Christmas Notice:

I am going to be taking one week off writing for Christmas. I've decided that the date for that will be 24th December – 30th December. Just letting you all know now. I'll make sure the dates at the bottoms of stories detailing the next chapter are accurate.


Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 86


Jaune was on the verge of collapse by the time he ran back to the walls, got pulled up by a winch and then dashed madly toward Beacon with Nicholas, Ironwood and everyone else trying to question him along the way. There was no time for it. If Hazel escaped with the Relic of Knowledge and Choice, he'd be halfway to destroying the world, and with the Relic of Destruction on its way and Atlas' army deployed here, it wouldn't be nearly as hard as Salem thought to get the others.

I've just convinced Salem to hold off on destroying us all. I'm not losing the world not to a pair of bullshit deities!

Beacon was in uproar when he arrived. Smoke billowed from the General Ironwood wing of the school and parts of the definitely-not-a-battleship's innards were poking out. Crates dotted the ground and students were strewn about. Jaune's heart caught in his throat and he froze stiff,

General Ironwood surged toward the first student, kneeling and touching Coco's neck. "Alive. Whoever took her out was in a hurry and didn't stay to finish the job."

"This one is alive as well." Nicholas said by Russel Thrush. "They all are. All these bruises, though. It's like they were run over by a truck. Smashed aside and left to lay where they fell."

"They weren't the objective," Jaune whispered. "He took the Relics."

Ironwood swore and pushed himself up, barking a command for the soldiers accompanying them to tend to the students. Sounds of combat still echoed through the school and another loud explosion shattered glass at the cafeteria.

"Why were the Relics unguarded?" Ironwood asked angrily.

"Salem was outside the walls and Cinder is in the Grimmlands. And the Relic of Knowledge is useless for another hundred years anyway." Jaune panted back. "We didn't think there was any risk. They were locked in a safe in my office. It's not like I had them laying around."

"Damn it!" Ironwood swore. "Is there any good news!?"

"Salem has agreed to live peacefully with humanity."

The man almost tripped and did stumbled, one leg buckling. He planted a hand down and rolled forward, recovering and surging back up with an angry, but also hopeful, glare his way. "This isn't the time for jokes, Arc."

"No joke. This is Hazel betraying her. Salem will call off the attack."

"That's the best news I've had all year. We just need to stop this idiot, then."

"It's just one man," Nicholas said. "Didn't you fight him before?"

"I held him off in Atlas. He wasn't too much of a challenge. There are so many skilled huntresses and huntsmen here that he shouldn't stand a chance."

It was troubling, then, that Hazel Rainart was apparently standing just that. Jaune found Cardin slumped against one wall by Nora, then Ren and Velvet further along, Ren bleeding faintly from a split scalp. Rushing further down the path of destruction left behind, they even found Roman clutching a clearly broken ankle, leaning on one wall as he tried to gingerly place weight on his foot.

"Torchwick!" Ironwood boomed. "Where is he?"

"Ahead." Roman's teeth were gritted in pain. Melodic Cudgel lay on the floor, snapped in the middle. "Bastard, argh, is like a wrecking ball. Hopped up on something. I've dealt with druggies before but never one this tough. Shit!" Roman toppled over and Jaune caught him, lowering him gently to the floor so he could sit down.

"You're out of the fight, Roman. Stay here."

"Not like I'm any use anyhow." Fingers shaking, he pulled out his cigar case and fumbled one out. "First sign we had was the explosion. We were all busy and no one was looking out for a human to infiltrate the school. By the time we got there, he had the Relics. Goodwitch, Neo and I. We charged in, thinking it'd be easy. Three on one. How bad could it be?"

The fact that Hazel was already this far away from his office spoke volumes. "Are they okay?"

"Neo retreated when she took a nasty blow. Goodwitch was knocked out a window. She's out of it - he took her out first so she couldn't use her Semblance to take the Relics away. I was stuck alone." He laughed. "Asshole wrapped me up like a pretzel. I feel like shit."

"How did he take all three of you so easily?" Nicholas asked.

"Has to be some magical Relic shit," Roman said. "He was wearing the Crown."

Crap. Ozpin had been cagey beyond belief on what the crown did, something about choices, but the simple fact Ozpin refused to tell him spoke volumes about how powerful it must have been. The only reason to keep it from allies was out of a fear people would use it, so it had to be versatile.

"Do you know what it does, Ironwood?"

"No. Ozpin would never say."

"Great. Roman, stay here. We'll handle this. Good news is that Salem is calling for peace. Once Hazel is done, we're home free."

