Just a quick note, because I know RWBY vol. 6 is around the corner and will be airing before Act 1 of BR3 ends and long before act 2 of BR3 begins,

I already have an idea of how this story is going to go, down to important choices like the identity of Maidens and the functionality of the Relics. Planning for BR3 has been in motion for a long time now, and I will not be using new information from Vol. 6 at any point in BR3. I have tried my best in the past to keep Black Reaper somewhat parallel to canon, including adding Salem and the relics in the first place. But from here on out, Black Reaper is very likely to contradict information from the show in these vital areas. I am choosing the integrity of this story that I have made my own over forcing in info I was not aware of before writing.

- VengfulFate

Do you believe in fairy tales?

In an age past, an old wizard lived a solitary existence. This man seldom had visitors, and cherished his privacy. So imagine his surprise when one day, he looked out of his window to see a strange young woman, sitting under a nearby tree. The old man called out to the girl, asking her name and purpose. The woman responded kindly, telling the man she was waiting for her sisters. The woman, like he, seemed to enjoy her solitude. Though, unlike he, she seemed more tranquil, where the man realized he was simply lonely.

Soon another young maiden appeared, and upon the man's demand for explanation, introduced herself as one of the aforementioned sisters. In gratitude for his hospitality, however reluctant it was, she spread seeds from her bag and began tending to a brand new garden. As he stared at this marvel, laughter caught his attention. A third girl, a third sister, had arrived, and she gave off an inviting warmth.

The man realized what she found so funny was him, and his insistence on remaining indoors on such a lovely day. The old man took heed, and stepped outside. He and the three sisters set about making a banquet, and the fourth sister arrived. She complemented the man on his property, which confused the old man. He told her he didn't have any, to which the fourth sister simply gestured to his lovely garden, which had not only brightened his yard, but revitalized his home.

The old man was amazed, and attempted to offer thanks. Instead, he found himself asking, why him? Why share their gifts with he, surely there were others more deserving? The sisters response was to look between themselves with confusion. Finally, the eldest replied, "We help anyone we can. We share our gifts freely."

The old man's heart was warmed by the selflessness displayed. He knew no simple thanks would be reward enough. So, at last, he revealed to the girls his power and used his magic to grant the four girls abilities of their own.

The four sisters, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, set forth with their new abilities and the promise to use their new power to continue spreading their gift.

But it is at this point in the story that the world of make-believe and our world diverge. For starters, the women's names were not truly Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall. However, they reminded the wizard so much of the seasons that his gift was themed around them, and the four girls became the first Maidens. And when they passed away, their power passed on.

The problem here? The power was not always received by safe hands. And the rules of the transference meant evil could far too easily take advantage. So a brotherhood of sorts formed, to save and serve the power of the Maidens. They would seek out the new blood and keep them safe. And the best way to keep them safe was to hide them from the world, and allow their story to fade. First to legend, then to fairy tale…

Weiss stared incredulously at the woman explaining all of this. "And you are the Fall Maiden?"

"Yes," The woman, Amber, answered from opposite Weiss in the airship.

"Four schools, four vaults, and four maidens…" Blake began putting two and two together, "Qrow told us Beacon's 'key' had already been attacked. You're Beacon's key. Your power is."

"That is correct," Amber nodded.

"After gods, Grimm queens, and everything else… It's not the craziest thing I've heard," Weiss admitted.

"Speaking of crazy things," Qrow leaned in, "what the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Helping," Amber shot back as if it were obvious.

"You know what the city being attacked like this could mean," Qrow argued, "You could have been delivering yourself right into their arms."

"They are much more subtle than this, and you know it," Amber countered, "What's the point of having this power if I can't use it to help?"

"I never said you couldn't help-"

"Good," Amber interrupted the aged huntsmen, "Then I'm helping."

"Amber-"

"We should stop talking about this if you want to keep certain things secret," Amber cut him off again, "We're almost there."

Neo, who had been staring at her feet this whole time, looked out the window of the airship. They were about to begin landing procedures for Beacon's airship pads. It was only a few days since they were here last, but it felt like a lifetime. And with everything that happened, she almost felt like she was living someone else's life. Had she really lost her hand, an entire kingdom, and Reaper overnight?

Unfortunately, it was her hand missing. Beacon was clearly overflowing with refugees. And Reaper was no where to be seen…

Although, by the look on Nora's face, perhaps it was good Reaper wasn't here, at the moment anyway.

