The Way of the Maiden Chapter 54, a Star Wars + RWBY Crossover fanfic

Chapter 54: Revival

It had taken more time than any of the women would have preferred, but the end of their voyage was finally within sight.

Aurora's makeshift elevator, the one she created with her fragment of the Fall Maiden's powers, had finally reached the ground. She had been descending with Raven Branwen and her fellow bandit towards the Vault of the Spring Maiden for almost ten minutes. Aurora was angry at this pace, given than it was proof that she still didn't have the full power just yet. But all of her anger washed away when she felt her elevator touch the ground.

All three women were now on a stone bridge, one that led towards a natural stone wall at a considerable distance in front of them. Aurora needed a second to relax and regain her strength, but she refused to take her eyes off the center of the stone wall.

At the center of the wall, at the very end of the bridge, was a group of jagged stones in front of what appeared to be a tree. The tree had glowing leaves that did nothing but fall and shine the immediate area along with the blue light at everyone's feet.

Rather than the tree or the stones, Aurora's eyes fell onto a large door that stood tall against the wall. It was a door unlike any other, one that was carved and entirely made of gold. Neither Aurora, Raven, or the nameless Spring Maiden had seen a door like this before. However, they all knew what was waiting for them behind it.

The Relic of Knowledge was theirs for the taking.

The young bandit couldn't help but gently catch one of the falling leaves. She curiously stared at the plant as well as the tree. Raven had told her that the Vault existed, but she never knew what it was like. Hera, the previous Spring Maiden who took the Mandalorian to the Vault, was the one who opened it. But she and Raven never spoke of the experience; when they did, they said that they simply helped Djarin get what he wanted. And after he left the object where it was, the secret was sealed away along with the Relic.

So seeing all of this firsthand was interesting, to say the least.

"Having fun?"

The bandit looked back to Aurora as the leaf in her hand dissolved into nothingness. She didn't reply, since she had lost her voice so long ago. But the glare she gave Aurora spoke for itself.

"Stay focused," Raven ordered. It was clear that she didn't want to be in here any longer than she had to. Not while Qrow and Ozpin were still above her.

"Come on, Raven," Aurora insisted. "Let her enjoy this. It's a once in a lifetime experience."

The bandit decided to take Raven's advice and stay focused. Once she shook her hand free of any particles the leaf left, she pointed to the Vault. Aurora took this as a need for instruction on how it worked.

"Once the Spring Maiden places her hand on the door, it'll open," she said as she looked at the bandit. "For you... and only you." Aurora had learned this from Salem, who had given her an explicit instruction for Raven. "Then I'll walk inside and retrieve the Relic. You two stay here. Understood?"

The bandit nodded, but Raven didn't. "It doesn't matter to us," she said. "Let's get this over with."

"That's what I like to hear." The smirking Faunus turned to the bandit. "Whenever you're ready."

The bandit slowly approached the golden door with the intention to open it for the first time in five years. Aurora was the only one who was unaware that it had been opened before, but Raven and her accomplice were aware of the experience. Raven had been told that nothing dangerous resided behind the door, but she placed her hand on Omen just in case.

This action was caught by Aurora, who immediately expected betrayal. She was prepared for this, since she didn't fully trust Raven. So rather than let the bandits take the Relic and use a portal to never be seen again, Aurora took her chance.

"Salem told me a lot about you, Raven," she said. "She said you're a cunning leader, that you're strong, that you're clever."

"..."

The girl's hands were hovering over the golden door, and Aurora looked back to Raven.

"I think I wanna test those stories."

*WHOOSH*

"No!" Raven called out as she lunged forward.

*SSSSS*

When a blue ball escaped Aurora's hand and made contact with the bandit leader, Raven found herself frozen in place. Aurora had been testing her Maiden abilities with Salem ever since she left Beacon, and that was how she knew that she could create ice. However, her control over ice wasn't as strong as electricity or air, so Aurora knew that she had to act quick.

Fortunately, a gift from Salem made acting quick easy.

*WHOOSH*

*SHICK*

The young bandit had turned around when she heard her leader being encased in ice. But when she turned around and reached for a weapon at her belt, the feeling of sharp claws in her chest made it impossible for her to move.

The glove on Aurora's left arm had been discarded, but her arm was still black. In fact, her arm looked like that of a Grimm's. And just like the creatures that roamed the world, the arm was just as lethal.

The origins of this arm were unique. When Aurora returned to Salem's castle after the Fall of Beacon, she reported the failures of the Grimm Beetle. Namely, how Cinder was able to fight it. Salem took this lesson to heart, and sought to improve the process of stealing a Maiden's powers rather than let the same thing happen again. Her next creation was meant to serve as both a solution and a punishment for Aurora; she removed the Faunus' arm and attached the arm of a Geist in its place.

The Geist was a Grimm known for possessing inanimate objects to make a bigger body for itself. Its arms were able to take control over anything, and this trait was the inspiration for Salem's methods of stealing the Maiden's powers. It was impossible to fight the action, and Aurora could see that when she watched the bandit become paralyzed.

"It's nothing personal, kid," Aurora said as she stepped forward. "It's just that I was promised these powers a long time ago." She stopped walking when she was in front of the scared young girl. "It's time to make good on that promise."

*SHICK*

The girl fell to the ground and grabbed the black arm. Her mouth was open and tears were coming down her face, it was obvious that she was afraid. But the worst part was that she couldn't scream. She had been left mute practically all of her life, and she couldn't even use her voice to signify how much pain she was in.

Aurora didn't need a voice, however. All she needed now was the power of the Spring Maiden.

"If it makes you feel any better... it'll be for a very good cause," Aurora said as she dug her new claws deeper into the girl's chest. Squirming and hitting the arm didn't help the young girl, and it only made Aurora smile even more.

Aurora's swift attack was something the Faunus was proud of, especially since she was finally able to test her new arm. She was easily impressed by the fatal powers it possessed, along with the fact that it was beginning to draw Aura as well. Aurora planned to place this Aura into her lightsaber, and then kill Raven with it.

However, beneath the pride and sadism, Aurora began to feel confused as she looked at the young girl. It was clear that life within her was fleeting... but there was no sign of the Maiden powers leaving with it.

"What?" Aurora asked as she stared at the dying girl. "What is this?"

Aurora knew the arm was working as intended, since she was able to steal the girl's Aura. But no matter how hard she tried, Aurora couldn't make the power of the Spring Maiden come to her.

"That's impossible!" Aurora shouted. "How are you still holding on to the power?!"

*CRASH*

The sound of something breaking behind her caused Aurora to turn around. The Faunus grabbed her lightsaber as she did, and she was met by none other than Raven. She was expecting the bandit to break out of the icy prison she made, since ice wasn't Aurora's strongest element. However, Aurora knew something was wrong when she saw Raven breathing heavily.

There was a warm feeling in the air. Something that hadn't been here earlier.

"You won't find it, because she isn't the Spring Maiden!" Raven said as she tossed her Grimm mask aside. When she made eye contact with her new enemy, Aurora was welcomed with a red fire surrounding both of Raven's angry scarlet eyes.

"I am!"

Aurora wasn't the only combatant to receive a deadly surprise. Above her, the battle for Haven continued fiercely. Both sides sustained casualties and caused great destruction, but the battle showed no signs of stopping.

And there were more surprises left for the defenders of the prestigious academy.

The first came for Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had joined Revan's battle against Darth Malak. It had been five years since he fought a Sith, since he had slain Darth Nihilus. As he deflected lightning and a red blade with his own lightsaber, Obi-Wan couldn't help but wonder if his earlier duel was only luck. Not only was he aided by Cinder that day, but Nihilus had been severely weakened since Coruscant fell.

Malak, on the other hand, was in his prime state.

Revan took note of how fast and strong Malak had become. It wasn't just his own emotions and negativity that was giving him strength, but also his age. Unlike Obi-Wan and Revan, Malak possessed a young and able body. Nobody would believe his real age, if they really knew what it was. His youth served him well, as did his imprisonment.

As Revan told Djarin, the Fermata Cage that Salem created was capable of suspending people in time. Their bodies would refuse to age, since Magic and the Force preserved them. When Revan had been freed, he was able to age normally again like any human or Faunus. He had aged years since his release, approximately two decades. Malak, however, retained the youth he had in the Great War; the speed and strength of a Sith his age were still with him.

Experience and strategy, however, stayed on Revan's side.

It was his experience and strategy that told Revan that something was wrong. With each strike he sent towards his former apprentice, Revan realized that Malak had gone on the defensive. He returned strikes of his own, mainly with the Force and his lightsaber, but they weren't like the strikes of a Sith. With each block and Force push he sent to his former master, Malak seemed more concerned with defending himself against Revan.

The same, however, could not be said with how Malak fought Obi-Wan.

The Headmaster found himself on the receiving end of Malak's lethal attacks rather than Revan. The Force lightning and the strikes from a red lightsaber were all directed at him rather than Revan. Obi-Wan was able to defend himself, but he couldn't understand why Malak was attacking him more than Revan.

Revan couldn't understand it as well. He had been on the receiving end of Malak's anger and hatred five minutes ago, and Revan had to admit that his former apprentice had briefly gotten the better of him when he destroyed one of his lightsabers. Malak had already lured Revan to him when he attacked the students, he had what he wanted.

On the other hand, Obi-Wan inserted himself in their battle. Perhaps Malak simply sought to eliminate any further interruptions. But to do that, he would have to go after Ozpin as well, and maybe anyone else who tried to defend Haven.

So the question remained. Was Malak simply trying to make sure that his duel with Revan wouldn't be interrupted again? Or was there an ulterior motive at play?

Oddly enough, it was Malak who answered this question when he found his blade locked with Obi-Wan's. He had sent another push with the Force to Revan, and he also threw a few students on top of the Jedi so he would be distracted.

"I'm impressed," the veteran said to the Headmaster. "You are stronger than I had anticipated. Though I should have expected as much from a member of the Jedi Council."

"Rank does not concern me," Obi-Wan countered. "I've simply let go of my fear." Obi-Wan used the strength his lack of fear gave him to push Malak back and strike at his arm.

Malak groaned as he grabbed the burning cut on his arm. The pain wasn't enough to make him stop fighting, and he soon found himself embracing this pain with a laugh.

"Not for long, you haven't." Malak laughed even harder. "He was right about you. So naïve."

Obi-Wan had moved to a defensive position again, but the Sith's words caused him to briefly stumble. He remembered the Sith he had faced were known for trickery and deception, as well as for running their mouths. However, the word "he" had caught the Headmaster's surprise. He had expected Malak to speak only with Salem, not another "he." But Obi-Wan was able to brush it off.

At first.

"Manners maketh man, Malak," Obi-Wan sarcastically replied. "Should I be telling Revan that it's impolite to talk about others behind their back?"

"I can assure you, Revan has done far worse behind the backs of others," Malak replied. "But I wasn't referring to my new apprentice." Malak was still under the delusion that he could make Revan a Sith once again. "No, I was referring... to yours."

"..."

Obi-Wan lowered his lightsaber when he heard this. His intuition was telling him that this was a Sith trick, that Malak wanted him to lower his guard so he could be vulnerable. But the mention of Obi-Wan having an apprentice was too tempting for the Jedi to ignore.

Especially since Obi-Wan only had one apprentice in his life.

"Mine?" he asked.

"Come now, Headmaster," Malak replied. "You knew Salem was aware of your presence here. Did you really think she would only send one Sith to finish what she started all those years ago?"

"..."

"Search your feelings, Jedi. Surely you know who she would send to get under your skin."

Obi-Wan found it within himself to stop believing the idea. "You're lying!" he said. "If he was really in Mistral, he would be here instead of you!"

Malak didn't need the Force to sense Obi-Wan's anger. Now it was time to make that anger regress into fear.

"Yes, we did have to draw lots to see who would be here first," Malak continued. "He was angry when I won, of course, but not after I promised to give you his regards. Along with a message."

"Message? What message?"

"Anakin Skywalker was unable to keep his promise to you... but Darth Vader never fails."

"..."

It was at this moment that Obi-Wan knew that not only was he still alive, but Anakin's journey to the dark side was complete. The name "Darth Vader" was one he had never heard of before, but it was obvious that Malak was using it to refer to Anakin.

As for what he had promised the last time they met, that too was obvious for Obi-Wan.

"Satine... No!"