"Hey." Roman smiled awkwardly around his cigar. "Maybe this day ain't so shit after all. Go on. Stab him one for me. Might want to wait for him outside," he added, lighting his cigar. "It's where he's headed."

"How do you know that?" Ironwood demanded.

Roman puffed out some smoke and leaned his head back. "Let's just say I laid a little bait out for him."

/-/

Oscar fell onto his knees on the grass, panting for breath. His heart thudded in his ears, almost as loud as the sounds of constant battle back in the school. His side burned, stich setting in. "G-Got to keep moving."

"If Hazel has the Relic, there's not much hope of us evading him. And he is coming for us."

"For you!" Oscar snapped. "He's coming for you. I'm just the poor sap thrown under the Bullhead. B-Besides, Mr Torchwick told me to get outside where it'd be safe. I trust him."

"You really shouldn't. He didn't say whose safety you would be preserving in getting out of a school full of children. I somehow doubt its our own." Ozpin paused before adding, "Though I'm pleasantly surprised by him. He does care for the students in his own, selfish way."

"Not the time!"

"I suppose not. It's a shame Miss Nikos is being used on the front lines. Her power would be useful right now."

A whole lot of anyone else would be useful. Oscar used Ozpin's cane to push himself up, then limped along with it away from the building and toward the Bullheads. Ozpin had to know how to fly one and getting away from the hulking juggernaut out for his blood had to be a good idea. It wasn't even cowardice; it'd draw the guy away from the school and toward all the huntsmen in the city.

The front door to the academy exploded outward. Qrow Branwen spun ass over elbow, bounced off the concrete and came to rest by one of the pillars outside, very much unconscious. Hazel Rainart came out with Sienna Khan gripped by her throat. He squeezed and slammed the faunus into the nearest wall, then dropped her when she fell limp.

Hazel wore a simple crown with three gems studded into it on his brow. At his waist hung the Relic of Knowledge. He strode out, shirt ripped open and muscles bulging with green lightning rippling over his skin. The veins on his neck and face stood out boldly, and his eyes locked onto Oscar's from a great distance away.

"You…" he hissed.

"Go away!" Oscar cried, struggling to move away, then stopping and turning when he realised he'd never make it. He brought the cane up hesitantly. "I'm not Ozpin! Leave me alone!"

"You will become him in time." Hazel said as he strode forward.

"Anyone can become him!"

"Which is why I must destroy everyone." It was said so calmly, like it was so obvious, and it was at that point Oscar decided he was dealing with a man who was certifiably insane. "I will collect the Relics and summon the Gods, who will erase Remnant from existence. Only then will that parasite in your head truly die."

"Oscar. Let me take over."

Oscar couldn't have let go faster. He shoved Ozpin to the fore, leaning on the cane so the new host could have some better balance. Their body lurched momentarily, before Ozpin caught their balance and sighed.

"Good day, Rainart."

"Monster," Hazel returned.

"Is that what I am to you? Your sister would not have agreed. She was a brave young woman determined to do good. How she would weep to see you now. You break her heart, Hazel. You defile her memory."

"Uh. Oz." Oscar said nervously. "I kinda gave you control thinking you'd not get me killed quicker."

"And you know from Salem and I that there is an afterlife," Ozpin continued. "You know that Gods, souls and existence after death are all real. How else could I have been brought back from it intact if it wasn't? I question, then, why you would go this far when you know full well your sister will be waiting for you once you die. Do you really wish to cause her-"

"-that much pain?" Hazel mocked. "Save your breath. I've experienced this conversation before."

Ozpin stiffened. Oscar felt his concern. "You're using the Relic even now?"

"I am."

Oscar felt Ozpin swallow.

"What does the Relic of Choice do?" Oscar asked nervously.

It allows him to experience a future and see a choice, Ozpin explained. You cannot pick the future, nor how far you go, but the Relic shows you a moment from your future and the choice involved. It allows you to simulate it, for lack of a better word. As a tool for knowing the future it is flawed, because you don't see the fallout of that choice or get to know everything that leads up to it. You only see that choice.

How was that so bad? It wasn't like the Jinn who could tell you anything or the Relic of Creation that could break the laws of physics to make stuff. Witnessing a single choice from the future didn't sound too devastating.

It's bad because even if you don't see the results of your choice, you still see what is going on at that time and a little before. For Hazel to have already seen this conversation means that he knows what I will do next, even before I do. If I had planned to launch a surprise attack, he will have already seen it. If I planned to run, he would know. We are – right at this moment – experiencing a time that Hazel knows the future of.

