17

Chapter 17: Confessions, Consequences, Confrontations

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Ruby expected to end up in the same room where Ozpin had interrogated her and Jaune after the docks. Instead, the guards watching over them were ordered to take them all to a different location. Beacon tower.

The four of them were marched to the tower. Jaune and Ruby were instructed to board the elevator while Pyrrha and Blake stayed behind, despite their protests. Ruby watched Blake through the closing elevator doors, realizing for the first time that one of Blake's sleeves had been burned away. Crescent Rose wasn't doing much better. She was refusing to transform back into her sniper rifle, Ruby had inspected it and saw that one of the metal plates had been warped and wasn't able to fold in.

It was a bit awkward getting the massive weapon into the elevator, and even more awkward to walk through the ballroom with it fully extended.

Ruby had done her best not to look around when they walked through the dance. At first, no one seemed to notice them, but before long nearly every head in the room was turned their way and all conversation had stopped.

Yang and Weiss were surely in that crowd, and Ruby would have to explain what happened to her sister. But that would have to wait, until she and Jaune dealt with whatever awaited them at their destination.

The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. Ruby looked back at one of the guards, who gently nudged her forward with his gun. Ruby stepped out into Ozpin's office, surrounded by the ticking of gears.

"Good evening, Miss Rose." Ozpin said. "It seems as though we've had another eventful evening, wouldn't you say?" He stood behind his desk, Glynda at his side, arms crossed.

Ruby nodded. "Hello Professor."

"Please, have a seat." Ozpin motioned to the two chairs in front of the desk, reminding Ruby of nothing so much as being summoned to the headmistress's office back at Signal after one her and Yang's pranks. Usually those summons didn't involve being escorted by armed guards though.

Ozpin dismissed the guards as Ruby and Jaune took their seats. "Now, as I am sure you understand intimately, Beacon experienced a… security breach tonight. General Ironwood is still sifting through the rubble from the communications room and securing the tower, but in the mean time I was hoping we would have a chance to talk."

"Of course, Professor." Jaune replied.

Ozpin smiled and sat down behind the desk. "Good. I have a great many questions but let me be concise. What happened? How did you find yourselves involved in this?"

Ruby took the lead in explaining. "We noticed that someone was trying to break into the CCT tower, and decided to confront them. The fight that happened in the communications room was the result. She escaped just moments before Ironwood and the Atlesians showed up."

"That's rather convenient timing, don't you think?" Glynda raised an eyebrow, but Ozpin held up a hand to stop her from pressing further.

"I'm sure that you did your best to prevent that, as your gear can attest to." Ozpin merely had to motion to Crescent Rose propped against the back of the seat, or the burn marks in Jaune's armor to make his point.

"We did. I made the call not to go after her." Ruby defended. "Our auras were running low, our weapons were damaged, and most of us were out of dust."

"That was assuredly the correct call, Miss Rose. The safety of your team is paramount. However, given the battered state of that team, I have to ask, why did you not report this threat to myself or any of the other faculty of Beacon, who were all gathered just inside the ballroom? You were unprepared for the threat that you faced."

Ruby tried to read Ozpin's expression. Glynda was clearly at least a little suspicious, but what was Ozpin thinking? Was he ready to accept the truth? None of them had seen him take any interest in any of them, beyond asking them questions after the docks fight. Maybe he wasn't actually paying any attention to them.

She really thought that they had done enough to garner his attention, but faced with this question Ruby allowed doubt to creep in.

"We didn't know it was going to happen ahead of time, we just saw her and knew she had to be stopped." Ruby said.

"You said the same thing last semester when the White Fang tried to rob the docks." Glynda noted. "Are we supposed to believe that you are that lucky?"

"Glynda." Ozpin chastened. "She isn't wrong, Miss Rose. Please, let me speak plainly for a moment. Last semester the two of you convinced your teams to join you on a trip to the docks. Now, the four of you are playing vigilante. I am worried, Mister Arc and Miss Rose, that you are playing with powers you do not understand." Ozpin's face was stern as he looked at his two pupils.

Ruby realized in an instant that she had been wrong, Ozpin had been keeping a careful eye on them. All of them, probably even the remainder of RWBY and JNPR too. Ozpin would never come out and say it, but she knew her headmaster well enough to recognize the veiled truth behind his words. It was a warning, plain and simple.

If he was watching, did that mean it was safe to tell him? She shared a surprised look with Jaune, who from the look on his face had reached a similar conclusion. Ruby was just about to respond when the ding of the elevator interrupted her.

"...The hell is going on, Oz?" A scratchy voice said.

Ruby turned around at the voice of her uncle, only to be greeted by the sight of both her Uncle Qrow and young Oscar Pine stepping out of the elevator.

"Oscar?!" Jaune and Ruby exclaimed in unison. They both leapt out of their seats and went over to their former friend.

"Um, hi… again, I guess." Oscar waved awkwardly.

"You notice the boy before your own uncle?" Qrow joked with Ruby. "Good to see you again, kiddo." She smiled back at her uncle and gave him a hug while he affectionately tussled her hair.

"Apologies, Qrow. In all that's happened tonight I didn't have time yet to inform you. I regret that you arrived under such circumstances." The headmaster used his cane and stood in front of a very overwhelmed Oscar. "Oscar Pine, it is good to meet you. I am professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon academy. I apologize for asking when you've only just arrived, but would you be willing to wait downstairs for a moment? Glynda, please ensure Mister Pine does not lose his way, and if you would, please escort Miss Nikos and Miss Belladonna up here."

Glynda nodded and collected Oscar before exiting, leaving Ruby and Jaune alone with Professor Ozpin and Qrow. Ozpin collected himself again and sat back down while Qrow leaned against one of the columns, pulling out his flask.

"Let's try a different question." Ozpin said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Who's the boy?" He asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Ruby said, genuinely confused. Ozpin had brought Oscar because he knew Oscar would be his next reincarnation, right? Wait… how would he know that? How could he know that?? Which meant…

"You saw us…?" Jaune asked, incredulous.

"Yeah." Qrow spoke up from the back. "We saw you."

"Which brings us to now. The two of you convinced your teams to fight with you at the docks, and took a trip over to Anima to talk to a single farmhand. You followed this up with trips to known White Fang gathering points, and now a fight with someone who clearly meant to do Beacon harm.

"It has become clear to me that the two of you are the center of something. Something that, should it put Beacon in danger, we must be aware of. That I must be made aware of. With this in mind, I ask again, Miss Rose, who is the boy?"

Ruby took a deep breath. There was no better time. "He's your next reincarnation."

Qrow immediately choked on the alcohol he had been drinking and coughed violently, but Ozpin only raised a single eyebrow. "I'm afraid you'll have to explain what you mean by 'reincarnation.'"

"I… don't know if you want us to do that." Jaune cast a sideways glance at Qrow.

Ozpin exchanged a glance with Qrow, who had recovered from his coughing fit and gone from performatively aloof to active listener. Ozpin turned to Ruby. "Did your father tell you something? I find it hard to believe that Taiyang would do such a thing, but I must admit I am rather mystified by what you mean."

"No." Ruby shook her head. "Dad didn't say anything, no one did."

"Then how did you come by this information?" Ozpin pressed.

"We lived it, both of us. We… we know about your curse, from the God of Light." Jaune said. Ruby nodded in agreement.

Ozpin clasped his hands together on the desk. "…It appears you have quite a story to tell. Please, start from the beginning." Behind them, the elevator dinged and out stepped Glynda with their partners in tow. "Glynda, thank you for bringing them, and I'm terribly sorry, but it completely slipped my mind that Ironwood asked to speak with the two of them immediately. Would you mind escorting them to him?"

For a moment Glynda looked like she wanted to say something, before she recognized the tactic and nodded. Ruby recognized the fib as well, aimed at controlling the spread of what he certainly considered dangerous information. "No, wait. It's… it's Blake's story too."

That took Ozpin aback for a moment before his careful composure slid back into place. "…Is it now?"

"And I already told Pyrrha." Jaune finished.

"Then in such a case I apologize for having insufficient seating for such a large gathering so late in the evening, but please, the three of you have the floor. If you wouldn't mind, please start with how you came by this information." Ozpin said.

"Like Jaune said, we lived it. Me, Blake, and Jaune. We're… well, this isn't exactly our world." Ruby was met only with skeptical looks, especially from Glynda. How could she best explain this…? Maybe just the band aid approach. "Well, um, you know how the God of Light gave you the chance to return to humanity with a task to gather the relics and unite humanity? Yeah, right, so—he gave me a similar task, except instead of being returned from the afterlife, I got sent back in time."

Ozpin's face registered no emotions beyond a faint surprise, the same way that Oscar had when she and Jaune had emerged from the void and made it to Vacuo.

Qrow chuckled dryly. "That's what happened to blondie and the emo one too then?"

"A-actually, no." Jaune spoke up. "I actually got sent back by the God of Darkness."

"And I don't know who sent me back. They weren't either of the brother gods." Blake added, choosing to ignore Qrow's comment.

Ozpin seemed speechless, so Glynda circled around and stood behind him to address the students. "This is quite unprecedented. If true, it could explain your actions so far. However, I have to ask: what has your objective been this entire time?"

"To stop Salem." Ruby said, resolute. She looked to Ozpin, hoping he would understand they knew far, far more than they were letting onto. "To unite humanity, so that if the relics are ever united, humanity will not be destroyed."

"So you do know about Salem." Glynda noted.

"Um… I'm afraid that I do not." Pyrrha spoke up in the back.

"Sorry, I was going to get to that eventually. Just… think of Salem as Cinder's boss."

Qrow latched onto the name immediately, raising his chin. "Who's Cinder?"

"The girl we just fought." Blake answered. "She's also the one who attacked Amber, the Fall Maiden."

"Maidens… relics… gods…" Ozpin shook his head. "Perhaps it would have been faster to ask what you did not know."

Glynda looked at Ozpin incredulously. "You're going to believe them?"

"For the moment it appears I have no choice. Beacon was attacked, that is an undeniable fact. These students claim to know who the perpetrator was. They fought valiantly. On top of that, the three of you should have knowledge about why, how, and what. I would be remiss not to consider the threat seriously." Ozpin punched some buttons on his scroll. "I'm calling General Ironwood here; he needs to hear this as well. Until he gets here, and please be brief, what fate awaits Beacon?"

Ruby squirmed in her seat. "There's a reason we know who your next reincarnation is… Because… because Beacon gets… Beacon gets…"

"Destroyed?" Ozpin guessed. "And I find yet another host…" He said thoughtfully. It was a muted reaction for a man faced with his own imminent death.

"It's called the Fall of Beacon." Jaune added. "Cinder Fall kills Amber, steals the fall maidens powers, and destroys the CCT. The grimm dragon that is entombed in Mountain Glenn is released, and Ruby uses her silver eyes to turn it into stone in this very office, but it attracts grimm forever."

"That would cause all communication across Remnant to fail, and thousands would die. How could that even happen? It's unfathomable." Glynda said.

"It did cause communications to fail. Years later Beacon tower was still inoperable." Blake said. "Global communications were never restored, as far as I know." She looked to Jaune and Ruby, who both shook their heads.

"Cinder hijacked the Vytal festival and used it to spread fear and terror, causing a mass grimm attack. The White Fang joined in, and the Altesian drones turned on everyone, massacring fleeing civilians while the live feed was streamed to the world." Ruby explained.

"That… that's not possible." Ironwood said, slack jawed. Ruby hadn't even heard the ding of the elevator. "That's not possible! Ozpin, what are they saying?"

Ozpin stood to greet their newest guest. "General, please, join us. The students appear to have quite the tale for us. Please, continue."

So they did. Between Ruby, Jaune, and Blake they spoke about what had happened to them for hours. Glynda went from skepticism to ever mounting concern. Ozpin looked at each of them with such intensity that Ruby was convinced he was memorizing every single word any of them spoke. Qrow kept a low profile in the background, and Ironwood went from confused and angry questions to quiet silence.

By the time they were done, everyone was exhausted. They outlined everything that happened right until the Fall of Beacon. Ruby noticed Jaune left out crucial parts regarding his partner, and Ruby failed to mention exactly what triggered her silver eyes for the first time, but beyond that, they were entirely truthful. It was more for Pyrrha's sake than their own that such details were omitted anyway.

