Oscar Pine, who is currently letting Ozpin take over, Rei Ferrari, and Qrow Branwen are seen sitting together. Qrow takes a sip from his cup.
"Things aren't looking good, Oz." Qrow admits.
"Ever the optimist." Orpington sips from his cup. "While I would not say our current predicament is... ideal, I think we can both agree that the situation could be much worse. Humanity is a resilient force."
"Oz, pro Huntsmen like that don't just bite it all at once. Salem's powerful. It seems like her reach is growing by the day. What does that say about Humanity?"
"That there are indeed a misguided few who have filled their hearts with malice. It doesn't take a great number of people to cause harm, but I still believe there are far more people in this world willing to prevent it." As Ozpin is about to take another sip, Ruby Rose is heard walking into the room.
"Um, excuse me?" Ruby says.
"Ah, Miss Rose, join us. We were just about to gather everyone to discuss our next steps." Ozpin says.
"Oh, uh, great."
Rei leans back holding his nose. "Something on your mind Rubes?"
"Uh... uh, it's... if it's okay to ask."
Qrow nods. "Of course."
"Well, uh... we've been talking about the Relic at Haven... and the Spring Maiden, but... what about the Fall Maiden?"
Rei takes a deep breath. "Cinder?"
"Does that mean... Salem has the Beacon Relic?"
Ozpin and Qrow share a brief look with each other. "Very astute, Miss Rose, I was wondering who would be the first to ask after Rei. No, thankfully she does not. It's true that the Relic at Haven is very much at risk, and for now, that should remain our primary focus. Let's just say I made finding the Relic at Beacon a... bit more challenging than at the other schools."
"Oh. (sighs in relief) That's good to hear."
"It is, but let's not forget the challenges that still lie before us." Oozing warns. Ruby nods. "Now is there anything else we can help you with?"
"Oh, uh... well, I did have one more question."
Ozpin shakes his head. "No, my cane is not a Relic."
"I have no more questions." Ruby says, causing Rei to chuckle.
"Yes, while this cane is indeed very precious to me, it is also just that - precious to me. While I admit it still has a few more tricks up its sleeve, I can firmly say that being a Relic isn't one of them. Now why don't you run and get the other students?"
Suddenly, Qrow's scroll is heard vibrating. He takes it out from his pocket to see "LEO LIONHEART" calling. He takes the call. "Yeah? ... Okay... yeah, we'll be there." Qrow hangs up
"Who was it?" Ruby asks.
Qrow sighs while taking out his flask. "It was Leo, says he had a breakthrough with the council. Thinks he might be able to get together a small raiding party for the bandits. He wants us to meet up at the school tomorrow night to walk us through it."
Ruby gasps and smiles. "Really? Oh that's great! I'll go get the others." Ruby runs out of the room while Qrow takes a drink from his flask.
"Mmm, that sounds drastically different from your original conversation, doesn't it?" Rei asks.
"It does."
Rei hums. "Tomorrow night, if he betrays us..."
"Things aren't looking good." Qrow says.
Ozpin nods. "I know..."
At Leonardo Lionheart's office, the Haven headmaster sits at his desk in front of a blue holographic screen with the text "CALL END" before deactivating. Raven Branwen stands a few feet away from him, arms crossed and smiling.
"I still have questions for you." Raven says standing across from Leo.
"You're not alone in that."
Raven hums walking in front of his desk. "You know, I never expected you would be the one to have the guts to betray Oz. Which makes me wonder, what does she have on you?"
"I'm helping her for the same reason you are - I'm afraid. We... we can't stop her... no one can..."
"That's why I tried to leave when I did. I'm not afraid, I'm smart." Raven says.
"You can call it whatever you want, it doesn't really matter. We're here... helping her." Leo buries his face in his hands, sighing. "I've crossed a line... I've done things that Ozpin will never forgive, and he shouldn't! I don't know where I go from here."
Raven places her hands on his desk. "Man up! You did what you had to do to survive, there is no shame in that."
Lionheart glares at Raven. "Who are you trying to convince?" Raven doesn't say anything, she just leaves the room while Lionheart sadly leans back sighing.
The full moon illuminates the night sky above Haven Academy. On the school grounds, Qrow Branwen takes the lead as the currently present members of Team RWBY, the currently present members of Team REDS, the remaining members of Team JNPR, and Oscar Pine follow close behind. Ruby Rose stops and looks up to admire Haven's CCT tower, before following the rest of the group to a nearby building. They enter the building and are greeted by Leonardo Lionheart, who is standing on a terrace at the top of the stairs that is being held up by a statue of a woman in chains.