Oscar felt his heart speed up. "Is that how he beat everyone so easily?"

It may very well be.

Hazel allowed them their moment, smiling so smugly that it seemed he'd already seen and experienced his ultimate victory. The man did not approach, however. It was as though he was waiting for something-

Metal crunched and groaned, while the sharp bark and roar of an engine sounded off by the school building. The entire wing of the school that included the headmaster's new office broke off from the main building and lunged forward, firing off like a missile toward Hazel. It was so sudden and so shocking that even Ozpin remained frozen to the spot, mouth hanging open.

Hazel, however, simply walked backwards, letting the apparently very much active battleship slam by and into the Emerald Forest, crashing into the trees before spluttering to a stop.

"W-What…?" Ozpin stammered.

"Your replacement had the engines repaired," Hazel said. "What worked on Cinder could work on another, or so he must have thought. If it weren't for this-" He tapped the Relic of Choice, "-I might have fallen for it. One of the first things it showed me was the choice to walk forward and snap your neck or wait. I saw the ship move from the corner of my eye."

Oscar's heart plummeted.

General Ironwood came sprinting up, flanked by the headmaster and his father. Oscar also felt the air displace behind him, and was quickly dragged back by Neo, pulled behind her as she spat out some blood and pointed her sword at Hazel.

In a matter of seconds, Hazel was surrounded. Surrounded, but not surprised.

"We're one short," he said casually. "Give it a moment."

In the distance, he heard a furious scream approach. It was raw and painful, like the one doing it was screaming so hard they were ripping their throat to shreds. A black shape grew and dropped suddenly. The Grimm – which Oscar thought might be a Beowolf – smashed down into the dirt and carved a furrow through grass and mud. It died instantly, as every Grimm launched by Salem's Beringel catapults had. They couldn't survive the landing. The man on its back, however, who jumped off a second before the impact, could.

"HAZEEEEL!" Tyrian Callows screamed, face blood red and eyes equally bloodshot. "Treason! Betrayal! Blasphemy! Sacrilege!" He frothed at the mouth. "To betray our Queen is one thing. To betray our Goddess!? I will rip your skin off-"

"Piece by piece and make sure you live through every second," Hazel finished. "Yes, I know. Most of the players are arranged. We're just waiting for Xiao-Long and his ex-wife to arrive, but they won't come until half of you are already down and out."

The easy confidence stunned the rest. It terrified Oscar.

"You… You have already seen it…" Ozpin whispered. "It must have given you the choice to stay and fight or to run for your life."

Hazel laughed. "Not quite. It showed me the choice of ending your life or sparing it. With your neck in my grip and everyone here broken and beaten at my feet."

But… If it had shown him that future…

Didn't that mean it had to happen?

/-/

Crocea Mors' shield saved Jaune's ribcage being burst open like a grape in a microwave. He flew back and slammed into his father, knocking them both down.

"Are you okay, son?"

"A-Alive. Careful-"

"Stay still." Nicholas pushed him down. "I have this."

"Beware!" Ozpin shouted, the panic tinting his voice sounding all the more worrying than Hazel ripping off Ironwood's cybernetic arm somehow was. Since when had Salem's minion been this strong? "He's using the Relic! He has seen this battle already. He knows when, where and how you will attack!"

"You couldn't have warned me of that before!" Ironwood roared, limping back with his arm and half his shoulder sparking. "Damn it, Ozpin! I swear to any god listening I will wage a war on coffee once this is over! You'll never drink it again!"

Fury aside, if Hazel had seen this fight thanks to the Relic then they had to act differently to how they'd acted in whatever vision he received. At least, that was what made sense. "Mix up your attacks!" Jaune shouted. "Act unusual."

He would admit the order wasn't the best. Neo looked at him and raised her shoulders as if to ask what the hell that was supposed to mean. Nicholas was no better. After an awkward glance between them, they shrugged and tried to be different. Nicholas went in with wild and unpredictable swings, while Neo flickered in and out of Hazel's guard, feinting constantly and never actually attacking, probably the most unlikely thing for the vicious girl to do.

Apparently, Hazel had seen that all before as well. He completely ignored Neo – never even once acknowledging her – and quickly caught both of Nicholas' hands, twisting and breaking both wrists at once.

"Argh!" Nicholas Arc roared.

"DAD!"

Through fury and pain, Nicholas slammed his head forward, but even that was met by Hazel leaning back, planting a foot in his stomach and kicking him away. Argentum, his father's new sword, slid from his fingers. In the brief instance of shock, Neo finally lost her patience and leapt up for Hazel's throat, Mr Stabby slicing in toward the back of his neck.

Hazel stepped to the left and let it pass over his shoulder, then took hold of Neo's hand and dragged her over him, slamming her down onto the grass in front of Jaune. Before she could move, the monstrous man's foot pushed down on her stomach, making Neo kick and writhe in pain.

Jaune knew he'd be beaten. He knew it, but he still had to rush in to save her. His shoulder hit Hazel's stomach as he tackled him away and off Neo, who rolled onto her side hacking painfully. The man was so big and burly that he could only push him a few feet back. Then, they stopped. Laughing, Hazel reached down and took his sides in hand, lifting Jaune up and over his head before bringing him back down in a move straight out of a wrestling ring.

If it wasn't for aura, he might have snapped Jaune's neck right there. As it was, lightning jolted right down his spine and Jaune toppled back, unsure for a moment if his back wasn't broken.

"Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?" Hazel said. "In my vision, I did not see what your original plan would be. Ozpin knows how the Relic works, so he forewarned you, and just as you did now, you told everyone to attack differently. Who knows," he said, smirking. "Had they attacked normally, you might have defeated me."

Jaune swore.

"Or maybe you wouldn't have. If the future is as deterministic as the Relic's vision suggests then we are now locked into a timeline where what I saw must come to pass. Will come to pass. No matter what you or anyone does." Hazel drew a deep breath. "I see now why Ozpin chose to keep this one close. I thought the Relic of Knowledge would be the most powerful, able to find every other Relic, but I see now that knowledge can be fought. Information can be beaten by misinformation or simply moving the Relics. No one can beat time, however. No one can stop its passing or prevent that which is set to pass. Not when the Gods themselves have imbued this trinket with such power."

He might be right. Jaune groaned and rolled over onto his back, watching as Nicholas tried to crawl to his weapon and Neo vomited onto the grass. Hazel couldn't beat them all together, but he could when he knew every step they'd take. And the fact the Relic had shown him a future where he beat them meant it had to happen that way.

That meant Tyrian's attack was equally doomed. The Grimm tail speared past Hazel's head as he dodged. Without looking back, Hazel gripped the tail, twisted and slammed a fist behind him. Tyrian was flung back, but the tail was still in Hazel's grip. Something had to give, and it was the Grimm flesh granted to Tyrian.

"Aiiiiieeee!" the faunus screamed, twisting and convulsing on the floor, holding his rear. "Kill you!" he screamed. "I'll kill you!"

"You won't," Hazel said. "And once this is over, I'll use the Relic again. I'll see the next choice and follow the lines necessary to reach it. Then the next, the one after that and beyond, until I'm finally given the choice of summoning the Brother Gods or not. Then… then this horrible world will come to an end."

A black bird flew down from the sky and transformed moments before it struck the ground. Raven Branwen landed with one knee down and her left leg stuck out to the side. Her eyes lit with maiden fire and her lips curled up.

"The Grimm have backed off – and before I was able to match Taiyang's score. You'll count as more than one kill, I'm sure."

Hazel faced her. "Your ex-husband will be here to try and even the score in the next two minutes."

"Then I'd best kill you before he arrives!"

Jaune opened his mouth to shout out a warning, only to clamp his hand over it a second later. What if by warning her he played into Hazel's vision, caused another self-fulfilling prophecy where Raven held back and was beaten because he tried to help. What if her defeat only happened because he warned her?

But what if it didn't? What if it was the other way around!?

Ozpin was just as caught as he, stood there with his teeth gritted and eyes wide, fighting on whether he should warn Raven or let events play out. If they picked wrong, she could well die.

Raven's sword slashed through Hazel's position. He caught it on the back of one hand and adopted a boxer's stance, throwing out his other fist. Raven clicked her tongue and sidestepped it, dragging her blade back over his blocking fist to drain his aura more efficiently. Reversing it, she stabbed for his gut, then released her sword entirely and used both hands to send a howling whirlwind of maiden power directly into Hazel's chest, launching him up off his feet and into the air. He landed hard several metres away and rolled to his feet.

Jaune almost cheered. Raven was winning.

"No future can be earned without sacrifice," Hazel said, wiping blood from his lips. He picked a silver syringe off his waist and stabbed it into his left thigh. Veins bulged up and down his already monstrously muscular biceps. "Yours, Raven Branwen, is to die here by my hand."

