SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

For the love of all things Remnant. Winter Schnee? Really? Her timing is so inconvenient that I can't help but think that she's prowling around, watching my every move. To say that it's making me a little paranoid is an understatement.

I tuck my jacket forward and tried to calm myself as Winter Schnee began gracefully walking towards us. With every step she took, I frantically scoured my brain for a way to nab her scroll, but my mind keeps drawing a blank. There's no possible way for me to snag her scroll with Weiss, Ruby, and all these robots watching. If I wait any further, we'd be surrounded by thousands of frolicking students. Swiping the damn thing then would be nothing short of impossible.

Winter Schnee is one of the highest ranking officers in the Atlas military. I imagine once she rendezvous with the people she's supposed to, security will increase ten fold. This moment right now with just the four of us, ironically enough, might be my best chance to snag her scroll. Meaning I have until now till we reach the school grounds to steal it. That however, only solves the easy part. The hard part is actually extracting the info then returning her scroll unnoticed.

"And you must be Ezra."

Winter approached me with all her glory. She had her hands behind her back as she looked at me with professional curiosity. Before I can respond, she proceeded to give me her inputs about my match.

"Well done on your match during the battle royal. My sister can definitely learn a thing or two from your on-the-fly decision making skills."

A stark contrast to the comments Weiss was giving me a couple days back. I wink at Weiss and stuck my tongue out before thanking Winter.

"Thank you Ms. Schnee, couldn't have done it without Weiss' support."

Weiss crossed her hands in front her chest and grunted. Me, Weiss, and Ruby proceeded to exchange pleasantries with Winter. She's unsurprisingly strict with Weiss, as expected of an Atlantean officer, but in a weird way, she's also pretty sweet. Just has a really weird way of showing it, though only to me and Ruby. To Weiss, her sister's eccentricities seemed normal.

As fun as this conversation is, I'm running out of time to snatch her scroll. Students began to flock as we made our way closer and closer to Beacon's front entrance, and before long, Ruby decided to make her exit.

"I'll catch up- I mean, I will... reconvene with you both... at a later... juncture!"

And with that, Ruby is gone, and all that's left is me and Weiss, and my presence is making it increasingly awkward to the sisters who are obviously looking for some time alone.

"So Ezra."

Winter asks.

"Yeah?"

"I'm curious. I was told by Weiss that you're from around here? At the slums of Vale?"

Weiss panicked, it was fairly obvious that she told her sister that information in confidence, but I don't really mind. Plus, it gives me an excuse to stick around.

"I was notified of a fugitive's presence here in Vale, a certain someone that's also wanted in Atlas."

I assume she's referring to OWL.

"You mean the OWL?"

Winter snuck a smile, then quickly shifted her face back to her usual stone faced expression.

"Precisely."

"Isn't this confidential? Why share it with me?"

I feel like I'm being tested, and Winter's definitely wary of me. I have to tread lightly, otherwise, I might reveal stuff that I don't intend to.

"It is, but seeing as how your whole team was involved with the Torchwick - White Fang incidents, I can't help but wonder if you have any direct connections with them."

She's definitely on to me.

"You saying I'm guilty?"

Winter smirked while she ignored Weiss' protest in the background.

"No, I was wondering if you know a guy. Which is far from being an accomplice like what I assume you're implying yourself to be, though if the shoe fits..."

This wonderful conversation evolved into a full on interrogation, how I'm backed into a corner like this, I'll never know. Thankfully, Weiss' constant nagging caught on.

"Winter, I'm involved. Just as involved as Ezra."

Winter Schnee took a deep breath, calming herself down. She seemed content to back off knowing that Weiss is advocating for me. So it was a test, not of my involvement, but of my friendship with her sister. I sigh in relief with this in mind, but just then, we hear a voice yell at us from a distance.

"Hey! Ice queen!"

Immediately, my attention shifted to Weiss, but the man who yelled at us quickly dismissed her and pointed his finger at Winter.

"Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here too."

Curious to see who the man is, I squinted my eyes and looked at the drunken man with a gray shirt and red cape and quickly realized who this man is.

"Qrow Branwen."

The two began to toss insults to each other, slowly escalating till they eventually reached a boiling point. Winter pulled out her sword, while Qrow did the same. The two stared each other down readying themselves for a fight, but before Winter could launch herself forward, I gently snagged her scroll of her pockets.

