(??? POV)

I was looking at the tournament match between two members of team RWBY and two members of team FNKY. It seems Yang and Weiss won it for there team!

???: Wow! Amazing! Those two are truly impressive indeed!

I watched as the other two members of their team joined them. I smiled miraculously. 

???: Can't wait for what happens next!

(Aka POV)

Me and the others were in our room. I was tightening my cast. Master was on the bed messing with her scroll. Emerald was on the floor doing the same and Mercury was doing push-ups.

Cinder: Oh!

Aka: Something wrong master?

Cinder: Oh, it's nothing. We're just going to be making a slight... hmm... altercation to the plan.

Me, Mercury and Emerald looked at each other.

Mercury: What does that mean?

Cinder: It means that this will be even easier than we thought. 

(Shadow POV)

I was in Ozpin's office standing there waiting with him. I was still a little weary about what Ozpin was planning. No, what was concerning me was how it was being done. The elevator doors opened and Qrow entered the room.

Qrow: You know he's making you look like a fool.

Ozpin: His heart is in the right place. He's just... misguided.

Qrow: Sometimes, I'm not even sure he has a heart.

Shadow: On another topic. Have you chosen your guardian yet?

Ozpin: Maidens choose themselves. I simply believe I've found the right candidate. Ever since the day I met her, I had a feeling she would be the one. She's strong, intelligent, caring, but most importantly... She's ready.

The Elevator door opened again and Pyrrha came in. As soon as she did she noticed me.

Pyrrha: Shadow?

Shadow: Hmph.

Ozpin: Miss Pyrrha Nikos. May you please take a seat.

Pyrrha sat down in front of him.

Ozpin: Well, it comes to no surprise that they've chosen you to move onto the final round of the tournament. Your performance has been exemplary.

Pyrrha: Thank you, Professor Ozpin, but I would have never made it this far without my teammates.

Qrow: Personally, I think it's the other way around.

Pyrrha stood up to face Qrow.

Pyrrha: I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced.

Qrow: Name's Qrow.

Ozpin: Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine. 

Pyrrha: Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here?

Ozpin: Please, take a seat.

Pyrrha sat back down and Ozpin started to explain.

Ozpin: What is your favorite fairy tale?

Pyrrha: I'm sorry?

Ozpin: Fairy tales. Stories from your childhood. Surely you must remember some of them.

Pyrrha: Well, there's the Tale of the Two Brothers; The Shallow Sea; The Girl in the Tower-

Ozpin: What about the story of the seasons?

Pyrrha: Oh, of course! A callous old man who refuses to leave his home is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruit 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 return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accept and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant until the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. The Four Maidens. My mother loves that story.

Ozpin: Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?

Pyrrha: You're not that old, Professor.

Ozpin: Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true?

Pyrrha: I beg your pardon?

Ozpin: what if I were to tell you that there were four maidens existing in the world that could wield such tremendous powers without dust?

Shadow: Just so you know, he doesn't mean your semblance or my chaos control.

Ozpin: I mean magic.

Pyrrha: I-

Qrow: Yeah, first time hearing it's pretty crazy.

Pyrrha: You're serious?

Ozpin: Do I look like I'm joking?

Pyrrha: ...No. Why-Why are you telling me this?

Ozpin: We're telling you, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe that you are next in line to receive the fall maidens powers.

Pyrrha: We?

The elevator door opened and Glynda and Ironwood decided to join us.

Ironwood: Sorry we're late.

Pyrrha: Wait, what is this? Who are you?

Glynda: You know who we are.

Shadow: We're still the same people you met when you first got here

Qrow: Cept we got a little part-time job.

Ironwood: We are the protectors of this world.

Ozpin: And we need your help.

It didn't take long for all of us to head down the elevator. Pyrrha stayed quiet for a while.

Pyrrha: Where are we going?

Ozpin: The vault, under the school.

The elevator door opened and we began walking through the vault. Glynda and I noticed Pyrrha looking around confused.

Glynda: I'm sure you must have questions.

Pyrrha: Maybe one or two. I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the Maiden's powers. What do you mean by that?

Glynda: The Maiden's have existed for thousands of years. But, much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold onto the power forever.

