Onboard an Atlesian bullhead, Ruby and her team could be seen chatting away through the night as they continued onwards towards Atlas. Now that the evacuation was done, all they had to do was to head to Atlas, and rest for the following day. But Ruby still can’t help but remember that floating girl that took away Roman Towrchwick that very night.

‘Who was she?’ thought Ruby. They still had to talk about that monster that landed near Beacon Tower that then turned to gold by who knows what. Thinking that this couldn’t remain in the dark, she brought up the topic to her teammates.

“Hey, you guys, I have something to tell you,” Ruby caught the attentions of her teammates – or specifically those around her. “Remember when I jumped off the ride down to Beacon?”

“Actually, yeah, I do remember,” Yang glared at Ruby as for worrying her too much. The same could be said for Weiss and Blake as they nodded in agreement – not to mention Sun just a ways beside her.

“Well, I ended up meeting Torchwick when I climbed on the Atlesian Warship that controlled the robots,” said Ruby getting smaller and smaller as she said each word. When they heard this, they all couldn’t help but glare at her for doing something so reckless.

“But as we were fighting, a strange girl showed up and took him away to who knows where,” said Ruby nervously. “There might also be a chance that whatever’s happening right now, might be connected to her because she left a few words before she left.”

“… And? What were those words?” asked Blake as she sent a questioning glance towards Ruby.

“She said, that we should we prepare for what’s to come next while she laughed an vanished,” said Ruby. “It was at that time that I saw a huge figure falling from the sky, the thing that’s now covered in gold near Beacon Tower. But I think that’s not what she meant by prepare for what’s ahead.”

“Hm, that’s quite an interesting topic there, Ruby,” just then, a voice familiar to them was heard. When they glanced at his direction, they saw Ozpin waking up and sitting back up from the stretcher.

“Professor Ozpin!” Pyrrha cried out in glee. “You’re awake!”

“I’m glad you’re safe Pyrrha,” said Ozpin with a smile. Pyrrha’s shout however did not go unnoticed by Ironwood sitting at the front of the bullhead.

“Ozpin’s awake?” asked Ironwood as he headed to the passenger area.

“Can you see him sleeping?” replied Qrow sarcastically.

For the record, those aboard this ship heading to Atlas were Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN, Ironwood, Qrow, Ozpin, Yasuo, and their pilot. Professor Goodwitch however, had to take another bullhead because of the full seats since this particular bullhead was designed with speed in mind, so it could only carry a maximum of 17 people, including the driver.

“By the way Miss Rose,” called out Ozpin. “Could you tell me more about that girl that you met above the General’s ship?”

“Of course,” Ruby started. “Lemme see, first she looked like a human girl no older than 13, had hair longer than her entire body colored in blonde, pink and purple. She always had a goofy smile and always floated, with sparkles and glitter surrounding her. She also had this power to create portals for herself, or anyone with ease. She also had this carefree personality and had an addiction to a certain type of cake.”

“Hm,” Ozpin locked himself in his thoughts for a moment after registering the information about the girl Ruby talked about.

First, that bit with the cake had nothing to do with him, or this world so he ignored that part. Next is her appearance which should obviously show she would be young, but they don’t really know her age. She could probably like Ozpin where she was reincarnated again and again, or like Salem who was immortal. But the more mysterious part was her powers. Creating portals with ease that can transfer people from a place to another? If that was true, which he believed so since Ruby was the witness, then that girl cannot be left unchecked in Remnant.

First he had Salem, now he had another possible enemy to protect the world from. But what is more puzzling to him was, who was the purple man who helped him in his fight against Cinder, and who was also probably his benefactor. But then, Ozpin had a thought, what if creating portals wasn’t her only power? What if it was just a fragment of her seemingly endless well of power? That was a thought Ozpin didn’t want to become reality.

Which is already true in reality actually, but Ozpin didn’t know that. She was the reason why Remnant and Runeterra merged after all.

“By the way, where is that purple man?” asked Ozpin, curious at the disappearance of the man.

“You mean Ryze?” Ironwood asked.

“Ryze? That’s his name?” Ozpin nodded once Ironwood nodded in agreement. “I wasn’t able to thank him for helping me in that battle with Cinder.”

“Incidentally, what happened down there?” Qrow asked, anxious about the answer.

“We failed,” Ozpin said, hanging his head down. He clenched his fist as he remembered the face of Amber who died in agony with an arrow stuck to her chest.

Qrow and Ironwood were not that surprised since they recognized the power Cinder unleashed when she woke up, but they wanted to know if there was a silver lining to all that. Pyrrha and Jaune also went silent when they heard what Ozpin said.

“I don’t mean to pry but,” Weiss asked, curiousity at its peak. “What are you all talking about?”

Ozpin stayed silent at first, the bullhead being encompassed by that same silence, save for its flight noise. He hesitated for a moment, before he made a decision.

“I suppose you all need to hear the truth, since Mr. Arc and Ms. Nikos already knows to some extent,” started Ozpin. “Have you ever heard of the story of the Seasons?”

And with the same information he gave Pyrrha, Ozpin shared it with all people within the bullhead’s passenger area, so the pilot wasn’t able to hear about it. About the four maidens, about how they wield incredible power, how candidates were chosen, and what would happen if said power falls into the wrong hands, which has happened just earlier this night.

He didn’t tell any of them about Salem, his reincarnations, and the Relics though. They still didn’t need to know about it.

He told them how Pyrrha was about to succeed as the next Fall Maiden, but was then interrupted because of Cinder, killing Amber, the current Fall Maiden in the process, and ultimately failed the succession. The power then flowed to Cinder, and if not for Ryze teleporting in, Ozpin would be dead by now.

When they heard this, the teams glanced at Pyrrha and Jaune’s direction. The two didn’t know how to react, so they just averted their eyes, but Jaune still had to come to terms since he still didn’t know the whole story when he accompanied Pyrrha and Ozpin into the Vault.

“And that about sums up what we’ve been hiding from you students,” although this was a blatant lie to Qrow and Ironwood, this was just enough so that they won’t ever have to fight against Salem.

The teens were having a hard time believing all this. One of their fairytales was actually true, so if that were so, then what about the others? Are they true, or are they just make-believe. But that didn’t concern them right now, no, what did concern them however, was the mental state of their friend, Pyrrha, who was about to carry one of the heaviest burden in all of Remnant. That only hold true though to Team RWBY, Jaune, Nora, and Ren, since Team SSSN was not that close to Team JNPR.

“Oh no, don’t worry about me,” Pyrrha said, tired from exhaustion.

“But,” Jaune was about to speak, but was interrupted by Ironwood.

“I can sympathize with you worrying about your friend,” Ironwood stated. “But for now, rest, you can all talk about it in the morning, after a good night’s sleep.”

“…I – you’re right,” Jaune agreed hesitantly, still worried about Pyrrha, but decided to worry in the morning instead since all of them had a rough day. With that as the start, the teens, then fell into slumber, exhaustion covering their whole body, mentally, and physically.

“Ozpin,” said Ironwood as the students all fell asleep. “We need to talk about that huge monster that destroyed that tower.”

While all this was happening though, Qrow and Yasuo were sharing their drinks with each other.

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In the middle of the night, a vessel crossing the sea could be seen drifting across the waters under the pale moonlight. On the deck, soldiers were busy keeping watch, in case anything ever pops up that may destroy the ship.

The soldiers were attentive, scanning through the area in all seriousness as they kept the boat safe by keeping watch. As expected from the handpicked elites of Garen Crownguard, captain of the Dauntless Vanguard, though the soldiers were from the Dauntless Vanguard as well.

But underneath the deck within the captains’ room, a figure doing push-ups with one hand while donning an incredibly heavy suit of armor that covered his entire body, except for his head could be seen, his name was Garen.

“3,496! 3,497! 3,498!” Garen effortlessly pushed up and down with his right arm as he counted. “3,499!”

“Brother?” just then, a knock and a voice of a female could be heard beyond the door leading to the deck.

“One moment! 3450!” and after that, Garen stood up, with sweat barely dripping from his body. Then the door opened, and a blonde girl with a hood entered.

“Lux,” Garen recognized his own sister and approached. “What brings you here?”

“I just wanted to ask if,” Lux hesitated for a moment before continuing with her question. “If, you met some mages in the new lands…”

A frown floated up Garen’s face. Before Lux was able to finish her question, Garen stopped her.

“I loathe mages, I admit,” admitted Garen. “But I am not a murderer that would relish in killing mages outside of Demacia. We were tasked with this mission to investigate what the new lands are, if there are any civilizations residing, within, or if it is just a huge land with primal beasts talking within.”

Relieved at the answer Garen gave, Lux heaved a sigh. Then she hugged her brother with all of her heart. Garen hugged her back in the same manner, but a malicious thought kept creeping up in his heart.

‘If Luxanna really is… No, that can’t possibly be right… Can it…? No, it’s impossible…’ Garen was torn to believe whether Lux really was a mage he loathed, or just a normal girl. He couldn’t possibly bear the decision he would make when his suspicions were confirmed. He hoped, wished, and prayed that Lux wasn’t a mage.

Once they ended the hug, the bell rung, signaling an emergency. They quickly headed outside to see a huge figure forming in the distance. Since it was clear underneath the moonlight, they were able to see what the creature was. It had two huge arms and was black all over, except for the white markings on its body that looked like ribs, a huge, white mask-like thing that covered the top of its head, some white scales on its arms, and a something like a fin on its back with white spikes protruding outwards.

It had gills, so naturally, it was amphibious since it lived in the sea, and can breathe air seeing that it can stay alive without water for extended period of time, but what’s more surprising, is that because it was heading their way.

“All men hands on deck! Ready the arrows, load the cannons! While we fire on that thing, I want someone to sail this ship past that huge monster,” Garen immediately gave orders.

“Captain, it’s impossible to avoid direct contact! The winds blowing towards that monster! We can’t outrun it!” shouted a soldier.

“Damn! Change of plans, Esteban! Set sail with the wind! Drop down all sails!” shouted Garen back.

“Yes, captain! For Demacia!” the soldier, Esteban, commandeered the ship and set it straight towards the monster.

The ship then picked up pace and headed straight towards the huge monster making its way towards it. This was a risky gamble, if they messed up, all of them would die, if not, then they lived. But of all the things that could happen, it started breathing fire.

This invited terror and fear into the hearts of the soldiers. Even though they were well trained elites, in front of certain death, they training held no meaning. That is until, Lux did something unimaginable.

A bright light blinded the soldiers as well as Garen, and a ray of light pierced through the huge monster. It fell into the water and never rose again. Once the light subsided, Garen, as well as the soldiers looked over Lux wielding a staff that signified that she used magic.

Lux was filled with fear because of the action she took. However, Garen was even more terrified because his fears and suspicions have turned into reality.