JNPR was in courtyard, within sight of the airdocks. Nora spotted Weiss, Blake, and Neo step off the airship, and her reddening eyes locked onto them. She stood up, intent to b-line right at the group. Pyrrha quickly pushed the pink terror back, and Jaune nodded to them both. Pyrrha led Nora away, and the leader of JNPR approached the party.

"Where is she," He asked them, his voice hard.

"Not here," Weiss crossed her arms.

"Look, Jaune," Blake spoke up, "It wasn't her fault."

"It wasn't her that killed Ren? It wasn't her scythe?" Jaune questioned.

"Well… It's more complicated that that…" Blake tried to explain.

"So it was her. Where. Is. She." It was less of a question now, and more of a demand.

"She's not here. She might not be anywhere anymore," Weiss stated cryptically.

"Weiss!" Blake scolded, looking to Neo. The small girl's gaze once again cast to the ground.

"And even if she is," The heiress backpedaled, "It's like Blake said, she didn't… do that…"

"It wasn't her choice to take her weapon in her own hand and shove it through my team mate? Our friend? Her friend!?" Jaune's voice began to rise.

"No, it wasn't," Blake tried to assure.

"How?" Jaune commanded.

"Look, kid," Qrow interjected, "There's a lot going on here you don't know. And I pray you'll never have to know."

"What does that mean?" Jaune asked.

"It means we have to go try and find a quiet corner. If one still exists," Qrow motioned to the group to walk away.

"Where do you think is still quiet?" Blake asked. "I doubt even our dorm is free of refugees."

"Oz's office is a safe bet," Qrow informed them, "Let's go there."

The reception area for Ozpin's office was empty. Perhaps because the teachers were waiting for the man himself to return. Or perhaps because it had only been a day or two since Ren's body was removed from the foot of the elevator, and people were uncomfortable hanging around a blood-soaked wall. It certainly made Weiss uncomfortable to look at, and Neo couldn't bring her eyes to it at all.

The elevator itself was a little cramped with all of them, but it didn't take long to reach Ozpin's office. Once at the top they were greeted by the sight of Glynda Goodwitch.

"Qrow?" Glynda seemed surprised to see him. Though not nearly as surprised as she was to see, "Amber!? What are you doing here?"

"Helping," Amber replied dryly, anticipating the response.

"That's dangerous," Glynda retorted.

Just as Amber expected. "So I've been told…"

"And team WBRN. Yet another surprise," Glynda eyed down Qrow. "What are they doing here? What do they know?"

"Enough," Qrow answered, "Oz said 'they're ready'. It was the last thing he told Weiss."

"You're a part of all this, Professor Goodwitch?" Weiss asked in astonishment. How deep did this thing go? "Who else is in this brotherhood of yours? Oobleck? Port?"

"No, neither of them," Qrow told her.

"But the other headmasters of the other schools are, right?" Blake pointed out. "If each school has a vault…"

"And I thought you were the smart one, Schnee," Qrow quipped.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this…" Weiss admitted.

"Wait a minute," Glynda interrupted, "The last thing he told Weiss? You don't mean…?"

Qrow took the clockwork cane off his belt to show her. "He is. We're on our own, for now anyway."

Glynda sighed deeply, sitting on Ozpin's desk. Silence passed as the news settled in.

Amber was the first to break it, "So what do we do now?"

"If this truly is Salem, this is a little overt for her," Glynda pointed out, "She's going to war. So we need to as well. We need to gather allies."

"First, we need to get out of Vale." Qrow reminded them, "It won't be so easy."

"About that," Glynda looked to Qrow, "The CCT Tower is still operational. The other kingdoms know our situation. Ironwood is staging his ships to pick up the refugees here."

"He's one of your allies, too, right? As leader of Atlas Academy?" Weiss caught on.

"If this really is Salem, she'll be watching Vale," Qrow nodded, "It might be a good idea to blend with the rest of the refugees, and we'll be delivered right to Jimmy."

"Girls," Glynda looked to team WBRN, "I'm sure this is a lot to take in. Fortunately, you'll have plenty of time to process before the general's ships arrive. However, I hope I don't need to tell you not to discuss anything spoken within this group to any outside party. Not to your friends, not to anyone."

"We understand," Blake assured.

"Even if I wanted to, I'd need to understand what's going on first…" Weiss shook her head.

Neo simply nodded.

Winter had been in Vale when the wall fell. Officially, she was still on mission to help bring in Roman Torchwick. She was also one of the first people to make it to Beacon, all but racing there to reach her sister. She was unpleasantly surprised to learn that for whatever reason Weiss and her team weren't on campus. After asking around, Winter found someone who had spotted them leaving with Ozpin. She would have just asked JNPR, as they seemed to be close, but that team was in mourning and Winter wasn't going to interrupt.

As much as Winter wanted to jump back into the city and look for Weiss, she couldn't. Her military responsibility got in the way. After it was decided that Atlas would perform refugee pickup, Ironwood called her to see if she was still alive. He wasn't going to be on the arriving airship himself, and it was up to her to organize things once it arrived. So she had to be at Beacon when it arrived.

Currently, Winter was cursing herself. She tried her best to be at the airship yard every time new refugees from the city arrived, hoping each time Weiss was onboard. But Ironwood called to update her on the progress of the rescue operation, and she had missed a few that morning. So now she was running around Beacon, trying to find, "Weiss!" She barely spotted her sister, as well as Blake and Neo, across the entrance hall.

Weiss's head whipped around at the sound of Winter's voice. "Winter!"

The younger sister dashed across the entrance hall toward her sister. Winter still wasn't used to physical affection, especially from someone with the same last name as her. She was entirely unprepared for the younger throwing her arms around her in a deep hug. It took a few moments for Winter to return the gesture.

"You made it," Weiss exclaimed, "You're alive."

"I am," Winter smiled, pulling away, "And so are you."

"Hello, Winter," Blake approached, having been walking with Weiss. "It's good to see you made it here."

While Weiss, Blake and Winter were distracted with their reunion, Neo took the opportunity to slip away on her own.

"Why weren't you at Beacon?" Winter asked them once the excitement had settled.

"We… had a mission," Weiss told her vaguely, not knowing what she should say in public. She was also hesitant to say they failed to stop the wall being blown to hell.

"What kind of mission do you have with the headmaster in the dead of night?" Winter questioned. "And where is he?"

"The kind that… didn't succeed," Weiss lamented softly.

Winter thought on that for a short moment. "Do you know what happened to the wall?"

Weiss glanced around, seeing all of the people around them. Winter had been second in command for all of Atlas long enough to recognize when someone was trying to keep something secret. She quickly and quietly guided the two students to a far corner where no one would hear them if they kept their voices down. "Weiss, what are you involved in?"

Weiss didn't want to keep secrets from her sister, but she didn't know what she was allowed to say. She's Ironwood's second, maybe he has let her in… "What do you know about maidens and relics?"

"Is that what this is about?" Winter recalled a time where she and the general came to Vale to protect the Vytal Festival and discuss such things. Before she was promptly kicked out of the oh-so important meeting.

"So you do know!?" Weiss was relieved.

"You can talk to me," Winter assured.

Weiss opened her mouth, but Blake's hand on her shoulder quickly shut it. "Do you know?" the ever observant faunus questioned.

Curse her… "I… have a vague idea of the maidens, though I've never heard of any relics associated with them," Winter admitted grudgingly.

"I see…" Weiss's relief faded back into anxiety.

"You can tell me," Winter desperately reassured.

"If you don't already know, I don't know what I can tell you, if anything," Weiss explained.

"I just want to make sure my sister is safe," Winter pressed, not liking being left out by her own blood.

"I trust you, don't get me wrong…" Weiss lamented, "but if General Ironwood hasn't told you…"

Winter sighed. This is what she was afraid of.

"I understand you worry," Weiss told her, "I worry about you as well. But I know you're capable. If a few more months passed before this happened, I would be a graduated huntress. Add everything else that has happened to my team and I these past four years-"

"It proves you are capable," Winter finished for her. "Fine. I understand. Just tell me… how big is this?"

"Well…" Weiss thought hard on her answer, "A kingdom is all but lost, and that's just the opening play."

That did not help Winter's nerves.

Weiss wrapped her arms around Winter one more time. "Listen, we've gotta get Neo to the med-wing, and I'm sure you're super busy. We'll meet up again later, okay?"

"Very well… but where is she?" Winter pointed out.

"Damn it…" Weiss cursed and left to look for her.

Winter stopped Blake before she stepped away as well. "I've just realized, where is your other team mate?"

Blake's gaze fell. "I honestly wish I knew."

There were too many people at Beacon. This was technically a good thing, given this means a majority of the population survived what was already being referred to as 'The Fall of Vale'. For Neo, this also meant the halls were a little clustered. It wasn't long before she found herself outside, where even more refugees trying to find some space pushed her to the edges of the grounds. It was there she found something that didn't help her mood at all.

