Specialist Rose

30) Truths Unvailed

Ruby was sure she would throw up. The last time she was in an elevator with these people was bad enough but this was somehow worse. Glynda kept shooting her looks of pity whilst Qrow wouldn't even look at her. For a ride she assumed would be short it seemed to be going on forever.
"Where are we going?" Ruby asked in an unusually timid voice, Ozpin ignored her question and instead asked,
"Tell me Ruby, what is your favourite fairytale?"
"I would say it is the story of the seasons, yeah that one is my favourite."
"Your mother loved that one too."
"Professor Ozpin what is going on? Why am I here? Why did you ask that?"
He ignored me as the elevator doors opened revealing a huge Vault underneath the school. Ruby had always had her suspicions about Beacon but this had only given her way more questions than answers. There was some machine at the end of the hall she couldn't really see from there so Ruby brushed it off in favour of following Qrow and the others out into the Vault. Ozpin stopped, turned around and faced her as did everyone else making her feel very cornered.
"Ruby what would you say If I were to tell you the story of the seasons is true?"
"I- what?"
"That there are 4 extraordinary young women in this world with unimaginable power. Ruby we believe that-"

Ruby POV 

I panicked, I felt like ice water had been drenched all over me. My flight or fight response overpowered me and I chose fight. My eyes burned and I jumped back summoning up 2 flaming swords and getting into a fighting stance sure that they were going to attack me. 
"How did you know!?" Though now I doubt they did, Ozpin's eyes were the size of dinner plates, Goodwitch had dropped her cane and made no move to pick it up. And the people I was scared of disappointing, Ironwood and Qrow. Ironwood's jaw was practically on the floor and Qrow looked paler than me. Nobody spoke and my fear only rose, It got slightly windy despite being underground, the floor around us started frosting and creeped up the walls, the lights flickered and the temperature rapidly heightened. I didn't notice that I was shaking until Ozpin took a tentative step forward and I took a step back. 
"Calm down, It's alright Ruby." He said gently and stepped towards me like a spooked animal. 
"No!" I took another step back away from them only to bump into a wall that had been frosted. I really was backed against a wall now. Ironwood held his hands up but didn't make a move towards me.
"It is alright though Ruby, we aren't here to hurt you. I know you must have been warned about people hunting you but I swear that we are not."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because you know me Ruby, you know your uncle Qrow too and we can easily both vouch for Oz and Glyn. We exist as a group to protect people like you."
"Then why do they look so shocked?"
"Because we didn't actually know that you were a maiden."
"B-But then why would you call me down here?"
I stood up normally and made the swords disappear, the wind stopped through the section of the wall and floor were still frosty. Ozpin began to speak next,
"We called you down here because we believe that you are next in line to receive the power of the Summer maiden, though we don't actually know if a single person can hold 2 seasons."
"What do you mean 'you believe'? That is not how the maiden powers are transferred."
"We know and ideally we would let this happen naturally but we are on the brink of changing times. We know you are suspicious about the size of our defences and to make a long story short we are fighting a person who has magic much like you, think of her as the devil- I'll explain it later."
"What do you mean happen naturally? Professor if you are planning on fighting nature I think you should know that is a horrible plan."
"Ideally we wouldn't but the current Summer maiden was attacked and for the first time in history part of her power was stolen by one of the devil's goons. We fear that when the summer maiden passed the power will seek out it's other half, they're not exactly the kind of person you would want to have unimaginable power."
"You mean the Summer maiden isn't passed yet?"
"Sort of, you see the machine at the end of the hall? She is in there but the damage was catastrophic and she is brain dead."
We began walking over to her. I can't imagine how that poor woman must have felt when she was attacked for something that she didn't ask for.
"So you are just keeping her body alive, like a jar to keep the power in?"
"I know it is not ideal but we have next to no options here Ruby."
"And you plan on shoving that poor woman's power and by extension her aura in me?"
"Essentially. I know it is not ideal but we are running out of choices."
"How do you even know if it will work? What if my aura doesn't tolerate hers?"
"Well it should do."
"How do you know?"
"Because you- ."
I didn't hear what he said, in fact I couldn't hear anything. The whole world seemed to grind to a halt. Because as I looked into the metal pod the face staring back at me was my own. Or as close as one would ever get. The Summer Maiden was Summer Rose, my own mother. The woman I hadn't seen since I was just 5 years old hooked up to wires and machinery to keep her body alive. I had always been told I grew into a carbon copy of her but now I could really see it. I didn't notice tears streaming down my face as I looked at her sickly pale one. All those times I visited her grave there was nothing beneath her tombstone and instead this whole time at Beacon right beneath my feet. She was alive but because of the damage still never coming back for me. I was crying openly now, I just couldn't help it. I laid my head on the pod and kept crying for my mother just like I had 13 years ago when I was told that she was never coming home. Only this time unlike small 6 year old Ruby the ground actually began to shake, shards of ice rock and glass rose from the floor in a circle around me keeping the other people in the vault away from me. Clouds gathered in the vault and as I sobbed thunder rumbled through the large room.  The General's worried tone had to yell above the thunder and wind to be heard, 
"Ruby you need to calm down!" 
All the hurt I was feeling was suddenly shoved to the back of my mind and I whipped my head around to glare at Ironwood and Qrow. They are apart of this secret group which means they knew, chances are Uncle Qrow only reconciled with me so that Oz would have a leash on their new summer maiden that they wanted to be me. And god only knows what Ironwood was buttering me up for. All of this time, everything I worked hard for, all those promotions and even getting into the academy itself was just so they could groom me into this insane thing, those monsters deserved to me in the metal cage that my mother was in.  My powers continued to run rampant and I started floating,
"You! You two! You knew! You knew didn't you?! You knew about all of this! What was I your puppet from day 1 of entering the academy so you could make me apart of this sick twisted thing you have going on?!" 
"Ruby we didn't know! I reconciled with you because you are my niece and I love you"
"Qrow is right Ruby, we didn't know about any of this, I swear I wasn't grooming you for anything all your work is your own."
"Liars! You didn't think twice about imprisoning my mother here so why wouldn't you lie to me?"
"Ruby I told them none of it because I knew they would tell you! They had nothing to do with it, I didn't want to put Summer down here but there wasn't a better option!"
"They really didn't know?"
"They didn't Ruby, I never should have kept your mother down here and I'm sorry! But there really was no choice. I know she didn't get a choice and that isn't fair but it was to keep everyone safe! She was a huntress I think she would have wanted that, don't you?"
Ozpin was right, my anger dissipated through I still had tears streaming down my face and I was suddenly aware of just how tired I was. I had never used my power to this extent before and it was exhausting, coupled with the emotional trauma of what I had discovered it was all to much and I blacked out in mid-air. The last thing I saw was Ironwood and Qrow running over to where I was laying on the ground. Then nothing but darkness. 

Happy Friday everyone! Sorry about this but sacrifices must be made for the plot. Yes I did make Ruby the fall maiden just to have the foreshadowing of Summer being the Summer maiden. 
Vote if you liked it, comment and consider following me.
See you later, love Lizzi