OOF. This was a doozy to write. Yes, I know, it's over 6000 words long. Whoops. So be ready for a ride. I'm actually quite happy with this chapter and it came very naturally. There's a bunch more things that I finally got down on paper regarding the workings of the world now that Volume 5 is actually explaining things. For now, I will be trying to work on some documentation for my studies seeing as the deadline is on Wednesday and I still need to finish three documents. But I just got so in the groove that I did not give a single f. After that I'll try to continue on my merry way with Chapter 34.

Ultimate Kuuga: Yes, Jacques is a douche. But that's also mostly because of the way the character is portrayed by Miles and Kerry. He's meant to be a cold man that only married for the name and the company. I doubt he has ANY semblance of kindness in him. And thank you for your kind words!

Kyrogue23: You're right regarding Whitley. In my view, Whitley is not so much a misunderstood character, but rather a reflection of what Weiss was when she came to Beacon. Of course years have gone by and Whitley hasn't been idle so the idea of him coming more to terms with the fact that he wasn't the Schnee heir but still solidifying skills and influence in another place made a lot more sense. He has his own motives now. Regarding surprises.. well.. let's just say, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

allie300093: Hey! Thank you for the wishes. And things are already going a bit better. Sometimes, you need to break down in order to say what you really need to. We did that and we're working through it now.

dandyrr0403: Thanks for the kind words! I know it's not as surprising as Vol 5 Ep 12 but this was already planned wayyyyyyyy before Vol 5 was even airing (most of the main storyline was written in 2016, nearly two years ago). It's just a happy little coincidence.

GravenImage: The same as dandyrr; I know it's kind of surprising but is at the same not as surprising as Vol 5 Ep 12. I'M TRYING ALRIGHT. I'm kidding.

Oh, yeah. This chapter was supposed to be online about ten hours ago.. but then fanfiction was down.. so.. Yeah. Blame them in that regard. Either way, I present you Chapter 33: Ice Queen.

Chapter 33: Ice Queen

"Wait, hold up." Jaune said as he quickly sat down. "You're meaning to say that the person we're looking for is Weiss' mom? Why didn't she tell us then?"

"Because she doesn't know. The innate magical talents of the Schnee family are easily attributed due to the fact that the Maiden's power has been in the family for years. However, as you might know, the Maiden's were supposed to be forgotten. A myth." Jacques responded. "And Willow felt very strongly that she couldn't be who she truly was. That she was cursed by her gift."

"So, what you might not have known, is that because of that she became more of an alcoholic throughout the years when our children were born. Up to the point where she did that handiwork on Weiss after she rebelled against her without Winter to protect her." Jacques said and sighed deeply.

"Handiwork? You mean the scar? She told me that happened because of a training exercise." Ruby said.

"Of course she did. Would you be willing to easily share the fact that your mother almost cut your eye out?" Jacques quickly spat. "After that, because of her love for both Winter, Weiss and Whitley, she decided to leave. To prevent anyone else from harm."

Ruby peered at him and crossed her arms. While what he said sounded true, Ruby was sure Weiss had told the truth. Whitley was right. She and Jaune should just take whatever information they could get and try to formulate their own thoughts instead of taking his words to heart.

"So where is she now?" Jaune asked.

"Who knows. She left when Winter left for the Atlesian military and that's been about a decade ago." Jacques said. "Unfortunately, that is all the information I have available to give to you. I do hope you've enjoyed the attention of the ball tonight but I must ask you kindly to leave my office. I am still the head of a large company that needs to be ran."

Jaune stood up and made his way over to the door, but Ruby stayed, only bending down a little to grab the heels she kicked off before standing once again..

"While I despise you as a man and much less as what used to be Weiss' father, Thank you." Ruby said, before turning.

"You might do so but thanking me is useless. I used the two of you as needed and information was the reward you got for it. Consider it a .. quid-pro-quo. For tonight the two of you are allowed to stay here, but by tomorrow I urge you to continue your search. If you do catch my drift." Jacques responded, looking down at some of the paperwork on his desk.

As the door closed with a click once again the pair let out a sigh.

"Well, shit. That was hardly what I expected." Jaune said, rubbing the back of his neck as he took his tie off.

"You're telling me." Ruby responded, mulling over Jacques' words in her head.

"Did you believe him?" Jaune asked, looking at his partner questioningly.

"No. Maybe. At least not fully. I'm fairly certain that Jacques lied about the reason why she left and the cause of Weiss' scar. She told me so herself. There's no reason for her to lie about that. However it does leave us that we don't know the real reason." Ruby responded. "You know what, I'm sure we'll be able to ask her once we find her. It surprises me though that the file on the Winter Maiden is so thin then, considering it's a Schnee. I'm sure Mr. Schnee has plenty to do with that."

"You don't even say his name anymore?" Jaune joked as they started to walk towards their guest room.

"Jaune, the man is a manipulative bastard that married for power and money. He openly admitted to using us for his own ends and just 'deemed' us worthy enough of a reward. He's a greasy slimeball that I still doubt could be Weiss' father because some of the evil he is should've trickled down and there is not an ounce of malicious intent like his in Weiss. Trust me on that." Ruby said.

"Wow, that was stuck for a while wasn't it?" Jaune responded, blinking at Ruby.

Ruby put her hands in her hair, pulling out the pins that held the hair she had so eloquently put up as she was taught how to by Weiss. "He was ready to throw us under the bus on a moment's notice. Now I can imagine even more why Weiss left."

"So.. Good news then?" Whitley said, clearing his throat.

Ruby shook her hair to get it cascading down properly again. "Good news and bad news."

"Let me guess, bad news is that you have no clue where she is?" Whitley quickly replied.

"Wait, how the heck did yo-" Jaune quickly replied looking puzzled.

"Because I suspected he was lying. Then what is the good news?" Whitley responded, his tone direct.

"Whitley. Calm down." Ruby said. "Good news is that we at least know who we're looking for."

".. Excuse me?" Whitley breathed before his eyes flitted between the pair.

"It's your mother." Ruby said with a sigh. "She's the Winter Maiden."

Whitley's face paled even more than it already had before. "Oh." was his only reply.

".. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Unexpected, but in the grand scheme of things not entirely unsurprising. However she hasn't been seen in .." Whitley replied, the edge on his tone gone and replaced by a much more unsure one.

"Nearly a decade. We know." Ruby said. "Are you sure you're okay? You're looking quite pale."

"Y-yes. I assure you, I'm fine. I will just need a glass of water.." Whitley softly said before excusing himself and walking away, his usual stern and proper demeanor shaken.

"Weiss was not exaggerating that her family was messed up.." Ruby sighed. "Speaking off, I should probably call her. If she's on her way to Vacuo, it should be .. at the start of the evening right now. She'll probably want to hear about this sooner rather than later."

"You should, but let's at least get back to the room." Jaune said. Ruby nodded as they continued their walk to their room.

Weiss sat down with a heavy sigh as she kicked off her boots and dumped the sand out of them. "Hate this freaking desert.. Ugh."

Neo popped her head around the doorframe of the bathroom in the modest hotel room and looked at her quizzically.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. I just hate sand and dry heat and definitely will need the shower after your done." Weiss said as she huffed.

Neo jokingly raised her eyebrows at Weiss before diving back into the bathroom and turning on the shower, leaving a flustered Weiss.

"Not like that you fiend!" Weiss said quickly. She knew Neo meant well, to distract her from the actual annoyances, but she still didn't quite feel comfortable with her feelings towards her yet. Rather that the feelings still felt wrong.

With a heavy sigh, Weiss fell back onto the bed and stared up at ceiling fan that lazily spun.

They'd managed to get on a cargo ship to a port fairly close by Vacuo, cutting many of the troubles of trying to get Vacuo without an airship in half. It did mean there weren't many facilities, but it was better than initially expected.

As she was thinking about their trip so far, her scroll started buzzing. Quickly she sat up and grabbed it, immediately seeing Ruby's name and quickly pressing the answer call button.

"Ruby? Everything alright?" Weiss asked.