"Why hello. Thank you for... coming." Leo says, he glances around and speaks nervously. "There... seems to be more of you than last time." He says followed by 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?"
"Why... did you bring your weapons?" Leo asks concerned.
"What? Leo, we're Huntsmen. You okay?"
"Of course! Of course, sorry. Just haven't had my evening coffee."
"Look, it's nice to see you, but we got work to do. Are we getting support from the council or not?"
While the two talk, Yang Xiao Long notices from the corner of her eye a black bird perched on a balcony railing. "Mom?" Yang says quietly.
Everyone's attention is 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 Branwen, donning her mask. Everyone glares at her.
"Raven..." Sky glares at Yang's mother.
"They... they really are magic..." Nora mutters.
Raven speaks taking her mask off. "If you're going to shoot me, shoot me. That was insulting."
"What are you doing here?!" Qrow shouts.
Raven walks down the stairs. "I could ask you the same thing. You've been scheming, little brother. Planning to attack your own sister."
"Leo... what have you done?!" Row shouts.
"I..."
"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."
Qrow roars at his sister angrily. "You have the Spring Maiden."
Raven nods. "I do."
"Then hand her over and let's work together! We can beat Salem!"
"All that time spent spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem!"
"You're wrong." Ruby says. "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 holds her hand out. Raven glares at it.
Raven glares at Ruby, scornfully. "You sound just like your mother."
Suddenly, Raven draws Omen and creates a portal with her Semblance. From the portal, a fireball is launched and nearly hits Ruby square in her torso it's blocked by Rei using his blood as a shield which pushes him back slightly.
"Cinder." Red mutters as he peers up at the portal. As Cinder steps out of the portal.
"Hello boys and girls." She is then joined by Vernal, Dim Spring, Ambrose, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black as they too step out from the portal. 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?" Yang growls at him.
"Everybody, stay calm." Qrow says to his team.
Suddenly they hear the doors behind them open up. Hazel Rainart is seen closing the doors behind him as he enters. "The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds. No one's getting in, and no one's getting out."
Outside, a White Fang soldier is seen placing a bomb on the CCT tower. The camera zooms out to show more bombs all primed set by more White Fang soldiers. Adam Taurus looks on.
"Once the charges are set, move back to perimeter watch. Tonight, Haven falls." Adam smiles evilly.
Back inside, everyone watches Hazel slowly approach them. They turn their attention back to Cinder.
"This was all just a trap?" Weiss mutters.
"It appears so..." Erin draws his new sword and shield.
"Raven, tell me... how long have you been with them?" Qrow asks.
Cinder steps forward responding in a mocking tone. "Aww, don't take it personally, little bird. 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?"
Lionheart looks down shamefully. "Stop it..."
"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?" Arrow glares at Leo. "I couldn't find any of them, because you let her kill them!" Lionheart doesn't say anything, only 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."
"What is wrong with you...?" Rei says seething. "How can you be so fucking stupid." This gathers Cinder's attention. "To have take so many lives, and then come here and rub it in our faces like it's something to be proud of?!"
"Rei?" Sky asks.
"I thought you were just a pain in the ass. No... Rei stares at Conder as blood erupts from his back making several tendrils behind him. "I'm gonna kill you." The rest of the group draw their weapons.
"Everybody, stay calm!" Qrow orders.
Cinder just glares. "You don't deserve shit!" Red says stepping forward.
"Kid!"
Jaune transforms Crocea Mors to its two-handler form and advances forward. Cinder summons a glowing scimitar and blocks Jaune's attack. She's then forced to dodge Rep who barrels past Jaune stunning everyone with his speed.
"Jaune!" Ruby leaps into the air, but a chain wraps around her and she is pulled to the ground by Emerald.
"Rei!" Sky calls out but is forced to dodge an explosion caused by Ambrose her eyes glowing as she glares at Sky.
"You're not getting near her." Emerald says to Ruby.
"Stay away from my Rei." Ambrose roars.
Jaune is then pushed back by Cinder and the two begin their duel. Rei prepares to charge Cinder again, but Dim stands in front of him
"You don't want to do this little brother."
"Get out of my way." Rei growls, Dim sighs as several tendrils extend from his back.
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?"
Yang growls and uses Ember Celica to propel herself forward. "I'll break your stilts for good this time."
Raven looks to Vernal. "Take out the heiress. Don't bother wasting your power, she's not worth it."
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!"
"Sorry, brother. Sometimes family disappoints you like that."
