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-CHAPTER START-
Realm R38Y
Two Weeks After the Battle of Haven
[Author's Note that I can't work into in-story dialogue in a way that feels natural: the ending of Book 41, with Teana arriving on Shield-Hero world, happens one week after Haven – one week before this chapter picks up]
In the aftermath of the incident at Haven, a report on the overall situation was passed on to the Dimensional Defense Force. In particular, the reveal that Megatron had been sprung from Cybertronian prison by Maleficent and recruited into the evil alliance, with some of his deceased Predacon subordinates brought back from the dead to fight for him again, got the full attention of Optimus Primal & his crew, and the Axalon II was soon stationed in orbit over Remnant.
Now, as the gang prepared to take an overland train northwest to the port city of Argus, intent on heading to Atlas/Mantle from there, Terra had to 'rotate out' and work on other assignments. Pirika, however, was staying with the crew, partially because by this point she was practically an unofficial "fifth member" of Team JNPR. The DDF had sent Link, Hero of Time (and his Kantonian Ponyta) to travel with the heroes for the next leg of their journey, and Optimus had assigned Rattrap to work with them for now as well.
As Qrow used his Omnitool to send a private message through DDF channels to Gen. Ironwood, Ruby ran by and happened to bump into him.
"Hey, what's with the running?" he asked.
"And what's with the standing?" she replied. "It's almost time!"
Viewing all the people filling the station lobby, she used her Semblance to weave through the crowd, grabbing something along the way. She reformed at the benches where most of her friends were waiting.
"And?" Yang asked.
Ruby held up a bag, letting out a squee.
Weiss sighed. "What an absolute waste of ti-"
"Whatcha get me?" Yang interrupted.
"You'll have to wait and see~ " Ruby replied [AN: I am sad that MS Word symbols, like the music-note symbol I put after the ~, don't show up on FF-dot-net…]
"No fair!" Pouting, Yang tried to snatch the bag, but Ruby was too quick & agile for her. Wanting to head off any public roughhousing, Nora put herself between them.
"I can't believe we're taking a train to Argus! The beautiful northern coastline… You really think it's too early for beach season?" She tried not to drool as she imagined Ren shirtless and in tight swim-trunks…
"Unfortunately, yes" the real Ren replied. "But, we will be one step closer to Atlas."
"Well, I'm glad you're all excited" Weiss said, unamused. "I've been doing my damnedest to keep away from Atlas lately, if you haven't noticed."
"I know you're worried, Weiss," Ruby replied, "but trust us. Team RWBY won't leave your side for a minute! I promise."
"No-one's gotta be worried with us around!" a confident (arrogant) new voice chimed in.
The kids turned to see a pair of dudebro-looking guys, one with a spiked mace and the other with a black & gold rifle.
"…Aaaand you are?" Nora asked, unimpressed.
"Why, Dee & Dudley of course" the paler-skinned man replied. "The Argus Limited's very own Huntsmen. We'll be keeping everyone safe as we pass through Grimm territory."
"But for a generous tip," Dudley added, "we can make sure your passenger car gets extra-special attention should things get dangerous."
He gave a wink to the girls, who all looked distinctly unimpressed.
"I got a tip for ya" Qrow chimed in.
Dee & Dudley spun around to see Qrow, Rattrap, and little Link standing there.
"Buzz off" Qrow told them. "Looks like Mistral's really scraping the bottom of the barrel these days."
"Hey!" Dee snapped. "You're talking to a-"
Qrow pulled out his Huntsman License. "A professional Huntsman, right." The twosome's eyes widened as they read the name and realized they were dealing with one of the most skilled veteran Hunters on all of Remnant. "Well, it seems one of you 'heroes' left the staff entrance to the caboose wide open."
The two men looked to the left in surprise, seeing that they had indeed left the door open.
"It'd be a shame to lose your job before it even started…" Qrow crossed his arms.
The two stooges hurried off toward the carriage, arguing over whose fault it was.
"Yeesh…" Rattrap sighed. "All bearings and no core processors…"
'I do hope those weren't Beacon graduates…' Ozpin remarked.
"You know," Oscar said aloud, "sometimes the burden of saving the world feels overwhelming. But then people like that come alone and make me glad it's our job, not theirs."
"Yeah, get used to that feeling" little Link said dryly. "It comes up kinda often."
"So, you kids ready to go?" Qrow asked. "Bike all loaded up?"
