that." Ruby sighed. "Let's just hope she doesn't show up after all, because if she does, I have a feeling she and I are not gonna be sitting down to have another chat."

"And why is that? Aside from the obvious," Amber asked.

"Well," Ruby said, putting a hand on her hip. "she kinda promised she'd kill me when she got out of her cell."

"Ah." Amber nodded solemnly. "Yes, I suppose that'd put a hamper on diplomacy."

The Huntingbird landed behind the house, its Dust engines displacing the grass around it as it touched down. The roaring slowly faded as the jet settled. Pyrrha watched with the others as the back opened and the ramp lowered onto the ground.

Ruby came out first, walking backwards, and for a moment Pyrrha was confused before she realized that she was watching out for Yang, who was limping after her with Weiss's help. Blake walked out a moment later, accompanied by a strange woman Pyrrha assumed to be Amber.

Pyrrha and Jaune broke from the others to greet them, and the next minutes were spent in a lengthy exchange as, finally, the team was reunited.

"Oh, Yang." Pyrrha held Yang by the shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I'm okay." Yang smiled weakly. "Hey, maybe I can finally beat you in a race. I've lost a lot of weight."

"Well, I'm happy you've not lost your humor," Pyrrha said, "but you don't have to pretend with us, okay?"

Yang looked away, nodding faintly. "I know. Thanks, P." She looked at Jaune. "I heard you were supposed to have a welcoming banquet for me? Well, where is it?"

"Uh, it's just soup," Jaune said.

"That's okay. I like your soup," Yang said. "Plus, I don't know if I can stomach any solid food right now."

"It's not ready yet, though, sorry," Jaune said. "I left Goodwitch watching it in the kitchen. She wasn't very happy about that."

"That's just fine," Weiss interjected. "Yang needs to stop at the infirmary first anyway. Right?"

"Right." Yang winced. "Well, you heard the lady. Help me out?"

Jaune nodded and passed an arm around Yang, and they walked away, Weiss following behind. They stopped for a moment as Qrow stood in their path and exchanged a few words with Yang, before they walked inside the house.

Pyrrha turned to Ruby and Blake, and realized Nora and Ren had walked over to talk to them already.

"Heck of a first meeting, eh?" Nora said. "It almost feels rude that we're here with, you know, everything that's going on."

"Don't worry about it. We'll take any help we can get," Ruby said. "And we were talking about you joining the team anyway, right? This can be like an entrance exam for you guys. You know, to see if you'll fit in okay."

"Oh no," Nora said. "I do terrible with exams. Can I cheat off Ren?"

"Don't sabotage me," Ren stage-whispered, then smiled politely at Ruby. "We're happy to help with whatever you need. Jaune and Pyrrha speak very highly of all of you."

"They do?" Ruby went wide-eyed for a moment before she remembered herself. "Well, duh. We're a team, of course they'd say we're great."

"Not really. It's just the truth," Pyrrha said. "You'll see."

Pyrrha looked at Blake. She hadn't said a word yet, and she looked almost sicker than Yang had.

"Blake, are you feeling alright?" Pyrrha asked.

"Hmm? I'm fine. Just tired," Blake answered, her eyes sharply avoiding Pyrrha's as she looked at Ruby instead. "If you don't need me, I think I'm going to lie down in my room."

"Sure, that's fine. I'll call you when I need you," Ruby said.

Blake walked away, alone, and as badly as she wanted to,Pyrrha didn't try to stop her. She hadn't expected any different. It was hard enough to get Blake to be honest about her feelings privately, much less around a number of people, many of them strangers.

"You probably have important stuff to talk about," Ren said. "Nora and I will go check on the soup."

"Oh boy, I sure hope Grumpywitch didn't fall in it. That'd be awful," Nora said, rolling her eyes. She waved at Amber. "Nice to meet you, magic lady. Bye now."

Amber didn't react at all, and for the first time Pyrrha stopped to look at her. She was standing at a distance, staring at the house longingly. The air seemed to ripple around her, and the grass under her feet looked just a bit greener than the rest.

As Pyrrha stared, Amber turned her head and locked eyes with her, and for a moment the world came to a standstill. Something came to life inside Pyrrha's chest, an indescribable feeling bigger than herself begging to be let out – to be joined with something foreign yet familiar.

Then Amber blinked, and the feeling fizzled away, though something of it remained, like a persistent memory tugging at the corners of her mind. Pyrrha turned away and realized Qrow had walked over.

"Your sister'll be fine, kid. Takes a lot more than that to keep a Xiao Long down, trust me," he said, ruffling Ruby's hair as she hugged him. "You good?"

"I'm okay," Ruby said, looking up at him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I tried calling, but you didn't pick up."

"Yeah, that's my bad. Phones generally don't work when you're a bird."

"Are you going to hang around?" Ruby asked. "We don't mind the bad luck."

"I'll be staying close."

Ruby parted from him and gestured at Amber. "Hey, Amber, stop standing there on your own! Come here."

Amber continued to stare at the house for a few seconds before she turned away. She looked at Qrow as she approached, and a smile broke through her solemn expression.

"Qrow." She walked up to him and cupped his face between her hands. "Dare I believe my eyes?"

"It's a sight too handsome for human eyes, I know." Qrow smiled wearily. "Hey, Amb. Long time no see."

"It really is you," Amber said. "Oh, Qrow. Where did your boyish looks go?"

"It's a thing called aging, it might be a strange concept to you," Qrow said. "Not all of us can look like a youthful ray of sunshine forever."

Amber pouted. "I've been asleep for a decade and more, Qrow."

"I don't think that's got anything to do with it."

Amber bowed her head and laughed. She put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I've been living in dreams and memories for so long, I don't think I truly believed I was awake until now," she said. "I can never thank you enough."

"I think you've said that enough," Ruby said, patting her hand. "I'm just happy you're happy."

Amber smiled at her, then looked at Pyrrha. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Pyrrha."

Caught off guard, for a second Pyrrha didn't know how to respond, before she caught herself and offered a hand. "Likewise."

Amber shook her hand, and an electric current raced up Pyrrha's arm. The next instant, it was gone.

"Oh, uh, I told Amber a bit about you and Jaune," Ruby said, and gave Pyrrha a look as if to say 'don't think too hard about it, she's weird'.

Amber met eyes with Pyrrha. "Indeed."

She looked expectantly at Qrow.

"The old man's waiting for you inside," he said. "He's been out cold for nearly two days now. You sure you can reach him?"

"I woke up from a far longer sleep," Amber said. "Yes, I can reach him."

"Don't you wanna eat something first?" Ruby asked. "Yang's gonna have soup, I don't think she'll mind if you have some too."

"I will accept that, thank you," Amber said. "But I would like to see him right away."

Qrow nudged Ruby's arm. "Can you take it from here, kid? I'm gonna-"

"-fly around the area, make sure nothing weird is going on?" Ruby said. "Sounds good. Don't be out too long, though, I wanna talk with you later."

Qrow squinted at her over the tip of his nose. "Hmm."

He shifted forms in a blur of motion and took off to the skies.

"Pyrrha, you know the way?" Ruby asked.

