In the minutes after his call with Albus Hawthorn, Ozpin found himself deep in thought. It was a rare thing for him to experience a misstep, even if he had made more missteps than he could count. Absinthe Campbell (or Arnold. he honestly didn't understand why Atlas still held her husband's family in such contempt) was not someone he honestly could claim to know. Fiona had picked her own successor without much input from him. And whilst both she and Albus vouched for the younger woman, he had been tricked and betrayed via a non-protege more than once in the past. It was only natural he would be somewhat harder on her than others.

But as time went by, and she had proven worthy of trust, his doubt of her faded. He had shared secrets with her, secrets that as both a proud Huntress and proud Atlesian she would invariably keep. Had he really made an effort for Absinthe to trust him, or was it merely her upbringing and career that led her to keep those secrets? The answer, it seemed, was the latter.

And so it was that he was deciding whether or not to share with Absinthe what was perhaps the biggest secret within the Inner Circle.

Sanctuary.

Or more accurately, The Sanctuary Facility. The effective Headquarters of his Circle, and where he lived outside of term time. Its defences were entirely automated, and its staff utterly loyal to him (even more so than Qrow). It had entire libraries of books and scrolls (actual parchment scrolls no less), more relics than all the museums of the world combined and a single, secured cell.

There was a reason for the presence of the cell. Sanctuary was where the Fall Maiden was kept. Whilst the other parts had begun to utilise their Maidens in recent decades, he had kept to his tried and tested method. It might make others somewhat uncomfortable to think about, but it had proven to be the safest option of keeping the powers within his influence.

This method had been tested somewhat seven years ago, when a knight in black armour led an attack on the Facility, he had stuck on a moonless night and had Grimm take out all of the forward watch posts almost simultaneously. Thus blinded to the danger, the most secure and secret facility on the face of Remnant fell under a surprise attack.

Ozpin had seen the footage from the courtyard. Nova gave as good as she got, even using the Fall Maiden powers to their fullest extent. But the knight had clearly been raised as a Maiden-Killer, as though his sole purpose in life was to kill Maiden after Maiden after Maiden. Knowing Salem as well as he did, the Knight probably had been.

He'd almost smiled when he'd watched Nova bring her killer down with her. Admittedly, she'd had to resort to asphyxiating both herself and the knight, but a victory was a victory. She'd succeeded in her sole priority, the protection of her Maiden Powers. Admittedly, transferring them to her then seven year old daughter was not to his preference, but he could appreciate how easy Nova made it to find her successor.

Once, he would have mourned the Knight's death as a waste of talent, twisted to a Witch's dark purpose. But after millenia spent fighting Her and Hers, he could at least respect the man keeping to his oaths unto death. In accordance with their ages-old pact, he had burned Salem's knight atop a lonely pyre, with no one save himself and a single Strix as witness. No doubt he'd earned a place on Salem's almost sacred Wall. Given what he had spoken at the pyre, Nova's name was no doubt just beneath it.

It saddened him to think that his fallen friend's daughter would never, and likely could never know of the world outside the Sanctuary facility. The protection of the Fall Maiden's power, and thus the Relic of Choice, was in the long run more important than the freedom of one person. So a fourteen year old would be kept in the same complex in which she was born until she was either needed for the relic (after which she'd be returned), or died.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Every need Amber Carpo could ever possibly have would be catered to, of course. He wasn't, as a number of people claimed, heartless. She'd live in as close to utter luxury as possible, and be trained to use her powers by the very best of his Circle.

He let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding in, and moved to place a call on his scroll. He had made his choice. With everything taken into account, it was unreasonable not to trust Absinthe with this. She had earned her place in the Inner Circle. History might repeat, but his own history should have taught him that history wouldn't always repeat. Just because one non-protege had betrayed him didn't mean that every non-protege would.

The call was answered, but the screen remained black. The Head of the Facility was a stickler for the secrecy rules, even refraining from calling him by name and insisting on the same in return.

"What colour is the road?" The voice on the other side asked.

"Yellow." He replied.

"..We were not expecting a call from you, sir. Are we compromised?"

"Not at all." Ozpin answered. "I am authorising Absinthe Campbell for the Sanctuary Facility."

"Are you certain?" The voice asked. "Once granted, authorisation cannot be revoked. Not even by you."

"I am aware." He sighed. "But it was pointed out to me recently that I cannot entrust her with information whilst distrusting her with the bigger picture. Moreover, Albus is bringing his protege into the Circle soon. There is no viable excuse for allowing James Ironwood knowledge that someone that has served faithfully for half a decade doesn't already have."

"...Understood." The voice replied. "....A Voice Confirmation is required."

Ozpin fought the urge to sigh again. Sometimes, he felt he had too many safeguards. "...Confirmed."

"Acknowledged. Sanctuary Authorisation for Absinthe Campbell has been granted."

"...Thank you, my friend."

_____________________

Cinder Schwartz considered herself quite lucky.

Not only did she have an awesome Dad who she loved and who loved her, she also had a nice and warm place to call home, a whole host of people at Dad's work that she could trust if she needed help and a place at a good school.

And today, it seemed she'd made a new friend.

Mercury Black was quiet, smart, and had a pair of cool mechanical legs (not that she voiced that last one. She did have what Dad would call 'tact'.). After meeting during the first break, her new friend sat next to her in the next few lessons, and proved to be really good at Maths.

They'd even managed to finish their work early! Mister Leonhardt had even said they did good work! Dad would be proud, and that thought made her happy. They had history after lunch, so maybe she could help Mercury like he helped her? It was her best subject, aside from sports.

As the lunch break arrived, the pair opted to go to the tree where they had really met. It was as good a place as any to sit and eat. It was around the point she finished eating, that something in the sky caught Cinder's eye. The ship was strange, with an actual sail. It appeared to be made of, or at least was covered in, wood.

"It's a YAMATO Sky-Sailor, I think." Mercury commented when he saw it too. "James says they're comfortable, but not all that fast. Usually used by diplomats."

Cinder merely watched with an awed look on her face, as the Sky-Sailor climbed into the air. She might have grown up in Atlas, and was thus used to seeing the sky filled with all sorts of airships, bullheads and airbuses, but she'd never seen a ship like that. She wondered what it was doing in Atlas.

"Huh." She turned to Mercury. "Who do you think it belongs to?"

Her friend shrugged. "Probably someone important."

"Probably!"