"We're not family anymore."
Raven rolls her eyes. "Were we ever?"
"I thought so, but I guess I was wrong." The two 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 draws her weapons and confronts Weiss and Erin.
"Let's see what the Schnee name really means." Vernal draws her weapons, while Weiss holds Myrtenaster en garde.
"I'm more than a name." Weiss says.
"Weiss, back me up. I'll lead." Erin says holding a sword.
"Hm, prove it." Vernal says.
Weiss activates a glyph below her and projects herself forward to fight the Spring Maiden. Erin runs after her charging in sword first. 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." Hazel says looking down at the pair.
"Nor I you."
"But we will if you're with her!" Nora glares.
Hazel sighs cracking his neck and knuckles. "Very well, then." Hazel proceeds forward. 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." Oscar defiantly remains stationary before taking a few more steps toward Lionheart. "I'm warning you!" Lionheart holds out Stalwart which switches to active mode, while Oscar prepares to draw something from behind him. "That's enough!" Lionheart 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 is unscathed, though his Aura shimmers. He continues to proceed up the steps and draws The Long Memory.
Lionheart's eyes widen. "Ozpin?"
"Not quite." 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?" Leo says in a panic. "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!" Lionheart, now determined, preps his weapon again.
"What do I do?" Oscar mutters after a beat Oscar proceeds forward.
Meanwhile, Weiss leaps around on her glyphs, dodging Vernal's weapons as she throws them like boomerangs. Erin attacks when he can the pair forcing Vernal to keep one on her at all times. 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. Erin remains tethered to a pillar he looks out a window seeing the White Fang outside.
Vernal catches her weapon. "Don't think I'm going to let you take the easy way out."
Elsewhere, Jaune is knocked to the ground. "I'm starting to remember you, you're the dense one that can't tell when he's out of his league." Cinder says glowering at Jaune. "Stay out of my way." Jaune gets back up and clashes blades with Cinder again. Ruby watches them fight but is snapped out of her distraction by Emerald. 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 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. Jaune hears this and looks in her direction as tears well up in his eyes.
"Are you going to let her die too?" Cinder taunts, not only Jaune, but Ruby, and Rei.
"Stop messing with me!" Rei roars as he and Dim continue their all out brawl both attacking relentlessly.
"If that's what you want..." Cinder says. Cinder 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. She briefly thinks back to the moment when Pyrrha Nikos died, and her eyes start to shine bright again.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
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. She 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?!!" 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."
Jaune glares at her while struggling. "If I die buying them time, then it's worth it. They're the ones that matter."
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. Before smiling evilly as she looks back down to him.
"You think so?"
She then notices Sky get knocked back several feet away, and begins to slowly proceed toward her while she conjures an obsidian spear.
"No..." Jaune watches helplessly while Cinder continues to advance towards Sky. "NOOOOOOO!!!"
Cinder throws the spear and it impales Sky through her abdomen. She gasps in shock as everyone stops their fighting and stare in shock as well. The spear then disintegrates as Sky goes motionless and slumps forwards
"Sky!" Rei roars
Cinder Fall is shown smirking. Jaune quickly gets up and runs past Cinder. Oscar Pine watches Jaune approach and pick up the unconscious Sky Grimoire from his position. He then looks over to the unconscious Ruby Rose. Angered, he smacks Leonardo Lionheart with The Long Memory, causing him to fall down the stairs and into Hazel Rainart, who remains unfazed as Lionheart falls to the ground. Oscar quickly runs over to Ruby, with Nora Valkyrie joining him.
"Ruby, get up! Get up!! We need you!" Oscar says.
Hazel picks up Lionheart by his collar, lifting him off the floor. "You're lettin' that boy make a fool of you."
"That's not just a boy! It's Ozpin." Hazel's eyes widen when he says this. "He's already reincarnated!"
Hazel drops Lionheart and looks over to Oscar, who is still trying to nudge Ruby to wake her up. He then notices The Long Memory being held in the young farm boy's hand. "Ozpin?" Suddenly, the usual calm demeanor of Hazel slowly turns infuriated. Ruby stirs for a bit.
"Ruby! You--!" Oscar looks at Ruby happy.
"OZPIN!!!!"
Oscar looks up. "Oh shit? What does, "Oh shit" mean?" Oscar asks.
"You thought you could hide from ME?!!" Hazel rips his coat off, and then grabs a pair of lightning Dust crystals from a couple of pouches on his legs. "You'll pay for what you did! You'll die over and over again!!" He stabs the lightning Dust into his arms, with his blood vessels turning yellow and popping out from his skin as well as having some lightning coat them. His eyes glow yellow, and he lets out an intimidating roar. Oscar slowly backs away, holding his cane up cautiously. Hazel leaps forward to charge into Oscar, but before anything can happen there's a massive force that slams into Hazel, Rei bursts past Hazel, his aura shatters as Rei runs through him. Hazel coughs blood as a moment later his arm falls off his body entirely.
"Holy shit." Cinder says as Rei's gaze turns to her, but before he can attack Dim blocks him, both ferociously attacking or defending.
"That's a problem." Raven says watching the brothers clash.
"It is, but we have a chance. Let's not waste it." Lionheart is shown on his knees when Cinder's voice gets his attention. "Leo! Open the path to the vault!" Lionheart gets back up and approaches the statue in the room. He takes out his pocket watch and places it in a small niche on the statue. The hands on the watch gradually spin faster and the statue lowers. Yang Xiao Long watches the situation in front of her. She looks to Jaune and Lie Ren as they tend to Sky and then looks over to Nora who is still trying to wake Ruby up. Nora looks to Yang.
"Stop them! We've got your team covered!" Nora says. Yang lingers a bit before heeding Nora's advice, but she gets kicked to the ground by Mercury Black. He is then joined by Emerald Sustrai.
"You wanna get to them? You're going to have to get through all of us." Emerald says.
Emerald uses her Semblance to create multiple copies of Mercury, which surround Yang. Meanwhile, Jaune uses his hands to apply pressure on Sky's' wound, while Ren holds her wrist checking her pulse. "Ren, talk to me!"
Ren sadly shakes his head. "This is bad."
Jaune's eyes widen in horror. "No, no, no, no, not again! Sky, c'mon, please!!"
Meanwhile, Vernal steps onto the platform leading down to the vault.
"Make sure they leave Ruby alive. This won't take long." Cinder says. Cinder steps onto the platform. Dim sighs as he lands on the platform Rei is tied into knots in the rafters of the room held in place as he squirms violently to chase after. Raven looks back a bit as she hears her daughter fighting vainly, shaking her head before she steps on the platform too. The platform then lowers down.
Meanwhile, Jaune and Ren continue tending to Sky. "She's hardly breathing. I... I don't know what we can do..."
The both of them look down to Sky as she struggles to breathe, before suddenly stopping. "No, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Please! (voice breaking) We can't lose anyone else..." Jaune pleads. Jaune sadly closes his eyes. Suddenly, a faint shimmering sound is heard and a light blue aura starts to coat over Sky's body. Sky suddenly gasps for breath again.
Meanwhile, Cinder, Raven and Vernal are seen riding the platform down to the vault.
Cinder looks to Vernal. "Are you nervous, girl? The first Maiden in - why, I'm not sure anyone knows how many years - is about to open a vault. I would say it's quite an exciting time. Don't you feel honored?"
"No, I'm not concerned with any of this. All I care about is my tribe - my family. This is a burden, not an honor."
Cinder chuckles. "You've conditioned her quite well, Raven." As the three continue to ride down the platform, they see the vault under Haven Academy - a massive cavern with a large tree that has glowing orange flowers. The platform reaches the bottom, and the gate protecting the vault is lowered into the ground. "Hm, it's certainly grander than Beacon's. I wonder what the extra effort was for."
Raven sighs. "Can we please not linger?"
Dim chuckles extending his arm. "After you." Vernal steps off the platform first, followed by Cinder, then Dim, and then Raven, the latter putting her mask back on.
Back above ground, Hazel and Rei fight each other intensely, Rei dodges several blows as one punch hits a column. Lionheart tries to intervene by launching another attack from Stalwart, but is stopped by a gunshot from Qrow. The two of them begin to fight each other, with Qrow swinging Harbinger at him. Then following up with a kick before blocking several of Lionheart's projectiles. With the two busy Rei and Hazel engage each other again. Hazel tries to smash him with his fists, but Rei is too fast for him. Nimbly jumping around while striking the man several times. Using Hazel like a springboard to launch himself away, their fight moves back over to the terrace. Rei kicks off a wall dodging fists and electric blasts, Rei slashes at Hazel with his sword cutting him across the chest, Hazel then jabs him several times in the chest. Hazel roars and smashes his fists into the ground, creating another lightning shockwave. Which launches Rei & Weiss back. Meanwhile, Sky starts to gasp and breathes normally again as the blue aura encoating her continues to glow.
"Huh? Wha- what's happening?"
"Sky!" Ruby says joining Jaune and Ren with Sky. Nora helps Ruby up on her feet, who then quickly runs over to her friends side. "What happened? What's going on?!"
Ren smiles. !I think she's going to be okay! She seems to be stabilizing."
With Sky breathing again, Ruby smiles, relieved that her friend's life is not endangered anymore. Ruby then hears her sister struggling, she looks over her shoulder to see Yang getting knocked back by Mercury. Yang charges forward, but Mercury's form disappears as a result of another one of Emerald's Semblance hallucinations. Emerald then creates an image of Raven, which Yang is hesitant to attack. Yang then blocks another attack from Mercury, but his next series of hits manage to knock her down again. Ruby then looks over to Rei fighting Hazel, with the latter's attack becoming too wild and unpredictable for the trained killer. Rei is then hit by one of Lionheart's projectiles and holds his shoulder in pain. Hazel is about to punch at Rei again, but Qrow pushes Rei out of the way and takes the blow in his back, launching him upwards. Ruby then lifts Jaune's hands up to see that Sky's wound has closed.
"Whatever you're doing, don't stop!" Ruby orders.
"I won't."
"Good. Rei and Uncle Qrow need help." Ruby says.
Ren nods. "I'm on it."
"Jaune and Sky still need cover!"
Ren takes out StormFlower, Weiss holds up Myrtinaster, while Nora approaches his side holding Magnhild.
"No one's gonna touch 'em." Nora smiles.
"Okay, make it happen, RNJR!.
Ruby stands back up, transforming Crescent Rose into its scythe form and flips over. She lands to her sister's side, knocking Emerald back. Emerald's Semblance copies of Mercury then disappear, reforming back into the main Mercury.
"Thanks, sis." Yang says standing back up. "You okay?"
"No, I'm angry." Ruby proceeds forward.
Back down in the vault, Vernal, Dim, Cinder, and Raven walk towards the Relic chamber. Suddenly, a symbol on the ground glows bright, as well as the circle enclosed around it. Similar circles with symbols in them also glow leading up to the Relic chamber's door. The tree's flowers then glow even more, and it's petals gently fall and float around the vault. One petal falls into Vernal's hand.
"Having fun?" Dim asks sarcastically.
Vernal glares back at Dim as the petal in her hand dissolves into particles.
"Vernal, stay focused." Raven says.
"Oh, come now, Raven, let her enjoy this. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience." Cinder says.
"How does this work?" Verbal asks.
"Once the Spring Maiden places her hand on the door, it will open. For you - and only you. Then I will walk into the vault, and retrieve the Relic. No one else. Is that clear?" Cinder demands.
"Crystal darlin'." Dim says chewing some gum.
"It doesn't matter to us. Let's get this over with." Raven says.
"Alright then." Dim says. "Vernal, when you're ready." Vernal approaches the door. While she does so, Raven slowly reaches for the hilt of Omen, but stops when Cinder speaks.
"You know, I've heard so many stories about you, Raven. They say you're a cunning leader, that you're strong, that you're clever." Vernal hovers her fingertips close to the door. Cinder glances back at Raven. "It's a shame that they're wrong." Cinder suddenly launches out a blue, frost-like projectile from her hand.
"VERNAL!!" Raven reaches out, but she is already encased in ice by Cinder's attack. Vernal spins around and draws her weapons, but her body suddenly jolts as something stabs her stomach. She looks down and notices an elongated Grimm hand coming from Cinder's left arm, its' claws piercing her torso. Cinder looks from Raven back to Vernal, Dim sighs as he stands between them.
"It's nothing personal, dear." Cinder says as she approaches Vernal. "You're just not worthy of such power." She draws level with Vernal. "But I am." Cinder twists her Grimm arm, and Vernal screams in agony as she is thrown to the ground, struggling to remove the claws from her stomach. The ice coating Raven is shown cracking. "So I will take... what is mine..."
Dim watches with a frown, his arms crossed as he stares at Cinder. Vernal's struggles begin to weaken, her grip on Cinder's arm loosening. Cinder smirks as she looks down on Vernal's body, but then realizes that something is wrong.
"Wha-- what is this? Where's the power?!"
Cinder hears ice shatter from behind her and spins around, to see that Raven has broken free. A bluish aura glows around her body. "You won't find it, because Vernal isn't the Spring Maiden!" Raven takes her mask off and drops it. "I am!!" Raven opens her eyes, the telltale flames of a Maiden glowing around them.
Chapter End.