"The Vytal festival is quite soon." Ozpin observed. "This does not leave us very much time, should your prescient warning come to fruition. Before we discuss solutions, I must impress upon everyone that until Beacon is secure this is information that we cannot allow to leave this room, with one exception. Miss Rose, Mister Arc, do your teams know about this in full?"

"I told Pyrrha, but not Ren or Nora yet." Jaune reported.

"And we haven't told Weiss or Yang." Ruby added.

Ozpin frowned. "I seem to recall when we spoke last semester imparting a lesson regarding the dangers of keeping your team in the dark. It appears that my words went unheeded. Your teammates will demand answers after tonight, and you need to give them some. I leave to you both what and how much to disclose, but four trainee hunters, regardless of your experience, cannot hope to stop Salem. Cultivate your allies."

The dread that Ruby had been feeling ever since she walked through the ballroom came rushing back. Before she allowed herself to dwell on it, she told her professor about one small detail. "There's one more person who knows about this, at least sort of. Roman Torchwick, the criminal I stopped from robbing a dust store before we met."

Glynda crossed her arms angrily. "Why exactly would that lowlife have any information regarding this?"

"He's like us," Blake said. "It's… hard to explain. Specifically, he knows everything about our futures." She gestured to herself, Ruby, and Jaune.

"But because of that, he wants to help us!" Ruby said before the adults could protest.

"I don't know if I would call it help…" Jaune said apprehensively. "He doesn't survive the Fall of Beacon, and now that he knows that, he wants to prevent it. He's offered to feed us information."

"Information that will be of dubious quality and doubtful authenticity." Ironwood said. "A criminal can't possibly be trusted."

"We will engage with him as little as possible, but an asset, even one that cannot be relied on, is useful and dismissed at our own peril." Ozpin decreed. "The three of you have outlined a credible threat to Beacon, one that we must act on."

"What are you thinking, Oz?" Qrow asked.

Ozpin held up a finger. "That we will only have a single opportunity to prevent catastrophe. We must use that wisely. The time for decisive action is upon us. Make no mistake, should we fail, Salem's forces will scatter. As such, we shall divide all the forces available to us, and strike all known opposition locations simultaneously. Armed with your knowledge," Ozpin looked towards his students, "I believe we can crack down on this nascent conspiracy. However, it will require the combined efforts of everyone." Ozpin took stock of the room.

"My AceOps are at your disposal, Ozpin." Ironwood said. Ruby hadn't realized that the AceOps were at Beacon. Did they come the first time for the Vytal Festival? No, they would've been involved in the Battle of Beacon then, and they weren't. Did that mean that Ironwood had decided to bring them?

"Thank you, James. Miss Rose, Mister Arc. As you both are aware, training missions for first years start tomorrow. You will proceed as planned on a mission. However, I am changing your objectives. Miss Rose, you will proceed to Mountain Glenn, and perform reconnaissance on the White Fang operation that you reported on. Mister Arc, you are to scout the locations that we will strike around Vale. Is that acceptable?"

Both team leaders nodded.

"Good. We have precious little time to execute. This 'Cinder Fall' will have undoubtedly been tipped off by tonight's events. We must move swiftly if we are to prevail. We are to meet in one week's time. I expect reports from those in the room regarding preparations and mission debriefs from the two young team leaders. From there, we will prepare our final strike."

It was a dizzying proposition. Keeping such an operation secret would be difficult. Keeping everyone on the same page would be even more difficult. Still, Ruby was relieved that Ozpin was taking the threat seriously.

"I believe none of us have any further questions for the four of you, so please, get some rest. You will need it." Ozpin told them.

Ruby was still exhausted, but she knew that she wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. Once she left, that would just mean having to figure out what to tell her team. Still, she nodded and got up to leave along with the others.

As the elevator doors closed behind her, how Ruby felt could only be described as tired.

---

"Do you believe them?" Glynda asked. The students had just departed, leaving only Ozpin's inner circle behind.

