A/N: This was written over multiple days in between work, so if you notice any jarring moments point them out and I'll see if I can smooth them over with an edit. Hopefully it flows all right - this many people in a conversation is a bit tricky.

"The General appreciates your prompt response." Winter nodded sharply. "However, before we begin, he's requested that you all place your Scrolls - along with any other transmission-capable technology - in secure storage here." She gestured to the small safe behind her.

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "So you suspect that Cinder may still have her hooks in the system, then."

Winter's face remained deliberately neutral. "That is something we can speak of inside." After a searching look, Weiss handed over her Scroll, and the others followed suit. After securing them, Winter turned and led them through the door into Ironwood's command center.

The dominating feature of the room was the great table projecting a holographic map of Vale city. Various areas were painted in different colors or peppered with icons indicating their status. Three figures stood around the table, talking in low tones. Ironwood, Penny, and -

"Uncle Qrow! You're okay!" Ruby crossed the intervening distance in a storm of petals, slamming into her uncle with enough force to push him back a step. A moment later and Yang was there as well, briefly crushing Ruby between them in a hug.

"Heh. Yeah. Sorry, girls. I was pretty busy after the attack - Oz left a few things for me to take care of, in case things went south. Things that required me to be incommunicado for a bit."

"Are we going to be finding out what those things were?" Yang stepped back into line with Weiss and Blake.

Qrow and Ironwood shared a look. Qrow's face was tight, Ironwood's as stoic as usual. Ironwood gestured to several empty chairs before lacing his hands together. "Please, be seated. This conversation...I expect it won't be short."

Weiss was the first to sit, crossing her hands in her lap and glancing at the table. "I assume this is local only? Or are our devices the only ones suspected of still carrying Cinder's virus?"

Ironwood grimaced. "...It's local only."

"...Have you managed to isolate and close whatever security holes Cinder was exploiting?"

Silence.

The girls glanced at each other as Weiss' eyes narrowed further. "General?"

With a sigh, Ironwood laid his hands on the table. "Before we begin asking questions - in both directions - there's something I need to ask of you. There are...things that we may speak of here. Secrets that have been kept since before any of you were born. Secrets that must remain secret, and for good reason. Now...I am already aware that the fo- five of you," he corrected with a glance at Penny, "are quite capable of keeping secrets. But I must ask that you promise to do so with the things you learn here."

As Blake leaned forward, Weiss lifted a hand to stall her. "I'm not exactly comfortable making that promise without knowing what these secrets are."

"...While that's fair, I can't tell you much more. Only that some of this information could cause panic on a scale you cannot imagine. Panic that would draw the Grimm like flies to the corpses of the Kingdoms." Ironwood leaned forward, his gaze unbending.

Qrow sighed. "Not agreeing is a perfectly fine option. We can skirt around those things and you girls can -"

"You don't want us to know." Ruby's voice was quiet, a puzzled expression on her face as she looked at her uncle. "...Uncle Qrow, you were always the one telling us things behind dad's back. What's different about this?"

Qrow sat gobsmacked for a moment, then chuckled darkly to himself. "Damn it, Ruby. When did you get so perceptive...?" In a moment, a familiar flask was in his hand and he took a long drink, ignoring the look from Ironwood. "I don't want you involved in all of this. I haven't since the beginning. I disagreed with Oz when he suggested it, and I'm disagreeing with Jimmy now."

"Meaning there's something to be involved in. It isn't just secrets." Blake drummed her gauntlet's fingers on her leg absently. "But whatever these secrets are, you think once we know them we'll be compelled to do something."

Qrow's look was all the answer any of them needed.

Looks were exchanged between each member of Team RWBY as they considered. Ruby finally turned towards the one person who hadn't yet spoken.

"Penny? Are you involved in - whatever this is already?"

The robot shook her head. "Not yet. But I have already decided. If this information will assist me in protecting people - and I believe that it will - then I will gladly keep it secret."

For a moment, Blake closed her eyes. She almost asked Obsidian for input...and yet - she already knew what Obsidian would say, didn't she?

But there was something she needed to say as well. "I'm willing to keep your secrets. But in exchange, you need to promise the same to us." Ignoring the surprised looks of her teammates, Blake leaned forward, eyes narrow. "I already expected questions about me, and about Obsidian, and our actions - and that's fine. But if you want to know our secrets, you need to agree to keep them secret. Believe that we have reasons for keeping them, too."

Ironwood held her gaze for a long time, before he nodded once. "I will agree to that."

Penny simply smiled. "Of course!"

Winter nodded silently.

Qrow's eyes swept across the girls, before he sighed. "...I guess that's that, then. I'll keep your secrets."

"Then we'll do the same." Weiss nodded.

"In that case, may I begin? I will address your question, Miss Schnee, but - Blake's after action report is the last missing piece of the Battle. I have been hoping to shed light on certain things that only you - and Obsidian - may have the answers to."

Blake nodded. "That's understandable. What do you need to know?"

"I have a decent overview of everything that happened, with three major exceptions. What took place between you and Adam Taurus prior to his death, the exact nature of Obsidian's interference, and the battle between you and Cinder Fall after she acquired the Fall Maiden's power."

Her eyes closed. "...I see. Well, to begin with Adam, I - can I assume you know about my family, General?"

"Ghira and Kali Belladonna, the High Chief of Menagerie and his wife...and the former leaders of the White Fang."

She nodded. "Adam intended to use my mother as leverage to secure my father's cooperation. I believe he wanted to militarize Menagerie using the resources Cinder Fall was providing."

Ironwood leaned back in his chair. "I see...that would explain his presence here. So, you resisted him, and the two of you fought...and that was when Obsidian acted?"

Blake was silent for a long moment. As she hesitantly opened her mouth, she was interrupted.

I will answer.

Everyone save Blake and Penny sat up suddenly, startled by the voice.

"Fuck's sake. I'd forgotten how creepy it is when you do that." Qrow took a long drink.

Winter swallowed. "You are...Obsidian, then."

Yes.

Ironwood nodded. "You can answer, then. What happened, exactly?"

Blake exhausted herself in the battle with Adam Taurus, and turned to me for assistance. The power she acquired would damage her if used carelessly; guidance was necessary. Thus, we fought together. After Adam Taurus was destroyed, we sensed that Weiss was in danger, and moved to engage Cinder Fall.

"What is unclear is exactly what 'guidance' she received. The powers Blake displayed during those battles were...intense. Can that feat be replicated?"

Her body and power were guided by our minds, together. It could be replicated again...but it will not.

Ironwood's eyebrows rose.

There is danger inherent in such a merge. It will be avoided.

"I see...a downside makes sense, I suppose." He sighed. "So, your battle with Cinder. What exactly happened?"

She wielded magic with significant power, but without skill. If time had not been disrupted, she would have failed.

"Do you know what happened there? I believe my nieces that you, you know - time traveled, but...that's a bit of a rarity." Qrow coughed.

...Time was frayed by some method. We had not reached the threshold where it should have torn, so some other explanation must exist.

Ironwood folded his hands. "...Yes, I have some suspicions about that. I won't pretend that you've answered all of my questions, Obsidian, but - thank you. Miss Schnee, you had a question yourself."

"Yes, General. Have you purged Cinder's virus from the CCT? You seem concerned about threats of that nature, still, and I would like to know how much risk we are at of infiltration."

There was a pause. "General?"

"The vulnerabilities that virus exposed have been closed. But..." He ran his cybernetic hand through his hair, his face suddenly drawn. "There are complications. Those security holes were buried in the firmware that runs the entire Cross Continental Transmit System. Buried and distributed throughout the entire operating system, waiting to be activated."

Weiss blinked. "But...the CCT has been in place since the Great War. That was... decades ago."

"That is correct. So you understand why this is worrying."

Weiss leaned backwards in her chair, her face momentarily horrified before she reasserted control. "I...my god..."

"I have multiple separate security specialists combing over every line of code in the CCTS, looking for more things that may have slipped by us. But, obviously, it's a slow process. Until it's completed, I don't feel entirely secure."

Yang leaned forward. "Okay, I'll admit I'm not an expert on computers, so all I'm really getting is that Cinder found some old security hole."

Qrow sighed. "Basically, firecracker, what Cinder used to play our computers like a kid's game...they've been around since before you were born. A time bomb planted when the CCT was first designed, waiting for somebody to trigger it."

Yang narrowed her eyes. "How the fuck did she find them, then?"