"What a nice surprise."

I whisper to myself, as I hack her scroll.

"No freaking way. Is that Qrow Branwen?"

Mercury Black quietly slipped himself beside me, as students began to gather towards the ongoing duel. It would seem that my earlier paranoia was justified. That feeling of me being watched was the doing of good ol' Mercury right here.

"It would seem so."

I respond without looking back, patiently waiting for the hack to finish.

"This is bad. Real bad, I gotta warn Cinder."

"Then go."

I snarked back, but Mercury wasn't intimidated. He thought about it for a bit, even going so far as to drag his foot back, but before he can remove himself from the scene, he stood his ground.

"No. Not before I make sure you finish your job."

I look down at Winter's scroll and watched the progress bar slowly crawl up to a hundred percent.

[Hack Complete]

"The job is almost done."

I whisper back. I knew that some relevant information was hidden in Winter's scroll, and if I'd have any chance of stopping Cinder, then I have to have a copy of this information in mine. So I lied.

"What's taking so long? I need to scram before Branwen sees me."

Again, I answered back annoyed.

"Like I said, go. I got this."

With his patience running thin, Mercury grabbed me by the collar and stared me down.

"Hurry up and send it. I know that virus Cinder sent you ain't that incompetent, that hack should have been done by now."

I lifted Winter's scroll to his face, showing that the hack was complete, but that wasn't enough for him to let go.

"Send it, Ezra."

I stare at her scroll, contemplating the kind of damage I'd be doing by sending this information to Cinder.

"Ezra. Send. It."

I gritted my teeth and clicked my tongue, and unwillingly sent the info to Cinder.

"Damn it all."

My heart ached the moment my fingers touched the words 'send.' Mercury smirked at me then let me go, as he vanished into the crowd. Just as he disappeared, General Ironwood, Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch appeared to stop the duel.

"SCHNEE!"

Winter snapped back to reality, ignoring Qrow and lowered her sword the moment she heard Ironwood's voice.

"General Ironwood, sir!"

The general began to berate the Winter, as she unsuccessfully tried to justify her actions. Goodwitch began to divert the student's attention away from the battle, while Ironwood and Ozpin began to focus their attention on Qrow, I slowly slip by and tapped Winter on the shoulder, striking up a conversation with her.

"So that's how an Atlas Specialist fight huh?"

But Winter, still embarrassed by her actions, simply scowled at me before walking away. I pay it no mind seeing as I how I was able to slip her scroll back to her without any problems. I watch the faculty walk away with Winter and Qrow before deciding to slip out of the crowd myself before Ruby and Weiss noticed me.

"Here's as good a place as any."

I duck down beneath the bushes of an unpopulated area within the Academy ground's open spaces, impatiently pulling out a metallic headband out of my pocket. It had only a single earpiece, with a monocle screen attached to it- a dumbed down version of my OWL helmet. I quickly plugged in the cable to my headpiece down to my scroll and began scouring the data I smuggled.

"Nothing of interest, just meeting times for her and Ironwood. Guard routes, patrol rosters, Atlesian military logistics that would have been helpful earlier in the mission."

I skim through the data, frustrated and confused. Most of the information here Torchwick could have used, but since his capture, the White Fang's been on the down low with Tauros in command.

But my eyes began to widen in horror as I stumble upon a sacred piece of information.

[Project Polendina]

"This is... Penny's schematics."

About a year ago, I was hired by a mysterious employer to infiltrate Atlas to steal this specific schematic, but my plans were compromised thanks to a rival agent who was after the same thing. The whole thing ended in a bust and I moved back to Vale shortly after.

"This... is what I sent Cinder?"

I sat there frozen, knowing that I condemned another of my friends to Cinder's plot. The thought of which gnawed at me from the inside, first through my gut and all the way up to my psyche. Pure insanity. Whatever Cinder is planning will no doubt go through Pyrrha and Penny.

There is but one solution to all this: Turn myself in and tell the truth. To everyone, but my grandparents... and Yang, she'll never forgive me for this.

"I... I don't know if losing Yang is worth the trade..."

It sounds even worse saying it out loud. Nevertheless, I decide to keep everything to myself, at least till I find out what Cinder is really up to, but this guilt... is extremely heavy.

