"Summer knew about your Uncle bargaining with Salem, and she went along with it?" Qrow interruption at this point. "That's BS."

"No one is as innocent as you think they are," Theo said grimly. "Maybe she didn't know how deep it was. Probably she didn't know about him directing Salem to other Silver Eyed Warriors."

"How could you not know that was foolish?" Winter said. "Didn't Ozpin make that clear?"

"At the time, no," Theo said. "He just said they were famous. Sure maybe she was killing them, but we didn't have to know either way. And we didn't even know what Uncle was doing till that day, so I didn't have to ask the questions...I thought they were a myth anyway until he told me Summer was the real deal and then I never even saw her in action."

"Henry knew," Hazel said. "He just didn't want to think it. He was just like you. Better them than his own."

"And you knew," Qrow glanced at him. "I should've known it."

"Hazel, how could you not tell us this?" Shine asked him.

"Because until I heard this just now, I didn't know Summer was the one who did this," Hazel said. "You never said she had Silver Eyes. I never met her myself. You said she came here, but I wasn't sure it was when this happened, or if it was after or before. We've always been after Ozpin's followers, I didn't know it was anything special. But knowing it, it does make conversations I had with Henry make a lot more sense."

"I see," Theo said. "That was you. I knew it."

"What did you say?" Winter pressed.

Ruby was hugging her sides.

Yang was glaring at him.

"Henry agreed to the plan just like he said," Hazel said. "I thought it was odd he was giving up the relic so easily, but if I thought he was tricking us, I knew Salem would still win in the end. I knew Henry was giving them the map, so I wasn't going to escort them there...I knew the Maiden was bringing a body guard, that was all he told me. Nothing about Silver Eyes. But he did ask a question at one point, he was getting kind of absent minded and a little out of it in his old age, so I thought it was a random question, didn't think much of it. He asked what Salem captured Silver Eyed Warriors for. I said I didn't know exactly. Which wasn't entirely true." He looked somber. "But I wasn't about to tell him the truth."

"So you were the one who told Summer that she'd not just been killing them?" Theo said.

"I didn't really think you hadn't figured that part out," Hazel said. "But I never talked to Summer, like I said."

"Uncle had persuaded himself that we weren't really doing much harm by selling them out," Theo said. "It was how he'd kept Salem off our backs for so long. Vacuo is where a lot of people hide. Every now and then they'd pop up in the kingdom, he told me. Don't know how many of them were true. But Summer must have figured it out then, or it was just obvious and we were kidding ourselves. Because she told Vara something before she left, that we didn't know about at the time. Var told me after I found her and she'd convinced me that she didn't kill the Maiden."

* * *

"So, if it wasn't you, then who was it?" Theo said. "The girl who was in line, never came back. We know she's dead."

"I know she's dead too," Vara said. "Because I have the powers...Summer Rose "

"Yeah, I know you knew her." Theo frowned. "That's why I thought it was you. So what was it?"

"The thing is..." Vara said, "I didn't kill Summer...but, in a way, I think this may be my fault. Just...I didn't do it on purpose. Summer knew that I knew about the Maiden... Your uncle told me because he was looking for a replacement for you, if you stepped up. And he trusted me. I'm a little surprised we never met before actually, but then, you've been away from the kingdom so much...Vic too, but she's...different."

"She'd never be put in charge of this school," Theo said, "not in a million years. But get to the point."

"Summer confided something to me," Vara said. "She told me that her family didn't know she'd come here. But she said something--she said that she'd heard a long time ago that Salem couldn't be killed. She said she didn't believe it, but, there could be a chance it was true...and if it was, she wasn't sure they'd succeed at their quest."

"Summer talked about that?" Theo said. "That's not the impression I got."

"She was an optimist," Vara said. "I don't think she let herself doubt it that much. But she told me the plan about her getting the powers if it looked bad. And she said to me...that, if one day, Salem came for her because she had those powers, and it was something she couldn't defeat...she'd like to pass them to me."

"To you?" Theo said.

"To me," Vara said. "And the reason was this--she said that if she failed at this, it would mean that one of the things that Ozpin told her was not true...and in that case, she didn't want her family to have to be involved in this anymore if they didn't want to. She said that, of all the people she'd think of if she died, she knew it would either be one of her old friends who didn't want to be a part of this, or one of her daughters, and she didn't want to do that to them. She said they were too young and innocent to be dragged into this against their consent, and that she was choosing to inherited the powers if Vienta failed, but that her daughters wouldn't get a choice."

[Red Like Roses part II]

https://youtu.be/euuxPokAeIA

"Oh..." Theo said. "I see.... But why you?"

