The first scene of this chapter is the scene I ultimately decided to cut out of the end of the last chapter just so you guys know. I personally think it kind of messes with the flow of the story, but there's nothing I can do about that.

PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END. It will provide some commentary and insight into my mind while I was writing this chapter.

Remember to keep up the reviews. This review addict really loves hearing your guys' thoughts.

Disclaimer: RWBY is the brainchild of the brilliant Monty Oum (R.I.P) and is the property of Rooster Teeth productions. I do not own, nor do I profit from its characters.

The Secret Academy

Beacon

Octavia Ember suddenly jolted awake in the middle of the night. The redhead looked around the darkened room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. So what could it have been that had awoken her? Her body was drenched in a cold sweat, so it had to be something. Was it a nightmare? No. At least she didn't think so, she couldn't really recall what her dream was about.

Then, was it her mission? Octavia and the rest of her team had been dealing with an infestation of Grimm on Vale's borders. Despite Vale being under the protection of Beacon, and the girls being from Shade Academy in Vacuo, Octavia's team agreed to handle the task (as they were headed back to their own academy from various vacations and breaks before the new semester started, and had met up in Vlae). After completing the task, the girls decided to spend the night at a local inn.

Was the redhead still on edge because of her recent mission? Octavia couldn't tell. She spent another few minutes, looking around her room. When it was clear nothing was out of the ordinary, she laid back down and closed her eyes. Although it took a few minutes, sleep eventually claimed her again…

…But Octavia should have trusted her senses. Within the darkness of her room, two tiny red glowing spots were visible. They seemed to float across the dark room, touching down on her bed. Had it been brighter, it would have been easy to see that these spots were actually red eyes that belonged to an unusual looking black beetle with odd white protrusions on its back that almost resembled bone.

Silently, the strange insect crawled up the girl's arm. The clicking of its numerous feet was far too quiet to disturb the redhead. Octavia didn't even wake up to the feeling of the insect on her arm. Moving rapidly, the beetle made its way along her arm, traveling over her shoulder, and climbing up her neck.

Even though no one was awake anyway, no one would have seen as the strange black, red-eyed beetle crawled into Octavia's mouth.

Ruby sat quietly as the train rattled on. Usually, the small fifteen-year-old was so energetic and happy, and all over the place. But she had a lot to think about. Just this morning, her father had told her magic was real, that a magical world secretly existed, that he and Ruby's mother were sorcerers and that she was now going to start attending a school for magic. So here she was. One of the teachers at Beacon, Professor Peach, had shown up that morning to take Ruby to her new life. So, here she was, sitting in an empty train car, save for the redheaded professor. Peach had rented out the entire train car just for the two of them.

Speaking of, Professor Priscilla Peach was sitting across from Ruby. With a touch, she had turned her cat eye glasses into sunglasses. She was currently looking out the window, watching the world zip by as the train traveled. Finally, the turned her head, her wild mane of hair flowing behind her as she turned to face Ruby.

"Is something wrong dear?" She asked as she slid her glasses down her nose, revealing her eyes. "You've been awfully quiet."

"It's nothing." Ruby gave the woman a reassuring smile. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

Before Priscilla could say anything else, the door at the front of the car opened and an attendant stepped in.

"Tell you what," Peach smiled to the girl, "why don't we get some lunch first, and then I'll answer some of your questions."

Ruby nodded in agreement; she liked the sound of that. Their orders were taken, and their food was served a short wild later. Once they were alone again, Peach folded her hands, resting her elbows on the table.

"Now those questions of yours dear." She smiled.

Ruby went silent, thinking for a moment. Now that she was given the time to think about it, she did have several questions. She tried to sort out her thoughts, which were speeding a mile a minute through her head. She finally managed to settle on one of the many questions she had about this new world that was opening up around her.

"Last night," she began, "when my aura...awoke," she recalled the right word for it, "I started seeing people." She tried to explain. "They looked like they had animal features. I saw a guy with cat ears and a tail. And someone else, a guy I'd known for a long time, he had claws. Dad called them something. I don't remember what he called them, though."

"Faunus." Professor Peach said.

"Yeah!" Ruby snapped. "That's what he said. What is a faunus?

"You'll learn much of this in your history class, so I'll stick to the short version." She explained. "People like you and I, we're born in the human world. Our auras lie dormant within us until they awaken. Think of the faunus as the exact opposite. They're born in the magical world with their auras already awakened."

"But how come I didn't see their features before my aura awoke?"