Days pass with the thought of Pyrrha and Penny weighing heavy in my mind, so much so that my team has been concerned about me losing sleep and not talking.

"You're acting like how I was with the White Fang, something wrong Ezra?"

Blake asks as I slouch down on my chair, blankly staring at the arena while Yang and Weiss prepare to fight Team FNKI's representatives.

"It's nothing Blake, don't worry about it."

But she wouldn't let it go.

"Kind of hypocritical for you to tell me off about not opening up to friends when you wouldn't do the same."

She's right, but my secret is a lot bigger than hers. It's not just Blake that began to nag at me, Ruby too, amidst all her excitement about the Vytal Festival, managed to shift her attention towards me.

"C'mon Ez, we're better than this. We already went through this kind of drama before, please don't start up a new one."

I annoyingly scratched the back of my head and stood up, choosing to ignore the two.

"Where are you going?"

Blake pushed on.

"I need a moment."

Ruby leaned forward and lightly grabbed my jacket.

"Your not gonna watch Yang fight? Ain't it your job to support your girl?"

I took a deep breath, knowing full well that she's right, but I just can't bring myself to watch knowing how all of this is going to end, regardless of whether or not Yang and Weiss win or lose.

"I..."

Before I could finish, Ruby loosened her grip and sat back down. She raised her legs up her seat and began to pout as she curled her whole body in a fetal position, burying her face in her knees.

"Sorry Ruby. I- I'll let you know some other time, k? Best of luck to Yang and Weiss."

I force a smile her way, but she ignores me, so did Blake. Nothing I can do now but walk away and hitch a ride back down from Amity to Beacon.

The hallways were empty, I'm assuming it's because of the ruckus Amity is causing right at this moment. Perfect, I could use the silence to clear my head. Seeing that nobody is around, I decide to let my guard down and let out a huge sigh. What little I can do to relieve some this suffocating pressure.

"That was quite a sigh."

I look up, surprised that I miss judged the situation.

"Pyrrha!"

The last person I wanted to see.

"Hello again!"

Her cheery attitude and bright smile smashed through whatever emotional barrier I was putting up, tearing it down cruelly just by saying a simple hello. My eyes begin to water as I look at her concerned face.

"Ezra? Is everything okay?"

My hands began to shake, as I struggle to find the words.

"No. No it's not."

Her words from the night of the dance began to echo in my head. 'Whenever you're ready' and I certainly am not ready, but I couldn't bottle up all this guilt and pressure any longer.

"Woah, woah calm down."

She carefully placed her hands on my shoulders and guided me towards the bench across the wall.

"Tell me what's wrong. I'm here."

I grit my teeth and looked at her face that began to blur because of all the tears gushing out my eyes.

"Pyrrha... I'm sorry..."

Just then, every secret I've ever held came pouring out of my mouth: the mission with Cinder, the plot against Beacon, OWL, Penny, and the quest to find out Pyrrha's semblance. All of it. No stones were left unturned, and every skeleton in my closet were revealed. I watched as Pyrrha's face went through a rollercoaster of emotions. By the end of it all, we both sat there staring at the ground in silence.

I was sure that this it for me. The end of my foray here in Beacon, the end of me and Yang, but somehow telling someone all of this... I felt an insane amount of relief- not that it absolves me of any of the crimes I committed.

"So... that's everything Pyrrha. I, uh, I'm ready to turn myself in. I hope you don't think of me any different. I promise you the relationships I built here in Beacon are-"

Before I could finish, Pyrrha cut me off.

"Ezra. Do you believe in destiny?"

The question was so random that it stopped the tears coming out of my eyes. I looked at her dazed and confused, only to be greeted with a smile.

"Cause I do. I am by no means justifying your actions, but I believe that the relationships you made here in Beacon: with your team, Ren and Nora, Jaune, with me... with Yang are all true. I couldn't be happier knowing that I'm part of the reason you've changed. You wanna know what I think, Ezra?"

I averted my gaze and stared blankly at the floor, firmly believing that I don't deserve the kindness Pyrrha is showing me right now. Without waiting to hear my response, Pyrrha answered her own question.

"I believe that it was faith- destiny that sent you to us. I- I sort of felt it too, that trouble's brewing on the horizon, and if it wasn't for you, your team and a hell of a lot more people would have suffered- possibly died. That person, the one that helped all those people is the true you. Not OWL, but Ezra."

