"We need to take the Relic to Atlas?"
Teams RWBY, JNPR, MSTC, along with Linna Azure and Qrow Branwen, are seen back at the Azures' house in Mistral. The group that had gathered was quite the sight. Ruby and (Y/N) started their journey to Mistral with a team of five. Now, they stood amongst what could only be considered a small army.
Teams RWBY and MSTC were finally reunited, alongside the remaining members of Team JNPR. They had Qrow, (D/N) the Timekeeper, Oscar (With Ozpin's soul inside him), and joining them on the fray is Tealle's own mother and (D/N)'s old teammate, Linna Azure.
(Y/N) is seen polishing his weapon, Sky, who is still in his 'Stormlight' disguise is seen examining Claire's brace, Ruby, Ren, Yang, Tealle and Weiss were packing up, and Jaune was healing Claire's arm. Linna and (D/N), on the other hand, were inside Oscar's bedroom, looking after him.
Going back to Ruby's question, her uncle Qrow answered, "That's what Oz said."
Almost immediately, everybody looks to Weiss and Sky. They both stopped at what they were both doing and frowned,
"You've got to be joking....." Weiss blurted in surprise.
"I mean, bright side, we finally get out of this house!" Nora nonchalantly commented, eager clearly present in her voice.
Weiss sighs at this, while Stormlight rebukes her, "I know what you mean, Nora. But you could at least understand the extreme drastic measures and decisions we had to make to reach Mistral?"
"Well trust me, I'm not crazy about it either." Qrow agreed, "And without the Spring Maiden here to seal the Relic back in its Vault, it's our best option."
Jaune halts his amplifying semblance on Claire, giving him a grateful nod. She tries flexing her arm a little,
"Argh!"
But even that smallest movement made her arm still hurt. When Stormlight was done fixing Claire's brace, he walked up to her and handing out the brace. Claire reaches for it, but Stormlight retracts it back.
"Quick question: How long have you been using your brace?"
Claire gave him a confused look. "I have been using the brace ever since I got it. What's the big deal?"
Stormlight lets out an audible sigh, "Then you've been pretty much aggravating your injury, instead of letting it heal. The brace only suppresses the pain and lets you still control your arm normally, but that doesn't mean your injury is still healing, Claire. I'd suggest you stop using this for now and heal."
"You know I can't do that. Now give it here." Claire stretches out her uninjured hand.
Stormlight turns his attention towards their team leader, (Y/N).
"Look, Storm. If we're going to reach Atlas, we're going to need everyone on their top shape. And the journey there is not exactly going to be safe." (Y/N) reasoned.
Stormlight nodded in understanding, reluctantly returning the brace to Claire. As soon she places the brace on her arm, the pain subsided and was able to let out a breath of relief.
"Atlas may be the safest kingdom we have at the moment, but their borders are closed." Ren stated.
"Yeah. Last I heard General Ironwood called everyone back to Atlas." Claire commented, flexing her arm a bit.
"Eh, not everyone."
Qrow brings his scroll and activates it, showing a hologram of a highlighted portion of land north of Anima.
"The city of Argus is a ways north of us and it's the primary trading port between Anima and Solitas. They've got the largest Atlas military base outside the kingdom. There's no way they'd leave it abandoned, and if we play our cards right, I think there's a good chance we could convince them to escort us straight to Ironwood."
"I mean, we do have the missing Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Blake mentions, resisting the urge to smirk.
"Ex-Heiress, actually." Weiss corrects.
"True, true. But if there's a chance of reward money, I say we go for it."
"Ugh..."
"Not to mention we also have a runaway who is supposed to be under house arrest." Claire adds, motioning her head towards her masked teammate.
"You're not really thinking of turning me in are you, Claire? Because believe me, that's the last thing you would want to do."
"Why is that?"
"Well for a start, if you decided to turn me in, you'll find yourselves permanently engraved on my mother's bad side. And I'll probably be locked away in an isolated place with extreme security. If I want to turn myself in, it would be on my own terms, not yours or anyone else's."
"Hopefully the first option will suffice."
Oscar, Ozpin taking over, walks into the room, with Linna and the Timekeeper following behind him.
Qrow smirked. "Glad to see you're feeling better."
"Likewise, and while I'm sure we could all use more time to recover, I'm afraid time is of the essence.
Blake nodded, agreeing with Ozpin. "Right, as long as that thing's out in the open, its power could fall into the wrong hands."
"Speaking of, what does it do exactly? Qrow never really told us." Jaune asked
Everyone looks to Ozpin, who turns around to face them.
"Of course."
Ozpin detaches the Relic from his hip, and, as he holds it out, the Relic grows into it's original size as it was found.
"The Relic of Knowledge has a wonderful, and incredibly dangerous ability. Its user can ask any question, and the lamp will provide an answer."
Ozpin places the Relic down, and it floats on the table.
Ren leans in as he stares at it in awe. "Intriguing..."
"That's incredible..."
Ozpin nodded in acknowledgement. "Indeed. However, it's not without drawbacks. The lamp cannot tell of events that have yet to happen, and it will only ever answer three questions every one hundred years."
"Well, I guess that's not so bad. Adds a lot of pressure though." Yang stated, and Claire nods in agreement.
"Then let's put it to a vote!" Nora suddenly yells as she stands up and raises her hand up high, before dashing around. "What should we ask first?" she asked, holding Ruby by the shoulders, then dashing past Qrow, much to his surprise, spitting out his coffee down on the coffee table.
"Qrow! That is mahogany you just spat on!" Linna exclaims in annoyance.
"Oh! Can we ask for more questions? CAN WE ASK FOR MORE QUESTIONS?!"
Ren plants his face in exasperation. "They're not wishes..."
Ozpin chuckles at Nora's questions "I'm afraid you won't be able to ask it anything at the moment. "
Upon hearing this, Nora grunts in frustration, giving Ozpin mocking face behind his back as she sits back down.
"The questions were used before I sealed it away."
"Well, at least now we know what it is. And we'll be sure to keep it safe!" Ruby promises.
Back in the present day, Ruby scours through the train wreckage and picks up Dust bullets, with her boyfriend (Y/N) helping her, before looking to see the Relic of Knowledge slightly buried in the snow nearby. Yang can be heard complaining as she struggles to get her motorcycle, Bumblebee, out of the snow.
"Great! This is just great! We're stranded, we lost a third of our party, and we've gained a defenseless old lady!"
With one final heave, Yang manages to extricate Bumblebee, but falls over to the ground, with her motorcycle following suit as she's partially covered in snow. Claire has already managed to get her motorcycle out of the snow, and helps Yang get up.
"Seriously, Blondie. You're able to punch a 1000-pound Grimm, but you can't take your bike out of the snow easily?"
"My name is Maria Calavera!" the old woman shouted. "And I am not defenseless! I'm just a little hard of hearing. And blind without my eyes, that are in desperate need of repair."
She taps on her eye prosthetics in hopes of repairing itself, which open wide and close, before opening narrowly again, obviously broken slightly. "Okay, I'm starting to see your point."
"Here let me help you with that, Ms. Calavera." Stormlight offered, bringing out his set of micro-tools from his coat, much to Maria's delight.
"See, what I mean?!" Yang protested.
"Let's try to stay positive out here least, please!" (Y/N) snapped at Yang. "We're miles away from civilization and the last thing we need right now is Grimm swarming at us."
"Does that even matter, (Y/N)?" Blake interjected. "Apparently, we've been attracting Grimm ever since we left Haven."
Tealle raises her hands to calm Blake down. "Blake, please!"
"Oh, and how could I forget about that?" Yang then turns her attention to Oscar. "What happened to 'no more lies and half truths'?"
Oscar nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation..."
Oscar's eyes glow as control of his body is switched to Ozpin, who furrows his brow at Yang's accusations.
"I did not lie to you..."
Weiss crossed her arms. "Well you certainly didn't tell us everything about the Relic."
"Please, now is not the ti--"
"No, we're past that!" Yang shouted in anger. "I wanna know why you're still not telling us everything!"
"It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics. It's faint, but undeniable. I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option."
Weiss glared at him. "You know, I'm getting real tired of people choosing what's best for me."
"Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?" Yang inquired.
"Yes," Ozpin deliberately answered. "as a matter of fact, I believed the Kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the truth." As Ozpin explains this he starts walking ahead, followed by the others. "And, despite (D/N)'s extreme protest, I believed Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years."
"Missteps?!"
"What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently, but does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of his good? Do we not all have regrets? You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him."
Because of what Ozpin said, (Y/N) starts to sympathize with his uncle because none of them knew Onyx, his first love, before she became Salem's apprentice. However,
"Who Lionheart is or was does not matter," Linna suddenly commented. ", this is why I've regretted joining you in the first place Ozpin. Your over-usage of white lies knows no limits."
"Look, we're supposed to be in this together," Yang implored. "You can trust us! We're not gonna turn our backs on you."
At this, Ozpin snapped. "Do you really think Leo and Linna was the first?!"
The entire group stops and everyone stays silent at Ozpin's outburst.
Tealle then becomes slightly agitated. "Don't compare my mom to Leo!"
"Tealle, when your mother knew more, she left," Ozpin calmly retorted. "Yes, Linna may have not joined Salem, but she did turn her back on me, like Leo."
Linna defends herself. "I vowed to stay at your side, because I was too naive and ignorant to see the bigger picture at work."
"When you concluded how the relationship between the Humans and Faunus Kind were becoming increasingly difficult to maintain, you left your team and asked if you should be remembered for leaving them and if you ever had regrets for leaving us."
"But that doesn't really matter now, does it now that I'm here with you?" Linna muttered. "My only true regret was hoping for a better relationship between my kind and theirs, not for leaving you or my team."
"ignorance is bliss, Linna." He says that to her before turning to everyone else. "You have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I..."
He suddenly stops mid-sentence and realizes something missing from his hip. "Where's the Relic?"
"Right here." Ruby calls out, holding the relic in her hands. "It got scattered in the crash."
"Please, hand it over." Ozpin pleaded as reaches his hand out, but Ruby hesitates.
"So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?"
Ozpin sighs wearily at this. "That's not what I meant to suggest. Miss Rose, the Relic is a powerful item and I simply feel as though it is my burden to bear."
"But, you said it couldn't do anything right now." Ruby mentions.
"Why does it matter who carries it?" Unless of course...." Stormlight guesses internally.
"I need you to listen to me--" Ozpin reaches his hand out, but suddenly is stopped, stuck in his position.
"Oz?" Qrow called out in worry.
"Hurry... he's... trying to stop you!" It was Oscar, who seems to be desperately fighting internally for control.
"Stop her from what?" Yang asked.
"He's afraid... you'll find out what he's... hiding!"
Oscar suddenly collapses, Linna, Yang, Weiss and Blake glare at the boy with intense looks while Ruby holds the Relic of Knowledge defensively.
"Her name is Jinn. Say her name to summon her."
"Her name?" Ruby wondered, as she stares at the Relic in her hands. The wind picks up much more gradually, blowing snow even harder. The Relic starts to glow in Ruby's hands. "Jinn?"
Suddenly, the snow stops, floating in midair. The wind stops blowing too.
"What?"
Ruby then lets go of the Relic as it floats a short distance away, cyan smoke emanates from it. Suddenly, the lamp is enveloped in the smoke, and from it, a giant, semi-nude feminine figure emerges. All the male persons in the group looked away from her, slightly embarrassed by the display.
Her skin and hair colored blue, and decorated with gold jewelry and ornaments. The figure stretches and moans as she has been awakened once again.
This is Jinn, the aforementioned being inhabiting the Relic of Knowledge.
"Wonderful."
Everyone stares in awe at Jinn.
"Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?"
Maria adjusts her goggles to get a better look at what's in front of her.
"Who.. What are you?" Claire asks in disbelief.
"I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every one hundred years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer--"
"That's enough!" Everyone looks to Ozpin, who managed to regain control over Oscar's body.
"... two questions this era." Jinn continued.
Ozpin looks down to the ground, ashamed. Everyone is shocked and angered by this, despite Ozpin telling them that the Relic won't work for them beforehand.
Stormlight couldn't believe at what he is seeing as he shakes his disappointingly. "More lies, should've known."
"It's a pleasure to see you again, old man." Jinn chuckles, clearly knowing who Ozpin is.
"Hmm?"
Jinn's attention suddenly lands on (Y/N)'s direction as she took notice of how his physical appearance suddenly changed from a green-themed appearance to a blue-and-white one.
"My, my, my. If it isn't, Master Pastoria."
"Huh?"
Jinn squats down to (Y/N)'s level, the latter already confused and flustered at the situation.
"I didn't think you'd still be alive after all these years, but here you are."
"I'm sorry, but I think you're mistaking me for someone else....?"
"You may look too young for your age, but you can't fool me, Pastoria" she says, frowning at him. "I only know one person who is able to manipulate the powers of the Maidens to a degree that it changes their appearance: You."
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you are talking about."
Suddenly, she takes a closer look at (Y/N). Her eyes glowed as if she was looking through him. After a while, she smiles at him, but it was one with a sorrow tale behind it. "I see, it seems you had your duty cut out for you, Pastoria. Still, it doesn't make it easier when this is all over."
"I-I don't understand. My name is not Pastoria."
Jinn suddenly smirks. "Ah, I could tell you, if the girl who is holding the Relic asks the precise question needed." Turning her attention back to Ruby.
"Ruby, please... Don't." Ozpin pleads.
Qrow glances to Ozpin, and steps forward to try and defuse the situation. "Hey."
Suddenly, Linna, Yang, Weiss, Blake, Storm, and (Y/N) get defensive at Qrow by raising their weapons against him, while Claire and Tealle decided to add no more pressure to this. Ruby stares in disbelief.
Qrow relents and raises his hands defeat. "Do whatever you think is right, kiddo."
"Jinn?" Ruby calls out, powdering on the question she is about to ask.
Ruby turns around to face Jinn, who has a curious look on her face, while Ozpin grits his teeth in anger.
"What is Ozpin hiding from us?"
"NOOOOOOO!!"
Ruby gasps and looks behind her. Ozpin lunges forward and is about to touch her. (Y/N) rushes in front of her to protect her, but suddenly, Ruby finds herself alone in a blank white space, the same could be said with the others.
"Wha-- what? Weiss? Yang? (Y/N)?"
"Blake? Claire?! Ru--"
"--by? Storm?"
"Yang? Tealle?"
"Guys! Where the heck are you!"
"Mom? Cap? A-Anyone!"
"Tealle? Sky? Claire? Anyone?"
Suddenly, an environment manifests, showing a path leading to a castle in the distance. A woman humming can be heard in the background.
"Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower..." Jinn narrates as each person are in their personal white space. "...that sheltered a lonely girl. Named... "
A rather beautiful woman sitting in front of a mirror then appears.
(Y/N) stared in extreme disbelief. "That's impossible.... she almost looks like.....
"Salem."