Obi-Wan lost all control as he lunged towards Malak. Just as the dark lord had wished, the Jedi gave in to fear and let it turn into anger. His strikes became more powerful and fast, but also predictable. Obi-Wan had let this happen before, when he watched a Sith murder his master in cold blood. That day, his emotions caused him to nearly be fed to a Sarlacc.

Tonight, his emotions caused him to be wide open for Malak to strike his chest and stab him in the leg.

Obi-Wan fell to the ground in pain. The cut on his chest wasn't near his heart or any other vital part of his body, but the wound in his leg made it difficult for Obi-Wan to stand up. His first instinct was to retract his Aura from his lightsaber to heal himself, but Malak made this impossible when he summoned the weapon to him.

Malak kept his eyes on the blue blade in his hand, he almost became mesmerized with it. It had been ages since he saw a lightsaber of this color, when it was carried by a hundred others in a different time. And to think that there was only one left.

"I cannot recall the last time I slayed a Jedi with their own lightsaber," he admitted. "Perhaps this will jog my memory." Malak moved the blade so it would be in a stabbing position, and he moved it quickly towards the defenseless Obi-Wan.

*CLASH*

Revan had recovered from Malak's diversion and he was just in time to knock the blade away from Obi-Wan's chest.

"Ah, there you are," the Sith Lord said as he struck at Revan again. The strikes made Revan walk backwards as he deflected each one, now he and his former apprentice were about two yards away from Obi-Wan.

"Still fighting like a Jedi, Revan?" Malak taunted. "Aren't you going to destroy me?"

"...I would certainly like to," Revan admitted as he locked blades with Malak.

"I know you would." Malak pushed against the blade. "I can feel your anger. An anger all too similar to Obi-Wan's."

"..."

Revan looked upon the wounded Headmaster with pity. Obi-Wan had not fallen to the dark side in his attempt to stop Malak, he had just lost control when fear overcame him. Malak sensed how this fear turned into anger, and he was sure that it could have turned to hatred in due time.

But Malak didn't care about Obi-Wan; he was here for Revan and Revan alone.

"You saw how he faltered," Malak continued. "But he does not know how to use his feelings. You and I, on the other hand, are all too familiar. Use them, Revan. Use them, and take your rightful place at my side."

"..."

Revan had to admit that he was strongly tempted. Killing a Sith was no easy task, even for a Jedi Master. Revan knew that using his own feelings and passion in combat would help him bring this conflict to a swift end, and it would decimate the Mandalorians even faster. Haven would be safe; all he had to do was fight like he did during the Great War, like he did under Salem's tutelage.

"You are brave... and some would say foolish. But you are also right. The dark side has not wholly consumed me. I cannot raise my blade against you. You will go on to defeat Malak, of this I have little doubt. You will have gone from being the Sith Lord himself to the savior of our world. And you said you loved me... This may not be the best time to say it but... I love you too. With all my heart."

"..."

Revan almost didn't believe what he heard. He initially believed that someone had whispered in his ear, but Revan told himself that he heard a memory. It was a strong one at that, from a time where he had faced Malak before. The voice belonged to the person that Malak had mentioned, someone Revan cherished with all his heart.

It was this memory that told Revan what he would be giving up if he gave in to Malak's wishes. He had given it up once before, and he would be damned before he did it again.

*CLASH*

*WHOOSH*

*CLASH*

The use of the Force and remarkable speed allowed Revan to wound Malak severely. Now the Sith Lord had a mark on his chest just like the one he had given Obi-Wan. He was able to retract his Aura to heal himself, and Revan gave him time to do so by talking.

"No," he said. "That time is over. I cannot fully return to the light... but I will not let the darkness take over once more. Not even for you, brother."

"..."

"I am not perfect... but I am a Jedi. Like Bastila."

*HISS*

Malak took his failure personally, and he signified this by activating his lightsaber once more and staring at Revan with an intimidating scowl.

"So be it... Jedi."

Inside the school's auditorium, Professor Ozpin also received a surprise. But unlike Obi-Wan's, this surprise was a welcome one.

Ozpin was engaged in a war on two fronts at the moment. Vizsla and his guard of Wraiths were still guarding the Vault, and Hazel had his eyes set on Ozpin. His sister and her teammates were able to capture his attention, but Hazel struck at Ozpin whenever he could.

And though he was the Headmaster of Beacon, Ozpin found this to be one of the hardest battles he had ever fought. Hazel's physical strength was nearly unmatched, not even Ozpin's Magic could do the man much harm. And nearly every attack he made on Vizsla had been ineffective due to the Mandalorian's Semblance. Vizsla anger had faded since he learned his lesson with Obi-Wan, and he decided that the ability to become invulnerable would aid him well.

When he saw the Headmaster gasping for breath and clutching his side, Vizsla knew that he had made a wise decision.

A single glance at Ozpin was enough to tell Vizsla and his guards that the Huntsman had been defeated. Ozpin still had his Aura on his side, but it wasn't enough to defeat this many foes. The Force was still with him, as was his notable cane. The cane was starting to give Ozpin an idea on how he could fight back, on how he could end this destructive conflict once and for all. But doing so would require an enormous sacrifice, something that the Headmaster wasn't entirely sure he was ready to make.

And yet, the sight of Vizsla and his men approaching closer with the Darksaber in hand made his idea more tempting by the second. Vizsla had even managed to best Qrow, who was pinned to the wall by small saw blades and bleeding heavily.

Only a miracle could save them now.

"And to think Haven's Headmaster said this wasn't like Beacon," the Mand'alor said as he approached Ozpin with his guards behind him. "I've lost count of how many Huntsmen and Huntresses I've killed tonight."

"As have I," said a Wraith. "And the night is still young."

Ozpin looked up at the Mandalorians and tried to stand back up. But Vizsla simply raised his blaster and fired it directly at Ozpin's chest. When that happened, the last of the Headmaster's Aura disappeared. Qrow watched his mentor hit the floor, and he tried to get up to help him. But the saw blades were too deep into his shoulder and arm to move; not even the ability to turn into a bird could help him.

Qrow and Ozpin both felt equally frustrated and hopeless. They both knew their natural speed and fighting prowess could help them right now, if they weren't incredibly injured. The Mandalorians had taken all of their strength, and now they were going to take their lives. Just as Ozpin believed, only a miracle could save him and his ally now.

And to his surprise, the miracle came in the form of a welcome surprise.

*WHOOSH*

*SNAP*

*WHOOSH*

*SNAP*

*WHOOSH*

*SNAP*

The repetitive sounds of air striking his back and bones breaking caused Vizsla to turn around and become speechless. Where he was expecting to see his guards, the Mand'alor was now seeing the bodies of his Wraiths with broken necks.

"What?" Vizsla quickly asked. "How did-?"

*WHOOSH*

The sound of air hitting his head caused Vizsla to turn around just in time to see a Mandalorian standing behind him. But unlike the Mandalorians in his service, this one was entirely chrome and carrying a staff on his back. He was also extremely adaptable, which was why he settled for punching Vizsla in the face instead of breaking his neck when he lost the element of surprise.

Ozpin, however, had more surprise than the Mand'alor when he recognized his savior.

"Djarin..."

Din Djarin had indeed returned to the fight. His encounter with Paz Vizsla and the former Children of the Watch didn't result in his death, but rather falling onto a ledge beneath the landing pad. When he awoke, the visions of his sister and her words of wisdom stayed in his mind and guided him towards his new path.

Djarin had not only decided to stay at Haven, but he also decided to join in the fight rather than run from it. It was true that Flora and whoever else was with her were closer to Cinder than he was, and he had no wish to abandon his daughter. However, Aurora showed no signs of leaving as well. Staying at Haven had made her a target of the Mandalorian, and his revived will to fight told him that Aurora had to die tonight.

It was the only way to save Cinder, and the only way to end this madness.

On his path back to the auditorium, Djarin relied on his speed and his Semblance to either evade or kill the Mandalorian invaders. He chose to kill whenever a defender of Haven was in trouble, and he showed no hesitation in doing so.

He didn't even hesitate to use his Semblance to break the necks of Vizsla's Wraiths. The Mandalorian knew that he couldn't fight them head-on, so he relied on the element of surprise to save Ozpin.

"Get up," Djarin ordered as he grabbed Ozpin's arm and pulled. "This isn't how we die." Once he was off the ground, Ozpin watched Djarin disappear again.

*WHOOSH*

This time, instead of trying to kick Vizsla while he was down, the Mandalorian found himself in front of Qrow. He was ready to help his friend stand back up again, but Qrow's current condition would make this harder.

And yet, Qrow regained his optimism when he laid eyes on the one person he was hoping to fight side-by-side with.

"You're a sight... for sore eyes," Qrow said as he tried to move. "I thought... we lost you."

"You're not wrong," Djarin admitted. "But I know that I'm supposed to be here, going after Aurora." He kneeled down to Qrow and placed a hand on one of the circular blades. "And I need to help you too."

Qrow looked at what his friend was holding, and he knew his plan to help wasn't going to be pleasant. "I picked... the worst time... to stop drinking."

Djarin rolled his eyes at the joke as he prepared to pull. "Here we go," he said.

*SHICK*

"Hrrr!"

*SHICK*

"Grrr!"

*SHICK*

"Aaugh!"

Qrow couldn't help but scream as the last blade was pulled out. Each one took Djarin a certain amount of time and effort, since the blades were previously pinning Qrow against the wall. But when the Mandalorian was successful and Qrow shook off the pain, Djarin helped his friend stand up. Once he did, Djarin rejoined Ozpin with Qrow in tow.

The brief but welcome reunion made Ozpin and Qrow happy that they wouldn't be fighting alone, and it made Vizsla mad that this unexpected return had just cost him his bodyguards. After he quickly killed a Huntsman and Huntress with the Darksaber, the Mand'alor began to create a plan to deal with the trio of defenders.

"Hazel!" he yelled. "Join me!"

The large man Vizsla was referring to was already locked in combat with Team BGNY. Gretchen and her friends were giving their all to stop her brother, who was already getting the better of them.

During their fight, Hazel used his enhanced strength to break both Bailey's and Nerissa's weapons. Nerissa tried to continue the fight with half of her trident, but Hazel broke it again with a combination of Fire and Lightning Dust.

Yuri was able to use his speed to trap Hazel in a cyclone, one that had the potential to sweep him off the ground when it gained the right momentum. But before it could do so, Hazel stuck out his arm in Yuri's circular path to stop him in an instant. The Dust in Hazel's arm stabbed Yuri when he crashed into the large man, and the Lightning Dust coursed through his body in a harmful and potentially fatal method. When he fell, the Huntsman couldn't find the strength to get back up.

As she watched her friends fall, Gretchen felt more and more guilty. She had tried countless times to make her brother stop this fight and see reason, but Hazel kept refusing to do so. He did show a willingness to leave during the fight, however. He told his sister that all she had to do was leave with him and give up being a Huntress.

Gretchen knew that this was the only way to stop Hazel, but it wouldn't have stopped the rest of the battle. The Mandalorians were seeking a prize bigger than herself, so removing herself from Haven would be meaningless. And if she refused to fight for her friends and every other person that was trying to defend Haven, how could she live with herself? So she naturally declined Hazel's offer and continued to fight him.

The fight stopped, however, when Pre Vizsla called out to him.

Hazel turned around fast to see that Ozpin, the man who he held responsible for Gretchen's status as a Huntress, was still alive and with friends. Rather than let him live, Hazel decided that he would be the one to kill the Headmaster of Beacon. And based on what Salem told him, he could do it over and over again.

But first, he grabbed his sister by the neck and threw her towards a broken piece of a wall with debris. Some of the debris had a piece of rebar sticking out, and Hazel twisted the metal so it wrapped around Gretchen's arm like a handcuff.

"Don't even think about it," Hazel said as he watched Gretchen try to break the metal. "We're leaving when I'm done."

"Hazel, come back!" Gretchen yelled as she watched her brother walk off towards Ozpin. "Hazel!"

"..."

The brother paid no attention to his sister as he stuck two more pieces of Dust in his arms. When he let out a mighty yell from the energy flowing within him, Ozpin and his companions noticed that their fight was going to be even more difficult.

But that didn't stop Djarin from stepping up when he saw the state Ozpin and Qrow were in.

"Leave this to me," the Mandalorian ordered as he prepared his staff. He then moved in front of the injured warriors, which put him in the path of both Vizlsa and Hazel.