"Everyone has aura." Professor Peach told her. "It will remain dormant in most people. I'm sure your father explained how your aura awakening is what will allow you to access your magic?" At Ruby's nod, she went on. "The magical world is much the same way. When your aura is dormant, you don't see it. It's what have allowed the Faunus and the two worlds to coexist so peacefully."

After Ruby finished processing this, she asked her second question. "What's Beacon like?"

"Oh, it's a wonderful school." Peach beamed. "Though I may be biased, it really is the best of the four academies. It's in the best location. And, unlike the other schools who teach to the masses, Beacon does its best to cater to the individual students."

"What do you teach?" Now that the conversation turned to the school, Ruby's mind filled with curiosity about what she was getting into.

"I teach potions." The professor said proudly. "Plus myself, there is a total of six teachers at Beacon, and then there's the headmaster."

"What kind of classes will I be taking?" Ruby asked. "Who are the other teachers?"

"Well, since you said you wanted to learn to fight the evils the magical world faces, one of your classes will be Grimm studies with Professor Port." Priscilla went on. "In some of your classes, you will pick up tricks for combat against a multitude of foes, but the creatures of Grimm are unlike anything else."

"Back when I was a girl," Peach went on, "the Grimm were discussed in the other classes. Over time, however, the headmaster thought it best- and I'm inclined to agree- that the topic of the Grimm really should be a class of its own."

"A word of advice, though," she leaned across the table to Ruby, "study your textbook for that class religiously." She giggled. "Professor Port has a tendency to talk more about his exploits than he does the curriculum."

"Textbooks?" Ruby asked. She was supposed to have books. All she'd packed was her clothes.

"Oh don't worry dear." Professor Peach was quick to comfort her. "Before I left, your father said he'd take care of that. Your books should be at the school in a day or two."

Ruby nodded in understanding. "What about my other classes?" Ruby asked, getting the conversation back on track.

"Oh right!" Peach got back on topic as well. "Well, after Grimm Studies, there's history with Prof- oh!" She giggled, "Doctor Oobleck. He's very particular about that. There's also Practical and Everyday Applications of Magic with Amber. She'll teach you some of the common uses for magic. There's also Real World Combat and Strategy. It's more commonly called Dueling class by the students because Professor Goodwitch makes the students apply their knowledge by pitting them in combat against each other."

"Did you just say 'Goodwitch?'" Ruby giggled.

"Get it out of your system now dear." Peach smiled. "Glynda is not a humorous person."

After taking a break to let Ruby laugh it out, Peach went on. "Twice a month, the headmaster even teaches a class." Before Ruby could ask the obvious question, Peach held up her hand. "I'll leave that one a surprise for you."

"Let's see." The teacher thought aloud. She snapped her fingers in realization. "That just leaves Combat Applications of Magic. That's a lot like Amber's class, only you'll learn offense and defense spells there."

"What's the difference between that and Dueling?" Ruby inquired.

"Well, in Combat Applications, you'll learn the spells. In Glynda's class, you'll actually get to apply what you've learned."

"Does Glynda teach that class as well?" Ruby asked.

"Oh no!" Peach said. "Combat Applications is taught by Professor Branwen."

"Did you just say Branwen?" Ruby asked, seemingly even more invested if possible.

"Yes." The redhead nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"That's my uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed, almost cheering. "He's a teacher."

"Huh?" Peach asked. "No." She shook her head. "His sister is a teacher."

Ruby scoffed and laughed, taking the statement as a joke. "My uncle doesn't have a sister. I think that's something I would have known. I mean, if he did have a sister, how come he never talked about her?"

"I assure that Raven is Qrow's sister." Peach said, her kind voice had taken a bit of firm edge to it. "His twin sister to be exact."

"Oh." Ruby frowned. She sat in silence the rest of the train ride. New questions were forming in her mind, but she was sure Professor Peach couldn't answer these ones. If Qrow did truly have a sister, thus giving Ruby an aunt, how come Qrow never talked about her? Heck, how come her dad never talked about her? Ruby also began to wonder if Yang even know about her?

She was pulled from her musings as the train screeched and began slowing down. With a hiss, the train came to a halt. Professor Peach rose to her feet.

"We're here." She announced. She waved her hands, wisps of gold light flew out of her gloved palm and into the compartment above their heads. "No need to worry about your bags." She explained. "They'll be waiting for us at the front of the school."

Ruby got off the train with Professor Peach in tow. Ruby looked around; the train station seemed to be the only civilization for miles around, surrounded by vasts forests.