"Hey Weiss. Uh, yeah. Jaune and me are alright. You'll never guess where we are." Ruby replied.

".. Did you find her already?" Weiss asked puzzled.

"Not quite. We're at the mansion."

"Oh." Weiss replied. A lump formed in her throat. Logically, she reminded herself she didn't care. But it still felt odd.

"Yeah. I believe someone called Klein wanted to let you know he said hi and that he's glad you're okay. He seemed friendly. Whitley is also glad you're okay."

Weiss scoffed and smiled a little. "Figures. Thank Klein for me and tell him not to worry about me."

"Will do. But.. Uh.. are you sitting right now?"

Weiss was once again confused by Ruby's words. "Yes.. Me and Neo just got into a quaint little hotel at a place I think is called Napora. We got into town a couple of hours ago. Why?"

Weiss heard a heavy sigh on the other side.

"It's about the Winter Maiden.. Jacques told us who she is."

".. Okay? So tell me?"

"Alright.. Weiss. Your mom is the Winter Maiden."

Weiss felt a chill run up her spine as she heard the words. ".. What?"

"While I don't trust Jacques at all, I'm fairly certain he was talking the truth about that part. Weiss, your mom is the Winter Maiden. I thought you deserved to know.".

Weiss felt sick to the stomach. The relationship between her parents had been strained as they had continuously fought over the years because of her father's cold attitude and her mother's alcoholism. Weiss knew her mother cared a lot about Winter, Whitley and herself, but Weiss hadn't understood why she had left at the time.

"You okay? I'm sorry. This is something big I'm dropping on you right now.".

"I'm.. not okay. But I do appreciate you telling me Ruby. I .. I'll have to give it some time I think. To really let it sink in. Uh.." Weiss said nearly absent-minded. "So.. what's the plan for you guys then? Find her still?"

"I mean, yeah. It's just.. A bit weirder but easier at the same time I guess."

"Ruby? Could you do me a favour once you find her?" Weiss said, her voice shaking.

"Sure. Anything, Weiss."

Weiss breathed in deep, calming down and keeping the tears at bay before speaking again "Tell her I love her and that I'm sorry."

"I will. Again; sorry that I have to say it this way but I thought you had to know."

"Don't worry Ruby. I really do appreciate it. Thanks for telling me."

"Alright.. Uh.. Well. It's late here and we should be going to bed since tomorrow morning we're trying to leave as soon as we can." Ruby said "Call me if you need to talk okay."

"Alright. I will." Weiss said. As the dial tone sounded, Weiss sighed deeply and put her face in her hands as she tried to make sense of what she was just told. Surely she would have recognized if her mother had been the Maiden? It did explain the more magical nature of her family's semblance, but that was the only thing that made sense at all to Weiss.

Weiss was shaken from her thoughts by a warmth hugging her from behind and looked over her shoulder. Neo wore a compassionate smile as she leaned her head against Weiss' back. In her thinking, Weiss hadn't heard the smaller mute woman leave the bathroom. But she didn't mind, she appreciated the gesture.

"Thanks Neo." Weiss said, settling her thoughts. Whatever questions she had, she would ask her mother once she'd see her again.

As morning came, Jaune and Ruby wasted no time packing up. Time still was of the essence with the threat of Salem looming over them like a bad dream. The both of them donned their armor and finished packing their bags. Opening the door, they were immediately face to face with Whitley.

"Follow me." he said as he walked down the hallway.

Both of them looked confused for a moment before following after the young man.

"I managed to be able to get you two transport to wherever you need to be in Atlas. Since time is of course of the essence." Whitley said, continuing to walk down a hallway before making a sharp turn down a smaller corridor.

"Uh.. Thanks Whitley.. But what for?" Jaune said, adjusting the straps of his bag.

"You're going after the Maiden's, I'm guessing you're not the only party interested in them anymore. My father may think me ignorant in what goes on in the council of Atlas, but trust me when I say that I'm well aware of the state of the world and how Atlas has approached it thus far. Mistral was a rude awakening to be sure, but the signs were there long before with the White Fang being the way it was." Whitley continued as they walked up to a heavy looking door and he typed in a code quite quickly. "And if my mother is able to help the world in any way and you need only to find her, I will try to help the best way I can by offering whatever I can. In this case; transport."

As the doors opened, the snow blasted them with the heavy jets of the airship roaring to life. "The pilot assured me they'd be able to take you anywhere, regardless of conditions." Whitley said, stepping out onto the landing pad.

The airship bore a icy-blue Schnee family emblem and nearly blended into the snow from it's white coloring. It looked much more modern than the regular airships and seemed to be optimized for speed and luxury instead of space. It was clear to Ruby that this was one of the family's own airships.

"Thank you again, Whitley. We really appreciate it." Ruby said earnestly, holding out a hand for Whitley to shake. He took it and shaked it firmly before shaking Jaune's as well.

"No need to thank me. Now go, before my father notices that one of the airships has gone." Whitley said.

Rapidly Ruby and Jaune walked towards the airship, the doors opening exactly as they were close enough to get in and closing immediately after they'd entered.

"Destination" a stern, but somewhere familiar, womanly voice said.

"As close to Mount Lyht as you can get us." Ruby said, holding onto one of the handlebars.

"How fast?" the voice asked again, initiating the take off sequence.

"As fast as you can." Ruby replied again.

With a chuckle the voice responded. "Strap in. Time of arrival, two minutes and fifty-nine seconds."

"That's awfully specfi-ic!" Jaune said before being slammed into one of the seats by the acceleration of the airship as Ruby just barely managed to hold on. Both of them quickly sat down in the luxurious leather seats.

Immediately the pair started checking their weaponry, making sure they were ready to fight if needed. There was a reason that Atlas themselves had stopped trying to find Willow and it had to do much with the fact that she was very powerful and had managed to thwart any attempts. Regardless of their intentions, it wouldn't be easy getting through to the Schnee matron.

As Ruby finished up checking the entirety of Crescent Rose and giving a few bolts additional tightening to make sure her other love was in peak condition, the voice came through again. "Fifteen seconds until arrival."

"You ready?" Jaune asked, smiling at his partner.

Ruby smiled back. "Born ready." she said and stood up before moving to the doors with Jaune following her.

The timing of the pilot was impeccable. In her mind she hadn't counted, but it must have been exactly fifteen seconds from announcement to the door opening, the heavy mountain winds spraying snow in the pair's faces.

"I can't stay here for long, get out now. Contact Mr. Whitley if you require me again." the voice said. Quickly the pair stepped out and immediately the doors closed after them, the airship making its way back down the mountain. Right before them stood an imposing wall of ice shards both dulled and sharp. Jaune pulled out his shield, extending it to shield the both of them from the snow.

"My best guess, go to the icy wall of death!" Jaune shouted over the winds to Ruby as he started moving towards the wall.

Ruby nodded, grabbing Crescent Rose and extending it fully to it's Scythe form. With slow, determined steps the pair got closer and closer to spiky part of the wall. With a pair of bashes, the spikes started breaking down, letting them get closer and closer to the wall.

"You got an idea how to get in this!?" Jaune shouted.

"Yes!" Ruby shouted back. "Step aside for a moment!"

Jaune stepped aside like she'd asked and Ruby focused on her inner power, the edge of her weapon glowing white as she cut a pathway straight through the thick part of the wall. Confident with the way she'd sliced it thus far, she put the barrel of Crescent Rose against the center of the ice and fired, the force of the movement round forcing the ice inward resounding in a heavy crash, giving them a hole to move through. Quickly the pair moved through it, revealing a ice-sculpted pathway with dimly lit torches that was now half-shattered by the heavy block of ice that fell on top of it.

Aside from the wind sweeping past the walls, there was an eerie silence inside. The inside was carefully crafted. It reminded Ruby a lot of the architecture that was used in the Schnee mansion. She reloaded, the empty shell falling onto the ice floor and echoing along deeply.

"This place sounds huge." Jaune said, slotting his shield on his back and grabbing his sword.

"It does. Let's be careful. I'm going to guess she's not going to be too friendly." Ruby replied, walking further warily with Crescent Rose at the ready.

