The camp sunk into uncomfortable silence after Shine stormed off.

Most of them felt, deep down, that perhaps they should know better. They knew what she was like, and they'd all agreed to play by her rules on this quest. Why should they be shocked or angry?

It seemed the Fastus was still in them, in some way. It left a lingering effect that perhaps the other Grimm had also--it had just been unnoticed.

Finally, Pyrrha sat next to Emerald and broke her long silence by asking, "Are you all right?"

"No." Emerald picked at the dirt with her knives.

"I know," Pyrrha said. "I'm sorry. I... wish we'd stayed with you. Perhaps it was my fault also. We thought we could manage on our own."

"We all did," Emerald said. "I should have known... What just kills me about it is Tyrian always wanted Mercury--he just knew he'd only get him if he threatened me first. Maybe if it had been the other way, I could have used my Semblance to help us escape."

"We can't know that. He might have just killed you... He's...mad." Pyrrha had yet to fight Tyrian, but she didn't want to, from all accounts.

"I just hate this." Emerald stared at her hands. "You know, when I wanted friends--or family, I never thought about how awful it would feel if people used me against them. That thought never crossed my mind. I never thought about the bad parts at all. Now I just feel guilty. Like if he didn't care about me, he could have got away."

"That is mistaken." Pyrrha put a hand on hers gently. "I do not know a whole lot of things, Emerald, but I do understand one thing: Mercury only left Salem because of you. That saved his life. Working for her was nothing but working for one's own demise. You gave him the courage to leave. And whatever happens to him now, he was free. At least for a short time. And he knew what it was like to have friends and people who cared about him. For even a few weeks of that, I think I'd have gladly died knowingly. At least they mattered. We fight and fight and fight, but until we have someone to fight for, and something, all battle just feels the same. But when I had real friends... well... I know Beacon didn't end well, but I've been thinking about what happened before I fought Cinder. How we all stood together, just like we are now. And I realized that I didn't regret anything about that. That's how it should be. And I don't regret it now."

"I don't see how you can really feel that way," Emerald said. "I--all of us--stole your lives from you. Not just your literal life, but the lives you could have had, happy, just fighting regular monsters. It's come back to bite us now. Maybe it's karma."

"I don't really know if I believe that," Pyrrha said. "And I won't tell you that I haven't wished for it to be different. But it's true that if you hadn't done that, also, I wouldn't have met a lot of new friends. And these things we know now, they would have still been true, but I would have never known them, probably. Or had a chance to really change anything. So perhaps it would have been easier, but I'm not sure I think it's better. I assure you, Mercury thinks the same. It's better to have even one day of doing something that you feel really matters than years and years of doing nothing that anyone thinks matters. Not that saving lives wouldn't matter, but we must save them for something. I still think we'll get him back though. We're not that far. I just... I hope you're ready when we do to not feel so guilty. Guilt is not going to help Mercury now. Take it from me. I've wasted too much time with guilt. It's better to have hope."

Emerald smiled faintly. "Yeah... hey, I'm... sorry again about Penny. I feel like, out of everything I did, that one bothers me the most sometimes, just... because it was dirty. A clean fight is one thing, but I..."

"A month ago that might still have bothered me," Pyrrha said. "But not now. Not anymore. I'd say you've more than made up for it. We could have died so many times without your help. And Penny was all right. That's just another thing we didn't fully understand. Maybe it had to happen that way so she could do what she did later. Besides... I think it helped me understand all of you better. Facing someone you did something like that to is not easy, but with time, you can get used to it again."

"I thought doing this would make me feel better about what I did," Emerald said. "But I still remember it all. I guess... peace isn't in doing this stuff. Maybe Shine's right, you have to have it inside."

"But you do," Pyrrha said. "Don't you?"

"I bought it, but I don't know if I really asked for forgiveness," Emerald mused. "I guess I was still trying to earn it. Thought if I helped you all that was the same as making up for it. But I guess it's not that simple."

"Maybe it's not us who haven't forgiven you then," Pyrrha said. "I think you haven't. I think to do that you need to know it's been taken care of. Same as me."

