Violet idly flipped her last extra lightning dust cell between her fingers as she stood on a nearby rooftop, keeping a close eye on the docks below. The other cell was already safely housed in her weapon, but she wasn't sure if she would use it tonight. 'There's at least fifty cargo containers down there. If one goes up in an explosion…' It wouldn't be a pretty sight. Anyone in the vicinity would certainly die. Violet sighed and tucked the extra cell away. 'Not unless I have to…'
Vibrant was spread across the warehouse rooftops that connected to this specific dock. They'd been here for a few hours now. The dust shipment had arrived shortly after they did and the activity on the docks had finally died down over the last half an hour as various employees went home, cargo stacked and ready to be sorted through. Violet had no way of knowing exactly which container held the cells she had ordered, but she wasn't about to go look.
Their conversations had died down around the same time, reduced to mere check ups every few minutes. Violet could tell they were nervous. She couldn't blame them. 'I've been through one too many situations like this one,' she mused, leaning back against the wall behind her. Violet could let herself remember those previous lives without it hurting as much anymore. The pain had been reduced to a dull ache when she thought back on them these days. Not that she had much time to between classes, hanging out with her friends, and now their 'investigation'. They all came together to eat away at her time. Violet was enjoying herself, though, and that was all that mattered in the end.
"Check in," Blake's voice buzzed lowly over the radio channel. Violet might have had more past experience with situations like this, but that hadn't stopped her from being impressed with Blake's expertise. The girl knew the tricks, knew the requirements for something like this to go down well. Her time in the White Fang had not been wasted as just Adam's cronie, it seemed. Blake was so much and more.
"Red clear," Ruby said quietly over the line.
"Gold clear," Yang followed up.
"Regal clear," Violet finished, eyes still scanning the docks.
From her reckoning, this event had been pushed forward about a week. Perhaps her ordering over twenty thousand lien worth of dust had pushed the SDC's schedule up. She was one of their favorite customers, after all. 'Who doesn't love someone that throws money at them?' That meant no Penny as backup, though. If anything was going to need Zenith's tender attention, it would be any bullheads foolish enough to try a strafe run on her or her friends. 'And they'll be in the sky, so I won't hit the containers at least. The bullheads, though...'
"Hold on, I've got something here," Yang's voice came back over the line, "Three o'clock, off the shore."
Violet let her eyes drift across the horizon towards the west. It took her a moment, but she spotted the grey dot, slowly growing in size as it approached the coast. 'Were they hiding their bullheads on Patch, or did they angle out across the ocean before heading back in to hide where their base is?' A second grey speck dropped out of the clouds above, followed by a third, all following the first and converging in their direction.
"The first bullhead is going to arrive earlier than the rest. We should try to take out the people in it fast before the other two have a chance to land," Blake's suggestion came through. No one argued. 'Divide and conquer is always nice.'
Violet took one final look around the docks, and seeing no movement, launched herself over the ledge, using her semblance to break her fall and come up in a roll. Violet turned to see her teammate getting down in a similar way. Blake was ridiculously acrobatic, and replicated Violet's fall without any assistance from a semblance. She hardly broke her momentum and turned her roll into a sprint as she took off across the docks to get into position. Violet saw a flash of red and yellow in the distance, Ruby and Yang also descending in their own ways as they all moved closer.
Violet managed to find the gap between two stacks of containers that Blake was hiding in. Ruby and Yang appeared, each in different gaps across from where she and Blake were. "How many White Fang do you think can fit in a single bullhead?" Violet asked quietly. The distant sound of the bullhead's engines made a low rumble through the air.
"Fifteen, usually. More when they don't have to fly far, but if they want to carry cargo containers out of here, I'd guess ten, no more than twelve apiece," Blake replied. She had taken off her bow already. Her ears swivelled in the direction of the approaching bullheads.
The rumble grew to a dull roar as the first bullhead passed over the top of their hiding place, engines exuding the fire dust that was used to power it. The bullhead hovered over the docks, thirty feet up, slowly spinning to face back towards the ocean before drifting down for its landing. Almost a dozen White Fang members stepped out, guns at the ready while they eyed their surroundings.
"Would you animals hurry it up? What am I paying you for?" Torchwick yelled as he stepped down the ramp behind them. Despite his words, he also took a moment to check his surroundings. Satisfied, he returned to berating the faunus. 'Three, two, one, aaaaaand… there's the psychopath' Neo stepped out of the bullhead as well, umbrella tucked across her shoulders as she looked over everything with a vicious smirk.
