[From the midle of a sceleton-fic, don't remember if i already had the name or if i took it from Sybaen's The Lonely Goddess... working on a rework since this version is from, like, 6th grade and isent exactly grade A stuff]
Violet had had a stressful week, tracking White Fang operations, preparing for the upcoming vytal festival, helping train Jaune and dealing with way to much teenage drama had left Violet in over her head with stress.
Imagine then how that affects her mood when she is suddenly called to the headmaster's office and faced not only by him and Goodwitch but General Ironwood and Qrow Fucking Branwen.
She had come there expecting... well, she didn't really expect anything but literally ennything would curentyly be better than being faced with two stern looks, Ozpin's infuriatingly calm face and a Branwen.
She had thought that she would either be expelled, imprisoned or even executed then and there before they started to sing praise over her achievements so far, even going so far as to presume that she would 'no doubt win the tournament' in the man's own more fancy words.
...She hadn't fully been there for most of everything, not knowing how to react until now when the Headmaster seemed to be about to go on for another round of threateningly nice praise.
Raising a hand and getting the go ahead she, with a sigh, voiced the question that had been plaguing her mind ''with all due respect sir, can you please just get to the point?''
His face portrayed a slight hint of amusement until his steely eyes locked onto hers
''Tell me Miss Vallerie, which is your favorite fairy tail?''
The only reaction she gave was a raised eyebrow as she leaned back in her seat and loosely crossed her arms, but on the inside she was paneking.
(Calm down, calm down calm donwcalmdowncalm! OKAY i thought that i had hid it good enough but apparently not what should i do i can't just lie to their face but howamigoingtogetawaywith- oh God There watching me i gotta-)
She started to slowly stroke her chin as she humed
''a rather odd question'' Ozpin smiled and Branwen chuckled ''i've never really thought of one as a favorite, even though i've probably read nearly every single one that Remnant has to offer, but if i had to at least pick one branch then it would have to be those about the Maidens''
Ozpin raised an eyebrow '' 'those of'? not many are aware of any besides the one of the wizard'' His voice gave nothing away but the same couldn't be said about the others with how the generals eyes narrowed or with how Branwen's hand twitched towards his belt.
''well'' she started with a nervous chuckle ''i've gone through a good portion of the central Atlassian library over the years and the stories of the maidens are rarely a retelling, always seeming to be based on different events''
Ozpin stared into her eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time before his lips formed a small smile ''well that shouldn't be too surprising, they are, after all, mostly true''
Silence filled the room until.
''soooo'' she drew out the word ''is this, like, some kind of recruitment pitch?''
Ozpin gave of a positively smug aura as he entangled his fingers ''are you aware of how the powers of a Maiden is transfered?''
Violet's brows scrunched up trying to remember the hundreds of tails that she had read through ''vaguely, they are transferred to someone close to the deceased Maiden?''
She voiced it as much a statement as a question, Ozpin however gave no answer as he got out of his chair and started to walk towards the elevator with his group following a step behind ''if you could please follow along Miss Vallerie'' he said as he pressed the elevators button.
The ride down was excruciatingly slow, they seemed content to let her stew in confusion and anxiety as the elevator went much further down than even the basement level of Beacon.
After another few minutes the elevator stopped and opened up to a grand -if absurdly large- corridor of dark polished stone. Ozpin and Glynda took the lead with Ironwood and Branwen in tow, and then her, awkwardly following along a good four steps behind.
Branwen looked in her direction, nearly radiating amusement ''you seem rather tense, kid'' he said with barely hidden mirth.
(oh? what gave it away! maybe it's this damned-)
her toughest cut of for a second before, slowly, a smirk creped up on her face
''this place gives of the starting vibes of a cultists porno''
She didn't get a reaction from the two heatmasters, Qrow seemed amused if his bark of laughter was anything to go by, Glynda not so much as suddenly stumbling like a guy trying out high heels wasn't a usual thing with her.
No conversation came after that but she was feeling a bit better with herself
(Fear, what's that? no dark dungeon is going to scare me! i'm a goddamn-)
Her thoughts were once again cut short as she noticed the change in her surroundings, or more accurately, a certain thing in the room they had entered that couldn't not catch her eye.
''a Maiden'' she whispered to herself as she gazed upon the woman in the overly complex contraption, one chamber with her 'colleague' and another completely empty.
Ozpin hummed in a light tone ''corect, Amber was attacked on her way to Vale and, for the first time in history, a part of a maiden's power was taken''
Violet huffed and crossed her arms ''so, why am i here? i'm getting tired of you all acting like saying one complete sentence would end the world''
The four of them seemed to exchange a silent conversation before the General coughed into his fist and took a step forward ''this machine is designed to fully transfer the Aura from one entity to another, and in theory, the Maiden powers as well''
Ozpin nodded and turned towards her ''we had hoped to, if you are willing, transfer what remains of Ambers powers to you''
Violet stared at him, completely dumbfounded ''but wouldn't that kill her?'' she said as she looked over the woman.
She would never admit that she jumped when Branwen placed a hand on her shoulder from behind ''Amber is as good as dead, the machines are keeping her alive but that won't last forever and we'd rather not chance the powers seeking out its other half, someone willing to kill for power usually isn't one who should have it''
(well, that confirmed it, i've already got a target on my back, or front considering how this works)
Then a thought struck her ''wait wait wait, why keep two eggs in the same basket? couldn't you just give it to Glynda?'' she said while gesturing between Amber and the headmistress.
...She was sure that she hadn't said anything funny but that certainly didn't stop Branwen from cakeling, Ozpin seemed slightly amused, Ironwood had not changed a bit and Goodwitch, for the first time ever, smield.
Once again she totally didn't jump when Branwen clapped her on the back ''making some big assumptions about your strength there, plus Glynda doesn't qualify''
A moment passed in silence.
''Oh'' she whispered ''a- i didn't think it referred to a literal Maiden''
The drunk seemed to be about to bust his gutt when Ozpin cleared his throat ''It does not, what Qrow is referring to is that to become a maiden, one must be below 30 years of age which, to surprise of most, Glynda is not''
She took a deep breath while her eyes shifted back to Amber ''are we even sure that it would work, like, do they even stack or is this all guesswork?''
The four went completely silent, she would have taken that as a no had she not noticed, in the reflection of the capsule glass, that they were all staring at her with varying emotions, from surprise to disapproval or the, still somehow unreadable, wide eyes of Ozpin.
Slowly turning to look at all of them she let out a hesitant ''what?''
(oh what now! i didn't say anything wrong did i? all i did was ask if they sta-)
Glynda took a step closer to her so that she filed Violets field of view
''This is not something that you can just go and collect, the purpose of-''
she cut herself of when Violet slapped a hand over her face.
Taking a deep breath she dragged it down to pinch the bridge of her nose ''Oh for the Gods sake, and here i was thinking that you all were capable people but noooo~ you're all morons!''
To say that they were surprised by her sudden outburst would be an understatement, Glynda was about to just as loudly question her behavior before she threw her hand out to her left where an arc of Ice quickly grew until it met the wall.
...The headmaster's stunned looks is a memory that she will cherish for years.