Raven scowled as her scroll pinged with a notification.

She didn’t like hanging around areas that actually had a signal from the CCT towers. It meant she had to suffer the presence of weaklings, and that Qrow might try to reach out to her. Like he was now.

Normally, she ignored his messages. Every once in a great while, he would share some information that might prove useful, be that on movements from Salem and her ilk or otherwise, so she hadn’t brought herself to throw her scroll away or get a new number. Even if she did go through the trouble, the buffoon would just show up with a new one for her…

Today, though, was different. She had been expecting the message.

Giving it no more than a glance, she put her scroll away, and unsheathed Omen. Focusing her thoughts, she pulled on her bond with her brother. On her contempt for his foolishness. On her hatred of his stupidity. On their shared history. On things she would deny if asked.

With a swing of her sword, a portal opened before her, a swirling mass of the deepest blacks and a blood red.

“Vernal.” She called out, not taking her eyes off of the portal.

The little brat didn’t respond, but Raven knew that the girl was listening. Always so eager to please. It was pathetic… but it was also a source of comfort.

“Keep these fools in line while I’m gone,” she ordered.

“Yes, boss.”

Raven stepped through the portal, a chill wind blowing over her skin, and she gave herself a moment to adjust to the change. Stepping through to the grounds of Haven wasn’t nearly as bad as traversing continents with a single step, but the difference in temperature, wind, and humidity would forever be something that threw her off, if only for a second.

They were outside. She recognized the buildings, even if she’d only been here once or twice. Tucked away into a dark corner, it seemed nobody had noticed her arrival. There were not any students or staff wandering around at all, for that matter. Classes must be in session.

Qrow had some sort of stupid look on his face that she couldn’t bother deciphering, so she instead focused on the other moron present.

“Has the path been cleared?”

Winter nodded, shifting the weight of the bag in her hand. “General Ironwood is currently keeping the new headmaster distracted in his office. We have a clear shot to the vault, but there’s no guarantee on how much time we’ll have. We should move quickly.”

It wasn’t as if Raven planned to drag things out. She nodded, sheathing Omen.

Qrow narrowed his eyes. “Ray-”

“Don’t.” Raven glared back. “Stay out of the way so I don’t have to deal with your ugly mug.”

The idiot looked like he wanted to hash out the same arguments that had been plaguing them for more than a decade, but Winter stepped in. “We don’t have time for your antics. Keep watch, Qrow.”

He frowned, but stepped back, not saying another word.

Not remembering where the headmaster’s office was, or how to get around the campus at all, really, Raven followed behind Winter.

It had been quite some time since she last stepped foot on the grounds of a huntsmen academy. She let her eyes wander, both to scan for threats, and to analyze Haven.

The building Winter seemed to be leading her towards was a grand construction with thick wooden beams and intricate designs framing the windows. It was opulent. A display of beauty, and a projection of power. That’s likely what they intended, anyway.

When she looked at the large building, she saw weakness. Like a cat raising its fur to appear larger when threatened. Though perhaps that was unfair, given what laid beneath.

Winter opened the door, and the two of them slipped inside. The central room they found themselves in was a wide open space, with doors spaced evenly on the walls and a grand staircase sitting at the back that worked around a statue of a beautiful woman. She assumed that the door at the top was the one that led to the headmaster’s office.

Winter paused beside her, opening up the bag she had been carrying.

“Is there a problem?” Raven inquired.

Winter frowned. “We know that the vault is accessed through the statue, but…” she walked up to it. Her delicate hands ran over the stone, pulled at the golden chains, and ultimately rested on some sort of disk that hung from the statue’s hip. “We weren’t able to deduce what the key was ahead of time.”

Raven frowned. “Is this a joke to you?”

Winter ignored her question, pulling a shield out of the bag that Raven didn’t recognize. There were dust containers spread across its surface, which made her question its reliability as a defensive measure. One good strike could blow the whole thing up and take the user’s arm off with it. Winter pressed the shield against the golden disk, seemingly trying to fit the central dust container against it.

Whatever she was up to, it didn’t work. Winter frowned, and put the shield back into the bag.

Raven stepped closer, inspecting the disk herself. Now, she could see that there was an indentation in the disk, like it was meant to hold something. “Do you seriously have no idea of how to open the vault? You go through all of this effort, drag me into this, and you can’t even get to the point where my presence is necessary?”

Winter frowned, sparing her a harsh glare. “This isn’t exactly something we could test in advance.”

The Schnee sorted through the bag’s contents, apparently looking for something in particular. A circular seal came out, bearing the same design that the school used to represent itself.

Winter pressed it into the disk.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Nothing.

“So what’s your plan, then?” Raven demanded. “Just sort through your little bag of goodies and hope that one of the items inside will open the vault?” She scoffed at the idea. “I should have known better than to get involved with you fools in any way. Don’t bother contacting me again.”

Raven stepped away from the statue, only half listening as Winter spoke up. “We had a deal, Raven.” She sounded like she wanted to yell, but that would only alert the building’s other occupants.

“We did, and then you squandered it. You can tell my worthless brother that he-”

There was a click, and then a low hum of gears turning.

Raven turned back around, and saw that Winter had inserted a pocket watch. The Schnee let out a sigh of relief and stepped back.

The two of them watched as with a brief shudder, the statue, and the platform above it, began to descend into the floor.

Winter turned to her with a raised eyebrow, as if daring her to leave now.