"She said she knew I was already willing to be involved," Vara said, running her fingers over the table. "So she knew I was strong enough to handle it. She knew I didn't have any kind of family to risk losing, and I was close to Henry, and she thought maybe I'd be all right with it. But she said it would be years from now, when I was ready, if it did happen, but could we stay friends and all that, just in case? She said she knew it was kind of cheap to ask to because of this, but she needed someone she could trust, in case it was too much for her. And she just had a feeling about me. I thought it would never happen...but I liked Summer."

She ran a hand through her hair. "I don't have that many friends..." she said slowly. "Kind of always been...difficult to get to know, but Summer was so natural with me... I think we would have been friends the rest of our lives if... And I thought she was really asking me for this because she wanted to protect her family, and I thought that was noble...and I had nothing to lose, she was right. So I said, yes, I'd step up in the future if she ever needed to pass the power on. She said thanks and that was the end of it, I thought. Except that she said something else odd. She said that she'd heard that the last Silver Eyed Warrior around...they'd been taken alive, not killed. It wasn't much of a rumor, but she told me that it was bothering her, because she wondered why Salem would ever take them alive. And she told me that if Salem tried to take her alive to use her, she'd rather just die. I thought she was just saying how confident she was...but she didn't come back. I don't even know where she heard the rumor. Could have been one of the ones Henry heard about."

"Could have been, or Qrow," Theo said.

"The thing is," Vara said, "I knew, deep down, that if that was true, then Salem had some way to overpower Silver Eyed people...and that meant the plan...it might not work. And I should have told Summer I thought so...but I didn't...and then I thought about it. And I got to thinking about how Vic had talked about how power could be used and taken away, and I wondered. But it was crazy, right? I thought it was the maddest idea ever, and it was impossible...and maybe it is. But I have...I don't know, sometimes I feel like I have this 6th sense. Gut feeling when something is a bad idea. And I had it about them going...but I thought I could never talk them out of it, not if I knew them. But once they'd gone, I just felt sure that they were never going to come back, and...I told Henry that. And I told him what Summer told me. True, we didn't have any proof...but the idea of it alone, he said, it meant the whole plan could be one huge mistake. He was terrified. He told me he would catch up to the girls, and bring them back, that it was all his fault, and that Qrow and Tai were never going to forgive him ever if he sent Summer to her death like this."

She sighed. "I hoped he was overreacting, and we thought he could still catch them. But he told me not to let you know, that he didn't want you to be implicated in the whole thing if he was too late."

"He could have let me help him. Maybe he wouldn't have died, I could have found them!" Theo said.

"He wanted you to be able to take over the school if he didn't come back," Vara said. "He couldn't afford to risk you not coming back.... Besides, you're his nephew."

Theo sighed. "And he didn't come back. I found him still inside the border of Vacuo... Grimm...he probably never even saw them."

"And clearly they didn't turn back," Vara said. "I hoped they would realize it... I told Vic what I thought, and she said that if Salem could use the Silver Eyed Warriors, she would have by now and I was being stupid. And she said that if they were that easy to kill, why would she be so worried about them? Yeah...it wasn't comforting. Then, a few weeks ago, I think the very day before you came back with Henry's husk, I was just training, and suddenly I had this vision of Summer...inside my mind."

"What did she tell you?" Theo asked.

"Not much. It didn't last long," Vara said. "All she said was that she was sorry, and that something was wrong, that she couldn't take the powers after all, and they would become my burden instead. And then she thanked me for being there for her...and then it was over. I'm not sure the...power transfer works like a complete communication between people. I think...it's just like visions of what their intentions are when they give you the power. Something about the whole thing was weird though, because Summer made it sound like either she chose not to take the powers, or she couldn't take them. And why would she back out, if Vienta had...already been killed? That wasn't like Summer at all. But I got scared that it would look like I had conspired to get her killed because no one else knew about our deal. I hadn't told anyone but Henry and Vic that she even talked to me at all. So I left, to hide the powers. I knew Salem would return to Vacuo to find out who had them, since she didn't get the Sword, and I wanted to be gone when she did. But I knew you all would be on my tail. I didn't expect you to hear me out when you found me."

"Never considered that, by running, you made it look like you were the one who killed her?" Theo said. "That you're lying that you met her on their way back and stabbed her in the back? That's what the others would think happened."

"Exactly!" Vara said. "I look completely guilty. But I swear, this is what happened. I have no idea why she died instead of coming back. If there was something she couldn't defeat even with the powers and the eyes in that land, I wanted to know nothing about it! But that means no one can possibly defeat Salem on her home turf, because if Summer couldn't, no one could. We're so screwed." She put her face in her hands.

Theo frowned. "Maybe not... Maybe we can work out a different plan...but you can't run. She'll find you... I have a place you can hide out. Train, get good at this. And Salem doesn't have to know who the new Maiden is. I can pretend I don't know for now...if one of hers shows up. Buy some time."

"You want to help me after all that?" Vara said.

"I figure it's not your fault," Theo said.

"It is in a way," Vara said. "I should never have been keeping my mouth shut about what she told me. If I'd warned her, or warned her family and friends, maybe they could have...talked her out of it."

"She asked you to keep it secret. What could you do?" Theo said. "Okay, I'm mad about it, all right, but I'm mad at Salem...and to be honest, maybe my uncle a little bit, but I think you were just the victim here. You have the powers... We're just going to have to work around it. Nothing else to do."

Vara finally smiled a little smile. "Hmm...I guess if you put it that way..."

"Great, so let's go," Theo said.

* * *

Everyone stared at him.

"And that is all I know about Summer," Theo said finally. "I didn't get her killed...but, I knew that keeping it from you, you'd be pissed off about it. I didn't want to bring down my uncle after all that. I'm a man of my word, usually. And I didn't want you to blame Vara for what happened. I didn't think you'd all buy her story that it wasn't her who killed Summer. I believed her. And I can say Vara has never lied to me since then. So I have no reason to think it was a lie. But I knew what it would look like, and I didn't want to expose her. And then we had...other complications that made me want to even less. It's been an ongoing dance trying to keep Salem off of her...and now she's run off, probably thanks to you, right?"

He scowled.

"That's what you're concerned about?" Winter was incredulous.

Theo sighed.

"Am I following this?" Wally said. "Summer was part of this? And she died when she was supposed to get the powers...like she just decided not to get them?"

"That makes no sense," Shine said.

"I don't get it," Tai said. "Why wouldn't she tell us?"

Raven had come back into the room unnoticed at some point by some of them in time to hear part of this and guess the rest.

Theo hadn't even seen her come in.

But she spoke now. "She had her doubts." 

Everyone looked at her.

"But she knew you wouldn't allow her to go, so she didn't tell you," Raven said. "Well, blind optimism to the last with her."

"Don't talk about her like that," Qrow said.

"Get over it already," Raven said tightly. "Didn't you hear that? She lied...at least she as good as lied."

"My mom wouldn't have!" Ruby cried. "Right?"

Yang looked blank. "I don't know... I mean...why would she hide that from us?"

"But I never intended Summer to be the Maiden," Ozpin said. "Not after she had her family. Maidens are usually people who don't have that kind of connection. Why then? Why not before?"

"Why would she even want the powers?" Oscar wondered. "If she knew what would happen. She'd be a target."

"It's just not right," Ruby said. "Didn't she want to stay with us? She wouldn't leave us to be the Maiden!"

"Yeah!" Yang cried.

Raven frowned at them.

"I agree." Shine looked at Raven like she'd read her mind. "But remember it's always the person who's still around who gets blamed the most."

"Huh?" Wally said.

"Well, if that's true--" Raven acted as if she and Shine were having half a conversation. "--then that's not really fair, is it?"

"It's not fair, but it's how people are," Shine said.

"Are you guys talking about something else?" Tai asked. "Raven, did you know about this?"

"Did I? Of course not," Raven said. "Why should I?"

[Late note: I wrote this before I saw the vol 9 finale, I decided against changing it.]

"Maybe you got to her though," Jaune spoke. "I mean, maybe she did wonder about Salem."

"But why go then?" Pyrrha wondered. "And why did Henry and Vienta agree to it? And why did you keep this from us the whole time?" Frowning at Theo. "Was it really worth it?"

"Hey, you almost died for the Maiden power yourself," Theo said. "Yeah, I know who you are, Nikos. Vara's a big fan."

"So she told me," Pyrrha said.

By now she'd recognized the woman she met in the movie theater was, in fact, Vara.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "The point is, don't you get it?"

"I understand why she feels this way," Pyrrha said, "but not why it warrants lying to all your friends about it. I mean...I understand why you did it, but you've watched us struggle with it and get attacked, and you did nothing to help. And you helped set us up."

"I never meant to hurt anyone for real..." Theo said, a bit more subdued. "But I had to give them something."

Mercury looked down.

"I almost got shanked!" Emerald cried.

"Not to crush you, girlie," Theo said, "but you're not the highest on my list of people to worry about."

Winter punched him.

Theo reeled back.

"I've been meaning to address that, among other crimes." Winter rubbed her hand. "Miss Sustrai is one of us, whether you like it or not, and should be treated with the same consideration as the rest of us. I suppose that's not much, but don't expect us not to retaliate just because you personally don't care for her inclusion in this group. In fact, after finding out the truth, I'm shocked that you see any reason to condemn her. She's more honest than you are."

Emerald gaped at her.

"Dang." Mercury was mildly impressed.

Theo rubbed his jaw. "Is everyone just going to take a shot at me today? Because I mean, get in line... I'm not asking you all to forgive. I just think you have no idea how hard we worked to protect the Maiden and the Relic, and we didn't exactly get a lot of help."

"You didn't ask for it," Shine said. "You should have come to us from the start and told us you were in trouble."

"And what would you have done? I know how you view people who betray the group," Theo said. "Tough crap, but I didn't get a lot of choice about part of it, and I had to do the best I could with the rest. But you can't say you would have been lenient. And I didn't want to lead Salem right to Vara. I knew you'd demand to meet her for yourselves... This is just what I was trying to avoid. And I had a kingdom to think about here. Your track record is 0 for 3. Even if Haven was hit a little less hard, it's still not how I want to do this. I don't have the most confidence in you all to protect Vacuo. In fact you have a habit of leading Salem right to the Relics. She has two. Does she need another one?"

That gave them all pause.

He was a jerk...

But he had a point... They'd failed so far... Why would he trust them to succeed?

"Even to keep up your charade, we could have helped," Shine said.

"Likstar, it's not personal," Theo said. "Actually, you're kind of the only one I think has any idea what she's doing. But even you can't beat Salem, and you've hardly been a part of this at all. You don't just expect me to spill all this."

Winter really hoped Shine would chew him out there, but instead she looked thoughtful.

"Fair point," she admitted, standing up. "I guess I couldn't have...but in turn you can't blame us for wanting to know the full truth and to defend ourselves from Victoria and your disgusting plot against Raven. And if you did not want to lose Vara, we did not want to lose Raven or Winter or anyone else. But our intention was never to trade Vara for them. In that way, I think we can blame you. And I think you know it. So what do you have to say?"

Well...not entirely savage, but still decent.

"I did what I had to do," Theo said. "I'm not proud of it, but if it's between my own people and you, I'm going to choose my own. It's the way of the world. You should have just left."

"So you did want us to leave," Shine said. "I thought so... All that, it was to get us to go...and if we had, you could have washed your hands of us. But we so stubbornly refused to leave, so you take it to the next level?"

"Sure seems like it worked out for you," Jaune said. "Even your Maiden didn't want to do this."

"Vara is a little too sensitive about stuff like this," Theo said.

"Sensitive?" Qrow said. "At least she didn't want to kidnap children."

"Technically, Yang isn't a child," Theo said. "And I'm sorry about it, really, but Vic wasn't going to hurt her any, and I thought it was worth it. She's not harmed, you see? What's a little scare between teams?"

"Do you know what that was like?!" Yang burst out. "It was horrible! You scared the crap out of me, and she kept saying things about testing and enhancing, and it wasn't harmless!"

"That's just how she talks," Theo said.

"Yes...and she apparently has trick Grimm," Shine said. "I'm sorry, but what part of this isn't raising a red flag for you?"

"I didn't know about that till today!" Theo said. "I admit, something about it is a little weird, but she's always been reliable. I didn't have a lot of options."

"You hid all that about Summer." Qrow went back to that. "Why? Because you knew we'd be angry? What kind of s--- reasoning is that?"

"Would it really have helped you?" Theo frowned. "Do you really feel better knowing the truth? Either way it's a tragedy. And what are you going to do? Summer is already dead. Vienta is dead... I didn't want Vara to take the fall for it. Why is that so hard to understand? She's been through enough."

"She has?" Winter was furious again. "She's been through it? She's been hiding for years! We've been trying to stay alive! You were worried about someone not trusting you? We've worried about someone murdering us and stealing the powers for themselves. In what way are you the victims here? As for Summer, I still don't understand why she decided what she did, but you didn't think to alert her family? Or Ozpin? Probably he could have told you the plan was madness."

"But he always says that," Theo said. "And he's been wrong. He's lied before. We didn't trust him."

"On that we can agree," Qrow said. "But that is not an excuse. Summer could have been spared if you'd reached out to us. You could have at least reached out to me!"

"Summer didn't want that." Theo said the wrong thing.

Wrong because Qrow just looked at him and then looked away, like that just took it out of him.

Tai frowned. "She didn't want that... And you listened?"

"You ever try to talk Summer out of something?" Theo said. "Anyway, I hardly knew her. She...was pretty stubborn. I mean, Tai, really, if you didn't want your kids involved in this, you think if they knew what happened to Summer it would have made that happen any sooner? Just think about it. I did you a favor."

"No, you didn't," Tai said. "I should have known."

"And did what? We couldn't have stopped her," Theo said. "And you couldn't have stopped her either. None of us could have. Some people just make choices and that's the end of it."

"You b-----d!" Tai was mad.

"Enough." Shine clapped her hands, startling them. "This is turning into a mudslinging match."

"Did you hear what they said?" Qrow said to her darkly.

"We already knew a lot of it," Shine said. "Some of it has been quite the surprise...but is tearing each other apart going to help? I'm sure there's still details we don't know. But I think I can guess the rest. We're all upset now, and we've had a very long two days. Acting on our emotions now will only lead to further mistakes. I propose we call a truce until we've all had time to think. Can you all live with that?"

They glared at her.

"I suppose," Winter said very reluctantly, "that it would be better than rushing into something. But where do we go from here?"

"I guess that depends. Theo, how much time do you have before Salem will expect to hear from you again?" Shine asked.

"I haven't heard from her minions in several days," Theo said. "But I'm guessing not long. If I don't find Vara before then, they will. Depend on it."

"I believe it," Shine said. "She may come to us. We should wait a day and see what happens, unless something else changes. Now, if you all can agree to not kill each other in that time, after that we will discuss who is to blame and what to do about it. Theo, your plan will not be helped if Vara disappears entirely, will it? So for now your best option to wait and see if she comes here. If she doesn't, perhaps we can all look for her, or you can, I suppose."

"We're just going to dismiss this?" Qrow said.

"What is it going to do if we keep talking about it?" Wally asked. "Don't we need some space?"

"We could slug it out," Theo offered. "If that would help."

"Get out," Winter said to him sharply.

Theo shrugged and left the room.

"All that and he's not even sorry?" Yang said. "What is wrong with him...?"

Ruby whimpered.

"I'm sure that...there's a good reason for what Mom did..." Yang tried uncertainly.

"Hazel," Oscar said, "why didn't you bring up what happened before?"

Hazel frowned. "You already didn't trust us. And I thought all that was in the past. Bringing it up seemed like inviting trouble. It didn't seem important."

"How is it not important?" Ren spoke.

Hazel just shrugged.

"All that, and we do not even get satisfactory retribution for it," Winter said. "It seems evil just goes unpunished. It also seems that there is no one who is exactly the person we thought they were."

"They say everyone has their secrets," Wally mused. "I don't think that's really true, but I guess everyone who's in this kind of business does. But it's just one of those things where you don't want to endanger anyone else. I mean, you guys can't really blame her for wanting to protect her kids."

"Sure," Yang said flatly. "That part maybe...but...I mean...Summer wasn't just the person to do something like that without a reason. And if it wasn't Ozpin sending her off, then what was it?"

"One thing that is unsolved is why she went to Vacuo at all," Raven said. "What happened to point her here?"

"Perhaps some lead just pointed her this way that had to do with other Silver Eyed Warriors," Shine mused. "I didn't expect this to come out so soon. Theo must have felt pretty guilty to just tell us like that. Even if I did kind of push him. Still, Victoria let it slip first."

"Maybe it was her then," Wally said.

"We may never know everything," Shine said. "Probably only Summer knew part of it. But one thing that I don't quite understand is why the sudden desperation either way. Even if she suspected Salem was up to something, to go off alone seems odd. But it's not really something I need to know."

"What if we do?" Yang said.

"Then you will have to seek it out," Shine said resignedly. "Now that it's come out, Theo will have to side with you all or with Salem... If he hasn't much hope of keeping her at bay, then we're going to have to accept that our time here may have shortened significantly. But for now, I vote we just rest. We can worry about all that later."

"Is there time to wait?" Winter said.

"I'm afraid, Winter, that we're going to have to," Shine said. "Whether there is or not. We can't control everything. You all might try not carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders just for a short time."

"But how can we rest when we just found this out?" Ruby said.

"You need time to think," Shine said. "We all do."

She wasn't wrong about that... None of them could have formed a plan right then if they wanted to.

They knew it, really. They just hated feeling helpless.

But, reluctantly, everyone disbanded for the time being to either go rest, or, since it was the middle of the day, do something more productive.

[To anyone who thinks Summer Rose's motives don't make complete sense here, may I remind them that the show's made even less sense. I'm trying to make sense out of something that was very poorly set up, and unless they go with the order of the white lotus approach, there's not much to do but try to guess and connect the dots.

It's hard to write Summer's motives because we've never actually met her. The fan fiction authors' biggest challenge is characters who are mysteries.]