"I do." Ozpin nodded solemnly. "Consider Miss Rose. Her family has been involved with this for decades. What would she have to gain by making such an elaborate ruse, and ensnaring others into her web of lies? I will not deny that it is unbelievable, but I would rather overreact and look the fool than underreact and find ourselves standing amidst the rubble."

"Point is: this is the less risky option." Qrow said.

"Regardless of how much of their story is true, parts of it we already know are true. We know Salem has recruited new pawns, and I believe Cinder Fall is the culprit." Ironwood said.

"Yes, for now we will trust them. Trust, but verify." Ozpin commanded his lieutenants. Each of them would understand that instruction. "General, did you find anything in your examination of the communications room?"

James nodded and pulled out a holobeacon. The hologram projection showed a mapped out version of the communications room, labeled with points of interest. "The evidence of a fight is undeniable. Staging that sort of event would be nigh impossible. It is likely that the assailant used maiden powers." Ironwood pointed towards several points of interest to illustrate his point.

"We still don't know if this 'Cinder Fall' achieved her goals." Glynda said.

"I have specialists from Atlas on the way. They will assess the network against the damage report that the team leaders just provided."

"Very good." Ozpin said. "Let us confront this threat head-on."

---

Weiss had immediately grabbed Yang's hand once the trance wore off from watching the rest of her team, battle damaged, escorted through the ballroom at gunpoint. She raced out the ballroom and together the two of them tried to find where they had been taken.

Eventually they arrived at Beacon tower and burst into the lobby. Blake and Pyrrha were arguing with two guards, while another student that Weiss didn't immediately recognize sat patiently in one of the chairs.

Yang rushed over to Blake. "What happened? Where's Ruby?!"

"She's upstairs, talking to Ozpin."

"What the hell happened to the two of you?!" Weiss asked.

Blake shifted nervously. "I… I should really let Ruby explain it to you."

"I'm not waiting!" Yang yelled, her eyes going red. "You're going to tell me right this second what is going on with you and my sister!"

Weiss did her best to calm her partner down, but understood her frustration. Even though Yang had been happy her sister had become a little more independent, she was still fiercely protective of her.

"Yang." Pyrrha put a hand on her shoulder. "Now isn't the time. Something momentous has occurred, and right now that takes priority. Ruby will be back, and when she is she will explain."

Yang glared at Pyrrha. She looked ready to tear into the girl, but stayed her wrath when others arrived to interrupt.

"What happened?" Nora burst into the lobby. Behind her, Ren made a concerned beeline for Pyrrha.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"We don't know." Weiss said.

"Jaune and Ruby are upstairs, talking to Ozpin. When they're back they can explain." Pyrrha said evenly.

"Is everyone okay?" Ren asked.

"Yes, we're all fine." Pyrrha answered.

They didn't look fine to Weiss. Burn marks were not usually indicative of perfect health.

"If Jaune's up there, can we go up?" Nora asked, looking to the guards who only shook their heads.

Weiss coaxed Yang into taking a seat and tried to help her cool off. Internally she was nervous about her team. It was true that she was closer to Yang than the others, but she still considered them her friends. The idea that they had gone through something terrible without her and Yang to help them bothered her. Without any idea of what truly occurred, her mind ran wild.

Yang calmed down enough that her eyes flashed back to their original lilac as Weiss ran a soothing hand down her arm. Only then did Weiss notice the other student that had been here before any of them had arrived. She had short ginger hair and a face that Weiss vaguely recognized.

"You're… Penny, one of Ruby's friends right?" Weiss asked the girl.

"Oh, yes!" The girl replied.

"Do you know what happened?" Yang asked immediately.

"I'm sorry, but no. I only heard the altercation from the ballroom and informed the general."

Weiss hadn't heard anything. Then again, the entire building could've come down around them and Weiss wouldn't have noticed. Well, perhaps that wasn't true. When everyone went silent and her teammates came through she noticed that.

Yang tried to get all the information she could out of Penny, but the girl knew only as much as they did. She did however describe what she saw when she arrived at the scene. The communications room in the CCT tower had been completely destroyed. She described scenes of puddles of molten metal, windows shattered, and equipment reduced to slag. Yang's concern and visible unease grew until Weiss thanked Penny and shut her up.

