Volume Five, Chapter Five: Jinn

re:Bound

Allison Illuminated

Chapter Publish Date: 8/10/20

Their attempt to break the bond ended up keeping Ruby sidelined in the hospital for the better part of a week, the majority of which found Ruby and Bella entrapped in their dreamscape together. Their idyllic mental world wasn't quite as shattered as after the massacre, but shards of the world had broken apart, tearing at the seams. Every time Bella and Ruby tried to approach each other, things would glitch. Their hands would pass through each other's; they would be flung apart, repulsed by the same magic that brought them together.

Pyrrha and Hazel hadn't broken their aura bond, but they had damaged it.

In those long, timeless nights, it was better and worse. Better, because Ruby didn't have to look Bella in the eye or feel her unblemished skin beneath her touch. She didn't have to watch the way Bella's naked body glowed in her imagination. She could forget all the things they had said to each other on the pier. She didn't have to acknowledge the promise she had made to Bella. She didn't have to acknowledge how Bella was changing – and every time she grew, she grew apart from Ruby.

Worse, because in a universe where only they existed, Ruby was alone. When she reached out, Bella turned away. Bella didn't speak. She kept her melodious voice silenced.

Because they had said goodbye, and Ruby had been ready to let go.

Fractures, fractures. Her head ached; everything ached – no, the ache was in her soul. She was in existential pain, because even if the severance had failed, some part of their bond had been torn away, never to return.

When Ruby woke up, Bella was gone. She pushed herself into a sitting position, clutching her head, the dark hospital wing empty around her. She closed her eye and sighed. At her bedside, there was a note from Glynda giving Ruby leave to quit the infirmary when she woke up. Taking the note, getting out of bed on shaky legs, Ruby trudged out of the infirmary and toward their dorm.

Bella? she whispered into the bond, and received no response. Of course. She's sleeping, she can't hear me. Ruby walked past marble statues and grand columns, feeling small. A pervasive anxiety whispered in the back of her mind; at any turn, she expected Harkan to jump out and take her, for their frayed connection to snap and drag her back into the black, like some deity had delivered judgment onto her folly. It was an anxiety of regret. She reached up to her throat and grasped the silver rose emblem Bella had given her. She clasped it so hard she could have choked. The weight of the world was falling on her shoulders, crushing her – she felt Roman's blood on her hands and the silver skin of her face, the way her hands shook when she reached for where Crescent Rose should have been but wasn't, resting in her dorm room, the weight of an impossible, deadly love, of Bella's muted, sleeping emotions.

Ruby felt the insanity of Forever Fall creeping back into her mind. She tried to shake it but she couldn't. I have to kill the dragon. I have to kill the dragon.

Her aura roiled beneath her skin.

She needed to know. She needed to know if it was her destiny to follow her mother into death and use her silver eyes to save the world. She needed to know if they could ever break the aura bond. She needed to know if Bella could ever truly love her. Her lust for the Relic of Knowledge was growing, the promise of infinite knowledge in their dorm room, sitting on Weiss' bedside, so tantalizing that she could hardly tear her mind away from it. It whispered to her. She saw it in her dreams.

I need to use the relic. The relic can tell me what I need to know.

In fact, why hadn't they used the relic already? They'd discussed it together, their team, but Weiss, Blake, and Yang had only worked out the best way to keep the relic protected, not whether they could turn it to their advantage. Ruby's mind spun with the possibilities. They could win the war, save the world from the Grimm, beat Salem, even!

No, she shouldn't. Could she? I've betrayed their trust over and over again and doing it now- But I have to! I'm the only one who's willing.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. She would.

She strode down the hallway to their dorm room with a purpose, standing up taller, sweeping her red-tinted fringe out of her eyes. She reached her dorm and stopped short.

The door was ajar.

That's… strange…

Tiptoeing forward, Ruby swung the door open and slid into her dorm room, her danger senses tingling. Somebody is in here. She looked around, searching for anyone out of place. Yang, Blake, and Weiss were all in bed, asleep. She caught her breath. Am I paranoid? The broken moon shone through their window. She slipped through the door and slid it shut, only to find a boy hiding behind the door, barely breathing, staring at Ruby, one arm extended to touch the glowing blue Relic of Knowledge.

His eyes glowed emerald green.

Before she could think, something deep within her reacted to the too-familiar shade of green – exploding through the tower, freezing Bella in place – and Ruby made a break for Crescent Rose, screaming, "Thief! He's going for the relic!" Unleashing her scythe, her team crying out in alarm, Ruby ran out the door as the boy grabbed the relic and made a break for it.

They crashed out into the hallway. The nighttime lighting was dim, flickering off the cream walls and red carpet. The boy tore down the hallway running; Ruby spun Crescent and shot forward with her semblance, sending her blade crashing down on him. Gears spun. A cane came up to block her scythe – a cane that was too familiar, that took Ruby's breath away.

OZPIN!

They dueled.

Ruby fell into a furious cadence, driving Ozpin back, hacking and slashing her way down the hall, fighting to keep her blade from slicing through the walls. People emerged from their dorms and gaped from open doors. "Ruby, what's happening?" Weiss yelled, chasing after Ruby in her nightgown with Myrtenaster.

Ozpin was a skilled fighter. He parried every stroke Ruby made, batting Crescent away while holding the relic in his spare hand. But there was a strange inexperience to his movements, and Ruby was bigger and stronger. Pressing her advantage, she viciously broke through his defenses and bashed Crescent into the side of his head, sending him staggering back.

The green glow faded, and he cried out in alarm. "Wha- Where am I? What's happen- AH!" The boy – because Ozpin couldn't have sounded like that, Ruby realized – dove out of the way of her attack. Is he possessed? What's happening?

"Drop the relic!" Ruby barked.

The boy looked at the relic like he'd never seen it before, eyes wide, and flung it down at Ruby's feet. He turned tail and sprinted away. Weiss caught up to her, holding out Myrtenaster as Ruby stooped down and picked up the relic. "What's happening?" she cried.

"Ozpin." Ruby spat it like a curse, breathing heavily, staring down the barrel of Crescent Rose. "I don't know how, but he must have resurrected already. I don't know what he wanted with the relic, but I intend to find out."

"That's Team JNPR's new fourth member!" Weiss exclaimed. "He's… Oh my god. Did they know?"

Ruby's eyes widened. Did Bella?

In her anger, she had to stop herself from demanding an answer lest she inadvertently force an answer out of Bella. Her hands trembled around Crescent Rose. "Let's go," she growled, and Weiss followed her down the hall without protest.

Neither of them questioned when Ruby strapped the relic to her own belt.

They reached Pyrrha, Nora, and Bella's dorm in a storm, a confused Blake and Yang trailing behind, and forced their way inside. The boy was cowering behind the far bed; Pyrrha and Nora both stood in the middle of the room, confused, and Bella and Ruby locked eyes the moment Ruby stepped into the room. Weiss and Ruby both pointed their weapons at the boy, who let out a whimper.

"Woah, woah, what's going on?" Nora asked, stepping between the girls and the boy. "Weiss and Ruby? Oscar?"

Ruby caught the way Pyrrha sighed and turned away to the window, gripping the windowsill. She turned her glare back on Oscar. "He tried to steal the relic," she snapped, leveling an accusatory finger at Oscar. "He was in ourroom rooting through ourstuff."

"I- I really have no idea what's going on," Oscar stammered. "I swear! One second I was sleeping, the next I was running."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "A likely story. What are we supposed to believe, that you sleepwalked into our dorm? Give me a break."

"I-"

"Can it, Ozpin," Ruby snapped. Weiss, as well as Yang and Blake, who had come up behind them, all made noises of surprise. "Didn't get around to telling us you'd resurrected, did you? You thought we'd forget about your immortality angle? Or are you possessing a little kid like a leech?"

"Hey, I'm fourteen!" Oscar protested.

"Ozpin?" Blake asked, shouldering her way into the room. Her voice thickened with revulsion. "You're Ozpin?"

"I'm not Ozpin," Oscar snapped, getting defensive. "He's… stuck in my head. I didn't ask for any of this! Do you think I want to be in Vale right now?"

"Guys, calm down," Nora said.

Ruby shook her head. "No! I'm not going to calm down! Ozpin spent months manipulating us and hiding things and playing behind the scenes, and I refuse to be left out of his schemes now that he's dragged us in. If he's been here this whole time, hiding under our noses, then- then I won't leave this room until he comes out!"

Drawing Gambol Shroud, Blake stood up tall at Ruby's side. "I'm with Ruby," she declared.

"We didn't have a choice, okay?" Nora's eyes trailed to Magnhild, which sat at the foot of her bed, her fists balling up at her sides. "Glynda asked us to take care of Farm Boi and we didn't have much of a say whether we could tell you or not. He's innocent, even if-"

"I gave the command."

Pyrrha's voice was cold. The pressure in the room dropped, and everyone took a step away from her. In that moment, Pyrrha wasn't Ruby's friend; she was a thousand-year-old maiden, wielding an alien magic bound to the heart of an ancient relic.

"Ozpin sacrificed his life for me at the Battle of Beacon," Pyrrha said, her eyes boring into Ruby. "He is the only reason I am the Fall Maiden rather than dead. And I resent him for what he's done to me, to us, but without Ozpin we would be so much worse off. We knew he was immortal – we knew he would reincarnate. That doesn't minimize what he's done for us. And Oscar isn't Ozpin. He's a little kid who escaped an active war zone and doesn't have a home anymore."

Oscar's expression melted in gratitude, and for a moment, Ruby's anger eased. Then he stiffened, his eyes rolling back, and a green glow suffused his body. When he looked back at Pyrrha, his eyes were green.

"Thank you, Pyrrha," Ozpin said softly.

The reaction was immediate and violent.

"You."

"Ozpin!"

"I can't believe this."

"That's really Ozpin?"

"Guys, leave it-"

Ruby, please-

I can't believe you either.

"How long were you planning on hiding without telling us?"

"What do you want with the relic?"

"ENOUGH!"

Aura and fire exploded around Pyrrha's body. Pyrrha rose several inches into the air, holding out her arms, releasing an oppressive force down on everyone in the room. Ruby felt her ears pop; her head felt heavy, causing her headache to roar back to life; she fell to one knee and clutched her head, moaning in pain.

"Pyrrha, stop!" Yang cried, taking a difficult step forward. "You're hurting Ruby and Bella!"

The pressure dropped. Pyrrha hovered in midair, looking down on their extended team with cold, dispassionate eyes crowned by fire. Her eyes met Ruby's; they flashed with regret for a moment, enough for Ruby to catch it, then hardened again. Two times Pyrrha had accidentally caused Ruby harm in the past week. Ruby bit her lip, trying not to let her eyes water.

"Team WBYR," Pyrrha said coldly. "Ozpin has more of a claim to the relics than any of us but me. He created the maidens. He created the vaults. We are teenagers – we've taken up the mantle of temporary protectors, but if the circumstances change, we should accept that. And you." Pyrrha turned to Ozpin, giving him an equally cold look. "I told you hiding this was a mistake when you joined my team. You've only lost yourself trust. And you're thousands of years old and you've possessed the Relic of Knowledge plenty of times before. You have no reason to be taking the relic in the middle of the night from the people you've entrusted to be your next generation of protectors, and it's unbecoming of you to have tried."

"I'm sorry," Ozpin murmured, ducking his head. "It was a moment of weakness. I should not have given in to my fears and temptations."

"So you're on his side now?" Ruby asked in a deadly voice. Her aura began to lick around her body, not only her own red but Bella's black and white as well. At her side, Blake hissed, settling into a combat position. "After everything he did to us? To you? You know what he's done. He's lied and manipulated and set us up to lose. And you're on his side?!"

"No. I'm on nobody's side. I'm on humanity's side." Heat began to fill the room with an oppressive air. Pyrrha floated apart, neither team approaching her. It reminded Ruby of the night of the funeral, when Pyrrha had snapped and broken her arm, nearly burned down the house. The violent, dangerous Pyrrha. Worlds apart from the mortals (and frightened immortal) around her.

For a moment, Ruby wished for Ren and his semblance. But Ren was dead.

Unseeing, wreathed in power, Pyrrha turned her concealed eyes skyward. "I've seen maidens live and die," she said. "I've seen armies rise and fall. I've seen the measure of Ozpin's power, and I've seen the measure of Salem's. It's futile. Salem and Ozpin are at a stalemate, and thousands of innocent civilians get massacred in their midst. I want it to end. So I will not allow us to be torn apart, and I will not let this conflict escalate. It is two o'clock in the morning. We are done for the night."