"Yeah... and you're so famous for being a saint," Emerald said.

"But I wasn't a saint. Doesn't that just show how low our standards are?" Pyrrha said.

Emerald laughed dryly. "For the record--and this is the last thing I'll say about it, okay?--but if I'd really known you guys, I mean past the things I thought I knew, I probably wouldn't have wanted to do any of that. I mean, I might have done it, if I was forced. But I'd have had to be forced... if that matters."

"It does, I think," Pyrrha said. "And that makes me wonder one thing: You might never really have been that malicious, from what I gather, but Cinder certainly was."

"Oh, yeah," Emerald said, scowling. "I don't know how I missed it."

"But maybe you didn't entirely," Pyrrha said. "I'm not as naive as some of the others think about her. I know what she is. I saw it when she--killed me. Still, I think I saw something else too. I think you learn something about someone if they're fighting you to the death."

"You think you saw goodness?" Emerald said.

"No. Not that. But something... something about being worthy." Pyrrha rubbed her head. "It's a bit of blur now, but she went on about it. Made me wonder later, why would she ever think she's worthy? But why even try to justify it like that? Must have been something Salem or something else implied about it to make her think so. And why does being worthy matter to her at all?"

"I actually don't know. She's never told me," Emerald said. "I was with her the longest, and she was already working for Salem when she found me. At first she wasn't so harsh. She taught me stuff, but she just got worse and worse, especially after she got those d----d magic powers. And Salem gave her other magic tools too."

"Like the screaming portals?" Pyrrha remembered those.

"Magic. She didn't have those always," Emerald said. "One day she must have gone to check in with Salem, and she came back with that. That's all magic. Salem's. She channels somehow. The more power Cinder had, the harsher she was. She was never what you'd call nice. But there was a change."

"Without kindness I can't imagine her being that different, but perhaps she was more fair?" Pyrrha said.

"I think just less deluded," Emerald said. "She'd always say she wanted to be strong and feared and powerful. She treated us more and more like servants over time. I just didn't want to see it. Still, that was my choice. Maybe I shouldn't have blown up at her earlier."

"What she did was wrong," Pyrrha said.

"But what did I expect?" Emerald said. "Isn't that what you're getting at anyway? You were going to say that for once Cinder had to be straight-armed--literally--into doing something to us. And that's supposed to make a difference?"

"How did you know I was thinking that?"

"I mean, once we talked about being forced, I kind of thought you'd go there," Emerald said.

"You're perceptive," Pyrrha said. "But perhaps you only thought that because you were going to go there."

She was perceptive also.

"It doesn't seem like she knew who was going to be taken," Pyrrha said after a pause. "I won't call it okay to help anyway. But Salem has a lot of sway over her, as you've just been saying. After seeing these Mind Grimm, I'm inclined to think judging her too harshly might be unfair. She's done enough on her own for us to be angry about, but up till now, she's not actually done anything in this mission to jeopardize us. Just what the Grimm made us all do. I think she was serious about wanting to get to Salem and overthrowing her, whatever she planned to do to us after that. And are we angry at her because she's evil or because she thwarted us again? For whatever reason? That's what I wonder."

"But it's just too perfect. Mercury hates her after all," Emerald said.

"But was she anywhere near you when that happened?" Pyrrha said.

"Not that I saw... I mean, if she was with Shine and Wally the whole time, she couldn't have been," Emerald said. "And you think I was unfair."

"Emerald, if it was true, I can't pretend to have enough understanding of it to tell you if it was unfair," Pyrrha said. "I'm just worried, that's all. Encouraging feelings of hatred or anger right now is not the mindset I think we should be facing Salem with. We've had a lot of warnings about it. And it will bother you and distract you from helping us and Mercury. I do think that's something to be concerned about. But I don't mean to overstep and act like I know your history."

"I was so mad, I yelled out whatever came into my head," Emerald said. "I think the Grimm was still affecting me. But yeah, having time to think about it and what Shine was explaining earlier. I think you're right. I shouldn't be thinking like this. I thought I'd left that spiteful side of me behind. But I haven't--it was still there."

"Spiteful or just angry?"

"Doesn't matter. Who am I to judge anyone else for giving in to fear?" Emerald said. "It's so easy to be a total hypocrite. Do you think I should apologize?"

"I would--but I would apologize for anything." Pyrrha was well aware of her quirk. "So I don't know. She can't really think you're unjustified, even her, but if it would help you move past it, than maybe you should."

"I don't want to, but if I don't, I'm just going to keep thinking about it," Emerald said. "And that's going to make me afraid... so I'd better just do it now. For Mercury and the rest of you, I should swallow my pride."

Pyrrha nodded thoughtfully.

"And perhaps I should swallow mine," she said. "I should do something also."

Emerald nodded and walked away.

Pyrrha walked over to Yang, who looked up at her strangely.

"I know we've had some... issues, and we've never really talked about them," Pyrrha said. "I don't know all of it, but I've said some things I shouldn't have said. I'm sorry for that. And I think... you're right--I mean, not just you, some of you: I can be too preachy about what I think is right. Sometimes I don't think about what other people are going through. Walking a mile in all of your shoes lately has made it apparent to me that it's not as easy to deal with this as I thought."

"You don't need to apologize to me," Yang said. "I was a b---- to you. Honestly, I was jealous."

"Of me?" Pyrrha said.

"Yeah." Yang rubbed her arm. "You were so gifted, and then the whole coming back to life thing just makes you seem more out of our league. It made me mad because I was having a hard time even keeping it together trying to fight Salem, and then you were having such an easy time accepting the bad guys and learning how to do things the DJs' way, and everyone trusts you. I couldn't do any of that easily, and instead of asking why that was, I just wanted someone to resent. I see that now. And I wouldn't have admitted that to you yesterday--but now... now it feels easier for some reason."

"I think sometimes it's easier when you go through difficulties, to be honest," Pyrrha said thoughtfully. "I had no idea I was making anyone feel that way. I felt like a freak after what happened. In a way, actually, you getting mad at me felt normal. But then, I didn't know why. So... it's still being a freak."

"No, you're not a freak," Yang said more ruefully. "We've all done weird stuff. I let it get to me. But I want to be better now. If that's okay."

Pyrrha smiled. "I want the same thing. So of course."

Yang sighed. "Well, this got awkward."

"Yeah." Pyrrha rubbed her arm awkwardly enough.

"What's Emerald doing? Is she okay?" Yang asked.

"I think she'll be okay. We just need to save Mercury," Pyrrha said.

"I can't believe those are actually words that you're saying that I agree with," Yang muttered.

"We're all a team now, whatever happened before," Pyrrha noted.

https://youtu.be/iysTgNVfNpI

[Of course someone had to use this song for RWBY, and it fits the story too well not to use it. "As The World Caves In" AMV by ThusKindlySheScatters.]

* * *

["Resurrection"--Nicol Sponberg]

https://youtu.be/UnfapqiQyTs

Cinder had her own thoughts troubling her.

Her usual anger at the group of heroes for their insults had deserted her. Even she couldn't pretend that she wouldn't have been just the same and worse if they'd jeopardized her success like that.

She was evil, but what she'd done was also just plain stupid, and how had she not seen Salem's real design would have left her just as powerless as them all?

No, it was her stupidity that had her all riled up, not their anger--and certainly not guilt.

No... why would she feel guilty?

Not to mention the fact that Shine could have ended her at any time and had chosen not to was humiliating.

She'd thought it was all talk when Shine and Wally had both said they could do a lot of damage, but it wasn't. It was a warning. Or a promise maybe, that they wouldn't do it.

Salem had no chance against them, Cinder was sure of it, not without cheating, and idiot that she was, she'd just allowed her to do that.

The arm being gone only made her head clearer about it.

She fingered the stub where it had been. No new arm had come like with her eye, but then, she wouldn't have trusted herself with more power right then if she were their God.