The two warriors were both strong in their respective natures. While Hazel was strong both physically and emotionally with the anger that burned within him, Vizsla was strong with his Semblance and the art of Mandalorian combat.

But Djarin found himself to be feeling just as strong as the two of them put together. He didn't know it until now, but he had lost something since the Fall of Beacon. He had been fighting time and time again, against Grimm and Mandalorians alike. But through it all, he was fighting without something that was instinctual, something that came without thought.

Passion. And heart.

Din Djarin was taught that these factors were wielded by all Mandalorians who came before him, that they were the sole reason of how they knew they were fighting for the right reasons. When Djarin lost that, he simply became a ghost. He became a shell of his former self, one that was never content with teaching, or fighting, or even living.

The moment he shared with Ikki helped Djarin reignite his warrior's soul. One look at Hazel and Vizsla told the Mandalorian that neither of them possessed such a thing, only anger and greed. Because of this, Djarin had the confidence to put his skills to work.

And when all three warriors charged with a yell, all Hell broke lose.

Djarin once again relied on his Semblance to gain the element of surprise. Since his brief rest allowed his Aura to recharge, Djarin could use it as many times as he needed to. And so, the first thing he did when he teleported was strike Vizlsa from behind with his staff.

When Vizsla felt the pain of the electricity, he immediately relied on his Semblance to make himself transparent and grab the staff as it moved through his body. Djarin quickly caught on to this ability before Vizlsa could strike back, and he teleported once again.

Djarin knew that his Aura was fully charged, but he also remembered how it needed to be altered in order to save his life after a mission with Qrow went awry. So the Mandalorian focused on short range distance when he used his Semblance, which was why he landed on Hazel's back and stabbed him with his knife.

Hazel growled as he felt the knife enter his flesh. Using his Aura and Semblance spared him death and pain, and he reached up to try and pry the Mandalorian off him. But when he saw Vizlsa prepare to shoot him with his gauntlet and blaster, Djarin wrapped his wire around Hazel's neck and pulled. Hazel used his Semblance to block out the pain once again, but he moved with the wire and thrusted his chest forward as his head moved back.

*BANG*

*WHOOSH*

Fire and two blasts from Vizsla's weapons struck Hazel instead of Djarin, which caused the man to scream in fury and impulsively swat Vizlsa like a fly to make him stop. And when he finally got a grip on Djarin, Hazel threw him off his back and felt the wire move back into the Mandalorian's gauntlet.

But Djarin simply teleported again so he wouldn't have to hit the ground. When he did, he found himself in front of Hazel and striking him in the face repeatedly with his staff.

*BAM*

Multiple strikes of electricity hit Hazel in the face as the Mandalorian lunged forward. He had drawn inspiration for this attack from Ozpin, when he would use the same motion to strike multiple times at an enemy. Though his strikes were nowhere near the same speed as Ozpin's would be, Djarin could tell that his strikes were doing damage as well.

But they stopped when Hazel grabbed the staff and crushed the end in his hand.

Djarin teleported once more to avoid a fist from Hazel, but he found himself close to Vizsla and Mandalorians who had joined him. Vizsla swung the Darksaber multiple times at Djarin, but the Mandalorian blocked each strike with his gauntlets. He was, however, forced backwards when Vizsla settled for kicking him in the chest.

"RRRRRAAAAAHHH!"

A familiar scream made Djarin turn around fast and see Hazel begin to charge at him. An unstoppable force was to the left of him, and a squad of Mandalorians were too his right. Djarin knew that he was now stuck between a rock and a hard place, but he didn't relent.

Instead, he teleported once more after he fired multiple whistling birds at Hazel. And after each one exploded, Hazel grabbed his face as he blindly charged and collided into each of the enemy Mandalorians.

*BAM*

*CRASH*

All of the Mandalorians, Vizsla included, were knocked away and injured as they found themselves in Hazel's path. Vizsla walked away with a shortness of breath after he was hit in the chest, but the Mandalorians behind him suffered from broken bones and bodies on the verge of being crushed. And it all ended when Hazel crashed into a wall.

The brief reprieve Djarin had been given allowed him to see what kind of damage each of the Mandalorians had done. Very few Huntsmen and Huntresses were in the auditorium now, since they were either dead or trying to make sure the CCT towers wouldn't fall. Djarin could also see that the bodies of Mandalorians were also on the ground, even though they still outnumbered the defenders of Haven.

However, it became obvious to Djarin that their greatest strength at the moment was Hazel. If he went down, handling the Mandalorians and Vizsla would be easier. Fortunately, Djarin wasn't the one only to see this.

"No use standing around much longer," said Qrow, who changed Harbinger into its scythe form.

"I'll aid Djarin," Ozpin decided. "Focus on the Mandalorians."

"Right." Qrow was about to take off after the armored warriors, but he quickly remembered that his sister was at the Vault. "Wait a minute. Raven's down in the Vault, we should stop her and Aurora."

*BOOM*

*RUMBLE*

An explosion from below and the sensation of the ground shaking caught everyone by surprise. Everyone wondered what had just happened, but Ozpin's connection to the Force gave him a clue. He could sense another conflict at hand, one that was miles below ground instead of in front of him.

"Not yet," Ozpin said. "I sense there's been a delay in Salem's plans." He quickly spun his cane as he prepared to face Hazel. "Let's not waste the opportunity."

Qrow agreed and locked eyes on a few Mandalorians who had avoided Hazel's failed charge. "Good luck." With that, he turned into a bird to move faster as Ozpin joined Djarin against Hazel.

*BAM*

Quick strikes against his back caught the hulk of a man off guard, which gave Djarin an opening to strike with his own staff. He had retrieved it while Hazel was recovering from hitting the wall, and Djarin waisted no time in using it.

And with the distraction Ozpin gave him, Djarin jabbed the functioning end into Hazel's chest. Unfortunately, all of these strikes only made Hazel angry. And in order to stop the attacks, Hazel struck the ground and watched as a fiery shockwave hit both Ozpin and Djarin.

*BOOM*

The shockwave was short-lived, but it was effective against Djarin and Ozpin. But when the Mandalorian recovered, he teleported himself to Ozpin to help him up.

"I was wondering if you wanted to help," he said sarcastically.

"I apologize for the delay," Ozpin apologized. "I may be a Headmaster, but I too need my rest."

Djarin gestured towards Hazel. "If you were up against him, I'm sure you did."

Ozpin quickly refocused on the situation. "Hazel's Semblance makes him immune to pain, but he's not invincible. We need to make him incapable of movement."

Djarin looked at his gauntlet. "I have my wire, but I don't think I should risk tying him up."

Ozpin took one look at Hazel's bulging arms as he injected even more Dust in his body. "I agree," Ozpin admitted. "And I have an idea. Can you tie his legs together?"

"On your mark."

Ozpin watched Hazel inject himself with a final piece of Ice Dust, which caused him to scream even louder and raise his head up as the energy coursed within him. As he watched this, Ozpin knew that the experience was the perfect distraction.

"Now!" he ordered.

*THWIP*

Djarin fired his wire at Hazel's right leg. He needed to fly around the man to tie both legs together, so he used his jetpack to do this. Qrow helped stop two members of Death Watch from taking flight and pursuing Djarin, so the Mandalorian was able to do his work quickly.

So when Hazel's legs were tied, the man couldn't move out of the way in time to avoid a strike against his forehead.

*BAM*

Ozpin settled for hitting Hazel in the head rather than his chest. The strike and his tied legs had finally made the man fall and feel incredibly lightheaded, even though his Aura protected him from a fatality. If he didn't have such a fast-charging Aura, the strike would most likely have killed him.

Unfortunately, he wasn't dead yet.

Gretchen knew this better than anyone, since she and her friends tried a similar strategy with rendering him immobile. And just like their plan, the one Ozpin and Djarin made had ultimately failed. Because as soon as he recovered, Hazel grabbed the wire and Ozpin's arm while the Headmaster was hitting him again.

And with Hazel's new control over ice, he made both the wire and Ozpin's arm freeze.

Hazel threw Ozpin and heard him scream from the freezing sensation as he focused on breaking Djarin's wire. Once he did, a fireball from his other fist made contact with the Mandalorian and made him slide across the floor.

Ozpin looked at his arm to see that the spot Hazel grabbed was completely frozen. He tried to thaw it out to stop the pain, but it wasn't going away anytime soon. And Hazel took this chance and prepared to finish what he started.

As she watched Hazel move closer and closer to Ozpin with curled fists, Gretchen felt incredibly scared and guilty. Her fear for Ozpin's life grew with each passing second, and she blamed herself for being unable to stop or reason with her brother. However, her guilt wasn't enough to make her give up.

Gretchen's arm was still trapped in the rebar, but both of her feet were free. She used her feet to latch on to the end of Bailey's pitchfork and move it towards her. When she picked it up with her free hand, Gretchen noticed that the compartment that allowed for Dust to be inserted was still there; and she still had a piece of Fire Dust with her.

And so, she inserted the crystal and let the pitchfork break the metal with a small explosion.

*BOOM*

The explosion not only freed Gretchen from her prison, but it also awoke her team from their forced slumber.

"Gr... Gretchen?" Nerissa asked as she saw her friend stand. "What-?"

"Don't worry!" Gretchen said as she got up. "Stay down! I'll go after Hazel!" She quickly took off running, even though Nerissa was begging her to wait. It was a logical request, since Gretchen didn't exactly have a plan to stop her brother.

But all that she knew was that she had to stop him.

Hazel had come much closer to the weakened Ozpin now. He was forced to briefly stop so he could shove Djarin and Qrow out of his way, but he didn't kill them. In his mind, Ozpin was the one who deserved to die. He deserved to die for taking Gretchen away from him, to let her continue on her path to becoming a Huntress after she nearly died on a training mission.

But most of all, Hazel believed Ozpin deserved to die for putting Gretchen at risk of Salem, of being a soldier in his impossible war. He planned on protecting her with everything he had, even if it meant that she didn't want him to.

In order to do that, Hazel knew that he had to kill Ozpin here and now. That was why he raised both of his large and empowered fists over the weakened Headmaster.

"When you die... don't come back," Hazel warned as he made eye contact with the scared Headmaster. And with another loud and animalistic yell, Hazel lunged forward and brought both of his fists down in an unstoppable manner.

Ozpin believed he would have died from such a strike, if Gretchen didn't push him out of the way in time.

"Hazel, that's enou-!"

*BAM*

*CRACK*

"..."

For the first time tonight, the auditorium fell into silence. All eyes fell onto a spot where the sound of breaking bones echoed throughout the room. Nobody could explain why or how the sound drowned out all of the earlier sounds of combat and bloodshed, but they did.

And when all heads turned towards they source, multiple eyes could see Hazel Rainart standing still with a blank expression and blood coated on both of his hands.

"GRETCHEN!"

Nerissa broke this silence when she laid eyes on Gretchen's bloody body. She was still in pain, but she rushed over to her wounded friend as fast as she could.

Ozpin was the first to hold the young Huntress, who had received a terrible wound from her own brother. When she pushed the Headmaster out of the way, Gretchen set herself up to be attacked by Hazel instead. She had tried to use her Aura to protect herself and catch Hazel's fists, but she was too slow and her Aura was too weak to protect herself.

Her efforts had led to her receiving a cracked skull and being surrounded by three people in shock.

Ozpin was cradling her body and trying to think of a way to help. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind.

Nerissa was crying her eyes out as she tried to stop the bleeding and cover Gretchen's wound, but nothing was working.

And Hazel found himself unable to do anything.

All his life, Hazel only desired to protect his sister. This was something he did for years, against Grimm and people alike. So it came as a shock to him when she decided to be a Huntress, to dedicate herself to a life where she had to fight every day to survive. On the day he disappeared, Hazel told himself that he would do whatever he felt was necessary to get his sister back, that he would hurt anyone who stood in his way.

But he never imagined the person he would hurt the most would be Gretchen herself.

Nobody around the poor Huntress would say it, but they all knew that the wound was too severe for any of them to do anything. Gretchen even knew that she was about to die, even though she struggled to hold on to life and breathe. It was all in vain, however, as her vision became darker and her head became incredibly weak.

And yet, Gretchen was able to make one final move, muster a single ounce of strength to look at the large man before her and speak. Blood now came out of her mouth while doing so, but she still spoke.

"H... Ha... Hazel. W... Wh... Why?"

"..."

With that final moment of confusion and heartbreak, Gretchen Rainart died.

She wasn't the first Huntress to have died tonight, but her death had caused much distress and sadness to everyone who witnessed it. Djarin and Qrow were even watching from afar, and they both took their frustrations and sadness out on the Mandalorians who were distracted from the sound of Hazel killing his own sister.

Ozpin took out his frustrations differently. He continued to cradle Gretchen's body out of regret. He knew that his death would have been inconsequential, since his curse of reincarnation would start over again. Ozpin didn't like the idea of inhabiting yet another body, but as he cradled the poor Huntress, the old man told himself that the strike was meant for him and that he should have been the one who died.

Hazel was still in shock of what he had just done, and especially what he had just heard his sister say. However, he agreed with Ozpin's sentiments. The fatal blow was meant for the Headmaster, and Hazel intended to deliver it again. It was easy for him to blame Ozpin, since Gretchen saved him at the last second.

But the idea became hard when the third person closest to Gretchen screamed.

"GOD DAMN YOU!"

Nerissa moved in between Ozpin and Hazel with tears in her eyes and began to hit Hazel's chest in fury. "You murderer!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "You... you monster! You called yourself her brother! How could you do this to her?! What kind of human being are you?!"

"..."

Nerissa continued to strike at Hazel's chest and demand an answer, but the man had none to give. The pain within him was much stronger than his hate, but his hate still remained. However, instead of Ozpin, all Hazel could do was hate the one person that Gretchen really needed protection from.

Himself.

"A... AAAAAAAAUUUUUUHHHHH!"

*BOOM*

The Dust within Hazel's body ignited all at once as the man let out a pained howl. Everyone around him were all knocked back from the explosion, and even the people farther away from him were taken off their feet.

Everyone outside the auditorium, Revan and Malak included, all witnessed a bright light escape the ceiling of the building and quickly fade away.

Surprisingly, nobody was seriously injured from the explosion. Ozpin, Nerissa, Djarin, and everyone else inside stood back up to see a large scorch mark on the ground and a hole in the ceiling.

And Hazel was nowhere to be found.

"Oz? Oz!"

His ears were ringing from the explosion, but Ozpin could see that Qrow had rejoined him and was helping him off the floor. Nerissa couldn't find it within herself to stand and fight, since she was now holding Gretchen's body and crying.

Qrow shared Nerissa's pain, even though he didn't know the Huntress as well as she did. Djarin also mourned her loss, even though he could see more pressing issues at hand.

"Where'd he go?" Djarin asked as he looked at the spot where Hazel was. "Oz? Where'd he go?"

"..."

Despite the fact that death was a most logical conclusion, Ozpin had to admit that this was a good question. He had heard of accidents with Dust before, with Huntsmen and civilians alike. However, he never heard of Dust being capable of disintegration such as this. And he had heard of Hazel surviving much worse.

Was Hazel truly dead? Or was he simply not here right now?

Whatever happened just now, everyone could tell that Hazel was no longer fighting anymore. Vizsla took this news very poorly, since he also knew that Hazel was the greatest asset he had tonight. And if he planned on conquering Haven and Mistral, he needed reinforcements.

"Kryze, we lost Hazel!" Vizsla shouted after he put his helmet back on. "Forget the rest of the school, I need all our remaining forces in the auditorium now!"

"On our way!" Bo-Katan said over the radio.

Ozpin was the only one who heard Vizsla call for backup. He knew that it would take time to arrive, and he knew that stopping Vizsla while he was weak was a top priority.

Unfortunately, so was obtaining the Relic of Knowledge.

"Djarin, take Qrow down to the Vault!" Ozpin ordered. "The delay we were granted was only temporary!"

"The Vault?" Djarin asked as he looked back towards the Vault. The last time he was here, Djarin remembered that the path to the Vault was an elevator that led down into a tunnel beneath the school. Only now, Djarin only saw a hole and a broken elevator. He hadn't noticed it when he returned, but the Mandalorian could see that someone was down in the Vault.

And he was certain it was Aurora.

"Qrow, he's right!" Djarin said as he grabbed Qrow's arm. "We have to stop Aurora!"

Qrow knew that his sister was also down in the Vault, but he wasn't sure if going down was the right call. "Are you sure, Oz?" he asked. "We can take Vizsla together!"

*BOOM*

*RUMBLE*

Another explosion and the ground shaking again was enough for Ozpin to decide that protecting the Relic was a top priority. However, Djarin had another idea.

"Oz, you go!" Djarin ordered. "You might be the only one who can stop Aurora!" He quickly spun his staff and looked at the Mandalorians. "Vizsla's mine."

Ozpin had initially wanted to stop the Mandalorians with a plan of his own, with a secret weapon he had been holding on to for years. However, the memories of the Fall of Beacon told Ozpin that perhaps he was the only one who could stop Aurora. He was unable to at first since he had learned a horrible truth about the Blair triplets, something that made him vulnerable and weak at the time.

But now, Ozpin knew he couldn't let anything hold him back. And perhaps his secret weapon would help him against Aurora. However, he was unsure about leaving someone as mortal and limited as Djarin against multiple Mandalorians.

"You sure about this?" Qrow asked.

"I have a score to settle with Vizsla," Djarin insisted. "Go."

Qrow and Ozpin looked at each other and nodded. "We'll be back as soon as we can," Ozpin said as he moved towards the hole.

"Good luck," Qrow said as he joined Ozpin. The duo both jumped into the hole that led to the Vault, which left Djarin alone with the Mand'alor.

Vizsla and Djarin stared at each other intently as they walked across the floor. As they locked their gaze upon each other, each warrior felt a sheer amount of contempt towards each other. For years, Vizsla had to rot away in a prison and fight to survive because of how Djarin beat him. He had to grow stronger and stronger to see the next day and assert his status as leader of what remained of Death Watch. Vizsla wanted the man dead here and now.

And Djarin knew that Vizsla was not only responsible for what happened to Beacon, but also to Cinder. He held the Darksaber now, something that had been stolen from Cinder on that night. One way or another, he was going to get it back.

*WHOOSH*

The sounds of jetpacks in the air made Vizsla briefly turn around. The hole in the ceiling and the open doors showed him that multiple lights were in the sky and coming straight towards the auditorium. The sign of reinforcements gave him the assurance to believe that the future was his for the taking.

"You have no idea what kind of trouble you're in," Vizsla said with a sinister chuckle.

"Alright," Djarin said as he swung his staff. "Me first."

When Qrow and Ozpin jumped into the hole that led to the Vault, each of them had their own unique landing strategy. Qrow naturally turned himself into a bird so he could fly down and land without any trouble. Ozpin, however, used his own Magic to create a green shield that protected himself from the ground.

Qrow was easily impressed with what he had seen. He had only seen Ozpin's Magic a few times in his life, so he never saw its true potential. Each time he saw it, he was surprised by what else Ozpin could do. Tonight was the first night he saw a shield such as this, and this was the first time that Qrow believed nothing else could surprise him right now.

But when he looked at the state the Vault was in... Qrow realized that he was terribly wrong.

Multiple stalactites and part of the natural ceiling had fallen from above, which left fragments of rock on the broken ground. Qrow and Ozpin were easily able to determine that these were the effects of the underground explosions and the cause of the quakes they felt.

As for the cause of the explosions themselves, two powerful women answered that question.

Ever since Aurora had learned that Raven's fellow bandit was simply a decoy, that she had fallen into a trap, Aurora knew that she had to kill Raven if she wanted the Relic of Knowledge. Raven also wanted the Relic, it was actually her plan all along. She knew that Salem would discard her and her tribe when the witch believed them to have outlived their usefulness. If she had any hope of defending herself, Raven knew she needed that Relic.

So only one woman was going to walk away with it.

Raven released Omen with its red blade while Aurora activated the lightsaber she had been gifted by Salem, which was fully charged with the Aura of Raven's decoy. They immediately began to trade blows and display their strength in swordsmanship.

Sparks flew as the energy in Aurora's lightsaber made contact with Omen's red blade. Neither of the combatants showed any signs of weakness, until Raven was able to push Aurora's lightsaber against her Grimm arm.

Aurora was forced to shout in pain as she stepped back and looked at her arm. Raven observed the pain her enemy was in, and she drew a logical conclusion. "Aura can't protect your arm, it's Grimm," she said. Everyone knew that the Creatures of Grimm had no soul, so they couldn't create a manifestation of one.

And everyone also knew that the Grimm were nothing more than monsters.

"You turned yourself into a monster just for power," Raven observed.

Aurora watched the ash stop moving on her arm and looked at Raven with a smile. "It doesn't look like I'm the only one," she said as she reactivated her lightsaber.

The two women traded blows once again, and Raven showed the true potential of Omen. She was able to use her hilt to summon more blades like her first one. Each blade was meant to counter Aurora's strikes, which was done successfully. However, Aurora was able to break each of them with her lightsaber and electricity she created.

The bandit couldn't remember the last time she saw one of Omen's blades become broken. It seemed she underestimated Aurora's ability to fight with a blade. It also seemed that she would have to change her strategy.

Raven unleashed the true amount of power she had, which allowed her to fly and manipulate the environment around her. Aurora immediately joined the bandit, even though her power of flight was as limited as the rest of her powers. But surprisingly, she was able to hold her own quite well.

Raven had used her powers and the atmosphere around her to create a large and mighty sword of ice. And surprisingly, Aurora used her blade and her limited control over fire to break the sword without much effort.

Raven was taken aback by this experience, but she recreated her sword again to fight the Faunus. Aurora was able to block and weave past the strikes, which was how the explosions started. Raven's strikes had hit rocks and stalactites, as did Aurora's. Rocks and debris fell from above and crashed on the ground, but the two women kept fighting.

Raven decided to rely on Omen when Aurora broke her ice sword again. The battle changed into one of speed rather than power, since it was clear that Aurora was seemingly learned in her limited abilities. It even turned into a battle of improvisation, which was how Raven and Aurora switched their weapons in midair.

With Raven now holding the lightsaber and Aurora holding Omen, Raven hoped that she could deprive Aurora of the blade like she had destroyed multiple others. However, she quickly learned that the lightsaber alone didn't account for Aurora's ability to shatter metal; her own strength and powers allowed this to happen.

Aurora was finally able to use her newest power on Raven, after they both dodged a stalactite. When the dust settled, Aurora extended her Grimm arm at Raven's neck and pinned her to the wall.

Red energy began to leave Raven's body and move up Aurora's arm. She began to absorb Raven's Aura as well as the powers of the Spring Maiden. The energy was rejuvenating for the woman, but Raven planned to make this action temporary. When she saw rocks falling over Aurora's head, she smirked and threw a blast of Magic at Aurora's feet. Aurora looked up just in time to see the rocks come down on her.

*CRASH*

*BOOM*

More dust engulfed the area, and the rocks were all over the ground. It was clear that the spot where Aurora had been standing was covered in stone, but something was wrong.

Raven could still feel the cold, iron-like grip of the Grimm hand on her neck. But Aurora should have been killed in the cave in, there was no way she-

*RUMBLE*

The rocks and debris began to shake and move upwards from the spot where Aurora had been standing. After a few seconds, Raven could make out another hand that was generating a gust of wind that was pushing the rocks up. A few more seconds later, and all of the debris was thrown away to reveal Aurora taking flight once again.

"Did you think it was going to be that easy?" she asked as she partially hovered over the ground.

"..."

Raven had to admit that she was taken aback by Aurora's ability to survive. She appeared to have been struggling to hold the rocks, but the Faunus clearly possessed the strength to do so. And with only the partial powers of the Fall Maiden, Aurora should have been much weaker than she appeared to be.

Especially with all of the scars that her tattered clothes were revealing.

But Raven quickly focused on survival, and remembered that Aurora couldn't protect her Grimm hand with Aura. And so, she created a knife of ice in her hand and stabbed it into the flesh. This, and a jolt of electricity for extra measure, were what made Aurora finally let go of her enemy.

Raven felt a sudden urge to get away from Aurora despite the fact that she had wounded the Faunus. But rather than retreat back above ground, Raven jumped onto a falling stalactite so she could buy herself some time to hopefully find a way to beat Aurora.

