I do not own RWBY or any of the characters.
Truth
Fox knocked on Ozpin's door and was allowed in a moment later. As he walked in, Glynda was waiting for him to leave to finish whatever conversation she had been having with Ozpin, as was the other person there. He was about Glynda's age, maybe a little younger, and had black hair combed back messily with his bangs hanging down to his eyebrows, the beginnings of a beard, a light grey jacket with coattails hanging to the back of his knees, a slightly darker grey up the front, and a black collar and cuffs, black pants, a dark red cape hanging as low as his coattails, and what looked like a large, grey, single-edged sword at the back of his waist folded in half to be carried.
"How may I help you, Fox?" Ozpin asked.
"We need to discuss Cinder," Fox said.
"Who?" Ozpin asked.
"Cinder," Fox said. "The bitch that broke into the tower, and is currently here from Haven? Yeah, she uses magic. Real magic."
"Are you sure?" Ozpin asked.
"Well, when I fought her, flames started coming out of her eye and she started making the ground and walls explode under me, then starting through lightning bolts and fireballs at me out of thin air, so, yeah, I'm pretty sure."
Ozpin, Glynda, and the third person all traded matching expressions of worry. Fox raised an eyebrow.
"You said you saw this when you fought her," Glynda said. "I take it you're not referring to in the tower?"
"No," Fox said. "I'm not. I fought her in a maintenance access hallway during JNPR's team match. But it's...a bit complicated."
"How so?" Ozpin asked.
"Well, for one thing, I stabbed her and cut her spin in half during the fight," Fox said, all three staring at him in confusion.
"Then...she's dead?" the third person asked.
"Who are you?" Fox asked.
"This is Qrow," Ozpin said. "He's a friend of mine, and Ruby and Yang's uncle."
"Nice to meet you," Fox said. "And no, she's not dead."
"But, you said-"
"At the end of Yang's fight, she swears on her life, her mother's life, and Ruby's life that Mercury Black attacked her, and that's why she broke his leg," Fox said. "Obviously, he didn't. However, I'm tempted to believe Yang."
"Wait, you think he did too?" Glynda asked. "So then, the entire audience, as well as every single camera present, were all seeing an illusion?"
"Not at all," Fox said. "We saw what was really happening. But Yang didn't. She saw, and heard, Mercury attacking her. So she reacted."
"So then, you believe Mercury Black has the ability to create illusions, and did so in order to make Yang break his leg?" Qrow asked. "What sense does that make?"
"Not Mercury," Fox said. "Emerald. His teammate. Also, coincidentally, Cinder's teammate. I think that she made Yang break Mercury's leg, because the entire world saw a girl taught by Ozpin cruelly and brutally breaking a beaten competitor's leg after being named victor. That doesn't look good. Their plan, at least for now, is most likely to make Ozpin look bad and lose support."
"So, you think this Emerald person saved Cinder by making you think you killed her?" Glynda asked.
"Yes," Fox said. "And for the record, I doubt Mercury is down for the count either. I suspect he has a way to get his leg working again, if I had to guess, he has a prosthetic."
"Why?" Ozpin asked. "What would they stand to gain?"
"You tell me," Fox said. "You're the one who told me that magic exists. What would a woman who fights with magic stand to gain by coming here and making you lose support?"
Everyone stared at Fox before turning to Ozpin.
"You told him magic exists?" Qrow asked.
"I was explaining his semblance to him," Ozpin said. "But yes, those words may have left my mouth."
"Well?" Glynda asked. "What do you think?"
Ozpin was silent for a while, steepling his fingers in front of his face. Finally, he stood. "Follow me, Fox. I think you should know whose target you've hung around your neck."
Ozpin walked to the elevator, turning to the front and gesturing for Fox to join him. Fox did so, crossing his arms as Glynda and Qrow stepped in as well. Ozpin slid a panel aside, pressing a button below it. The elevator began to move and Ozpin rested his hands on his staff again, Glynda and Qrow also standing in silence, facing the door. Fox felt a little uneasy as the ride dragged on. Then, finally, the doors slid open and Fox stepped out, looking around. They were in a very long, very massive hallway with a line of square pillars leading away from the elevator, green flames on the inside of them giving everything a green tint. At the end of the line was an intersection of sorts, with a large intricate seal on the floor, then three more hallways branching off. Ozpin walked straight across the intersection, so Fox followed. The others were still silent, and Fox was starting to get annoyed about the lack of answers. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway and stopped.
Before them, there was a large machine. It filled the wall at the end of the hallway. On the left side, there was a stasis pod with a woman inside of it, a woman with short brown hair, tan skin, a white strip of cloth around her breasts and a pair of white shorts, and what looked like a chemical burn scar under her left eye. On the right side, there was an empty stasis pod lying down. In between the two stasis pods were three screens, a large one in between two small ones, and there was a sort of large black power cord running from the top of the girl's pod to the other one.
"What the hell is this?" Fox asked. "Who is she?"
"The current Fall Maiden, Amber," Ozpin said.
"Fall Maiden?" Fox asked.
"What's your favorite fairy tale?" Ozpin asked.
"Definitely not the one about the Four Maidens," Fox said. "I'm guessing that one's true, though."
"It is," Ozpin nodded. "I gave each of the original Four Maidens the ability to wield real magic. Each time one of them dies, its power transfers to the next maiden."
"How is one chosen?" Fox asked.
"At first, all that was known is that it was always a young woman, but it was thought to be random," Glynda said. "However, over time, it was discovered that the selection process was much more...intimate."
"I'm guessing intimate, in this case, doesn't mean lesbian sex," Fox said.
"Hah!" Qrow laughed. "If only. No. It's the last person in the previous maiden's thoughts, so long as they fit the criteria. Obviously if they're last thoughts are a man, or a woman who's too old, it becomes a lot more annoying to find them."
"Do they have to like the person?" Fox asked.
"No," Qrow said. "That's a good point, though. If the killer is a young woman, there's a good chance they'll inherit the power."
"So what does Amber have to do with Cinder?" Fox asked. "Amber's alive. Unless you mean to tell me Cinder is one of the other Maidens."
"Amber is unique," Ozpin said. "She was inexperienced when someone attacked her."
"We think that person is Cinder," Qrow said. "You see, your description of her matches what a Maiden looks like when they use their full power."
"How does that make sense?" Fox asked. "Amber's alive."
"It makes sense," Qrow said. "Because when Amber was attacked, someone stole some of her power. For the first time in history, a Maiden's power has been split. We don't know what will happen when Amber dies, and we're using the machinery to keep her alive at this point. There's a high chance that the power will just seek itself out. For obvious reasons, we can't allow that."
"Somehow, I feel like this isn't the only thing Cinder's after," Fox said.
"It's not," Ozpin said. "Hidden beneath this school, somewhere in the vault, there is a relic. Only the Fall Maiden can retrieve this relic, and we believe that is what Cinder is after."
"So what do we do about Amber?" Fox asked. "If we kill Cinder, will Amber recover?"
"No," Ozpin said. "She's going to die. But we may have a way around it. This machine has the ability to transfer aura from one person to another."
"That's wrong in so many ways," Fox said. "What would happen to the person that gets the aura?"
"We don't know," Qrow said. "Trust me, we agree about the morals of it. But we don't have a choice. We've run out of time."
"I assume you've got a candidate in mind?" Fox asked.
"We do," Ozpin nodded. "Pyrrha Nikos."
Fox fell silent. She was a good choice. She excelled at everything, she fit the more basic criteria, and she was definitely selfless enough to be willing to take the risks. But she was his friend. And he didn't want her, at worst, completely replaced by Amber.
"It's not an easy decision, nor is it easy to watch friends risk their lives while we remain powerless to keep them safe," Ozpin said.
"It's a good choice," Fox said. "if I could kill Cinder, and Amber got her power back, could we get her to wake up long enough to transfer the powers to Pyrrha without Pyrrha risking being replaced?"
"It's possible," Ozpin said. "However, we have no guarantees. The best option is to do things this way."
"Have you asked Pyrrha?" Fox asked.
"We have," Ozpin nodded. "She requested time to think about it."
"I bet she did," Fox said. "Okay. I'm going to go and find the rest of my team. I'm going to go and tell them to be ready for a fight, I'm not saying who or what. If you need me here, signal. Don't care how or what, just make it obvious."
Ozpin nodded and Fox turned, walking back to the elevator and returning to the ground floor, heading for the arena.
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