The front lobby doors opened again and Weiss watched as a small boy and what she could only describe as a vagabond walked through. What did these two have to do with this? The boy didn't even look old enough to be a student at Beacon.

Yang however jumped up the moment that she saw them. "Uncle Qrow!"

"Hey there, firecracker." Qrow wrapped an arm around Yang in a side hug. "Any idea what on Remnant is going on?"

"You don't know either?" Yang asked, incredulous.

"Just arrived. Didn't expect this much of a welcome party."

"Excuse me," one of the guards interrupted. "You're expected upstairs, Mister Branwen." She said.

"Right. We'll be back, kiddo." With that, the two strangers entered the elevator and left.

"That's your uncle?" Weiss asked. Yang nodded. Normally Weiss would ask about him further, but neither of them were really in the chatting mood. So instead, Weiss just sat and waited. Yang paced. Blake sat off in a corner and Weiss swore she was trying to make herself as small as possible. Ren and Nora sat on opposite sides of Pyrrha and fussed over her.

The next time the elevator doors opened, all eyes snapped to them. Glynda stepped out with the boy, and summoned Pyrrha and Blake. Yang and Weiss watched their teammate go wordlessly. What else was there to say? As far as Weiss was concerned, there was nothing to say until they got an explanation.

The boy looked around at the distressed faces and opted for a seat away from all of them. Yang resumed her pacing. Weiss didn't even look at her scroll, or do anything else. She just sat there, waiting in limbo. Nora eventually moved over to the boy, who Weiss heard introduce himself as Oscar. He seemed almost as nervous as all of them, and Nora did her best to try and make him feel a little better.

As their lives seemed to only be a series of comings and goings from either the lobby or the elevator it seemed fitting when the headmaster of Atlas Academy, and head of the Altesian military, General Ironwood burst through the lobby doors. He paid all of them no mind as he brusquely entered the elevator, his guards saluting as he passed.

Weiss was convinced now more than ever that whatever was going on was important. Ozpin, Glynda, and now Ironwood? Something important happened. But as to what, Weiss could only guess.

The lobby grew quiet after that. For hours, no one entered, and no one exited. The guards were dismissed, taking Penny with them, leaving just the students. Oscar fell asleep in his chair. Yang paced. Weiss thought.

When the elevator finally dinged, Weiss wondered who would show up this time. When all their teammates stepped out, Yang was upon her sister before Weiss could even stand.

"Ruby!" She put her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, Yang." Ruby said tiredly.

"You don't look fine." Weiss retorted. None of them did. "What happened??"

Neither Ruby nor her partner moved to answer immediately.

"Perhaps this is a conversation based saved for our dorms." Pyrrha said, sensing that team RWBY might want some privacy. Jaune nodded in agreement and together team JNPR left. Team RWBY wasn't far behind, and once they were all back in their dorms, Yang and Weiss sat their team leader and her partner down and waited as patiently as they could for answers.

The seconds ticked away without anyone saying anything, the two of them staring anywhere except their teammates as Yang's gaze bore into both of them. When it became clear that neither was going to speak without prompting Weiss resigned herself to having to be the one to force the conversation forward.

"We've spent hours worrying about the two of you. You owe us both an explanation."

"We're fine." Blake said.

"You don't look fine." Yang snapped. "Cut the bullshit, why aren't you telling us anything?"

"I- We… it's… complicated, Yang." Ruby said.

"The two of you are hiding something. You've been hiding something for a long time. What's the point of being a team if you aren't going to be honest with us?" Weiss had pondered what they could be hiding while they were waiting for their teammates to return from Ozpin's office. Blake and Ruby had been in league with each other going all the way back to the previous semester where together they had convinced her and Yang to fight the White Fang at the docks, an adventure that Weiss still found to be inexplicable.

Ruby looked like Weiss had kicked her puppy in front of her.

"Ruby, there's nothing so bad that you can't tell us." Yang tried to reach out to her sister. "Whatever it is, we'll work through it together. If you're in trouble-"

"We're not in trouble. At least… not with the school." Ruby was quick to assure her sister. She looked over at Blake apprehensively. The two shared one of those moments that Weiss had come to recognize from sparring that meant they were having a conversation that no one else would be able to understand. When Ruby nodded, she knew some conclusion had been reached.

"We were fighting someone named Cinder Fall." Blake said. "I know that name doesn't mean anything to you, but it means something to us."

"Okay?" Yang raised her arms. "So who is she? Why were you fighting her?"

"She's… well, she's trying to destroy Beacon." Ruby finished.

Of all the possible reasons for their teammates' predicament, Weiss could honestly say that this was about the most insane excuse they could think of. "Excuse me?" She said.

"Last semester, when we went to the docks," Blake kept her voice calm, "her and the White Fang are part of the same conspiracy."

"So… what? Are we supposed to believe that you have been fighting some vast conspiracy to—what, destroy the kingdom or something?" Yang said.

"That is what we've been doing!" Ruby exclaimed.

Weiss scoffed. "What's the point of talking if you're just going to lie about this?"

"But it's the truth." Blake said resolutely.

The notion was ridiculous. They were students. "Fine, how did you uncover this vast conspiracy and how did you know 'Cinder Fall' was a part of it, or where she would be?" Weiss asked.

Ruby suddenly looked even more sheepish. "Yeah… that's… that's the more unbelievable part."

"That's hardly possible." Weiss remarked. Yang looked at her sister expectantly.

"We know about all of this because… we've lived it before." Ruby said.

"This is our second time at Beacon." Blake added.

Weiss scrunched her eyebrows and exchanged a perplexed look with her partner. "You're going to have to elaborate."

Ruby sighed. "The short version is we're from the future. Me, Blake, and Jaune. We got sent back here to… I don't know, fix things, I guess?"

"What…?" Yang said.

The story was getting more incredulous by the word. "If you're from the future, how far in the future?" Weiss was going to ask enough questions to expose the lie.

"About three years." Blake answered.

"So… right after we graduate? Do we become licensed huntresses?" Yang asked.

"We… none of us graduate. No one does." Blake said.

"Beacon gets destroyed, which is what we're trying to stop. It's why we went to the docks, it's why I've pushed you last semester, it's why we fought Cinder." Ruby said.

"Okay, let's pause for a minute." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "I think I speak for myself and Yang when I say this is all a little difficult to swallow at face value. Let's forgo all of the other questions I have for the moment and focus on something else. Allegedly, you've been trying to stop a conspiracy to destroy the school for almost a year, and you haven't told your teammates, who also attend Beacon, about any of it?!"

"I was going to tell you…" Ruby grumbled into the floor.

"When? Because from where I am, it looks like you're only telling us because you have no other choice." Yang said. "How could you think that was okay?" She sounded hurt.

"It wasn't." Blake whispered. "It wasn't, and we should have told you. We were scared, scared that you wouldn't believe us, that if you knew that you'd be in danger. But I think… I think most of all, telling you meant acknowledging that our teammates were gone." Her voice broke on the final word.

Ruby tried to comfort her partner, holding her hand, but also looked about ready to burst into tears. "We were really close, all of us. Then Blake and I found ourselves here. We didn't even know the other made it until recently."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "How close?"

Blake finally managed to look Yang in the eye. "Do you remember how I told you that I had been in a polyamorous triad before?"

"You don't mean…" Yang started.

Blake nodded. "You, me, and Weiss."

"You joined our relationship?" Weiss said, incredulous. She couldn't possibly imaging sharing Yang, much less with her teammate. Blake was her friend, but certainly nothing more.

"A-actually, the other way around. You," Blake looked at Weiss, "joined ours."

Yang shifted closer to Weiss and protectively put an arm around her shoulders. "I guess it's good to know we're bound to end up together no matter what." Yang said. It should've been a joyous statement, but she said it without enthusiasm. "Look, Ruby, over the past semester and a half I've watched you grow more and more independent. You rose to the challenge of leading this team, and more. But now… now I feel like I don't even know my own sister. I get why you didn't want to tell me. But you should have. You can come to me for anything. You can tell me anything."

"I'm sorry, Yang." Ruby hung her head.

"I'm sorry, too. You deserved to know and we shouldn't have kept this from you for so long." Blake apologized as well.