She placed her hand on my shoulder, urging me to look her in the eyes.

"Ezra. It's your destiny to come here to Beacon and become a better person. To help us whether the coming storm. As far as I'm concerned, you're doing a damn good job. Ezra. I trust you."

Hearing her say those words, my whole body collapsed and I start to break down into a sob. Pyrrha caught my falling body, and wrapped her hands around me as she gently caressed my back while I cried my heart out.

"Your secret is safe with me Ezra, on one condition."

I compose myself as best I could and looked up to Pyrrha.

"Promise me. Promise me you'll find the courage to tell everyone yourself."

We both stood up while I clumsily wipe the tears off my face.

"I promise."

I reassure her. Pyrrha gave the most genuine smile I've ever seen in response, then proceeded to hug me tightly.

"You'll be okay Ezra, but I unfortunately would have to let you go for a moment."

Confused, I decided to ask why. I was just getting used to her company without any baggage.

"Why?"

She slouched her body sideways and looked at the floor somberly.

"Ozpin is summoning me for something important. I can't keep them waiting any longer."

Them?

"Keep your head high Ezra! Thank you for telling me all this. I'll keep my promise so long as you keep yours okay?"

I force a smile her way before sending her off.

"Of course, I will. I don't deserve you Pyrrha."

Jaune

I've been at Beacon for months and I still haven't memorized which hallways lead to which. It's not an uncommon thing for me to turn the corner and see something completely different from what I'm expecting, and this time around is no different.

Seeing Ezra and Pyrrha together wasn't an unusual thing. The two have been close, even before Ez and Yang got together. They seem to be having a serious conversation so I kept my head down around the corner, not wanting to bug them. Again, them being together: not surprising, what was unexpected were the things Ezra had to say...

Ezra is... OWL? He plotted all those White Fang attacks... Attack on Beacon? W-what did I just walk into?

"...Ezra. I trust you."

Out of all the things that were said between the two, those words from Pyrrha stuck with me the most.

Ezra

The kindness Pyrrha showed me was undoubtedly undeserved. After all that I've done, I owe her my life now. I cannot let Cinder harm my friends and that most certainly includes Pyrrha. Maybe Cinder's plan for Pyrrha has something to do with what Ozpin wants with her. Them... she said they wanted to see her. Ironwood? Goodwitch? Maybe Qrow too...

Whatever secrets that Ozpin and his gang are hiding might be the key I need to stop Cinder, or at the very least, the key to saving Pyrrha, so I follow her... to Ozpin's tower.

Fitting that the friend that forgave me first would be the one to offer me my salvation.

There's only one problem: Ozpin's tower. It's no secret that everything anyone would need to destroy or do anything major in Vale would be found here in the headmaster's tower. So naturally, it would only make sense for this establishment to be the most secure in the entire Kingdom, so much so that Cinder never even considered infiltrating it.

The CCTS tower is difficult enough, but this is in a league of its own.

"Probably aura detection cameras in there. Motion and heat sensors too. Everything one would need to detect a living organism would be planted all over the tower."

Meaning, there's only one solution for me. Left with no other choice, I don my OWL attire once more and discreetly approached the tower.

"5 minutes. That's all I can handle, I'll have to manage this."

Fiddling around with the software inside my helmet, I set the timer to five minutes and left my vital signs monitor up and running.

I kneel down and focused with my eyes closed, slowly but surely steadying my heartrate. I use my semblance to lower my body heat levels to point of it vanishing all together. My vital sign monitor began to beep and glow red as my heart began to flatline and every vital organ outside of my brain to stop functioning.

At this point, I am technically dead.

Being in this state not only allows me to avoid detection from any sort of aura and heat detection sensors, but it also preserves my body at its strongest- literally frozen in time.

A superhuman state with a fatal consequence.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I make a beeline towards the tower, avoiding every guard and camera with ease. I snuck my way inside the elevator, making my way to its roof before firing off my grappling hook and ziplining myself to the top of the tower, towards Ozpin's office.

I crawl through the ventilation system till I'm squarely above Pyrrha with Ozpin and Qrow, unnoticeable to anyone. Good, it seems I haven't missed anything important. I put my finger on the side of my mask and listened in to Ozpin yap about folklore and fairytales, all uninteresting stuff until...

"What if I tell you those stories are true..."

True? What, the stories about the seasons?

"We call them maidens, capable of wielding tremendous power without dust."

"Like semblances?"

Pyrrha asks.

"Like magic."

Magic!?

Just then, Ironwood and Goodwitch appeared from the elevator and backed Ozpin and his bold statements. Pyrrha looked confused, frankly so am I, but the rest of Ozpin's crew looked like they believed him, almost like they've witnessed it first hand. I still can't wrap my head around it.

"We are telling you this because we believe you are next in line to receive the fall maiden's powers."

What!? This conversation continued on, with the four of them trying their best to console Pyrrha. They managed to calm her down enough to convince her to join them down the elevator.

[2 minutes remaining]

Shoot! I can't just follow them right away, they'll know I'm here. I crawl back to the vents till I'm staring down the elevator shaft, impatiently waiting for the elevator to reach its destination.

THUD!

As soon as I hear the elevator hit the ground, I jump down the dark abyss. Thanks to my OWL mask, I was able to see when my body was about to hit elevator roof. I open up my cape, turning it into a giant pair of bird wings to help me land softly. I slowly tail the group from a distance as I listen in to their conversation.

"The Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost, and that no individual can hold on to that power forever."

I listened in as Ozpin and the rest of them explain to Pyrrha the powers of the maiden, how the power is transferred from one maiden to another, how the last fall maiden was attacked and is on the verge of death. Worse of all, they wanted to use an unproven Atlas technology to transfer said powers to Pyrrha... at the cost of possibly losing herself.

All this risk because the fall maiden's assailant took part of her powers... Suddenly, the dots in my head began to connect. All this conspiracy, all this secrecy, and this whole intricate façade Cinder's been running with the White Fnag was all for the fall maiden's powers.

I can't believe it. This is it, Cinder's endgame. She's the fall maiden's assailant. She has no political agenda, Cinder simply came to finish what she started... to attain a never ending supply of power.

[10 seconds remaining]

Oh no. I completely forgot about my... GAH!... semblance. My body began to violently shake as the timer winds down to zero. My knees began to buckle down to the floor, but not before I catch myself on the pillar I was hiding behind. I try to slow my breathing, but my lungs are desperately and uncontrollably trying to gasp for air. Despite my body's wild reaction to my temporary death, I managed to sneak out of the tower undetected. I recklessly rip my helmet off and undress myself, using all my might to secure my stuff somewhere no one will find.

"Hah... hah...hah..."

My feet began to go numb and my arms begin to lose strength. Even with my vision blurring and life slipping away, I began to drag my feet towards the one place I know I wanted to be.

Yang

Me and Ruby sat across each other in our room, with our scrolls glued to our faces. Our eyes began to water, refusing to blink and look away from the intense match we were having in our game.

"Give it up... sis!"

I stick my tongue out and tightened my grip on my scroll a little harder than usual.

"Not... a... chance!"

I watched the health bar atop Ruby's character dropped agonizingly slow till it finally reached zero.

"HA! Take that!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Ruby smacked her face with her palms, as she began to curse her situation. I of course, laughed at her, like any other sore winner would. But before I can rub it in on Ruby a little more, a knock interrupted our moment.

"Who is it?"

Ruby yelled, but no one answered. Me and Ruby looked at each other and ignored it, but again, a set knocks echoed through our door, this time they were a little fainter than the last. Curiosity got the better of me, and I finally decide to walk up and open the door.

"Hey, who is it- Oh! Ezra? Blake and Weiss were looking for you."

It was Ezra, but he looked different, like his face had no color in it. His body was drenched in sweat and his eyes were drooping down and lifeless. His breath was shallow and uneven, and his overall stature was frail.

"Hey, Yang..."

I could see his mouth move, but I could barely hear him. Only reason why I knew what he said was because I've seen him say my name so many times.

"Ezra, are you okay?"

Before he could respond, Ezra collapsed into my arms.

"Ezra? Ezra. Ezra!"

Ruby rushed right next to me and grabbed his hands.

"Sis! His hands are cold!"

No, his whole body is cold like he's dead.

"EZ! Wake up! EZRA! SOMEONE HELP!"

"EZRAAAAAAA!"