"Hey, Oz."
"Team RWBY," Ozpin formally greeted. "What brings you to my temple?"
The relic hunters had a few questions after that encounter with the rapid beringel. Questions about the grimm itself and the relic. Important questions that needed answers.
It was silent in the temple. The stairs shimmered and the ancient designs on the ceiling were intricate. It was as if the room and not just Ozpin was waiting for an answer.
With purpose, Weiss stepped forward and held the locket in her grasp. "Can the relic make my purification powers stronger?"
Instead of answering, Ozpin looked deep in thought. One hand was under his chin as he contemplated the question. Something had to have happened recently to compel her to ask.
Because he was quiet, Ruby backed her up. "She purified a full-grown beringel not even an hour ago and felt refreshed instead of tired like she normally does. We think the relics might have something to do with that."
The mention of a beringel grimm set off alarm bells in his head. He pushed that to the side for now and decided to address the question first.
The headmaster waved the priestess over. "May I check your seal, Weiss?"
His question made her wonder why he wanted to do so but he'd probably explain after she obliged.
"Of course," she saw no reason for him not to.
With that, Weiss stood directly in front of him. To watch the process, the remaining team encircled them, expectant.
To focus, Ozpin hovered his hand and closed his eyes. A green light emitted from his palm and the friendly green smog was sucked into her chest within seconds. In response, her breath slightly hitched. It was like getting pricked with a needle on the inside.
The white and green auras swirled together in harmony. When the previous light sting ebbed away, it felt warm and pleasant. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Her white aura wasn't tainted. The seal was doing its job perfectly.
Silently, Ozpin pulled away, done with the process of confirming his thoughts.
"It's as if the curse isn't there," Ozpin diagnosed.
"Good," Yang said with a smile. "Why'd you want to check?"
"Simply to make sure the curse wasn't a factor," Ozpin informed evenly. "Keep in mind, I'm not entirely sure what the relic's power is capable of or its limitations. However, it wouldn't surprise me if it enhances any type of ability including purification."
"Told ya," Ruby said in satisfaction.
Cat ears flicked. Blake stared at the glowing locket in her friend's grasp and then at the bright white bangle around her wrist. "Does that mean our semblances could be enhanced?"
"Perhaps," Ozpin didn't deny the possibility. "Maybe you should test that theory."
"Let's do it," Ruby suggested. "I'm curious. If we can figure this out we may be able to come up with more effective combos."
"Smart, Rubes," Yang praised. "We've collected three shards so far, right?"
"Yes," Weiss confirmed. "Cinder stole one of them from us so she has the fourth."
"There's one more out there," Blake stated calmly and looked to the headmaster. "Do you and Glyn know where the last one is located?"
With a smug smirk, Ozpin lifted his cane and waved it once. It took team RWBY a moment to realize what he was trying to say. There was a faint light on the grip of his handle.
"Are you kidding me?!" Yang blurted when she noticed a shard was embedded in the wood. "All this time and you already had one?!"
"Don't take it personally," Ozpin said evenly. "Only Glynda knew."
"That Goodbitch…" Yang mumbled. "Let me get this straight. The princess here had one without knowing it, and you have one and knew the whole time?"
Ozpin lightly smirked. "Don't make me sound like the villain. I was protecting it in my own way. As was Weiss."
Weiss frowned and dropped the locket under her uniform. "I didn't even know I had one."
"That's how you protected it well for so long," Ozpin stated.
The priestess had never thought of it like that. She just thought that she was moronic for not even knowing that there was something inside the locket for all those years.
Blake smirked from the news. "It really doesn't matter. The bottom line is that this makes our job a lot easier."
Ruby counted with her fingers. "We have four of the five pieces."
"Yes, Ruby," Ozpin confirmed. "We're at a great advantage against the half-demon."
Confidently, Yang placed her hands on her hips. "So what do you want us to do now? It's not like we can go hunt it down. Unless you want us to go after Cinder."