This was all giving Weiss a headache, but she knew that there was no way she'd sleep until she had answers. "By now I can surmise that Ozpin already asked this and it'll be your second time recounting everything, but please, start from the beginning."

"What?" Ruby asked.

"You're going to ask for our help, aren't you?" Weiss said. Mad as she was, if there was some grand conspiracy against Beacon, there was no way in hell that Weiss would be left out whatever plan was there was to stop it. Beside her, Yang nodded.

"I… you—you want to help?"

"Ruby, we're huntresses." Weiss said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Ruby bit her lip nervously. "Ozpin's changed our mission. We're going to be heading to Mountain Glenn to scout a White Fang stronghold. Soon the school is going to be arresting as many people as we can who we know are involved."

That significantly assuaged Weiss' fears that this was all some elaborate ruse. If Ozpin was signing on, and with such force, that could only mean he believed the insane story as well.

"Of course we'll help, Ruby. But only if you tell us everything, okay? No more lies. No more secrets. No more half-truths." Yang said.

Ruby nodded. She and Blake started to weave an elaborate tapestry. They spoke about how they both arrived at Beacon, the first time. What happened the first time. Weiss and Yang both felt considerable unease when Blake and Ruby told them that they weren't originally partners, and both refused to let go of the other's hand. They detailed the events of the Vytal Festival and the Fall of Beacon, to Weiss' mounting horror.

Ruby sobbed recalling how her sister was maimed in the attack, and Weiss watched as Yang did her best to calmly process what she was told. In the end, they had to take a break, their first of several that night. Ruby and Blake changed out of their combat gear, and Weiss and Yang out of their dresses from the dance. When they reconvened, they spread blankets all over the floor and sat together, instead of with the partnerships on opposite beds.

Weiss couldn't forgive her teammates immediately, but it was plainly evident that they had been carrying an incredible burden for a long time, and that ultimately her anger wouldn't help anything. There would be time for anger later, when she and Yang could talk alone about all this, but right now Weiss tried her best to be a good teammate, and put her personal feelings to one side.

What had been an exhausting night turned into an exhausting morning as the sun rose, streaking into the window of the dorm. Ruby and Blake filled in every little detail from when they had met to the present moment. Gods, maidens, relics, an immortal being named Salem. Ozpin, Oscar, an endless cycle of reincarnation. The void, the girl who set them free, and the being that sent Blake back. They spared no detail, and by the end Weiss had little choice but to accept that at least most of it had to be the truth. It all explained so much, how Ruby had been the perfect leader, how the two of them had always been on the same page, how they were far better at combat than her and Yang.

Their airship to Mountain Glenn was scheduled for the late evening, so that they could fly in under the cover of darkness, and it was with droopy eyelids that Weiss finally decreed that they all needed their sleep. The rest agreed.

Weiss felt little hesitation slipping into Yang's bed. She would need the comfort after tonight, and Yang was more than happy for her presence. She and Yang wrapped their arms around each other as they tried to fall asleep. Opposite them, Ruby and Blake held each other in their own bed.

"Yang." Weiss whispered to her partner, their faces buried in each other's shoulders.

"Yeah?" Yang said.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"…It's okay if you're not okay."

Yang pulled back and Weiss saw the tears in her eyes. "Thanks." Weiss kissed her partner's cheek and soothingly stroked her hair they both shed quiet tears.

Notes:

Chapter 17!

This is the longest chapter of the story so far, beating out chapter 9, the docks fight, by about 100 words.

I've learned a lot writing this, about writing, about storytelling, about the finer points of grammar (thank you beta reader!) But mostly what I've learned is that I am incapable of writing concisely. Everything I attempt to write ends up being twice as long as I wanted it to be.

Which is usually fine, but this chapter was ridiculous. I didn't even get through a third of my planned outline for the chapter. Guess that just means I know what I'm writing for the next chapter! Speaking of, that chapter will mark the expected halfway point for the story. I've always guessed it'll be around 35 chapters, but I'm certainly not holding myself to that number and will adjust up or down as needed.

Thank you to everyone reading, kudo-ing, and of course most of all, commenting. Every comment fills me with joy and motivation to keep this story going.

Until next time,

~ThePalestRose