Blake tensed in front of her, and Violet followed suit. 'Any second now…'
A shot from Crescent Rose broke the silence, as her ice dust infused sniper round slammed into one of the bullhead's engines. The ice expanded in a brilliant cascade that covered the turbine. With a sudden snapping sound, the turbine erupted in a plume of black smoke and flames, crippling the left engine and rendering the bullhead dead on the ground. 'Good thing I made sure we had a 'they have bullheads' plan.'
Blake and Violet took off the instant the propeller exploded, Violet giving the benefit of her semblance to both of them so that they could cross the distance in only a few moments. Yang beat them to the frey still. She flew low across the ground in a blur, each burst of speed punctuated by her Ember Celicas firing off behind her. Yang caught the first man while he was still fumbling with his weapon, too absorbed by the sudden explosion to notice the golden streak in time. Yang's punch took him in the chest, knocking him backwards into another that had been trying to whip his weapon up at her.
"My night just keeps getting better!" Torchwick shouted sarcastically, raising his cane to fire it off at Yang. Another ice round from Ruby bloomed in front of him the instant before he pulled the trigger. The resulting explosion was directly in his face, blowing him backwards across the pavement and on to his back.
Blake left the White Fang for Violet, her weapon was better suited for them, and used a clone to launch herself past them at Neo. The girl recovered quickly from seeing Torchwick go down, though, and met Blake's sword with her umbrella. Neither wasted time as they began their fight. Violet had told Blake that she was likely the best suited for taking on the brown and pink haired girl. Their two fighting styles were evenly matched, both relying on fast paced dodging and acrobatic feats to avoid damage.
Violet wasn't sure who would win in a one on one, but Blake just needed to buy time and keep Neo preoccupied while the other three took care of the rest. Violet began to lay into the White Fang with her greatsword, bludgeoning a swath through them that kept them away from Blake's fight. Yang ran past her and vaulted the ice blossom that Ruby had created, slamming down into Torchwick with a heavy right hook just as he was starting to recover. 'Good. Keep them separated and off balance. Neo is Torchwick's only way to escape in this situation.'
Ruby finally joined Violet as well, blurring into the action with a gleam in her eyes matched only by her scythe. The two of them made short work of the remaining White Fang and then turned their attention between Torchwick and Neo. Ruby joined her sister, the two had trained together the most and would have the best tandem attacks to bring him down. Violet closed in on Neo with Blake, making sure that she came up on the side closest to Torchwick, cutting Neo off from him.
They were all interrupted as the other two bullheads arrived on the scene. Violet heard the sound of their guns whirring to life and shouted out a warning to the rest, "Get to cover!"
Blake had already noticed it as well. The first shots of the gatling gun ripped through her clone, gouging chunks out of the pavement in a shower of dust and tarmac that sent Neo stumbling away in a panic. The stream of bullets switched targets. Violet could see the flashes of rounds raking across the pavement in her direction. Violet put Zenith between herself and the ship, reducing her body weight to its minimum and throwing herself into a roll behind the bullhead that had already been grounded. Two rounds whizzed off her greatsword before she heard more tearing into the top of the bullhead above her. A few rounds punctured through completely, missing by a narrow margin. Violet's head lurched.
'A cascade of black arrows rained down on their defenses, whizzing through open air and puncturing holes through shields. The screams of the fallen were the only sound she could hear aside from the arrows that fell like rain in a downpour. Those damn arrows. A hand reached up from behind her, drawing her attention as the man grabbed her wrist. Her eyes widened at the sight. Her life long companion, a black arrow sticking out of his chest. "No! No I can fix this!" Her final thoughts were cut short as the second volley fell on their undefended forms.'
Violet shook herself, trying to get back into the moment as the second bullhead's gun whirred to life, another stream of lead splashed against the ground in Yang's direction. The ship careened off target before it could find its mark, though, as Ruby quickly turned, firing her final ice round across the cockpit window and blinding the pilot. The bullhead hastily landed, and another group of White Fang dropped out of it before charging in their direction. 'We didn't have enough time!'
Violet realized that with Blake and her both preoccupied, Neo was free. Her eyes darted over to see the girl sprinting low at Ruby from behind, hidden blade exposed, "Blake! Get Neo!"