All this talk of mercy and power and sin, what did it matter to her? Unless... unless it was true. Unless that was all that they needed to defeat Salem, the entire time: a higher side than hers to be on.

In that case, Cinder would have spent her entire life chasing something that would only make her weaker in the end.

Yet she wasn't ready to just turn around and say that she should have pursued things like love and goodness instead. What had they ever done for most people? These fools had gotten nowhere with that before the DJs arrived.

Cinder was too short-sighted to see if that might not be as true as she thought, given that Ozpin had managed to hold Salem off for this long even without the DJs' help.

But repentant or not, Cinder felt empty and displeased with her actions, and she was too proud to show she felt this way when anyone else was around to see it, but what did it matter now? They'd never let this one go. Not now. Not this close to victory. She wouldn't have.

Emerald startled her by suddenly appearing behind her.

Cinder's first thought was it was just to kill her, but then she saw that Emerald didn't look angry.

Still, better to be on guard.

"What?" she said tightly.

Emerald held up a hand. "I didn't come to fight."

A likely story.

"What are you looking for? Some kind of clue? I don't know where they took the boy or what they'll do to him. I was never let in on that part," Cinder said tersely.

"Yeah, I believe it," Emerald said flatly. "Not that I think you'd tell me anyway, but you do seem genuinely surprised. Also you're not gloating about getting rid of a Silver-Eyed Warrior like I'd think you'd be doing if it was your idea."

Wow... even Emerald was just going to throw that in her face now. The girl had finally grown some claws.

Cinder should have been impressed, but she rather thought it was unsettling instead.

"Well, what do you want?" She frowned.

"Nothing you can give me," Emerald said. "But I... felt bad for how I blew up earlier, and I wanted to let you know that."

Felt bad?

For that?

Why?

"What?" Cinder said aloud, genuinely puzzled.

"I know it probably doesn't matter to you one way or the other." Emerald folded her arms and frowned. "But it does to me. That's not what I want to be like. Anyway, I get that Salem is pretty hard to say no to, and maybe I'd have done the same, or I would have in the past, so I probably shouldn't be so judgy about it. I guess you didn't know it'd be Mercury, so I can't blame you exclusively for Tyrian's crap. I still think you did something pretty awful, but it's not like I have a moral high ground here. That's all I wanted to say. Anyway, don't let that be the reason you take it out on everyone else. I'd hate to think I made it harder for them."

"Do you have no self respect at all?" Cinder blurted out her real thoughts in pure shock. "Why would you apologize to me for that? That was the only thing you've ever done that made sense to me."

"And that right there is why it frickin' scares me." Emerald roasted her so bad, and she didn't even do it on purpose. "I don't want to be like you."

Cinder blinked.

"You'd rather be like them? Weak?" she sniffed. "Just so you won't be alone anymore?"

"Well, once, I wasn't alone anymore because of you," Emerald said. "Took me a long time to figure out that you liked being alone better. So I left you alone. Then it's funny you followed me here."

"Followed you?" Cinder scoffed.

"I know it wasn't because of me." Emerald waved that off. "I'm not that stupid. I mean... like metaphorically? Is that the right word? Like in the end we're on the same path for whatever reason and maybe it was always going to be that way. I've been thinking about it, and whether I like it or not, you did change my fate the day you found me. I almost went to the dark side because of you, but then I met the people who helped me escape it also because of you. Without that, maybe I'd just have still been on the street, alone, or fallen in with some other bad group, or maybe I'd just have died. I've spent ages trying to figure out how to feel about the two sides of this. I know you never loved me, but in a weird way, if I hadn't loved you at least for a short time, I wouldn't have loved anyone else either. Maybe in the end, Shine's right... When we love people it's better for us, even if it doesn't do them any good."

"Even you," Cinder sniffed, "quoting that woman."

"That woman is the only reason you're alive," Emerald said. "I bet you hate her for that, don't you? You never could handle anyone being kind to you because it implies they were stronger than you so that you needed that kindness."

Emerald really did know her better than anyone else did.