Ironwood and Qrow shared a look, and Qrow slumped slightly, his eyes far away. "That's...fuck. I didn't want you involved in this, kids.'

"Explain, Uncle Qrow. Please." Ruby's eyes were sharp, flicking between her uncle and the General.

"I'll explain, but first I want to make sure you understand. When I mentioned secrets that need to remain secret...this is exactly what I was talking about." He took a deep breath. "Cinder didn't find them. She was given them, the same way she was given Tyrian Callows, and the same way she was given stolen Atlas equipment to supply to the White Fang."

"...Given them by who?" Blake's eyes narrowed. "Those are a lot of...very different gifts."

Ironwood licked his lips. "It is commonly held knowledge that the Grimm are unintelligent. Older Grimm have a hollow cunning, of a sort, but no real awareness beyond whatever hunger it is that drives them." A deep breath. "This is correct...for the most part." As that statement sunk in, five pairs of eyes began to widen.

"However, there is a single Grimm that possesses full sapience and takes the form of a mostly human woman. We call her the Black Queen, although she is also referred to as Salem."

Blake blinked. "Salem...?"

He nodded. "The origin of the name isn't entirely known. It may even be another title; like many things surrounding the Queen, it is a mystery. What we can confirm is that she has been active for, minimum, hundreds of years, almost always acting through intermediaries or minions."

"So Cinder is working for the Grimm!?" Yang bit her lip.

"To at least some degree, yes. Given the fact that she was granted the assistance of Tyrian Callows...she is likely relatively important. We've long suspected that Tyrian was high-placed in the Queen's service."

Weiss' fingers clenched the fabric of her dress tightly as she forced her breath to steady. "What exactly do you know about this Queen?"

Ironwood shook his head. "She is immortal, or at least she perpetuates. She's been 'killed' in the past, but always reemerges at a later time. Ozpin thought she either regenerated, being reborn like a new Grimm, or...perhaps, she was the Grimm equivalent of a Maiden's Mantle. A malicious intelligence that passed from one Grimm to another. She has a number of servants from various kingdoms, and we've long suspected she uses unwitting agents that pass information along without acting overtly and infiltrators that perform acts of sabotage. She has some level of control over the forces of the Grimm, although the extent of that control hasn't been determined.

"Beyond that...we know she's been aiming for the Maidens for some time."

"Why?" Penny asked.

Ironwood glanced at her, surprised.

"Why seek to acquire the Maidens? If she controls the Grimm, even partially, they represent a significant power already. Did she merely desire more?"

Blake leaned forward. "No, that wouldn't make sense. She was willing to burn an asset - the virus - that had been in place for decades. Disrupting the CCT could have devastated all four Kingdoms, but she burned it just to acquire a Maiden...? That doesn't fit."

Qrow chuckled. "I told you they were sharp, Jimmy."

Winter frowned. "Technically, the virus got them both the Maiden...and Ozpin, Miss Belladonna."

Ironwood grimaced. "Very astute. You're correct, though. The Maidens are not simply magical artillery. The Mantles are also keys."

"Keys?" Ruby blinked. "To what?"

Qrow cleared his throat, ignoring the glares he immediately received from both Ironwood and Winter. "Well. At the risk of being accused of wasting time, heh, I'm going to tell you all a story. It's how Ozpin would have explained it, after all...seems fitting to me." He leaned back slightly.

"I don't believe any of you girls are particularly religious, but there's an old faith that worships two brother Gods: Light and Darkness. The tale goes that, back when Remnant was still new...they walked the surface and did what Gods do. They played with life and death. Every morning, the Light Brother would walk Remnant and create life. Plants, animals, you name it. Each day he created something new.

"And each night, the Dark Brother would follow his footsteps, killing and destroying everything he'd made and returning Remnant to a blank slate. This continued, day and night, for who knows how long. Until, one night, the Dark Brother was bored. Tired of the cyclic nature of their existence. So...he took a page from his brother's book, and he made something. Something to destroy life in his place, a beast of endless destruction."

"You mean the Grimm." Ruby shook her head. "Another story about their origin?"

Qrow sipped from his flask. "Yeah, but this one rings a bit more true than most. So, the Grimm roamed Remnant and destroyed. Even during the day, as the Light Brother created, the Grimm followed him and destroyed. And...well, he got a bit upset about that. So the story goes, he went to his younger brother and 'chastised' him. Once he was done...he made his little brother an offer. They'd create something together, something unique - to be their final project, the creation to end their little cycle.

"So they worked together to make humans, giving them bits and pieces of each of them. Creation and destruction, the ability to learn and grow, to change and choose between the two. Once they were satisfied that it was done - they left. Except, the story goes, they left four gifts behind. Relics, to represent the gifts they gave humanity."

Weiss' brow furrowed. "You're claiming those relics are real, and the Maidens unlock them...?"

Ironwood nodded. "It's true. I've seen one of them, myself. I don't know that I believe they're gifts from divine beings...but they are powerful. Extremely so. Each Kingdom was given one, locked behind a door that only one Maiden could open. The Sword of Destruction and the Winter Maiden for Atlas, the Lantern of Knowledge and the Spring Maiden for Mistral, the Staff of Creation and the Summer Maiden for Vacuo, and the Crown and Fall Maiden for Vale."

Yang blinked. "The Crown doesn't get a fancy title?"

Ironwood frowned. "There's been some disagreement about its function. It could represent choice, or change, or evolution...Ozpin never clarified, and I've never seen it."

"But you have seen the Sword, I assume?"

Ironwood sighed. "I have. I authorized testing with it, once...despite Ozpin's protests."

Winter glanced at him. "Only once, General? Did the tests fail?"

For a moment, Ironwood's eyes were far away. "...No. The Sword is as powerful as Ozpin claimed it was." When he realized every other member of the room was watching, he sighed. "It is capable of dissolving the bonds between atoms in a great area, disintegrating all matter. There is a specific location on the coast of Atlas that no longer matches old maps."

"That...would require a great deal of energy." Ruby seemed lost in thought, considering a blade that could accomplish that.

"Unfortunately," the General stressed, "it is a blade without a hilt, and its wielder is caught in the area of effect."

The girls reeled back as that image sunk in.

"According to Ozpin, each of the relics has a drawback, or a restriction. They are not perfect...but they are immensely powerful, and not something I wish to see the Queen acquire."

Weiss licked her lips once. "I don't see how Cinder could have acquired the Crown if it required the Maiden's Mantle. She was only out of sight after she'd been injured."

Ironwood nodded. "Yes, luckily that seems to be the case. Unfortunately, Ozpin never shared the location of the door to the Crown. That was part of our operational security - only each Headmaster, and Ozpin himself, would know the location of their Maiden and relic."

"You keep saying things like that." Blake shook her head. "Like Ozpin outranked you..."

Ironwood sighed. "He was the one who initiated each of us. He had been fighting Salem for...a very long time. Additionally, he had the most knowledge out of all of us, and was the only one capable of wielding magic - diminished as it may have been. His loss is...a blow."

"Speaking of that, General, I had a question." Ruby's eyes sharpened. "According to Obsidian, time shouldn't have been so frayed that it would have torn during her battle with Cinder. The only lead we have on that is the arrow Cinder used on Ozpin. Do you know anything about that?"

Ironwood's gaze grew pained, as Qrow turned to look at him, jaw slowly clenching. "...Before we get to that matter, I had a different question. I've answered several of yours, but I have a simple one: Obsidian. What are you? Ozpin thought you might be another magician, at first, but I don't believe so anymore. Too many things don't add up, and you hide behind too many faces. I've shared this much with you because I do believe that Salem is as much your enemy as mine...but I have limits to how far I can trust someone who conceals so much."

"General, that question is -" Blake's voice was tight with worry. "Be careful asking that."

"For what reason? What are you hiding?"

Qrow closed his eyes. "Actually, I've been wondering the same thing. I definitely want to hear Jimmy's answer, but...I'd like to hear this one, too."

Ruby licked her lips nervously. "I told you, General - there were some secrets I couldn't share because they weren't mine. This is one of them."

"Fortunately, Miss Rose, your actions have brought the individual in question back here. I am asking Obsidian for her own secrets."

Qrow Branwen, James Ironwood, and Winter Schnee wish to understand your origins. Revealing them, in theory, should provide you with information on the temporal damage that caused your jaunt through time...and yet, you hesitate.

Is it wise, to reveal yourself?