Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who sent me well wishes while I was sick. I kept a constant update on twitter and I streamed on twitch still when I wasn't dying.
I basically had every symptom of COVID-19 except for the loss of taste and smell. My parents were losing their minds like, "We need to get you tested," and I'm there like please god no hospitals, for the love of all that is holy don't make me go to a hospital. I did say if I got worse I'd get tested but I was still eating and smelling by the 4th day of being sick so I figured I could just ride it out. By day 6 I was feeling almost 100% and I'm mostly back to normal thanks to some herbal immunity boosting teas and good food.
The reason we thought it was COVID was because my uncle was super sick, and I got it from him and he works all over the country, and we had an influx of new cases so we were scared I was also infected, but thankfully I wasn't (I think?)
I feel like my priorities are out of whack for my fear of the health care system. I refuse to go to the hospital or see a doctor unless I'm straight up dying. Cut open my right hand? Naw I let it bleed and stuck a bandage over it to keep the skin together. 2nd Degree burns on my head? Nah I'll live. Burnt both my hands to the point where all the skin peeled off? Pfft fine. Ripped off part of my tongue on accident? Nahhhhh. Potentially infected with COVID? Screw that lol.
Chapter 55: Lost in the Snow
Cinder stared at her reflection in the mirror, if she could even call it her reflection in the public bathroom mirror. Each time she gazed upon her own pale white skin, the darkness of her eyes, the cracks running down her face, she felt as though she were staring at the face of Salem herself, except, more familiar.
It'd been a few days since she awoke on the shore of that lake. Her first instinct was to call on her Maiden powers, the air was cold and damp so she wanted to dry herself off. Her extended arms were met with disappointment as nothing came, no surge of power, no flames wrapping around her as before. She vaguely recalled the flash of magic leaving her body as she fell, and she bit her lip, grinding her teeth in anger as the image of the face it went to flashed in her mind.
The detestable face of that brat Nova, and the eyes that looked at her with pity, and disappointment as though she were a child that had done something wrong. She wanted nothing more than to gouge out those eyes with her own bare hands, to feel the satisfaction of his flesh beneath her nails as she tore him apart.
The imagery brought a sinister smile to her face as her emotions began to bubble with glee. "I'll find you… you little shit…" she said to herself as she continued to gaze upon her new face.
"I want to say that white's not my colour but… I have to admit that this look… suits me…" she smiled to herself, thankful no one was around to see her. Even if there was, she wasn't against 'silencing' an unnamed civilian or two.
Her missing arm and eye had regrown themselves, her face was complete again, and that was something she missed dearly.
"Are you quite done admiring yourself?" Salem asked as her voice echoed through Cinder's mind, startling her.
"My queen! Where…?"
"You possess power birthed from my own, we are eternally connected now. I can communicate with you telepathically…" Salem responded calmly.
Cinder's eyes widened in surprise, she wasn't exactly comfortable with having Salem's voice now echoing in her mind…
"No, before you ask, I can't read your thoughts, I can simply communicate with you, so don't misunderstand… though, now that you are… an extension of myself, you have no room for… disobedience…" Salem said darkly, the unspoken threat lingering in the air. Cinder felt a cold chill run down her spine if the powers were so easily given, then they could just as easily be taken away, and she'd go back to being powerless, or at worst… dead.
She was no longer as independent as she once was… in exchange for a second chance, she was shackled to the Grimm Witch for eternity… though if it meant that she could have Nova, Ruby, and the rest of their heads, she didn't care what price she had to pay.
"You are probably wondering what powers you now possess."
"Well…"
"Be not concerned, you will learn them in time. A word of advice: shed your human tendencies. Such things as comfort and basic needs for humans, you'll find you will not need them anymore."
"What…? My Queen? What does that mean?" Cinder asked, but Salem was gone. "Great… Now what…?"
That was the most pressing question. Where does she go from here? She was currently stuck in the lower levels of Mistral, with only a brown cloak and a white mask that she'd lynched off passing strangers by lurking in the shadows. They enabled her to move around without attracting attention but… what should she do now?
She had no idea how long she'd been out of it, how far ahead her enemies were, or even where they were headed next. She would contact Emerald and Mercury to help her do some reconnaissance but she had no way of knowing where in Remnant they were if they were still alive.
Sighing to herself, she figured the best step forward would be to find a White Fang outpost, contact Onyx through them. She donned her mask and stepped out of the public restroom, onto the dreary streets of lower Mistral.
It was surprisingly crowded, with many humans and Faunus alike shuffling through the market streets with umbrellas that took up too much space in the narrow walkways. The rain drizzled down in a consistent downpour as she roamed the streets, her brown cloak beginning to soak in and the cold filtering through.
Deciding to step out of the streets, she pulled herself into an alleyway to shelter from the rain. That's when she came upon a group of Faunus conducting shady deals. Brown bags of unknown substances and Lien were being exchanged.
She approached them cautiously, "Gentlemen, you wouldn't happen to be able to point me in the direction of the nearest White Fang outpost… would you?"
One of the Faunus, a tall man with Doberman dog ears and a stubble on his chin looked at her warily, "Looks like fresh meat just walked in… lady, you made the worst mistake of your life…" he said with a smirk.
Cinder rolled her eyes behind her mask, "Ugh, can you not play the 'Tough gangster' for two seconds and answer my question?"
The man snarled, while his cohorts emerged from the shadows brandishing knives, "A feisty one? This'll be fun boys…"
Cinder blanched, "You have no idea who you're messing with…" on instinct she extended her arm, and a shadowy appendage shot out like a long arm and impaled one of the men behind the main thug, and her other arm grew talons as long as swords and cut down the other into thin slices, his blood splattering over the walls and the Doberman Faunus, staining the streets.
The Faunus looked horrified as he barely registered when his associates were killed, before he knew it, he was pinned to a wall by the masked woman, claws ghosting his throat, drawing blood just by being in proximity to his skin.
"Now that I have your attention. Answer. The. Question." She threatened, squeezing down on his throat with her other hand.
The man struggled to answer, so Cinder relinquished her grip slightly, "What did you say?"
The man gasped for air, "I said, the White Fang are done. Didn't you hear? They failed an attack on Haven Academy, and then their secrets got exposed by some princess from Menagerie. All their outposts are either being abandoned to raided, and their followers are leaving. I don't know what business you have with them, but they're all gone from this city!"
Cinder felt fury burning inside her, just what was that fucking beast Onyx doing?! How could he let this happen?! She groaned and dropped the man, letting him fall onto his rear on the floor, the blood of his friends pooling around him causing him to squirm.
"This is just fucking perfect…" she whipped around, "You! Tell me where I can find an information broker, someone who's usually got eyes everywhere, someone who'll know who enters and leaves this city."
"L-Lil' Miss Malachite! S-She's got her spiders everywhere. If you need information s-she's your best bet. She d-doesn't do anything for free though. You'll find her in the tavern three blocks down, with the spider on the sign." the man said shivering in fear as Cinder's eyes stared at him from behind her mask.
Cinder chuckled, "Good, thank you."
"C-Can I go free now?"
Cinder made a tch sound, "Aw, of course! Scurry on now," she said sounding like someone talking to a child.
The man bowed a thank you and began to run into the darkness of the alley. He made it a few meters before shadowy claws impaled him from behind.
"I said you could go, didn't say I'd let you live," Cinder said retracting her shadowy claws and looking at them. They were most certainly Grimm-like, and she had no idea how she knew to use them, but it felt like second nature. Calmly, she stepped over the shredded corpses and began looting their pockets.
"Hmph, for some low lives, you were making a decent amount… I certainly made a killing," she chuckled at her own joke as she thumbed through the stacks and stacks of Lien. Whatever fee that Malachite woman wanted, she'd certainly covered it.
Cinder entered into the tavern that she'd been directed to. Inside wasn't unlike any normal tavern. There were the usual rowdy drinkers, the bounty hunters, the normal people, though given that this was lower Mistral, she had no doubt everyone in the room had more than a few black marks on their life, just like her.
A short blonde woman in a purple dress that looked too old fashioned to not stand out, sat her stocky self behind a desk. Two guards in similarly fashioned clothing, though theirs looked more like colourful rouge outfits, stood at either side of her. Amidst all the ruckus, she was untouched and unperturbed, looking through a notebook of sorts, with a quill pen of all things.
Cinder wanted to puke at the masquerade, it was a clown show. Just how in the world this woman saw no flaw in her choice of uniform was beyond her, but still, the woman stuck out like a sore thumb. There was no doubt in the world who she was.
"Madam Malachite I presume?" Cinder said waltzing up to the desk casually. She was instantly held back by the two guards while the woman regarded her with disinterest.
"It's Lil' Miss Malachite sweetheart, do I look like a 'Madam' to you?" the wide woman said without even sparing a glance.
Cinder grit her teeth in annoyance, this woman was clearly delusional. Still, the back end of society was always filled with the deluded and crazy, but out of all of them, one thing still rang universally clear despite the ambiguities of their own languages and that was money.
She tossed the bag of the Lien that she'd looted from the corpses of the thugs onto the table. Stacks of money came piling out of the bag and now Malachite looked up with interest. "Well now…" she signalled the guards to let her through.
Cinder took up a seat opposite the woman.
"Looks like your life savings~," Malachite said as she thumbed through the stacks with glee.
Cinder smirked behind her mask, "Well, it was somebody's."
Malachite eyed her curiously as she continued to flip over the money until her thumb landed on a single Lien with a bloodstain on it, and she smirked. "Cute. So, what's it you want then?"
Cinder noted the woman's cowboy accent, "I'm looking for these people… care to tell me anything you have on them?" she placed two scrolls on the table showing pictures of team ASHNRWBYJNR and Qrow. Yet another find from the corpses. Those gangsters turned out to be quite lucrative.
"You're after these kids? Well… I do recognize queenie and the gremlin alright, seen them on the tv during what happened at Beacon. Word on the streets is they're the ones who knocked down the White Fang. Good riddance I say, mongrels were crippling my business." Malachite spat.
Cinder gripped the table, digging her nails into it, "Old news. I need to know where they are right now, or at least where they are headed."
"My spiders tell me they're headed for Argus, probably goin' to catch a ride to Atlas. The only reason anyone ever stops at that place." She said, then one of her guards whispered something to her. "Sonny here says that was about a day ago, and none of our men at Argus station have reported on trains entering the area. Looks like you in luck, the train's not arrived yet."
Cinder hummed in thought, "Quite an impressive network if you've gotten information that quickly."
Malachite smiled smugly, "Well, we are the best for a reason."
Neopolitan stalked through the pouring rain with her parasol resting lightly on her shoulder, atop her head rested a bowler hat with a red stripe on it, the dusty memento was all she had left of her late mentor and friend, Roman Torchwick.
Since the fall of Beacon, Neo had been in a rough spot. After barely escaping the aircraft explosion thanks to Roman, she was left with nothing but the clothes on her back and a dusty old hat that somehow survived the inferno. She'd spent her life in service of Roman, he found her when she was nothing more than a pickpocket, lifting the wallets of tourists so she could eat her next meal. How she ended up on the streets was a story of bitter relations and broken mirrors. Everything changed when Roman found her, took her in, taught her how to be more than just a petty thief, to become the greatest burglar to ever walk the streets of Vale. He treated her like family, like she was a real person, not just some trash that was left on the side of the road, like everyone else in her life before that.
Now, thanks to one questionable and unfortunate decision that was probably not even his choice to make, Roman was dead, and there were two people she blamed. Cinder Fall and Onyx of the White Fang.
In their line of work, double-crossing was expected, in fact, it was a given that you'd be swindled by your client. Roman was always prepared, she was always ready to get him out. But how could anyone expect an army of Grimm, dragons, Maidens, and terrorists colluding together in a conglomeration of chaos?
Who would've expected that the double-cross would happen thousands of feet in the air, in the skies above Beacon Academy? At the hands of a man who wasn't even at the scene, or a flying Grimm the size of a plane? It felt like a fever dream looking back, but for Neo, the pain was all too real.
She'd come to Mistral because it was like a hub for people like her, and finding work wouldn't be difficult given her skills. Still, it begged the question, how the hell she ended up working as one of Lil' Miss Malachite's spiders?
Each day was like a fetch order for her. The fed pig of a woman would constantly send her on errands because, as she was told repeatedly, 'You need to earn your place'. Today she was sent out, in the rain, to pick up food for the bitch's pet spider, when the damn thing could just eat the bugs in the tavern.
Needless to say, Neopolitan was not in a good mood. She didn't think anything in the world could make it worse, at least… until she opened the door.
At first, things seemed normal, Malachite was dealing with a shady client, shadier than the usual lot but nothing to be concerned about.
"Ah, Neo! Good, you're back. Muffin was getting hungry," Malachite said delightedly staring at the rain-soaked girl in the doorway.
Neo grunted and made an annoyed face in response.
"Aw, don't be like that…. Wait… you were workin for that guy… what's his name again? Bowman Rotwieler or something?" Malachite asked oblivious to the vein swelling in Neo's forehead. "This client here's trackin' some of those kids you used to deal with, the ones from Beacon?"
Neo's eyes widened, she couldn't be talking about team ASHNRWBY?
The client turned around, her white mask hiding her face beneath the brown cloak. Neo didn't know who it was, but she got the distinct feeling they'd met before.
"Roman's little pet. It's been a while." Cinder said with an unknown tone.
Neo's blood ran cold on hearing that voice. The unmistakable bitchiness, the hint of fake flirtatiousness. There was only one person who had that voice. Cinder Fall.
"YOU!" Neo said in sign language.
Cinder got up from her chair, "Nice to see you too~"
"Oh, you two know each other? Well, why didn'tcha say so! Neo is such a darlin' " Malachite said with a fake smile.
"Fuck off lady. You have no idea who this is!" Neo signed.
"Honey, you know I can't understand you when you're doin the ninja hand movements. Use your words, dear." Malachite said making Neo wish she had a knife to throw at her head.
"I do hope there's no bad blood between us…~" Cinder taunted.
Neo's response was a flying kick to the face, which Cinder easily dodged by moving her head slightly to the left. She countered by grabbing hold of Neo and throwing her against the second-floor rails.
"I see you still have a bit of steam to let off!" Cinder said as she jumped into the air, blinking behind Neo with incredible speed, and sending her flying into the lower level, crashing through the wooden floor.
"HEY! YOU BETTER PAY FOR THOSE DAMAGES!" Malachite said with a shaking fist. "TAKE IT OUTSIDE!"
Neo grunted as she got up from the floor and picked up her parasol, unsheathed the sword, and thrust toward Cinder.
Fall easily sidestepped with her superior speeds but was blinded when Neo hit her from behind, the image to her side was just a false one created by Neo's semblance.
Cinder crashed to the floor, and instantly Neo was on her, the pink and white girl's boot pressing hard against Cinder's throat.
Cinder fought against her but the small girl was surprisingly very strong. She wanted to use her Grimm powers but she didn't want to reveal herself. Too many people, too much commotion.
The air began to leave her lungs as she felt her throat being crushed, and Cinder began to regret her decisions to hold back.
It wasn't until she saw the perplexed look on Neo's face that she had a moment of clarity.
The amount of force and length of time Cinder was under the boot, a normal person would have died, or at least passed out, but Cinder was still alive and conscious.
"Do you understand now what I meant by casting aside your humanity?" Salem's voice echoed in Cinder's mind, and she realized a shocking truth.
Cinder didn't need to breathe that's why she was still alive. Her body and mind could still function without the constant intake of oxygen. If that was the case then… just how far could she push herself?
Cinder amassed strength and pushed hard against Neo, against the limits of her muscles until she felt nothing, no pain, no stress. She effortlessly lifted Neo's foot off of her throat and turned the girl over, pinning her against the floor now.
Neo had no idea what was happening, one moment she was finally about to take revenge for Roman, and suddenly she's overpowered and on the floor.
"Calm down brat, I'm not going to kill you…" Cinder said as she eased some of the pressure n Neo. "I believe you and I got off to a bad start. See, I didn't kill Roman, that brat Ruby, her boyfriend Nova and all their friends did this. If they hadn't gotten in our way, then none of the things that happened at Beacon would've turned out like this. Roman would still be alive~ It was never our intention to kill him…"
Neo wanted to argue, that it was Onyx, she heard him give the order. It was their fault, Ruby and that Schnee girl tried to save Roman, but she had no voice to respond. There were two undeniable facts that were present to her.
One was that Cinder Fall and her cohorts were responsible for Roman's death. The second was that Cinder Fall, the woman currently pinning her to the ground, was unquestionably stronger than her, and her instincts said that this woman could easily have her killed.
"I want you to help me track down those urchins, together, you and I can accomplish, many great things~," Cinder said darkly as she released Neo, allowing her to stand him.
Neo despised the idea of working for Cinder again, a betrayal was most certainly to be expected, but when her options were to submit or die, well, she wasn't about to go down without taking Cinder's head first.
The ice-cream themed girl shakily stood up, eyeing the other woman with scrutiny, as if trying to smell her bullshit before it even had a chance to spawn.
"Do you accept?" Cinder proposed, extending her hand for a shake. Neo noted the pale white skin, was Cinder always that pale?
The short girl bit her lip, she didn't like her odds, but Roman always taught her to play both sides of the game to get what wanted. If she teamed up with Cinder, then somewhere, someday, she'd find her chance to turn on her when her guard was down. It might not be today, or tomorrow, but someday…
Neo sighed, "Fine. I'll help you… that brat Ruby will pay for what she's done…"
Cinder smiled, "Good~"
The two walked out of the tavern leaving a stunned audience and a horrified Malachite behind. After that display, Malachite wasn't sure she wanted to mess with them.
They made their way through the town, heading in the direction of Mistral's train station. Since the Argus train hadn't returned, they were left with one option. They needed to face the vast and ever frozen landscape of Northern Mistral, track their way through miles of wilderness with little to no civilization, towns for rest were few and far between on the route.
"No way in hell am I hiking through all this snow to get to Argus…" Cinder muttered behind her mask.
Neo shivered as she was not exactly equipped to deal with the cold, but Cinder seemed unperturbed by the sub-zero temperatures.
The vast expanse of snow seemed like an endless sea of white before them, until, out of the blizzard came the glowing eyes of Grimm.
Instantly Neo was on alert, drawing her parasol blade, Cinder however looked rather calm, which unnerved the ice-cream, haired girl.
A large Boarbatusk trudged through the snow that went up to its knees. It carefully approached Cinder, as if regarding her as more than a tasty morsel.
Neo was now extremely confused.
Cinder herself wasn't sure what was happening, but she didn't feel threatened by the creature.
"Master. Small Humans. Day away. Metal snake broken." The Grimm said through snorts.
Cinder blinked a few times rapidly then instantly recoiled, "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"You've figured out how to commune with the Grimm? I must say you are progressing far too slowly for my liking…" Salem said as her voice rang through.
Neo tilted her head in confusion. All she saw was Cinder calm one-second then freaking out when the Boarbatusk snorted a few times. If things in her life were crazy before, they were certainly bizarre now.
"My queen… what…?"
"You can speak to Grimm. They are more than just beasts, simple-minded as they are, they can be good for gathering information."
"Grimm can speak?!"
"Only we can understand them, after all, they are all my creation. Some of the more ancient Grimm are not so compliant, they were created by the old gods after all, but most that exist now are under my command."
"Wait so… how does the Grimm know where they are?" Cinder asked referring to team ASHNRWBYJNR.
Neo felt her sweat drop as she observed Cinder talking to what appeared to be herself. 'Yup... the bitch's lost it for sure...'
"Because they can sense the relic and attempted to carry out my bidding."
"So you knew where they were all this time?!" Cinder continued arguing aloud.
"Of course. I was simply observing your actions, and I must say, you are quite attached to your humanity. You'd do best to abandon whatever traits you have left as soon as possible, and your power will become clearer to you."
"Easier said than done my queen…" she grumbled.
"Hmph, your sister was a much faster learner…"
Cinder looked startled and confused, "I don't have a sister…"
"As a human, maybe. But now that you possess an extension of my power, and have become like me, there is one other that shares your circumstance, though she was less… cooperative at first…"
"I wasn't the first one?"
"No, you were not and you may not be the last. I do have my eye on someone… someone who would fit in with us quite well…"
Cinder tried to disregard the implications of that statement, "Who might that be…? How come I've never met this 'sister'?"
Salem chuckled, "One day. For now, you will head to Atlas, and sow the seeds for our arrival. Retrieve the Relic of Creation. You will have your vengeance in time."
"But! They're right there!" Cinder protested.
"You will obey my orders child… or need I remind you of the consequences?"
Cinder's face fell, "No, my queen.
"Good. I've sent a Nevermore to take you and your associate as close as it can to Atlas. Arthur Watts and the Callows brothers are already on their way, as for your two disciples, they are under my care… for now…"
A giant Nevermore swooped down from the blizzarding skies and landed in front of the two, startling Neo backward and causing a moment of fight or flight in her instincts.
Cinder was startled, but less so, "Get on Neo, we're going to Atlas."
"I-Is it safe to ride this thing?" she signed.
"Of course. Come…" Cinder beckoned as she took off her mask, revealing the pale skin. Neo's eyes went wide in shock and fear, Cinder herself looked like a Grimm.
She gulped and climbed on hesitantly, silently regretting her decisions to get involved with Cinder. If she actually commanded the Grimm, then… was she even killable?
-Somewhere in The Snowy Landscape of Mistral's North-
Nova awoke to the smell of smoke and gasoline. There was a distinct heat above him while the biting cold below his body, his ears were ringing from the previous explosion as he clamoured his way through the powdery whiteness, peering his eyes open to gauge his surroundings. Thanks to his aura and scales, he suffered no injuries from the impact, but he couldn't say the same for the train.
The smoldering cars lay in wrecks, haphazardly flung around the white expanse like disarrayed toys. As his eyes scanned the environment, he was able to pick out the distinct colours of his team, thankful that everyone was colour coded... except Weiss who seemed to blend in with the environment save for her scarf.
"Ugh... I feel like I got hit by a train..." Nitro said as groggily pulled himself from the snow and walking over to Hex who seemed half-buried. With a quick tug on her exposed left leg, he was able to pry her free from the wedge.
The purplette instantly began to furiously fix her hair, "F-F-Fucking h-hell, *ACHEW*" she sneezed, shivering slightly.
Yang emptied her shoes off snow and walked over to huddle with her girlfriend for warmth.
Oscar and Luna got flung away from the crash but they were already up, helping Qrow whose weapon was wedged into the side of the train.
Nova spotted the distinct red cloak lying in the ground a few meters away and he instantly rushed to her side, seeing her face down in the snow made his stomach churn with worry. He clutched the fabric and instantly it stirred, a quiet mumble was heard below it, and the rise and fall of breathing made his own flood with relief. He rolled her over into his arms to check for damage. She was fine for the most part, minus a few scratches on her face and a cut lip, she was fine.
Ruby peered open her eyes, the silver orbs taking in the sight of her boyfriend's mismatched eyes staring back at her with concern.
"Are you hurt?" Nova asked as he held her in his lap, generating heat to warm her.
She smiled at him sweetly before steadying herself, and wrapping an arm around his neck for support, leaning on him as the warmth was beyond comforting, "Yeah, just a few scratches, I'll be fine..."
"Ugh no fair, Ruby has her own personal heater. SHARE HIM!" Luna said waving her hand in the air as she and Oscar helped Weiss up.
Ruby giggled and stood up, dusting the snow off of her before it melted and soaked into her clothing, "Is everyone accounted for? What's the damage report?"
"A few wrecked cars, nothing too crazy. Bumblebee is fine," Yang pointed out as she got up to wheel the motorcycle out of the train car.
"Anyone know how far we are from Argus?" Nova asked, turning to Qrow who was digging in the snow for his buried flask. The older Hunstman just shrugged, unsure of where they were.
They didn't crash far from the train tracks if they kept heading in the same relative direction they' eventually come across something, but who knows just how far out of range they were.
Hex rummaged through her pack and groaned in frustration, "Well I have bad news, and then some bad news."
They all shared pensive glances, "What's the bad news?" Nitro asked warily.
"I don't have the right bag. I think the equipment pack got left with Jaune and the others. The other bad news is that our scrolls are dead out here. No signal and no function, there's something jamming frequencies out here. I think it's the snow."