Cinder frowned at her.

"But you know what I figured out?" Emerald said. "Kindness isn't because people think they're stronger than you, it's something they do because that's what they want to be like.  And being cruel is just a huge waste of time in the end. I never wanted power or money or fame. And I'm glad. Because I never would have got them anyway. These people aren't perfect, but they taught me that it's okay to not want that crap. Not everyone does. They also taught me that people can be nice to you because they want to be and not because of your professed service for them. Pyrrha was nice to me because she forgave me, even after what I did to her. That's just because she's that kind of person. And I finally get it. Even if you don't. I just think you hate these people just because they're better than you are, but it's such a waste of time. I used to feel the same way because they were happy, but then I destroyed their happiness along with you, and they were still better. That's when I got it: It doesn't matter what you do to someone--if they want to be a better person, they'll still be one. We can't steal that from them, and I wouldn't want to now. And if you were smarter, you wouldn't either, because the world just can't survive without people like that. If we were all selfish and cold, the Grimm would have killed us already. I guess these Mind Grimm prove that."

"Are you lecturing me right now?" Cinder glared.

"No..." Emerald paused. "I've wanted to say that for a long time to you. I guess... I knew you for a long time--relatively--and it's just a little weird for me, trying to leave that behind without at least explaining it to you. Call it silly or sentimental, but it just seems like the thing to do. I wanted you to stop following Salem when I did, but it was never going to happen for me. But somehow you came to that on your own, or you always were planning it, I'm not sure which. And you joined us because you figured out that this is the only way we can do it, and I'm wondering--why are you still trying so hard to be an enemy when it's no use? You know, they only hate you because they think you'd hurt them no matter what. If you didn't want to do that, they'd probably let it go. We've all been fricked up enough to not judge."

"What a stupid thing to say," Cinder said. "I've done much more than anyone else has, save for Salem herself. And I'm not sorry for it."

"You're not?" Emerald said.

"No."

"Not at all?"

"Why would I be?" Cinder frowned.

"I mean... because didn't you want to be worthy at one point?" Emerald said.

Cinder blinked. "Huh?"

"To get the powers? I mean, strong enough or hard working enough," Emerald said. "But after all that failed, you'd not have gotten anywhere near the Relics if they hadn't been willing to work with us. Doesn't realizing that change anything? Maybe people aren't as awful as you think they are?"

"And you think I do what I do to people just because I think they're awful?"

"You must. Why would you want to punish them if you didn't?" 

"Because I'm cruel," Cinder said.

"But cruel people never just admit that they're cruel," Emerald said. "I've met enough of them to know that. They always just say that it doesn't matter. But you've always gone out of your way to rub it in. Which is why no one likes you--but it always weirded me out too. For someone who hates people so much, you sure seem to feel like they've disappointed you in some way."

"Why on earth would you think that?" Cinder felt oddly uneasy.

"Just the way you act." Emerald shrugged. "Once, it reminded me of me. I always resented the world for looking the other way--until I saw what happened in Beacon and Atlas and I realized that I had looked the other way, not just at one person, but at hundreds of them, and I saw that everyone is like me. And then I got why the heroes feel like they had to be different. But you? I don't know what your deal is. But I know it had to be something pretty bad. I don't know what the world did to you that you want to punish it so much, but..."

"Asking what it didn't do would be a longer list," Cinder said. "The world is cruel and doesn't try to help anyone... and anyone who is different is helpless in the end because of the powers that be suppressing them. So what does it matter what we do to them? It's just who's strong enough to finish on top."

"I see." Emerald sighed. "Yeah, well, I get it. But, there's just one thing I don't get."

"And that is...?" Cinder was baited enough to ask.

"Maybe the world is like that, but if you find a few people who aren't that way, isn't that worth protecting?" Emerald said. "Who knows if it could spread? Instead of just tearing down everything else, why not build something up? Or... is it that you don't know how to do that? So you don't."

It was so very like what Shine had said to Cinder that Cinder was struck speechless for a moment.

Then she frowned at Emerald.

