Having snuck my way into Haven Academy, I sat on the Chandelier that was above the main entrance. Something told me, that this Lionheart giy calling for a meeting was going to be interesting. I had infiltrated two weeks ago and have been keeping tabs on everyone. Qrow was interesting, but a hinderance due to his semblance. Ruby, Yang, and Weiss were here, and due to my memories of them, I knew everything about them, as well as Jaune, Ren and Nora. The newest addition to their party, Oscar, really pissed me off. Why? I could not say.
Then there was Raven hiding on one of the balconies as a bird. Her goal was to summon Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and her false maiden. Thats right, I had learned about the Maidens and their powers. They intrigued me, and were the closest thing to a challenge that I could get.
Looking at the doors, the "Heroes" entered the building and were greeted by Lionheart, who was standing on a terrace at the top of the stairs that was being held up by a statue of a woman in chains. Who this woman was, I did not care.
"Why hello. Thank you for... coming." Lionheart said nervously. There... seems to be more of you than last time." He said with a nervous chuckle.
Qrow and the rest of the group stop to look up at Lionheart.
"Eh, you know what they say, "The more the merrier". So what's going on with the council?" Qrow questioned as he wanted to get straight to business.
Looking them all over, Lionheart felt uncomfortable. "Why... did you bring your weapons?" He asked, and it was a dumb question.
"What? Leo, we're Huntsmen. You okay?" Qrow asked, knowing that something was up now that the question was asked.
"Of course! Of course, sorry. Just haven't had my evening coffee." Lionheart lied, where I rolled my eyes at his answer.
"Look, it's nice to see you, but we got work to do. Are we getting support from the council or not?" Qrow asked, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly.
While the two talk, Yang Xiao Long noticed from the corner of her eye a black bird perched on a balcony railing. "Mom?" Yang said aloud, where everyone's attention was turned to the bird. It flies away just as Qrow shoots at it, but he misses. The bird flies down behind Lionheart, transforming into Raven, donning her mask.
Everyone glares at her. "Raven..." Ruby said as, to my knowledge, this was her first time meeting her.
"They... they really are magic..." Nora said, making my intrest peak even more.
"If you're going to shoot me, shoot me." Raven said as she took her mask off. "That was insulting." She said as she glares down at her brother.
"What are you doing here?!" Qrow yelled, questioning her reason for being here.
"I could ask you the same thing." Raven said as she walked down the stairs. "You've been scheming, little brother. Planning to attack your own sister." She said as she reached the bottom of the stairs and walked in front of the statue.
"Leo... what have you done?!" Qrow questioned as he yelled up at the man.
Raven: "Leo did what any sane person would in his position - he looked at all the information he had in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice. And it seems you all have too." Raven said, making me grin at her words.
"You have the Spring Maiden." Qrow said, not asked, but said as a matter of fact.
"I do." Said answered, but it wasnt a lie but at the same time it was. She was the Maiden.
"Then hand her over and let's work together! We can beat Salem!" Qrow said as he tood a step forward.
"All that time spent spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem!" Raven said, where she herself was wrong. There was one way to kill her and they didn't know how. During my travels, I learned how, and it would be no easy feat.
"You're wrong." Ruby said as she stepped forward. "We've done things that most people would call impossible, and I know the only reason we were able to do it is because we didn't do it alone! We had people to teach us, people to help us, we had each other. Work with us. At least I know we'll have a better chance if we try together. Please." Ruby said as she held her hand oht to Raven, not wanting a fight.
Raven glares at it scornfully. "You sound just like your mother." She said, shocking Ruby at her words, who loweres her hand. Suddenly, Raven draws Omen and creates a portal with her Semblance. From the portal, a fireball is launched and hits Ruby square in her torso where she then lands several feet back.
"Ruby!" Yang called out as she looked at her downed sister.
"So, this is where the fun begins." I said with an even larger grin while Yang runs to her little sister. During that time, Cinder Fall steps out of the portal.
"Hello boys and girls." Cinder said with a smirk, with me moving to reposition myself, with one leg hanging off the side. She was then joined by Vernal the Flase Maiden, Emerald and Mercury as they too step out from the portal.
"Cinder..." Ruby said as she got up, glaring at the woman.
Cinder and her group line up alongside Raven, while Ruby's group gasp. "C'mon guys, is that any way to greet your old friends?" Mercury said sarcastically, where Yang growls at him.
"Everybody, stay calm." Qrow said as he held his hands out to his team, with me holding mine out towards everyone, using the force to make them even more angry and likely to fight.
Suddenly the doors behind them open up, with me looking at it and seeing Hazel closing the doors. The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds. No one's getting in, and no one's getting out. He said, making me grin.
"This was all just a trap?" Weiss said, piecing it all together.
"It appears so." Ren said as I let put a quiet fake yawn as I wanred action.
"Raven, tell me... how long have you been with them?" Qrow questioned her sister, shaking his head of the effects of my ability to affect their minds. He was aware that someone was trying to affect his mind, and he wasnt the only one as even Raven shook her head clear.