Ruby still felt impressed by the attention of detail. As they continued, it almost felt like they were walking through the same mansion they had been in just before. Only this one was made of ice and without any other color except a blueish white due to the ice and snow. They had walked past the door where they had stayed in the Schnee mansion and continued onto the main hall.

"Is she even here?" Jaune whispered, looking at Ruby.

Ruby shrugged, checking corners and being alert at every sound. As they got deeper, some furnishings could be found albeit simple compared to the elegance of the original. Then Ruby saw a wooden door and for some reason felt compelled to open it. As she got closer, both Ruby and Jaune could hear a heel click on the ice and they immediately swung around, aiming at the sound.

"Curious. I haven't had company in a very long time." the nearly royal voice sounded. "I do believe I had scared you Atlas types away. Oh well, more examples are apparently needed."

Without being able to get a word in, the walls exploded with large ice shards that the both of them were barely able to dodge. However dodging them once proved fruitless as they continued to sprout quickly. Quickly Ruby swung Crescent Rose down with a fierce slash accompanied by her power, obliterating the encroaching ice-shards. At that, Willow summoned a glyph under her own feet and disappeared from the balcony to right before the pair.

"Intriguing." Willow said, creating two glyphs before them that glowed an icy-blue before letting loose a hailstorm of small nevermores that Ruby had seen before when Qrow had fought Winter at Beacon.

Ruby was quickly overwhelmed by them but Jaune quickly pulled out his shield and stood in front of her, his semblance activated to cause the nevermores to bounce off harmlessly.

Willow smirked, the mirth showing in her eyes as two glyphs appeared behind them accentuated by the growls of two large beowolves. Ruby quickly swung Crescent Rose up, impaling one of them on the blade of Crescent Rose and kicking the other one in the face. She used the moment of the kick to pull Crescent Rose out of the downed summon and decapitate the remaining one. Immediately, they were replaced and Ruby continued to slaughter them without abandon.

Jaune's eyes widened as the glyphs disappeared and a large 'wave' of ice pushed them down the hallway, throwing them out into the ballroom at the end. Quickly the pair recovered standing ready for the next attack.

"I can certainly say you're a grade above what fodder they had tried to send before." Willow said with a small huff. "Such a shame that you decided to come here. I have already said before.."

With a twirl of her hand, a large glyph was summoned between both Ruby and Jaune, immediately encasing their feet in ice and slowly growing. The pair tried to hit the ice and break it but it grew back faster than they could break.

"I will kill anyone that attempts to try and use me for my curse." Willow spat with malice.

"We're not here to fight you! We're here to ask you for help! The world is in danger!" Jaune yelled, now attempting to use his semblance to deflect the magic to no avail.

"Please. Like they've never tried that before." Willow replied.

"It's true! I'm a Maiden too, I know what you're going through!" Ruby quickly replied as she was encased up to her middle now and still struggling to get loose.

"A Maiden? That's the most interesting lie I've ever gotten thus far to convince me." Willow said and her eyes flared in a icy-blue "Show me then. If you were truly cursed as I am, you'd be breaking my magic with ease."

"Magic?! That's what the powers are?!" Ruby questioned incredulously before shaking the thoughts away. "Look, Salem's hunting us Maiden's to take our power and sooner or later she'll be coming for you as well. I'm trying to find the Maiden's so we have a chance of winning against whoever this 'Salem' is."

"I would gladly let her get rid of this curse, so thank you for that information." Willow said and turned around to walk away. "But that still means nothing to me. You're a liar and will die like one."

As the ice climbed closer and closer to their necks, Jaune shouted in a slightly more panicked tone. "Ruby! Time to do something Maiden-y about now!"

Ruby decided it was time to use the desperate measure of manipulation as Jacques had suggested.

"Weiss told me to tell you she's sorry and that she loves you. I'm sure Whitley does too, and Winter!" Ruby shouted.

Immediately, Willow stopped dead in her tracks and the ice stopped it's growth as well.

"What did you say there, girl?" Willow said, her voice taking on a deadly edge.