Pyrrha: So how does the power choose?

Qrow: Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules.

Glynda: Qrow!

Qrow: Hey, don't get mad cause I'm right.

Glynda: At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed onto young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more...intimate.

Pyrrha: Intimate?

Glynda: As we understand it now when a Maiden dies, the one who was in her finale thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power.

Qrow: Unless it's a dude or some old hag. Then the power goes to someone random, and our job gets a lot harder.

Pyrrha: Why tell me all this now? Why not wait until I've graduated?

Qrow: Honestly, we've run out of time. I don't know if you've noticed, but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are high. Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent, and it's not gonna be much longer before this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes out the window.

Pyrrha: You're not talking about war?

Ironwood: Not a war between nations.

Qrow: We can fill you in on the details once we know you're with us. For now, all you need to know is that one of the Maidens was attacked, and for the first time in history, part of her powers were stolen.

We continued to walk until we made it to two pods at the end of the hall. One pod was completely empty, and the other had a girl inside.

Pyrrha: Is that...

Qzpin: *sigh* The current Fall Maiden. Amber.

Pyrrha: She's... still alive.

Ironwood: For now. We're using state of the art Atlas technology to keep her stable. But there is a lot about this situation which is... unprecedented. 

Pyrrha: What do you mean?

Ironwood: *sigh* We don't know what would happen if- when she passes.

Pyrrha: Won't her powers just transfer to the next host? 

Qrow: Look who's been listening. She is smart.

Ironwood: Under normal circumstances, yes. But this is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be that of their attacker. And to make matters worse, no one's ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out its other half.

Pyrrha: Her assailant...

Ozpin: And that will not bode well for any of us.

Pyrrha walked up to the pod and put her hand on it.

Pyrrha: If all of this is true, why keep it secret? If this girl is so important, if-if we're truly at the brink of war, why not tell everyone?

Glynda: From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge.

Pyrrha: Excuse me?

Qrow: How do you think legends and fairy tales get started? Even the craziest ones come from somewhere.

Glynda: Our group was founded in order to protect both mankind and the Maidens. Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength.

Qrow: And as you can imagine, the ones that succeeded weren't exactly the kind of people you'd want to have unimaginable power.

Ironwood: And so this brotherhood chose to remove the maidens from the public eye, allowing their existence to fade away into legend. 

Glynda: The things we're telling you go against hundreds of years of human history, religion. 

Ironwood: No one would want to believe us. It'd cause an uproar.

Ozpin: It would cause panic. And we all know what that would bring to our kingdoms' walls. Which is why we would like to-

Pyrrha: I'll do it. If you believe this will help humanity, then I will become your Fall Maiden.

We then all looked at each other in silence.

Pyrrha: That's what you wanted, isn't it?

Shadow: Sorry, but it's not that simple. Given this girls condition, you won't be able to inherit her powers naturally.

Ozpin: However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution.

Ironwood: For the past few years, Atlas has been studying aura from a more scientific standpoint. How it works; what it's made of; how it can be used. We've made significate strides. And we believe we found a way to capture it.

Qrow: Capture it and cram it into something else. Or, in your case...

Pyrrha: That's-

Ironwood: Classified

Pyrrha: -wrong!

Glynda: The feeling is mutual. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Ironwood: And these are indeed desperate times. We can't transfer Amber's power to you, but we can give you what those powers are bound to.

Pyrrha: Her aura.

Ozpin: Her life would become intertwined with yours. The question is...

Qrow: What's that gonna do to you?

Ozpin: You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this transfer thing will work, and there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time to think on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer. The assailant that attacked the Fall Maiden has made their first move, and there's no telling when their next move will be.

*timeskip*

After all that, I walked Pyrrha out the tower. While we were in the elevator, Pyrrha decided to speak.

Pyrrha: Shadow... how long have you-

Shadow: It hasn't been very long... Everything they told you they've also told me. But even now I don't feel like that's the whole truth.

Once the elevator doors opened and we headed out the tower, Rouge quickly flew to us.

Rouge: There you two are!

Shadow: Rouge? What's going on?

Rouge: I don't know the full story but for some reason... Yang broke Mercury"s leg.

                                                        -To Be Continued-