Falling Down
"It comes as no surprise to me that your team chose you for the final round of the tournament," Ozpin said to Pyrrha who had taken a seat on the chair in front of the headmaster's desk, "Your performance has been exemplary."
"Thank you, Professor Ozpin, but I don't think I could've come this far without my team…or Talos," Pyrrha said, adding her drill sergeant of a Blade as an afterthought. He may have been harsh with his idea of training, but at least it was for her own good.
"Personally, I think it's the other way around, not sure about this 'Talos' guy though," Qrow piped up from the pillar he was leaning against.
Pyrrha did see Qrow earlier, but she wasn't introduced to him. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've been introduced." the Mistral Champion voiced this fact as she got off her seat.
"Name's Qrow," Qrow said simply.
"Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine," Ozpin explained.
"I see," Pyrrha mused, before looking slightly unsure, "Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here? Your message even told me to not bring Talos with me."
"Please, take a seat." Ozpin motioned to the chair the girl had previously vacated. The girl obliged. "Tell me Miss Nikos, what is your favorite fairy tale?" Ozpin asked.
"I'm…sorry?" Pyrrha was surprised at the question.
"Fairy tales, stories you were told as a child, surely you have heard a few," Ozpin clarified.
"Well…There's the tale of Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower," Pyrrha listed off the top of her head, not noticing how Ozpin gripped the armrest of his chair just a little tighter at the last one.
"What about the Story of Seasons?" Ozpin then asked while squeezing his cane in pain unbeknownst to the others in the room.
"Oh, of course," Pyrrha said with a smile before starting to recount the tale. "A callous old man who refuses to leave his home is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understanding the man's reclusive nature urges him to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him. And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has and be thankful. In gratitude of their kindness, the man grants the sisters incredible power. They graciously accept, promising to share their gifts with the world until the end of times. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, the four maidens." Pyrrha finished with a smile, "My mother loves that story."
"Would you believe me that one had been around since I was a boy?" Ozpin asked with a smile.
Pyrrha laughed a little, "You're not that old, professor."
"Would you believe me if I told you it was true?" Ozpin then said, surprising Pyrrha.
"I beg your pardon." The champion said nervously, thinking she misheard that.
"What if I told you that there were four maidens that could wield such tremendous power without the use of Dust?" Ozpin then asked, earning a more confused look from Pyrrha.
"…Like a semblance?" Pyrrha said unsurely.
"Like magic," Ozpin said sounding dead serious.
"You're serious?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief.
"…Do I look like I'm joking?" Ozpin asked, still serious, making Pyrrha completely speechless.
"Yeah," Qrow then pipes up as he stops leaning against the pillar, "First time hearing it was pretty crazy."
With that, Pyrrha felt even more nervous. This had to be a joke, but if it wasn't, "Why are you telling me this?"
Ozpin looked hesitant for just a moment, before responding, "I'm telling you this, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe you to be next in line to receive the fall maiden's power."
"We?" Pyrrha questioned, catching onto that tidbit.
As if to answer her question the elevator came up, letting in Glynda and Ironwood.
"Sorry we're late," Ironwood then said as he straightened his collar.
"Wait. What is this? Who are you people?" Pyrrha questioned, feeling scared.
"You know who we are," Glynda said consolingly, "We are still the same teachers you met since you arrived at Beacon."
"Except we've got a little part time job," Qrow added in.
"We are the protectors of this world," Ironwood added.
"And we need your help," Ozpin finished. And while it did calm Pyrrha down, she still wasn't sure about anything.
But it didn't stop her from being in the elevator with the four people now. "Where are we going?" Pyrrha asked, while eyeing the four nervously.
"To the vault, under the Academy," Ozpin said as the elevator kept moving. Until it reached the bottom, with everyone stepping out and walking further into the long hall that was lit with green torches.
Although Pyrrha lagged behind nervously with Glynda being the only one to stop and wait for her. "I'm sure you must have a lot of questions," Glynda said sympathetically.