"Weiss was my partner at Beacon. She's on her way right now with a friend of ours to Vacuo to attempt to figure out why they shut down the CCT and closed the borders." Ruby said, straining to talk due to the sharp ice stabbing into her neck. "I called her last night. She wanted me to say that to you."

There was a moment of silence before Willow turned around, brow furrowed and eyes set to kill as she slowly walked closer.

"How dare you try and use them against me. First your blasted military already took my first girl from me and now this?!" Willow yelled, summoning glyphs around Ruby.

"I'm not using anything! I'm telling you the truth! Please! Listen to me!" Ruby said, trying again to get out of the ice.

"What reason would she have had to go to Beacon anyway? Atlas is her home, you're only spouting more lies." Willow said, but the glyphs hung idly in the air, looming over Ruby.

"I don't know why she came. Maybe she needed to get away from Jacques. I don't know okay! All I know is she is part of team RWBY, my team, and that she was my partner before Beacon fell in the Vale attack. And that now she technically no longer is a Schnee because Jacques disowned her for leaving to help us!" Ruby pleaded. "Please, you have to believe me! We're only here to try and get your help!"

Willow's gaze faltered for a moment before returning to stare angrily into Ruby's eyes. "Weiss being disowned by Jacques is the most preposterous thing I've ever heard after all the careful grooming he did of her to the point where I, the one who loved all my children with all my heart in comparison to that cold man, was the enemy in her eyes. Goodbye."

With a flick of her hand, Willow summoned two large ice spikes that flew at high speed towards Ruby. Ruby's eyes went wide as she saw the projectiles come in and in the back of her mind she could hear Jaune yell her name. There was a ringing and her vision turned white before Ruby closed her eyes.

Seconds passed and Ruby could still move. Better yet, she could use her arms and could feel her hands holding Crescent Rose move again.

I'm not dead? Ruby asked inwardly, before opening her eyes and saw the heavy ice shards embedded into the wall behind Willow and her icy bonds shattered with Willow on the floor, ice shards surrounding her.

Ruby could feel something new. Something familiar but yet completely foreign. It was as if she could feel the ice surrounding them and the air howling beyond it. She could feel the stone of the mountain and the heat from the torches. In the reflection of Crescent Rose, she could see what had happened. Her eyes had flared in a similar way to how Willow's had done only moments before. For the first time, Ruby felt in control of her power.

Quickly, Ruby looked over her shoulder at Jaune who blinked at her a couple of times before nodding. Ruby smiled a little and nodded back, before looking back at Willow. Willow in the meantime had managed to get up on one knee, looking at the girl. "Alright, so it seems there is some truth to you unless you have a very deceiving semblance. However, as I had said before, I will not be used as a tool for warfare. They might have tricked you, but I will not cooperate."

"I don't want to fight. I want to talk. I want your help." Ruby said, lowering Crescent Rose.

"Did the blast knock you deaf, girl?" Willow started, moving her hands in an upward fashion as multiple glyphs were summoned. "I said, I will not cooperate!"

As the ice shards were summoned, Ruby swung Crescent Rose. The shards exploded as they were summoned and the snow created from it flurried through the air as the swing was accompanied with a strong gust of air, sending Willow sliding even further backwards into the wall.

"How in the world..?" Willow breathed.

"Please." Ruby asked again, pleading genuinely as she let the white flares around her eyes fade out.

Willow mulled over the request, looking at the Maiden before her. As she analyzed the words Ruby had spoken to her, the possibility of truth being in Ruby statements became clearer and clearer to Willow. Slowly, she lowered her hands.

"I concede. If we had fought, this replica of my previous life would definitely have been destroyed." Willow sighed. "And this is the last thing letting me relive my days of happiness. Now talk, what do you want?"

"It's not about what I want. It's about what I'm asking you. I'm asking you to help us save Remnant by defeating Salem." Ruby said and put Crescent Rose away.

"And why couldn't the Atlas military do this themselves? Why do they need me?" Willow said.

Jaune brushed off some of the snow from his armor as he walked to stand beside Ruby. "Because she seems to control the Grimm. All Grimm."