"We put Ozpin in one of the spare bedrooms. Follow me," Pyrrha said.

She led the way inside and took Ruby and Amber through the hallways to Ozpin's room. On the way they passed by the kitchen, where Ren had taken over soup duty, while Goodwitch stood by. She nodded at Amber as they passed, her thoughts hidden behind a stone-cold expression.

They reached the bedroom and went inside. Because no one had claimed it, it was bare except for the bed and a wooden chair beside it, which Goodwitch had brought in before. Ozpin lay chest up on the bed, his eyes closed to the ceiling. His cane rested against the side of the bed.

Amber sat on the lone chair and grasped Ozpin's hand. She closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips. Pyrrha thought she heard her whisper something, but she couldn't make out the words.

"Well, we'll just… let you do your thing in quiet, I guess," Ruby said. "I'll bring you the soup when it's done."

"Thank you," Amber said.

Ruby quirked her eyebrows at Pyrrha and left the room.

Pyrrha stayed at the door, watching. After a moment Amber looked at her over her shoulder, her eyes shimmering in a faint shade of green. Pyrrha blinked and they were brown once more, and she questioned if she'd just imagined it.

"Fear not. I will bring him back to us," Amber said. "That, I promise you."

Pyrrha didn't know what to say. She nodded and closed the door.

Yang blinked down at Zwei. Zwei blinked up at her from her lap. He nuzzled into her belly, and Yang felt warm enough that she could ignore the pinch as Weiss finished wrapping her stump.

"There you go," Weiss said, leaning back. "Does that feel comfortable?"

"Yeah, feels okay," Yang muttered, resting her head on the infirmary bed. "I really should learn how to do that on my own."

"There's no need to rush things, Yang," Weiss said. "And no shame in asking for help."

It was easy for Weiss to say that. She wasn't the one who'd turned into a complete invalid overnight. But Yang didn't say that out loud. It was bad enough that she felt so crappy, she didn't need to drag down everyone around her as well.

"I can sleep in my room later, right?" Yang asked.

"I don't see why not," Weiss said. "But we should get your meds in order first."

She took out the pill bottles they'd gotten from the hospital and arranged them on the bedside table. They weren't that many at all, but just looking at them made Yang feel nauseous.

"Heyo." Jaune walked inside the infirmary with a big bowl of steaming soup in hand. He sat down on the other side of Yang. "Brought your lunch."

"Heck yes," Yang said, salivating at the smell. She reached to take the bowl, and then realized. "Oh." She pursed her lips. "Weiss, can you take Zwei for a second?"

Weiss frowned. "Do you need help?"

"Just take him, please," Yang said.

Weiss grabbed Zwei and set him down on her lap. He whined, squinting at Yang as if he too doubted her ability to drink fucking soup.

Yang sat with her back straight and brought her legs up. She accepted the bowl from Jaune and lodged it between her knees and her chest. It was stable enough, if uncomfortable. She then took the spoon Jaune offered and slowly, carefully brought a mouthful to her lips.

Delicious. She moaned and immediately took another spoonful to her mouth. A few drops of soup fell loose this time, though thankfully they didn't do more than stain her shirt.

"Yang, that doesn't look very safe," Weiss said, watching her warily. "What did I just tell you? You don't need to-"

"I can do this, okay?" Yang snapped. "You don't need to coddle me, Weiss, I'm not a fucking child."

Weiss pressed Zwei to herself and averted her eyes, and Yang immediately regretted losing her cool. She wanted to apologize, but she felt too exhausted to come up with any words at all. Instead, she returned to sipping at her soup bit by bit.

"Yang, are you in a lot of pain?" Jaune asked, his voice filling the silence awkwardly.

"Yeah, kinda. It gets better and worse," Yang grumbled. "It's weird. My arm hurts, but it's not there. It makes no sense."

"That's phantom pain, I think is what they call it," Jaune said. "Do you think it'd help if I used my Semblance on you?"

"I don't know. I mean, it's not like I'm bleeding out or anything. Maybe it'd help with the recovery?" Yang shrugged. "You shouldn't waste your Aura, though."

"It's not a waste if it makes you feel better."

Yang shifted uneasily. That was a hard point to argue. "Let me finish this first."

She continued to work on her soup, and she didn't know what was worse, how excruciatingly slow the process was, or the heavy silence that had fallen in the room. Yang could tell Jaune was wrestling with something – he definitely wanted to say something but didn't know how to. Weiss had taken to staring sharply at the foot of the bed, clutching Zwei tight on her lap.

Yang held back a sigh between spoonfuls. She didn't feel much like talking herself, but this was killing her.

"Weiss," she said, and nodded at the pill bottles. "Which one of those do I need to take first?"

Weiss sprang to life. "Oh. You took the antibiotics before we boarded the jet, that was roughly eight hours ago – you should take those again soon," she said. "You should take the painkillers too, if you feel you need them. The rest, I believe, you can take before you go to sleep. And you need to make a note of the time when you do that – they're supposed to be taken on a schedule."

"Okay," Yang said. "Can you help me with all that?"

"Of course." Weiss took out her Scroll. "Let me double check my notes."

Yang looked at Jaune. "You should have seen her with the poor doc. I'm pretty sure she kept us in the hospital for an hour more than we needed, it was like she was interrogating a terrorist. Or studying for a final. Same thing with her."

"He must have been terrified," Jaune said.

Weiss huffed. "Yes, it's hilarious that I'm so invested in your well-being, Yang. How very neurotic of me."

"I never said it was a bad thing," Yang said. "It's… nice."

She meant to say something more akin to cute, or endearing, or really fucking sweet, but the numbness of her arm stopped her. Weiss probably didn't realize what she was saddling herself with, and if she thought she did and didn't care, she was wrong by miles. Yang needed to spare her the heartache and just stop pushing.

Of course, all of that was assuming Weiss wasn't completely disgusted by her. Which, judging by the way she'd swiftly looked away and busied herself with rearranging the pill bottles, seemed a real possibility.

Yang took one last spoonful into her mouth, then handed Jaune the bowl. "I'm done. Don't wanna risk putting too much in my system and then, you know – blergh. Was really good, though."

Jaune took the bowl and put it away. "You want to try?" he asked, raising an open hand.

"Yeah, sure."

Yang lay a little more comfortably on the bed while Jaune and Weiss swapped places, so he was sitting on Yang's right side. He laid a hand gently on her shoulder, and after a few seconds his Aura started to trickle into her and reinforce her own. It was only a slight buzz, taking away some of the numbness and the pain lurking beneath it. It didn't make her feel wonderful, but she was thankful for it.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Jaune said, avoiding looking her in the face.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Yang said. "It's not only like you knew something like this was gonna happen."

Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "Still. I could have helped."

Yang hummed. She couldn't deny that having Jaune there probably would have made things easier. It certainly would have made the rush to the hospital less scary – not that she had been conscious for any part of that.

"Actually, you couldn't have changed anything," Weiss spoke up. "Not unless you prevented her from being injured altogether, but – well, you don't want to go down that rabbit hole." She looked down at Zwei, scratching the back of his neck. "She was doomed the moment she got stung. We couldn't – there wasn't even anything to recover of her arm afterward."

Yang shuddered.

"I'm sorry," Weiss said. "You don't want to talk about this, obviously. I'll stop."

"It's fine. No point in pretending it didn't happen," Yang said. "You're right, anyway. That crazy asshole screwed me bad."

Jaune shifted his hand closer to her wound, and Yang scrunched her face as the feeling got a little too intense. He went back to the earlier positioning.

"So, is that stuff about him, uh, sucking out your soul – did that actually happen?" Jaune asked. "I know we've all seen some crazy stuff, but I'm still struggling with that concept."

"Yeah. Everything Amber said was true," Yang said. "I mean, I don't have any way to prove it, but I felt it, you know? The moment he stung me, it was like something was dragging me out of my body. And all of a sudden I could feel and hear all these people around me, but I couldn't really see them. I know it sounds insane, but they were like ghosts."

"I believe you," Weiss said. "I know it's awful and I shouldn't be thinking about it right now, but this brings up so many questions. What does it mean for us as a people if souls are real? If we're all born with one, does it dictate who we are for the entirety of our lives, or is it something we can change through our actions? If there is a soul, where does it go after the body dies? Is there an afterlife?"

"If we do go somewhere after our bodies die," Jaune said, "what happens to the people Tyrian holds captive?"

Yang hugged herself with her one arm. Maybe it had been a mistake to talk about this after all. To think she had come so close to being one of those people…

"It's not right," Jaune said, shaking his head.

"No," Yang said, accepting Zwei back onto her lap, "it really isn't."

Penny sat with her hands on her lap, eyes fixed on the wall in front of her. Footsteps rang in the hallway as nurses and doctors strutted past her as if she wasn't even there. Penny did not mind. She had more important matters to focus on.

The General seemed to be in no great peril in the operating table, but she remained obstinate in not taking her attention off of him. The last time she had done that, things had turned out very badly. She would not make that mistake again.

A beep from her communications system alerted her to a new message from Ruby. The seventh in a span of twelve hours. There had been more yesterday. Ruby inquired about her well-being. Penny did not feel inclined to respond.

An eighth message came in. The much shorter period between messages indicated elevated distress from the sender. Perhaps a ninth message would be arriving in the coming minutes, possibly seconds.

Reluctantly, Penny split a tiny fraction of her attention away from the general to formulate a response. She made it concise. Affirmative, she was unharmed and in no emotional stress. She had flown to Atlas with General James Ironwood to oversee his medical treatment. His condition was stable and his prospects for recovery looked good.

Penny sent the message, and less than ten seconds later received a response. Ruby was relieved that she was okay, and the General too. Another message – 'things are crazy right now'.

Penny started to formulate another response.

Was Ruby okay?

Was her team okay?

How was Yang doing?

Had Director Ozpin woken up yet?

Were they in danger?

Was Ruby in danger?

Was Ruby okay?

Did Ruby need her to come to her immediately?

Penny erased the messages without sending them. I too wish you well, she sent, and temporarily disabled all notifications from Ruby.

"Penny."

Winter Schnee stood beside her. Penny jumped to her feet, startled – and ashamed once she realized she had not been paying any attention at all to the General for several minutes. She expanded her senses and quickly located him again. He was in the same operating room as before, just two hallways from her position. Stable.

"Operative Schnee," Penny said, saluting. "My apologies. I did not hear you coming. Do you require my assistance?"

"At ease, Penny," Winter replied. "I'm here to catch you up on the General's condition. He's in-between operations at the moment. The doctors are going to wake him up before they proceed with the reconstructive surgeries. There is a lot they must discuss with him – he won't regain much motor function at all without significant prosthesis, and though I am his medical proxy, that is not a decision I'm comfortable making for him."

"That is understandable," Penny said. "Hopefully he will be able to keep much of his real body."

Winter tilted her head minimally to the right as she looked at Penny. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but Penny couldn't have missed it if she closed her eyes. Did her reply somehow confuse Winter?

"Indeed," Winter said after a second. "Is there anything you'd like me to tell him while he's awake?"

"Please inform him that I am sorry he is in pain," Penny said. "And also that I am sorry that I couldn't spare him from it. And also that-"

"Penny, you do realize you saved his life?" Winter said. "The apology is unnecessary. I will tell him he's in your thoughts, will that suffice?"

Penny disagreed with Winter, but she did not say a word. It was not her position to argue with a superior.

Winter turned to leave, only to stop and look at Penny again. "One last thing. You haven't heard from my sister, have you?"

That emotion was quite easy to read – concern.

"I have not heard about Weiss specifically, no," Penny said. "However, considering the current situation of her team, I believe we can reasonably assume she is safe and sound."

"Good," Winter said, and Penny detected her containing a sigh of relief. "Nothing else?"

Penny shook her head. "Negative, ma'am."

"Well enough. Thank you, Penny," Winter said. "If you have no pending duties, you are free to do as you may. I will inform you when you are needed."

"My primary directive is to protect Atlas." Penny sat back down. "I will remain here."

Winter stared at her, concern still evident in her face. Penny did not understand. Had she not told Winter her sister was okay?

After a moment, Winter walked away. Penny stared at the wall and focused on the General again, and for good measure, disabled all incoming notifications except from Winter.

-x-

Ruby rubbed her eyes as she plopped down on the living room sofa. She'd been moving about since the moment they'd arrived and well into the night, working with everyone to fortify the house and devise a solid plan of defense. It was exhausting, and sitting down after all of that felt like paradise.

Ruby caught herself starting to slump on the sofa, and sat up sharply. Shaking her head, she took out Crescent Rose and laid it out on the table before her, and started doing maintenance on it. It was familiar work, but it would keep her occupied and stop her mind from straying.

Cinder might attack at any moment. A minute's rest might spell disaster for everyone.

She was cleaning the inside of Crescent Rose's barrel with a rag when Jaune walked into the living room and sat down beside her.

"Hey," he said, nudging her shoulder. "You good?"

"Hunky-dory," Ruby replied. "How about you, mister?"

"Fighting off a mild existential crisis – so, basically good," Jaune said. "I think I'll be fine once I get a good night's sleep."

"Has everyone else gone to bed already?" Ruby asked. She knew Yang was sound asleep in her room, and she had put Weiss in the security room to keep watch of the house's shields. Other than that, she wasn't sure about anyone else. Except for Ozpin, obviously.

"Nora and Ren took one of the vacant bedrooms, I'm pretty sure they're asleep," Jaune said. "And Pyrrha said she was going to talk to Blake before she went to bed. I saw your uncle rummaging through the kitchen, I don't know what he's-"

"Your uncle is here!"

Qrow strutted into the room, leaning back as he poured the contents of his flask straight down his throat. He crashed onto a separate chair opposite Ruby and wiped his chin with his sleeve.

"Uncle Qrow, is this really the time to be drinking?" Ruby asked softly. She couldn't remember a time she'd ever called him out on his drinking habits, though she'd certainly wanted to in the past, for his own sake. Today she was just too tired to hold back.

"Hmm?" Qrow took another big gulp and gestured at his flask. "This is – agh – soda. I had to make do since you kids actually have no alcohol anywhere in this damned house."