"Our ride should be just up ahead." Peach said, pushing her sunglasses back over her eyes. She stepped off the platform and began making her way into the woods. After looking around, Ruby gave a squeak of surprise and ran to catch up with the teacher.

"It's so...isolated." Ruby remarked as she looked around the woods.

"Well it has to be." Peach said. "Beacon was built so far away from civilization to make sure those without magic wouldn't witness it by accident." She explained. "The magical world has very strict secrecy laws."

"But I thought people who didn't have their aura awakened couldn't see magic." Ruby recalled.

"They can't see things that come from the magical world." She clarified. "Such as the faunus and the Grimm. However, if someone like you or I- someone from the non-magical world- performed a spell, made something levitate, even flew up into the air- they could see that."

"Oh!"

"And here it is." Peach said as she stepped into a clearing. Ruby stepped behind her to see a black convertible car with its top down waiting for them. Ruby didn't know cars that well (or at all), but it looked like the black version of what Cruella De Vil would drive. Ruby also noted that there was no driver in the car.

Of their own accord, the back seat doors opened. Peach gathered her long skirt and climbed into the car. Ruby quickly followed behind her. As soon as she sat down and settled in, the doors closed and the car took off slowly. At this point, with everything she'd learned, a self-driving magical car did not surprise her.

The pair rode in silence as the car made a pleasant little drive through the woods. It was a fairly short ride as well. Within minutes, the car drove off the dirt rode off the forest and onto a wide cobblestone path. The path led up to a large, black, gate with wrought iron bars the tipped off by elegant spikes. With a loud creak, the gate slowly open, giving the car and its passengers entry into Beacon Academy.

Ruby took note of how utterly beautiful Beacon was. The stone path they were currently on led expanded out into a circle with a large, beautiful, white fountain in the center of it. Four pathways branched out from the circle creating a cross shape.

Behind the fountain, and on the stone path direct ahead of them, was Beacon itself. With "beautiful" being the first word Ruby used to describe, the second word she'd use would be "huge." Beacon was absolutely massive. Though she noted it didn't look like a school. Beacon was actually a Gothic style mansion. Built of gray stones, the building stood three stories high. At the center of the building, a lone, tall tower stood up much higher than the rest of the school, ending in a spire. Going across the front of the building, on every level were tall, arched windows which Ruby couldn't see into from the distance. The front of the mansion jutted out from the rest of the building creating a covered deck which was held up by large pillars.

Ruby stared up at the building in awe as the car rounded the fountain. Once on the other side of it, it came to a complete stop and the passenger doors opened. Taking her cue, Ruby stepped out of the vehicle. Once she and Peach were out, the doors closed, and the vehicle finished rounding the fountain and drove back towards the gates.

Sure enough, as Professor Peach promised, there was Ruby's luggage. Standing next to her two suitcases was a tall man dressed in dark green and black with sunglasses and white hair and a cane in his hands.

"Oh, headmaster." Peach greeted the man with a smile. "I didn't realize you'd be here to meet us." She gestured to the girl. "Ruby, this is Professor Ozpin, he's the headmaster of Beacon Academy. Professor, this is-"

"Ruby Rose." Ozpin cut her off. The headmaster walked up to both of them. He set his cane in front of him and bent down, leaning on it somewhat.

"You have silver eyes." He remarked simply.

At the notion of meeting the headmaster on her first day, Ruby was too shocked to speak.

Ozpin's amber eyes stared at Ruby with curiosity. After a beat, he smiled and stood back up. "Well Miss. Rose," he finally said, "welcome to Beacon Academy. I do hope you'll enjoy your stay." He held out his hand to her.

Ruby slowly took his hand and shook it. "Thank you, sir." She said nervously.

"I'm sure you'll accomplish great things." He said with a smile.

"RUBY!" A girl's voice shouted across the courtyard, ending the conversation between Ruby and the headmaster. Before anyone else could get a word in, Ruby was tackled to the ground by a mess of blonde hair in a girl's uniform.

"Hi Yang." Ruby groaned out, barely managing to greet her sister.

There was a knock on the door.

"Octavia?" It was her team leader, Nebula's voice on the other side. "Are you alright?" She asked. "Everyone else is ready to get going." She was silent for a beat. "Octavia?" She called again.

The redhead didn't hear her. After she'd woken up last night, she had trouble getting back to sleep. She spent the night lying in bed, plagued by stomach cramps and other pains coursing through her body. Every time she closed her eyes, she found herself only able to get a few minutes worth of sleep. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat which made her clothes cling uncomfortable to her skin.

Was she getting sick? Octavia didn't know. If she was, this wasn't like any illness she'd ever gotten or known about.

Sometime in the morning, the girl managed to roll out of bed...literally. She didn't have the strength to stand. She crawled and dragged her way into the bathroom, and it was agonizing. After dipping her head in the toilet, she dry heaved...nothing came out. So why did she feel so nauseous?

Questions continued to pile up in Octavia's mind as she pulled herself away from the toilet and to the sink. Placing her hands on the counter, she pulled herself up to her knees, leaning against it. She turned the faucet, letting the water run and get warm.

The redhead looked up into the mirror and gasped at the sight she was. She pushed herself off the counter and released a pulse of magic energy that shattered the mirror into a spider-web pattern.

Octavia Ember lay on the bathroom floor in a crumpled heap. Even if she had the strength to get up, she didn't want to. That… that was just too horrific. And she was in far too much pain to think it was a dream. She knew what she saw…

...And the face in the mirror was not hers!

Full disclosure, I am not proud of this chapter. I think it's okay, but really, this chapter is just an info dump and world building. Which, since this is an AU, is important, but I feel this chapter was kind of slow. What did you guys think?

As for the PLEASE READ I put at the beginning, well, direct your attention below.

Just a few points I want to talk about. Think of it sort of like "director's commentary:"

* The girl in the beginning and ending scenes of this chapter was not originally going to be Octavia Ember of Team NDGO (hell, in my original draft, Team NDGO was not even in this story). In the original concept, the "afflicted" girl was going to be Amber (sort of draw parallels to the actual show). However, about halfway through writing, I started getting the idea that I wanted Amber to be a teacher at Beacon. I don't know why or how it came about, but the idea sort of stuck. And thus, Team NDGO was pulled in to replace what's going on with Amber. Why Octavia specifically? I don't know. Personally, I like her design best. But once you get past the main and supporting characters, there aren't that many female characters left to work with.

* The original story was going to be much shorter as well. In the original draft of this chapter, after meeting Ruby, Ozpin was going to be called away to meet Amber, and we would have found out exactly what was wrong with her- and that was going to be the chapter's ending. However, I decided against this. While I like fast-paced, I felt that that would have moved the story TOO fast. I also feel it would have taken away from Ozpin as a headmaster as he'd be too distracted by what's going on. So the Amber (now the team NDGO) subplot has been extended to be a few chapters longer.

* The original title of this chapter was going to be, "Welcome to Beacon," however there wasn't much welcoming. This chapter served to provide background information especially on Beacon Academy, so the title became just "Beacon."

* Really quick point (because I imagine one or two people are going to be thrown by it), that remark about "Cruella De Vil's car," that's meant to be Ruby's observation. I'm trying to portray what the car looks like to someone who doesn't know cars (which in this case, is Ruby).

* The Secret Academy is set on Earth. It's set in our world during our time. One of my biggest influences for this story (but not the only one) was Harry Potter. So while this story takes place on Earth, Remnant is the name of the magical world that coexists on Earth. That's why I keep referencing the four academies. I'm trying to establish this secret magical world that coexists alongside our own. While Vale, Atlas, Vacuo, and Mistral will be mentioned, they're not gonna be kingdoms.

* One of the inspirations for Professor Priscilla Peach, as she's depicted in my story, is the character of Myrtle Snow from American Horror Story: Coven. At least, the physical description is based on her. I'm not basing her personality on her.

* I got a couple reviews last time pointing out grammar mistakes. First of all, thank you to those reviews. Second of all, if you see more of them, please try to bear with me. I'm doing this without a beta. Also, I just switched to my new laptop. I got it a while ago, but I'd been hesitant to switch because my old one still had Microsoft Word on it. It was the last time I'd ever have it for free. I knew that once I switched to my new laptop (which I'm now on), I'd have to pay a subscription for Microsoft Office, which I really didn't want to (I didn't want to have to keep paying for it every year, and I didn't want the whole office, I just wanted word). But, I eventually found LibreOffice which is completely free. And it's format works with Fanfiction (actually, when uploading documents, the website says that the document format saved on LibreOffice is the most preferred to work with). I looked around and it's got rave reviews. My biggest issue, however, is that it doesn't catch grammar mistakes. Oh, it will catch spelling errors, but if you make a grammatical error, good luck. So...editing these chapters is an uphill climb. And like I said, please bear with me.

Was there anything else? Nope, guess not.

Remember to do me a solid and leave me a review.