"Aww, don't take it personally, little bird." Cinder said mockingly as she stepped forward. "Your sister was a recent addition. The lion on the other hand... Entrance into the Vytal Festival was a real treat, Leonardo's been sending Salem all sorts of information for a very, very long time. Isn't that right, professor?" She revealed, with me shrugging as I didn't care for that.
"Stop it." Lionheart said with shame.
"It was you... you sit on the Mistral Council. You had information on every Huntsman and Huntress in the Kingdom, and you gave it all to her?" Qrow said as he srarted fetting angey, making it easier for me tk affect his mind. "I couldn't find any of them, because you let her kill them!" He yelled, where I gave a silent clap as there was nothing that they could do about it. This Kingdom, Mistral, had fallen long ago, and they never knew. Lionheart didn't say anything, still having a sad expression on his face.
"Aw now, don't beat yourself up about it, Lionheart, I'm sure Tyrian and Hazel would've found them on their own eventually." Cinder said, keeping her eyes on the threat in front of her.
"What is wrong with you...?" Jaune said, seething. "How can you be so broken inside... to take so many lives, and then come here and rub it in our faces like it's something to be proud of?!" He yelled out in anger.
"Jaune..." Nora said, feeling her leaders pain.
"All with that damn smile on your face!!" He yelled out, angered at her and her actions as tears stream from his eyes.
The rest of the group draw their weapons, with me leaning over the edge to get a better look at the fight. "Everybody, stay calm!" Qrow yelled as he shook off the effects again, with Cinder doing the same, but Cinder just glares at them.
"I'm gonna make you pay for what you did!! Do you hear me?!" Jaune yelled as he stepped forward.
"Kid!" Qrow yelled, trying to reach him.
"Well?! SAY SOMETHING!!" Jaune yelled as he balled his fists up.
After a short pause, Cinder says her response. "Who are you again?" She said, and at this, Jaune gains a look of shock, and then of anger. He transforms Crocea Mors to its two-handler form and advances forward. Cinder summons a glowing scimitar and blocks Jaune's attack.
"Jaune!" Ruby called out as she leaps into the air, but a chain wraps around her and she is pulled to the ground by Emerald.
"You're not getting near her." Emerald said as she recognized her as the biggest threat to Cinder. Jaune is then pushed back by Cinder and the two begin their duel.
Yang runs forward to join the fight, but Mercury lands in front of her. "Hey there, Blondie. I'm thinking you owe me an apology for my leg, don't ya think?" Mercury said sarcastically. Yang growls and uses Ember Celica to propel herself forward and begins her foght with him.
"Take out the heiress. Don't bother wasting your power, she's not worth it." Raven ordered Vernal, who nodded her head as she drew her weapons. Raven then draws her sword as Qrow uses Harbinger to lock blades with his sister.
"Running away was one thing, but this... you've crossed the line!" Qrow yelled as he bushes against his sisters blade.
"Sorry, brother. Sometimes family disappoints you like that." Raven said as she pushed back against him.
"We're not family anymore." Qrow said, with Ravens eyes narrowing.
"Were we ever?" She said with venom.
"I thought so, but I guess I was wrong." Qrow said as they then proceed with their fight, Qrow ducks under a slash then jumps back. He dodges two more swings as Raven follows and clashes blades one time before she kicks him away.
While the siblings battle, Vernal confronts Weiss. "Let's see what the Schnee name really means." Vernal said as while Weiss holds Myrtenaster en garde.
"I'm more than a name." Weiss said as she was ready to fight.
"Hm, prove it." Vernal said as Weiss activates a glyph below her and projects herself forward to fight the False Spring Maiden.
Meanwhile, Oscar sneaks up the stairs to Lionheart while Hazel confronts Ren and Nora, who hold up their weapons defensively. "I don't wish to fight either of you." He said, making me sigh at this.
"Nor I you." Ren said as I could see that his Semblance was blocking the effect of the force. He was a real threat if trained correctly.
"Very well, then." Hazel said as he cracked his neck and knuckles. Hazel proceeds forward with a walk, beginning their fight.
As Lionheart nervously watches the fights going on, he then notices Oscar walk up behind him. "Young man, I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing, but for your sake, I suggest you leave. Now." Lionheart pleaded as he didn't want to fight. Oscar defiantly remains stationary before taking a few more steps toward Lionheart. "I'm warning you!" Lionheart said as he holds out Stalwart, which switches to active mode, while Oscar prepares to draw something from behind him. "That's enough!" Lionheart yelled as he rotates his weapon, having a glyph appear above it which then conjures a flaming rock that launches at Oscar, who holds out his arms in front of him defensively as the attack explodes. Oscar was unscathed, though his Aura shimmers. He continues to proceed up the steps and draws The Long Memory.
A cane? I asked, not believing what I was seeing.
