"Your eyes glazed over just as I was about to show you what I'd found. The creator of the Voice? You didn't look well, so I stopped." Jinn paused, looking over the general's face as he was deep in thought. "You saw what I was going to show you before I ever showed it?"

Ironwood was silent for a few moments longer, then slowly shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I think rather than have you show me what you found, he preferred that I see things the way he wanted to present them. For all I know, he did me a mercy."

"A mercy, sir?"

"Yes... we've always known that we were fighting forces with unimaginable power. Ozpin defies the human mind, the things he's done, the Maidens, Qrow and Raven, those are just a few things he's done over the years. Salem is not a match for him, rather a match for what he once was, at his most powerful. The Brothers casually threw around the sort of magic that makes those two look like children playing in the street." He looked Jinn in the eye. "I did see him. I was present, for a brief moment, in some sense, in the court of a being that acts as king. I could see the lords, the knights, the princes, nobility of the cosmos, but the brothers were not among them. I would have recognized them, I think. No, I couldn't even comprehend any of them. I saw something in their place, but it was... out of focus. Like they were behind a thick... foggy clear plastic. Distorted. The only one I could see clearly was the jester."

"Why do you think you could see him?" Jinn looked confused. She didn't understand.

Ironwood leaned toward her, a dead serious look in his eyes. "That's how far we're reaching beyond what we're prepared for. We're on our way to obtain an object you said left a wake of destruction through the universe, and when I get a vision of its creator he is the jester. It's a joke. Our entire existence is... I saw a castle, and they were inside at a feast. Outside, the dust in the air was galaxies. We mean nothing to them... yet the jester, the lowest in the king's court, pitied me and spoke to me in person." He let out a long sigh, then stood up. "Humbling doesn't begin to describe it, but here I am."

Jinn nodded, still not fully getting what he was trying to say, but ready to move on. "So what does that mean for us? For this mission?"

"Nothing immediate... no, it doesn't change the mission, but a perspective has been forced on me that I can't ignore. We were already fighting things we couldn't understand, and we need to have contingencies. I just... I have no idea how." He felt the slight change in the way the Nautilus was moving, signaling a stop. "We will have to figure this out later, if there's anything at all we can do. Right now, we need hands on that weapon."

"Yes sir." Jinn gave a proper salute. "I'll wake the others." She went off to get the rest of their party, leaving Ironwood alone.

The general went over to stand next to the door, where he would wait for the rest of his team. They started coming out, all of RWBY was quick to wake, Elm and Marrow were attentive and alert, Fiona and Joanna were on their feet in an instant with May lagging a little behind, Amaranth and Pelka were rushing in behind them. With Raven stepping out last, Ironwood realized there was only one lazy sleeper among them. It took another half minute before Robyn showed her face, still brushing her hair back with her fingers to fix her bedhead.

Ironwood wasted no time once everyone was present. "Let's go." The door was unsealed and he led them through the submarine to the rear. There was a small room that they all barely fit into, with two doors at the back, one to each submersible. Ironwood pointed to the door on the right. "RWBY, Jinn, Amaranth, Marrow and Elm. You're in there. The rest of you are with me."

The doors slid open with a hiss and they began to pile in. Saying it was a tight fit would be an understatement. In the second submersible, after climbing through the small pressure chamber at the back, they found three seats on either side of the submersible, facing inward at each other, with barely any room between them. Elm went in first, making her way to the front where she took the pilot seat. There was a copilot seat, which Marrow avoided, instead offering the spot to Blake. It was outside her comfort zone, but this was clearly meant to be a training opportunity for her. Elm immediately set about getting Blake familiar with all the gauges and buttons in front of her. Marrow strapped himself in just behind Blake's seat, with Ruby sitting across from him. Amaranth took the seat next to Ruby, and Weiss sat at the back. On the other side, next to Marrow, Yang strapped Jinn in, taking the back seat for herself.

On the other submersible, Ironwood took up the pilot seat, allowing Robyn into the seat next to him. Raven sat behind Ironwood, with Pelka sitting beside her. Fiona sat behind Robyn, with Joanna next to her and May at the back. Ironwood took the time to tell Robyn what all was in front of her, but he wasn't sure how much she was actually listening and taking the information in. She was more focused on the bubble window in front of them, made of what looked like glass, but only solid grey was on the other side.

"Isn't glass a bad idea down here?" She said, giving the general a concerned look.

He glanced at the window, then shook his head. "That isn't glass. It's a transparent metal. Glass that thick would be impossible to see through."

"Transparent metal?" Robyn repeated. "What kind?"

"One that's classified and hard to pronounce." He pointed to a button on the console in front of her. "That's the intercom. Turn it on." She still looked like she resented being told what to do by him, but she pressed the button. Ironwood spoke into the air in front of them, and his voice echoed around both submersibles and the Nautilus itself. "This is General Ironwood. Submersible number one is ready to depart."

A few seconds passed, and Elm's voice came back. "This is Elm. Submersible number two is ready to depart."

Robyn looked suspicious. "That's not a radio."

Ironwood reached across in front of her and turned off the intercom. "Radio signals could be picked up by not only the people in the city we're headed for, but also any giant deep sea creatures that navigate using sonar. It's a direct line through the whole boat, and it's on until you turn it off."

Robyn realized that everyone had heard her little comment. "Oh..."

Nemo's voice reached all of them. "Sealing Ammonite One." The door at the back of their submersible shut and hissed, sealing closed. "Sealing Ammonite Two." They trusted that the same thing happened on the other submersible. "Ammonites, you are clear for departure."

Robyn looked at Ironwood curiously. "Ammonites?"

"It's a form of prehistoric deep sea creature with a hard shell. I guess that's the name these things have."

"Ah. Well I hope their shell is hard enough. The way I understand it, there's a lot of water about to be pressing in on us."

"Ammonite One departing." Ironwood said, not answering her. Then, suddenly, the submersible dropped from the Nautilus, and the grey in front of them turned pitch black. Ironwood reached up and flipped some switches over Robyn's head. "And just like that, we have no ability to communicate with them anymore. Put that headset on." He pointed to a pair of earphones hooked up to the side of the submersible.

"What are these for?" She asked even as she was putting them on.

Suddenly, Blake's voice came through. "All systems green on our end. How are you guys?"

Ironwood explained when he saw Robyn's confused look. "There is a direct line connection between the two Ammonites, so we can't go very far away from them. Tell them we're all green over here."

"Uh, right. All systems green over here." Robyn paused, taking a moment to come to terms with the fact that she really was out of her element. "Well, I can't say you didn't warn us."

Ironwood gave her a curious look, but it was Blake that answered. "I've found out that when someone says you don't want to know something, they're telling the truth more often than you think." While Robyn was trying to think of a good response, Blake came back with important information. "From Jinn: Eight hundred feet straight ahead, then dead stop and lights on. Down two hundred feet."

She gathered that the headphones meant Ironwood couldn't hear Blake, so she repeated the information. "Jinn says we need to go eight hundred feet forward and then stop. Then we need to turn on our lights and go down two hundred feet."

"Try to repeat the messages verbatim." Ironwood said quickly, focusing on following the instructions too much for Robyn to say anything back. He kept looking out the window like there was anything to see. Suddenly he looked to her. "How's our drift?"

"Wh- I don't know." She looked over the gauges and stuff in front of her. "Which one is that?"

"Headset off." She took the headset off. Ironwood let out a sigh, then quickly explained. "You're the only one they can hear. Limit what you say to things their intercom operator needs to hear. Put them back on and ask how our drift is." He went back to the controls.

"Right..." She put the headset back on. "Um... how's our drift?"

"Drift is fine. Jinn is helping us compensate."

Robyn repeated the answer to Ironwood. "Drift is fine. Jinn is helping us compensate." As soon as she said it, she realized Blake probably meant just the other submersible, not both of them. "Them. Helping them compensate." She wasn't sure what drift was in context, so she assumed it was how far they were drifting from their route. Since Ironwood mentioned they were tethered together, it might have been distance between the two submersibles instead. She didn't know, and apparently asking was not an option right now. She was not a fan of her position, but she realized she could have easily let someone else take the seat in her place. It wasn't like she could blame Ironwood for being annoyed with her, either. If she wasn't on top of her game right now, they could crash into the other submersible or the bottom of the ocean. Their lives were at stake. She really wished she had paid more attention to the general's quick briefing of the console in front of her. Then, at least, he would be reaching across in front of her less often.

"Stop now." Blake's voice came through.

"Stop now." Robyn repeated as soon as she heard it. They stopped, and Ironwood reached across in front of her again. In the cramped cockpit, his arm bumped her chest, which drew a sound of disapproval from her. He completely ignored it, pulling a lever which turned on a bright light on the top of the submersible.

"Ammonite One, angling down." Ironwood said.

Robyn grumbled about the unwanted physical contact, but relayed the message. "Ammonite One, angling down."

"Ammonite Two, angling down." Blake responded. "Distance from Ammonite One is... fourteen feet. Ready to dive."

"Distance from Ammonite Two is fourteen feet. They're ready to dive."

Ironwood nodded. "Ammonite One, ready to dive."

"Ammonite One, ready to dive."

Ironwood put his hands on the controls, prepared to begin diving in an instant. "Robyn, count us down."

Finally, something she could control. She didn't have to just repeat what others were saying this time. "On mark. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Mark."

On the last two numbers, Blake counted with her, saying "Dive." instead of Mark.

"Diving." Ironwood said, beginning the dive. After a few seconds, he asked again. "How's our drift?"

"How's our drift?" Robyn asked.

After a couple seconds, Blake answered. "Drift is well within limits. Prepare to stop in ten seconds. Nine." She continued counting down.

"General, prepare to stop in..." Robyn stopped so she could count in time with Blake. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Stop." Ironwood stopped, and the submersible shuddered to a halt.

Whereas the light had been shining into an endless black before, now it was suddenly faintly illuminating the ocean floor below them. Mostly, they could see a hole in the floor, the entrance to a cavern. That was more than enough for them. Ironwood looked to Robyn and nodded. "We're going in."

Robyn checked with the other submersible. "We're going in."

"Roger that. Diving in five." Blake counted down. Robyn joined her and marked the beginning of the dive for Ironwood. They started again and headed into the cavern.

It was a tight fit inside the cavern, but it was easier to see since the light from the submersibles lit up everything in front of them. Ammonite Two took the lead, and suddenly Robyn could see them just out the window bubble. It was a good thing they were going ahead too, because the cave was starting to get narrower as they went along. It never got too narrow for them to navigate through, however, so as careful as the going was, it felt like it was going faster than Robyn had expected because they never needed to slow down too much.

Then, suddenly, Blake said "We've arrived at our destination. Coming to a stop."

"Ammonite Two is coming to a stop. We've arrived." Robyn said, looking to Ironwood.

"Understood. Coming to a stop." The two submersibles stopped, hovering in the water. Ironwood reached across in front of Robyn, bumping her chest again. "Cutting the lights."

"Right... Cutting the lights."

"Roger. Cutting the lights." Blake said, and the lights on the other submersible went out just as Ironwood turned off theirs.

Ironwood took his hand back, speaking under his breath. "Sorry. I'll let you handle that next time."

Robyn made a point to check on what it was he'd done so that she knew where the lights were. With how much space they had, there really was no way for the general to reach that without bumping into her like that. That was definitely another reason she should have paid more attention. "Okay, lights are out, we are in position... now what?"

Blake answered her. "Jinn is telling us that there is no one in the temple above us right now. We should go while we can."

Robyn looked to Ironwood. "Jinn says there is no one in the temple above us. We should go now."

"Got it. Get to the back, and get Fiona up here." Ironwood said as he was checking over all the equipment.

Robyn took the headset off and put it back where she'd got it from. She unstrapped herself from the seat and climbed out, doing her best not to interfere with Ironwood on her way. She was pretty sure she bumped his head with her butt, but he didn't say anything and she wasn't about to. She moved to the back and pointed Fiona to the front. "We're going. Get up front and stay in contact with the other sub." Fiona unstrapped herself and climbed into the copilot seat, where Ironwood started explaining to her everything she would need to know while she was alone in the submersible. Robyn took the opportunity to look around the back of the Ammonite submersible. She wasn't sure how they would be leaving until she saw the hatch on the floor in the pressure chamber at the back. "Right... we're swimming."

Fiona, now wearing the headset, looked back at the rest of them. "Jinn recommends Robyn, May, and Raven go now. Clothes off, into the chamber, seal it and open the hatch. Then you're swimming up to meet with Ruby, Blake, and Amaranth in the temple bath. Robes will be to the side of the bath."

Robyn and May looked suddenly alarmed. Robyn spoke for both of them. "Clothes off? Like underwear, right? Like a swimsuit?"

"Uh... sorry, no. All of them." Fiona said apologetically, then went back to learning everything she could. At least she was keeping Ironwood's attention away from them.

Robyn stepped into the chamber, bringing May with her. "Great. Naked it is."

"Makes sense." Raven said, joining them and closing the door, sealing it behind them as she explained just how that made sense. "We don't want to alert these people to us. If there's an accident, they've probably never seen underwear like ours before. Can't bring it with us if we're supposed to be blending in."

"I bet the other team gets to wear their underwear." May grumbled, taking off her shirt and putting it in a compartment to the side.

Raven agreed. "Yes, but if they get caught then it doesn't matter what they're wearing. We're undercover." She put her coat in another of the compartments and started working on removing her shoes. "They probably have wetsuits or something. We want as little seawater inside the submersible as possible."

Robyn stopped midway through shoving her pants in one of the compartments and gave Raven an odd look. "You seem to know a lot about this. Experience?"

"Just paying attention and common sense." Raven answered. She was about to begin removing her underwear when she paused and returned Robyn's gaze. "Don't stare."

Robyn looked away and tugged her bra off, shoving it in after her pants. "We're clear to go, right?"

"Yeah." May said, opening the hatch below them. It slid open to the side, and the water sat just below it. It was peaceful and calm. You wouldn't know it was eighteen thousand feet below the surface just from looking at it. "Alright. I'm heading in. Talk to you up above." May hopped in, disappearing into the water.

Raven quickly tied her long hair back, offering a shrug in Robyn's direction. "Best not to keep them waiting." Hair in a long ponytail, Raven jumped in and dropped out of sight.

Robyn let out an 'ugh' and removed her panties, shoving them away and closing the compartment with all her clothes inside. "Alright..." She took a moment to relax her breathing, sitting on the edge of the hatch, her legs dangling into the water. "Okay, okay..." She took a deep breath and pushed off, plunging into the freezing cold depths.

With her body being enveloped by freezing cold water, Robyn's first thought was that they might freeze to death. Once she was out from underneath the submersible, however, and could see the opening to the bath above them, she realized they wouldn't be in the water for that long. She brought her arms up in front of her and pulled them back, pushing her body through the water. She swam past the second submersible, taking a brief detour to avoid swimming across right in front of the window, and pushed herself up towards the surface. There was air above her now, with room to walk around. A city. As terrible as Jinn made it sound, and it probably was, she would still be able to move about rather freely there. After days cooped up inside the Nautilus, she couldn't wait.

Robyn broke through the surface and gulped in a breath of fresh air, treading water to keep from sinking back down. The air was not as fresh as she'd hoped, but it was still air, and it had been free to move around more than on the Nautilus. She looked around and saw Blake and Amaranth near the edge of the bath, waving her over. She swam over to them until she got out of the deep end of the bath, suddenly finding footing and standing up. The water was up to her waist here, so she simply waded over to the others.

Blake looked away, pointing out of the bath to the side. "We're over here." She climbed out over the side, dripping wet as she padded her way over to where several towels were neatly placed to the side.

Amaranth joined her, and so did Robyn after she realized that the two girls had been hiding their bodies under the water while she just waltzed up to them with everything on display. She felt her face heating up a little as she took a towel and began drying off, accepting a robe that May handed her. She put the robe on, only to find that the front didn't exactly close. It did, just down around her waist. It hung open above that, just hanging off her shoulders. May was trying to close it up around her chest, but Blake looked casually unbothered by it. Amaranth and Ruby were just laughing about it quietly.

Robyn glanced towards the temple entrance, a large open door at the front. Raven was standing near the door, looking out into the artificial light of the strange ancient city they'd found themselves in. She shook her head and turned back to the group. "We're all agreed Raven's not in charge of our team, right?"

"Absolutely." Blake said, pulling up the hood of her robe to cover her ears, which she laid back flat against her head. "We should split into two teams. Ruby, Amaranth and I are still students, we can't take charge. We should be watching and learning from the professionals. Once we get to the temple with the Relic, Raven can lead Ruby and I to scout out the area and keep lookout. Robyn should take May and Amaranth to acquire the Relic once the others create their diversion."

"I can agree to that." May said, looking to Robyn for approval.

She nodded. "Okay, agreed. Let's go." Robyn started for the door where Raven was keeping watch, the others following behind her. She stopped beside Raven, squinting as her eyes took a moment to adjust to the light. "Any idea where we're headed?"

"Yup." Raven pointed straight ahead, and as Robyn's eyes finished adjusting, she saw what Raven was pointing to. They could see the bubble around the city, a shining blue energy that kept out the water above them. They could see the greenish stone buildings laid out before them, the yellow and red towers looking down over the markets and houses. And in the center of it all, dominating the city, was a massive temple that reached up to the very top of the energy bubble. It had to be a mile high, bigger than any single manmade structure any of them had seen before. Raven glanced sideways at Robyn. "I could be wrong, though."

Robyn stepped out into the light, her eyes locked on the magnificent temple. "No... I think you're on to something."