Raven chuckled and kicked her sword back up into her hand. "Many have tried. All have failed." Her eyes locked over Hazel's shoulder and she snarled. "Don't you-"

"Don't worry. I know he's there."

Hazel turned and caught the sniper round that would have taken his head clean off. The rifle, spent, was tossed to the floor and Taiyang hopped down after, wiping his nose with a cheeky grin. "You gave me away, Ray. Talk about being a sore loser."

"I barely reacted…" Raven said.

"He has the Relic!" Ozpin had decided enough was enough. "It has granted him a vision of the future, including a step-by-step tutorial on how to defeat us! Be careful or you'll both suffer Ironwood's fate."

General James Ironwood glared sourly at Ozpin, still clutching his shattered arm and trying to reload his gun with his teeth. I'm still alive, you asshole, his expression seemed to say.

Raven and Taiyang shared a look. A moment of silent communication passed before they both nodded and leapt into action. Competition had been thrown aside. For a moment, it was like Team STRQ was reunited again. Raven lunged in, ducked and let Taiyang surge above. As Hazel blocked him, Raven swept her sword for his legs and forced him back.

Before Taiyang could fall, he rebounded off Raven's back, rolled over her body and jumped to deliver a skilled roundhouse kick for Hazel's face. Though it was blocked, he carried the momentum, bring his other foot off the floor and delivering a second. That one struck and Hazel grunted, forced to step to the side as his head snapped left. Finally, Taiyang fell, catching himself on his hands.

Behind him, the red tip of Raven's sword pieced in toward Hazel's neck, so perfectly concealed by Taiyang's attack that it seemed to come from nowhere. Off-balance and reeling from the first blow, Hazel had less than a millisecond to react. They moved in concert, synchronised, and Jaune never accepted as hard as that moment that these two had been close teammates and lovers.

All that skill, all that experience; it meant nothing when Gods, magic and providence were involved. Hazel already had his hand up ready to catch the tip of Raven's sword between two fingers. He moved them aside, drew her in and drove his other fist into her chest. Aura crackled under the force of his drug-enhanced strength. Raven flew back, spilling blood from her lips and crashing into a stone pillar.

"RAVEN!" Taiyang howled, swinging both feet at the back of Hazel's shins. They hit hard, but the monstrous man expected it. He wasn't felled. Reaching down, he placed a hand over Taiyang's face and ground it down, smashing his skull into the hard ground again and again.

Jaune scrambled for Crocea Mors.

"You attack me from behind, Arc." Hazel said without looking. "I turn, catch the strike and break your left arm in four places."

Panic made him freeze. Only for a second. Desperation won out and he just couldn't take the risk Hazel was bullshitting him or that the threat was supposed to make him not attack. Swallowing, he lunged in. If nothing else, it would force him to release Taiyang before the man died.

Hazel chuckled, turned and caught the blade. Fear shot through Jaune's body and he tried to let go – give him Crocea Mors and leap back – but Hazel was quicker still. His left arm was caught. Hazel's grip tightened. Jaune closed his eyes instinctively.

It didn't prevent him feeling every crack deep inside his own body. He counted two and then screamed, overwhelmed by pain and unable to feel if it really was four as Hazel said. Released, he fell back, gripping his left arm and rolling away, tears stinging and turning his vision blurry.

"To be fair," Hazel said calmly. "You had no choice. None of you do. The future is set. My choice is clear." He stepped away from them, toward Ozpin, and the man in the body of a boy stood his ground, almost resigned to what they all knew would happen.

"This will not be my death, Hazel." Ozpin said. "You know how this works. The only one you're killing here is Oscar. He is an innocent. Don't do this to him!"

"Better to die himself than be consumed by you. As you said, there's an afterlife. He can find peace there, free of your sickening taint." Hazel's eyes burned with unmistakeable rage. "And once I bring this world to an end, you'll finally be dead. More than that, you will have failed. I wonder if the Gods will erase you entirely as punishment. Or seal you in Salem and make you both spin endlessly through the cold void of space. Such an end would be fitting."

Ozpin swallowed. "You can't win, Hazel. You won't win."

"With this, I shall." He tapped the Crown. "Only the Gods themselves can deny what this foretells."

Jaune's eyes snapped open. The Gods themselves…

"RAVEN!" he screeched, voice raw and cracking. "Open a portal to Yang now!"

Hazel turned. For once, for the first time, he looked confused. Shocked. "What…?"

Gagging, Raven knelt and took her sword. Blood dribbled down her chin, but she swept it to her side, cutting through the air. A blood red portal opened on the grass beside her.