Blake's eyes instantly took in what was about to happen, and threw Gambol Shroud, firing it as she did. It wrapped around Neo's umbrella, yanking her to the side the moment before her attack could connect with Ruby's exposed back. Blake was in her face in an instant, resuming their fight, but they were all exposed from the air.
'I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but that bullhead needs to go down!' Violet heard the gatling gun spinning to life again as she switched Zenith's form and dropped one of her projectiles into its waiting maw. She launched herself from cover and came up in a crouch, one knee against the pavement and Zenith aimed at the ship. Violet's eyes glazed over, a memory struggling to the forefront.
'She threw herself from cover, RPG at the ready as the helicopter's guns whirred to life. They tore her apart as she fired. She didn't care. Her comrades already lay scattered across the street, their eyes cold and lifeless. The rocket arced through the air, flying true even as she fell, and reduced the damned mass of steel to flaming chunks that scattered through the air.'
The coils hummed to life, electricity arcing between them as she fired Zenith.
The delay allowed the pilot enough time to try and bank to the side as the ship tilted sideways, a desperate attempt to avoid whatever was being aimed its way as it strafed. The blast tore through the wing like it was paper, pieces of metal further from the impact zone were instantly warped by the superheated projectile. The bullhead's left propellers stuttered, the ship spinning as thick black smoke streamed out of the engine. Violet tried to predict its path as it fell.
'I can't tell!' The spin was too erratic. The bullhead would dip harshly one moment, then pull up the next as the engines fought to continue working. Only one thing was for certain. It was going down. The White Fang that had been charging her also noticed, and screamed as they realized what was going to happen. They broke away in various directions, with no hope of making it off the docks in time.
The other combatants in the area heard the explosion. All eyes turned to see the bullhead dipping out of the sky in an unpredictable spin. Torchwick took his chance. With the sisters' attention off of him, he fired his cane directly between the two, blowing them both backwards and off their feet. He followed it up by firing another shot, this one at Blake. She must have heard it, more than seen it, not daring to take her concentration off the girl in front of her. Blake was forced to retreat. The blast hit the clone she left behind as she reappeared next to Violet, breathing heavily. Her eyes were wary as the two finally joined back up with each other.
Neither of them appeared eager to stick around, though. Neo gave them one final smirk, her eyes flicking up to look at the bullhead and back to them with a wink, before they shattered into a million pieces.
"What do we do!?" Ruby yelled in fear as she got back on her feet. If the bullhead crashed into the containers, the explosion would level the entire dock, and they were directly in the center of it all. There was no escape. Violet's mind reeled.
'The ogre's massive club slammed down in front of the cave's entrance, blocking them in with the goblins that swarmed from the depths. "What do we do!?" Her sister cried out from next to her. Looking to her, the older sister, for the answers to the impossible. They were alone, defenseless, with nowhere to run. The goblins cheered in guttural laughs as they took their time murdering the two girls. Her final thoughts died before they could reach her lips. "My fault!"
Blake and Yang turned to Violet, their leader, a desperate plea in their eyes that she would come up with something, anything to get them out of this alive. Violet's mind raced as she took in their surroundings. There were containers between them and the ocean. If any of the containers were hit, the resulting explosion would set off a chain reaction that would detonate all of them in the surrounding area. The downed bullhead couldn't provide the cover they needed. The warehouses were too far away to get to in time, too far away to seek shelter in.
With one last metallic screech the propeller exploded, pieces flying in all directions to spell the end of its struggle. The bullhead's side dipped menacingly, angled directly for the closest stack of cargo containers in a collision course that would kill them all.
Yang screamed in despair as she threw herself over Ruby.
Blake screamed in fear as she threw her hands over her head.
Violet shut her eyes as a wave of untold loss played out in her mind, threatening to repeat itself. Her eyes started to burn.
'The blast ripped through barracks, where they had thought themselves safe. She watched her brothers-in-arms get blown to bits in the devastation. Body parts and gore blasting in every direction as the building itself exploded around them. She was dead, too. Her body wiped away in the shockwave like the others. She stood in the middle of it all, only her spirit left as she stared over the ruins that had been the resistance. This form couldn't shed the tears that she felt.'
Memories long lost flashed before Violet's eyes, thousands of the dead begging her to save them as their lives were cut short. 'No! It's all my fault!'
Her emotions erupted in the form of a twelve foot thick dome of amethyst colored ice that roared into the sky. The walls collided against each other at its peak, causing a groaning slam like a coffin that echoed the deaths of all those that she had let die before.