Unfortunately for her, Aurora wasn't planning on giving Raven this time. She had jumped onto a few stalactites that were closer to her so she could catch up to Raven and unleash a fury of elemental energy. Raven defended herself with energy of her own, which spread throughout the entire chamber.

Fire, ice, wind, lightning, and earth were all around the warriors as they fought, and neither of them showed no sign of stopping. Raven determined this after she blasted Aurora with Magic from her hand and witnessed the Faunus brush off the attacks.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," she said as she returned fire.

Time passed quickly for the Maiden and partial Maiden as they fought. They had each reclaimed their own weapons and they continued to use the elements to their advantage, but all they succeeded in doing was making more stalactites fall to the ground.

When the final one fell, so did Aurora and Raven.

*CRASH*

The minute the last rock fell was when Qrow and Ozpin had entered the area of the Vault. There, as the dust settled, they saw Aurora standing proudly over an exhausted Raven. Both women had fire in their eyes, but only one of them was ready to use their powers again.

Qrow wasn't concerned about Raven's well-being, since she had previously tried to kill him. However, he was more focused on her burning eyes.

"Raven..." Qrow whispered as he stared at the red fire on her eyes. "You're the Spring Maiden?"

"..."

It was true that Qrow checked in with his sister every now and then, with the last time being a week after the Fall of Beacon. That was how Raven learned that the Fall Maiden wasn't entirely dead, and Qrow had thought their last meeting left him with enough knowledge of his sister's current status.

Again, Qrow had been proven wrong.

He quickly turned to Ozpin and was prepared to ask his mentor if he knew anything about this. But one look on Ozpin's face told Qrow that the Headmaster was also unaware of Raven's secret; he had assumed Hera still possessed the power, but he too had been proven wrong.

The bandit didn't seem to notice Qrow's presence, or that of Ozpin's. She was instead more focused on how Aurora was still standing after such a long duel. She had given this battle her all, nearly all of her Aura and her own energy. And yet, Aurora was standing like nothing had happened to her.

Such a thing against a Maiden should have been impossible.

"Dammit!" Raven groaned as she began to stand up. "You're... You're not even a full Maiden! How are you-?"

"This strong?" Aurora finished with a smirk. "Ever since I met her, Salem trained me day and night. She broke me over and over again as I fought all of her Grimm and her."

As she explained herself, Aurora recalled her training with Salem. The witch had rebuilt the Faunus from the ground up, in a way. Aurora had been attacked with Magic so many times that she learned to embrace the pain and keep moving forward. And Salem was never one to hold back her own attacks.

And that was only part of her training.

"I had to kill every kind of Grimm known to man," Aurora continued. "And when that was done, I had to fight her over and over again." Aurora looked down at her scar-ridden body. "Fighting like that doesn't just take something from you. It prepares you."

"..."

Ozpin and Qrow looked at each other as they understood the intensity of Aurora's "training." Salem was known to be many things, such as twisted and evil. But Ozpin told his allies how she possessed strength much like his own. She had the power of a goddess, Magic like the world had never seen. And Aurora had to face that Magic over and over again, just so she could be on par with a Maiden.

And now that she was...

"You're nothing, Raven," Aurora said as she spun her lightsaber. "You're not strong, you're not even worth the time it's taking to kill you." A fire formed in her eyes and her right hand. "I'm prepared for anything you've got."

Raven was still struggling to stand, but her eyes were still working normally. And she was using them to see something behind Aurora that could work to her advantage.

"Were you prepared... to watch your back?" she asked.

*CLICK*

Aurora's puzzled look disappeared when she heard something behind her. The sound of a weapon, some kind of gun, had caught her attention and made her realize that the bandit she wounded was still alive.

Raven quickly observed this and made a plan of her own. When her fellow bandit raised her gun, Raven expected Aurora to turn around and make sure she was dead. When that happened, Raven would use her last amount of strength to attack Aurora and send her over the side and into the abyss.

But the plan failed as soon as it began.

One thing Raven forgot to account for was Aurora's enhanced hearing. The tiger ears on her head had given her an edge, and she heard the gun clicking before the girl behind her could raise it. Natural instinct kicked in when she heard the girl slide her finger over the trigger, and that was how Aurora managed to flip in the air and avoid a bullet with her name on it.

*BANG*

Instead of Aurora, the bullet made its way towards Raven. She was able to engage her Aura to save her life, but it completely shattered when the bullet disappeared. And to make matters worse, her ally had lost all the strength she had to keep on living.

"No..." she whispered.

*WHOOSH*

Raven lost all hope when she felt Aurora's Grimm hand latch onto her neck. But instead of draining her powers immediately, Aurora angrily pulled on the arm and made Raven spin around.

*CRASH*

Aurora pinned Raven against the door to the Vault and began to strangle her. This time, she began to absorb the power of the Spring Maiden as she screamed at Raven.

"Did you really think you could beat me because you had power?!" Aurora screamed. "That you could beat Salem because you had power?! You don't know what strength is!" Aurora squeezed tighter. "You don't know how many times I had to pick myself up off the ground, even before I met her! You don't know the first thing about strength! I embraced everything Salem did to me, and you just ran away! I embraced pain every day, and now I'm going to embrace everything you're giving me! I'm going to-!"

*CLICK*

Aurora stopped talking when she heard another clicking noise. But rather than behind her, this sound came directly in front of her. Raven heard it too, and she suddenly felt the surface behind her begin to move.

She couldn't see it, but Raven was right on top of the door to the Relic. And she was touching it with her bare hands.

*CLICK*

Aurora couldn't help but drop Raven when she saw the door to the Relic begin to open in an unorthodox manner. Pieces of the door were moving into the left and right sides until a straight path into what appeared to be another world opened up. There was sand and stone, the room appeared to be a path in the desert.

A path that led directly to the Relic of Knowledge.

"There it is," Aurora thought to herself. "I did it. I-"

"Stay back!"

*ZAP*

Aurora couldn't help but kneel in pain when she felt something hit her back. When it disappeared, Aurora turned around fast and let electricity escape her hand so she could defend herself.

That was how she learned that Qrow and Ozpin were in the Vault with her.

"Oh... there you are," Aurora said as she let the electricity die down. Ozpin had created another shield to defend himself and Qrow, but both warriors were ready to go on the offensive.

"Yeah, here we are," said Qrow, who had turned Harbinger into its gun form. "And I don't care what Salem taught you. I don't think you're ready to deal with two Huntsmen and a Maiden."

Aurora turned around to see that Raven was standing back up once again; it seemed the stories she heard of Raven's inner strength were somewhat true. The vengeful Faunus also saw that she was outnumbered and quite possibly overpowered.

But that didn't mean she didn't have a way out of it.

"You're probably right," she said as the fire in her eyes disappeared. "I still have no idea how Flora hasn't killed Cinder yet."

Qrow and Ozpin quickly became angry at the mention of Cinder and Aurora's plans for her, but they refused to let this anger control them.

"But I do know one thing," Aurora continued as she looked at Raven. "You all look really tired right now. Why don't you get some nice, long, sleep?"

Three of Aurora's fingers shined pink, the same color as her Aura, and all three of her enemies fell to the ground. Once again, Aurora's Semblance saved her a lot of trouble. She began to wonder why she hadn't used it earlier.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Aurora laughed as she reveled in her victory. She had just bested three opponents, two of them being the most powerful people on Remnant, in one fell swoop.

As she rejoiced in her success, Aurora quickly became unsatisfied with what she had done. It wasn't that she wasn't proud of herself, but rather that she believed she could do better. She had been working on her Semblance, she had been trying to make it into something more than a means to kill someone while they slept. That was how it evolved, how it became a means of torment as well as vulnerability.

And so, with a simple movement of her right hand, Aurora enhanced her Semblance. While they all slept before her, Aurora's victims began to suffer horrible nightmares. They witnessed things that scared them the most, and they found themselves unable to escape the dreams that scared and tortured them.

"No... Not... my children," Ozpin muttered as he thrashed on the floor.

"Salem... Have to... get away," Raven mumbled.

"No.. stop... Please," Qrow begged an unforeseen force.

Aurora enjoyed her victory once again, since it came with a bonus this time. However, after a brief moment, she still decided that she was unsatisfied. Once again, she believed that she could do even better than before.

The idea of improvement led Aurora to remember that Qrow and Ozpin were Huntsmen of Beacon Academy, they were its defenders that night. Now, Aurora decided that she would be pleased when she destroyed the last remnants of the school.

That was how Aurora decided to test the limits of her Grimm arm. She knew it was capable of obtaining the power of the Maidens, just like it was capable of reaching farther than a normal arm. But just how far, Aurora didn't know.

She decided to test this by making the arm move up the elevator shaft. Her target in this case was a specific Mandalorian.

Djarin had been holding off Pre Vizsla for a considerable amount of time. Both warriors had been displaying their prowess in hand-to-hand combat, as well as with the weapons they possessed. In this case, a staff and the Darksaber.

But through it all, there didn't appear to be any signs of a winner. Djarin and Vizsla appeared to be evenly matched, as they had done nothing but trade blows and use their Semblances in similar manners. Djarin used his own to get behind or above Vizsla, while the Mand'alor did his best to make Djarin's attacks ineffective. And yet, there was no end to the duel in sight.

It had even reached a point where both warriors abandoned the idea of using weapons and fought each other with their bare hands. This had led to them tackling each other on the floor and rolling around. One moment, Djarin would be on top of Vizsla and punching him, but the next moment would result in Vizsla rolling on top and doing the same exact thing.

It was a stalemate like nobody had ever seen before.

It briefly ended, however, when something long and black reached out from the elevator shaft and moved towards the Mandalorians. Djarin and Vizsla were forced to stop fighting when they looked upon an unfamiliar shape, one that moved quickly towards them. Neither combatant had the time to move or get away, since the object had just wrapped the both of them in its grasp.

"What?!" Vizsla shouted. "What's happening?!"

Djarin had a brief moment to look and see that there appeared to be a clawed hand at the very tip of the object, which looked like that of a Grimm's. Both warriors didn't know what was going on, but they prepared to use both of their Semblances to escape.

But once again, time wasn't on their side; they had just been pulled down into the shaft with the arm.

Djarin and Vizsla fell into the hole at an alarming speed. Vizsla was able to make himself transparent and escape the rope-like hold the arm had on him, and he was about to use the Darksaber to slow his descent. But before he could stab it into the wall, Djarin grabbed his arm and made the Mand'alor lose his grip on the weapon.

Both Mandalorians began their fight again, and they each threw punches at each other. Once again, the Mandalorians were evenly matched and unable to beat each other. But Vizsla had a plan when he saw the ground approaching fast. Instead of throwing more fists, he grabbed Djarin and pushed down so he would take the impact of the fall.

Djarin couldn't see the ground, but he expected that this was why Vizsla had changed strategies. But rather than crash into the ground, Djarin used the last remnants of his Semblance to teleport himself directly above Vizsla.

*CRASH*

Vizsla immediately collided with the floor, which shattered his Aura upon impact. Djarin's Aura had also broken, but he was relatively unharmed. By letting Vizsla take the brunt of the impact, he had been spared any serious injury.

He quickly learned, however, that Aurora was planning on giving him serious injury when she retracted her arm and looked at him with burning eyes.

"Let's end this here and now," the Faunus said to the vulnerable Mandalorian. "I'm not leaving without that Relic and certainly not without ridding the world of everything Beacon had to offer." Aurora gestured towards Qrow and Ozpin, who were still suffering from unexplainable nightmares. But she quickly looked back to Djarin. "The more..."

*THOOM*

*ZAP*

"The merrier!"

Aurora had created a thunderstorm over her head and lightning in her right hand. She immediately unleashed this energy upon Djarin, who ducked out of the way and fired his blaster at the Faunus. Unfortunately for him, Aurora took her lightsaber in her Grimm hand and deflected each shot.

Djarin changed strategies and unleashed whistling birds and his flamethrower upon Aurora, which momentarily blinded her. Before the Mandalorian could use this distraction to his advantage, Aurora unleashed the power of the thunderstorm overhead and let two strikes of lightning hit Djarin where he stood.

The Mandalorian slid across the floor as the electricity painfully travelled through his body. He was dangerously close to the side and at risk of falling into the abyss below. He didn't know what was down there, which made staying on the bridge a priority.

But sadly, the attack he received had left Djarin immobile. Without his Aura to protect him or heal his wounds, the Mandalorian was extremely vulnerable and badly hurt.

*ZAP*

More lightning struck Djarin where he was laying down, and he screamed in agony. Aurora simply moved closer as she extended her hand and let the electricity flow.

The Faunus was extremely pleased with her latest victory, especially when it was over someone like Din Djarin. She had heard that he had been looking for her, that he was turning the Kingdom upside down in his attempt to do so. Aurora was well aware that Djarin intended to kill her so Cinder could regain her powers.

But the tables had turned against the Mandalorian now. The hunter had become the hunted. And as Djarin felt every jolt, every surge of electricity, he believed that there was no end in sight for his torture and Aurora's victory.

But he was wrong.

*WHOOSH*

Aurora suddenly stopped her attack with a gasp. She couldn't explain it, but she suddenly felt the fire around her eyes burn brighter. It wasn't from her use of electricity, this was different.

Aurora couldn't help but bring her hand to her eye when she felt the sensation. It wasn't painful or burning her skin, but something was different. The Faunus began to embrace the feeling as it travelled inside her entire body, and she began to laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Djarin was able to fight the lingering pain and look up at Aurora. He could see that her eyes were burning brighter than before, which was incredibly alarming.

"No..." he whispered.

"Finally!" Aurora screamed. "I can feel it! I can finally feel it!"

*WHOOSH*

Pink fire arose on both of Aurora's hands as she proudly held her arms over her head. "The power of the Fall Maiden! The power to change everything!"

Aurora indeed felt the power course through her body. Pride and joy overcame her along with the renewed energy, and she finally felt satisfied with her actions. And she was definitely going to rub it in.

"It's over, Djarin!" Aurora screamed. "Your brat of a daughter finally gave up! She has finally given me what's mine!"

"..."

Silence fell upon Djarin as he looked away from Aurora. He couldn't believe what she was saying was true, that Cinder was actually gone.

But Aurora could believe it. In fact, she enjoyed it.

"And she was just the beginning!" Aurora screamed as she looked at Raven. She and Djarin's allies were still suffering in painful sleep, and the nightmares refused to stop. "Raven's just as much of a fool as Cinder was, Djarin! And now that she's in the same state that brat was in, her power is mi-!"

*WHOOSH*

*FWOOSH*

"Aaaaah! Bleeeaaaugh!"

Aurora was forced to stop her rant as she let out screams of agony. The fire in her eyes and on her hands not only burned brighter, but they began to move down to her arms and across her whole face. The heat began to grow and burn Aurora, which should have been impossible.

And where Aurora was once standing proudly, she was now kneeling down and feeling nothing but pain.

The Mandalorian looked at Aurora once again when he heard the screams. When he saw her kneeling, he was now seeing that the fire was engulfing her whole body instead of her hands and eyes.

"What?" Djarin asked himself. "That... That never happened to Cinder."

"Eeeeeaaaauuuh!" Aurora screamed as she looked at her hands. "What's... happening... to me?!"

Aurora couldn't see it now, but something else was happening to the fire. Rather than the bright pink of flames that Aurora had been previously making, the fire around her was orange. It was the normal color of fire, the same color as the fire that Djarin recently made with his flamethrower. So Aurora wasn't making the fire on her own.

Whatever was happening to her... someone else was making it happen.

Someone who was ready to finally come home.

Aurora had to close her eyes when she fell to the floor in pain. But when she opened them again, she saw that much had changed. She wasn't burning anymore, so she didn't feel any physical harm. However, she felt incredibly cold as she quickly stood up.

This was because instead of the Vault of the Spring Maiden, Aurora was in a dark place covered in a cold mist.

"What?" Aurora asked out loud. "Where am I?"

"..."

Silence was the only answer Aurora received, which didn't do her any good. She looked all around her to get a clue as to what exactly was happening, but all she could see was darkness and fog.

"How did I-?"

"Aurora!"

A voice from behind caught the Faunus off guard. After she recovered from the brief shock, Aurora turned around fast to see that she wasn't alone in here. An orange light was the first thing that got her attention, one that looked like an open fire.

The second thing that caught the woman's attention was a young girl standing on the other side of the light; a girl that Aurora knew all too well.

"Cinder?"

"..."

Aurora's present company was indeed Cinder, who had come a very long way in her journey.

Ever since she left the void of the Fall Maiden, Cinder learned what had truly happened to Aurora to make her the way she was. She saw her past, her pain, and her ambition to make the rest of the world feel the way she felt. More importantly, Cinder saw how Aurora felt the need to gain more and more power so she could stand against a world she deemed unfair and cruel. Cinder grew to understand her enemy, and how to defeat her.

When she made contact with the fire that she had been following in the desolate void, Cinder witnessed new memories. She witnessed each time the power was used to bring death and destruction to Remnant, from Beacon Academy all the way to Mistral. Cinder learned that people were in danger at Haven Academy, that her own father needed help now more than ever. Cinder planned to give him this help, and the first step was stopping Aurora here and now.

"Stand down!" Cinder ordered.

"..."

Aurora didn't care where she was anymore. She now knew that she was wrong about Cinder being dead, but she didn't care about that either. What mattered was that the child had revealed herself to her, and was giving her a rather comical demand.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Aurora laughed. "To think that I went through so much trouble to find you, only to have you deliver yourself to me." She then let out a sigh. "Flora really blew her chance at killing you, huh?"

Cinder was confused as to what Aurora was talking about, but this confusion didn't hinder her resolve. "I know what you're trying to do at Haven," she said. "What you've been doing with the Fall Maiden's powers. It's not right, Aurora." She pointed at the flame that was resting at a distance from her. "It was never meant to be used for destruction or revenge. You can't use it so everyone can feel the way you feel. No matter how bad you're hurting."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know you've suffered. You were tortured, held captive by the people who were supposed to take care of you after your mother died."

"..."

Aurora lost her sadistic demeanor when she heard all of this. She had never told a soul about her past, except for Salem. It was this pain that Salem used to train her, mold her in her own image and into someone that could become strong enough to seize the power of the Maidens.

So hearing someone else talk about her past, trying to use it against her, was making Aurora very angry.

"Aurora, what happened to you was wrong," said Cinder. "I don't know how you survived living through all of that, but you can't make it go away by serving Salem! Using the power to hurt and kill people is only corrupting it! Two wrongs don't make a right!"

Cinder knew that this was true, but she was making up her words as she spoke. She had no plan, no strategy on how to stop Aurora before she made things worse for her and everyone on Remnant. She was hoping her words would help, since Cinder chose to abandon her hate and do things the right way.

She was wrong.

"You want to know how I survived?" Aurora asked as she moved closer. "I survived... because every night, I dreamed of the revenge I'd take on them!" Her eyes began to burn. "And this godforsaken world!"

"Aurora-"

"Do you know why I tried to escape?! Why they hunted me like a dog?!" Aurora suddenly stopped walking and calmed down. "I met someone who knew what was going on. He was probably the only one who said what you just said. And he promised to find a way out of it." Aurora found herself placing a hand close to her stomach. "I wasn't going to be alone anymore..."

"..."

"I never saw him again. He couldn't get me out of there." Aurora stopped reflecting on her past and looked at Cinder. "I can see it in your eyes, Cinder. You really think there's something here worth a damn, something you wanna save. But take it from someone like me; everything pure in this world dies." Her eyes began to burn once again. "I don't see why I shouldn't help it along its way with Salem. It's just the law of nature."

Cinder mentally sighed as she recognized her failure. She pitied Aurora now more than ever, but this pity wasn't enough to stop her from doing what she was about to do.

"No... it's not," she said as her eyes began to burn as well. She spread her arms out as she prepared to attack. "I'm taking the power back, Aurora. One way or another. I'm sorry."

Aurora chuckled as she mimicked Cinder's movements. "I'm not."

*WHOOSH*

*ZAP*

*BOOM*

Fire and lightning flew across the area and met each other in the middle. Both women seemed to have the same idea about their initial attack, so they decided to try something new. Cinder used both of her hands to create a large fire, one that took the shape of a blade. Aurora did the same as well, which was an inspiration from her battle with Raven. Neither of their weapons were as big as Raven's, but Aurora could make a sword of her own.

Because strangely, being here gave the Faunus an energy that wasn't with her at Haven.

Cinder and Aurora immediately charged at each other and made contact with their swords. Sparks flew as fire struck lightning, and this happened multiple times as they moved across the invisible floor. Aurora began to feel a sense of familiarity with the situation, so she became calm and confident in her ability to succeed.

Cinder was also confident, since she had reconnected with her own part of the powers. And she was ready to display this connection.

*WHOOSH*

*ZAP*

Fire, wind, ice, and lightning escaped Cinder's hands as she fought. Aurora was immediately taken aback by Cinder's power, which she tried to block with her own powers and her sword. The Faunus had power now, but she lacked experience on how to wield it. Cinder, on the other hand, knew how to balance each of the elements. Years of training taught the young girl when the right time was to trade fire for ice, how to use wind to lift herself and others off the ground, and when one was vulnerable to the power of a small thunderstorm.

Cinder also possessed Mandalorian training, which allowed her fight fluently in hand-to-hand combat after Aurora was stripped of her sword. She was able to strike where Mandalorian armor wouldn't normally cover, and they proved to be effective against an armor-less warrior such as Aurora.

Without her sword or much breathing room, the sadistic Faunus began to feel a twinge of fear for herself. But her fear soon turned to anger as she reached out with her Grimm arm and took hold of Cinder.

"Oh, my Gods!" Cinder thought as she looked at the abnormal hand. "What is that?!" She didn't get much of an answer, but she soon understood its capabilities when she felt energy leave her body. Aurora's arm began to glow orange as Cinder's energy left her, but the young girl didn't give up.

Instead, she quickly grabbed Aurora's arm with both of her hands and activated her Semblance.

*SSSS*

"Aaaah!" Aurora screamed as she threw Cinder away. The pain of burning alive returned to her from this attack, but she once again used the attack as an inspiration for one of her own.

"Well... this has been fun, Cinder," Aurora said with a wicked smile. "But I'm not in a mood to play any games." She quickly pointed at the girl and watched her finger glow pink. "Sleep."

"..."

Despite that fact that her Semblance was activated, it wasn't working. Cinder was still standing where she was.

"Huh?" Aurora asked as she looked at her hand. "Sleep!"

"..."

"Sleep!"

"..."

"Sle-!"

*WHOOSH*

Cinder used her portion of the powers to fly towards Aurora and punch her in the face. The speed and strength Cinder had caught the Faunus completely by surprise, along with the fact that her Semblance wasn't working.

"This isn't possible!" Aurora shouted. "How are you fighting my Semblance?!"

"I'm already asleep," Cinder replied. "You did a number on me at Beacon, and now I can't wake up. But it's okay." Cinder looked at the fire that was resting away from her. "I think I'll be waking up soon."

Cinder wasn't making this claim to Aurora out of malice or arrogance. It wasn't her goal to taunt her enemy or do evil to her. But rather, Cinder noticed that the flame resting before her was extending itself once again.

It was reaching towards her rather than Aurora.

The power had done this before, when Cinder promised to let go of her hatred towards Aurora. As soon as she renounced using hate to fight her battles, the power extended a sort of arm towards her. When she took hold of it, Cinder and Aurora formed a special kind of link. That was how Cinder saw what Aurora had been doing since the Fall of Beacon, and how Aurora had been engulfed in flames at Haven.

When Cinder made this connection, it was her goal to rejoin herself with the full powers of the Fall Maiden. However, Aurora had a stronger hold than she initially believed. Rather than rejoining the power, Cinder had inadvertently summoned Aurora to this place. This was where the connection had to be broken, where Aurora would be making her last stand.

This last stand wasn't working in Aurora's favor, however. Now, after the mad woman had been swiftly beaten, her hold over the fragment of the power had been weakened. Now it was feeling drawn to Cinder. And if they connected now, Aurora wouldn't be strong enough to stop Cinder becoming the Fall Maiden once again.

And she would burn in the real world.

*ZAP*

Rather than let this happen, Aurora struck Cinder with lightning and watched her slide across the floor. She then ran over to the girl and pinned her on the ground.

"You can't do this to me!" Aurora yelled as she held Cinder to the ground.

"Let go of me!" Cinder demanded as she pulled on Aurora's arm.

"I've waited too long for this! I won't let you have it!"

"I said let go!"

*WHOOSH*

Cinder used a gust of wind to push herself and Aurora off the floor. Both of them landed far from the flame now, but Aurora could feel herself growing weaker. When she tried to create lightning again, it wasn't as powerful as the lightning she used at Haven. In fact, if felt like the first day she trained with the powers; she wasn't as strong as she was anymore.

And it was needless to say, but Cinder was feeling herself grow stronger by the second. The flame was once again extending itself towards Cinder, and Aurora was once again unwilling to let that happen.

*WHOOSH*

*SHICK*

"Aah!"

Cinder fell to the ground again when she was struck by something sharp. Aurora was still growing weaker, but she wasn't entirely powerless. She was able to use a small control over ice to create a knife for herself, which was always her preferred weapon. Once she had her blade, Aurora threw it and made a direct hit with Cinder.

The knife had stabbed Cinder's lower right side, and it barely missed her spine. And when Aurora picked herself up and landed on Cinder again, she pulled this knife out and tried to stab her again.

Fortunately, Cinder was able to turn around and stop the knife with both of her hands.

This was a training exercise that Cinder had done with her father a hundred times. When someone was trying to stab her while they were on top of her, Cinder had to move her hands a certain way to grab her opponent's writs and stop the blade from moving down. It was hard at first, like every exercise Cinder had to do. But it became easier over the years.

And Cinder knew that she had to give it her all when her life depended on it.

Aurora and Cinder had both been pushing on the knife for almost an entire minute. Aurora had put both of her hands on the blade and screamed at Cinder, but the girl didn't relent. Aurora told Cinder over and over again to just die, to give up and let go of the power that was hers.

But Cinder knew that she would be pushing on this knife forever and ever if she had to. If it meant that Aurora wouldn't be using the power for her own selfish desires, if it meant that Salem wouldn't achieve her goals, then Cinder would fight back for all of eternity.

Fortunately, Cinder's predicament wasn't going to last long anymore.

*WHOOSH*

The fire that was resting in the dark void had finally stopped playing the role of a neutral bystander. The hold that Aurora had on it was finally starting to waver, ever since Cinder had been fighting her. Their duel had come to a stalemate now, but Aurora wasn't strong enough to hold on anymore.

The fragment of the power was free. And now, it was using that freedom to move towards Cinder.

*WHOOSH*

A bright light shined for a brief moment as the fire moved. Aurora was forced to let go of the knife and cover her eyes, and Cinder found herself covering them too. However, Cinder was able to open her eyes first when she felt a surge of energy. Her eyes began to burn once again, but they were burning brighter than they ever had before.

And when this burning came, a gust of invisible energy forced Aurora off Cinder and onto the ground.

*BAM*

Cinder found herself moving off the ground as soon as Aurora landed on it. She began to hover over the ground and shine as elemental energy swirled around her. As she embraced the warmth and the sensation of this energy, Cinder felt amazing. She felt... whole.

And most of all, she felt happy that the fragment had not only been reunited with her, but the fact that it had chosen her. Cinder felt that the power had been freed moments ago, and it could have done anything. But instead, it chose Cinder as its vessel. It allowed Cinder to use it and become a force for defending Remnant once again.

Cinder was very happy about this, but Aurora wasn't.

"What?!" the crazed Faunus screamed. "No!" She quickly got back to her feet and started running towards Cinder. "I'll kill you! I'm gonna rip your throat out and feed it to that bastard father of yours and-!"

*THUMP*

Aurora fell to the ground again, but Cinder hadn't touched her. It felt like both of her legs had given up on her, which they actually did.

When Aurora turned around, she saw that both of her legs were turning into nothing but glowing embers.

"What the-?!" Aurora screamed. Fear had returned to her instantly, but it was much stronger than the twinge she felt earlier. "No, no, no, no, no!" She quickly turned back to Cinder. "What are you doing to me?!"

"Nothing," Cinder said with a small degree of pity. "Two people can't have the power, Aurora. You should know that better than anyone."

Aurora indeed knew this, since Salem herself said that Cinder wouldn't be able to survive for much longer while the power was split apart. Aurora wanted to expedite this progress by killing Cinder, but it seemed the tables had turned on her.

And now that they had, Aurora was incredibly afraid.

"No!" she screamed. "Make it stop!" She crawled closer to Cinder and grabbed her legs. "Make this stop! Send me back!"

"..."

"You-You-You can keep the power! Take it! Do whatever you want with it, I won't come after you!"

"..."

As she looked at the decaying woman, Cinder remained silent. Nobody had told her that something like this would happen, but Cinder knew that death would follow when it was time for the power to move on.

Now that it was moving on from Aurora, her death was about to come.

"You're making a mistake!" Aurora said as she continued her attempts to bargain with Cinder. "I-I can help you! I'll-I'll give you the Darksaber! I'll give you anything you want! Just stop this, please!"

"..."

Aurora remembered a time when she was this afraid. It was the night she was hunted and tortured, right before she promised to serve Salem. Pain and fear were present that night, just like they were right now.

There seemed to be no escape for her.

Aurora was sure she was going to die, but there was something else that scared her. She was told that by serving Salem, she would be given everything she dreamed of. She would be given strength, power, and the ability to triumph over anyone without worrying about her own future again. Aurora had served Salem and followed her order's to the letter, but it was all in vain.

Her final moments weren't spent trying to make amends or repent for her actions. Instead, Aurora tried as hard as she could to understand where everything had gone wrong. She wanted to know why she had failed to live up to the expectations and dreams she had for herself.

This desire to know and understand became Aurora's last words before she withered away.

"What... did I... do wrong?"

"..."

That was the last thing Cinder heard before she saw the end of Aurora. Her entire body had become embers that turned to ash in the void, and Cinder was free from the woman's wrath.

And yet, Cinder couldn't find it within herself to express any joy or pride in watching Aurora die. She had let go of her hatred towards the woman, and witnessing such a death looked painful and scary. Cinder realized that she wouldn't wish such a prolonged and torturous fate for anyone on Remnant, whether or not they were a friend or a foe.

It seemed that the kindness and gentle nature of all the past Fall Maidens began to rub off on Cinder. Because at that moment, she wished she could have prevented Aurora's fate. Maybe if she had been stronger the night Beacon fell or maybe if she hadn't escaped the day Major Gideon was captured, Aurora could have faced justice and lived.

But this... this wasn't justice. Not to Cinder.

Suddenly, another bright light began to reveal itself. It conquered the darkness very slowly, and Cinder looked around in awe and wonder. She suddenly remembered that she had fulfilled her promise to the previous Fall Maidens; she had found Aurora and reclaimed the lost fragment of the power.

And with that, there was only thing Cinder could do. There was only one place that she could go to now that she was complete.

Cinder could finally go home.

*BEEP*

As the darkness around her vanished, a soft and mechanical sound was the first thing that Cinder could hear. The sound became much more clear and louder as the young girl opened her amber eyes and became aware of her surroundings.

She could see a light covering her environment, but not like the white light of the void. This light was somewhat yellow, like the light that would come from a lamp.

In fact, it was coming from a lamp.

Cinder looked to her left to see a desk with a lamp on top of it, which made her nearly lose her breath. Not because she had never seen a desk or a lamp before, but because this was the first piece of furniture she had seen in what felt like forever.

Cinder moved herself upwards and felt herself laying on something soft. She quickly put her hands down to feel a mattress underneath her, something that she hadn't felt in forever. Once she became familiar with the bed, Cinder looked around to see that she was in a small room with furniture and pictures on the walls. She then turned towards the source of the noise, which revealed itself to be a monitor with lines that detected her heartbeat. And close to that machine was an IV bag, which brought fluids directly into her arm.

Tears filled her eyes as a smile naturally found its way to Cinder's face. She took in every sight and feeling that she was experiencing, and they all told her one thing.

"I'm... I'm back," Cinder whispered. "I'm back."

Cinder could tell that she had returned to the real world, that this room wasn't a part of any void or illusion. But to make sure that this was real, that she had succeeded in her quest, Cinder concentrated on her Maiden powers.

*WHOOSH*

And sure enough, two small fires formed around the young girl's eyes.

"Yes!" Cinder said as she felt the warmth of the fire. "I did it!"

*COUGH*

Cinder felt two strong coughs escape her throat after she spoke. Her throat felt slightly sore after she spoke, which made sense since she technically hadn't been talking for... who knows how long?

Cinder didn't feel thirsty, but she was sure that getting herself a glass of water from a pitcher on the table would make her throat feel better. So she slowly and carefully moved out of the bed and made an attempt to walk again. She had to grab the IV pole for support, since her legs felt like jelly. It was clear that all of her movement in the void didn't reflect movement in the real world.

Cinder could see that she was dressed in a set of pajamas she had owned for a long time. Given the fact that she wasn't in aqua robes and the room was tan instead of white, Cinder came to believe that she wasn't in a hospital. However, between the IV tube and the medical machine, someone had been taking care of her. Cinder made a mental note to thank whoever had been helping her, but first she took a drink of water after she poured herself a glass.

"Ah," Cinder gasped as she finished the water. She took another drink and embraced the feeling of cool water in her throat, something that she had taken for granted in the past. She then tried to move to the door, although she stumbled once or twice. She would really have to get used to the feeling of walking again.

However, Cinder knew that she didn't have much time for practice. The first idea of this came from Cinder's memories, how she saw Aurora fighting her father and Ozpin at Haven Academy. Cinder knew that she had to go there and help.

The second idea, however, came in the form of sounds from outside.

*CRASH*

*BANG*

"Get out! All of you!"

"We're not leaving until you tell us the truth!"

Cinder jumped at the sounds of voices and something breaking outside the room she was in. Caution seemed appropriate at this time, so Cinder carefully opened the door and let the fire come to her eyes again. Once she did, she carefully walked across the hall and towards a flight of stairs.

"Come on, already!" a familiar voice said. "You're just waisting my time here!"

"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about!" another familiar voice said. Her voice, however, was immediately replaced by sounds of pain.

"We've wasted enough time as it is," another voice said. This one, however, was unfamiliar to Cinder. "Let's just tear this place down until we find her."

Cinder had reached the stairs now, and she was able to kneel down to see what was going on. The first thing she saw was a large group of tables below her. It looked like a dining room that could seat multiple people.

*CRASH*

Cinder then saw some of these tables being tossed around by a man in white armor. As soon as she recognized the armor, Cinder moved back and covered her mouth.

"A Saxon!" she thought to herself. "What are they doing here?!"

"Stop, please!" said one of the familiar voices. "There's nobody here!"

Cinder was able to become brave enough to look down the stairs once again. She could see that there were two Mandalorians in the room below her. One was destroying the place while another was holding a scared, older woman at gunpoint. Cinder hadn't seen the woman in a while, but she was able to recognize her immediately.

"Auntie Em?" she thought to herself. She knew the woman was a friend of her father's, and they had seen each other more than once. Cinder knew that she owned a small inn for people who needed to rest while traveling, and she knew where this place was.

"Wait... am I in Vacuo?" Cinder asked herself. "I can't be in Vacuo, Mistral's under attack! I have to-!"

"She's not around here," said the second familiar voice. A young girl, roughly the same age as Cinder, in a black dress came out of a room that was on the same floor as the dining room. "Hold on to her, I'm going to look upstairs."

"Let's just kill her!" the Mandalorian demanded as he pushed his blaster closer into Auntie Em's face.

"No!" the girl said. "If she's not here, we'll need this one to make her tell us. Keep her alive... for now."

The Mandalorian began to relax. "You're the boss."

"That's right," the girl said as she turned towards the stairs. Once she did, Cinder was able to see a face with a twisted smile that she remembered all too well.

"Flora!" Cinder said as she covered her mouth. "She knows I'm here!"

Flora had known ever since she planted one of her bugs on Djarin's armor. As soon as Aurora left with the Mandalorians to invade Haven, Flora had left with the information she needed and two Mandalorians. Their plan was sound; while Aurora secured the Relic of Knowledge from Haven, Flora would travel to Vacuo to kill Cinder so Aurora could become a full Maiden.

Aurora had been wondering what was taking Flora so long to achieve her part of the plan, but it was actually simple. Aurora had underestimated the time it would take for an airship to travel to Vacuo, which was the only flaw to her plan. While she was fighting at Haven, Flora was impatiently waiting for the Mandalorian airship to land in Vacuo.

