In the words of a famous plumber, here we go.


Knowing that there was a spirit inside the relics and seeing the spirit in the relics were two very different things. One was an idea. Oh sure, there's a magical person in the magical object, that makes enough sense.

That was before any of them had met Merlin.

"You've all been quiet. Where's all that liveliness that humans are known for?"

Raven snarled. "It died the same day giant blue men started talking to me."

"And when was that exactly?"

The urge to strangle the being in front of them was so enticing, though Raven wasn't sure that the spirit even needed to breathe.

Merlin, as they had learned in their very brief encounter with him, was annoying to a fault.

"So do you all have some business here? If so, please take a number."

A ticket dispenser appeared and Ren, being the only one of them willing to indulge the spirit, took a ticket.

"Aw what!? One O' six!? Who else is waiting other than us!?"

"Well clearly a hundred and five other people, hm?"

Raven cut the dispenser in two. "Enough games, spirit. Where is the relic of choice?"

Merlin's smile didn't falter. "Whatever are you talking about?"

Ren balked. "You know— powerful God item or something!? Looks like a crown!?"

Merlin tapped his chin in thought.

"... You're the spirit of it!?"

He snapped his fingers. "Oh of course! The relic!"

Once more Raven held back from trying to kill the damnable spirit. She didn't even know if he could be killed, but Lord have mercy if he could.

Cinder, poised as ever, stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Dearest Spirit of Choice, we have come here seeking that which—"

"Booooooriiiiing..."

Merlin slowly started to fade away.

Pyrrha yelped. "Wait! Come back!"

He slowly became less opaque, although now he was floating upside down.

"You mortals are so droll. I recall your kind being far more entertaining, before."

This was a game to the spirit. Or maybe a test of some kind. Either way it was clear he wouldn't be taking them seriously anytime soon. Raven gave up trying to threaten him and continued to scour the room with her eyes, hoping the relic would somehow show up.

"You won't find the relic that way."

She growled. "Get out of my head."

He tutted and wagged his finger at her. "Now now, I'd never sully my soles traipsing through a mortal's brain." He floated languidly on his side, checking nails that he did not have. "I can just see what you're going to do before you've done it."

Nora raised a confused eyebrow. "That's not choice, that's prediction."

"Isn't all choice simply a matter of what we may or may not do? As far as I'm concerned prediction and choice coincide far too often to be separated."

Talking in circles seemed to be a forte of Merlin's, one that he was exceedingly and annoyingly good at.

"Welp. We tried. I'm out!" Ren turned and left. Nora dragged him back and he pouted.

Cinder tried again, less formally this time.

"What do you want from us to take the relic?"

Merlin finally decided to answer directly.

"You simply have to choose to take it."

And it was as unhelpful as everything else he said.

Omen clicked out of its sheath. "I'm gonna try killing him." Cinder elbowed her but she did not put her sword back. Merlin simply laughed, taking the threat in stride.

Choose to take it? That's what they'd been doing the whole time! What the hell did he mean 'choose to take it'!? As if he could hear her thoughts, or more accurately see her face which did a poor job of hiding her thoughts, Merlin wagged a finger at them.

"I'm afraid that of all the choices I see you making, you only make the correct choice around thirty times."

Ren shrugged. "That sounds like plenty to m—"

"Out of thirteen million six hundred ninety three thousand eight hundred and twelve."

What.

"What?"

"Choices. You only get the relic in around thirty out of—"

"WHAT!?"

Were they doomed from the start? If the chances were so low, what was even the point of them being here!? They may as well have taken their chances at killing Ozpin without the damn relic!

Looking to her left, Cinder looked pale. Not that Raven could blame her. Hell, even Nora looked about ready to collapse hearing their odds, Ren was just staring blankly. Out of all of them the only one who wasn't freaking out was...

Pyrrha hummed and closed her eyes.

"What if I..."

Holding her hand out as if to grab something off a shelf, she reached forward into the air and closed her hand.

When she pulled it back, a crown was in her grasp.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Ren aptly surmised the feelings of everyone else.

"He said we just had to choose to take it right? I just kinda... Decided I would have it? Does that make sense?"

"No!"

"Absolutely!"

Merlin clapped giddily, hovering by Pyrrha's shoulder.

"You, my girl, are such a fascinating spectacle! Did you know that, looking into all the possible choices in your life, you could've been famed for—"

"No no no!" Surprisingly, it was Cinder who interrupted the spirit, though Raven was only a second away from having done it herself. "What in the everloving hell just happened!? You said that our chances of getting the relic were nigh on impossible!"

Merlin huffed. "No I didn't."

He most certainly did.

"I said that she," he pointed at Raven, "only made the choices that would get her the relic around thirty times, and that she had a great many choices involving the relic in which she did not obtain it. Our friend here however had far, far more choices that would lead her to the relic. There was no chance or probability, lass. That's just what the choices were."

No chance or probability? So everything was just—

"Set in stone?" Merlin finished their collective thoughts in a somber tone. "I'm afraid I've spent a long, long time trying to figure that out myself."

"But... Wouldn't you know?" Ren asked, clearly at his limit for the crazy and godly for the day. And that was saying something.

"The relic of choice does not tell one the chances of anything. It tells you only of what will be. It is not prediction, it is premonition. It is not probability, it is assurity. Every choice that you can make, and every result thereof, is shown to you."

Pyrrha yelped and quickly threw the relic. It clattered harmlessly to the ground, not a scratch on it nor any indication it'd fade away. Merlin waved her fear away.

"It only works if you wear it."

Pyrrha flushed and nervously picked it back up.

It was absolutely harrowing to think that if any of them wore that crown, they'd be able to practically see their entire futures.

"You're supposed to be the spirit of this thing, aren't you?" Raven hissed. "Why do you know so little?"

Merlin shrugged, unperturbed. "I'm afraid I was only made to see all the choices of the world, not understand them. Though, I've gotten fairly good at ascertaining reasons by deduction alone."

All the choices of the world sounded like an awful lot. No wonder the spirit seemed insane. He could see every single thing that everything on the planet could do. Raven would've ended it a long time ago if that were the case herself.

Nora dragged a hand through her hair, leaning against the wall. "Then... Can we see what choices lead to us defeating Ozpin and stopping the gods from returning?"

"I'm afraid that the only choices the relic cannot see are those pertaining to the gods."

Cinder growled. "Ozpin is no God."

"But his spirit is one crafted back to life by the gods themselves. He is bathed in divinity, thus making his decisions impossible to read."

They were all silent at that, but Pyrrha had to ask. "Did he... Ever try?"

"He did. And he received the same answer. It drove him mad."

How wouldn't it? Imagine having a tool at your disposal that could show you every choice you would make, but when you use it, all you're given is that the only thing not cemented in the fate of the world is yourself.

"Fuck..." Nora whispered. Ren tried soothing her.

Cinder tried to put up a brave front. It was clearly brittle, but it was better than nothing. "We've... Got what we came for. Let's return before we're caught."

She was right. There would be... No, there probably wouldn't be time to process this, but they still needed to move. Casting one last glance at the empty cabin, the door closed behind them and they silently made their way back through the woods. Nobody intercepted them.

Raven almost wished someone did.


The chance to get through the walls of Vacuo came sooner than expected. Tyrian had confirmed that he had found what looked like a blind spot from the lookout on the wall, which meant they'd still most likely have to knock some people out to get in undetected, but then, leaving behind several unconscious guards was still technically leaving a trail, right?

So they waited until it was well into the night, the previously sweltering heat replaced with a frigid cold as the winds nipped at their skin. The rest had been fairly simple.

It was especially easy when they had Gretchen with them, who knocked people out so efficiently that it should've been a crime!

... Okay it totally was a crime, but that didn't particularly matter right now.

Sneaking in after that was shockingly devoid of conflict. The streets of Vacuo were relatively barren right now, likely as a result of all the merchants being locked out of the city. And with no business about, there was shockingly little to do in the sandblasted ass crack that was Vacuo.

"Man this place is a dump!" Yang kicked at the sandstone road, a plume of dust coming up as she did.

Ruby flicked the blonde. "Shush. It's rude to call people's homes a dump."

"But it is!"

"I didn't say it wasn't, I said not to say it!"

"Charming as this conversation is, you two," Whitley interrupted, "we should try and keep a low profile. We aren't the most inconspicuous group walking around as we are."

"Especially in the middle of the night after we broke into the place," Gretchen added with a mumble.

"All astute points," Tyrian rolled his eyes, "all the more reason we should move faster, hm?"

Yang grumbled but kept pace with everyone else.

The plan now, according to Tyrian, was to find a way into the hidden oasis of Vacuo. Of course, when asked where this hidden oasis was, the answer was 'hidden, obviously'.

But that only opened a whole different host of issues. For one, the fact that there was a hidden oasis felt cruel. Here was a kingdom that relied on basically one source for all its water, and there was apparently another one that was being used as a bunker for magical artifacts.

Likewise, the fact that the hidden pool was apparently ancient only meant that it could've been used for generations.

"So what are we doing now?" Yang, never one to sit still, questioned the disgruntled scorpion. "Are we breaking into the vault? Finding the summer maiden?"

"Getting a room at an inn," Tyrian answered with barely constrained patience.

"Boring."

Summer rolled her eyes and gave Yang's ear a short tug, eliciting a yelp from the blonde but no further words. The group continued through the streets until they ended up standing before an ornate building. The windows were carved into the walls themselves and curtains could be seen billowing out in the desert night's breeze.

Getting two rooms was easy. It wasn't like it was some clandestine act, despite Yang looking around like they'd be caught in some heinous crime. They settled easily, with Tyrian telling them they'd go over the plan tomorrow.

That left Tyrian, Gretchen, and Summer in one room, and the three members of YSTR in the other.

As they'd seen from outside, the windows were more akin to holes in the wall than actual, normal windows. There were shutters, and Whitley had guessed they were in case of sandstorms. With the moon hanging high, the room was dimly lit and cold. "Man, this place is kinda chilly."

"I've heard the nights in Vacuo can get as cold as certain places in Atlas."

"That sounds awful. How the hell did you live in cold like that for so long?"

Whitley raised an eyebrow and Yang blinked.

"Oh right. Mansion."

They chattered aimlessly before turning in. The following morning they awoke, once again being greeted by the heat of Vacuo as the sun beat down on the kingdom. They gathered in the room the adults had stayed in shortly after and Tyrian, as he had said, laid out the plan for them.

"Ordinarily we would need the summer maiden to open the vault."

Yang rolled a hand in a circle. "But...?"

The former teacher growled. "But if Salem is to be believed, there may be no need in this instance."

"Why not?" Ruby asked.

"The answer to that will become readily apparent if she's correct. If she's not then we're, for lack of better terms: screwed. Finding the summer maiden will be nearly impossible since her last known whereabouts were here in the desert."

Yang looked confused. "But we're already here!"

"Ah yes, why don't you go and search the entire desert for one woman, and then summarily convince said woman that we can be trusted with her powers to get something called the 'relic of destruction'."

Tyrian let his words settle as Yang pouted.

"... Go on."

"As I was saying. Just because there are four maidens does not mean there are four vaults. That's simply something we've been made to believe. Now, onto the plan."

Nodding, Tyrian rolled out a map of Vacuo. Pointing to a large empty space in the middle of the kingdom, he traced his finger along as he spoke. "This entire area is the Vacuan Oasis. Right here is Shade Academy. The hidden oasis can only be accessed by swimming through a natural underwater cave."

Yang grimaced. "Not it. That sounds like a fast way to die."

"Half of us will remain at the surface while the other half retrieves the relic. I'll be going since I know where the cavern is."

"I'll go," Summer didn't hesitate to involve herself.

"I'll go too," Whitley offered, "one of my summons can take us down faster."

Tyrian let his eyes glance up on the remaining three. "Then you all will be our ground team. The fact that we'll be diving through the jewel of Vacuo in public is already going to draw unwanted attention. When we emerge with the relic we'll need to leave. Immediately."

Everyone nodded and Tyrian pointed back to the map. "This will be our escape route. There's no point in trying to leave quietly. If Salem is right, when we get the relic things will get hot."

"Hotter than it is already?" Yang joked.

"Hilarious. No. Hot as in, it will be very evident that something very wrong has happened and the first thing that the headmaster of Shade will assume is that the relic has been stolen."

Gretchen grunted. "If we leave the way you've outlined then we'll be going through the most heavily armed area of the kingdom right now."

The very same gate they'd all bypassed. The same gate that had several incredibly heavy ballistae lining it and ready to annihilate any transgressors.

"It's unfortunately the only way out we'll have. Vacuo's airfields are all but empty and leaving by boat will take too long. We'll have to make for our ship and leave the same way we entered."

Whitley groaned. "I hadn't realized we were conducting a heist here."

Yang grinned. "Little late to back out now."

"I wasn't implying I would. I had just assumed we'd have this well in hand."

Tyrian winced. "This is well in hand, comparatively."

Wasn't that reassuring.

"When do we move?" Summer hefted her weapon onto her back.

"Now. The longer we're here the higher risk we're noticed. Our faces aren't exactly unknown."

"Oh yeah, I forgot we were wanted!" Yang chirped. Whitley massaged his temples and grumbled about incompetence.

"Ready yourselves for trouble and let's move."


Whitley gasped for breath as they breached the submerged oasis. The Cephaloscorn he had summoned managed to transport the three of them quickly enough, far faster than they could've swam at least. Summer coughed up some water and Tyrian heaved a breath.

"Okay," the faunus spoke with a slight garble as he rid his system of water, "that was... More than I had been expecting."

"I just hope the girls are okay..." Summer frowned, keeping her ax in hand as she eyed the walls of the cave. Turns out that it was very much illegal to jump into the oasis. Summoning a giant white Grimm probably didn't make them look any better. The guards had been approaching before they had even gone underwater.

"Considering the last thing I heard was Yang shouting? I'm sure they aren't the ones we need to worry about."

Summer conceded that Whitley had a point.

The oasis was less of an oasis and more like an underground spring. Where they had come out was clear and blue. The water in the cave though? The water seemingly went down forever, deep and dark as it looked. Thankfully there were torches lining the walls, but it only served to add to the sinister feeling.

"That's eerie," Whitley shivered looking down into the depths.

"The relic isn't down there, is it?" Summer asked.

Tyrian shook his head. "It should be on the other side of the cavern. It'll be obvious if it's there."

After the trip through the water, a short swim across to the other end of the cavern was easy, if not slightly terrifying for the fact that they couldn't see anything below them.

The other side didn't have a vault. It was indeed pretty obvious why. Whitley could feel the power coming off the scene before them.

"Is that... The relic?"

"It is. The relic of destruction."

Before them, embedded deep in a mound of stone, was a dark and ominous looking blade. There was no door or security from what they could see.

"We can just... Take it?" Summer stood poised, not trusting the scene.

"No." Tyrian stated firmly. "Trust me when I say, we need to do this very carefully."

They three approached the sword and Tyrian cleared his throat before calling out. "Spirit? Can you hear us?"

The sword shook before the light of the torches glinted off and the whole blade shone.

When the light cleared and in a blue fog a figure was floating before them. Whitley nearly fell backwards and Summer could only stare in shock.

The figure was feminine in form, voluptuous even. Her skin was an electric blue, adorned with gold jewelry from hips to neck and neck to arms. Her navy blue hair was curly and fell behind her in a wide, round curtain. Atop her head was a crown, and her eyes held them all in a contemptuous glare.

Oh, and she had four arms. Whitley was still trying to get past that.

"Have you mortals come to finally free me?"

No introduction, no asking who they were or what they wanted. Only if they'd free her.

"We have," Tyrian took the lead, though he looked ready for anything to go wrong.

"Hmph." She crossed two arms as the other two gestured wildly. "Then you are prepared for what this means, yes?"

Tyrian winced. "I was wondering if we could perhaps speak about that."

Her glare intensified.

"To pull the relic of destruction is to unleash the spirit of destruction. You are aware of this."

"I am."

"Then you are aware of what purpose is being served in this cavern?"

Tyrian grit his teeth. "... I am."

Summer finally broke up the back and forth. "What exactly will happen if we pull that sword?"

Tyrian sighed. "I mentioned that Salem told me about this cave, yes?"

The two nodded and he pursed his lips.

"According to her, what we have known as the deserts of Vacuo don't match the knowledge she has of the area."

"And what did she know the area as?" Whitley didn't like the feeling he was getting.

"It was no desert. It was an ocean."

"What?" Summer shook her head, "This place was an ocean?"

Tyrian pointed to the dark water behind them. "That is what it has been reduced to. That's the power of the relic of destruction."

Whitley gasped. He couldn't keep a straight face for that kind of information. One sword, one relic, had turned an entire ocean into a deep well? That kind of power was far too dangerous to leave alone. Where was the vault for this relic!?

"What happens if we pull the sword."

Whitley snapped his attention to Summer, who was looking at Tyrian with deadly thunder in her eyes. Before he could answer, the spirit did so for him.

"To pull the sword from its resting place is to undo the destruction it has wrought."

Summer snarled. "You mean it'd flood the whole kingdom!?"

"It would merely undo that which had been done eons ago."

Tyrian sighed and dragged a hand down his face, tail twitching nervously. "That's what Salem and I were afraid of."

"There is no guarantee that it would happen all at once or even at all," the spirit continued, "but the relic was pulled only briefly before, and the results remain to this day."

"And what was that?" Whitley couldn't help but question.

"Are we not still underneath an oasis?"

The entire oasis of Vacuo was always one of Remnant's strangest wonders. An oasis as large as it had never existed before, and none have ever come close to matching it. And pulling the sword briefly created it? Or, undid the desertification rather?

"No wonder you said it'd be easy to notice," Summer rounded on the scorpion. To his credit he weathered her glare well.

"We have to."

"We can't!"

"We must!"

Back and forth they went, Whitley trying to make heads or tails about what he'd just learned. It was too much to take in, he was feeling dizzy from it all.

"Your mortal squabbles are as benign as ever," the spirit sighed.

They didn't seem to notice so Whitley took it upon himself to respond. "Is your presence here necessary to keep the ocean from returning?"

She shook her head. "No. The ocean will only return for as long as the well behind you remains. That was what Ozma asked of me."

"Ozma had you destroy the ocean?"

"He wished for more land. The relic of creation cannot make one thing without undoing another one of its creations at the same time. So rather than create a landmass, Ozma had me remove the ocean instead."

"But he had me keep the origin of the water here, rather than destroy it completely. As a result I must stay here to keep the ocean at bay."

Whitley had a hand to his mouth as he took that in. The two adults behind him continued their argument, not noticing their conversation.

Above them, he knew Yang and Ruby were fighting to buy them time. He also knew that getting this relic was incredibly important to the whole 'end of the world thing'. He closed his eyes tight.

"How do I use the relic?" Whitley asked.

"You ask the spirit of destruction to destroy."

"And if I ask you to get rid of that well, the ocean won't return?"

For the first time, the spirit looked interested.

"This is certainly the case. I could even destroy the oasis above too."

That wasn't something he wanted. Whitley took a deep breath.

"And what is your name?"

The spirit finally smiled. It was wide, and toothy, and it sent shivers down his spine.

"Kali. Spirit of Destruction."

Whitley knew what choice had to made.


"On your left!"

Ruby ducked, swinging Savage Rose wide to ward off the attacking guards. Yang flew over her and clotheslined two of them. Ruby used her semblance and swept through the incoming battalion, sending sand flying as soldiers were taken off their feet.

"How much longer do we need to hold out!?" Yang shouted, ducking under a sword and batting a spear aside..

Gretchen threw a man overhead, taking out three more as he flew. Turning she elbowed another guard in the face before throwing them as well. "I don't know! I haven't gotten word yet!"

Ruby did her best to keep things clean, but there was only so much to be done when the opponents were trying to kill you. She settled for sweeping people off their feet and kicking them in the head. It was an effective tactic so far.

Yang was keeping her temper, but she had her limits and she was trying not to turn this brawl into a slaughter. Many of the guards didn't have aura after all, and she was already certain she'd sent a good number of them to the hospital.

"Augh!"

Like the woman she just punched into a wall.

Ruby regrouped with the other two and was about to ask if they should try and lose the guards in the city when the ground started shaking.

Yang steadied herself on one of Gretchen's arms. "What's going on!?"

"I don't know!"

The soldiers all looked around too. Sandstorms were normal in Vacuo, but earthquakes were unheard of. Was it a Grimm? If so why hadn't the alarms gone off? What could be causing—

FFFWOOOOOM!

The oasis practically exploded, water surging from it with such force that it blocked the sun and rocks from the oasis bed flew into the air as well, crashing back down only to be followed by torrents of water.

"What the hell!?" Yang screamed. Gretchen swore and hefted the girl onto her shoulders. Ruby nodded to the older woman and stood by her side, ready to run.

Water continued to gush forth, and when it started coming back down it did so in a curtain, pelting everyone in the area and spreading out at its apex as the rain from below began reaching out further and further within the kingdom.

The oasis banks quickly rose and they needed to retreat lest the rising waters make their escape harder. The guards pulled back as well, escorting any injured from the area quickly. The oasis waters were choppy now, sending water across the land they stood on in waves.

"That's gotta be them!" Ruby had to shout to be heard, pointing up.

A bright white figure could be seen rushing up the newly formed geyser before it shot out from the flow. The summon faded as Whitley, Summer, and Tyrian crashed into the ground before them.

"Mom!"

Ruby rushed to help Summer up. Gretchen pulled Tyrian to his feet as Whitley righted himself.

"Boy," Tyrian growled, "Never do that again!"

"Blame my leader for being a bad influence!"

Yang beamed at Whitley who smirked back for a moment. Then he held a sword before him.

"Kali! Get rid of that ocean!" He blinked then quickly added, "Not the oasis! I repeat, just the ocean!"

A wave thrummed off the sword as it pulsed. The geyser stopped suddenly, the area now drenched in a way it likely hadn't seen for a long time.

"We need to move!" Whitley kept the sword pressed to his chest.

"Did you just destroy the ocean!?" Summer shrieked.

"It dealt with the issue! Besides, we don't have to worry about the kingdom this way!"

"We'll discuss the moral dilemma later!" Tyrian ushered everyone to start running, which they did, continuing to talk as they sprinted through the streets of Vacuo. "The guards will be waiting for us at the gate!"

The streets of Vacuo were in disarray, people running from the center of the kingdom or staring at the water that still fell from the sky.

Seeing the streets of Vacuo flooded was bizarre in a way that couldn't be described. It was liminal in a way. The worst of this however was that Vacuan architecture clearly didn't have flooding in mind for the foundations, as some buildings had already started to tip or crumble inwards.

And true to Tyrian's words, the gate was swarming with guards.

"Gretchen!"

"On it!"

Gretchen tossed Yang in the air, the blonde yelping as she flew into the sky. With a mighty shout, Gretchen crossed her arms in front of her and charged.

The guards realized far too late what was happening and before they could clear the area the woman turned steam train stampeded her way through the entire barricade, the rest of their troupe filling closely behind.

On the other side of the wall, Gretchen caught Yang, carrying her bridal style.

"That was hot..."

Gretchen didn't respond as they all disappeared over the dunes of Vacuo, even as bullets and ballista bolts flew after them.


Salem drummed her fingers along the table, bored and alone. She really needed to find a scorned maid or butler or something of that ilk. That way she'd have an agent whose only job would be to sit around and humor her.

"Come to think of it, Tyrian does that for me already... Maybe I should get him a nice uniform..."

There was that man that had randomly shown up, but he seemed to have a knack for trouble so she was keeping her distance.

The doors slammed open and Cinder and her crew ambled in. A crown was slid across the table, stopping before her.

"Don't put it on," Raven warned.

"I'll take that as confirmation that this is the relic of choice."

Cinder nodded. "It is, your majesty."

"Majesty, eh?"

Salem blinked, looking to the left to find the source of the voice.

"And you are?"

"Merlin, the Spirit of Choice."

"A pleasure. I am Salem."

"Ah! To be in the presence of royalty once again! It's been so long!"

As Salem and Merlin chattered like old friends, Raven stomped her way from the room and towards the room she'd been given. When she entered she tossed Omen to the side and shucked her jacket off.

Falling onto the side of her bed she tapped her foot impatiently. It had been a rough, eye-opening adventure they'd just had.

Laying back she stared up at the ceiling. Just what the hell had her life become? She thought back on all the things that had led to this moment. If she could, would she choose a life where she didn't know about any of this?

"Oh right, I said I'd open a portal to the others if I got here first..."

Sighing, Raven stood and grabbed Omen off the floor. She left into the hallway, not wanting everyone to exit from Vacuo into her room, tracking goddamn sand everywhere.

When she opened the portal she wasn't expecting anyone to come through. Since Salem's tower was in the middle of the Grimmlands there was no service for her to call ahead and warn them.

It was a little surprising when they all immediately tumbled through the portal.

Summer stood quickly and found Raven. "Close it!"

Raven did so, just as a grenade tumbled through. They all stared at it before Yang kicked it as hard as she could, sending it flying through a window. The explosion sounded a moment later.

Finally, the team from the desert slumped.

"That was awful," Whitley groaned, massaging his neck.

"Says the guy who deleted an ocean," Yang joked.

"What?" Raven hissed.

"Long story. Later." Summer whined. Whitley passed the relic of destruction to Tyrian who accepted it and shambled his way to the throne room, looking dead on his feet.

"What about the relic of knowledge?" Yang asked. Gretchen raised a hand.

"I'll be retrieving that while you all are in Atlas getting the relic of creation."

What fun.

The rest dispersed shortly after, to shower, change, and sleep. Raven couldn't blame them, her crew had done much the same. Summer and her talked about what they'd seen afterwards. Story time was not as pleasant as it was back home.

"Shit, you guys flooded Vacuo?" Raven winced at the statement.

"We sure did. Don't think I'll ever top that feat for the rest of my life."

"Makes my trip sound tame."

"If having a shared existential crisis is tame, then sure." Summer shrugged.

It had been a bad time for both groups it seemed. A knock at the door broke them from their conversation. Raven got it and gave a flat glare when it was Cinder on the other side.

"What."

"Nice to see you as well."

Raven tried closing the door but Cinder caught it with her foot.

"We move for Atlas in two days. Gretchen will not be joining us."

Raven let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Of course we are. Are we leaving the kids at least?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "You realize we'll be mounting a heist on the most heavily guarded treasure in the most militarized kingdom on the planet, yes?"

"All the more reason to leave all the children," Summer called from her bed. Raven gave Cinder a 'told you so' look. The maiden rolled her eyes.

"They will be joining. We'll need as many hands as we can and according to Watts, we're in for a terrible time."

A voice called from across the hall. "All of these have been terrible times!"

Raven pinched her nose. "Yang, stop eavesdropping."

The door opened and Yang and her team were there. Ruby smiled awkwardly, ashamed to be caught in the act. Whitley didn't even bat an eye.

"It's not eavesdropping if we were gonna be told anyway."

Raven's glare narrowed more.

"Oh c'mon mom! At this point we're already public enemy number one in Atlas! We may as well give them an actual reason!"

Cinder was checking her nails. "Feasibly speaking if we remove the relic of creation we'll be dropping Atlas on top of Mantle."

Everyone stared at her in horror and she looked amongst them, confused. "What? You didn't think Atlas was making their whole city fly without magic, did you?"

"Yes!" Whitley shouted, arms wide. "That's exactly what we thought!"

Cinder scoffed. "Well that was stupid of you all..."

Ignoring the maiden for now, Raven turned back to the three youths. "This isn't a game you all. Everyone there will be after your heads."

"That's not necessarily true," Cinder chimed in again. "I'm fairly certain one of us here has a friend on the inside that won't be too keen on seeing us all gunned down."

Her gaze trailed to land on Whitley who frowned.

"I will not be dragging my sister into this."

"Unfortunately, your sister has likely already been dragged into it by virtue of being related to you. If anything, we'd be helping her too."

Whitley cursed and stomped back into the room to pace. Yang let him, knowing how he got when he needed to stomp his feelings away in a circle. Cinder shrugged and continued.

"My own people will be rejoining us in Atlas as well."

Ruby lit up. "Wait, does that mean..."

"Yes yes, your two little friends will hopefully be with them. I don't have any fast way of getting in touch with them, so we'll be sending a message the old fashioned way."

Raven barked a cynical laugh. "And what's that? Snail mail?"

Cinder smirked at her. "Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of carrier pigeon."

Raven stared at her for a moment before it dawned on her. She scowled, crimson eyes boring a hole in Cinder's face.

"I hate you."


That's a wrap for now. Trying to get the rest of this story done. I've currently got 'sit on it because I'm almost done' syndrome. The unfortunate scenario in which you're almost done with something but never finish it out of complacency.

Tough stuff.

Anyways, I'll see y'all around. Until next time!

Stay safe and have a wonderful time!