"So Oz, I presume you found your guardian?" Qrow said as he strolled into Ozpin's office, leaning against a column. The setting sun glimmered through the windows, shadowing the seated headmaster.
"I originally had a candidate in mind, one Miss Nikos, the tournament fighter. Mature, compassionate, level headed, strong. She is everything we look for in a maiden normally." Ozpin said.
"But?"
"When you gave us your report on Amber's attack, how they transferred the power… You mentioned some sort of Grimm potentially being involved? Are you sure of it?"
Qrow felt his brow furrow into a scowl. "Was a little more busy getting our attacker off Amber than anything else. In the past I'd say I was seeing things, Grimm merging with someone with an aura would be insane." Qrow paused, taking a nice long swig out of his flask "But this whole situation with the Maiden powers being stolen is insane and with what I've seen the Queen be able to do with Grimm lately…. Yeah, I'm sure."
"The reason I'm asking Qrow is that while our thief was able to unnaturally acquire the Maiden powers, it may have also provided her with an unnatural weakness. One which could better protect our Maiden if she was potentially a member of one team RWBY."
Qrow stalked up to Ozpin's desk. "Don't you get them involved with this. Yang doesn't need this target on her back and Ruby needs her older sister. Yang isn't even ready for this!" His hand slammed down, and while the glass hadn't shattered, the ticking of the gears in the desk stuttered to a halt.
"Miss Xiao Long isn't the candidate I had in mind for precisely that reason. She has a good heart, but that alongside her headstrongness disqualifies her." Ozpin replied, unperturbed despite Qrow's outburst. "And besides Qrow, you know better than anyone else that with Ruby as their leader, they will eventually get involved in this one way or another. team RWBY might just beat out STRQ in how frequently they manage to get into trouble."
"So who is it then?" Qrow said, taking a deep breath and pulling back away from Ozpin's desk. "The Schnee or the Belladonna girl?"
"Miss Schnee's sister is already in line for the Winter Maiden…."
"Which means that you want her to be the backup in case they go after Ice Queen once she gets the power."
"While less tactful than I'd put it, yes. As for Miss Belladonna, she is unfortunately too unreliable for such a burden."
It took a few seconds for Qrow to really grasp what this ridiculous process of elimination meant. "You can't possibly be suggesting it be -"
/
Ruby Rose bounced nervously on her heels as she ascended the elevator. Professor Ozpin had called her to his office, alone, in the middle of hanging out with her friends at the festival grounds. The only time that had happened previously was when she was being debriefed about her run-in with the lady who attacked the CCT at prom, but nothing of the sort had happened. In fact, team RWBY had actually been doing pretty good about not getting into trouble as of late. No arresting wanted criminals, no mecha fights, no beating up terrorists, they hadn't even destroyed the cafeteria. So why would the Professor want her?
The sudden stop and ding of the elevator broke her out of her reverie. She was elated to see Uncle Qrow here, but her excited hello died in her throat as she saw him. Qrow practically paced like a caged Beowulf, eyes shifting angrily from Ozpin to the other two occupants of the room, Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood.
"Miss Rose, it's good to see you." Ozpin said,
"We-we're not in trouble are we professor?" Ruby said, cautiously stepping forward.
Ozpin offered her the seat in front of him, which she gladly took. "No Miss Rose, I hope my rather vague message didn't concern you, but it is nothing so concerning as that."
Qrow fired a glare at Ozpin that made Ruby cringe back. "Yeah, it's far far worse than that, kiddo."
Before Goodwitch or the General could retort, Ozpin put a hand up as if he was just stopping an argument from breaking out between unruly students, and with a sigh said "Please, Qrow"
His attention back to her, Ozpin continued. "So Miss Rose, would you mind telling me your favorite fairy tale?"
/
Ruby's head swam as she tried to process everything Ozpin had just told her. Magic was real, her uncle was part of a conspiracy to keep it safe from bad people who would harm innocents for that power, which happened to include the secret mastermind behind the White Fang attack from Mountain Glenn. Her silver eyes bounced between the four adults in the room, expecting them to reveal it was maybe all some sort of strange joke, but even her uncle just affirmed what Ozpin was saying. And if this was the truth, she had one question above all else.
"Why tell me all of this? If this is some big secret even the kingdoms can't know about."
"Because." Qrow said, "These three think you are the best candidate to become the next Fall Maiden."
All Ruby could reply with was a simple "What."
/
Ruby gently put a palm on the cool glass that covered Amber, the previous Fall Maiden. Her silver eyes focused on the white scarring across her face. "What happened to her?"
"Amber was attacked, like many other maidens have been, for her power. However, what makes this situation complicated is that instead of killing her, they managed to somehow steal half of her power and leave her comatose. They would have been able to steal all of it and bypass the Maiden cycle if it hadn't been for your uncle." Glynda said, shooting a glance at Qrow.
"Unfortunately though, with this situation being so new, we don't know what the hell will happen to Amber's powers when she finally does pass, as if this whole system isn't already a bunch of convoluted bullshit, which is where Jimmy comes in." Qrow gestured to Ironwood to continue.
"Miss Rose, I think you of all people know that Atlas has made scientific breakthroughs regarding the nature of aura, and how to manipulate and transfer it."
"You mean Penny, right?" She said, not particularly sure where the conversation was headed.
"Yes indeed. This machine is another innovation based on that research. It keeps Amber stable, and when the time comes, it can transfer what her powers are attached to, her aura, to a new host." Ironwood said.
Ruby looked over at the second pod, and she felt her stomach bottoming out as she realized what that meant. Her eyes glanced warily at the people surrounding her, the safe familiarity of authority and heroism they previously had giving way to something else.
"That's… wrong. How could you do that with someone's soul? Couldn't you make her better somehow instead?" She said, looking at everyone around her almost pleadingly.
Qrow nodded "It's wrong, untested, dangerous and we don't even know what the hell it would do to you if it did work. If it were just up to me I wouldn't let you near this thing, but ultimately, it's not my decision to make now that you have the choice.."
"I very much share both your misgivings, and I hope you will believe me when I say that we are only doing this because nothing else has worked, and it has become clear that we don't have very much time left until our mysterious attacker returns to try and kill Amber." Glynda said.
"Both your uncle and Glynda are right, ultimately it is your own decision Miss Rose. We will not pressure you into it if you decide to refuse this burden, but we will need to commence the transfer once the Vytal festival has finished." Ozpin said.
"Oz even already has another candidate lined up in case you say no Ruby, there is no pressure on you to take this. The Nikos girl is a good kid, and I trust her to take up the mantle if you don't want to kiddo. And if you do, I'll be right here with you every step of the way." Qrow put a gentle hand on Ruby's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly, and she realized there was actual fear in his voice.
She gently pulled away from Qrow, a small smile lighting up her face to let her uncle know she was fine.
"I'll do it. Taking this power is just an extension of being a huntress. We already put ourselves in danger so others stay out of harm's way. I-I couldn't let Pyrrha do this instead of me. She'd lose just as much as I would if this…" Ruby trailed off, not wanting to give voice to what could potentially happen if this all went wrong.
"I thank you Miss Rose for making this decision, especially in the middle of what should be a joyous time for you and your team. The finals should be starting soon, so I won't keep you from them any longer." Ozpin smiled, pointing to the time on his watch.
"Oh my gosh it is oh no no no. Seeyouall gotta go bye!" Ruby zipped to the elevator. She hoped that watching her sister or Pyrrha kick butt would get her mind off this stuff that she still wasn't so sure about. Also because if Ruby was absent for either match Yang would never let her live it down.