Ruby wavered for a moment, staring at Pyrrha with a whirling mess of emotion, then transformed Crescent Rose back to rifle form and clipped it to her belt. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all put their weapons away too. Ozpin exhaled, slumping back against his bed. Bella and Nora both crept away from Pyrrha, toward Ozpin, trying to escape the radius of Pyrrha's overwhelming presence.

Weiss wetted her lips. "This isn't over," she said, looking up at Pyrrha without flinching. "We continue this tomorrow."

"Yes," Pyrrha said.

"Neutral ground," Weiss continued in a calm tone, leveling a look at Ozpin. "The training arena. We bring the relic, you bring the truth. Acceptable?"

Ozpin bowed his head. "I owe you as much, Miss Schnee," he murmured.

"Good." Falling back to earth, Pyrrha dispersed her aura and sent a cool breeze through the room with the flick of her wrist, chilling Ruby to the bone. Pyrrha turned away, kneeling at her own bedside. She slept in the corner. On her bedside table sat a photo of her and Jaune together; she picked it up and looked at it, not acknowledging the gap between her and everyone else. She turned her gaze to the wall, seeing something nobody else could, oblivious to the sea of eyes on her back. She spoke at a murmur, low and tired.

"I've had enough fighting for a lifetime."

They went to the arena together, as a team.

Nobody had gotten much sleep in those long, early-morning hours, waiting with baited breath for a confrontation. Blake and Ruby hadn't slept at all; Weiss and Yang were up and down, tossing and turning. They ate breakfast from their kitchen, not the mess, and geared up like they would for a mission. Now they sat in the seats of the practice arena with its vaunted grey walls and open expanse and waited.

Blake and Yang sat together, holding each other, stealing low snatches of conversation and kisses, giving each other warmth. Ruby sat apart from them and brooded. Weiss paced back and forth on the arena floor, clutching Myrtenaster, agitation evident in her expression. The Relic of Knowledge glowed blue on her belt. For once, they were all on the same page. Mostly. They were angry at Ozpin; they wanted answers; they had agreed, in a low, terse conversation in their dorm, that they wouldn't let the headmaster leave until they got answers.

But Ruby hadn't told her team about her intent to use the relic.

She couldn't let them stop her. They couldn't know until the point of no return.

Ruby… Bella's voice cut across their bond, tired and scared and miserable. I need you.

Without having to think about it, Ruby was on her feet, flipping her hood off her head; she raced down the steps. I'm coming.

Thank you.

"Ruby?" Yang looked up at Ruby, giving her a concerned look. "Is everything okay? Where are you going?"

Ruby met Yang's eyes. "Bella needs me."

What she expected to see in Yang was a withdrawal, for her sister to shut down, her eyes taking on a hard edge, locking Ruby out. It took Ruby aback to see the soft, sad understanding in Yang's eyes, something almost kin to affection. She froze, scarcely remembering how to react to it.

"Go," Yang nodded.

Glancing to Weiss, Ruby asked for silent permission. Weiss nodded as well, and she sped out of the arena, mind whirring.

Bella stood in the shadows of a nearby hallway, leaning against a column, eyes cast on the floor, her messy hair falling into her face. Her shoulders were trembling. The closer Ruby got, the more Bella opened up – she got flashes of memories, getting backed into a corner by Glynda, Ozpin, and Pyrrha, forced to keep her mouth and mind shut, the pain of more secrets. Their fights and issues melted away. Ruby all but ran up to Bella and wrapped her in a tight hug; they swayed back and forth in the shadows, the early morning calm of a weekend at Beacon, emotion flowing across their link.

I'm sorry. Bella looked down, her eyes burning with fury and shame – she let Ruby comfort her, but her emotions writhed in her embrace. I had no choice. They forced me into it.

You could have told me. I would have-

Blown up at Ozpin, like you did last night, Bella said, and Ruby fell silent. Bella was right but that didn't mean she needed to like it.

Would that have been so bad?

We wouldn't have had the moral high ground. We would have looked like the bad guys – and I guarantee you, that's the fastest way to get Ozpin to shut down on us. Bella paused, her shame building into a defeated betrayal. I thought Pyrrha would take my side but she didn't. There was nothing I could do about it.

Ruby's fury erupted, and Bella flinched – Ruby hugged her tighter. It's not you, she soothed. It's not you. It's Ozpin and his stupid games. We're going to get answers for what he's done, I promise.

Ruby… Bella squeezed her eyes shut. She was aware of both of their bodies, could feel their touch from two perspectives, two heartbeats, dual breaths. I'm so tired. I'm so tired of everything. I want to feel safe; I want to go home. An image of Raven burned across their shared consciousness, Raven wrapping her arms around a younger Bella and holding her tight.

I know.

I want you to be there with me. Bella trembled. I don't want to be alone. I didn't want to try to break the bond, I didn't want that to be the last time we could ever talk to each other. I love you. I love you. I'm sorry.

Bile rose in Ruby's throat. She stroked Bella's head and held her tight, and she couldn't apologize so she answered by opening the last of her mental barriers and letting Bella see all she felt. ...I know.

I had a home with Roman, Bella whispered. It wasn't home because he was there. It was home because I had a bed and I felt safe, and he taught me and let me be a kid and then when I was old enough he loved me. The penthouse was my home. And I realized that he can't be my everything, like you can't be my everything, because the bond isn't home. It's a cage. Being here, being at Beacon, this is torture to me. I'm too old and I don't belong and I'm living a lie. I'm not safe. Ozpin has me running in circles like a rat in a maze. He's only ever seen me as Neopolitan; I'm his unregistered aura bond, a piece on his fucking chessboard, the same way that was all Mom ever was to him. I need to get out of here, Ruby. If this keeps happening I don't know how I can deal with it. I need to go home. I need Mom. Ruby, I can't- I can't-

Sensing how perilously close to the edge Bella was, Ruby thrust her calm and determination into Bella, making Bella gasp as the foreign emotions washed over her mind. You can, Ruby said. You deserve answers too, Bella. When this mess, this war, is over, we can leave Beacon and join Raven in Mistral. I promise. I'll take you wherever you need to go. But we owe it to ourselves to get closure here and now.

O-Okay. A pause. Thank you.

"This is why the fights hurt so much," Ruby whispered aloud. Because after it all, you're still the most important person in my life.

Bella pulled away and met Ruby's eye. I saw what you're planning, she murmured. With the relic.

Are you going to stop me? Ruby challenged.

No. I won't.

Good.

"Ruby. Bella." Pyrrha stood in the middle of the hallway, dressed in her full regalia with Milo and Akouo, watching them impassively with her bottle green eyes. She stood alone. Ruby and Bella didn't let go of each other; they considered her as one, with two pairs of eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Ruby asked. "For forcing Bella into another web of lies? For taking Ozpin's side? Or for landing us in the infirmary for a week? Because I promise you, the last one isn't your fault, but the other two are."

Rose, go easy on her. We've already pushed her away…

"For landing you in the infirmary," Pyrrha said. She lowered her gaze. "It was an ill-conceived plan. I know aura bonds are said to be unbreakable, but I thought… I wanted to do something for the two of you. I wanted to repay you."

Figures. Still, Ruby softened her gaze. "But it did work," she said. "Or it could. You definitely did damage to the bond – it was… fraying, I suppose, although it's knitted itself back together now. Hazel's semblance definitely affected it."

"Really?" Pyrrha asked. "You mean, if we do more research-"

{We could break it,} Bella wrote out in small, elegant cursive, lowering her eyes in uncertainty.

"That's- That's great!" Pyrrha exclaimed, although it didn't reach her eyes. "If it means there's still hope…"

"Thank you, Pyrrha," Ruby said, terse. "But if you want to repay us, make sure Ozpin can't weasel his way out of our questions again."

Pyrrha immediately guarded her expression. "We'll see."

They returned to the training arena. None of Ruby's teammates questioned it when Ruby led Bella over to the stands and sat down with her near Blake and Yang, who both shot Bella looks of concern. Bella managed a shaky smile for them. Pyrrha approached Weiss, and they struck up a conversation on the arena floor.

"Are you guys okay?" Blake asked, leaning toward them. Yang kept a tight hold on her hand.

Ruby and Bella exchanged a look – Bella was the one who put their feelings to words.

"We will be."

It was to a watchful crowd that Oscar and Nora entered the arena together. Nora held Magnhild in her arms, and she stood protectively close to the boy, who, despite Ozpin's cane at his side, looked scared and wary. Ruby watched him enter with narrowed eyes, keeping Crescent close at her side. Just in case.

Weiss looked to Pyrrha. "Lock the door."

Oscar whimpered. Nodding, Pyrrha extended her hand, which glowed with the gray energy of her semblance. The enormous stone doors to the arena shuddered and dragged shut, closing with a crashing boom. Something clicked within the plating.

"That's done, then," Yang said. "We're not going anywhere until we get some answers."

Everyone looked to Oscar, who withdrew into himself, withering under the scrutiny of seven huntresses. Weiss pursed her lips and turned back to her team, resting a hand over top of Myrtenaster. Even though she only addressed Team WYBR, Pyrrha and Nora both stood up straighter when Weiss spoke; she was their leader, their collective leader, and the one holding the Relic of Knowledge. "I propose we ask Oscar questions first," she said, giving Oscar a long look over her shoulder. "We should get his story first. If he doesn't have full access to Ozpin, like he says, then he should be innocent. Agreed?"

Nora gave Oscar a not-unkind shove forward. "Tell 'em your story, Farm Boi," she said, hefting Magnhild and glaring at Ruby. "I won't let them hurt you."

"U-Um, okay, I- Uh…" Oscar gathered up the will to speak, his gaze settling on Weiss, who was the least threatening of the people before him. "I, um… Well, my name is Oscar Pine, and I, uh… I guess I lived on a farm outside of Mistral. With my aunt. I didn't want to leave, but Ozpin showed up in my head this summer, and then the war came… I didn't have a choice. I don't even know if my aunt is still alive. We found Raven Branwen and she brought us here, and now…"

That's it?

Guess so.

Ruby sighed, slumping against Bella's side. Then he's as much a victim as the rest of us. Even if he'll be the next Ozpin.

Yeah.

Blake was of the same mind. "Let the kid go, Weiss," she called. "He didn't choose this any more than we did. Our quarrel is with Ozpin, not him."

Nora relaxed at that, lowering her weapon.

Oscar's eyes glowed green, and Ozpin gazed at his students – former students – with sad eyes and a tired frown. "For what it's worth," he murmured, drawing his cane and leaning on it. "I'm sorry that it's had to come to this. I never wished to create such animosity among those I intended to stand by my side. Yet it seems that, once again, I have erred. I may not be able to give you what you want, but I will try."

"So it's all true, then." Yang rose to her feet, standing apart from Blake, fists clenched beneath Ember Celica. "You're Ozpin. You're… immortal. I didn't know what to believe; I didn't know if I could believe it, but when the evidence is right in front of my face- It's all real. Resurrection. Magic. Salem."

"Yes, Miss Xiao-Long," Ozpin agreed.

"And you created the maidens."

"I did."

"Then all this conflict is yours. Mom and Pyrrha, they have these powers because of you." Yang took an aggressive step forward. "Why? Why would you create something so destructive, so powerful? Can't it be undone? Wouldn't that stop this war, if we could- I don't know, lock away the magic?"

Pyrrha and Ozpin both flinched at that. Pyrrha took three steps back and clutched her chest, her breathing coming faster. Ozpin gulped and shook his head. "You don't understand what you're asking," Ozpin said.

"But Salem is after the maidens," Yang protested. "She wants magic."

"She has magic," Ozpin responded. "As do I. Magic is a beautiful, innate tool that has been desecrated and twisted to cruel purposes, to the point where the only people on the planet who can wield it properly are she, I, and four women who steal it from inanimate objects."

Weiss frowned. "Properly?"

Pyrrha gave a bitter smile and turned away. Ozpin sighed.

"All humans and faunus have magical ability. But it is already locked. To lock the last free magic on Remnant would do nothing more than rend Salem and I the same as every other man, woman, and child on the planet." Ozpin gave Weiss a long look. "You would know it as aura."

There was a long silence. One by one, like a wave, everyone in the room activated their aura. Ruby let the red energy run over her hands and stared at it in silent awe, her eye welling for a reason she scarcely understood as a sense of loss so deep and profound that it took away her ability to think struck her. She exchanged a terrified look with Bella, remembering the pain of Hazel's semblance. She looked around. Yang had sat down, hard, and clung to Blake's side, their lilac and golden auras running into each other. Weiss had only flared her aura for a moment before tamping it down, forcing herself to stay composed. Nora backed away from Ozpin, whom she had protected so fiercely moments earlier, and stumbled back to Weiss' side. Pyrrha stood apart. When she turned to look at her friends, her eyes were blazing.

"Pyrrha?" Nora whispered.

"He's telling the truth," Pyrrha echoed. "You can't understand. It's a part of me; it is me. I've had it ripped from my body twice; once in Amber's memory, once by Hazel. I would rather die than lose it again."

Ruby bit her lip. Suddenly, her grievances felt both pettier and infinitely more important.

The stakes had risen.

"So what does Salem want?" Blake's ears were flat against her head; she had a vice grip on Yang's hand. "It doesn't make any sense. She's human, isn't she?"

"She is," Ozpin said, with a tenor Ruby could not hope to understand. "Or was."

"Then why does she want the maidens? Why does she want the relics? Why were they bound together? It doesn't add up."

"Those are three very different questions, Miss Belladonna," Ozpin chuckled, and a low murmur of laughter went through the arena. "I'm afraid you won't like any of the answers."

Blake gave Ozpin an unimpressed look. "Try me."

"It is my fault that Salem wants the maidens," Ozpin said. "My fault for creating them, for they are powerful and Salem covets power. My fault for tying them to the relics, as with the proper training and encouragement, the maidens can communicate with their relics more… intimately than a normal person. And, most recently, my fault for sealing the relics away in the vaults after the Great War, since they are now keys that Salem must find to access the relics, making them far more valuable."

"Which is why it's such a big deal that I managed to get Amber's power," Pyrrha said. "Why it's such a big deal that Raven is on our side. We might have lost the massacre and the Battle of Mistral, but we came away with the pieces that matter. We have the momentum."

"Precisely," Ozpin agreed. "Why were they bound together? Another complex question. And I'm afraid the answer, once again, is because of me."

"You bound them." Ruby spoke in a clear, sharp tone. "You create aura bonds."

"Yes. My semblance." Ozpin sighed. "It is the same in every lifetime, because in every lifetime save my first I have had both magic and aura. And in my many, many years of existence, I have only used it twice. I care very deeply for the maidens, because they are-"

Blake narrowed her eyes. "The question was why."

"They are not weapons. There was no agenda. The Story of the Seasons is, for all intents and purposes, true."

"So?"

Ozpin closed his eyes, rocking back on his heels. He looked so very old, yet, at the same time, even younger than Ozpin. "I don't know if you understand," he whispered. "You are children. I have already entrusted you with so much, more than your parents, even. The years always pass more painfully when I do. I wish to say these things as friends, as trusted comrades, not adversaries."

There was a current of uncertainty. But Ruby's heart was cold and jaded, and she was dead-set on her goal. "You lost that right," she said in a frigid tone. "We've all seen death and lost out friends. We're fighting your war now. Why did you create the maidens?"

Weiss and Pyrrha both flinched. Their expectant eyes still turned to Ozpin.

Ozpin looked ready to cry, but something in his expression broke and became very, very tired. "I grew close to four incredible young women," he said. "They were important to me and I wanted to give them the magic they cherished in me, when it frightened others of their time. So I did so in the only way I knew how. I loved them. They reminded me of my daughters."

His words hit Ruby in the chest, deflating her anger once again. She suppressed the urge to cry. "Oh."

"You had daughters?" Nora asked.

"Many," Ozpin said. "I have had many children. But in my first marriage, I had four."

"What happened to them?" Weiss whispered.

Ozpin turned away.

"Salem killed them."

Nobody could find words to respond to that. After a long, dead silence, punctuated only by the low sounds of shifting and breathing, Yang eventually managed, "Gods."

"I'm… sorry," Weiss said. "For your loss."

"Don't be. I have grieved for many lifetimes." Ozpin's head tilted upward. "If you are ever promised immortality by anyone – anyone – do not accept it. Please. Do not seek it out, do not ask for it. Once I knew death." He said no more, even though Ruby felt like there should have been more.

"So it's the relics, then."

"Yes."

"Wait. How old are you?" Yang demanded.

Ozpin gave Yang a long look. "Older than you can comprehend. Don't you know it's rude to ask a man his age?"

That earned a snort out of Yang, but Ruby had sat quiet for long enough. Bracing herself, she rose to her feet, brushing at her fringe, staring down at Ozpin. All eyes turned to her. Ruby took a deep breath, trying to find what she needed to say amid all the things she wanted to scream.

Weiss met her eye. "Ruby…"

"I know," Ruby said. She turned back to Ozpin, exhaling. "We are children. You're right. We have no business getting dragged into international conspiracies and ancient wars, but we were, and we want answers. And you haven't been treating us like we're adults, like we're on your side; you've treated us like we're against you. It's not right." Her voice cracked. "You can't have it both ways, Ozpin. And it's too late for us to be children now. So we want answers. If you're going to treat us like you treat Uncle Qrow, like you treat Glynda, we deserve better."

Blake stood with Ruby, and Ruby felt a rush of gratitude for her faunus friend. They'd come a long way from brawling at the docks; she knew Blake was on her side, no matter what. "We're sorry it came to this," Blake agreed, her ears curling. "But Ruby is right. I came to Beacon looking for sanctuary, and all I found was another cage."

"We want to know why." Ruby exhaled, forcing her palms to unclench. "Why did you force us into silence? Why did you work so hard to break us apart when you're the one who put our team together in the first place?"

"I-"

"You blackmailed me," Blake hissed. "You promised me redemption, but as soon as I knew more than I was supposed to, you turned it against me."

"You knew Bella was there the whole time." Ruby was getting on a roll now, with Blake backing her. "You knew about my silver eyes from the first moment you saw me – you knew what they could do to me. You could have told me the dangers. I lost my eye! You could have helped us but you hurt us instead."

"The whole time we were planning the attack," Weiss said, her voice quiet but gaining strength. "You knew what we were going to face. You put me in charge of the safety and security of thousands of people, but you neglected to tell me the single greatest threat we were facing. And those people died. Thousands of people died because I wasn't given the tools to do my job!"

"How much of it was a ruse?" Ruby demanded. "The 'therapy' sessions where you interrogated me instead of letting me get proper counseling after I killed Roman? The way you drip-fed us enough information about Salem and this war to keep us silent and out of the way? Did you ever give a shit about Bella? Me? Or did you just want to control us?"

"I understand that you all have a lot of anger," Ozpin said, his voice rising. "But I only ever did what I deemed necessary. Miss Neopolitan-"

Yang jumped up at that, roaring in outrage. Bella flinched. Blake drew Gambol Shroud, which made Nora draw Magnhild again, which made Weiss wield Myrtenaster and put herself between her team and Ozpin. Ruby unleashed Crescent Rose, speeding down to Weiss' side and pointing her scythe at Ozpin.

"Give me one more reason," she growled, clicking back the safety. "Give me one more fucking reason."

Pyrrha moved, and everyone flinched, but it was only to put herself in a better position to intervene. She gave Ruby a long look, then turned her glare on Ozpin. "You live with her," she said in a dangerous tone. "Her name is Bella Branwen. Use it."

Ozpin unleashed his cane, spinning it around as everyone readied their weapons and slamming the tip into the ground. His green eyes were full of icy steel, unrelenting, and his stature rose. "Miss Branwen," he said in a cold voice, "was a known associate of Roman Torchwick, responsible for scores of murders and heists. Torchwick was confirmed to be an associate of Cinder, hence Salem, the night he died. She was the deadliest assassin on Anima for over a decade, trained by her mother, whom I will never underestimate, well-known to be cunning, manipulative, and violent. She became attached to Miss Rose, who possesses a deadly, powerful talent for which Salem has killed before to obtain. Aura bonds are corruptive and illegal. If you think for one second I would let her loose in MY school unmonitored and unbound, you are incorrect – not until I ascertained her motives and determined her not to be a threat. I knew when you broke into my office and stole Mr. Arc's transcripts. I knew you were whispering into Ruby's ear during every session we had. I knowthe lengths you went, Miss Branwen, to corrupt and twist Miss Rose."

Nobody moved.

Bella rose to her feet, her mouth opening in wordless rage, but she had no tongue with which to express it. Violent illusions of shattered glass swirled to life around her body – the lights in the room dimmed, flickering, and she seemed to grow larger than life. Ruby gulped – she had only seen Bella's illusions like this when Bella had shown her Cinder for the first time. Snarling, Bella jerked a hand toward Ozpin.

{YOU HAD NO RIGHT}

Ozpin stood his ground. He narrowed his eyes. "I had every right."

Bella howled in rage. Her illusions flooded Ozpin, making a terrible shriek as her aura ripped through the air, shattering into a million pieces, the glass harmlessly impacting against Ozpin's chest, littering the ground around them. He stood stoic, never flinching, and let her fury wash over him.

"You knew."

Yang got to her feet, her wild hair falling out of her face, flames licking up their length as her eyes turned red. Red as rubies. Red, like her mother's eyes. Her lip curled up as she stared at Ozpin in disbelief, her entire body trembling.

"You knew the whole time," Yang breathed, clenching her fists. "You knew about Bella for years and you kept it to yourself. You knew about Bella for years and you didn't tell Mom? You let my mother think my sister was dead for years?"

"Yang," Blake whispered.

Ozpin's steely facade cracked. "Miss Xiao-Long."

"It's you." Yang breathed faster, her eyes widening to a manic degree, as a violent, dangerous smile crossed her face. "You're the reason my family is broken. You're the reason I almost lost both of my sisters. You're the reason I almost never found my mom again. You- You- YOU BASTARD!"

Everyone moved at the same time as Yang screamed and launched herself at Ozpin with the full force of her semblance. Weiss and Ozpin both threw up shields but it was Pyrrha who stopped Yang in her tracks, ripping her off her trajectory, her semblance seizing her bracers, and violently yanking her back to the stands. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" she bellowed.

Yang fell to her knees, almost hyperventilating in anger and pain as she clutched her shoulders. Her aura whipped around her body. Blake attended her for a moment, then rose, shaking.

"You know what? No." Blake glared at Pyrrha. "You need to shut the fuck up, Pyrrha. Or did you forget what he did to you? The choice he forced on you? Did you decide to forget that, huh? Jaune and Ren died for this."

Pyrrha lifted her chin. "You can't use Jaune against me," she snapped.

"And if you're going to be Ozpin's lapdog we don't want you here." Blake walked down the stands, whipping Gambol Shroud around, the fur on her ears bristling in anger. "Or maybe you forgot about your team? Maybe you're bound to Ozpin." Pyrrha took a step back as Blake stalked toward her. "Or maybe your powers are changing you? Because the Pyrrha I knew would never have hurt someone without a second thought, but that's all you do these days, isn't it? Is that your power? Or is it your memories? Tell me, Pyrrha, did Amber teach you how to be violent – or was it Cinder?"

Pyrrha's body exploded with flames. Pyrrha rose into the air, glaring down at Blake through fiery red, orange, and blue eyes, whipping her arms back. Lashes of flame scorched the empty stands behind her. "I am nothing like Audrey!" she roared.

"Oh yeah?" Blake said. "Then why are you the only one who calls her Audrey? Why are you ready to fight us but won't lift a finger to Ozpin?"

"She's a victim too," Ruby said, her voice breaking, staring up at Pyrrha with heartbroken eyes. "Don't blame her. Blame him. But it's too late to de-escalate." She turned back to Ozpin, whose expression continued to fall. "We're at war. It's going to come for us, and we're a part of it. We can't escape this. Were you ever going to tell us?"

"Tell you what, Miss Rose?" Ozpin asked, an exasperated edge creeping into his tone. "If I'm quite right, you've suggested more than a few grievances."

"And who's fault is that?" Weiss snapped.

Ruby sneered at Ozpin, sheathing Crescent Rose and holding her rifle in her arms. If Pyrrha was going to stop her before she could get a hit in on Ozpin, there was no point in holding her weapon. "Were you ever planning on telling us about Harkan?" she asked. "How you created him?"

Ozpin's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"He told me." Ruby gave a bitter laugh, shaking her head at her former headmaster. "You told us Salem created him. You knew exactly what he was, what he was bonded to, the whole time, and you didn't think that was relevant information to give to the people he was hunting?"

Ozpin closed his eyes. "Gods."