"Oh." Willow said. "Well, that does certainly sound like it would complicate things."

"All I'm asking is for you to come back with us to Vale. It's where we're currently trying to stage the effort to stop her and hopefully end the Grimm."

"Vale? Didn't you say Vale was attacked?" Willow asked.

"It was." Jaune said. "But with the hard work of the people it was rebuilt."

"Also with help from Atlas and the one who coordinated it all was Winter." Ruby added.

".. Winter?" Willow asked quietly. "I see."

"Will you please come with us? I will promise you nobody will try to use your power to harm anyone. I truly believe the only thing that is able to stop Salem is the Maiden's." Ruby said.

Willow looked at the pair before sighing heavily. "I will come."

Ruby immediately grinned widely. "Really?!" she said excitedly.

"Yes, settle down girl. However I do think before we leave introductions are in order. I presume you already know my name, but the name's Willow Schnee. You may call me Willow." Willow said.

"Ruby Rose." Ruby immediately said, trying to temper her excitement.

"Jaune Arc." Jaune said, smiling earnestly.

"My goodness. An Arc? They truly didn't squander their assets to try and get me, a Maiden and an Arc. Either way, there is something we must get before we leave for Vale." she said, summoning a glyph under the three of them.

"Wait, what?" Jaune said before the mansion surged into darkness. In the palm of Willow's hand a flame grew as both Ruby and Jaune retched from the twisting sensation of the teleportation. Willow gave them odd looks.

"Ah. I should have probably said. The first time tends to make one quite queasy. Apologies." Willow said before moving forward.

Jaune swallowed down the vomit, shuddering at the feeling.

"Where are we?" he quickly asked.

"We are underneath Atlas Academy. Deep underneath." Willow said and kept on walking.

Ruby felt her power well and ignited a flame in the palm of her hand as well, staring at it in disbelief for a moment before tapping Jaune on the shoulder with a giddy smile.

"Holy shit!" she whispered to him, manipulating the flame to become larger and smaller at will.

"Are you going to play with your magic all day or are the both of you following? I thought the world was ending." Willow said, an almost familiar tone of annoyance in her voice. It seemed to be a Schnee family trait.

"Ah, yes! Sorry!" Ruby said before grabbing Jaune's hand with her non-burning hand and running after Willow.

"So.. what is this place?" Jaune asked, looking around. It seemed familiar and after a few seconds he could place it. "Wait.. Beacon had a place similar to this underneath the school."

"That could be correct. All I know is that nobody knows I've been down here for the door only I can open." Willow said as they came upon a fountain. With a touch of her hand, she froze the fountain and water formed ice blocks that fell into place not unlike a set of stairs "Careful, it's still ice, so watch your feet."

Slowly they descended down the steps. "How did you know this was here?" Ruby asked, carefully holding onto the walls as to not slip.

"I was shown when I gained these powers. A long time ago." Willow replied. "By a man named Ozpin."

"Excuse me, did you just say Ozpin?" Jaune quickly asked.

"I did."

"Ozpin was our headmaster at Beacon." Ruby said.

"Curious. It seems he might have some answers for you then, considering you didn't know what you were doing with your powers." Willow mused before walking down the final steps, entering a room that seemed to be snowing deep inside. A small pond, surrounded by frozen trees could be seen and Willow breathed in deep as she stepped forward. As she let out the breath, the snow stopped, hanging still in the air. It seemed as if a living snapshot of a winter was made.

"What is this place?" Jaune questioned out loud, looking around at the snow.

Carefully, Willow touched the pond. The water rippled before freezing from the outside in before culminating and growing in the middle. As it coalesced, a pedestal began to take shape and a staff formed. It looked like a twisted tree branch made of shards of ice. Gently, Willow took it and walked off the pond, tapping the pond again with the staff to return it to its liquid form.

"What is that?" Ruby asked.

"This is the relic given to Atlas to guard. And since the world is at stake, we might want to use it." Willow said. "Now, I do believe it's high time to get to Vale, isn't it?"

With a double tap of the staff on the ground, both Ruby and Jaune felt the world surge as they were teleported once again.