As soon as she landed, however, Flora wasted no time in reaching the inn that she saw Djarin come to when he visited Cinder. Now she just had to find her and slit her throat.

Cinder quickly made her way back to her room, but she stumbled once again. Flora and everyone else could hear the shuffling of feet above them, which made the color on Auntie Em's face disappear. Flora simply smiled as she turned into multiple bugs and flew upstairs. The Mandalorians followed closely behind her with Auntie Em in tow.

Cinder was able to make it back to her room and close the door before Flora or anyone else could see her, but this only delayed the inevitable. Flora knew that she was here, and she would be coming through the door at any second.

Cinder knew that she had to fight back, and she had made a plan to take Flora by surprise.

*CREAK*

Flora slowly opened the door with her sickle in hand. Once she did, the hybrid saw a girl her age laying in a bed. Flora immediately recognized her as Cinder, which caused her to smile even more.

"Ah," she said as she stepped inside. "There you are!"

The Mandalorians joined Flora upstairs, and one of them was holding Auntie Em back. "Don't you lay a finger on her!" she said as she abandoned the idea of lying. "Don't you dare!"

"Shut up!" the Mandalorian said as he grabbed her by the throat. He then turned to his partner and asked a question. "Did you reach Pre Vizsla?"

"No," the second Mandalorian replied. "Our comms are useless. And we left that seeing Grimm on the ship."

"We're wasting time." The Mandalorian was well aware of the invasion of Haven, and he wanted to rejoin his brethren as soon as possible. "Flora, whatever you need to do to that girl, you better do it fast."

"Sorry, boys," Flora said as she walked towards the bed. "I'm taking my time with her." She stopped at the foot of the bed and looked at Cinder from head to toe. "Can you hear me, Cinder? Can you?"

"..."

Flora immediately laughed at the silence. "Wow. I knew Aurora did a number on you back at Beacon, but I wasn't expecting to see you like this." She had seen that Cinder was sleeping from the fly she placed on Djarin's armor, but she believed Cinder was simply resting. "Never thought I'd see you in a coma. Too bad." Flora raised her sickle. "I was really hoping you'd be awake for this."

"..."

The Mandalorians were growing impatient while Auntie Em was growing desperate. She had promised to look after Cinder ever since Djarin brought her to Vacuo for safety. She cared about Cinder just as much as Djarin did, and she didn't know what she would do if any harm came to her.

Let alone death.

Flora raised her sickle higher and planned to bring it down into Cinder's neck. "I hope you're ready, Cindy," she said mockingly. It wasn't as much fun for her since Cinder was supposed to be unconscious, but Flora kept going. "I know I am. Because here... it... co-"

*WHOOSH*

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Cinder knew that it was time to stop pretending to be comatose and defend herself. When she opened her eyes, she pushed her hand forward and let fire escape from it. Fire was her natural element, which was why she chose this attack. However, she had forgotten how lethal the flames were for someone like Flora.

The young girl dropped her sickle and screamed as she burned. Her chest and arm were on fire, and the Botflies that comprised them were falling to the ground and turning into ash.

"What the-?!" the first Mandalorian screamed as he saw the fire. He dropped Auntie Em in shock, and the woman grabbed her neck as she kneeled down and breathed.

"Dammit!" the second Mandalorian yelled as he reached for his blaster. "Get her!" He and his partner aimed their weapons at Cinder, but she turned around just in time to see that she needed to defend herself again.

*WHOOSH*

Instead of fire this time, Cinder created a gust of wind strong enough to knock the Mandalorians over. One hit the wall and fell to the ground while the other flew into another room while breaking the door.

Auntie Em looked off the floor when she felt better and saw that she was relatively safe. When she did, she felt immense joy when she saw that Cinder was indeed awake and that she had just saved her life. She was confused as to how the girl awoke at her time of need, but Auntie Em was happy to see Cinder nonetheless.

Cinder was also happy, but she knew her work wasn't over yet.

"Get the gun!" Cinder yelled. "Auntie Em, get the gun!"

Auntie Em looked to see that the first Mandalorian was standing back up. He had lost his helmet and blaster when Cinder blasted him with air, but he was mostly unharmed.

He quickly reached for his gun, but Auntie Em grabbed it first and backed away. The Mandalorian took out a knife from his arm and rushed towards Auntie Em in order to do what he should have done a long time ago.

Unfortunately for him, despite having never fired a gun, Auntie Em pulled the trigger to defend herself.

*BANG*

As soon as the gun went off, the woman was forced to grab her ears in pain. The sound that had erupted from the barrel was making her ears ring very painfully. She closed her eyes as she tried to wait for the pain to stop, which made the woman oblivious to the fact that she had shot the man in the face.

It also made Auntie Em oblivious to the fact that the second Mandalorian had emerged from the room that he was thrown in. When he saw that his partner was dead, his immediate reaction was to use his own gun to kill the woman who had wronged him.

*SHICK*

When she opened her eyes again, Auntie Em began to hear normally now. Her ears had stopped ringing, and she could see that Cinder had just saved her life by stabbing Flora's sickle into the Mandalorian's neck.

When the Mandalorian's body slid to the floor, Cinder finally took the time to see if Auntie Em was okay. "...Hi," she said with an awkward smile. "Are... Are you okay?"

"Cinder..." Auntie Em whispered. "Oh, my goodness! You're awake!" The woman found herself unable to care about her own shock and minor injuries at the moment. Right now, she expressed her joy at seeing Cinder alive and well by smiling and hugging the young girl where she stood. "I don't believe it! It's a miracle!"

Cinder quickly embraced the feeling of being hugged by someone on Remnant again, and she found herself hugging Auntie Em in return. Once they let go, the woman put a hand to Cinder's cheek and spoke again.

"I... I don't understand," she said. "You were still asleep the last time I saw you. How are you awake?" She turned over to the broken door and the deceased Mandalorians. "And how did you do that? With the fire and... and the wind? That was-"

"I'll explain later," Cinder promised. "But I don't think it's safe here. There might be more of them." Cinder had to move slowly to get back on her feet, but Auntie Em provided a shoulder for her to lean on.

"We'll go to the city," Auntie Em decided. "We'll be safe there. Animals, all three of them. I tried to tell them you weren't here, but they wouldn't believe me."

"So... So you were taking care of me," Cinder realized as she walked with Auntie Em.

"Not much, I'm afraid. The doctor from Vacuo kept you in good condition, I merely gave you a room." Auntie Em kicked a broken chair out of her way. "Trying to kill a girl in her sleep? What's the matter with people?"

Cinder immediately felt guilty about everything that happened. "I'm sorry, Auntie Em," she said. "This was my fault. I shouldn't have-"

"Nonsense, dear," the kind woman said. "Your father told me that someone had tried to hurt you before, I knew all the risks about taking you in." She smiled at Cinder. "A few chairs and a door can be replaced. I'm just so glad to see you again."

Cinder smiled at the friend she hadn't seen in ages. "It's good to see you too, Auntie Em."

The two women had emerged outside of the inn, and this was where Auntie Em gasped. "And your father's going to be so happy to see you too!" she said. "He's been worried sick about you!"

Cinder still harbored guilt and shame about the last days she spent with her father, so this came as a surprise to her. "He has?" she asked.

"Of course! He came here whenever he could, and he always talked to you when he had the time. And let me tell you, he spent hours in there at a time. I think I heard him reading to you a few times. And that Ozpin fellow too." Auntie Em stopped walking and took a few breaths. "Sorry, just need to catch my breath, dear. I think we're safe out here."

*CRASH*

"AAAAAAAAHHH!"

Cinder and Auntie Em turned around fast to see that someone had jumped out one of the inn's windows. A black shape immediately hit the ground and smoke began to rise off of it. The shape stood on two legs, and it was soon revealed that the shape was Flora. She had survived Cinder's attack, although she was burnt and missing a majority of flies.

But this didn't stop her from attacking again.

Flora transformed into a swarm of Botflies and flew directly at Cinder. The Maiden pushed Auntie Em out of the way just in time, and Cinder was immediately covered in the flesh-eating monsters.

*BUZZ*

The constant buzzing and the sensation of being bit over and over again were more than Cinder could bear in her current state. She was still getting used to being awake, in a body that had done nothing but rest for an uncertain amount of time. Cinder was able to engage her Aura, but it didn't protect her whole body. And the pain she received was making it harder and harder for her to keep standing.

And yet, just like before, Cinder found a light in the tunnel she was trapped in.

"Your father's going to be so happy to see you too!"

The mere mention of her father had given Cinder strength. And then she remembered the promise that he made her.

"You're stronger than her, you're stronger than either of us. And if there's any hope of us winning against Salem, it's with you. Trust me, Cinder. Trust yourself. You can do this."

With that promise came the reminder of Cinder's promise; that she would be better the second she returned to Remnant. And as her eyes began to burn once more, Cinder told herself that the promise she made would start now.

*WHOOSH*

Fire arose from Cinder and expanded across the immediate area. The swarm of Botflies felt Cinder's wrath and fiery passion, and they all began to wither away and die. Flora desperately tried to reform herself so she could get away, but Cinder concentrated her fire on the human form that she could see.

*WHOOSH*

"AAAAAHHH!"

Flora began to burn once again, and she became angry as she felt her entire body turn to ash. She was still holding her sickle, and she charged forward in a blind rage as she struck at the fiery air. But all the hybrid could do was miss Cinder completely and scream as her Botflies withered away.

"AAAAAAHHH! AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhh..."

"..."

And with that final scream, Flora was gone from the world of Remnant.

Once again, Cinder took no pride or joy in what she had done. She wasn't a friend to Flora anymore, but Cinder refused to see any glory or honor in killing someone. Instead, Cinder sought glory in honor by doing the one thing she set out to do on Remnant.

Find and save her father.

*WHOOSH*

Power and strength came to Cinder in the form of fire once again. But this time, Cinder's fire had taken her off the ground, and it was making her ascend higher and higher into the air. When she became comfortable with the altitude she had achieved, Cinder turned towards the direction of Mistral and flew as fast as she could.

"Hang on, Dad," Cinder said as she flew through the sky. "I'm coming."

Author's notes: hey everyone, hope you're all doing good. Sorry this chapter took a while, things are still pretty busy. Thanks for being patient, you're awesome.

I hope you're all enjoying Ahsoka, especially the last episode. I gotta say, things are looking pretty good so far. I really like Baylan, he's very interesting and modest. Frankly, I think it's his goal that's interesting to me. We don't really know what his agenda is, what he gets out of helping the Imperials. I guess we just have to watch and see. But Ray Stevenson did a great job playing him, it's really a shame he passed away before he could see the show. Are you enjoying it? Let me know in the comments.

To The Avenging Titan, the school is actually an original idea I had. It was inspired by a book series a lot of children knew, and I decided to take the chance to include it. And yes, Aurora was Cinder's canon counterpart (though I hope I made her a little more interesting). Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To Dasgun, I hope you're enjoying the story. Please let me know what you think of it. Thanks for reading.

To deathwing17, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I understand your feelings regarding Aurora, it was a challenge to explain her past being a foil to Cinder's like you said. I just hope this chapter was able to do that idea justice. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

To Don Cheeto, I have plans for Atlas, don't you worry. You'll be seeing them very soon, since the fight in Mistral is over. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To GojiraRWBYSW18, I wonder what came to mind this chapter. I'm glad you liked Revan's and Malak's relationship here, that's a really cool parallel you drew. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To Servos New Head, yes, Aurora's school and past were inspired by a children's book series you might know. Glad you liked all the other ideas I had for this chapter, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To CT7567Rules, I hope you liked Malak's fight with Obi-Wan and Revan. It's not over yet, I assure you. I totally understand why you don't like the style of the games, it's hard to get a handle on. I'm sorry if I created any confusion for you in the earlier arcs, the Relic never left the Vault after Djarin first used it. You should definitely see Oppenheimer while it's still in theaters, it's awesome. And the other movies you mentioned sound awesome too. Hope you're happy about Cinder being awake and killing Flora, you totally got your wish. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Thank you all so much for all of the reviews you left behind. I definitely noticed an increase this time, and it really helped me out. Like I said, your feedback and reviews are the backbone of this story and really help me keep writing. You're a terrific audience, I'm really glad I got to hear your thoughts.

Don't forget to leave a review for this chapter as well, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts again. They mean more to mean than you might know. And I hope you all have a great day!

The Court of Talons is adjourned. See you next time!