With one final twist of melted steel, the bullhead's blazing wing slammed into the cargo container, followed by the rest of it.
All Violet could see were the eyes of the dead pleading for her help.
The dust in the first container combusted on impact, starting a chain reaction of explosions that shook the ground around them like an earthquake. Multicolored bursts of dust in every direction roared around the wall of amethyst ice that towered around them, stalagmites a dozen feet thick and two dozen high weathered the onslaught. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ice in every direction, each consecutive eruption chipping away at the only thing that stood between them and certain death. The dome remained resolute and unmoving. The air smelled like ozone, charged with dust particles that threatened to set the air itself on fire. The deadly salvo continued for another few seconds, and then…
The four girls breathed out heavily, their limbs quaking as they slowly recovered from their lives flashing before their eyes, more so for Violet than any other. Those eyes went wide as they looked at the titanic mass of ice that had protected them. Violet raised her own hand up in front of her face and saw it tremble in front of her. 'How… how could I have left so many to their deaths?'
'Never look back,' the words to the rule taunted her, a reminder that she was responsible for it all.
Three sets of eyes locked on to Violet. She couldn't return their smile. 'I'm a monster.'
Violet was overwhelmed in the sudden rush, nearly knocked off her feet by the force of all three girls surging in to hug her at once. They gripped her in a deathly embrace, tears streaming down their faces. Violet didn't react, she was still in shock.
"Thank you, Vi! Thank you!" Yang cried into her shoulder, body shaking in choked sobs. Ruby and Blake were silent except for their own whimpers, each hiding their faces against her.
'No, I'm not worth your thanks. I've let so many die…'
The girls didn't let up. The towering walls of ice created their lonely little world as they stood there, holding Violet, holding each other.
'Please, just leave me. I don't deserve this.'
Despite herself, Violet's arms wrapped around as much of the girls as she could. Her team, her friends. She had done the impossible just for them. 'Never again.' The cracks in the ice surrounding them deepened.
"You're the best leader we could have had, Violet," Ruby sobbed out between the heavy breaths that wracked her chest. 'Don't say that, Ruby. It's all my fault…'
Chunks of the ice wall around them shattered, falling to the ground to break apart into pieces and fade away, the force that held them becoming unravelled.
Blake pulled back, looking deeply into Violet's eyes. Blake's widened, seeing the torment behind them. She gave a choked smile, her face closed in, cheek pressed against Violet's. A whisper escaped her lips, meant for Violet's ears alone, "Thank you."
The wall of ice collapsed, unable to support its own weight any longer.
Violet felt her breath escape in a deep, rattling sigh, 'I'll protect all of you.'
The police arrived on the scene to find the devastation. Warped metal and steel like shrapnel stuck out of the ground in every direction, scorch marks from both fire and lightning dust alike carved deep gouges through the tarmac, fires still raged all around, mountains of ice spiralled into the sky, and at the very center of it all, a perfectly unblemished circle of pavement, completely untouched by the mayhem.
"You thinkin' the uh, White Fang again?"
"I'm thinkin' about an early retirement."
Violet crawled into bed as they arrived at the dorms, giving her team one exhausted stare to warn them not to disturb her. They looked tired, but itched to talk about what happened. Understanding her mood, though, they excused themselves from the room to go talk somewhere else.
Violet was emotionally drained more than anything else. She could have stayed up to talk with them, but there was something more important she needed to do. It was time for Violet to take things into her own hands. She closed her eyes, and let her consciousness drift to the top of the tower at the heart of Beacon.
Ozpin's legs were crossed as he sat in his chair, one foot idly swaying up and down as he impatiently waited for the elevator to finish its ascent. Time was of the essence. He had a small glimmer of an idea as to what Salem might be planning, and it was not good.
The elevator doors finally slid open, and Qrow stepped out, already brandishing his flask as he walked in exhaustion to the desk, "This better be good, Oz. You don't know how tiring it is to fly for two days straight."
"Yes, yes, I assure you this is of the utmost importance. Salem has made her move," Ozpin announced gravely, nodding as Qrow was shocked motionless. He recovered long enough to take another swig and pocket the flask before dropping heavily into the chair across from Ozpin's.
"What's she done?" Qrow asked quietly, remembering the reason he had been so quick in getting here in the first place.
"Your nieces are fine," Qrow breathed a sigh of relief, "For the moment."
Qrow straightened at that, eyes telling Ozpin that he would not be toyed with.
Wordlessly, Ozpin pulled up the dock footage, or what was left of it, up until the instant the bullhead had ignited the stockpile of dust stored in all the containers. He used one of the camera angles that hid the four girls from view, so that Qrow could first see the explosion for what it had been, unsurvivable.
Qrow winced, "Was anyone down there?"
Ozpin paused, "Your nieces and their teammates, yes."
Qrow's eyes went wide and he stood up sharply, glaring down at Ozpin as his fist trembled at his side, "You said they were fine!"
"And they are," Ozpin replied calmly and changed the camera angle now, going back to a few moments before the explosion. Team Vibrant stood in the middle of where the explosion would take place. Qrow leaned forward, hands wrapped around the edges of the table in a white knuckle grip. They both watched as, the instant before the bullhead collided with the cargo container, a spire of thick, closely grouped purple crystals surrounded them.
Silence hung in the air between then as Qrow's eyes screwed up in confusion and worry, "What happened?"
Ozpin scrubbed back the timeline again, this time choosing a third camera angle that had a better view to Ms. Regalia's face, and zoomed in on it, playing it in slow motion as the girl's eyes burned with a purple radiance.
Qrow stumbled back, "A… A maiden!?"
"One created by Salem, it would seem," Ozpin nodded, bringing Qrow's attention back to the crystals, indistinguishable from the ones that permeated Salem's domain.
"But when? Why!?"
"My running theory is that Violet Regalia was the product of the power transferring to someone at random, similar to a regular maiden. She herself was not created by Salem."
Qrow's eyes screwed up in confusion, "But we've not heard anything about one. Who could have even killed a maiden like that?"
"Summer," Ozpin replied simply, shocking Qrow, "We never found out who was responsible for her assassination. The area showed clear signs of a battle taking place. Perhaps her silver eyes were able to kill the maiden of the Grimm, even after she herself had been mortally wounded."
Qrow fell back into his chair with a huff, "This is too much."
"It was always a possibility. If I could transfer my magic to the maidens as I did, then so could Salem."
"What are we going to do?" Qrow asked gruffly, waiting for Ozpin to tell him the course of action they should take.
"I don't know."
Another silence passed between them, "What's that supposed to mean!?" Qrow blurted out.
"If Salem has lost such a valuable asset, then it is our duty to keep it out of her hands," Qrow nodded along, "Unfortunately, I believe Ms. Regalia could kill me for good if she tried, like she did to the Grimm. Her flames do not burn away the flesh, but the soul."
Qrow froze as his eyes regarded Ozpin.
A feminine giggle from the corner surprised both of them.
Harbinger was in Qrow's hands in an instant, a shot fired from its double barrels in the direction the voice had come from. The giggle continued, now sourceless and all around them.
"Who is there!?" Ozpin shouted, hands gripping his cane tightly as his eyes roamed the room.
"Silly wizard and his pet bird. If you stay up here too long, your little minds will think themselves in circles~" the voice mocked them with another giggle as it seemed to swirl around them.
Qrow fired another shot, hitting nothing as he tried to follow the voice by sound alone.
"Oh, please. This will be so much easier if you just relax~" the words had a force behind them. Ozpin felt his hand go limp, his cane dropped on to the ground with a clatter, Qrow's weapon did the same with a much heavier thud.
"That's better, isn't it?~" a single mote of light appeared between the two, amethyst in color, with flickering flames the same color surrounding it.
"What are you?"
"God," the voice lost its playful tone, sounding like it disliked the title it had given itself.
"There are only two gods of Remnant, and I recognize you as neither of them," Ozpin stated flatly, staring at the mote of light.
"Two gods of Remnant, but not the only two that exist~" the voice lost its edge, returning to the mocking tone it had started with.
"I don't believe you," Ozpin said coldly.
"But then, who can you trust if not God?~" the voice laughed, "Oh, I know!"
Ozpin felt the world shift around him, vanishing out of sight as he was thrust into sand that blurred beneath him, his eyes darted up, taking in the familiar hazy dunes that shifted unnaturally. Qrow quickly stood, eyes whipping around, no clue where they were.
"Jinn~"
Ozpin and Qrow turned to see the Relic of Knowledge, resting above the sand pillar behind them. Watched as blue smoke poured out, forming into a large naked woman, clad only in gold jewelry and chains. Ozpin stood up and backed against the closed door behind him, the one that he had never seen closed from this side, "This isn't possible."
The mote and Jinn both ignored him.