Oscar facepalmed, "Great. So, we're stuck out here in Grimm infested territory, with a danger magnet, no supplies, and no idea where we are?"
"Sounds about right," Luna said dryly, tucking her hair behind her shoulders.
"Oh good. Thought for a second it would be hard, sounds like an average Tuesday night to me!" Nova said sarcastically, shaking his head vigorously. There was a soft ringing in his ears, but he couldn't quite tell if it was remnants of the crash... or something else.
"Quit your whining. We're all stuck in this situation whether we like it or not, so our best bet is to move forward." A new voice said, alerting everyone to the direction of the only undestroyed train car. Out of the container walked a short dark-skinned old woman with white hair and peculiar mechanical goggles... or were they glasses? Then Nova saw the goggles blink and he realized they were her eyes.
"Excuse me but who the fuck?" Qrow asked looking perplexed that a strange old woman they'd never met before suddenly showed up. He made sure the train cars were evacuated so how...?
Yang looked disgruntled as she checked her bike for damage. The engine looked like it got snow-clogged but it wasn't something she or Hex couldn't fix. Still the more she thought about the situation and why they were even in it in the first place began to drive her up a wall.
"Great, just perfect. We're stranded, my hair is freezing up, my bike is shot, we've lost some of our team and we've gained a defenseless old lady!" she groaned bitterly.
"Hey I'm not defenseless!" the woman tried to argue, "I'm just a little hard of hearing, and my eyes don't really work... and they're in need of serious repair... and I'm starting to see your point..."
"Come on babe, if we lose our cool now, we'll just be inviting more Grimm." Hex said trying to calm her down.
"I don't know if we'll run out of cool..." Nova said dryly as he stared blankly at the endlessly expanding tundra.
"Does it even matter at this point? Apparently we've been attracting Grimm since we left Haven! I mean how can we forget we're walking around with a big fucking bullseye painted on our backs?!" she vented, letting it out.
Nova chose that moment to intervene, "Speaking of which... Oscar, can you ring up Oz for me? I want to know why he didn't bother to tell us that the relic was a Grimm magnet?" he asked the boy calmly.
"Mr. Flareheart, your question is... within reason..." Ozpin responded through Oscar, and instantly Nova's face grew irritated.
"Within reason? Oz, you willingly let us walk onto public transport with dozens of civilian passengers with an item that put all of their lives in danger! Why would you keep that from us?!" Nova asked sounding more desperate for a solid answer than angry.
Ozpin folded his arms behind his back, "I simply thought that telling you would only cause anxiety and hesitation, somethings we can't afford on our mission. It was in our best interest."
Weiss eyed him irritably, "You know, I'm sick and tired of people deciding what's best for me without my consent..."
"Is that why you lied to the people of Mistral? Is that why you didn't tell me about Salem back then?" Nova asked folding his arms, his eyes narrowing at Ozpin with suspicion.
"What're you talking about?" Luna turned to her brother looking confused.
"Back at Beacon, after we fought with Thorian and Gale, 'What did they mean by their Queen?'. Ozpin hesitated, he said he didn't know, but later I find out about Salem from someone whose sworn against him. Oz chose to withhold information back then, and he's doing it now."
Everyone gasped in shock.
"Mr. Flareheart, back then you were not privy to the world that we are in now. You didn't need to know about..." Ozpin began weaseling his way out of it.
"Not privy? Seriously?! When her own subordinates are knocking on my fucking doorstep asking for my blood? When they infiltrated our school and your first line of defence was your own students? We didn't need to know back then? Stop fucking treating this as a game of chess Oz," Nova's anger began to flare as the heat around him began to melt the snow.
"I certainly hope you are not insinuating what I think you are... It would be in your best interest not to..."
"Oz, I'm insinuating that you need to trust us. We're not pawns to be used in your game alright? If we're going to be on this road fighting Salem together, then you need to be transparent with us," he countered, simmering down. He didn't want to start a fight with Ozpin or provoke an attack. He didn't want to hurt the body of Oscar after all.
Ozpin began to glare at Nova, which would have been threatening had he not been in the body of Oscar Pine. "A game of chess? How dare you allude this to... I have my reasons, but trust me when I say I'm not holding anything back. Not anymore."
