The sound of the explosion hit them from the distance. Robyn looked up, listening for any other sounds. The city's loud bustle stopped. The air was completely still, silent. Everyone had heard that, and no one knew what to do. That was the signal, the beginning of the diversion. Any moment now, Raven, Ruby, and Blake would return and tell them how to get in the temple to the Relic. The wait wasn't long at all, as Raven flew down from above and landed with a solid thud.

Pulling her hood back up, Raven gave Robyn a nod. "They're running to the explosion. The Relic is unguarded."

Ruby and Blake sped into their midst, with Ruby skidding to a halt. The younger girl gave a quick salute while Blake gave their report. "We found a door near the back. Not really a door even, just an opening. We can walk right in."

"That's our cue." Robyn nudged Amaranth to wake her and snapped her fingers to get May's attention. Neither was really a necessary action, as they were both only feigning ignorance. "Let's go. You guys keep watch and make sure we're not followed. Blake, lead us to the door."

"Got it. Come on!" Blake started running as best she could in her temple robe. Raven took back to the sky, and Ruby bolted away with a sudden burst of petals. Blake led the three of them through the empty temple garden around to the back of the huge building, stopping just inside the tree line. She pointed to a tall open doorway in the side of the temple wall. "There it is. No one was near it inside or outside. It leads straight to the Relic, too."

Robyn looked over the doorway for a few seconds, taking it in. Something didn't sit right with her about this. "Doesn't this feel a bit too easy?"

"Easy? We still have to get all the way back to the bath with the Relic." Amaranth pointed out.

"Caw!"

They all looked up to a ledge on the temple wall where a bird was perched. They took that sound to be Raven giving them a signal that now was the time to move, so they moved. Robyn got up and rushed to the door, May and Amaranth on her heels. They slipped inside, winding through a short but convoluted hallway before reaching a massive room with a high ceiling. A quick glance up, and they could see Raven peering down at them from the same ledge as before. She had really found the optimal spot to keep watch from. Turning back to the job at hand, Robyn looked around the huge chamber to see that the last few people were leaving through the front doors. Then those doors shut. They appeared to be alone with the Relic.

The Relic. It was sitting in the center of the room, on a pedestal, out in the open. Robyn ran up to it, looking over both the Relic and the pedestal. It was a small golden cube by all appearances, maybe ten inches across. The pedestal didn't look to be trapped, so she reached out and put her hands on it, lifting it slowly and carefully. It came off without trouble. It was also lighter than so much gold would be, but still with a fair amount of heft. She turned around to head back and nearly bumped it into May. They both jumped back, startled. A second went by as they both watched each other and the Relic, tense and anxious. Nothing happened, allowing them to let out a breath of relief.

"That could have been bad." Robyn sighed. She looked over to Amaranth. "Maybe you should carry it?"

Amaranth waved her hands and shook her head. "No, no, I'm still in training. This is a job for a fully fledged Huntress."

May shrugged when Robyn then looked to her. "I'll take care of it. Fine. Just... put it down first." Robyn set it back on the pedestal for May to take a hold of. Testing its weight at first, realizing it wasn't going to be too big a burden, May nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

Robyn taking the lead, and Amaranth trailing behind with May in the middle, they ran back to the door. Just as they were about to make it out, an elderly man stepped out of the shadows to their side. He barked something at them, but they kept running. There wasn't time to worry about being seen right now. When they didn't stop at his command, he brought his hands together. A green glow appeared between his fingers. Raven turned back into her human form to try and shout a warning to them, but it was too late. A wave of green energy hit them, knocking all three of them down. Robyn slammed head first into a wall and dropped to the ground, winded. Amaranth hit the wall hard and was knocked unconscious.

May slammed into the wall and fell forward, catching herself with her hands. The Relic was still in her hands, and she felt it slam into her chest as she fell on top of it. She pushed herself up, Relic in hand, and looked down at it. Her hands were changing color. Her skin was turning into a liquid grey sludge and running into the golden cube's surface. It rippled with eldritch energy as it began to drink her up. The grey spread up her arms, and she could feel her body starting to go cold. She looked up to see that the old man was keenly aware of what was happening to her. He was dressed like a priest, like a high priest at that. He had to be the one who oversaw the human sacrifices to this thing, and what was happening to her right now was exactly how he'd seen it happen countless times before.

"To hell with this." May grumbled, even as she felt her heart turning to liquid. She lunged forward at the old man. He tried to frantically create another green blast to knock her away, but she was faster than his hands. She slammed into him, pressing the Relic between them and tackling him down to the ground. The last thing she saw was his horrified face as the Relic began to consume him as well.

. . .

"May! May, get up!"

May opened her eyes to see Robyn standing over her. She blinked at her team leader, her mind blank. She wasn't sure what to do or say. She honestly expected to be dead right now.

"May! Get up! We have to go now!" Not willing to wait any longer for her teammate, Robyn grabbed May and pulled her up to her feet. "Come on!" May looked around to see what was going on. Raven was carrying Amaranth, who was still out. Ruby ran in from outside, and Robyn pointed her to the Relic. "Get it and let's go!"

"Wait..." May barely managed to get out before Ruby picked up the Relic. She watched Ruby run off again. May shook her head. She felt groggy, weird, off. Something was different. Robyn got her to the doorway and propped her up against the wall while she checked their path ahead, leaving May to herself. May groaned, doubling over and grabbing her head. Something had happened, and no one else seemed to have noticed. She stopped, full feeling returning to her body. She looked around, straightening up as Raven carried Amaranth past, and then once they were out of sight, opened her robe and looked down. "Oh." She closed the robes, covering herself. "Okay, that feels different... I'll accept it." She turned to follow after the others, thinking that she would have to find out exactly what had changed. Most likely she would have to corner Jinn about it.

Robyn waved May over to where the others had all gathered. "Hey, we can't exactly get back the way we got here. We need your Semblance."

Ruby held up the Relic. "Yeah, these robes don't exactly have anywhere to hide this thing."

"Oh, okay." May nodded. "Uhh... hope my Semblance still works."

"Why wouldn't it work?" They all looked concerned at that statement, but Blake was the first to voice their thoughts.

May shrugged, trying to pass it off. "Just... nothing. Don't you always hope your Semblance still works?"

"I'll be honest, I take it as a given." Blake answered immediately.

Robyn stepped closer to May, lowering her voice. "You're not telling us something. Why wouldn't your Semblance work?"

"Gah, now isn't the time." May was not ready to have this conversation right now. "It'll work." She activated her Semblance, enveloping the whole group in her cloaking field. She looked around, noting that it worked just fine. "See?"

Robyn looked worried, but said nothing more about it. "Okay, let's go." She turned away, but kept her eye on May for a few seconds longer. She didn't like feeling like the person she trusted the most in the group was keeping secrets from her.

They made their way silently through back alleys, not a word spoken among them as they moved. It took time, but they made it to the bath temple without further incident. Robyn gave May the signal to drop the cloaking field, and they all became visible again inside the temple. Ironwood's group was already there, hiding in the back in case regular bathers showed up, but it seemed everyone in the city was paying more attention to the destruction of a generator. The diversion had served them well.

Robyn rushed to the others. "We got it. Let's go."

Raven ran over behind her. "Hey, that kid is still out. She can't swim back, but I can open a portal to Yang. Someone can just carry her through."

"Who's out? What happened?" Ironwood was audibly upset that they'd clearly dropped the ball somehow.

"We can give the report when we're all back safely." Robyn said, urging them to hurry. "We have the Relic. It's time to go home." She met Ironwood's eyes, silently promising she would explain everything to the best of her ability.

He conceded. "Understood. Raven, you can open a portal? Do it."

"Okay, here we go." The swirling red gate opened before them. "Who's taking sleeping beauty?"

"I'll get her." Elm went out to the front, where Ruby, Blake, and May were still trying to wake Amaranth. She let out a disappointed sigh. "I'm not letting you girls out of my sight again." She scooped up Amaranth in her arms and led them back to the rest. "Everyone through the scary vortex." Elm led by example. Blake and Ruby gave Ironwood a questioning look, and followed as soon as he gave them a nod. Marrow headed in after them.

Raven closed the portal. "I could get her straight back to Atlas if need be."

"No, I need reports. From everyone. The Nautilus is equipped for medical care." Ironwood shut her down quickly. "We'll go first." Ironwood, Pelka, and Joanna dove into the water, swimming to the submersible and out of sight.

Robyn turned to Raven and May. "What happened back there? We need to be on the same page. Amaranth and I were knocked out, I don't know for how long." She looked between the other two, questioning. "Raven, whatever hit us, it didn't hit you. What was it?"

Raven shrugged. "Looked like some kind of energy weapon. Maybe Dust, maybe Semblance, maybe magic. Sent you all flying. As soon as I saw that, I got back to the ground and ran in to help. By the time I got there, you three were laid out and the old guy was gone."

Robyn was taken aback. "We weren't out that long, then. But he just knocked us down and left? That doesn't make sense. He didn't even take the Relic."

"No, cause the Relic took him." May said quietly, grabbing their attention.

"Excuse me, what?" Raven said.

Robyn put a hand over her mouth. "The Relic killed him?"

May nodded slowly. "When we were hit, the Relic... started doing something to me. I... thought I was going to die." She wrapped her arms around herself, shuddering as she took a moment to steady her breath. "And he would have probably used the Relic to kill everyone else. So... while I was still able, I took the Relic and... touched him with it."

Robyn was frozen in place, only her eyes moving. Her gaze darted all around May, looking to make sure all of her friend was still there. The Relic had started to eat her. "Did... did it..."

"I think it did." May nodded, looking down at the floor, not wanting to see how the others were responding.

Raven grabbed May's hand and held it up. "Five fingers on each hand. Five toes on each foot."

"What? What are you-" May wasn't sure what Raven was doing. "Hey! Hands off!" Raven grabbed her chest quickly to check, and May swatted her away.

Raven backed off. "Still got both of those." She gave a thumbs up. "Looks like it spit you back out perfectly intact."

Robyn stepped between them, seeing May's face turning red at Raven's invasion of her privacy. "Okay, enough of that. Clearly she's still here and she's fine." She looked back to May. "You're fine, right?"

May nodded. "I... think I'm better than fine."

Robyn's face went pale. "Oh no."

"What?"

Raven picked up on it as well. "Have you never watched any movies? 'Better than fine' is the first sign that something is terribly wrong with someone."

"No, that's not what I mean." May waved that notion off. She pulled Robyn aside and whispered to her quietly. "It definitely changed something, okay. But I'm still me. I think it made me... more me than I've ever been. It wasn't fun when it was happening, but..." She couldn't even find the words to finish.

Robyn got what she was saying. She was feeling a lot of feelings, and she wasn't entirely sure she knew which one to listen to. She was still naturally worried that the Relic had done something to her friend, but if all it did was... finish and perfect her transition? Then she should only be happy for May. She was pretty sure that was the case, at least. She just hoped it hadn't done anything else to her.

"Uh... I'm missing something. Clearly." Raven said, breaking into their private huddle.

Robyn turned around and faced Raven, hiding her hands behind her back innocently. "Oh, yeah, so uh... Actually, it's kinda private, and you've already invaded her privacy enough for one day."

"I'm gonna file a complaint." May said flatly.

"But, I'm sure if you spend... how long has it been... seven years as May's close and personal friend, she might feel comfortable confiding in you like she does with me." She smiled at Raven, only slightly enjoying taunting the other woman.

"Yeah, and I don't know that I really trust you." May said. "Cause aren't you like literally a bandit or something?"

"Aren't you guys?" Raven said. She knew this was teasing. She felt no compulsion whatsoever to care. "Either tell me or I'm going back to the submersible."

May sighed and relented. "Alright, since I don't want you bringing this up in your report to Ironwood, I'll tell you." She took a breath, let it out, and continued. "I... wasn't born this way. I'm trans." Raven squinted at her skeptically. "I'm a trans woman. I didn't feel like I belonged in the body I was born in, a male body." Raven didn't look any less skeptical. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? I went through hell to get all the medical help I could to transition, but... science can only do so much." Raven's gaze was starting to get on her nerves. "What's your problem?"

Raven just shook her head. "Good job, I guess. I didn't notice."

"Wait, you thought I was lying just now?"

She shrugged. "I was still deciding."

"A... anyway." May shook it off. "That's what the Relic changed. It... did what medical technology couldn't."

"All I'm hearing is that I should stay away from it or it'll make me a bird permanently."

"I'd like that, actually." May said. She was done with Raven.

"Okay, so we tell Ironwood that you got attacked, and in the struggle the Relic killed someone. He'll be upset, but since the only person who saw us is inside the Relic, we can say that our effect on the city is contained. He should be willing to accept that, right?" She didn't wait for an answer from either of them, throwing her robe aside and diving into the bath where she disappeared.

Robyn let out a long sigh. She looked to May. "What a day."

"Net positive, I say."