Raven clicked her tongue, and stepped onto the platform as it reached the level of the floor. As Winter joined her, the smooth, stone walls of the shaft rose up around them. The platform beneath them lit up with a blue glow. Every few seconds, a ring of the same light passed them by.

Down and down and down they went, descending far below the school grounds. Not a word was spoken between them, and their trip was silent until Winter gasped.

The claustrophobic stone walls had opened up in front of them, revealing a cavern that was several times larger than the building up above. In the center of the cavern, not on the ground, but jutting out from the wall they were travelling down, was a platform of carved stone. The inky darkness beyond it made her question if there truly was a bottom to the cave. It would make no sense, but then, when had magic ever made sense? She could become a bird, and the grimm were led by an immortal witch. A bottomless cavern wouldn’t be the most shocking thing on the list.

At the end of the platform opposite to them, was a large, jagged rock formation with a curling tree growing out of it. Were it a natural plant, she would guess that it was several hundred years old based on the size.

Though with magic involved, it might as well be as immortal as Ozpin and Salem.

The only light in the room, beyond the platform they were on, were hundreds of orange flowers in the tree’s leaves, each one emitting a soft glow.

But neither the platform, nor the stone, nor the tree were the focal point of the cavern.

That would be the structure just before the tree. A giant wooden door frame, filled with metallic fans.

It made her wonder. Was the cavern they were in considered “the vault”? Or was it what laid beyond that door?

The elevator came to a stop, and the two of them were separated from the platform by a large gate. Just as she was about to transform to fly over it, the gate lowered into the ground, allowing them passage. The elevator they stood on stopped glowing.

Raven stepped forward, approaching the door, and after a moment’s hesitation, Winter followed behind her.

“Would you like to be there, when the questions are asked?” The girl inquired.

Before Raven could answer, a design on the floor lit up with a blue glow, just like the elevator had. The glow spread from where she stood, flowing over the design like water until three pools of growing size had the entire cavern well lit. Well, beyond the inky darkness below. The flowers in the tree started to bloom, petals falling on an unfelt breeze towards the two of them.

But she wasn’t one to care for things like this. She ignored the theatrics as she answered. “No. I will uphold my end of the bargain, you will uphold yours, and we shall be done with each other.”

She stopped in front of the door, now lit up with the same glow as the flowers. “So. How do I open it?”

Winter made some embarrassing sound behind her. “You don’t know?! But you’re the Maiden!”

Raven scoffed, turning back to the dog of Atlas. “And? Isn’t this whole scheme happening because Ozpin likes to keep secrets? You didn’t think that was a new thing, did you?”

Winter pouted. “I’m told you only need to touch it.”

Only touch it? For all the grandiosity and spectacle made of this place, that almost seemed too simple.

But now was not the time to ponder such things. Raven reached out, holding back the flinch she felt as her eyes lit up with the glow of the Maiden’s power without her prompting them to do so, and pressed her hand against the door.

A pattern of leaves and vines took on a now familiar blue glow. The magical flames around her eyes snuffed out. She pulled her hand off of the door.

Nothing happened.

“I don’t understand,” Winter began to complain. “Why isn’t it working? He said-”

Before Winter could let any more information on her source slip, the door pulsed with a much brighter glow.

Raven’s hand fell to Omen’s hilt, unaware of what may lay on the other side.

The metallic fans that filled the door frame began to fold in on themselves. They didn’t press themselves against the wood, out of the way, but rather disappeared into it. And that was in a literal sense. There was no hollowed out compartment for them to slide into, they just vanished once they folded up, as if they were never there in the first place.

Magic bullshit.

Her annoyance with magic only grew as she took in what was beyond the door.

“It really is a desert…” Winter mumbled, awe in her voice. She stepped to the side of the doorway, peering around it, and then peeking her head inside. Her eyes were wide, as if she couldn’t comprehend the magic before her.

“Don’t think about it too hard, you’ll only hurt yourself.”

Warning given, Raven stepped into the “desert” beyond the door. But she knew it was no real desert.

The temperature stayed the same as it had been in the cavern. She saw a “sun”, bright and high overhead, but she did not feel its heat, even if it was still blinding. The sand, the stone pedestal, and even the object floating above it shimmered and bled off motes of… well, it was almost like paint. Like she had stepped into a painting of a mirage, one that was almost realistic, but not quite there.

The sand still crunched and shifted under her feet, and she heard Winter walk in behind her, but this entire place threw her off. She didn’t know which senses she could trust.

Winter was at even more of a loss than her, if the girl’s refusal to do anything was any indication.

“Well? Are you going to grab it or not? I thought we were on a strict timer.”

Winter snapped to attention, like a good little mindless soldier.

But even then, she hesitated as she reached out to grab the Relic of Knowledge.

Raven held her breath as those pale fingers inched closer to the golden metal ring on the top. This was a tool of great power, and everything inside of her told her to run. To get away. Her instincts screamed at her.

But Winter grabbed the Relic, and nothing changed.

Raven let herself breathe again.

“That’s my job done. I’ll be expecting my payment, and soon.”

Winter gave her a delayed nod, her attention too wrapped up in the magic around her. “Of course. Thank you, Raven.”

“You’re thanking me?” Raven almost laughed. “I wouldn’t do that so soon. Magic is a curse.” The flap of her wings. The fire behind her eyes. The knowledge she held. “You’ll come to see that soon enough.”

With a slash of Omen, she formed a portal back to Vernal.

She couldn’t get out of that stupid Vault fast enough.