"Maybe…one or two," Pyrrha admitted nervously, "I just don't understand. You said I was next in line to be a Fall Maiden, how does it happen?"
"The maidens have existed for thousands of years, but much like in nature, no two seasons are exactly alike," Glynda started explaining, "When a Maiden dies, her power is transferred to another host. Ensuring that the Seasons are never lost and that no one can have the power forever."
"So…how does the power choose?" Pyrrha then asked, holding her head down a little.
"Through a series of convoluted and annoying rules," Qrow responded from the front.
"Qrow!" Glynda chastised in annoyance.
"Hey, don't get mad at me cause I'm right," the scythe wielder shoots back.
Glynda decided to ignore the annoying drunk and continue, "At first the only thing known for certain was that the power is transferred to young women. But as time went on it was revealed that the process is more…intimate."
"Intimate?" Pyrrha parroted, not sure if she liked where this was going.
"As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the power is transferred to the person in their final thoughts," Glynda explained.
Qrow decided to pick up the explanation from there, "Unless it's a dude or an old hag. Then the power is transferred randomly, which makes our jobs that much harder."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Pyrrha then asked, "Why not wait until I've graduated?"
"Honestly, we've run out of time," Qrow answered with brutal honesty, "I don't know if you've noticed but things out in the world are getting scarier, tensions running high, Grimm becoming more numerous and prevalent. It won't be long until this peace we've all been enjoying goes straight out of the window."
"You're not…talking about war, are you?" Pyrrha asked in fear.
"Not a war between nations," Ironwood said calmly.
"Look, we can fill you in on the details once we know you're with us," Qrow said, turning to face Pyrrha, "For now you just need to know that the current fall maiden was attacked and for the first time in history, someone managed to steal half of her power."
At this point, the group had reached the end of the hallway that had two pods attached to machinery. One was empty, the other one was elevated up and contained someone.
"Is that…?" Pyrrha trailed off as she looked at the brown skinned young woman in the pod.
"Amber, the current fall maiden," Ozpin said sadly.
"Is she…still alive," Pyrrha then asked unsurely.
"For now," Ironwood replied, "We're using state of the art Atlas technology to keep her stable. But the circumstances are…unprecedented. We have no idea what would happen if…when she dies."
"But wouldn't her power to just pass on?" Pyrrha questioned.
"Look, who's been listening!" Qrow exclaimed loudly before leaning to Ozpin's ear," She is smart."
"That would normally be the case," Ironwood explained before looking a little sour, "But the power has never been split like this before. For all we know it would seek it's missing half."
"Her assailant," Pyrrha concluded as she stepped closer to the pod hesitantly, placing her palm on the glass that showed the tan skinned girl with strange scar on her face. Then she clenched her hand into a fist. "If all of this is true, then why keep it a secret?" Pyrrha's voice cracked at the question, "If she's so important and we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell everyone!?" The girl turned towards the four individuals, distress written all over her face.
Glynda quickly stepped forward, "From what we understand, the maidens used to be common knowledge." This statement didn't seem to explain anything to Pyrrha.
"How do you think legends and fairy tales come up?" Qrow asked as he took a sip from his flask.
"Our group was founded to protect both mankind and the maidens," Glynda explained further, "Those who were hungry for power hunted the maidens in hopes of inheriting their powers."
"And as you can guess," Qrow took over, putting his flask down for the moment, "Those that succeeded weren't exactly the kind of people you would want to have unimaginable power."
"And so, this brotherhood seeks to remove the maidens from public eye, letting their existence fade into legend," Ironwood added in on their purpose.
"What we are telling you goes against hundreds of years of human history, religion," Glynda then explained, "No one would want to believe us." That part was added with a hint of sadness.
"It would cause an uproar," Ironwood then said.
"It would cause panic," Ozpin reiterated, "And we all know what panic would draw to claw against our kingdom's walls. Which is why-" "I'll do it," Pyrrha interrupted Ozpin.
"If you believe this will help humanity," Pyrrha said with a resolute look, "Then I will become your fall maiden." The response Ozpin, Qrow, Glynda and Ironwood gave was just silent looks. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked, getting a little uncomfortable.
"We would," Ozpin said as he stepped a little forward," But given Amber's condition, you can't inherit her power naturally. However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution." At the latter sentence, the headmaster of Beacon motioned for the general to explain.
"For several years, Atlas has researched Aura from a more scientific stand point," Ironwood started, "What is it made of? How can it be used? We've made…significant progress, and we believe to have found a way to capture it."
"Capture it and cram it into something else," Qrow took over, "Or in this case, you."
This made Pyrrha widen her eyes. "That's wrong!"
"The feeling is mutual," Glynda said, giving the general a look. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."
"And these are indeed desperate times," Ironwood then said, "We can't give you Amber's powers but we can give you what it's bound to."
"Her Aura," Pyrrha concluded.
"Her life will be intertwined with yours," Ozpin explained, "But the question is: what will the power do to you?" This revelation made Pyrrha's eyes widen. "There is no guarantee that this transfer will work, Miss Nikos. And even if it does, you might not be the same person," Ozpin said with finality, "This is an important decision to make. So, think carefully before you answer. But know this, it must be after the tournament."
Pyrrha honestly didn't know what to say. Not being who she is was a scary thought. Even scarier than death. Or maybe her not being her is actually death.
It was now evening at Amity Coliseum. "Welcome to the Vytal Festival Finals!" Port and Izuna announced in unison. Earning rounds of cheers and applause from the audience.
At the center of the arena were the eight finalists. Including, Yang, Pyrrha, Sun, Penny, and Mercury. Of course, Dragunov, Talos, Wu, and Kos-Mos were standing with their respective Drivers.
Yang had a confident smirk as she placed her hand on her hip. One that Dragunov mirrored with his arms crossed.
"Hey! Talos!" Dragunov shouted, earning the attention of the armored Blade, "Your Driver better survive long enough for me to crush you." This was followed by the draconic Blade clenching his fist.
"Same to you," Talos called back with little enthusiasm. For he was a little worried about Pyrrha who had been acting oddly ever since she got back from Ozpin's office.
However, any further thought was dispelled when Port next spoke up, "Barty, why don't you explain the rules."
"Ah, it's quite simple Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each of the final combatants will be chosen randomly, immediately before the match." Oobleck explained.
"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare," Port said enthusiastically, "Now! Let's see who our first contestants will be."
With that, the screens showed the slots that had each of the contestants being randomly selected. Not just the contestants and the audience, but everyone who were watching this from their homes, public places or other such places were waiting with baited breath.
Of course, Dragunov hoped to face Talos right away. But as the slots stopped, turned out it was not meant to be.
"And the contestants are Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!" Peter announced, earning a sigh from the fire Blade.
"Break a leg sis!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs in the audience.
"Would all other contestants please leave the stage," Izuna then said, and with that, everyone except Mercury started moving away.
However, Yang felt a large hand on her shoulder. "Crush him," Dragunov said with a confident grin.
"You bet," the blonde Driver said with a grin. The two fist bumped before Dragunov moved out of the arena along with the rest. Once Dragunov had left, the center of the arena elevated slightly, while spotlights were directed onto the smaller arena. This time, no environment to take advantage of, just your own weapons, abilities, and skills. "You better not go easy on me," Yang says with a grin.
"Pft. You wish," Mercury shot back.
Then the countdown started. "Three! Two! One!" And the match started. Opening with Yang's fist meeting Mercury's foot, creating a shockwave.
As the evenly looking match started, Dragunov was leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed, watching his Driver in action. "Get him Yang! Show me that you are a diamond," Dragunov thought as he gripped his arms just a little tighter. Thinking back on the first day, the fire Blade felt that his Driver had grown so much stronger than even back then. He would feel disappointed if Yang lost, but the draconic Blade would still be happy to continue being her Blade.
