Goddess Of Empty

by pokeloon15

"But if you believe Ozpin THREE of them are real." The Goddess of Empty fell into a deep sleep when she saves humanity from a gruesome fate. After awaking to find her brothers no longer on Remnant, she sets out on a journey and stumbles upon Team RWBY. Learning of their mission she joins the group, hoping to use the relics to reunite with her brothers.

11. Making a Plan

Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth. I only own the Goddess of Empty/Agatha Griseo

Chapter 11

Forming a Plan

The prison transport was quiet. Save for Nora, chewing away at her cuffs. We'd been driven around for a while before Ruby spoke up.

"Where do you think they're taking us?"

"I'm going to go with jail." Qrow responded.

"Still can't believe that fishing pole guy just took us out like it was nothing," Jaune said, still dumbfounded.

"Not just Mr. Hotshot. That whole group of his just ambushed us out of nowhere." I added.

"Welcome to Atlas. Those were Ironwood's Ace Operatives," Weiss explained.

"You had a run in with the Ace Ops?" An unknown voice asked. I leaned forward to see the only other person in this van that wasn't in our group. "Ironwood must really have a bone to pick with you."

Weiss simply rolled her eyes. "They're not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal!? The Ace Ops are the elite of elite military huntsmen and Ironwood's personal attack dogs." The stranger countered.

Not the best reputation down in Mantle, huh? Then again, nothing in Atlas has the best rep in Mantle from what I've heard.

Nora asked if these Ace Ops caught our new buddy as well. The stranger explained he wouldn't have allowed it. "I'm here because I've been speaking out against Atlas' exploitation of Mantle and General Ironwood is trying to silence me for it!"

The guard rolled his eyes. "You threw a brick at our ship!"

Don't laugh.

"It's worth it if it gets people talking about our cause!" The stranger declared proudly.

Don't laugh.

"'Our cause'? " Blake asked.

"Yes, the fight for better conditions in Mantle!" The man replied. "Led by the charismatic, talented, lovely Robyn Hill and her Happy Huntresses."

At this point the guard pressed a button on his console. The window between us and them slid up. The man shouted at the window.

"They were all top Atlas Academy graduates, who could have signed up for the military, but Robyn and the Huntresses chose to stay in Mantle! She's gunning for a seat on the Kingdom's council, and when she gets it, she's going to put an end to Ironwood's tyranny!"

Interesting. A small smile came to my face. Even with all these Hunters and Huntresses protecting people from Grimm, hearing about Robyn made me happy. Humans were protecting each other in all those ways. Yes, Atlas wasn't doing a great job, but it was amazing that humans stepped up from that. They rose above, and chose to defend the defenseless.

Even if this man was...doing his best. Hilariously.

My little smile made it harder to hide my laugh.

"Hey are you going to be alright?" Qrow asks, nudging me.

My face was probably red at this point. The stranger hadn't made it any easier. He jumped up and down, trying to get the attention of the guards.

"Don't make me talk," I pleaded under my breath. A few giggles came out. The stranger caught them.

He huffed at me. "Laugh all you want! Robyn will get that council seat and things will be different!"

I cleared my throat, forcing away the giggles. "My apologies. I meant no offense. I was just...curious about this Robyn person. And about how you came to know them when I haven't, Mr...?"

"Forest."

"Well, Mr Forest, once we get things cleared up at- wherever, we could meet up again and you could tell us more about Robyn's campaign?" Though many of the nuances of politics were lost on me, I could understand the startings of a rebellion. I'd studied the ones that happened during my nap. They all started similarly. I wanted to see one up close. Future years of these humans could need my insight, when I eventually revealed myself as the Goddess. If Robyn inspired this sort of action, I should meet them myself.

Forest smiled and said that he would like that.

Ruby gazed out of the window. Her face lit up in amazement. I followed her line of sight, trying to understand the same joy. We'd reached the city of Atlas. The floating city matched the stereotypical idea of paradise. With Forest's words in my head, I eyed the city cautiously. Humans never did so well when they placed themselves above each other, above reproach. The cool tones of white and blue didn't fill me with confidence. It made the place seem...cold.

Jaune, Nora and even Forest looked out the window.

"This isn't the police station," Forest said, curiously.

It looked to be the biggest building in the city.

"It's Atlas Academy," Qrow clarified, just before we landed.

Oh, yes. That place. What Huntress hasn't heard of that place? If General Ironwood wanted to speak with us, he would send us to his main base of operations.

The back doors to the car opened up. The guards ushered us out.

"I guess we will be seeing the General," Ruby said. "For better or worse."

Before the doors to our transport shut I turned back to Forest. "It was nice to meet you," I told him.

"Same here," He said. The guards closed the door.

The guards lead us through the lobby and to an elevator. They made no move to unlock our cuffs, or to even hint that we would ever be freed. Everyone was silent and the tension was so thick you could slice it with both Ruby and Qrow's scythes.

"So what do we do?" Ren asked Ruby as quietly as he could.

"I don't know," Ruby responded. "But we should be careful with what we say."

We fell silent once again. A guard heard the earlier words, glancing at us cautiously. When he turned away I heard Blake whisper to Ruby.

"We'll follow your lead." The youngest huntress of our group smiled at that. As Blake looked away, Ruby's expression fell into worry. She then noticed my stare and put her reassuring smile back on.

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open. We were escorted down another hallway and down a flight of stairs that led to a circular room that led to several more sets of stairs. Near those sets of stairs stood none other than General Ironwood himself. He walked in venting to Winter about some council meeting. Penny was with them as well.

It was the first to notice us. "Yay, you're here!" It cheered which got the other two's attention. They turn around as Weiss walked past Ruby and greeted her surprised sister.

Nora interrupted the reunion by coming up. She held up her cuffed wrists. "Anyone want to give us a hand with these?"

Winter collected herself, wiping away any trace of surprise from her face. She glared coldly at the guards. "You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you."

The guards scrambled. Fast as they were able, they unlocked all of our cuffs. Once that was done they left the area.

Ironwood walked us up into his office. "It is so good to see you again."

I wonder if everyone here is associated with the general already. It would make sense for Qrow to know him but the others?

"Our reception didn't really convey that." Yang grumbled as she massaged her wrist.

Oh! Yes. I should do that too. Those cuffs would've been tight on a real human. I massaged my wrist. A bit of magic had some discoloration appearing to make it more believable. Wait, were bruises more believable? I haven't been around enough handcuffed people to know the difference.

Ironwood sighed. "I sincerely regret how you were treated by my team. When a rogue airship entered our airspace it raised some... red flags. We assumed the ship was stolen," he explained as he sat down at his desk.

Ruby got flustered at that. "Stolen? Why would you think...Okay, yeah, it was stolen," She finally admitted.

Ironwood gave a small chuckle at that surprisingly. Not surprising was Winter's reaction.

"You stole an Atlas airship?" She snapped at Weiss. She approached her sister. "What were you thinking!? You might have been shot down! How unbelievably-" She was cut off by Weiss giving Winter a hug.

Weiss apologized. Winter returned the hug, looking off kilter.

The warm embrace made me smile.

Winter then turned to me and Qrow. "But I still can't believe that you would allow this to happen, Qrow. And you! You're an adult as well. Qrow I can understand fumbling this up. Why did you let this happen?"

Qrow jabbed his thumb at the kids. "You try stopping these kids when they have their mind set on something."

"If anything, a Carolina Cordovin gave us a good reason to take it." I added.

Winter turned up her nose at me. "Specialist Cordivin is a highly trained officer. She wouldn't have done anything to warrant stealing a-"

"She attacked us with a giant robot." Ren informed them.

Ironwood, Winter, and Penny blinked. Ironwood sighed, running his hand down his face.

"I told you not to give her that thing." Winter grumbled.

"I know, I know."

Qrow and I shared a smirk before going back to Ironwood. "Anyway we're getting off topic here," Qrow said. "We've got some important information for you that's... confidential." He eyed Winter and Penny nervously.

Oh my, do they not know?

Penny zoomed over to Ironwood's side. "Oh, is it about the relics?" It asked.

Winter joined them. "Or perhaps the Winter Maiden?"

Huh? Looks like they do know.

This was a surprise to the others.

"You told them?" Qrow asked Ironwood, bewildered.

The pointed look at me did not go unnoticed. Ironwood opened up a drawer and withdrew the Lamp of Knowledge. I breathed a sigh of relief as it grew to its proper size in his hand. "Did you think you weren't the only one who got to work on a new plan after Beacon?" He asked us. "With Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust. So yes, I told them. The Ace-Ops too."

Now Hotshot and his group are in the loop too? That must be why he confiscated the lamp.

"Which is why I'm glad you're here with this," Ironwood continued gesturing at the lamp. "Until now, I believed it was impossible to truly turn the tide against Salem. Oz has pushed her back, kept victory out of her claws, but she will keep returning stronger and stronger... unless we destroy her."

Ah. Who's going to tell him?

Telling him would be the smart thing to do. By the Great Tree, it would be the kind thing to do. With Jinn's warning in mind, and the reminder of Salem's curse, only something godly would take away her life. Ironwood's army of trained Hunters/Huntresses stood no chance against her. He might not take the news as well as our group did. Yes, only Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Maria took it well at first. The rest were rightfully upset. However, none of them were upset with an army at their command.

These questions were rolling around in my head when Ruby asked her own question. "What about the Atlas relic?"

"You mean the Staff of Creation?" Ironwood clarified.

"It's safe inside the vault," Penny answered.

"And the Winter Maiden?" Qrow questioned.

"She is secure and in stable condition," Winter told us.

Yang got a little worried. "Stable condition, what does that mean?"

Qrow got an arm up to calm her down. "She's not exactly a spring chicken," he explained.

So that means we're going to be getting a new one soon. Should keep my eye out. No doubt Ironwood's already got someone in mind.

Ironwood then looked down with a sigh. "I know how this all looks. Recalling my military? The embargo? I probably don't seem the most trustworthy right now."

At least he's acknowledging the problems. That's a start.

"Then why continue it?" Blake asked.

"The people of Mantle are hurting down there!" Nora added.

"I needed to make sure that Salem couldn't infiltrate Atlas. And I wanted my military here, protecting my people," Ironwood reasoned.

"There is such a thing as 'overprotection'." I couldn't help but say.

Yang agreed with me. "It's just making everyone hate you."

"It's a price I'm willing to pay," Ironwood countered.

"You think it will pay off in the end?" I asked him.

"I know it will." Ironwood pushed a button on his desk.

The shutters on his window went down. The office was cast in a foreboding darkness. It's not a great look to say 'things will go well' and then lock people in the dark. Just keeping that thought to myself.

"Just as you all have been entrusted with the knowledge of Salem, I need you all to trust me. I have a plan."

The floor opened up during his speech. A large table rose up, under Oscar and Ruby's feet. Ironwood walked up to the table as the kids cleared away from it.

"Ozpin believed the best way to fight Salem was to do so in secret." Ironwood explained. "Whether that was the right choice or not isn't for me to say. But we find ourselves in a position of needing, well, a new approach."

"And what do you suggest?" Qrow asked. Ironwood's answer was to pull out a remote and show us a holograph of the Amity Colosseum.

"When Beacon fell and everyone on Remnant lost contact with one another, I knew our current system was outdated. Amity was built to bring the nations together. And it will serve that purpose again." Ironwood pressed another button and the hologram of the coliseum gained an antenna on top of it.

Huh, surprised no one's thought of this before.

"Isn't it great?" Penny asked us. "We're not just going to replace Beacon Tower. We're building a new tower on top of Amity to re-establish global communication." Its arms were waving around in supposed excitement. Its joy was so human-like, so perfectly mimicked. It made me furious and disgusted.

"By launching the tower high into the atmosphere, our scientists believe we can create some sort of... satellite," Winter continued. "Out of reach from the Grimm and capable of maintaining global communication even if we were to lose another tower."

A lot of things were suddenly starting to make sense. All of Mantle's resources were being diverted to construct this satellite, as Winter called it. This speed at which he's building this though, the impact it's having on Mantle...it's not going to end well. My study into human revolutions mostly started with things like this. From my understanding, the best way to avoid war is to never start it in the first place. Ironwood's choices as they sat in front of me would only make it inevitable.

Ruby was impressed but Qrow and I voiced our own concerns.

"James, you don't need an entire army for this," Qrow told the general.

"Or even take all the resources from Mantle," I added.

"I'll need them for the next part," Ironwood said. "Where I'll finally tell the people about Salem."

There was a heavy silence in the air. Telling everyone? Just out of the blue like that? That was not going to end well. Humans reacted poorly during the incident at Beacon. Did Ironwood really think it would go any better with this revelation? People in Mantle were already beginning to revolt. Forest may be the beginning of it, but these things snowball. If Ironwood was losing the trust of the people, they might not believe his warnings.

"So that's why you withdrew your troops. To handle the panic that would break out in Atlas," Qrow realized.

"Yes," Ironwood admitted. "Panic is inevitable. And panic will bring Grimm. But I believe we are ready. Once Atlas has come to grips with the fight ahead, I will use Amity Tower to spread the message to all of Remnant."

Because suddenly being in a police state has always kept things peaceful.

"But everything will fall apart. Grimm would be everywhere," Weiss argued.

"You're right," Winter agreed but had a counter. "But Atlas is willing to prepare and assist."

"Would they even believe us?" I asked them. "Trying to pull a monster from the shadows is easier said than done."

Ironwood addressed me. "You seem to have an easy time believing it."

"That boy is being possessed by an ancient soul, and that lamp you're holding can attract Grimm. I've seen enough to know these kids are telling the truth. The people of Mantle wouldn't." I'd hoped my words would get through to him.

But Ironwood took something else away from what I said. "An ancient soul..." He instantly looked at Oscar. His eyes widened in understanding. "Oz?"

Oops. Looks like these two haven't really met yet.

I mouthed an apology to Oscar as Ironwood rushed over and knelt down so he could be at eye level with the boy. "I'm so glad you're here. I didn't think-"

Oscar quickly put his hands up and said. "Not quite. He's gone at the moment."

Ironwood looked down in confusion. "That's not normal. How did he-"

"It's because of the lamp." Ruby stepped in. "On our way to Argus, our train was attacked by Grimm and Ozpin said it was because they were attracted to the lamp."

Oh yeah, the others didn't know about that. Makes sense Ozma wouldn't tell Ironwood either.

Ruby continued. "After we fended off the Grimm, we demanded Ozpin say what else he hadn't told us and eventually he said he didn't have a plan to beat Salem. He locked himself in Oscar's head right after. We haven't been able to coax him out."

That's not exactly what happened. Not that I can blame Ruby for covering up the rest of the story. I'm thankful I'm not the only one nervous to tell Ironwood the truth.

Ironwood gave a sigh. "That's the worst news yet." He got back up and looked at Ruby. "Were you able to learn more about the relics before-"

Ruby once again cut him off. "He told us the lamp could answer three questions. But all the questions were used up already."

Ironwood walked back to his desk. "Right, right. Ozpin told us that too, once upon a time." He turned back to Oscar. "At least you're here, Oscar. You're safe in Atlas. And together we'll find a way to bring Ozpin back."

Oscar thanked him.

Ironwood grabbed the lamp, handing it back to Ruby.

"You're giving it back to me?" She asked, confused.

"After what happened with the Ace-Ops, I don't want you to think I'm keeping anything from you, especially something as important as this. For the time being, I think it's safest with the people who brought it here." Ironwood answered.

Ruby took back the lamp and attached it back to her belt once it had shrunk down.

Ironwood continued. "We must work together if we're to fight Salem and win. Now if you're all on board..." He trailed off, waiting for one of us to answer.

Ruby took very little time to consider. "Tell us how we can help."

Ironwood nodded. "Good, because launching the Amity Tower won't be easy but first. I think we need to get those weapons of yours up to our standards." He walked back to his desk and a video showed. He called Blake out on her broken blade. Much to her embarrassment.

"Remember you're in Atlas now," Winter told us. "While assisting the military, we will provide you with the best equipment our scientists can devise."

Everyone cheered at that. I looked at Yin and Yang in thought. Those hard light shields Cordovin used seemed pretty useful. Maybe I can apply it to my own weapons as well.

We left Ironwood's office to find the Ace-Ops near one of the other stairways. The faunus of their group was telling them some kind of story before Hotshot noticed us and walked over.

"I'd like to sincerely apologize for the miscommunication down in Mantle. We didn't intend to-'' Suddenly the bigger woman pushed him and the faunus aside before shaking Ruby. Well, she intended to shake Ruby's hand but wound up shaking her whole body before dropping her.

"I feel so bad, honestly! If we had known who you were, we'd be laughing over a hot meal right now," She said.

Ruby dizzyingly got back up. "We understand. You were just following orders."

Weiss spun her partner around to reorient her. "I mean, you could have asked us some questions first."

"Questions are for the weak," The faunus replied. "But we're all on the same team now. Not that I'm happy about it." His wagging tail though said otherwise as he embarrassingly grabbed a hold of it to stop it. Much to the skinnier woman's amusement as well as my own.

Hotshot started up again. "We just want to say we're sorry. And that we'll be looking forward to working with you on our next mission. You may be students, but you've been training just as hard as we've had, if not harder."

"Exactly why I'm looking forward to seeing what you kids can do," the skinnier woman said before the monk guy sighed.

"Not everything's a competition, Hare."

The group finally made introductions. Hotshot here was apparently the captain of the Ace-Ops, Clover Ebi. The strong looking woman was Elm Ederne. The monk-like man was Vine Zeki. The smaller woman was Harriet Bree. And the faunus was their newest member Marrow Amin.

Penny came over and offered the kids a tour of the campus. The kids followed it and Clover went over to where I was standing.

"I can escort you and Mr. Brawen over to your quarters if you would like," Clover offered.

Stars, yes! It's been a long day and I need some sleep. Hadn't had a decent rest since Jinn told her story.

I nodded and looked over to Qrow. "Hey-" I cut myself off with a snort.

Ironwood was giving Qrow a rather awkward hug. Well awkward for Qrow at least but he got over the shock of the general's hug quick enough. Qrow looked at me when I started giggling.

"If you two need the room we can leave," I joked pointing to Clover.

Qrow and Ironwood quickly broke apart, their faces a bright red.

"Agatha, come on!" Qrow yelled.

I just continued laughing as they walked over to us. "It's a joke, Strawhead. I like to do that," I assured Qrow. "Anyway, Hotshot over here said he'll take us to our rooms if you want to go now."

Clover frowned at me. "My name's Clover, not Hotshot."

I shrugged. "Eh, I'm still going to call you Hotshot." Clover gave me a small glare. "On occasion, geeze, does anyone up here have a sense of humor?"

Ironwood leaned over to Qrow. "Why is she here?" I heard him whisper.

Qrow didn't bother keeping his voice down as he replied "She helped us fight the Grimm that attacked over the Lamp. When we argued with Oz, she overheard everything. She's fighting Salem with us, even though it's risky. She's been stubborn like that. And mean."

"Mean? I'm a delight." I argued, smiling at Qrow. "You're grateful to have me."

Qrow glared. "See? Stubborn and mean."

"I figured you would be used to friends like that." Ironwood mused. Qrow sputtered, crossing his arms and glaring at Ironwood. Ironwood held out his hand to me. "We're happy to take all the help we can get."

"See? General Ironwood knows how to behave." I shook his hand. I took a pause as I squeezed his hand. It felt so cold, and firm. Not very human-like at all.

He bid us farewell saying he still had some matters to attend to. Clover guided us to our rooms.

Clover led us to a two bedroom unit with a shared living room before bidding us goodnight. I took off my jacket and hung it on a nearby chair claiming first dibbs on the shower.

Before I stepped into the bathroom, Qrow called out to me. "Hey Agatha, do you think it's wise? Not telling James what we learned from Jinn?"

I looked down in thought. "It's hard to say what the right call would be here," I admitted. "But I can understand Ruby's decision. We can't be too careful."

Qrow nodded and the two of us got ready to turn in for the night.