Autumn

"…And that brings us to today," Pyrrha finished.

A hollow silence tugged at the walls of JNPR's dorm. The room suddenly seemed too small. Too close. The plates were all set aside—the pancakes either finished or forgotten and left cold. Outside, a faint rumble signalled that perhaps the oncoming rain would be a bit more violent than expected.

Weiss sat beside her girlfriends. Yang had flopped back onto the bed and was staring blankly up at the ceiling, the blinking of her eyes and the way she squeezed Weiss's hand the only signs was still conscious. Ruby, holding her other hand, seemed to be handling the reveal much better, just staring at her knees with her face lost in a distant frown, tracing small circles on Weiss's palm with her thumb.

Blake seemed to be taking it hardest. She'd separated herself from the rest of them, curling up and pressing her forehead to her knees up as she leaned against Nora and Ren's headboard. Her ears lay flat, but she didn't seem to be crying or hyperventilating. Weiss wanted to go hug her, but the fact that Yang wasn't already doing so suggested that Blake probably just needed space right now.

Weiss… wasn't sure how she was doing. She kept trying to make sense of what she'd just heard, but her thoughts just kept looping around and around, unable to join the pieces together no matter how hard she tried. The world felt distant, like she'd stepped out of it and into somewhere else entirely.

She squeezed the hands she held, drawing some small sense of stability from their presence. As she drifted back into herself, she looked across to the other side of the room.

Team JNPR were still pressed together—not that anyone was going to comment on it now. Pyrrha and Jaune seemed… exhausted. Nora still held Pyrrha tight on the other side, while Ren had shifted to softly hug Pyrrha from behind.

Ren must have noticed her staring, because he met Weiss's eyes and offered a wan smile. It communicated a great deal of information that Weiss didn't understand.

It was Ruby's voice which finally cleared the brittle air. "That's… a lot," she said. "But… to start with… Pyrrha. Are you okay?"

Pyrrha laughed hollowly, bowing her head. Nora and Jaune pressed into her sides a little more, while Ren squeezed her tighter. "...Not really, no," she admitted. "But… I agreed to this, and I—"

"Did you?" Yang said, flatly. They all stared at her in shock, as she slowly sat up, her eyes blazing red. Her voice was low, rough. "Because it sounds to me like someone with power fucking coerced you into doing his dirty work."

The words rattled Weiss out of her daze. She blinked, finding Yang gripping her hand so tight it nearly hurt, and squeezed back reassuringly.

Nora let out a dramatic sigh. "Thank you, Yang! See, it's not just me!"

"Yang, Nora…" Jaune shot them unhappy looks, but Pyrrha nudged him into silence.

"They're… not entirely wrong," she said. "But… can we talk about that later, please?" She shifted uncomfortably. "You must have questions."

"One or two," Weiss said, almost without meaning to. She swallowed, composing herself enough to separate some of her questions from her own frantic attempts to answer them with rationality and logic. "So these… maidens," she started, gaze hardening as she locked eyes with Pyrrha, "are women who inherit powers which transcend aura and semblances—actual magic. And we've never heard of them because there's a great, multinational conspiracy to keep their existence a secret, led by the headmaster of Beacon. And that same headmaster, with the aid of General Ironwood and Ruby and Yang's uncle, used what I can only describe as mad science to transfer the soul of the fall maiden out of her dying body and into yours." A pause. "And that's why you snapped at Yang over breakfast yesterday."

Pyrrha gave a slow nod. "It… does sound a little implausible," she said with a nervous smile.

Weiss's eyes hardened further, from steel to gleaming diamond. "Were this coming from anyone else in this room," she said, her voice uncharacteristically low. "I would be very upset at the tastelessness of the joke." She sighed, pressing the heel of her palm to her forehead as some of the tension bled out of her. "But… I believe you. You're not the type to fuck with us like that."

Ruby gasped, her eyes lighting up. "Weiss said f—!"

Yang leaned across Weiss and clapped a hand over her sister's mouth automatically. "No swearing."

"MMF!" Ruby protested, flailing wildly at the injustice and throwing Yang's hand off. "That's not fair! You just said it like, thirty seconds ago!"

Weiss smiled fondly at the sisterly squabble happening in her lap, and a little more when Pyrrha giggled softly. For all of this, at least some things are the same. She shook herself, looking to team JNPR again. "So," she said. "That's the truth?"

"I promise," Pyrrha said. "I… sort of wish I was fucking with you, honestly."

"Pyrrha said it!" Ruby protested. "And it was actually Pyrrha this time!" There was an awkward moment, as Ruby caught up with her own mouth, her face growing pale. "I mean—!"

Pyrrha's face scrunched, but then a laugh ripped itself out of her. It grew and grew as she doubled over, shaking her head. A little of the tension eased off Jaune's shoulders, and Nora grinned and nuzzled into her softly. Ren just continued smiling, closing his eyes as he lowered his head to bump against Nora and Pyrrha's.

Weiss found a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. Strange synchronicities.

"Thank you, Ruby," Pyrrha said, once she'd recovered from her little fit. "I think I need a little humor right now."

Ruby giggled nervously, snapping a crooked salute she probably thought was perfect. "At your service!" she declared. "So, what are your powers like?" She fidgeted adorably. "If you're okay showing us, I think that'd make it a little easier to wrap my head around all of this."

"Well… I'll show you what I can," Pyrrha said.

She held up a hand, and after a moment of concentration, a faint flame flickered to life on her skin. Her eyes began to glow. "I have very weak control over the power, right now. Amber, when she… manifests, is much stronger."

All eyes peered at the flame in fascination. Ruby made a little murmur in the back of her throat, shock and awe written in her eyes. Yang stared into the fire levelly, her expression thoughtful. Blake even lifted her head, the orange light dancing in her night-eyes.

Weiss reached out hesitantly until she was close enough to feel the very real heat. "You understand the implications of this," she said, tilting her hand around Pyrrha's—testing the way the light and warmth fell on her skin. Her shoulders sagged, as she confirmed it was real. Her head spun, as the tension finally broke, her thoughts fleeing as she finally accepted it all. "…Better than I do, certainly. I have more questions, but they can wait." She then lay back on the bed, curling up into Yang's side, so utterly drained that her words felt forced out of her mouth. "If someone else would like to take over?"

Yang snickered, wrapping her arm around the adorable little orb of a girl next to her. She stroked Weiss's hair, drawing strength from the quiet hitch in her breathing, the way she unwound herself a little further with each touch. It was grounding, for both of them, and they all needed some grounding right now.

Speaking of… Yang glanced at Blake, making brief eye contact. She inclined her eyebrow, to which Blake shook her head and raised a hand in a shaky need space gesture.

Blake and Yang processed stress in really different ways. She'd need Yang later—need all of them, probably, but right now Blake needed space to get her thoughts in order. Yang smiled gently at her to show she understood.

She glanced at Ruby, making brief eye contact to make sure her sister was doing okay. Ruby's lips twitched down, and she shook her head a little. Yang pushed back the little spike of worry, and shot her sister an easy smile before refocusing on Pyrrha.

"I'll go next," Yang said, her smile quickly fading as she worked out what she needed to ask. She settled on one of the smaller questions for now. Better to get this out of the way early. "So… Amber doesn't like me, huh?"

Pyrrha got a distinctly uncomfortable look in her eyes. "She, um…"

Nora waggled her hand. "She's just kinda bitchy, tbh."

"Nora!" Jaune protested. "That… really isn't it."

"Amber has been through a great deal," Ren cut in firmly. Glancing around to make sure he had the floor, he continued. "As much as we're concerned about Pyrrha… it's easy to forget that the reason any of this happened was because a woman was attacked and nearly killed, having a part of her soul stolen from her in the process. Then, she was placed into someone else's body, becoming intimately connected with a complete stranger without her consent." He sighed, shaking his head. "Any one component of this could be a traumatic experience. All together—"

The flame in Pyrrha's hand suddenly flared, sending strange shadows dancing across the walls. "It fucking blows."

Team RWBY collectively drew back in stunned silence.

Pyrrha's face was set wrong. Her eyebrows were pinched in anger, her mouth curled in what was almost a snarl. But more obvious than that…

"Your eyes," Weiss breathed.

The girl blinked, looking back and forth between the rest of team JNPR in confusion. Nora gasped. Jaune stiffened. Ren took a slow breath, flicked out his scroll, and quickly pulled up the camera. He held the screen up, revealing to her what everyone else could see.

The girl who wasn't Pyrrha stared at her own face, at eyes that had once been vivid green.

Now almond brown.

She stared into Ren's phone. Watched a smile curl on another woman's lips. She took a breath. The first in a while.

It felt weird to move air into her lungs. Looking into an unfamiliar face and seeing her own eyes mounted there? Weirder.

"Well," she muttered, as anxiety twanged her shoulders. "That'll help keep track, at least."

She looked down from the scroll to the little flame, held in wrong-colored hands. She closed the fist, and the flame vanished. She opened the other hand, and with the smallest flash of will, fire returned. Her throat tightened, and she dispelled the flames entirely before her emotions got the better of her. She'd learned that lesson years ago.

Now that it was safe to be angry, she directed a level glare at Nora. "Bitchy?" she said, raising one eyebrow high. "Really?"

Nora shrugged and met her eyes with steady conviction. "I mean, am I wrong?" she said. "Basically every time we've ever met, you've been mean and snippy, and honestly I get why you're upset at stuff! Your life sucks! But as somebody who's trying to help, it's getting really frustrating." She crossed her arms sharply. "You've got issues, girlfriend, and we really need to work on them if we're gonna be living together."

Astonishment reigned, as the girl who wasn't Pyrrha processed being served so completely by a teenager. She managed to hold Nora's stare for a moment, but eventually gave up. "…You're not wrong," she sighed, pinching her eyes shut. "Fine. I'll be nice. Is that what you want?"

"It's a start!" Nora said. With absolutely no signs of anger or bitterness, she hooked an arm around the girl's back and shoved her spine painfully back into shape. "Now say hi to your new friends."

The insanity of it all was almost funny. Almost made her forget the extent to which she'd been violated to get here.

Still, she had her role to play now. So she sighed, and looked up at the girls across from her. "Well, if I'm here, I guess we're doing this." She managed a glum smile and a halfhearted wave. "Hi. Amber Autumn. Nice to meet'cha."

There was a moment spent processing this. Uncertain expressions, unreadable vibes.

Then, Ruby stood. She crossed the space, and held out her hand. "Ruby Rose," she said.

Amber gave her a flat look, the irritation coming back. "I've been in this girl's head for a year and a half, kid. I know who you are."

"Yes, but we've never met," Ruby said. Her voice was firm, and the glint of her silver eyes filled Amber with the strangest sense of unease. "So," she said, extending her hand an inch further. "My name is Ruby Rose. And it's nice to meet you too."

It felt absurd to reach out, to grasp the small hand and greet a stranger she already knew. Still, it felt… a little bit reassuring. Even if those eyes were still giving her the jibblies.

Weiss stood, following her leader's example and offering her hand. "Weiss Schnee," she said. "Charmed."

Amber took this hand too, giving them both a vexed look. "This is ridiculous," she declared. "But fine. Nice to meet you, Weiss."

With a grunt, Yang stood too, cracking her back and sticking out her hand. "I guess we've technically met, huh?" she said. Her eyes weren't smiling.

Amber swallowed, as flutter of anxiety stirred her. Teenager or no, she did not wanna fuck with biceps like those "Guess so," she said, trying to play it off. She reached out to Yang's hand, a little more cautiously than with the others. "About yesterday," she said, not expecting to feel quite so much regret. "I've got a tendency to shoot my mouth off. I don't actually hate you."

"No shit?" Yang smiled. She took Amber's hand, then squeezed hard enough to make the joints pop. "We'll work on that then," she said, letting go. "You seem cool, though." The color in her eyes deepened a shade, drawing Amber in sharply. "And, for the record? I'm sorry too. You went through some real fucked up shit to get here. That sucks."

Shock took Amber's face. She struggled for the words, then gave up with a bit of a laugh and a genuine smile. "Thanks," she said.

Not quite sure what to say after that, she quickly redirected her attention to the last member of their little squad. "Guess that just leaves you," she said, throwing out a lazy wave in Blake's general direction. "So… yo."

Blake looked up levelly, trying to settle the beat of her heart. The sight of someone else wearing Pyrrha's face wasn't the most reassuring thing in the world, but it was outside of her own head, which… yeah, she could use a break.

She offered the best smile she could. "Blake Belladonna," she said. "It's nice to meet you, Amber."

Amber sat back an inch, her face shifting. "Yeah, same. Uh… you okay?"

Yang, Weiss, and Ruby all gave her worried looks, and Blake just sighed, shaking her head. Her ears twitched low. "I'm just thinking," she said. "It's good to know what's going on with you… with both of you, but…"

"Cinder," Ruby said quietly, finishing the thought.

Blake nodded, her fists clenching as she finally let the anger out. "It was a long time ago now, but… One day they were just some students from Haven, and the biggest thing we knew about them was what happened between Mercury and Yang…"

"Still not my fault," Yang muttered almost reflexively. Weiss gently patted her arm.

"…And the next day, half the grass on the grounds was ash, with a dozen of our classmates were in the burn ward," Blake continued, her voice growing unsteady. "Yatsuhashi and Coco have scars from where she hurt them. That was upsetting enough, but… Torchwick, the White Fang… they were all part of her scheme? And when she vanished… that's why White Fang activity suddenly stopped?" Her ears flattened, her fingernails digging into her palms. "None of that makes any sense! If she wanted the maiden powers, why go through the trouble of assembling an army? Why hire Torchwick? Why did Adam…" She cut off, swallowing hard. "I don't understand," she said. "This… this is huge."

Yang moved to sit beside Blake, not touching, but close enough to be a source of comfort if needed. Weiss and Ruby followed her lead. It was a little cluttered, in the end, but the gesture was sweet enough to ease some of the strain in Blake's spine.

"There's a lot we just… don't know," Jaune said, lowering his eyes to the floor. "We're pretty sure they were planning some kind of attack on the Vytal Festival, but other than that…" He shrugged. "As far as we know, Ozpin doesn't have a clear answer either."

Nora crossed her arms petulantly. "Not that he hasn't lied to us before." Jaune looked very badly like he wanted to retort, but he didn't.

An uneasy silence wove between them. The faint sounds of yelling and laughter drifting in through the open window, students going about their ordinary lives, unaware of the things being discussed outside their sight.

Blake's ears flattened. She was tired. It was hardly the afternoon and she just wanted to go back to bed.

Petty, idle talk from earlier that morning drifted back into her mind. She tentatively slipped her hand across the sheets, making phantasmal contact with Yang's leg, checking how it felt to touch someone.

It felt good.

She nodded to herself, pressing her palm to Yang's thigh. She glanced at Ruby and Weiss, wondering if she was being greedy for thinking of them too.

"Stop being so clingy, Blake. Every hour we waste on companionship is another hour our brothers and sisters are oppressed."

She almost chuckled at that one. What a load of hypocrisy. It was you who clung to me, in the end.

Back to the real. Back to Ruby, Weiss, and Yang. Her girlfriends. Who were not abusers, and whose company she was allowed to ask for.

She reached out to them, found Ruby's hand, and Weiss's eyes, and then they were touching her back. Small things, hesitant and soft. Yang's hand on her arm. She sighed.