"Oh really? Trust you? Oz for all we know you're still keeping secrets." Blake said now said folding her arms and glaring at Ozpin.
"ENOUGH! Don't you think that you are only told what you need to know? I've learned my lesson in the past, not to just disseminate information because it all just backfires in the end." Ozpin was furious, which was saying a lot since Oscar's face was oddly unnerving when it was angry.
"Backfires? Ozpin if you want us to trust you, then you need to trust us. We're not like Lionheart, we're in this together." Hex said trying to appeal to the former headmaster.
"Miss Magenta, do you really think Lionheart was the first? I've been alive for more years than you care to know, and out of them all, I've learned to trust only one person... myself," he said not looking at Qrow. The older Hunstman just stood in shock and hurt that he, who was closer to Ozpin than them all, gave his life to the man, was not considered 'trusted'.
"It matters not now. I swear to you, from this point on, I will keep no secrets." he began to walk off briskly while patting his side for the relic... which wasn't there. "Where's the relic?!"
Just then Ruby came walking behind them, carrying the blue and gold lamp, "It got lost in the crash..." she said dusting off the snow.
"Ah, well-done miss Rose, here give it to me," Ozpin instructed as he held out his hand.
Ruby was about to give it to him, then hesitated. She was looking at Oscar's eyes, but she could clearly tell they were Ozpin's, and she didn't know how she could tell, but the emotions she was seeing, were... questionable.
"What does it matter who carries it...? You said it couldn't do anything right now..." she asked instead of handing it over.
Ozpin froze up, his tongue seizing in his throat as they all glared at him for a reasonable answer.
Ruby felt it deep within her, the things Nova had been saying all along, about Ozpin not being fully trustworthy, about him not telling them everything they needed to know, that he was hiding a dark secret that affected them all. She wasn't sure why, but her instincts said that handing the relic to him at that moment, would be a mistake.
"I need you to listen to m-" He was cut off when Oscar's voice broke through, "I-It's still... working..." Oscar said through choking breaths, he looked to be in pain.
"OSCAR!" Luna yelled in concern as she wanted to run up to him.
"H-He's afraid...you'll find out... what... he's hiding... S-Say... her name to summon her..." Oscar pleaded.
"H-Her name?" Ruby asked hesitantly as she stared at the lamp, running her thumb over it curiously. It glowed slightly, movement beneath the glass as if it were alive. She didn't know how she knew, but she said the name aloud, "Djinn."
Time around them slowed to a halt, the snow began to slow until it stopped falling completely, frozen in mid-air. The wind stopped blowing, and everyone watched in awe as the lamp floated out of Ruby's hands and began to glow a bright cyan blue, smoke erupting out of it until the unthinkable occurred.
A giant woman, made of wisps of smoke materialized before them, her skin and hair blue as the lamp's colour, she wore no clothing except for the gold chains, bracelets, and circlets that materialized around her body. Nova didn't know why he felt embarrassed to be gazing upon the woman, but nevertheless he averted his gaze, even though he was half girl himself, it was still embarrassing to a degree.
Everyone else just gawked at the woman, completely bewildered and in awe at the spectacle.
The woman, supposedly by the name of Djinn, stretched and let out a sigh of content, "It feels good to be free again..." she turned to the party with a mix of amusement and curiosity, "So tell me... what knowledge do you seek?"
Well Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I wanted to go into the whole secret of the world thing this chapter, but I think I need time to get my thoughts together on how I want to properly tell that story. Volume 6 is a really wonky ride for me, compared to the other volumes where I know exactly the details of how I want things to pan out, I'm still in the air about a lot of stuff here. It's mostly just a bridge for me to build up to Volume 7 stuff, which I am extremely hyped to do.
The other thing is the Oscar and Neo arcs. I was originally going to do Neo's full arc in Volume 6 but I'm seeing a lot more potential in 7, as for Oscar, his is special and I have no idea how you guys would react to what I have planned, so I'll keep thinking on it more.
Also in case you've noticed, yes I have changed a lot of the cannon conversations. I just feel more comfortable with the scenes playing out like these rather than how the show handled them.
Til next time, stay awesome ^-^