The soil at her feet was recently disturbed. The size and shape of the mound, and the stick at the head acting as a marker, made it clear just what this was. And the green ribbon tied at the top of the stick made it painfully clear who this grave was for. Neo decided to stay a moment, paying what respects she could. It was the least she could do…

"Hello, Neo."

The small girl jumped, turning around to see the newcomer. Pyrrha, the golden champion herself, and team mate to the man buried here…

Neo couldn't meet her eyes, and stared back at the grave.

Pyrrha stepped next to her, eyes also locked onto the mound. "Some of the refugees arrived heavily injured. Some arrived carrying loved ones they couldn't leave behind, despite those loved ones being just bodies. A mortician stepped forward, offering to do his work. Preserving the fallen so when the ships come, they can be safely transported to wherever the families wish to put them to rest."

"Ren and Nora never had a home, however. Not until Beacon anyway. She decided the only place to commit Ren would be here, on these grounds," Pyrrha continued, "It was a small service. No one really had anything to say."

Even if Neo could speak, she wouldn't know what to say. How does one make something like this better?

Pyrrha turned to the colorful ex-criminal. "Jaune told us what you and your team told him when he confronted you on the airship pad. You didn't deny that Reaper's hand killed him. But you claim it wasn't her fault. How?"

Neo had expected the question, but she didn't expect the manner in which it was asked. She had expected angry, tearful, unreasonable. She expected a grief-stricken mind that had already decided what the truth was. But Pyrrha sounded calm, even curious. She sounded like she could have even believed this impossible truth. That she may actually be convinced.

Neo wracked her brain with how to respond. What could she tell Pyrrha? What couldn't she tell Pyrhha? How could she explain this while still keeping the secrets of Ozpin's 'Brotherhood'? Does Pyrrha even know sign language?

Neo held up a finger to Pyrrha, the universal sign of 'hold on', and went to look for a stick she could use. Upon finding one, she hurried back and began carving words into the ground.

HER BODY

NOT HER MIND

Pyrhha looked at the words, thinking for a long time. "That woman you stepped off the airship with… I know who she is. I know what she is."

Neo's astonishment was clear on her face.

"The battle of Beacon," the golden warrior explained, "The same one that killed Yang. A woman named Cinder Fall had stolen half of Amber's power, and attacked the school to collect the rest. Amber was comatose, and I had to take what remained of her power. With it I matched and then managed to defeat Cinder."

"But I didn't want to keep the power," she continued, closing her eyes and falling into memory. "Despite the risks it presented both Amber and myself, I decided to try and give the power back. It worked, but at a cost. I wasn't myself for a long time. Worse still, I couldn't tell my team why. They only wanted to help, but I had to keep the secret, so I couldn't let them."

Neo nodded, hoping it conveyed her understanding for Pyrrha's troubles.

"I don't want to know anymore secrets that I would have to keep from those I love," Pyrrha confessed, "So I won't ask anymore questions as long as you can do one thing."

Neo looked up to her companion.

"Look me in the eyes."

Mismatched eyes locked with vibrant green.

Pyrrha gestured to the words in the dirt, "Is this the truth?"

Neo's eyes immediately became confident steel. Without breaking eye contact, she gave Pyrrha a quick nod.

"Then I hope you get your Reaper back," Pyrrha told Neo sincerely. "If she does return, hopefully my word can help convince my team without telling them too much. I'm sure whatever is going on is much bigger than any of us if it needs Maidens. I wish all of you the best of luck in the fight."

Neo nodded, and Pyrrha left her to her thoughts. The conversation did bring up an interesting thought for the ex-criminal…

If Pyrrha could know what was at stake and walk away, why couldn't she? Neo saw what the Maiden was capable of… power like that, what would they lose if Neo vanished? All this fate of the world stuff seemed a little over her head in her own opinion. Blake would accept because 'someone has to do the right thing', and Weiss would likely follow if only to help keep Blake safe. But what help could a girl with one hand and no motivation really be? At this rate, it didn't seem like her huntress career would pan out anyway…

"Neo!" Weiss called the small girl from her musings, "There you are, I've been looking all… over…" The heiress stopped short seeing Ren's grave. "Is that…?"

Neo nodded.

Weiss stared at the grave for a moment. "Anyway, Neo, there's an open bed in the med wing for you. Let's get your, umm, wrist looked at."

Neo nodded and followed Weiss. Whatever was next, she needed to square away her injury first. And then she needed to get out of Vale, along with everyone else.