"Yep!" Yang nodded.
"Just waiting on Blake" Weiss said. "She's saying a couple goodbyes."
Up on a walkway above them, Blake was talking with Ilia, who was now wearing a casual outfit as opposed to her old "White Fang Ninja" garb.
"I still don't feel like I deserve the freedom you and your family granted me" Ilia admitted.
"Well, you've going to have to get over that feeling" Blake replied with a smile. "Saving Haven had a huge impact on how Faunus are seen in Mistral. Now it's up to you all to take the progress and keep running with it."
"Right. The White Fang may have been a failure, but with your father starting up a new moment with Sienna restricting herself to an advisory role, I've got more faith than ever before." She hugged Blake tight. "Thank you, Blake, for everything. I wish you didn't have to go…"
"I know, but my team needs me. We're going to track down the people responsible for the attack on Haven and the fall of Beacon."
Ilia giggled. "Always trying to save the world."
"More than you realize."
"…Hey, I know your parents already saw you off, but where's-"
"Sun?" the blond monkey-man in question appeared. "Oh, he's right here!"
Then, Sun's ever-"suave" sidekick Neptune walked up. "He definitely overslept and absolutely almost missed this" he exposed his friend.
The two boys shoved at each other as Blake laughed.
"Hey, Blake" Neptune waved, then turned to Sun. "Now, would you hurry up? Need I remind you we have our own trip to plan?" Then, he noticed the third member of the group. "Oh, I didn't know Ilia was gonna be here. I'll, uh, give you two a moment."
He then trailed off after Ilia, trying to chat with her.
"Wrong tree…" Blake said.
"Eh, he'll figure it out."
"So, you're really going to Vacuo?"
"That's right! Seeing you and your team working together again really made me realize something: I'm like the worst team leader ever. Me and the boys were cool with a little hiatus, but we gotta make up for lost time. Shade Academy's not dealing with any problems like Haven right now. Plus, that means I can show the guys around my old stomping grounds!"
"I have to admit, I think I was kinda getting used to having you around."
He posed. "I go where I'm needed! And… you don't need me anymore."
She frowned. "Well, when you say it like that, it sounds sad."
He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Look… Despite the drama and the fighting and the numerous attempts on my life, I had a lot of fun! But you're with who you're supposed to be with now. And in the future, who knows? I've got a feeling you haven't seen the last of me."
"Heh. I certainly hope not."
-Break-
The Argus Limited rolled along the mountainside tracks in the snowy countryside. Inside Team RWBY's cabin, the girls were on bunkbeds quite similar to their old Beacon dorm's setup; Weiss and Yang were reading, Ruby was playing a game on her scroll, and Blake was zoning out as she gazed out the window.
"All right, girls" Ruby spoke up. "I think it's time for an official team exercise: Who wants to play videogames?!"
"I mean," Yang replied, "if you want me to kick you ass, yeah sure. Lemme grab my scroll."
As Yang pulled the device out of her bag, Blake sighed. "I missed this" she admitted. "It's like… a little bit of the normalcy we thought died with Beacon is back…"
"How touching" Qrow remarked, leaning against the open doorframe.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby smiled. "Wanna join, too?"
The man chuckled. "Kick your butts? Sure."
Suddenly, the train jolted. Everyone instinctively went on guard, and soon passengers could be heard screaming.
"What was that?" Blake asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like…" Weiss sighed.
"Just my luck."
"Not yours…" Qrow looked out the window. "Grab your weapons."
Qrow climbed out through a window and got up on the train's roof, looking back to see that the train was now being harried by a sizable Grimm pack – several Manticores led by a huge Sphinx. As Dee & Dudley stood farther down, closer to the Grimm pack, the Sphinx landed on the train, letting out a screeching roar. Dee charged, activating his electrified spiked club… and a Manticore swooped in from the side, snatching him off the train roof. Carried away by the large Grimm, Dee's screams were cut off as the monster tore him in two, tossing the halves into the snowy forest below.
As Dudley ran for his life, Team RWBY, Qrow, Link (now in his Adult Mode), and Rattrap gathered on the roof of a train car a few cars ahead.
"What's the plan, Ruby?" Blake asked.
"…Don't let anyone else die" Ruby replied.
They all charged forward into battle, except Rattrap, who instead went down on one knee and pulled out one of his new guns he'd acquired to supplement his burst-fire pistol: an M92 Mantis sniper rifle. Taking aim through the scope, he started firing rounds at the joints, wings, and faces of any Grimm he got a good sight on; he managed to nail a Manticore in the eye right as it landed on a car, half-blinding it and leaving the panicking Grimm easy prey for Qrow's Absol to decapitate with a Night Slash.
Meanwhile, down below in the train and a few cars ahead, Oscar opened a window to check the commotion, and a Manticore buzzed past less than two meters from him.
'Shall I?' Ozpin asked.
"No" the boy murmured. "I'm keeping control."
He walked out only to bump right into Jaune, who had his three/four teammates behind him.
"What's going on?" the blond asked.
The train car jolted, frightening the passengers again.
"Take a guess" Oscar replied.
Back outside, as Team RWBY, Qrow, Link, & Rattrap worked on cutting Manticores down, Dudley sprinted across the train roof toward the front. Taking his scroll out, he frantically worked to activate the train's defense systems. Soon, reinforced armor plating slid into place over much of the train, while a series of auto-turrets emerged from compartments on the sides & roofs, opening fire on the airborne Grimm. Team JNPPR and Oscar got out to join the party.
"Why is it always something?!" Nora griped.
Qrow engaged the huge Sphinx, the two exchanging blows with neither of them managing to gain the upper hand; by his estimate, this Grimm had to be at least 50 years old to be this tough and skilled. A shot from a turret hit the Alpha Grimm in the back, and it hissed and roared to its compatriots. The Manticores began focusing their attention on the turrets, tackling at them or shooting fireballs, drawing screams from the passengers inside. Seeing this, Rattrap growled and pulled up his comms, quickly tapping into Dudley's scroll.
"Hey, doofus! Shut off the autoguns!"
"Are you crazy? No way! Look, they're picking the bastards off!"
He sniped a Manticore in the wing. "Yeah, but dey're also drawin' the Grimm's attention to the passenger cars! So shut 'em off!"
Suddenly, the Sphinx and its Manticores spread their wings and lifted off from the train, to the confusion of the defenders.
"Wait," Dudley stared in confusion, "where are they-"
"TUNNEL!-!"
At Oscar's shout, everyone turned to see that the train was fast approaching a tunnel. Everyone immediately scrambled to get off the roof and back inside, but Dudley wasn't quite fast enough; his arm was still hanging outside right as they hit the tunnel. Someone without Aura or a similar metaphysical toughening would've likely had their arm torn completely off by the resulting impact, but he got away with "only" a serious fracture.
Inside the car, Qrow stormed in and advanced on Dudley. "Didn't you hear the man?" he growled. "Turn the damn guns off!"
Dudley groaned, clutching his broken arm. "Those things are keeping us alive!"
"And putting the passengers in greater danger!"
"I'm the one they hired for this job, okay?! I'm in charge here"
"If you bozos had been doing your job instead of shaking down passengers, maybe we wouldn't be in this-"
"Enough" Ruby said calmly. "Please, just shot off the turrets."
"Trust us" Jaune added, using his Aura Amplification to start healing Dudley's arm. "We know what we're doing."
The man was quiet for a moment. "…Fine."
"Ren," Nora spoke up, "could you use your Semblance to mask everyone on this train? With the guns off and emotions hidden, they might lose track of us!"
"I've never attempted to affect this many people" the quiet youth replied.
"Well, you never had Jaune's help before" Ruby said with a grin.
"Yeah, that should work" Qrow nodded.
Suddenly, Ozpin took the reins from Oscar. "I'm afraid there's one complication… The Grimm are also attracted to this" He gestured to the shrunken Relic of Knowledge on his hip.
"What's that?" Dudley asked.
"None of your business" Qrow snapped. "Oz, are you serious?!"
"Why wouldn't you tell us that?!" Yang demanded.
"The signal is very weak" Ozpin replied. "Normally, even one or two people would be more noticeable to the Grimm than the Lamp is. If just one of you were walking alone through the wilderness, carrying the Relic, the Grimm would sense you before they sensed the Relic. But the problem is that Ren's Semblance can't disguise the Relic's signal like it can people's; with everyone's emotion signatures masked, the Grimm would then be able to sense the Relic and follow its signal. You can't really see a candle's flame when it's next to a floodlight, but it sticks out in a pitch-dark room…"
"If that's the case," Ruby said, "every second we're aboard this train, we're putting everyone else in danger. JNPPR, get the passengers to the front cars; you'll still mask the emotions and kill the turrets; we just… can't come with you. If we cut the back cars with us and the Relic on them, we can deal with the Grimm. You just make sure the rest of the train makes it safely to Argus."
Finishing with Dudley's arm, Jaune walked over to her. "Only if you promise you'll meet us there" he replied.
Ruby smiled. "Promise."
With that, JNPPR began evacuating all the passengers to the front half of the train. They didn't quite notice as an elderly woman with mechanical prosthetic eyes slowed and looked back at RWBY's group…
Outside, the turrets were finally deactivated. The heroes gathered atop one of the rear cars, with Blake uncoupling their now-empty carriages from the rest of the train. Looking back, Ruby saw the Manticores and Sphinx emerge from the tunnel, taking flight and closing in. The moment the Sphinx landed on their part of the train, Ruby gave the signal, and soon Ren's supercharged Semblance engulfed the train's front half and everyone in it, washing out its colors.
Watching the train recede into the distance ahead, Oscar was almost blindsided by a Manticore, bringing his cane up just in time to stop a lunging claw-swipe. He danced around, smacking the monster with the weapon, but wasn't doing much. Rattrap came in, firing burst-fire shots from his pistol, but this too did little damage. He checked, confirming that everyone else was busy.
"How are we gonna kill this thing?" he asked.
"Hmmm~, dat's a good question" Rattrap replied theatrically. Then, he pulled out a UNSC M739 SAW that had a white color scheme broken up by crimson and green stripes, with a falcon emblem on the front of the upsized drum magazine. "Fortunately, it's a question for which I have The Answer!"
He opened fire, the high-explosive proximity-airburst rounds sending the Manticore reeling, roaring as parts of its bone armor were blown off. Oscar dashed in and landed blows to the Grimm's throat, and Rattrap focused fire on its head, finally bringing the monster down. Not too far away, Link's Ponyta set a Manticore alight with a Fire Spin, and as the monster tried to hit Link with its tail, he deflected the hit with his Hylian Shield and closed in, swinging the Master Sword to take the Grimm's head off.
Blake and her Purrloin were taking on a Manticore slightly larger than the others – the 'beta' of the pack. Hacking and slashing at it while jumping around to dodge its return strikes, they slowly forced it back. Purrloin hit it in the face with a Sand Attack, then Screeched at it, and as the briefly blinded beast flailed, Blake hacked off its tail and one of its forepaws. As the monster stumbled, Purrloin nailed the Manticore with a powerful Assurance attack that finished it off. Then, the little purple cat was enveloped in a blinding glow, and Blake gasped as the feline's shape grew and twisted. When the light faded, Liepard let out a mighty yowl, feeling the greater power within him. Another Manticore landed ahead and roared in challenge, and he & his Trainer rushed to meet it.
Taking off a Manticore's head, Ruby noticed her uncle and Link struggling against the Sphinx, and she & the others ran in to assist. "We need to ground it!" she told them.
"On it!" Blake replied. "Yang!"
Yang used a dying Manticore as a springboard and ran at the Sphinx, sliding underneath it. She and Blake worked to wrap the latter's Aura-reinforced ribbon weapon around its torso, using it to pin the Sphinx in place. Rattrap and the various Pokémon peppered it with projectile fire, distracting it so Weiss could skate in and freeze the beast's massive wings solid. Qrow and Ruby shot the frozen wings, shattering them, while Link then hacked off the snake-head tail. Roaring in fury, the Sphinx reared up and began charging a sizable fireball in its mouth. Qrow and Ruby dashed in, spinning slashes of their scythes meeting up in the middle and slicing the Grimm in two.
However, even as it was rapidly disintegrating, the Sphinx's upper body and head turned forward and fired the fireball it had been charging. The flame blast soared ahead of the cars and crashed down into the track, destroying the rails.
"Aw, slag" Rattrap's eyes widened. "Hang on to somethin'!"
Weiss activated her black glyphs, anchoring everyone in place right before the cars hit the break in the tracks and derailed. The cars shot off the track and down the nearby slope, plowing into the snow and sliding down the hill. It soon came to a stop, a flurry of snow drifting all around it.
"Is everyone okay?" Qrow asked as they all picked themselves up.