During Dragunov's musings, Yang fired Ember Celica on Mercury, who backflipped away from the shots, but then one hit close enough to throw him off the stage. Only for the gray-haired teen to fire both of his greaves to launch himself back up. Then he started launching more kicks at Yang. Some of them actually hitting her. Yang then tried to blast Mercury with Ember Celica again, but the gray-haired boy used one leg to throw her aim off before blasting her in turn. Then Mercury started forming the shot vortex he used against Coco and Yatsuhashi.
Some of the shots that came Yang's way, the blonde dodged before closing in to stop whatever Mercury was planning. But after a short scuffle, Mercury was able to kick Yang down and then all the shots that were circling around rained on top of the blonde brawler. With his opponent taken care of, Mercury dusted himself with a cocky grin. Until a fiery explosion happened behind him. Yang had gotten back up and her semblance was fully charged. With that, Yang commenced one last assault. Mercury tried to kick at her, but with her enhanced strength, the blondie was more than able to block the kicks, before delivering a series of furious punches, aiming the last one straight to Mercury's stomach, who's Aura was now straining to keep him safe. Until Yang finished with one more punch in the face.
And then the buzzer sounded out.
"What a way to kick off the finals!" Izuna shouted out as the audience cheered.
"Indeed," Adenine added in.
As Yang let out a breath, the stage was coming down, with Dragunov now approaching his Driver with a proud look. "Great job, Yang," Dragunov called out, "Although you could've done better." He just had to add that.
"Yeah, yeah, Drag," Yang replied while rolling her eyes, before turning to Mercury, just as the stage had set. "Better luck next time," Yang told the gray-haired boy with a wink before starting to leave the arena.
"There won't be a next time blondie," Yang heard Mercury shout. Which prompted Yang to turn around to see the teen coming at her with a flying kick. Yang retaliated with a strong punch at the approaching leg, which made Mercury cry in pain as he was now dropped to the ground while clutching his leg in pain. "My leg!" Mercury cried out.
"That's what you get for…" Yang trailed off at the sight of two Atlas soldiers and four droids surrounding her and training their guns at her.
"Yang Xiao Long! Stand down!" One of the soldiers shouted.
"What!? Why!?" Yang questioned, not understanding the situation, "He attacked me!"
"Stop lying! Everyone saw!" the other soldier shouted, looking like he was ready to pull the trigger if Yang so much as sneezed. "It's even on the screen now!"
With that, Yang took a look at the screen, her eyes widening in horror as it showed her attacking Mercury who just came to congratulate her. Yang turned her eyes at Dragunov who had reached the edge of the stage. And what she saw made her heart constrict. Her Blade was looking at her in shock. Shock and betrayal.
"Why did she do that!?" Mercury cried, "Why did she attack me!?" All the while Emerald ran to his side with a glare directed at Yang. The audience too was jeering at Yang attacking someone just like that.
In the audience, Yang's team looked at this scene with shocked horror, except Nox who only had one question in his mind, "Why did my eye throb this time?" It did that right before Yang's unprovoked attack. He had to figure out why. With that, he left for the moment.
Shortly after, we see medics carrying Mercury on a stretcher.
"Over here!" A woman in emergency medics clothing called out. "We've prepared an ambulance."
With that, the medics followed the female medic to a ship, loading their patient onboard. "I hope he's gonna be alright, "One of the medics said, as he looked at the female medic who was about to step into the ship, "That girl won't leave his side."
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of him," the female medic said as she started to get into the ship. All the while the medics started walking out.
Then the woman felt something wrap around her before being pulled out of the ship with a powerful yank.
"Where did he come from!?" The medic that previously talked to his collague shouted out at the sight of a ninja that used a scythe that was attached to what looked like bandages to pull the woman out.
"Hello, Cinder. Since when have you been a medic?" Was the text that the woman, who was indeed Cinder, saw before following the arm that was holding the scroll it was on. Only to see Nox, who had his eye in a cross glare.
"I don't know what you're talking about, sir," Cinder tried to lie her way out of this with her most convincing look of fear.
That look worked perfectly on the medic that had now ran off to call for help.