"That's not necessary," Ozpin informed. "Cinder will come to us. We will bait her. My hope is that she'll bait herself."
Confused, Blake tilted her head. "What does that mean?"
Instantly, Weiss retorted. "She won't fall for whatever you have planned."
The half-demon was cunning, that much was certain. She wasn't someone who would fall for simple tricks or deceit. Whatever the headmaster had planned had to be just as crafty.
"Ah," Ozpin said in amusement. "She's greedy. That's her main weakness. She wants to be a full-demon so badly that she's willing to do anything. Of course, she'll arrive with a plan. Our role is to guess what her plan will be so we can initiate a proper counterattack."
Blake wanted to clarify the plan. "You want us to wait for her to make her move?"
"Precisely," Ozpin confirmed. "I've no doubt that she will come to us."
Out of the blue, Ruby asked. "Do you think she already tried to make a move with that beringel earlier?"
"Great observation, Ruby. That's what I was thinking," Ozpin agreed. "Perhaps that was one of her many steps. To analyze your team's dynamics. I'm certain that she's been gathering intel for a while now. It's only a matter of time before she's confident enough to make a move."
Blue eyes narrowed as Weiss frowned. "That sly half-demon."
"Be more cautious from now on," Ozpin advised solemnly. "The time is drawing near."
Four nods.
Together, the three trudged through the thickets in the forest.
Due to the chilly weather recently, the group adorned warmer clothes.
In front of the small group was Emerald, who used her sharp sickles to slash through the dense shrubbery. This allowed Cinder and Mercury to easily follow. The bushes she missed were met with Cinder's cruel dual swords.
"My lady," Mercury addressed, his breath visible. "I can't wait any longer! When can we finally go after them?"
"We must wait for him to grow," Cinder reminded smugly. "A demon's power doesn't just appear from nowhere. Nurturing it comes first."
That was an odd thing to hear. At least to him. Mercury never viewed Cinder as a nurturing being. The mere thought caused his skin to crawl. She had her moments of compassion, but those vanished as soon as they appeared to be replaced by a tyrannical being.
"Just shut up, Merc," Emerald snapped as she whacked another branch. "Listening to you complain all the time is getting on my nerves. How Cinder deals with you is beyond me."
"Tch," Mercury crossed his arms in annoyance, hoping to hide his hands from the cold. "I just thought that he was big enough by now," he said, trying to justify his complaint.
Irritated, Cinder rolled her eyes. "You obviously haven't witnessed a dragon's full size."
"You have?" Mercury asked, genuinely curious.
"A flying one," Cinder revealed with a firm nod. "A long time ago," back then, her followers weren't even born yet.
The half-demon didn't like hinting at her true age. It made her sound old.
Emerald let out a gasp from an epiphany. "That's why you know what he needs!"
Only someone who had experience with demons would know how to care for one. Especially if it was raised from scratch.
"Precisely," Cinder stated. "My sea dragon that they defeated served us well. I made him durable, able to withstand hit after hit, blow after blow. Now we know how the relic hunters work together."
Mercury nodded in agreement. "They lasted way longer than I thought they would."
"My hordes of grimm were relentless," Cinder slyly smiled. "The relic hunters' stamina and endurance are phenomenal, but that won't matter."
To Emerald, it was strange to hear her master praise the enemy. Perhaps that wasn't praise, merely an observation. She had to admit, watching her former classmates thrive in the heat of battle was mesmerizing.
It almost made her forget that they were the bad guys for a moment. When she watched them interact, they seemed like ordinary high school girls. Not relic hunters thrown into the New World.
Are we doing the right thing? Emerald thought. Is Cinder planning to kill my old classmates? Or does she just want to steal the remaining relic pieces?
Part of Emerald was reluctant to ask. She was afraid of the answer.
"Your beringel scared the crap out of them," Emerald tried to appear like she wasn't having doubts and took a jab at her former classmates. "Even Yang was thrown off."
From previous observations, Emerald was well-aware that Yang was team RWBY's tank. The one who took most of the hits. The most fearless person on the team, who was in charge of keeping most red eyes on her. That came with a lot of pros and cons, as she'd come to realize.
That wasn't her only observation.
"It's seems the priestess is the most quick-witted," Cinder stated firmly. "The black-haired member-?"
"Blake," Emerald answered.
"Blake doesn't fall far behind in that aspect," the half-demon elaborated. "She's quick-witted and has the reflexes to boot. Meanwhile, the girl with the cape-?"
"Ruby," Mercury filled her in.
"Ruby doesn't hesitate to take charge and can see the whole picture more easily than anyone else," Cinder clarified. "Which is odd, considering she's the youngest."
Mercury seemed shocked by that. "Didn't she move ahead two grades?"
Emerald replied, sarcasm in her tone. "Because she's such a genius."
For her age she's always appeared so self-assured, Emerald thought.
Before long, the small group entered the well-hidden cave that was covered by large leaves and vines.
Cinder took the lead and conjured a fireball in her palm so they could see in the darkness. Since the half-demon didn't like the way voices bounced off the cave walls, her followers were quiet.
Only the sounds of footsteps lingered as they rounded multiple corners in an intricate maze. Faint roars rang out and grew more powerful with every step.
"He's fussy," Emerald said softly, making sure to keep her voice low.
He's still small but he's only going to get bigger and more intimidating, Emerald thought. I can't believe Cinder isn't scared of him. It's daunting to watch her interact with him.
When the three rounded the last corner, there he- it- was.
In the silhouette, the dragon cried.
The demon was about the size of an average school bus. With more room to grow. Thanks to Cinder's ball of light, the group could see the beast clearly.
The wings were red and bat-like. Delicate like a wasp's since the red membrane of the wings were translucent. Like grimm, it had rough black skin, with white bone-like spines along its body. Since it wasn't fully grown yet, the developing armor was still squishy.
The soft white substance included an external skill, rib cage, and rows of dorsal spikes that were still soft and in the process of hardening.
"He's almost perfect," Cinder observed with a smug smirk.
Her alluring voice echoed. When she spoke, the dragon grumbled.
Another deafening roar.
This caused the three to cover their ears in pain. Thanks to the enclosed space, the noise was amplified like there were dozens of microphones and speakers.
Like the monster had the zoomies, it whipped its tail around. Luckily, there was plenty of space for the creature in the massive cave, so no walls crumbled and only shook from its weight.
On its tail were three spikes and growing claws on its hind legs. On top of the skull were dots of white that would soon be prominent, sharp horns.
Despite the weapons this demon adorned, the most intimidating feature were its six yellow eyes. The color alone separated the beast from the rest of the ordinary grimm. Somehow, yellow appeared more daunting than the most bloody of red.
After another bellow, the demon plopped on the ground like it was bored. This caused the three to wobble and some dirt to fall from the ceiling.
Mercury grimaced from the loud shrieks and looked to his master. "Do you think he's hungry?"
Cinder crossed her arms and nodded behind her. "Go get ten more deer."
"Coming right up," with that, Mercury turned on his heel to leave.
In seconds, he melted with the darkness.
When he was gone, Cinder strutted up to the monster without batting an eye. Emerald almost grabbed her hand to stop her, but restrained herself. Emerald couldn't get near the dragon without it throwing a fit. The only one allowed to come close was Cinder.
Gently, the half-demon set a hand on the side of its belly.
In response, the dragon's stomach rumbled in what felt like a violent purr.
"Now, now," Cinder whispered delicately. "All you have to do is grow."
Emerald could only watch the display in fear. Two pairs of golden eyes pierced the darkness.
What have I gotten myself into?
Our lil beast is rearing to go! Patience you impatient SOB.
Stay dandy,
~Toto