"That wasn't big on our list of priorities, yeah," Jaune said.

"Your priorities are all wrong." Qrow grimaced. "This is foul."

Jaune looked at Ruby, and she knew what he was thinking. If Qrow was like this while sober, how much worse was he when he was not? She wished she could explain that her uncle was actually a great guy, flaws and all, but it was awkward when he was sitting right in front of her.

"So, pipsqueak," Qrow said, leaning towards her, "you said you wanted to talk to me later?"

Ruby blinked. She had said that, hadn't she? And she had meant it. There were a lot of things she wanted to talk about with him, but they'd sounded a lot easier to discuss when they were a future thing.

Qrow noted her silence and nodded towards the doorway that led to the bedroom hallways. "Amber still in there with Oz?"

"Yeah. I checked on her a few times, she's just been sitting there with him, all quiet," Ruby said. She hadn't stayed to watch or ask questions, it had felt like she was intruding on something private.

"Can she actually help him?" Jaune asked. "I know she said she'd come to him and he'd wake up, but that sounds, uh… hopeful."

"It's not just hope," Qrow said. "When Amber says these things, she means them, even if they sound strange to other people."

"You were friends with her before, right?" Ruby asked. "She seemed really happy to see you earlier."

Qrow put down his flask and rested his arms on his knees, looking wistfully at the floor between his feet. "We were both in Ozpin's inner circle, so we saw each other a lot. She was one of the few people I've ever trusted," he muttered. "Yeah, we were close."

Ruby almost got up to hug him. It hurt to see him like this.

"I spent a long time hating myself for not being there to save her," Qrow said. "Now I almost think it would have been a mercy if she hadn't lived after all. What she's been reduced to… It's depressing, is what it is."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Ruby asked. "She told me Cinder attacked her, but she doesn't remember the details. And she told me she's a – a Maiden, she said. Like she's got this great mystical power."

"That's what you know," Qrow said. "I know that much too."

"But you know more."

Qrow raised an eyebrow at her. "I do. Ozpin has told me a lot of things. And until he wakes up, I don't think I'm gonna be sharing any of that with you."

Ruby frowned, but Jaune was even faster to protest.

"So you're just gonna keep us in the dark," he said. "We're on the same side. If there's something important we need to know, why wouldn't you tell us?"

"Your first mistake is in assuming that you need to know everything," Qrow said.

"So you don't trust us, is what you're saying."

"It's not personal, blockhead," Qrow said. "It's called playing things close to the chest, doing the smart thing. I know going off and doing your own thing feels good, trust me, I do. But sometimes you have to sit down, listen to someone who knows better than you, and then you can make a judgment on how to act."

"I still don't see how that justifies you keeping things from us," Jaune said.

"You're not listening." Qrow threw his arms up. "I can't explain it any clearer to you. Maybe someday you'll realize you're not the center of the universe. Maybe you won't. Not my problem."

"I don't think I'm the center of the universe," Jaune said. "Maybe you think someone else is, though."

Qrow scowled, and Ruby feared he might just toss his flask at Jaune's head.

"Listen, uncle Qrow," Ruby said, raising her hands before things could escalate. "You're going to be the new Director, probably. We're just wondering if you're gonna run things the same way Ozpin did."

Qrow rubbed his jaw, ruminating on the question. "I can't say I'm very enthused about taking the job – if they do let me take it. I'm more of a lone agent, not a leader, you know that," he said. "But Ozpin trusts me to run things in his stead, and I trust him. So I guess I should at least give it a try and see if he's right, yeah?"

"Sounds like dodging the question," Jaune said.

Qrow glared at him for a moment, before he turned to Ruby. "Can I drown him in a well? Do you really need him around?"

"Jaune's an indispensable member of the team. He cooks good and mends our paper cuts," Ruby said. "Did Ozpin tell you about Kuroyuri?"

Qrow flinched and turned away. He buried his face in his hands, rubbing the corner of his eyes, before he sighed heavily. "Fuck, kid. There's so much you don't know." He straightened up and shook his head at her. "Why did you have to take after your mother? Couldn't you have been happy, I don't know, picking tomatoes for a living? Would that be so bad?"

Ruby shrugged. "Not as cool as saving the world."

Qrow sat up, and Ruby thought she saw something change in the way he looked at her, like he'd blinked and suddenly realized he couldn't call her pipsqueak anymore. It was somehow intimidating, Ruby had to admit, but she didn't let that get in the way of looking him in the eyes.

"Good talk." With a grunt, Qrow rose to his feet. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna catch some shut-eye."

He started walking away.

"Just one more thing, uncle," Ruby said. "You're gonna be Director, and we're still going to be family. But that doesn't change anything between us and Beacon."

Qrow did not look back as he replied, "I'll keep that in mind, Miss Rose."

And then he was gone. Not a second later, Ruby's bones turned to jelly and she slumped sideways on the couch. Jaune reached over to pat her on the head.

"Ouch. That can't have been easy," he said.

"Tell me about it. Why can't I just snap my fingers and get everybody on the same page?" Ruby groaned. She pushed herself up back into a sitting position and shook her head. "Oh well. I guess we can't expect everybody to agree with us on everything."

"There you go, that's the jaded spirit!" Jaune said. "On that note, I think I'm going to sleep too. Are you going to stay up much longer?"

"I'll probably go to bed once I've finished working on Crescent Rose," Ruby said. She actually wasn't sure, but hey, she'd said probably, so it wasn't like she was lying. "Can you check on Weiss before, make sure everything's okay and that she doesn't need anything?"

"Sure thing. Don't blow up your own face!"

Jaune walked away, and Ruby started disassembling Crescent Rose on the table to check its inner mechanisms. She didn't get very far before she felt someone's eyes on the back of her head. Ruby turned and saw Miss Goodwitch leaning on the doorway, a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Rose," she greeted simply, and brought the cup to her lips for a long sip.

"Uh, hi," Ruby said. "Have you been standing there all this time?"

Goodwitch answered by way of not answering at all. She walked over and sat on the chair Qrow had vacated. Ruby shrugged and got back to Crescent Rose.

"Aren't you going to ask me the same questions you asked Qrow?" Goodwitch asked.

"I would, if I thought you were going to answer any of them," Ruby said. She looked up hopefully. "Are you going to answer any of them?"

Miss Goodwitch sipped her coffee.

"That's what I thought." Ruby sighed. "We decided we were going to bring Amber here way before you changed your mind, by the way. Just thought you should know."

"Do you expect me to act surprised?" Goodwitch snorted. "That would hardly be the first time you acted against my recommendations, Ruby Rose."

"Yup," Ruby said, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she wiped Crescent Rose's blade. "And wouldn't you know it, it always worked out in the end."

She didn't mean to gloat – well, maybe she did a little bit - but Miss Goodwitch needed to understand that she didn't need her approval anymore. It would feel good to have it, Ruby couldn't deny that, but it wouldn't make her whole world like it would have in the past.

"Have I ever told you what the Director said when I told him I'd recruited you?" Goodwitch asked. "He said it was out of character. Out of character."

Ruby couldn't disagree. As far as she knew, it wasn't Glynda Goodwitch's modus operandi to go around recruiting fifteen-year-olds into Beacon.

"He was right, of course. To this day I still ask myself what possessed me to make such a decision," Goodwitch said.

"You probably realized how awesome I was right out the gate," Ruby said.

Goodwitch stared daggers. "Or perhaps I gave in to the ceaseless pestering." She settled back in her seat, and when she spoke again, it was unusually soft. "Regardless, I do not regret it. It was perhaps the best decision I made in my whole career."

Ruby stared at the disconnected pieces of her scythe, her breath hitching in her throat. For everything she'd told herself, she still felt herself swell up with pride at those words. And at the same time, they struck her with a deep, confused anguish. Because things were no longer the same. She wasn't the girl with nothing but wonder in her heart, and Miss Goodwitch wasn't the woman she looked up to who could do no wrong.

"I think Ozpin would agree with me. He conceived of the Hunt Initiative for longer than I know, but you were the spark that brought it to life," Goodwitch said. "It was always the plan that you'd surpass us."

Ruby finally gathered the will to look up from the table. Enshrouded in an air of grief, Miss Goodwitch looked at her as if watching something dearer than life slip away from her, and Ruby felt an urge to reach out and take her hand, to assure her that though all things might change, what they had would survive no matter what.

But that was the girl in her talking. She'd stopped wearing that mask a long time ago.

With a click, Ruby started to reassemble Crescent Rose. "I'm glad you recruited me too."

And they sat in silence long after that.

Pyrrha knocked on Blake's door and waited nearly a minute for a response that never came. She smiled ruefully and shook her head. Of course it didn't, what else had she expected?

Manners be damned. Pyrrha opened the door and stepped inside, knocking again to draw Blake's attention. Blake was reading at her desk, though by her posture Pyrrha figured she wasn't absorbing a word of her book. She glanced over her shoulder, and from that brief look Pyrrha noticed Blake's eyes were unfocused and bloodshot.

"Oh look," Blake muttered. "An unscheduled visit from my therapist."

Pyrrha walked over and put her hands on Blake's shoulders from behind her, smiling wearily. "Is it a good or a bad thing that you knew right away why I'm here?"

"Well, there haven't been any yells or explosions, so I know it's not an emergency. Which leaves only the usual," Blake said. "You know I'm not paying you for this, right?"

Pyrrha hummed. Blake wasn't trying to push her away or pretend she was fine, which was an improvement over her usual attitude. The attempted deflection by way of humor wasn't that much better, though.

"When was the last time you slept?" Pyrrha asked, tilting Blake's chin up to look into her eyes.

"I have to stay up," Blake said, "in case we get attacked."

Pyrrha let go. "Really, Blake."

Blake looked away.

"Every time I close my eyes I see it happen all over again," she said after a long silence. "What do you figure will happen if I do go to sleep?"

Pyrrha rubbed the back of Blake's neck with her thumb. She wished she had a magical solution for Blake's woes, but she knew what Blake described was much too real for such a fantasy.

"You did what you had to do."

"I know," Blake said.

"Weiss said if you hadn't acted so swiftly, Yang might not have survived," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah," Blake grumbled, "I acted real swift."

Pyrrha homed in on that word – swift – and Blake locked eyes with her for a split second, realizing her slip-up.

"It's not just what you did that's bothering you," Pyrrha said, "it's how easily you did it."

Blake gripped her book hard, refusing to as much as acknowledge the statement.

"Did you enjoy cutting Yang's arm off?" Pyrrha asked.

"What?" Blake almost yelled. "No! What the fuck, Pyrrha – no."

"That's what I thought," Pyrrha said. "Then answer me this – do you think it would have been better if you had hesitated? Do you think Yang would have thanked you for that?"

"That's a stupid question," Blake said, her ears folded angrily atop her head.

"Is it stupid, or do you just not want to answer it because then you'll have to admit how you're behaving is illogical?" Pyrrha said. "You recognized a hard solution to an awful situation and you presented it to the group. You took responsibility and spared Ruby from having to get her hands dirty. There's nothing shameful about that. In fact, it's admirable."

"Obviously. It's all good now that you've pointed out the logic," Blake said. "Great advice, Pyrrha. Look, I'm already over it."

Pyrrha sighed. "I didn't say it shouldn't affect you," she said. "But don't you think it'd be far more concerning if you weren't having trouble sleeping?"

Blake glared at her, and Pyrrha could have read that expression from the other side of the globe – Blake's patented you're getting in the way of me torturing myself look.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Blake asked. "Surely there must be something more important than playing shrink to the woman who doesn't want a shrink."

And there it was. The pushing away.

"Actually, this whole situation with Ozpin – since Kuroyuri, way before the hearing – has made me realize how lucky I am to be here," Pyrrha said. "So no, Blake, to answer your question, there's nothing more important for me to be doing."

That, at last, seemed to break through Blake's walls. She slipped down her chair, giving Pyrrha a pleading look. "I can think of a place or two for you to be," she said, one last desperate attempt at resistance.

"Please," Pyrrha said. "Jaune can spend one night on his own."

Blake groaned. "You win. And I- I appreciate everything you said, Pyrrha, but it's still not gonna help me sleep any easier."

Pyrrha put her hands on her hips. Well, she didn't have a magical solution, but she had a solution.

Grabbing Blake's wrist, she pulled her off her chair and, before she could protest, pushed her onto her bed. Blake made an indignant noise and started to get up, but Pyrrha grabbed her ankles and laid her legs back down with force.

"What are you doing?" Blake asked as Pyrrha draped a blanket over her. "Are you – are you tucking me in?"

"Another discovery I've made in recent years," Pyrrha said, "is that sometimes, when I feel like the whole world is falling into pieces, all it takes is for Jaune to hold me close. It doesn't make everything magically okay, but it helps me forget for a while."

"That's great, Pyrrha. Really, I'm very happy for you," Blake said bitterly. "Maybe you missed the part where I don't have someone to do that for me."

"That's rude. You've got plenty of people," Pyrrha said. "And what's more, I'm standing right in front of you."

Pyrrha finished laying down the blankets and turned off the lights. She climbed onto the bed, and somewhat guiltily enjoyed the strangled noise that left Blake's throat as she slipped under behind her.

"You don't mind being little spoon, right?"

"W-what?"

"I'll take that as a no."

Pyrrha pulled Blake in, wrapping an arm around her and resting her chin on the crook of her neck. For a few seconds Blake squirmed, before she locked up altogether.

"Is this really okay?" Blake asked in a very small voice.

Though Blake couldn't very well see it, Pyrrha fluttered her eyelashes. "Why wouldn't this be okay, Blake?"

Blake's response was best described as a whine. Pyrrha had to stop herself from chuckling. She wouldn't play these jokes if she didn't think Blake could handle them.

After a while, Blake did start to relax, and some minutes later, her breathing filled the silence as she fell asleep. Pyrrha maneuvered Blake's head to rest more comfortably on her arm, and took a strand of hair away from her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. She hoped Blake's dreams wouldn't be too bad.

It didn't take long for sleep to call on Pyrrha too. Thoughts of Ozpin, and Amber, and Cinder, fought for her attention, but she let them drift away, and they lay temporarily forgotten at the edges of her mind. She closed her eyes and let herself go.

It felt good to hold someone as well.

Amber grasped Ozpin's hands between her own. With her eyes closed, she reached out to him.

It was a distressing thing, to feel someone's presence so close and yet kept from you by a seemingly depthless darkness. She waded into the black, moving towards that single point of light with nothing but her own force of will to keep her going.

Time ceased to be.

She arrived before him and pulled him close to her chest. Oh, to never let go again. To never make the same mistakes.

But despair. What she held was but a fraction of him. As she expanded her senses she saw numerous other points of lights across the darkness, set apart by distances of countries and planets and whole universes from each other.

It was only natural. As he had once been broken, so had she been. As she slowly came undone, so did he. They were echoes, lifetimes that rhymed off each other endlessly throughout the ages. Comfort and sorrow intertwined in eternal solitude.

She would not let eternity die this day.

She held him in her arms with all that she was, and began moving once again. Through the darkness she pushed forth, gathering him piece by piece. At times he almost slipped between her fingers, and her own self threatened to unravel and disperse, but she held on for the both of them.

Her fingers touched the last piece, and she found herself floating aimlessly in a void now devoid of stars. He burned hot in her hands, nearly overwhelming her with his mere existence, and for a moment she feared she would not be able to make him whole again, that he would break once more into even smaller pieces and be lost forever, and she would go with him.

But she could not fail. She would not fail. She was tremendous, formidable, wielder of a power indomitable even by him, and she had learned time and again that her greatest power lay not in destroying, but in healing.

She opened her eyes, and saw green orbs staring back at her. A thousand meetings over a thousand lifetimes she lived in a single breath, and she shuddered as he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

With tears in her eyes, Amber smiled. "Welcome back, Father."

Cinder opened her eyes.

"I know where the Maiden is."

Tyrian pranced to her from the edge of the clearing, falling to a crouch beside her. "Well, then? Spit it out, my ass is sore from sitting around waiting for you to be useful!"

"Vale, not far. She's with Ozpin," Cinder said, "and the Hunt."

"The rude little girls?" Tyrian's tail wagged left and right at breakneck speed. "Tell me they're all there! I have leftovers to finish, and revenge to dispense!"

Cinder stood up, giving him no mind.

The Maiden's choice of company presented severe complications. She knew she had power enough to defeat Ruby and all her idiotic friends combined, but the fact that they had met with Ozpin would mean they'd be prepared for her attack. This was going to take more effort than she liked.

But this also presented new opportunities. She'd only need to be precise. Surgical. She would not disappoint Salem.

You will not.

She all but heard the voice in the back of her head. And when she felt an itch, Cinder looked down at her arm to see a black-and-red beetle scuttling up it. It reached her wrist and circled around it, and when she turned her arm she saw the creature start to burrow into the palm of her hand. In the space of a shudder, it disappeared into her flesh, and from the point it had burrowed a vile red eye stared back at her.

I will not.

"Come, doggie." Cinder snapped her fingers at Tyrian. "Let's go get you a treat."

The news of Ozpin's awakening spread through the house like wildfire. Pyrrha was one of the first to hear it after Ruby went to check on him and Amber, and yet by the time she got to the living room half the house was already gathered there. The rest trickled in shortly after, except for Goodwitch, who had elected to keep watch in the security room.

Idle talk filled the room as they waited, and though she tried, Pyrrha couldn't contribute a word. Anticipation had made a coffin of her lungs, and the cold in her stomach made her glad she hadn't had a big breakfast. So she stayed silent, and tried to take solace in everybody's presence.

It was shortly past noon when Ozpin finally made his appearance, limping into the room with ample use of his cane. Amber helped him along, an arm looped around his, though she looked almost wearier than him.

A trembling smile graced Amber's features as Ruby helped them both sit down. Then Amber's gaze briefly wandered to Pyrrha, and Pyrrha had never known a smile so welcoming and yet so somber.

Ozpin cleared his throat. He looked around the room, at each person in presence. He nodded at Qrow. Then he turned his eyes to the floor, swaying his cane from one hand to the other, as if searching for the right words to say. And that was terrifying. Ozpin always knew what to say.

"I suppose I should start by thanking you for giving me asylum during these uncertain times," he said finally. "And then, I suppose, I should apologize. When I brought most of you together three years ago, it was under the notion that you would protect the world from the threats no one else could face. That notion was not untrue. And yet by not telling you the full picture, I invited you to fight a battle of a scale you did not truly comprehend. You have given a lot to this battle. Some in particular have suffered greatly for it."

He gave a nod to Yang, and she turned uncomfortably on the couch.

"I do not expect forgiveness from you, but you must understand that when you've lived for as long as I have, trust is a hard thing to give away. Particularly when you find yourself in a vulnerable position," Ozpin said. "Vulnerability can also force you to trust. Perhaps that is not such a bad thing. And here we sit." He looked around again. "No doubt some of you will resent me once I am done-"

"Some of us already resent you," Nora interrupted, scowling at him.

Ozpin smiled ruefully. "Understandably. I only ask that you listen to all I have to say. Afterwards, you may do as you wish, though I hope we may continue to work together to solve this crisis."

"I think we're all ready to hear you, Director," Ruby said.

Ozpin nodded, turning pensive again. He looked at Qrow, one eyebrow slightly raised, and got only a shrug in return.

"Don't look at me, old man. It's your story."

Ozpin exhaled. "And yet it never gets any easier to tell."

Jaune raised a hand. "How about you start with the fact that you've been an ultra-powerful wizard all this time and none of us knew."

"I knew," Qrow said smugly.

"Shut it, bird-face," Nora said.

"I am not, as you say, ultra-powerful," Ozpin said. "At least not anymore. But I suppose 'wizard' would not be a misnomer."

He stopped moving his cane between his hands and took firm hold of it. He turned it upside-down and raised it before his face. After a few seconds, he tossed it – right towards Qrow's head.

Qrow flinched, but the cane never touched his skull. It hovered in the air, centimeters from his scalp, as if divorced from all physics.

"Was that really necessary?" Qrow grumbled.

"I am illustrating a point," Ozpin said, turning his cane sideways.

Pyrrha blinked. She looked at the cane in Ozpin's hands, then back to Qrow. The other cane was still there, threatening a ruinous impact against his skull. But it was not another cane, or even a projection. Somehow Pyrrha knew it was the very same object, existing in two places at once.

"You could have used one of the kids," Qrow said.

"That would have been ill-advised," Ozpin said. He swung his cane at nothing, and the one next to Qrow imitated the motion and bonked him atop the head.

Qrow fell off his chair. "Motherf-"

Ozpin turned his wrist, and the hovering cane reversed its swinging motion, then flew back into its twin, as if it had never existed.

"That," Weiss said, gawking, "wouldn't be what you call magic, would it?"

"A parlor trick, for the most part," Ozpin said. "But yes, magic."

"That didn't look like the magic you used against Tyrian," Ruby said, looking at Amber. "Didn't you say magic comes from nature?"

"Magic is nature. In my case, quite literally," Amber said. "We all relate to the nature of our world differently. And if you have the aptitude for it, you can weave it to do marvelous, or terrible things."

"Familiarity does not hurt, either," Ozpin said, "and I've had quite some time to learn the hidden makings of this world."

"Time out." Ruby gestured with her hands. "You keep talking like you've been alive for forever, but you're not that old."

Ozpin smiled at her. "How old am I, Miss Rose?"

"Uh… Forty. Or fifty." Ruby squinted at him. "Sixty to seventy?"

"If I were that young, you'd think I wouldn't have been alive to found Beacon."

"But you didn't found Beacon," Weiss said.

"I most certainly did, Miss Schnee," Ozpin said. "My memory is faulty, but not so much."

"You're lying. I've researched this," Weiss said. "Beacon was founded a hundred or so years ago, by - well, I can't recall his name right now, but it certainly wasn't you!"

Ozpin didn't say a word in response, and doubt crept into Weiss' expression.

Pyrrha searched her own memories. She had studied Beacon's history as well – she too knew the agency had been founded some hundred years ago, by… a man. Yet for all she tried, she could not recall the specific details.

"Beacon was founded ninety-seven years ago, in the advent of the digital age. As the world became more connected, it became all the more necessary to combat the Grimm and hide them from the eyes of the public," Ozpin said. "The man responsible was called Oswald. I will forgive your forgetting his name. I have that effect on people."

A stunned silence fell over everyone gathered. Pyrrha looked at Ozpin, and for a fraction of a second his eyes met hers. How often she'd wondered what secrets lay hidden behind those weary pools of brown. Looking at him now, the truth seemed so obvious, she asked herself how she hadn't realized it before.

"Wait a minute. So, you're… really old?" Yang blinked. "Sorry, I'm on painkillers."

"He's not just old," Qrow said, looking at Ozpin. "Just go on with it. You know there's no sugar coating it."

"Indeed, there is not," Ozpin said. After a long silence, he continued, "I've been alive for longer than any other being on this planet. I have lived history that has been long lost to memory. I've seen civilizations rise and fall." He paused. "Centuries pass. People evolve. And I remain."

"How is that possible?" Weiss asked. "It can't be a Semblance, can it?"

"Not a Semblance." Ozpin nodded. "A power that was granted to me. To die and be reborn in a new body, to live forever under different names, but always the same soul."

"Someone granted you eternal life, just like that?" Jaune said.

"That's one awesome birthday gift," Yang mumbled. "Or a really sucky one."

"Not someone, Mister Arc. A power higher than any of us," Ozpin said. "And not just like that. I was tasked with protecting mankind and vanquishing those who prey on it."

"The Grimm," Ruby said.

"And the one that commands them," Ozpin said.

Ruby frowned. "So there's a head Grimm?"

"Her name," Qrow said, "is Salem."

Pyrrha remembered the first time she'd seen a Grimm in person. She'd been little, no older than ten, and it had been a Beowolf not much bigger than she was. She remembered the feeling of dread when she'd come face-to-face with it, and the terror that flooded her veins when it had pushed her to the ground, fangs snapping at her vulnerable flesh.

The mere sound of that name somehow evoked a feeling a hundred times worse than that. It came from deep within her, seizing her every thought and plunging her body into a shivering cold. She saw similar reactions from her teammates around her, and even Qrow seemed to want to wash the memory of the name from his tongue.

"This Salem…" Ruby said, her expression uncertain. "She's a person?"

"She was, once," Ozpin said. "Then she became something else. Monstrous, like the Grimm under her thrall, and with the power to raze the world."

"How come she hasn't done that yet, then, if she's so old and powerful?" Jaune asked.

"Because we trapped her away long ago – banished her to the same place the Grimm you fight come from," Ozpin said. "She has tried to break free several times since, and she has been thwarted every time so far."

"What does she want?" Blake asked. "Vengeance? To destroy us, like the Grimm?"

"She wants to come home," Amber said, an odd note of sorrow in her voice. "And then…"

"We don't want to get to the point where we find out," Qrow said.

Pyrrha looked at her teammates' faces, and she saw in them the same thoughts she was having. So far they'd been waging a war against an evil force of seemingly no end, something that would survive them no matter how long and hard they fought against it. To know that an enemy existed that, if they could only take her down, the fight might be over for good – it was both an immense relief and terror.

"Is there a way?" Ruby asked. And as if everybody wasn't thinking the exact same, "Is there a way to stop Salem?"

"We can protect our world from her," Ozpin said, and smiled dourly, as if he wished he could give the answer they were looking for. But obviously he couldn't. He must have been searching for it for as long as he'd been alive.

Jaune shifted beside Pyrrha, and she realized he was shaking with tension. She put her hand atop his, but it didn't seem to help at all. She'd only seen him like this once, in the days when everything about Kuroyuri had come to light. Somehow this was even worse.

"Forget Salem," he said, so abruptly that several heads whipped towards him at once. "You've been fighting her and the Grimm off for centuries, for even longer than that, haven't you?"

"Correct," Ozpin said.

"So what about Kuroyuri? What about the Nuckelavee? You couldn't do anything about that?" Jaune said. "What about Cinder? You brought us together to fight her, but what about you? You've been watching from the sidelines this whole time, doing nothing. People have died!"

"More would have died if it weren't for you," Ozpin said. "I may live forever, but that doesn't mean I am capable of defending Remnant by myself. My job-"

"I don't wanna hear about what you think your job is, or your strategy, or any of that crap! I wanna hear about you."

Ozpin fell silent. Beside him, Amber lifted a hand and laid it gently atop his shoulder.

"You must believe me when I say that, if there was anything Ozpin could have done to prevent those tragedies, he would have done it. I know it in my heart," she said softly. "Alas, he could not. Can you not see how he is weak?"

"What, he's dying?" Jaune huffed. "He just told us he's immortal."

"There are things worse than death," Amber said. "Ozpin is not all he used to be. He was crippled long before you met, in this lifetime. Broken in body and spirit by an old foe." She squeezed Ozpin's shoulder, her eyes shimmering briefly with the colors of a cloudy sky. "You've seen it with your own eyes. The magic he ordained in your city of Vale split him in so many pieces, I was nearly unable to mend him back together."

"So what?" Nora said, and raised her hands when everyone looked at her. "Look, I'm not saying this to be a jerk. I'm sure dying would suck either way. But if the guy comes back whenever he dies, wouldn't this problem go away when… you know?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not," Amber said. "It isn't a risk we've been willing to take while Salem plots her return." Her eyes narrowed as she noticed Jaune open his mouth again. "And that is the last we will talk of this."

Her voice seemed to encompass the whole room in that instant, a bolt of lightning flashing in her eyes. Nature was the wellspring of life and all things wonderful. It could also pulverize mountains with its fury.

No one felt inclined to argue with her.

"So, uh…" Ruby said. "Where do you come into all this?"

Amber turned to look at her, light as a spring breeze.

"Long ago, in an age long forgotten," she said, "there was a girl who could command the seasons as if she and them were one and the same. In the summer she would shine as bright as the sun, while in the winter she would freeze the surface of lakes with her very steps. In the fall she would gather fallen leaves to wear as a crown atop her head, and in the spring she would place them back in the naked branches of the trees and nurse them back to health."

"That's just a fairytale," Weiss said, pursing her lips.

Amber smiled at her before she continued, "The girl walked the world, bringing wonders to life wherever she went. Until one day a wise man came to her on the road, and he thanked her for all the wonderful gifts she left in her trail. Before long, however, the wise man turned somber, and when the maiden asked what worried him, he told her that a great evil existed that was turning the world into a dark and cruel place. In such a world, he believed, her gifts were not meant to last."

She took Ozpin's hand and ran a finger over the lines of his knuckles, bowing her head to study them more closely. Tears gleamed in her eyes, but Pyrrha could not tell if they were happy or sad.

"Startled, the young girl asked the wise man if there was a way to prevent this great evil from destroying the world she loved," Amber said. "The wise man revealed, then, that he was chosen by the gods to fight this evil, but that he feared that, alone, he might fail. The young girl asked if he might prevail with her help. Yes, the wise man replied, but it will be a long and painful battle. The young girl, so brave and so kind, had already made her decision, but she thought she might miss spreading her gifts throughout the world, so before they left she asked her new companion – how long? And the wise man replied – until the end of time. And together they set off to rid the world of evil."

She fell silent for a long while, and no one dared to say a word. Ozpin turned his wrist and slipped his fingers between hers, interlocking their hands. Amber closed her eyes and shuddered.

"We banished Salem away from Remnant then," Amber said, before she caught herself. "Ozpin's first incarnation, that is, and the first Maiden of Seasons. He shared a portion of his power with her. And we have been linked ever since."

Ruby inched forward in her chair. "But… you're not that same girl, are you?"

"I am not like Oz," Amber said, directing a mournful smile towards him. "He remains the same. There have been many Maidens throughout the generations. He finds her, and she finds him. It's a connection that transcends time."

And blood. That strange familiarity Pyrrha had felt the first time she'd laid eyes on Amber returned to her. Her skin started to itch and tingle, and she felt herself drawn towards Amber and Ozpin as they sat together, though she gathered all her power to look away.

"Salem has been trying to get her hands on the Maiden for as long as we have fought," Ozpin said. "She believes she might be the key to breaking the spell that keeps from returning to Remnant."

"That's why Tyrian was after her," Ruby said. "And Cinder. They work for Salem."

Amber looked away, a guilty frown on her forehead. Ozpin mirrored her expression.

Ruby looked between the two of them. "What's going on?"

"I recruited Cinder," Ozpin said, "with the intention that she would be the next Maiden after Amber."

"What? Why?"

"It was a precaution," Amber said.

"When the Maiden dies, her powers get passed on to another woman – a young girl, often someone whose life she has touched," Ozpin said. "You can see how that might be a bit… erratic. But there are ways to influence that further. The Maiden can give her blessing to a girl of her choosing, making it all but sure that she will inherit the powers when she passes."

"I refused to give my blessing to Cinder. At the time I thought I was doing her a kindness, but…" Amber shook her head. "She did not take that well. I still don't remember clearly, but she ambushed me on the road. She did something to me, and stole a fraction of my power. She left me to die. I would have died, if Ozpin hadn't found me and taken me to safety."

"It's not your fault," Ozpin said. "We don't know if Cinder turned to Salem before or after you denied your blessing."

"It makes no difference. I should have been better," Amber said. She let go of Ozpin's hand and touched the side of her head. "Even now, I can feel her. She's been slowly siphoning my powers since the moment I woke up. Even if she doesn't come to finish the job, I don't have much time left."

"There must be a way to stop that," Blake said. "You wouldn't have kept her in a coma for years if there wasn't a way."

Amber glanced towards Pyrrha, a look that lasted less than a second, but long enough that she couldn't pretend it hadn't happened. And suddenly the longing in her chest started to make sense, and the pieces of the puzzle she'd been refusing to acknowledge came together despite her wishes.

She began to laugh.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune looked at her worriedly.

"No one else has caught on yet?" Pyrrha said. She looked at Ozpin, smiling despite herself. "Was this the plan all along? Is this the reason you took me in?"

"Pyrrha, that is not the case," Ozpin said. "Allow me to explain-"

"No. You don't have to explain anything. I understand perfectly." Pyrrha stood up and removed her shield from her back. She dropped it between her feet, the metal clanging loudly on the marble floor. "I can't believe I actually thought you cared. But that's over. I'm done being your pawn."

"You were never a pawn, Pyrrha," Ozpin said.

"A queen, then?" Pyrrha balled her fists. "Forgive me if I'm not honored, Director."

Amber silenced Ozpin with a gesture, then looked at Pyrrha. "I realize this is a lot to take in. It was a lot for me, too," she said. "I can't force you to accept my blessing. I won't. But if we could talk privately, there is much I'd-"

"No."

To Pyrrha's surprise, it was Weiss who stood up first, a rapier of glowing blue Dust in her hand.

"She's made her choice clear," Weiss said. "She's not going anywhere with you."

Jaune stood up immediately after, his hand flying to the handle of his own sword. "What she said."

And then Ruby stood up, and Blake, and Nora and Ren, and even Yang sat up rigidly, her eyes burning red towards Ozpin and Amber. A lump formed in Pyrrha's throat, and she almost collapsed on the couch again.

"Pyrrha, we must at least talk about this," Ozpin said. "If the Maiden's powers end up in Cinder's hands-"

"I'm sure we can figure out another way to solve that problem, with or without you," Pyrrha said. "You're not the only one with answers."

Ozpin didn't reply, but just the look on his face was enough to make her question everything she was saying. How could she be so irresponsible to refuse to do her duty when so much was at stake? And for what, her own happiness? What about the rest of the world? She could stand to sacrifice a little if it meant everybody else was safe.

But the presence of her team around her dispelled those thoughts. They might have disagreements, and they might not be perfect, but she had no doubts they would stand by her when it came down to it, just as she would do for them.

This was what family was supposed to feel like.

"You use people," Pyrrha said, looking down at Ozpin, and she was startled to find the strength she felt resonating in her voice. "You convince them they're important, that they matter beyond their use to you, but in the end all they are to you is weapons to win a war. You may even mean what you say, but your actions speak another story. Maybe you'd realize that if you stepped back for a second and considered that you might not be the only person in the world in charge of their own fate."

She watched him deflate, shrink unto himself as if he wanted nothing than to do the impossible task of disappearing from the face of the planet and never return, and the anger in her heart gave room to pity. Because what else could she feel for him when she saw him as clear as day.

Someone might have broken him, but he had done most of the damage himself. She only hoped he could reclaim the humanity he'd lost.

The sound of a flask being uncorked sliced through the silence.

"And so, the prophecy comes true," Qrow said, tossing back a mouthful of sizzling soda down his throat. "They do resent you."

And then the alarms started blaring throughout the house. Before anyone had regained their senses, Commander Goodwitch came running into the room, throwing her arm against a wall to hold herself steady.

"It's Fall," she said. "She's here."