"Do not take me for a fool!" Nox showed on his scroll with a look of pure anger. Right before his lft eye started throbbing again. This action was responded by the dark Blade putting his scroll back into its sash before throwing his scythe towards the ship which still had its hatch open.
Emerald barely dodged the attack, but this meant that she had to now stop using her semblance to try and distract the Blade that was now confirmed to be resistant, or even immune to it.
As this happened, Cinder had gotten out of the bandages wrapped around her before creating two glass swords to attack Nox. The dark Blade summoned his other scythe back before the duel commenced. Cinder was furious, her plan was moving along perfectly, but then this Blade started nosing around. Why couldn't he just believe that that blonde was bloodthirsty like the rest of the brainless masses? When the two were engaged in a power struggle, Cinder felt herself losing ground, until the two pushed each other back. The false maiden knew better than to run back to the ship, the dark Blade was clearly looking for an opening to exploit, but he would find none. Then the dark one dashed at Cinder who was prepared for anything. Except when Nox slowed down into a casual walk with his eye turning back into a star shape while actually throwing his weapons over the edge.
"What in the-?" Cinder thought as her mind froze at the madness the dark Blade just did. She was so shocked, that she didn't notice when Nox suddenly went for a jab at her throat with his claws extended. Cinder had rebooted her brain just in time to take the hit with her Aura. Still it allowed Nox to resummon his weapons and slash away at the mildly shocked woman. Until he was blasted away with a gout of flame. Now Cinder was downright furious, how dare this thing think it could ever be a match for her.
"Cinder, the ship's ready!" Mercury cried out, not looking like he's in pain anymore.
Cinder wanted to stay and destroy this insolent thing, really she did, but her plan came first and so she backed away into the ship while keeping up the flames that were currently obscuring Nox from view. Then, as she entered the ship, it flew away from the dock and Cinder stopped using her powers, revealing that Nox was gone. This caused the false maiden to smirk, that Blade was now destroyed and no one would even know. Because all anyone would hear from the real medics was that someone attacked the medical staff. Cinder turned to take a seat at the co-pilot's seat as the hatch closed.
Later on, we see Cinder and her crew at the warehouse. Watching the news about people complaining about Yang's disgraceful act and a surge in Grimm activity, caused by the negativity of the people.
Until the receiver was shut down.
"Hey! I was watching that," Mercury complained as he was working on his metal leg, the same one Yang punched.
"Shut up!" Emerald shouted as she tightened a screw violently.
"Ow! Is this how you treat a patient?" Mercury questioned in annoyance, "These things aren't exactly cheap, you know?"
"Enough," Cinder said sternly, "Our Mercury put on a wonderful performance." She was of course referring to Mercury's little act of being hurt.
"I hope that Blade doesn't get back to tell on us," Emerald said with worry as she held her head, "I already had to deal with two minds, but he was the last straw." Normally she would get a headache from trying to influence more than one mind, but dealing with a third one so soon afterwards turned it into migraine.
"Will you be fine for the next match?" Cinder asked, not wanting anymore surprises.
"I think so," Emerald replied.
"Good," Cinder said with a smirk, "Let's go." With that, the woman walked away.
"What about me?" Mercury called out as the two were leaving.
"You get to lay low for a while, it wouldn't do for anyone to see you on your feet," Cinder replied with an evil smile.
"Can do," Mercury said as he returned to his work.
What Cinder didn't know was that back in the airport they had used, Nox had flung himself back up from beneath the walkway. Cursing himself for his inability to catch Cinder and the others. but now he had to inform his discovery to his Driver and the others at once.
AN: Here we go, Yang is accused of an unprovoked attack, Pyrrha is being convinced to be a fall maiden. And Nox caught Cinder and her cronies red handed.
And what of Dragunov? Is he regretting his choice to become Yang's Blade? It won't be long until we find answers to these questions.
That being said, I got myself a flue, and I don't know if I feel like writing for a while. Hopefully I get better quickly, there's so much to write. So much that I had decided since day one.