"I'm fine" Weiss replied, a bit out of breath from Aura expenditure.
"We're good" Blake reported.
"Still alive!" a new voice joined in.
Surprised, they all turned to see a little old lady standing in the open doorway of the closest train car. She leapt forward through the air in a multiple front-flip, landing in the snow and immediately reassuming the posture of a weak, slow old lady leaning on her cane, though the confident smile remained beneath her artificial eyes.
"That sure was a close one, huh?" she remarked.
The gang stared in befuddled shock.
"…Ohhh" Link realized. "You're a retired Huntress, aren't you?"
The old woman chuckled. "Bulls-eye, boy. Maria Calavera; pleasure to meet you. I haven't been in such a thrilling situation in years! Felt good to get the old heart pumpin' again. Shame I couldn't get out into the fray quick enough to help…"
"…Well" Qrow finally spoke. "If we've got an extra with us, at least it's a Huntress skilled enough that she actually lived long enough to retire…"
Maria sighed. "Sadly, I'm not quite as experienced as you'd imagine; I was only about your age, maybe a little younger, when I lost my eyes and had to retire from Huntress duties. I got these" she tapped her goggle-like artificial eyes "not long after, but… well, it was never quite the same. I was actually on the way to Argus because Dr. Polendina in Mantle is the one who made these for me, and they need a tune-up." The artificial eyelids fluttered randomly, and the old woman looked annoyed.
"I could take a look" Rattrap spoke up. "I ain't exactly the main med-mechanic of my crew, but all of us know a little field-repair stuff."
"Wait" Ruby realized something. "Did you say Polendina? As in… maybe Penny's father?!"
"Hm? …Oh!" Maria laughed. "Well, whaddya know?! Yes, Pietro and I go way back, and we kept in contact periodically until the CCT network went down. So you're the friend he mentioned his daughter making in Vale! What a small world!" She sighed. "Shame what happened…"
"Actually," Weiss replied, "they apparently managed to retrieve Penny's core processors and memory banks – her mind & soul, essentially – and made her a new body. At the moment she's Mantle's chief protector against wild Grimm."
The old woman smiled. "Good, good. One less death out of that catastrophe, then."
Ruby and Weiss quickly scoured the crash site, retrieving ammunition and supplies; Ruby, in particular, found the Lamp of Knowledge, while Rattrap helped Yang pry her bike free from the snow.
"So… Now what?" Blake asked.
"Well," Qrow replied, "for now I guess we try to find shelter, or somewhere we can get a signal out. And hope the Relic doesn't draw more attention…"
Yang glared at Oscar/Ozpin. "Yeah, we need to talk about that. I get that supposedly the signal it gives off gets drowned out by the emotions of actual people, but it sure as hell woulda been nice to know it was a low-level Grimm lure before we set out on this little excursion! What happened to 'no lies or half-truths'?"
"Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation…" Oscar said to his 'passenger'. Then, his eyes glowed as Ozpin took over.
"I did not lie to you…" the old man asserted.
"Well, you certainly omitted some key details" Weiss replied with a scowl.
"As I said, it is true that the Grimm can detect the Relics, but the signal is faint. I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity, making us even easier to detect. I acknowledge that it didn't work out, but at the time it seemed the safer option."
"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 asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes" Ozpin replied. "I believed the Kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the ugly truth. And I believed Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate choices he made in his final years. What he did, succumbing to fear and working with our ultimate enemy just to save himself, was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently. But does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of the good he accomplished throughout his long life? Don't we all have regrets? You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him."
"Look," Yang scowled, "we're supposed to all be in this together. You can trust us! We're not gonna turn our backs on you out of fear or greed or whatever Salem could offer us or threaten us with."
"Do you think Leo was the first?!" Ozpin suddenly snapped. "That he didn't say those exact same words to me? I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by painful experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you children will betray me; I know your moral cores are strong and you all have great courage. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I-" Then, he stopped as he realized something. "…Where's the Relic?"
"Right here" Ruby held the Lamp up. "Found it after the crash."
"Please, hand it over." He held out his hand… but she hesitated.
"So," she said, "all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?'
Ozpin sighed. "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, back in Haven, you mentioned all three questions have been used up for this century. It can't do anything."
"Why does it matter who carries it?" Blake asked.
"You feel dat?" Rattrap murmured to Link.
"The tension that feels like I could cut it with my sword?" the green-clad youth replied.
"Yeah."
"Yep."
Ozpin reached out. "Please, I need you to listen to-"
Suddenly, he froze in place.
"Oz?" Qrow asked.
"Hurry…" Oscar said, struggling with himself. "He's trying… to stop you!"
"Stop her from what, Oscar?" Yang asked.
"He's afraid… you'll find out what he's… hiding!" He collapsed to his knees. "H-Her name is Jinn! Say her name to summon her!"
"Her name?" Ruby asked, confused, as the wind picked up around them. "…Jinn?"
Suddenly, the snow stopped, floating in midair, and the wind stopped blowing. Then, the Relic floated out of Ruby's hand, cyan smoke emanating from it. Suddenly, the lamp was enveloped in the smoke, and from it emerged a giant, semi-nude feminine figure – skin and hair in shades of blue, her body decorated with gold jewelry and adornments. The figure stretched and moaned, working the kinks out after her long sleep.
"Wonderful…" Jinn remarked, looking down at the people staring up at her in awe. "Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?"
-Break-
Mistral's Capital
I don't know when in relation to Team RWBY's scenes
A woman thought dead skulked down a dark alleyway, clad in her stolen local clothes, her unnatural arm again hidden within bandages. Cinder Fall kept her hood up as she walked out onto the rainy streets of Mistral, blending in with the crowd of people and umbrellas, passing by people carrying out their business – legal or otherwise – as she tried not to look like she was in any particular hurry.
Cinder noticed a symbol – a spiderweb with a spider in it – etched into a restaurant's wall. Stepping in, she saw that some of the customers bore a tattoo of the same symbol. She headed toward a heavy-set middle-aged woman with light skin and short blonde hair in a bobcut, wearing a white & purple dress, a tattoo of a spider in its web on her left shoulder.
"That's far enough" the woman said, bringing Cinder to a halt, with a pair of bodyguards barring her path.
In response, Cinder tossed a sack full of Lien onto the table.
"…Okay then."
The bodyguards stepped back, and Cinder had a seat facing the woman, quirking an eyebrow.
"You're Lil' Miss Malachite?"
The woman frowned. "I'm Lil' Miss Gon'-Skin-You-Alive if you take that tone with me again. …Looks like your life's savings."
"It was somebody's."
Malachite chuckled. "Cute. What do ya want for it?"
Cinder pulled out her scroll, showing portraits of Teams RWBY and JNPR. "I'm looking for these travelers."
"Well, sweetheart, you came to the right place."
Cinder jolted a little as the door opened, turning to see a random man entering and being greeted by his friends.
Malachite giggled. "A little jumpy today, hm? …You know, I used to be afraid of spiders. Want to know what I did about it?"
"Learned to kill them?"
"Oh, no. The world needs spiders. I just made the spiders work for me."
Glancing around, Cinder saw that all the patrons had the spider tattoo.
"Give us a week" Malachite said. "We'll find your travelers."
With a nod, Cinder stood and left.
"Lil' Miss," one of Malachite's bodyguards murmured to her, "we already know where they are. That big guy asked about 'em last week."
"I know we know," the crime boss replied, "but what we don't know is who here in Mistral might be asking about her…"
-Break-
Back in the Wilderness
"I am Jinn," the djinn introduced herself, "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 100 years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer-"
"That's enough!" Ozpin interrupted, having wrenched control away from Oscar.
"…two questions this era."
Everyone was shocked; Ozpin had told them all the questions were used up. Jinn chuckled.
"A pleasure to see you again, old man."
"Ruby, please…" Ozpin begged. "Don't."
Quiet and unsure, Ruby looked to her uncle, who pondered and sighed.
"…Do whatever you think is right, kiddo" Qrow told her.
After a moment's thought, Ruby turned to the ancient spirit. "Jinn? What is Ozpin hiding from us?"
"NOOOOO!-!"
Ozpin lunged forward Ruby, but just before he could reach her, Ruby found herself instantly transported into a blank, empty white void, alone.
"W-What? Weiss? Yang? Blake? Uncle Qrow?"
'Elsewhere', everyone else was similarly alone, looking for their comrades. Suddenly, they all found themselves (still alone) in a grassy area with a path leading to a castle. A woman's humming could be faintly heard.
"Once upon a time," Jinn's voice was heard, "there stood a lonely tower…"
Smoke enveloped them, transporting them into an opulent bedroom within the tower.
"…that sheltered a lonely girl…"
A beautiful young woman was brushing her long, pale-blonde hair in front of the mirror. She turned, revealing a fair face and bright-blue eyes… with hauntingly familiar features.
"…named Salem."
The shocked spectators watched and listened as everything was explained and played out. The young human Salem imprisoned by her cruel father, only to be rescued by the brave young hero Ozma not for reward but because it was the right thing to do. The two falling deeply in love, planning to spend their lives together… only to be tragically cut short as Ozma was struck down by a fatal illness.
Young Salem, broken by grief, pleading to the God of Light to bring her beloved back from the beyond, only to be coldly rebuffed, the deity ignoring or not comprehending her grief and chastising her for "threatening the natural order of life & death". Salem attempting the same with the God of Darkness, and initially being granted her wish with Ozma resurrected, only for the God of Light to get involved, leading to Ozma being re-killed… and, to the heroes' shock, Salem being punished by being divinely rendered literally immortal, cursed that unless she can 'learn the importance of life and death', then "so long as this world turns, you shall walk its face".
Salem trying multiple various methods to kill herself, only for each one to fail. Grief and betrayal slowly giving way to rage against the gods, pushing her down the path of hatred and Darkness. Realizing that the Brother Gods were not omniscient or infallible, and traveling throughout the kingdoms recruiting followers & allies with the intent of dethroning the world's capricious, arrogant, un-empathetic deities.
And then, the Brother Gods responding to Salem's insurrection, an assault by a few hundred people, by annihilating the entire human race, leaving Salem as the only person left on the entire planet. The god duo abandoning the planet, with the God of Darkness partially shattering the moon on his way out, abandoning Salem alone with her fury on the empty world. Salem's last desperate attempt to kill herself using the Pools of Destruction in the God of Darkness' realm, only for the force of infinite destruction to fail to overcome the immortality of the God of Light's infinite life, the two forces instead merging within Salem, corrupting her, Grimmifying her into what she was now – a being of infinite life and infinite destruction, imbued with the overwhelming instinct to destroy…
An undetermined time later, the God of Light snatching Ozma's soul from the afterlife and saddling him with the monumental task of uniting the restored but diminished humanity and then bringing the Four Relics together, which would summon the Brother Gods back. If humanity is deemed worthy, the Brother Gods would return to "guide" humanity again and fully restore magic to the world; but if humanity was divided and fighting & killing each other, no sign of unity or peace, then the Brothers would wipe out humanity again and destroy the world, and there would be no third chance.
They all watched as Ozma's spirit reappeared in the body of a random man – the first "reincarnation" of his long cycle. Oz eventually finding Salem living alone in the wilderness, the two of them rekindling their love after decades or centuries apart. Protecting people, forming a small kingdom, having four children… But then, Salem's half-Grimm nature gradually overtaking her, driving her more towards violence and control, without her even noticing it. Finding out that their daughters could use magic like them, while none of the new humanity could. Oz finally telling Salem about the mission the Brother Gods had assigned him. Salem, increasingly deep in her Grimm corruption, decreeing that they didn't need the gods, and they could replace this newer, weaker humanity with their lineage of mages.
Oz, out of his sense of duty, trying to do what he thought was the right thing, quietly leaving in the middle of the night with their children in tow. Being found by Salem, who – betrayed and consumed by Grimm instinct – attacked, triggering a terrifyingly vicious duel between her and Oz, the castle leveled and their children killed by the countless deadly spells being flung every which way. Sunrise, when Salem literally reformed from a pile of partially atomized ashes and finished off the mortally wounded Oz.
Oz moving through various vessels/reincarnations, despair and grim resolve, passing knowledge and technology on through the ages. Salem descending deeper and deeper into Darkness and hate and her role as the Grimm Queen, until now there was virtually nothing left of the person she once was. Oz deciding on what he had to do, but not knowing how to do it. Finding the Lamp of Knowledge.
"Armed with my knowledge," Jinn narrated, "he believed he could fulfill his promise to the God of Light."
"Where are the other Relics?"
"He asked me his questions."
"What powers do the other Relics possess?"
"And though I gave him my answers…"
"…How do I destroy Salem?"
"…not all of them were to his liking."
The flashback Jinn gave Oz a solemn look. "You can't."
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: Fallout, and seeking shelter