No answer was forthcoming. The silence spoke volumes.

Maybe there weren't answers. Maybe the things that had been done were irreversible, unforgivable, and there was nothing Ozpin could say or do in that moment to take away the pain of what his actions had wrought, inadvertently or non. It was a bitter pill for Ruby to swallow. She clutched Crescent tighter, taking some mean comfort in the mechanical edges of her baby, and reached out to Bella, accepting the faint comfort she found there as Ozpin swayed where he stood.

Weiss sighed.

"Ozpin," she said. "Why did you try to take the Relic of Knowledge?"

Ozpin looked away. "It is my burden to bear."

So you would steal it?

"Why?" Weiss pressed.

The secrets boiling beneath the surface of Ozpin's defeated facade were tangible; the answer he gave felt like an ill attempt to bottle them up. "My war with Salem is cyclical," Ozpin said, leaning on his cane. "I build humanity up and she breaks it back down again. The world order I built following the Great War is beginning to fracture and I don't know what I need to do to fix it. Vale is weak, Atlas is adrift, Mistral has fallen. If Anima managed to restore peace and justice, it will be under the mantle of an empire, and Raven holds no love for me. There is too much at play and too much at stake, and we – Remnant – cannot afford to fly blind in the face of Salem's plans. Too many pieces are coming into play, I need- I need-"

"Knowledge," Blake deadpanned.

"But why is the relic your burden?" Weiss repeated once more, stepping forward, following Ruby's lead and returning Myrtenaster to her belt. "If you can't answer, you're not going to get this relic back from me."

Ozpin set his jaw, bristling, and glared at Weiss. "Because I know why the relics were created. I know where and why they were hidden. I know how to use them and what they cost. And, most importantly, I know what happens when they come together. And that would spell the end of Remnant. It is imperative that all four relics not be brought to the same place."

"What happens if they are?" Yang asked.

"I pray," Ozpin said, "that you never have to find out."

"So you're going to dangle Salem's true motivation over our heads?" Ruby asked, turning out her palms. "How is this any different-"

"You would not sleep at night, Miss Rose," Ozpin snapped. "There are things you should not know – knowledge I would not wish on anyone else. For your own safety, I refuse to tell you."

"How-"

"Ruby, enough," Weiss snapped. She took another step toward Ozpin. "Fine. You can keep whatever world-ending secret the relics have. But as far as I can tell, we're not in any danger of that. You haven't told Pyrrha where the Relic of Choice is, so that's a non-factor, and my sister has the Atlesian relic under tight guard. You don't want the relic to protect it – we've done a better job at that than you. No, you want to use it."

Ozpin stared at Weiss. "...Very astute, Miss Schnee."

The relic glowed at Weiss' hip, pulsing with blue light; almost, Ruby thought, as though it could hear them speak. Weiss cleared her throat and said, "If you're going to use it and we're going to protect it, I think we deserve to know how it works."

Weiss pulled the relic off her belt and lifted it into the air. It became larger, expanding, and floated off Weiss' hand to hover above the ground. The glow illuminated Weiss' pale face, shadowing her scar over her eye, highlighting her determination. As Ozpin watched the relic, eyes darting between the huntresses arrayed against him, Pyrrha retreated from his side.

"We all want to know," Nora murmured. "Sorry, Farm Boi. But I don't think you're gonna get out of this one."

Taking a deep sigh, Ozpin stared up at the Relic of Knowledge. "The relic has a unique and extraordinarily dangerous ability," he said. "It's user can ask any question, and the lamp would provide an answer."

"That's… incredible," Blake said.

"So you can ask it anything?" Nora asked. "Anything?"

Ozpin chuckled, shooting Nora a fond look. "There are limitations, I'm afraid. The lamp can't tell the future, and it will only ever answer three questions every hundred years."

Yang sucked in a breath through her teeth. "That adds a lot of pressure," she murmured, shooting a nervous glance at the relic.

"When you say it can't tell the future," Weiss said, "do you mean it can't show what will happen? Or is it incapable of answering questions past the present?"

Pausing, Ozpin considered the question. "I suppose it's the first," he allowed. "Is there such a difference? No matter what we believe, it is impossible to predict what might come to pass. Is it not cruel to see a possibility that will never come to pass?"

"I suppose," Weiss said doubtfully.

"So?" Blake crossed her arms. "You had an agenda. What were you going to ask?"

Ozpin had a good poker face, but the lie that followed was so blatant and obvious that even Nora gave him an incredulous look. "I wasn't," Ozpin said, eyes flicking to the right. "I merely… wished to confirm the relic was safe. I needed to hold it. The anxieties of an old man. After Salem's agents infiltrated Beacon last semester… I used up all three questions earlier this semester, before I sealed the relic in the vault beneath Haven."

Yeah right, Bella snorted.

Blake scoffed, giving Ozpin her least impressed look. "That's bullshit and we all know it."

"So now we're back to the lies?" Ruby demanded. "You spent a month here without telling us of your existence – a month where you could have come and held your relic if you'd asked – but the moment we find you sneaking around at night you expect us to believe you have separation anxiety? How many questions are left? What did you want to ask?"

"I needed to know who I could trust!" Ozpin exclaimed, losing his temper. Brandishing his cane, he tried to take a step forward, only for a rush of green to pass over his body, dropping him to his knees.

"He's telling the truth," Oscar said, looking down at his hands in disgust. "I'm sick of the lies, but on this, he's telling the truth. He doesn't trust any of you, only Pyrrha and Nora, and you guys are backing him into a corner. He knows at the end of the day, you guys are loyal to Raven, not him or Salem, and he doesn't like that. He doesn't like that at all-"

"Enough," Ozpin barked, wresting control back, and Ruby and Bella both flinched.

That looked-

-too much like when I order you around.

They shuddered in unison. "Let the kid go," Ruby said in a low, dangerous tone. "Don't silence him."

Ozpin shot Ruby a dark, calculating look. "Am I wrong?" he asked. "Do your loyalties rest with Branwen? It wouldn't be the first time I've lost an entire generation to another party."

Ruby's lips curled back into a sneer. Yang barked a laugh, and Bella moved to Yang's side, drawing her sword. Weiss, who seemed less certain about getting lumped in with Raven, shifted slightly toward Pyrrha, who was watching the conversation play out in uncomfortable silence.

Blake spoke for all of them.

"You are addressing the two princesses of the Branwen tribe," she said in an imperial voice. "I am a member of Raven's Core. And any of us would kill you before we let you lay hands on Ruby – and I know Raven tagged you when she sent you to Glynda. Raven has shown us nothing but support, while you have been nothing but cruel to us. If you want us to show you any allegiance you should hold your tongue."

There was so much authority in Blake's voice that Ozpin lost some of his righteous anger, stumbling in place, looking at Blake with a new light. "You have grown, Miss Belladonna," he said, pursing his lips.

"I," Blake snapped, "am the only reason the relic is here, rather than with Raven halfway to Vacuo. I brought it here because I thought it would be better protected at Beacon than with the tribe. We are deliberately shifting their focus to Vale, but if it's not safe here because of you, we will take the relic elsewhere."

"I'm not a member of the tribe," Weiss said, a little hesitant. "I think if I were, my father really would disown me." Ruby and Yang both gave quiet laughter at that. "But I stand with my team. We are not your enemy, Ozpin – or, at least, we don't want to be. We only want to protect Remnant. That's our job, isn't it? If you have to lie and ask a magical old artifact to trust us… You're not the only powerful group on the planet who wants to protect people. And your war isn't the only one that matters."

"You don't think people haven't asked me to trust them before?" Ozpin asked. "You don't think I trusted Lionheart? Raven?"

"We do," Yang said. "But right now, you're going to tell us how the relic works."

"No."

"No?"

"I-"

Ozpin choked mid-sentence, and he faltered. The green light swept over his body once more. "Quick," Oscar gasped, reaching out toward the relic. "You have to use it now, he's trying to keep me down. I don't know whether I'll be able to-" He flickered for a moment. "He doesn't want Raven to win either!" Oscar exclaimed. "Ask about the war!"

"How?" Ruby exclaimed, tensing. She strode up to the relic, reaching it before Weiss could react, her feelings rising in anticipation. "What do we have to do, Oscar? How do we use the relic?"

Oscar fell to one knee. "Her name is Jinn! Say her name to summon her."

Ruby took a step away from the relic, staring up at it. "Her… name?"

She paused.

"Jinn?"

For a moment, nothing happened. Ozpin's cane tumbled from Oscar's hands, only it… didn't. It hung there, in suspended animation, and Ruby could only goggle at the impossibility for a moment before a blue mist poured out of the lamp. The mist swirled around, upward, carrying the relic with it, becoming an enormous blue woman that towered over the arena, her nude form covered only by jangling golden chains reminiscent of the relic. Ruby took several steps back, Weiss and Blake coming to flank her on either side, as the relic lady yawned and stretched, moaning in pleasure at her newfound freedom.

"Wonderful," Jinn said in a sultry contralto, spreading her arms wide and regarding the unwitting humans and faunus who had unleashed her. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Bella all stared back in awe. "Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?"

Pyrrha walked around the stands to get a better look at Jinn, licks of flame curling around her hands. Nora crept away from Ozpin, moving toward Weiss.

"I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid Humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every one hundred years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer-"

"That's enough!" Ozpin barked.

"-two questions this era." Jinn smirked as everyone glared at Ozpin, chuckling under her breath. "It's a pleasure to see you again, old man."

"Don't do this, Ruby," Ozpin said, his tone growing desperate. "There will be consequences from this, things even I cannot predict-"

"Hmm, interesting…" Jinn, unconcerned by the drama unfolding below, floated toward Pyrrha, who stood apart from everyone else, watching Jinn evenly. Jinn leaned in close enough that Pyrrha could have touched her, her head the size of Pyrrha's torso. "You bear my sister's power," she mused, reaching out to cup Pyrrha's cheek. Pyrrha flinched, but stood her ground. "Well, I think. You have her ear. Mine likes to make demands, but she doesn't have the vision… A shame. You, though…"

Ruby exchanged quick glances with Blake and Weiss; Blake gave her a stoic look, deferring to Ruby, and Weiss gave her a subtle nod. She looked back to Yang and Bella. Yang gave Ruby a weak smile, leaving only Bella. They locked eyes.

You hear what I'm thinking?

Always, Rose.

Think it'll work? Will we get what we need?

I think it's our best bet.

Bella gave her a sharp nod, and Ruby turned back to Ozpin, squaring her shoulders. "You had control over us for long enough," she said, narrowing her eye. "You held all the cards and you could have helped us, but you lost that chance. Now it's our turn, and we're not going to stay in the dark anymore. Jinn?"

Ozpin hissed, striding forward. Jinn turned to Ruby.

Ruby met Jinn's eyes.

"What do we need to know and do to win this war?"

Right as Ozpin lunged for Ruby, the world turned white, and Jinn's voice echoed through the void.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy named Harkan."

[A/N] Mm I love me a good cliffhanger.

So much I want to talk about here. Team WBYR is finally coming together as a team. They get to unload everything Ozpin laid on them – and Ruby get to use the relic, just like she intended, with her team at her back. Nora takes Oscar's side, and Pyrrha… Pyrrha's got issues. And all she succeeds in doing is alienating herself.

Things are coming to a head. And the relic is about to lay all the cards on the table.

There it is. Ozpin knew about Bella for all of Volume One. The whole time, he was pulling strings – he wouldn't take therapy away from a fifteen-year-old without a good reason, and he knew full well what Ruby was hiding. It was wrong then and it's wrong now, and Ruby and Bella know it. Bella's hopeless rage at Ozpin is because, even when Ruby is trying to give her control, her situation has been manicured and designed, just like it has been her whole life. Ozpin's always been an antagonist in this fic, and this is his crescendo.

I really liked writing Ruby's introspection at the beginning of the chapter.

Just a few other little moments I wanted to mention – Blake defending Yang after Pyrrha hurts her, for one, and how Yang's perspective on Ruby and Bella has shifted. All in all, I'm super pumped with this chapter.

Thank you so much for all your reviews! Also, we reached 800 favorites on FFN and 500 kudos on AO3! Sick. Please remember to review, your feedback means the world to me, and it's also what keeps me updating, so keep it coming.

I'm starting college, which is wild, so tbh probably won't have as much time to write as quarantine's given me. I'll do my best to get a chapter out in September.

Remember to review! I'll see you all soon – check out some of my other stories in the meantime~

Cheers, Allie