Her Semblance had unlocked earlier than most, rendering her almost untouchable when she was paying attention. "Preflexes", as she had called it, sent odd, nearly clairvoyant warning signs through her entire body whenever she was in danger or anticipated a need to move quickly. The signals always came with a concentrated adrenaline burst that lasted longer than it would in most people, keeping her at peak performance for extended periods. An exhausting comedown only triggered later- long after the need for such chemicals had passed to the point of sometimes being hours later- and left her feeling absolutely awful for nearly twice as long. None of the doctors or hunter analysts who tested the phenomenon quite understood it, and neither did Maria herself. Of course, she had never minded or questioned it as a young girl- it just meant that she was always picked first for dodgeball in primary school.

At Beacon, Maria was always picked first again as a dueling partner because others loved to try to hit her… until the rest of her classmates realized just how futile it actually was. As the years drew on, she was always picked last instead, and the fights became less and less of a challenge as her opponents went in full of annoyance and despair before the first blow was even struck. In short, Maria hadn't been hit in combat in a long, long time by anyone other than Professor Ozpin, and even he had trouble tagging her despite his incredible speed. Attempts from others were barely even a challenge to dodge, and she had only ever had a few close calls of her clothing being barely grazed in her time at the Academy.

All of that changed in an instant out in the dark clearing of the forest.

Maria's Preflexes had triggered as usual, and she felt the familiar rush course through her entire circulatory system as she prepared to dodge the unknown threat and retaliate. Time itself almost seemed to slow around her as she narrowed her eyes at the puddle beneath the white witch's feet. It had started as a few isolated bubbles, but quickly grew to a multitude frothing and popping quickly enough that even with her Semblance engaged, Maria was shocked at the speed that they manifested. Almost immediately afterward, the ground itself split open in several places and things stopped making sense entirely.

Jagged, twisting pillars of bone inscribed with unfamiliar red patterns much like those on Salem's skin erupted from within the earth, as though the very planet was alive and violently rejecting its own skeleton. Each was as thick as a standard car in Vale City and tapered to several uneven, deadly points all along the shaft. Too many of the spears to count sped toward Maria, twisting into an unnavigable briar and hiding their summoner from view. Maria leapt backward as quickly as she could, throwing herself to the side in an aerial immediately afterward as one of the bony lances tore through the air where she had been a millisecond before. Mid-leap and upside-down, she hurled forth one of her half-scythes in a spinning motion, and upon landing ducked another osseus lance. One final threat caused her to hop again to one side as another bone spear embedded itself back into the ground where she had been standing. Both Maria and the sudden assault stopped, and the young huntress paused just long enough to assess the battlefield with wide eyes.

The first thing that Maria noticed was her opponent floating high above the tangled array of bone and black ichor. Surrounded in a glowing aurora, the witch was levitating in place without the use of dust, weaponry, or anything other than what appeared to be raw magic. Her expression was entirely neutral, the momentary anger at her inquiry being rejected by Maria entirely absent. A good ten feet before her, Maria's thrown scythe had been stopped in midair, the blade no longer spinning. The weapon appeared to be frozen in time, as though it had simply stopped following the laws of physics. A similar, barely visible rainbow sheen surrounded the steel, mirroring the one shrouding the mysterious woman. The entire situation was unlike anything Maria had seen before, and impressive enough to distract her from the other unusual aspect of the fight… at least, for a moment.

All at once and seemingly out of nowhere, shooting pain coursed through Maria's left arm and side. Her cloak was torn to ribbons, with shreds of fabric littering the ground along the path she had taken to dodge the assault. The entire left side of her uniform beneath the cloak was soaked with dark blood, and a steady stream was making its way down her leg. She hadn't felt any damage being done to her aura- in fact, she could still feel it around her. Maria quickly realized that whatever magic she was up against, she was powerless to stop it- powerless, and too slow despite her Semblance. That meant she would be too slow running away, as well- her only recourse would be the element of surprise.

"…not bad," the huntress said with as much nonchalance as she could muster through clenched teeth. Maria's entire side felt like it was on fire, and she could feel herself swaying slightly. She tried to maintain a brave face and keep the pain out of her voice, though it was a losing battle. "Seems a little unfair to hold my weapon hostage, though. I'll be leaving now."

"You will do no such thing," the levitating woman hissed as the pillars of bone began to slowly move. Those whose points were embedded within the ground rose up, coiling like snakes and preparing to strike again. "Your wounds leave you with no choice but to answer me or die. I will ask you again- where is it?"

Maria took a deep breath, steeling herself as she brought her remaining weapon behind herself and slid her thumb over a mechanism hidden within the handle.

"…I choose Option Three- I do something so stupid that you can't catch up quickly enough to kill me."

With the flick of a switch, the gravity dust crystals embedded within Maria's scythes began to glow. As the huntress threw her arm forward and pointed the scythe in her hand to toward the one in the air, the force of attraction carried her skyward with lightning speed. While her momentum was at its peak, she disengaged the crystals and soared on past the stolen weapon at an angle that brought her face to face with her target. The witch got an arm enshrouded by magic up just as Maria reached her, but the young huntress was faster. With a hiss of pain, Maria sunk the hooked blade of her scythe into the woman's arm just above the elbow and pulled as she sailed on past, severing the limb and triggering a spray of black liquid to shoot into the air before any spell was cast.

Something in the sky simply felt wrong. Maria's adrenaline surged like never before as she locked eyes with the enemy, and again, the world barely seemed to move at all from her perspective. She could feel the atmosphere heating up as another spell was prepared, and she could already tell that something about the next spell would be deadlier. Faster. Maria needed to move, and she needed to do so immediately. There was only one shot at getting out of the way, and it would require all of her focus and more than a little luck.

In a frantic search, Maria squinted at the trees far below. The huntress knew the general area she was looking for, but for a moment, she thought she had miscalculated. After her heart skipped a beat, she saw a faint glint in the moonlight- it was the gravity crystal she had left near the second body as a signal for the authorities later, gently floating after being triggered by her scythe. With a deep breath, she pressed the mechanism again and took careful aim. It was certainly a stretch, and she had no idea if the gambit would even work… but she would rather gamble than simply die outright.

Maria began to soar faster than she ever had as the entire sky burned around her. She could feel intense flames at her back as a colorful, unnatural nova scorched the trees all around the battleground, sending plumes of ash up into the air. Countless branches battered Maria as she was pulled down into the canopy of the forest, and the very same branches were simply gone a moment later. There was no time to think or survey the damage as she braced for impact, and Maria hit the ground hard, shoulder first. She let out a cry of pain as she skidded into the mud and leaf litter, and only then, lying alone on the forest floor did she see what had happened behind her.

What seemed like the entire forest was burning with iridescent flames. The trees were alight with impossible colors and black flecks danced around them. Maria had barely managed to outrace the nova, though her clothing was singed and smelled of spent coal. She could no longer see the other woman in the sky, but sincerely doubted that she was safe at all. Her brain was screaming at her to get up and run, but her body simply wouldn't obey. The last thing she heard before she passed out was the sound of incoming aircraft and a familiar voice yelling from up above as a figure descended through the tree line.

"I woke up three days later in the infirmary," Maria finished, her eyes on the tile floor of the staging room. She shook her head in frustration as she tried to recall more details but found that there was simply nothing. "Professor Ozpin arrived on site and stopped her, but… at great cost. I saw none of their duel, but the aftereffects linger even today. No life grows in that stretch of forest where Salem and I met. Something about her magic changed the place… and not in a good way. It's just a long, empty stretch of uneven mounds of dirt and little else."

There was silence in the room for a long while until Bartholomew cleared his throat and spoke up.

"…and where Professor Ozpin held her off?"

"That would be the area now known as Forever Fall, beyond the dividing line at one edge of the Emerald Forest," Maria answered as she gave the boy an unreadable look. "Whatever they did in that battle changed the very season of the place and locked it in a singular moment in time. That's the level of magic we're dealing with here. That's the kind of thing Salem and Professor Ozpin are capable of… and the amount of power she'll expend to kill a single arrogant teenager in her way. You all have no concept of what we're really up against…"

"Then what the hell are any of us supposed to do about it!?" Roman asked, his frustration clear in his voice. "It sounds to me like Professor Ozpin's the only one with a legitimate shot at doing anything at all to her. Why would any of us get involved in any capacity other than looking out for Salem and telling him where she is?"

"Simple," Maria replied without hesitation. "The Relics need to be located and protected from her servants, as do the Maidens. A Maiden with a Relic could potentially go toe-to-toe with Salem as well. Maybe even kill her, temporarily. If enough people come together to gather all of the above and throw them at Salem in tandem… then we have a legitimate chance at survival. You may not be fighting her head on, but you can still contribute to our success by playing your roles and following orders. It's a lesson I had to learn personally."

Summer kept her eyes closed as she tried to stop herself from shivering. Her mouth was incredibly dry and her entire body was slightly quaking. She could feel everyone else looking at her… and she didn't want to know what they were thinking.

"Listen, I… I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I don't have anything like the power you're describing, Professor. I can't do this. I can't even lead a group of three others well, let alone protect them from something like her. I can't deal with being the chosen one or whatever, I just…"

"Then what will you do?" Maria asked. "Run? Hide? Salem will find you, eventually. There's no escaping any of this, and we're growing closer by the day to all of Remnant becoming involved instead of just a small group of those in the inner circle. I don't expect an answer tonight, Miss Rose… but I do expect you to take time to try to calm down and think. Panic won't do anyone any good."

"And neither will staying here," Willow chimed in. "I think… we should get back to the beach house and take the rest of the night to decompress."

"Not a bad idea," Maria agreed. "Once Fox and his team are filled in, I would suggest we all head there as a group."

"Until then, I need a bathroom," Summer announced. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"And I don't blame you," Maria reassured as she put a hand on Summer's shoulder and began to guide her toward one of the adjoining hallways. "Come with me."

Roman had the decency to wait for the two to leave the room before turning to the others.

"So… we're completely fucked, right?"

"Don't undersell it," Raven advised as she shook her head. "Remnant is completely fucked."

Author's Note:

Next time- a bit of a jump ahead.

-RD