"I'm… going to head back to the room," Blake said. "I'd like a couple minutes of space, but if you guys—" she looked at her girlfriends, "—would come join me afterwards… I'd like to discuss this more as a team." She looked back at JNPR. "Thank you," she said. "It's… probably going to take some time for me to come to grips with this, but… I'm glad you told us."

"Hey, what's a friendship without a reality-shattering revelation once in a while?" Nora said, grinning.

Ruby tugged at Blake's hand. "We'll message you when we're done," she said. "Take all the time you need."

Blake smiled at her, leaning in for a quick kiss. Ruby was so very soft. "I will," she promised, pulling reluctantly away.

Nobody tried to stop her as she left.

Ruby took a breath, the tingle of Blake on her lips as she watched the door close.

She swallowed the feelings for the moment, burying them down near her heart for easy access later.

"Thank you for telling us," she said, looking to team JNPR, choosing to ignore the big smirk on Nora's face and the luminescent blush on Jaune's. "I dunno what this is going to mean, but for what it's worth… team RWBY is on your side." She focused on Pyr—Amber, next. "And it really is good to meet you, Amber! I wish it was under better circumstances, but… I don't want you to feel alone. Maybe we're not really friends, yet, but we can be, if you want!"

Amber stared back at her with a look of heartbreaking shock. "Y-yeah," she said, uncertainly. "I, uh—"

The words died on her lips as, in a blink, brown eyes flashed back to green.

Pyrrha shivered, looking around at her friends and teammates. "Oh," she said. "Well, um. Hello again."

Ruby felt a rush of emotions, mixed relief and worry chief among them. Oh thank god Pyrrha's back… I hope I didn't scare Amber off.

Nora didn't seem to share the same concern, slinging an arm around Pyrrha's shoulder with a joyful shout. "Whooo! Good to have you back, P!" she cheered. "Hey, she was really good this time! It totally is getting better!"

Pyrrha smiled in amused confusion, before suddenly getting an even bigger hug as Jaune practically tackled her, pulling her close and burying his face in her shoulder. He let out a long, deep sigh, and Pyrrha's smile grew as she returned the embrace, stroking her boyfriend's hair gently.

"Sorry," he muttered, his voice shaking.

"It's alright," Pyrrha said. "It's alright. I'm here. It's me."

"I know." He sucked air into his lungs. "Hooo… Okay, I'm okay." His shoulders sagged, as he managed to lift himself away. "Sorry, I'm just… it's a lot, y'know?" He looked up, smiling like brittle glass. They kissed, long enough for Ruby to self-consciously look away.

"I'm not going anywhere," Pyrrha said when they were done, like it was a physical law, etched into the universe's spine. "I'm sorry if I worried you all."

Ruby let out a conflicted sigh, worried and relieved all at once. She really did want to be friends with Amber, but…

"I'm glad you're okay," Weiss said, echoing Ruby's thoughts. "Were you… present?"

Pyrrha nodded, looking contemplative. "Yes. It was… very strange. I could feel myself moving, see what she saw, even feel what she felt, but there was this distinct sense of distance. It was like when you're hovering on the edge of being asleep, but haven't quite slipped away."

"Fascinating…" Weiss murmured. She shook herself, an uneasy blush settling across her features. "I'm just… very curious as to how this all works. I apologize."

"I mean, it is super fascinating though, right?" Nora flopped her head down on Pyrrha's lap, causing the taller girl to sit back in surprise. "What's it feel like to having two souls, Pyrrha?"

"I… suppose it feels… warm," Pyrrha said after a moment of thought. Her hand drifted to her chest, settling lightly over her heart. "Right now, I can actually feel her presence. It's almost as vivid as yours, Nora."

"I can feel her with my semblance, as well," Ren said. "It's… hard to describe. Like listening to two songs at once. Or two transparent images overlaid on top of one another."

Ruby's heart fluttered in awe. "Wow…" she murmured, embarrassed when the others looked at her. "Sorry! It just… sounds kinda cool, actually." She hung her head. "Sorry."

Weiss and Yang both patted her on the back, their hands stiffening as they met. There was some debate about how to resolve the situation, before Yang twined her fingers with Weiss's, and proceeded to continue patting. Ruby giggled at the silliness.

"No need to apologize," Pyrrha said, smiling brightly. "Thank you all for being so understanding and supportive. You're better friends than I could have hoped for."

"Pfffffft," Yang huffed. "C'mon, Pyr." She stood and crossed the aisle, pulling Pyrrha into a hug. "We're all weird. Most of us are damaged, in one way or another. But we love you, and we're not gonna ditch you just 'cause you've got a grumpy brain buddy and some new magic superpowers."

Warmth bubbled in Ruby's chest, and she shot out of her seat to join the big hug. Pyrrha was warm. Ruby wanted to make her even warmer, even if she couldn't find the words to say it.

She glanced back at Weiss, who had a hand to her mouth and emotions dancing in her eyes. To the ice queen's credit, nobody had to say anything before Weiss joined them as well. It was pretty tight, and very warm, but they made do.

Pyrrha laughed as they pressed around her, shaking her head. "Thank you," she said, choked up.

"Wooo!" Nora yelled from where she was now stuck in Pyrrha's lap. "Solidarity forever! Also, Ruby, your boobs are in my face."

"Oh!" Ruby flushed. She tried to pull away, but the storm of interlocking arms made it kinda tricky "S-sorry!"

"It's fine! They can stay. Just wanted to point it out."

"Anyhow," Weiss interjected, squeezing Pyrrha one last time before extricating herself and partly freeing Ruby to do the same. "We should check on Blake." She looked to Yang, who nodded firmly.

"Yeah, definitely. We're gonna be thinking this stuff over for a while, but we won't talk to anyone else about it without asking you first." Yang stepped back, crossing her arms. "Are you guys gonna tell Ozpin that we're in the know?"

Jaune sighed and shook his head. "Not unless you want us to. It's up to you guys."

"If he finds out, you're probably gonna get sucked up into his freaky shadow conspiracy," Nora said. "And lemme tellya, it is wild being officially 'in the know.' Ruby, Yang, I've met your uncle a weird number of times. He asks about you guys. It's super awkward."

Ruby and Yang glanced at each other, finding mirrored discomfort at that strange little detail. "Well," Ruby said. "That, is, something we're gonna have to talk to him about, maybe. Someday." She shook her head. "For now… I think it's just gonna take time to get our heads around this, but…"

She looked at team JNPR.

Jaune, tired but still steadfast. Sitting a little more at ease, relief and exhaustion both painted plainly on his face, a little of his goofy charm slowly coming back.

Nora, her cheery smile and posture an obvious mask for the iron wall of determination in her eyes, still stuck tightly to Pyrrha's side.

Ren, quiet as always, but hovering around his teammates, watching them attentively. He'd settled by Jaune at some point, leaning slightly into the other boy's shoulder, making sure he was okay.

And of course, Pyrrha… sitting taller than she had all morning, her eyes alight and her smile genuine.

She still looked exhausted. They all did. But, you could see the relief too, at finally having told someone. Ruby couldn't imagine how much it must have weighed on them, to keep this secret.

Ruby felt her heart clench, a big dumb smile on her face. "We're with you," she said, sincere as she'd ever been. "Whatever happens, whatever comes, you won't have to bear it alone. I promise."

A/N:

Wooooo, that took a long time to figure out. Juggling 9 characters in an extended conversation is really hard.

Did a slightly different thing this time, and might end up editing later after it's posted. This chapter *has* been beta'ed, but the last scene (Ruby POV) gave me a lot of trouble, and wasn't actually looked over that heavily prior to posting. Thank you for your patience!

In any case, I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks to FriendofYggdrasil, Sgt. Chrysalis, and SeventeenFables for the beta, and thanks to Ickyickyvic, juniorthib, and shockfactor for providing advice and support! This is really becoming a team effort. :D

See you next time!