Emerald, not getting a response, shrugged. "Well, I'm sorry for you then. But I don't want to hate you. It feels wrong after caring about someone to go to hating them. Maybe I'm an idiot for that, but I think I like that better anyway. I hope... I hope you realize whatever it is you need to realize to get past this. I really do. Then maybe all that anger we all have can be put to rest. And hey, these people are a lot more like us than you ever want to admit. Or I did. Because we made them that way, or maybe that's how people are, and we are the ones who just didn't want to admit it. That's pretty heavy if you ask me."

She walked away.

Cinder shook her head in disbelief.

* * *

Oscar felt uneasy being so close to Salem now. Or maybe it was Ozpin who did.

Even from the time they made camp, Ozpin's spirit was restless inside him.

But finally when they had just stopped to rest until a better time to move, Ozpin seemed to come to the front again.

Even without trying to.

He sat up abruptly.

"Something just feels very off," he said.

His Aura shimmered but not with power, more like the magical edge to it.

Then a burning feeling came over him and a painful cramping sensation like the magic spasms.

Vara suddenly sat up. Her eyes were glowing.

"What is that?" she gasped.

Winter grimaced. "What are you doing, Ozpin?" she asked, her eyes glowing also.

Raven looked down from where she was perching on the rock, and her eyes were lit too.

Cinder walked to the midst of camp, looking at them questioningly. The same thing was happening to her.

Qrow stood up. "Something's off. Ozpin, are you trying something again?"

"I'm not actively doing anything," Ozpin said, wincing. "It's not normal somehow. It feels worse."

"Yeah, it does. Make it stop," Vara said, grabbing her sides.

Qrow then turned into a bird without warning.

"Shine, you might want to check this out." Wally moved to shake her.

She sat up and rubbed her head.

Most of them were up now.

"Why now?" Ruby asked.

Shine held out her hand, and her own eyes glowed.

"Hey," Emerald said, "I think it's the Relics. I feel like they're pulsing somehow."

"Since when can you feel that?" Yang asked.

"I dunno, but I just do," she shrugged.

"She's right." Shine walked up to the Crown and Sword, where they were being held by Sun and Hazel at the time. "The Relics are releasing some kind of energy more than before... and I think we have our answer."

"We do?" Hazel said warily.

Shine pointed at the horizon.

"We'll reach Salem's castle tomorrow," she said. "Ten miles at most. Probably less. And she has the other two Relics. My guess, and what I'm sensing from them, is that they know that they are close to being reunited. The magical pull around them is quadrupled because of that. And it's pulling at Ozpin's curse. Their master knows things are moving and so Ozpin is also being pushed to the front, as are the Maidens' and Qrow's magic. The magic is all coming together, trying to reunite, is my guess."

"Okay..." Nora said. "And what does that mean?"

"Good and bad." Shine gestured lopsidedly. "Bad: I think Ozpin's going to be much more in control, and it will be hard for Oscar to do anything. And the Maidens and Qrow also. Good: This proves my theory was right. All this is tied together, and our best shot of ending it all is to have them together at the same time and just do it in one swoop. Otherwise the Maidens carrying the power could have let it back into the world after we were done, and we don't want that. We want the gods completely gone. But it means it will be harder."

"Because we needed it to be harder again," Yang said.

"Yang..." Ruby said.

"I know, I know, it's pushing us forward," Yang sighed. "But isn't there anything to do about them all turning into nightlights?"

Neptune stifled a laugh.

"We can try to dull it, but there may be little we can do till we've resolved the problem," Shine mused. "Winter, can you try to turn it off?"

Winter put a hand to her chest. "I don't really feel the same as usual. It's not as painful, but it is like the magic is being pushed to the surface--I don't know how I can feel that, but I can. I can try to push it back, but how long will it last against the pull?"

"I do regret that you all have not built up your spiritual muscles more," Shine mused. "I suppose we went as fast as we could on that, but it's just not ideal. I guess it never is, though, and we'll have to do the best we can."

"Great..." Raven sighed.