"Hello again, Jinn~"
Jinn seemed to take in the situation cautiously, noticing immediately that both Ozpin and Qrow were there. A smile broke out across her face as she turned back to the mote of light, "It's nice to see you again, God~"
"Tell me, who created the God of Light and the God of Darkness?~"
"Why, you did of course."
"Does that satisfy you?~" Ozpin felt the mote turn back to him, despite it lacking any clear sides.
He was speechless. His entire world had been turned on its head in moments. 'The Gods of Light and Darkness were created!?' Ozpin reeled in shock.
"Oh dear, we may have broken him~"
There was a shifting of sand as Qrow stepped forward, "Uh, listen. God. Why did you only show yourself now?" he spoke from nearby, asking the question that was burning in the forefront of Ozpin's own mind.
"Ah, finally. A little back bone~" God teased, "I decided to show myself because you were thinking some very bad thoughts."
"We were trying to stop one of Salem's plots!" Qrow shouted uncertainly.
'Is God on Salem's side in all this!?' Ozpin choked on the thought.
"Violet Regalia has nothing to do with Salem. She is one of my creations~"
Ozpin frowned, finally regaining some of his composure, "What do you mean, one of your creations?"
"Exactly as it sounds. I gave her the power that she possesses, to do with as she sees fit~"
"Why?" the words were echoed by Qrow beside him.
"Because your little quarrel with Salem was getting boring. Your further from victory than you were a thousand years ago~" God scoffed, "And all I want is to be entertained."
"That's what our lives are to you!? Entertainment!?" Qrow shouted in disbelief, eyes going wide.
"Yes, little bird. Your world, and thousands of others stretched across space and time. You are not the first, and you will not be the last~"
"How dare you treat people's lives so callously!" Ozpin shouted in fury.
"Oh, you poor wizard. You do not yet see that we are the same. You know the struggle against Salem is futile. When will you give up and start treating your fellow man as nothing more than pawns on one big chess board? Ah, but don't you already? Now imagine that life of yours spanning across millions and millions of years, instead of the paltry thousand you have now~"
"I would still not delight in the torment of others!"
"Neither do I, wizard. The deaths of those closest to you never get easier, but without death, you cannot appreciate life. It brought me no pleasure to allow Summer's death, or that poor child unfortunate enough to become the maiden for this very vault."
Ozpin's thoughts latched onto the last detail, "So you know who killed her?"
God remained floating in the air, regarding him, despite its lack of eyes. It drifted lazily up and down, "Perhaps I could make a deal with you, wizard."
Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "And what kind of deal might that be?"
"In exchange for the answer you seek, you will grant my creation a boon, of sorts. You may approach her with the intent to gain her trust and bring her to your side, but treat her no differently as you might the young Ruby Rose that you are both so fond of. You also must not bring up any of this to her. As far as she is concerned, none of this exists."
"Deal," Ozpin replied instantly. The girl was kind at heart, and had proven as much by saving the lives of those around her on more than one occasion. He did not doubt he could sway her to joining their side against Salem.
God regarded him for a few moments, "This will not be easy to hear."
"Is anything ever easy?" Ozpin replied sharply.
"Not for you. It will be hard for the bird."
Qrow looked up at the mote of light with confusion and apprehension, "I can take it."
"...Raven Branwen murdered the child, and is the current Spring Maiden."
Qrow stepped back in shock, his head shaking back and forth as he tried to deny the claim. Ozpin stared at the mote of light. It had no face, he could not read it, but there had been no hesitation in its words one it began to speak. 'I believe it.'
"That's ridiculous!" Qrow yelled, "She's too old!"
"But she would not have been ten years ago when the child disappeared."
"Still, even Raven wouldn't-!"
"She would, and she did. Raven desires power above all else to keep herself safe from Salem's forces. The child was weak, and would not have been strong enough of an ally to protect her, so Raven took a gamble on the next best thing before her time as an eligible maiden ran out."
Qrow was dumbfounded. His jaw moved up and down but no words came out as he stared at the mote.
"My end of the bargain has been completed. I will be… greatly disappointed if you do not hold to your end as well, wizard."
The world lurched again as they were brought back to Ozpin's office. A light giggle in the distance, the only sound before they were dropped on to the floor. Ozpin picked up his cane with shaking hands and set it on his desk, sitting down with an utter lack of the grace he usually possessed. His fingers trembled as they picked up his mug. He managed to take a sip before setting it back down. He felt sick.