Chapter 7

Nermina sat in a chair, which she figured out how to create, in the void. She was half listening and half blocking out Amber's tirade against her actions last night, which all circled back to, "What would of happened if we had died!?"

Just as Amber finished, Nermina brought out her Estus Flask, bringing Amber's attention to her again. Well, more so to the bottle itself, as it has apparently been slowly refilling during their time in the void.

"Huh, I guess sleep acts as a replacement for the bonfires," Nermina said, her way with words had transformed from the formal speech of her world, to the more casual speech patterns of Remnant, but she still had her accent.

Amber, meanwhile, had decided to also take a seat in a chair that appeared from nowhere, she was much more adept at creating objects in the void.

"How do you think this works?" Amber asked.

"Back in Drangleic, bonfires were so useful because they are somehow able to warp time, essentially speeding up time. I think that our sleeping condition allows us to experience something similar, but we're not guaranteed our safety, unlike with the bonfires," Nermina explained.

"That would explain why we don't experience the full amount of time that we're sleeping, but what would happen if we were to be attacked like this?"

Nermina replied with a shrug, not sure her self, before taking a seat next to Amber, "One thing I've been wondering, what will happen if we get to your body?"

Amber was silent at that, she wasn't sure what she wanted to happen. Sure, she might get her body back, but then what would happen to Nermina? Amber already knew how it felt have a part of her stolen, would it be the same for her partner?

Just as Amber was about to voice her concerns, they were waking up.

The first thing they saw was a man attempting to mug a faunus.

Glynda Goodwitch, 3:58 am, 14 days before the school year begins

Glynda Goodwitch was having a very stressful morning.

First thing in the morning, Ozpin gets a call from the KVPD (Kingdom of Vale Police Department) asking about any huntsman or huntresses that have an amnesia inducing semblance in the Vale area, to which Ozpin replied that he had no record of any. Then, minutes later, he gets a report from one of his contacts about an injured man stumbling out of an alleyway before walking up to a police officer and confessing to the attempted mugging of a fox faunus.

Apparently, the perpetrator didn't remember much of anything except the crime and his name, but he did remember a figure cloaked in black.

The police officer had gone to the alley to check if the confession was true after he had contained the man in his car, and had confirmed to have found a terrified fox faunus, who then told the whole story after being brought to the station for questioning.

That is the reason why Glynda was currently fully dressed in her outfit and inspecting an alleyway at 3:58 am.

Coincidentally, or maybe not, it was only a minute's walk away from a crime scene with a robbed dust store and multiple body bags containing gang members. That one was quite a mess.

Unfortunately, the only sign of anything happening here was a bunch of garbage cans that looked like they were thrown to the side as someone got up.

Just as she was about to give up, Glynda felt a faint gloom, like if you were to be in close proximity with a Grimm. She immediately acted on this feeling out of pure instinct, sending a telekinetic blast down the alleyway, revealing an armored stranger from some sort of illusion that made them appear as a garbage bin.

"Who are you? explain yourself!" Glynda demanded as she held the figure midair with her semblance.

The person merely looked up at her, as if examining a lab experiment, before replying with a surprisingly calm tone, "Glynda Goodwitch, member of the circle, close ally of Headmaster Ozpin, enemy of Salem, ally to the dying Fall Maiden, Amber."

The voice revealed them to be a woman, one who knew far too much about the secret fight for the world than just any random huntress or criminal should, causing Glynda to tighten her grip on her riding crop before pinning them roughly against the wall and grab her scroll to contact Ozpin.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Amber asked Nermina as they watched Glynda raise her scroll to her ear, to which Nermina responded, "Do you want to get back to your body quickly, or not?"

Amber stayed quiet after that, she knew that just walking into Beacon and announcing that she was the Fall Maiden would likely have them detained and questioned longer than if they were to simply let themselves get taken to Ozpin directly to explain their situation.

"I'll be heading back now," they heard Glynda finish, right before she pocketed her scroll and glared at Nermina, "will you explain yourself?"

"I will speak of this matter in Ozpin's office, Miss Goodwitch," Nermina replied, accidentally adding the "Miss" due to Amber's influence.

"Suit yourself," she said before creating glyphs around Nermina's wrists and legs, making them her bindings as she was hovered a few feet off the ground as Glynda brought her to a bullhead from Beacon and stuck her onto a seat with another glyph as they took off.

The flight was uneventful and silent, aside from the engines and small sound of the glyphs being sustained, and it wasn't long before the craft moved downwards and landed with a bump or two before the professor opened the door and pulled the hexer along with her as they moved through the main avenue the empty campus. They passed by a statue depicting a huntsman and a huntress standing triumphant while a Beowulf stood beneath the ledge they were on; to many, it represents the strength of humanity, but Nermina saw it as a show of arrogance, the downfall of many kingdoms.

After a few minutes, they arrived at Beacon Tower, of which the base held the CCT hub and also housed Ozpin's office at the very top. Amber and Nermina steeled themselves for when they reached the headmaster's office during the elevator ride up. When the doors opened, there was an older man, Ozpin, sitting at a desk, some paperwork pushed to the side, which is to be expected. What Nermina didn't expect was another man leaning against a column, one that Amber recognized as Qrow Branwen. They made it inside and Nermina was placed in a chair opposite to Ozpin, the glyphs were removed after that.

After a few moments of silence, Ozpin finally spoke up, "I'm assuming you're aware of who I am, if what Glynda has messaged me is true."

"You are Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy..." Nermina responded, and just as Ozpin was about say something to her, she cut him off, "...the leader of the group protecting the maidens."

The atmosphere immediately became tense as Qrow stood straight, no longer leaning against the column, and Glynda gripped her riding crop harder. "I assume that you would like to know my identity, am I correct?" Nermina asked, Amber was slightly nervous of their current situation, but let Nermina control it.

The headmaster nodded, a slight cautious but otherwise unreadable expression on his face, "Yes , that would be correct."

After a few moments of sifting through Amber's memories, the ones pertaining to Ozpin only, she found something that gave her a slight mischevious smile, "Why, dear wizard," she started, causing Qrow to grip his great sword, "I'm just like you," she finished before closing her eyes.

After this statement, Ozpin raised an eyebrow, the only other sign of his suspicions being his grip on his cane.

"You can take over from here, Amber," Nermina thought, right before she felt as if she were pulled backwards and sat down again, she couldn't feel her body after that one moment, though.

To any one not in her mind, they saw her suddenly glow brightly, her white hair becoming brown, her alabaster skin darkening, before suddenly reverting back. This was a very familiar sight to Ozpin, but hehad always been certain the the brothers hadn't created anyone else like him.

Until now.

When Nermina opened her eyes again, they were a golden-brown mix, these eyes felt younger and more familiar than their original appearance.

"Um..." She started as she looked at each person in the room. Qrow was slack jawed, while Glynda seemed to be trying her best to hide her shock. "Hi Professors, and Qrow," the new persona said with a very noticeable lack of a foreign accent, she then proceeded to give a small smile and brush some hair out of her face.

"Please forgive Nermina for being mysterious, she doesn't quite trust all of you... Its me, Amber..."

After she said this, Ozpin stood up and stared at Amber, "This is beyond even a maiden's ability, unless this would be part of some illusion semblance..." He trailed off right then, before suddenly asking a question.

"What is the world's best kept secret?"

At the question, Amber's tone became even, as if she were reciting something out of a book.

"One that not even shadows may grasp, one that not even the keeper knows."

At this response, Qrow and Glynda visibly relaxed,while Ozpin merely smiled and sat down again, leaning his cane against his desk.

"Now, how did this happen? Who was that other persona of yours?" Qrow asked, getting right to the point, "You've got some explaining to do."

Amber motioned for Qrow and Glynda to stand by Ozpin, "You might want to open up your minds a bit for this, I'm not sure how believable this story is..."

Cinder Fall, 6:27 pm, 16 days before the school year begins

Everything was going according to plan, Roman Torchwick was under her thumb, and she had the White Fang following her orders, along with her hungering sensation was telling her that Salem was correct to deduce that the Fall Maiden was somewhere in the city of Vale, but something felt off. While she had gotten used to the burning sensation that came with having only half a maiden's power, she didn't expect it to suddenly drop in its intensity, being replaced by a cold emptiness.

Something had happened. Something out of her control. The maiden didn't die, definitely not, but something about her has changed, as though a darkness has settled in. Cinder could still feel her presence, but it felt like there was something grasping the bond and threatening to tear it apart, but at the same time fill in the cracks.

She didn't like it, but she wouldn't show any weakness, she had an image to keep, after all. Reporting it to Salem will make her look like a coward, someone who can't even handle the though of something going out of control.

Cinder had no such fears, she was confident, she had contingency plans.

After all, she wanted to be strong.

She wants to be feared.