"Ozpin?" Lionheart said, shocked, and shocking me as well. I thought I had the ability to transfer my soul to anothers, but looks like I wasn't the only one, if what he said was true.
"Not quite." Oscar said, with me now marking Oscar, or Ozpin, as a bigger threat.
Oscar then proceeds forward as his attacks force Lionheart on the defensive. Lionheart blocks or dodges most of them, one drives him against the rail. Oscar hits it as Lionheart avoids another strike, then follows up with a swing that sends Lionheart staggering down the steps. He jumps down to continue attacking and eventually manages to whack Lionheart back a few steps.
"This can't be... I knew you would be back, but... you made it here! You found Qrow! How?" Lionheart questined in disbelief. "Wait. You can't have had this form for long. You're... not really Ozpin right now. Boy. Child. If I deliver you to Salem, she'll have to be pleased with me, and I can finally get out of all of this! I can finally be free!" He said, growing desperate. Lionheart, now determined, preps his weapon again.
"What do I do?" Oscar said, looking to his inner self for an answer, which he got as he then proceeds forward.
Meanwhile, Weiss leaps around on her glyphs, dodging Vernal's weapons as she throws them like boomerangs. After backing into a pillar Weiss is then forced on the defensive and creates a large ice wall. She then stabs Myrtenaster into the ground as her Arma Gigas summon crawls out of her glyph. Suddenly, a large beam destroys the ice wall as well as the Arma Gigas before it could be fully summoned. One of Vernal's weapons knocks Weiss back several feet.
"Don't think I'm going to let you take the easy way out." Vernal said as she caught her weapon.
Elsewhere, Jaune is knocked to the ground by Cinder, who chuckled. "I'm starting to remember you, you're the dense one that can't tell when he's out of his league." She taunted, not like she didn't remember him in the first place.
Jaune gets back up and clashes blades with Cinder again. Ruby watched them fight but is snapped out of her distraction by Emerald as she was hit. She then transforms Thief's Respite into its revolver forms and fires at Ruby, who twirls around Crescent Rose blocking Emerald's shots.
"Why are you doing this?! Salem's-"
"I don't care about Salem! But I owe Cinder everything. You want to fight her that bad? Be my guest." Emerald said as she then activates her hallucination Semblance, creating a wall of fire which Cinder emerges from and charges at Ruby. Suddenly, Cinder's form disappears, while Emerald trips Ruby. Ruby fires a bullet that narrowly misses Weiss, who is blocking Vernal's shots with Myrtenaster.
Weiss attempts to summon, but Vernal is too quick and prevents her from doing so with a shot to the back. Eventually, Weiss manages to launch Vernal out of the way using a glyph and prepares to summon again. Suddenly, Vernal appears in front of her and lands a point blank attack that depletes Weiss' aura.
Weiss lets out a pained scream, which Jaune hears and looks in her direction as tears well up in his eyes. "Are you going to let her die too?" Cinder taunted.
"Stop messing with me!" Jaune yelled at her as he looked back at her.
"If that's what you want." Cinder said as she then ignites her scimitar, which is now fully coated in flames. Cinder and Jaune proceed forward to clash. Ruby looks behind her and notices this, then her eyes start to shine bright.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Ruby screamed out as a bright light engulfs the area but dies down when Ruby is knocked unconscious by Emerald. Suddenly, Cinder falls to her knees, holding her arm in pain.
'So, Runy has the power to kill off Grimm, as Cinders Grimm side of her acted up.' I thought as Cinder looks up, and barely misses Jaune's attack as it chips her mask that conceals the left side of her face. As Cinder moves out of the way, Jaune trips and falls. Cinder gets back up enraged, activating her Maiden power while doing so. She then steps on top of Jaune to hold him down.
"Did you think you actually had a chance against me?! You?!!" She yelled as she pushed down harder with her foot, where Jaune struggles to reach for his weapon while Cinder calms herself and deactivates her Maiden power. "You're just a failure with a death wish." She said as she looked down at him.
"If I die buying them time, then it's worth it. They're the ones that matter." Jaune said as he looked up at her with defiance.
Cinder looks to Jaune's comrades as they fight against their respective foes. Nora jumps up attempting to bring Magnhild down on Hazel who grabs it. He tosses her aside then uses his arms to block Ren slashing with Stormflower. Mercury blocks Yang's attack then ducks under a shot and leaps back. He launches himself up but only hits the floor as she moves. Cinder, smiling evilly, looks back down to him.
"You think so?" Cinder said as she then notices Weiss get knocked back several feet away, and begins to slowly proceed toward her while she conjures an obsidian spear.
"No." jaune said helplessly while Cinder continues to advance towards Weiss. "NOOOOOOO!!!" He called out as Cinder throws the spear and it impales Weiss through her abdomen. She gasps in shock as everyone stops their fighting and stare in shock as well. The spear then disintegrates as Weiss goes motionless and slumps forwards.
"And so, the Ice Queen has fallen." I said as I clapped my hands, though no one could see or hear me.