What came out of it was… strange.

The four members of Team RWBY looked tired, grumpy and were covered in grime. They were also hunched over, each holding the corner of what appeared to be a flat piece of wood, maybe a door ripped off its hinges. Atop that door sat a dining room chair, rocking precariously, and atop that chair sat Cinder Fall, one leg crossed over the other, smirk set to maximum smug and maximum snark.

Jaune's words failed him.

But more importantly, they failed Hazel.

"Cinder…? What…?" He turned to face her, turning his back to Ozpin. "How are you here? The Relic didn't show your appearance. It didn't show you at all. That shouldn't be possible…"

It was possible. Jaune laughed. It was possible because only the Gods could evade the vision of the Relics. In the same way Jinn couldn't answer questions specifically about them, in the same way she couldn't know their thoughts or feelings, the Relic of Choice could not predict their movements, nor lock them into a determined future.

And the sword in Cinder's lap, upon which her hands rested, was an instrument made of the God of Light's power. It was literally a part of him, and thus divine in its own special way.

This was the end of his plan, though. Of any plan. He'd found the one thing Hazel couldn't foresee, but he didn't know how to work that to their advantage.

Cinder looked them over and raised a single eyebrow. "Hazel? Really? You're all going to lose to Hazel. Is that what I'm seeing?"

"R-Relic," Jaune croaked out.

Everyone's eyes turned to the man in question, the one with two Relics, even if one was useless until next century. Cinder's eyes narrowed, while Hazel had yet to recover from the shock of his promised future experiencing a hiccup. Team RWBY just looked shocked, but Blake knew. Blake had been in his meetings. Blake did his paperwork. Blake was always there.

Blake was a quick thinker.

"He's wearing a crown!" she shouted, pointing incriminatingly at Hazel's head. "He's trying to steal our glorious Queen's future Kingdom!"

"What?" Jaune rasped, nervous.

"What?" Ironwood barked, alarmed.

"What…?" Hazel asked, confused.

"WHAT!?" Cinder screeched, furious.

Before anyone could act, she stood, sending Team RWBY scrambling to try and balance her – not an easy task given how Ruby and Weiss were so short and still had to balance half the diadem. They managed, or rather Cinder managed to keep her balance while they tried their best.

"I will gather the Relics, summon the Gods and destroy this world," Hazel said. "It has already been foretold. The future is mine."

"I will not rule over a Kingdom brought to dust!" Cinder snarled, drawing the Relic of Destruction. "And that is all you are, Hazel. Dust!"

Hazel didn't dodge as the sword was pointed at him. His future was assured, so the Relic of Choice had told him. As shocking as this small blip was, he knew he would end the day with Ozpin's lifeless body hanging from his right hand. He knew this to be a fact. So, he stood still, confident in his victory. Confident that the Relic of Choice could not lie to him.

It had not lied. It could not lie. But it also could not account for the choices made by those who wielded the other Relics, because to do so would have been to invalidate them, and the Relics were made equal. They were made of the same essence and might one day return to that essence, but for now they were tools. They had rules. Jinn was not the only one bound by those rules.

Hazel stood calm and unmoving like a statue. He stood and he stood, until bit by bit, starting with his face, he ground to dust, whisked away on the gentle breeze. The man's body collapsed in on itself like a sandcastle with the base cut away. The remained spilled down, forming a small, grey pile of dust, within which the Relic of Knowledge poked out, and atop which the Relic of Choice thudded down.

"Um." Ruby Rose cleared her breath. "Crisis averted?"

Ozpin fainted.

Raven vomited blood. Jaune cradled his broken arm and screamed. Nicholas Arc dug his shattered wrists into the grass and gritted his teeth. Neo tried to stand and fell down again. Ironwood gave up and rolled onto his back, bleeding dust onto the grass and sighing indignantly.

"Medic!" Yang shouted. "Uh. Many medics!"


Basing the Relic of Choice's power on what was revealed somewhat recently. No idea if it works this way or not; the lore is so hard to comprehend nowadays. I personally had it pinned as some kind of mind control power because that, to me, sounded like the worst thing it could be – taking away people's choices, but then RT decided something that ridiculous could actually just be the Semblance of a throwaway villain in Vacuo.

Like, what? That is so much more OP than any of the Relics!

It is the most powerful thing in the entire RWBY verse if used properly. Salem and Ozpin shouldn't be fighting over Relics. They should be fighting over Jax.


Next Chapter: 17th December

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur