Nora bit her tongue so hard she could taste blood however she refused to scream. She'd take this pain silently. The others were already worried enough for her, she did not want to make it worse.
But the pain was Indescribable, it was like she was plummeting through a free fall as all her internal organs were being sucked by a vacuum cleaner all the while the rest of her body was being stretched like some unfortunate doll. In reality she was not moving but it took all her willpower not to scream.
The pain was insufferable but Pietro had warned them the process would be painful. Jaune could still remember Pyrrha's screams when she'd been put in a similar capsule. The Huntsman was pacing in the lab, hastily looking up at the capsule. Pietro had also warned them that Nora would be weak after the extraction so she would need Jaune's help to boost her Aura. it was in the aim of revitalising some of what had been taken from her. Hopefully Aura would not be the only thing taken from her.
Ren was standing as close to the capsule as the doctor would allow him too. His arms were crossed and, unlike Jaune who would not stop moving, Ren was as still as a statue. Dr Polendina was standing before a terminal, reading Nora's vital signs, watching as her heart rate increased while her Aura levels decreased. Dr Dell had been unable to come with them to Atlas. Headmaster Theodore still needed his medical aide, as did many of the other staff members following Salem's attack. Not only that, the position of acting headmaster had fallen on him until Theodore was back on his feet. However Dr Dell would more eagerly turn down his position than let his newly rediscovered daughter out of his sight. It took Nora a lot and a lot of convincing, and promises that this would be only a temporary separation this time to stop him from quitting his job. Even then she had to promise to keep him updated as frequently as she could without compromising her safety.
That would mean she'd have to keep him updated with how the procedure went. Linked to Nora's capsule were a series of large pipes and webs of wiring that led to another almost identical capsule. In this one the body of Penny Polendina had been laid. Over the months her father had been working endlessly to make the fine adjustments to her core to make it capable of accepting Nora's Aura. The two were linked by the Winter Maiden and he had worked all his calculations around that tiny detail. Hopefully, it would work.
Besides Penny's capsule, Weiss was anxiously waiting. How long would this take? She was worried for Nora and Penny and for all those around her- she wasn't sure how much more this small group could take if something happened to either of them.
"The process should be finished around… now." Pietro declared, carefully trying to read the vital signs that were slowly being updated across the screen. His old eyes scanned the numbers carefully as he heard the hissing of machinery from the capsules that slowly slid open.
Nora staggered forward, feeling uncomfortably nauseous while also feeling light headed.
"Are you alright?" Ren hastily asked, catching her, the Huntress grateful for the support but looking up at him filled her with vertigo. Her legs also felt like jelly legs which was not a welcome observation either. Jaune ran towards her, planting his hands on her shoulder while activating his semblance. Nora let out a grateful sigh, almost instantly feeling the effects.
"Just hungry." She admitted. "I'd kill for some pancakes right now."
Ren let out a low laugh at Nora's joke. "I'll make you a whole stack- how does that sound?"
"Amazing." She said, slowly standing up feeling a lot better with all Jaune's help.
"Penny!" Weiss's voice could only be described as a squeal.
"Salutations, friend." Penny gave the former heiress a broad smile they had long missed but it switched to one more startled as she felt the other woman pull her into a tight hug. But her smile soon returned, returning the embrace.
Weiss awkwardly stepped away, surprised by her own outburst, and helped Penny walk out of her Capsule. Her first step was stiff, her joints taking time to readjust after so many months of being stationary.
"Penny, how are you feeling?" Pietro slowly rolled up towards the capsule, his dark eyes studying the android for any disagreements.
"All systems seem to be operational, father." Penny reassured him, data and values crossing her eyes as she checked her functions. She noticed she'd been given a few upgrades since she had been last operational. She'd have to read the manual later.
"But how do you feel ?" He insisted, stopping right before her.
"Alive." She answered, kneeling and hugging her father so tightly his old bones groaned in protest. But he didn't stop her, he would never stop her, he'd missed her hugs too much.
"Were hugs always this warm?" She curiously observed, her eyes wide.
"I've increased the number of your sensory receptors." He proudly answered, it had taken him some time to achieve the correct wiring for the additional neurons but it all seemed operational.
"But father, the cross continental communication tower?" Penny awkwardly faltered.
Her very skin tingled with sensation, it was beyond description the feat her father had managed to create, bringing her one step closer to being human. But she could barely calculate how much time such an upgrade would have taken to create and instal.
"Right on track." Another familiar voice interrupted, causing Penny to jump and broaden her smile further if that was even possible. Winter, alongside Qrow, had just entered the laboratory, the door silently sliding shut behind them. "Although I fear the doctor has not been getting the ordered amount of sleep."
"Hey, they always said doctors make the worst patients." Pietro countered, stubbornly.
Winter rolled his eyes at him before turning to address Penny once again, giving her a rare smile.
"It's good to see you back on your feet." Winter formally observed.
Penny was practically bouncing on her feet and, before anyone else could say anything else, Winter was the next victim of one of her hugs. However, just as quickly as Penny reached her, she let her go, looking very sheepish.
"Do we hug?" She awkwardly asked. Under Ironwood's reign, Winter had been the closest thing Penny had had to call a friend, but there were certain signs of affections that were reserved solely for a select few, even amongst her family members. Hugs were one such thing.
"Yeah." Winter finally answered, pulling the android towards her. "But only this one time."
"Yay!"hugs all around." Cheered Nora, feeling alot better thanks to Jaune but still extremely hungry. She only slightly wobbled as she was finally led away from the capsule she'd been in. It didn't take Penny long to realise whose Aura had just brought her back and it went without question that that realisation was accompanied with a spine crushing embrace, one that caused Nora to choke on her laughter.
"Thank you." Penny whispered, the two words incapable of adequately portraying just how grateful she felt.
"Don't mention it, you did the same for me." Nora answered, remembering how Penny had lost her life over a year ago to keep her unconscious body safe.
"So does this Aura sharing thing kind of make you sisters?" Jaune wondered out loud.
"Well, Pietro was the only one that could give me Aura before and he's my father." Penny mused, giving this serious thought. "So, with that reasoning, you could be my mother."
"Yeah, I think I'm a bit too young to have a kid your age." Nora awkwardly answered. Beside her she could just make out Ren's face, it was somewhat flushed and he seemed to be avoiding eye contact for some reason. But Penny's voice dragged Nora out of her musings
"Then sisters!" She was practically jumping as she said this. "I've always wanted a sister!"
"You too already sort of look alike." Weiss observed, looking between Nora and Penny. They shared the same bright ginger hair and rosy cheeks. "So I think sisters would work well."
Nora half-laughed, half-shrugged. "Hey, I've just found a mum and dad, why not add a sister into the mix?"
"A mum and dad?" Penny tilted her head curiously at her words.
"You've got a lot of catching up to do," Weiss warned her.
"And where are our other friends?" The android finally asked, noticing the absence of a number of her companions. "Ruby? Yang? Blake? Oscar?"
She called their names as if they may be out in the corridor from which Qrow and Winter had just emerged from.
"That's part of the report we need to catch you up with.'' Winter answered, her voice more solemn, the expressions of the Huntsmen around the darkening at the mention of their friends.
"And with that pleasant note." Qrow interjected, his voice more hoarse than usual. "Doc, when will Nora be ready to travel?"
"By morning she should be good to go." Pietro answered, glancing back at the vital signs Nora had shown before exiting the capsule.
"Travel?'' Penny quickly asked, her questions piling up. "Are you not staying?"
"That depends." Nora answered, shooting Qrow an annoyed look. " Penny, do you have the Winter Maiden's powers?"
"Or any Maiden's powers." Quickly corrected Weiss.
Penny opened her mouth to answer, but quickly shut it, closing her eyes instead and concentrating. She stood still like that for a moment before finally opening them again.
"I'm sorry, I don't feel anything …" Her voice trailed off when she saw the disappointed looks on her friends' faces.
"Then we set off in the morning." Concluded Nora, nodding her head at Qrow.
"Are you sure you won't take any reinforcement?" Winter said, finally turning to Qrow, repeating a question she'd asked him multiple times since his return to Atlas. "Not even the Ace Ops?"
"We need to stay off everyone radar." Qrow explained, his crimson eyes meeting her blue ones. "The more people we are, the harder that will become."
"So I take it you've already decided where we will be going?" Ren asked, he'd made it very clear that wherever Qrow was taking Nora, he would follow, whether the older Huntsman liked it or not. Weiss and Jaune had their own mission elsewhere, as did Yang and Blake. He was certain Ozma would have found where to send him, but none had questioned Ren's decision to accompany Nora and Qrow.
"Somewhere hopefully not even that blasted witch would ever think to look." Qrow ominously answered.
Salam stood before the dark lake from which her Grimm were made. She was silently contemplating what had happened in the world outside her palace. She'd lost too many pieces in this short time. Her rooks had been captured or taken to a place outside her reach. Two pawns had been taken over by the other side but these were easy to replace. Her bishop had only recently returned to her side, while her rooks were still going strong.
She smirked at herself. Ozma may believe their game was set but he too had lost a number of pieces, a number of very important pieces. He may believe they were on even ground but he was so far below her he could not even see her. There was one piece of his she needed however, the child possessing two of the Maidens' powers. That may not prove that she possessed the correct blood to call upon the gods but she was the closest to a key she had ever achieved, even closer than Cinder Fall had ever come.
But Ozma knew that acquiring the Maiden would be her next move and he'd hidden her somewhere on this destroyed world. However he had simply delayed the inevitable. She and Ozma had been playing this game for centuries, she could wait a while longer. And as events had been unfolding in Vacuo, another had been doing her bidding far more successfully in another part of the continent.
"My queen." Hazel's deep voice came from behind her. She had sensed him approach, and when she turned he was already kneeling. Something that resembled a smile played on her lips as she saw what he'd presented her - the Relic of Knowledge.
"I take it your mission was uneventful?" Salem inquired, slowly walking up towards him.
"Neapolitan was easy to subdue." Hazel replied, barely looking up at her.
"And what happened to our little runaway?" Salem wondered, reaching a pale, delicate hand to take the Relic from Hazel.
"No longer a problem." He answered and, from his other hand, he presented a small black hat. The same hat that used to don Roman Torchwick's head. Neapolitan would not have parted with that keepsake without a fight, even more so than the Relic.
"Excellent." She answered, looking at the lamp with interest. "So this week has not been a complete loss."
"So what is our next move?" Hazel asked. One of the Necrogrimm had briefly updated him of what had become of the rest in Vacuo. It would appear that he was all that remained of Salem's generals.
"Jinn." She said, ignoring Hazel's question as bright blue smoke slowly began to sprout from the lamp, encircling it in a blue cloud. Hazel had informed her that Jinn had had her final question this century used up. The lack of protective spirit proved that he had not been lying. However something different appeared across the cloud- numbers. She watched curiously as it steadily counted down.
267: 13: 04: 24
"It's only a matter of time." She ominously answered, guessing what the number meant. "And when that time comes, we will win."
Even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world", but take heed... there will be no victory in strength.
But perhaps victory is in the simpler things long forgotten; things that require a smaller, more honest soul.
A smaller, more honest soul. It's true that a simple spark can ignite hope, breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute.