Salem ordered Tyrian to bring the Relics.

But this order he refused, to her great surprise.

"What is this?" he yelled at them all. "Are you just going to go along with this? Kill them all."

"You do not command me," Salem said to him sternly. "If I have decided to proceed with this, it is no concern of yours."

"Yes, it is," Tyrian said. "You were going to wipe out the world!"

"If it's not necessary to do so in order to get what I want, this is much faster--" Salem began, but Tyrian didn't listen to her this time.

"You can't be serious!" he said. "You were a goddess of destruction incarnate! Of course you will do this."

"Tyrian!" Salem said sharply, and he shut up for a moment. "I am not a goddess! You idiot!"

Well, she really might have expected this to upset him.

"What?" he sputtered.

"She never was, moron. Didn't you listen to anything we told you?" Mercury said.

"She's a human with a curse," Cinder said. "Dumba--!"

"Wait a minute," Shine said. "If you push him further, he might do something desperate."

"A little late for that..." Wally said.

"It... it was really all a lie?" Tyrian sounded disappointed and livid at the same time. "You... you are a human?"

"I was... once." Salem no longer cared if he knew this. It was obsolete now.

"No!" Tyrian howled like someone had put him in hot irons. "No! No! No!" He began to thrash and strike himself.

He was freaking out the kids.

Some of them looked away.

"Pull yourself together," Hazel said.

"Why don't you just get the d--- Relics?" Cinder said. "We can finally end this."

"What?" Tyrian looked up. "You... No! No, I'll take them myself first!"

He charged at Theo next second.

But of course Hazel and Wally both stepped in before he got there and threw him aside.

Tyrian glanced at all of them and knew that he couldn't fight them.

His eyes went from one to the other.

"Fool," Salem began, angrily. "How dare--"

But she got no further for Tyrian howled in rage and then ran out of the room.

"What is he doing?" Mercury asked.

"Running away?" Emerald said.

But then they heard glass breaking.

"Did he just go out the window of my council room?" Salem said, like he was a kid who threw a baseball through it.

"Do you really need it anymore?" Oscar asked her.

"But he--" Salem suddenly went to the wall and waved her hand.

The wall opened up, and she peered out of it. "What is the fool doing now?"

They all rushed to look, though some of them didn't know why they bothered.

It was odd to stand so close to Salem and her not be attacking, but for now her attention was on Tyrian.

Tyrian had jumped out of the window all right, though it was on the ground level so he hadn't broken every bone in his body.

He was running over the dirt toward the Grimm pond.

"What is hs doing?" Pyrrha asked.

"It's almost like he's heading out into the Grimm lands," Emerald said. "But he'll get eaten."

"Good riddance then," Mercury said.

"No, wait, he's not doing that," Qrow frowned. "He's... going right for the pond itself."

"What?" Pyrrha leaned forward. "Maybe I can stop him."

"And why would you do that?" Cinder said. "We're well rid of him."

"Because that's mad." Pyrrha reached out a hand.

But she appeared to be out of range--or else Tyrian was still much too fast.

With a look at them of pure hatred, he yelled something that they couldn't make out, but it sounded like something about death incarnate, and then he scrambled up one of the rocks like it was a diving board.

"No, he's not actually going to..." Shine said.

Wally covered her eyes suddenly.

Tyrian jumped into the pond.

"Is he turning himself into Grimm?" Emerald said.

"Don't be a fool, girl." Salem was watching this without a shred of pity. "Only magic can withstand that pond in part. He has none. It would only kill him."

"Oh, only that," Meridian said. "And... uh... hey how fast does it work?"

They heard a blood-curdling shriek... and then nothing.

"That long," Salem said.

She turned away. "Fool."

"Is that all you have to say?" Winter said. "He was your most loyal servant."

"The loyalty of such as him was worth absolutely nothing," Salem said. "And no human life matters much to me. I didn't think he was any favorite of yours that you should be concerned about it. We should get on with it."

"Uh... after that?" Wally said.

Shine pushed his hands away.

"Well, that was horrible," she said. "And yet, only in theory... I wish I could say I pitied him, but... I mean... he literally just did it to himself... Still, I'm sorry that any human being should become like that... I'm afraid that is all I can manage for a eulogy."

"And more than he deserves," Hazel said. "He's finished himself off."

"But why?" Jaune asked.

"I suppose he couldn't bear the reality being unlike what he thought," Cinder mused. "Well, some people are just so unstable."

She got flat looks of disbelief.

"Shouldn't we just get on with it?" she said. "He's dead. Unless you want to raise him."

"Oh, please no," Torchwick said. "Let's just call the gods."

"If Tyrian won't get the Relics, then you can," Salem said to Cinder.

"I don't work for you anymore," Cinder argued.

Salem glanced at her.

"Cinder, you know the castle better," Shine reminded her. "It doesn't matter, someone has to get them."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Well, I better not get attacked while I'm doing it."

"I'll help," Emerald said. "I might as well..."

"You'll find them in the room underground," Salem said carelessly, sitting back down.

They left.

Awkward silence.

"So this is what it comes to," Ozpin spoke again. Oscar had gone at some point.

"So nice of you to join us again, Ozma," Salem said. "I suppose congratulations would be premature, but if you are going to be upset about losing in the end, just remember that you already knew it would be so."

"You know it is not that that I'm upset about," Ozpin said. "It is that the answer was in front of me for all this time, and I never saw it."

He looked down.

Salem looked surprised.

"Perhaps I really did fail everyone," Ozpin said. "If I had accepted that ages ago, maybe we'd have found another way."

Qrow put a hand on his shoulder. "None of us accepted it, Oz."

"Are you finally admitting it?" Raven said. "What? That was what it took?"

"Hearing all of you do something I never could bring myself to do was the shame of my life," Ozpin said. "And I realize that I have utterly forgotten everything about the past that mattered. And held on only to what didn't. This clarity is late from me. You all may feel it's no use to you. I wouldn't blame you, but... I should say it before you proceed... I... well... I suppose whoever wins out, the gods will just have to accept that humanity is not content with curses as the guides to salvation. Maybe they will learn."

"Is this a dream?" Vara said.

"I know, right?" Raven said. "I'd think I was hallucinating this if Emerald hadn't left. No way this is Ozpin."

"Maybe it's Ozma, finally," Ruby said.

"I wouldn't go that far," Ozpin said.

Shine and Wally glanced at each other and linked hands.

"Hey, guys," Shine said. "We can't summon them in here. From all I heard they're huge. They could bring the roof down on us. We'll have to go outside. I trust that is fine?" to Salem.

"I don't care where we do it," Salem said. "What is taking them so long?"

Cinder and Emerald returned.

They had the Lamp and the Staff with them,

Everyone stared at them.

All the Relics glowed bright then, and the Maidens all felt their power rise to the surface.

Vara nearly fainted again but just barely held herself awake.

Ozpin made a constrained face.

Even Salem looked uncomfortable as if she didn't like all that magic herself.

"Well... let's go," Ruby said.

* * *

They walked to the outside space that was large enough to hold them all, without being too near the Grimm ponds, was like one in a dream.

No one could quite believe it was happening.

Then, all at once, they were just standing there.

"Everyone ready?" Wally asked.

"No," Yang said.

"Me neither," Wally said.

"If we wait till we feel ready, it'll never happen," Shine said. "We must do it before we lose our nerve."

"This is dangerous," Winter murmured.

"This idea sounded better when it was a hypothetical," Qrow agreed.

"I think Ozpin and Salem should do it," Shine said. "The gods know them... And, Wally, we should back them. In case any magic hijinks are attempted."

"Sure," Wally said.

Ozpin suddenly fell on his face.

"Ozpin?" they all said.

"I feel so weak..." he said.

Salem frowned at him. "Are you afraid now?" 

"Please do not start fighting again," Shine said. "That's just what they want. We will handle this."

Salem pursed her lips and glared at the horizon.

She was not as confident as she wanted to look that this was a good idea now that it came to the point. She had experienced many things in the past few days that she'd long forgotten about, and one of the ones to come back to her was how sharp her fear of the gods' anger could be, even if she defied them.

And how something in her just did not want to do the reasonable thing still.

But for now she ruled over it. If it would last, she didn't know.

Perhaps that was why Shine didn't wish to delay. How much could you ask of Salem, or Ozpin even? After all they'd been through, it was a miracle they'd come this far.

Wally picked Ozpin up.

Glynda glanced at Cinder.

"Well," she said, "perhaps in the end the Maidens should do the honors, whoever they are... give up the Relics."

She handed the Crown to her.

Cinder took it perhaps more hesitantly than anyone had ever seen her when handling power.

Theo nodded at Vara. "If you can..."

"I can try." She took the hilt of the Sword. "Help me..."

With some help, she moved over and slowly handed the Sword to Ozpin.

Funny, they'd kept them from him all this time only to give them back now. 

Cinder judged that the Crown was probably smarter to hand to Ozpin than Salem, so she handed the Staff to Winter and brought the Crown over.

It was weird that she didn't even hesitate to hand it over. In fact, her hands were shaking.

Vara was shaking all over, but that could have been from exhaustion.

The Staff felt very heavy in Winter's hands.

She glanced at Qrow and at Weiss.

Weiss nodded at her and tried to smile bravely.

"It's all right," Qrow said. "It has to be this way."

Winter nodded and walked up to Salem, who stared at her in wonder.

"Be careful with it." Winter held it out.

Salem slowly took it.

This left Raven.

Emerald gave her the Lamp and then grabbed Mercury's hand for dear life.

Raven, who'd wanted the Lamp for leverage for ages, and then eschewed it out of fear, and shirked her duties...

Well, the irony couldn't have been lost on her, but, with a glance at Yang, she walked up to Salem.

"To think in the end I just hand it to you anyway," she said. "Don't let it blind you."

Salem just gave her a glare, but then she took it.

Of course she'd held them before, but...

But now they were pulsing with energy.

Ozpin swallowed. "I don't know if I can manage it."

The Maidens stepped back.

"Go on," Ruby said. "Jinn."

Salem raised an eyebrow.

"The Lamp, say it," Jaune explained.

Salem held it up. "Jinn."

In a cloud of smoke, Jinn appeared, glancing at them all with utter astonishment.

"Hi..." Yang said.

"You never said she was unclothed," Winter muttered.

"Wasn't something I wanted to remember." Qrow wasn't looking.

"Well, you've come a long way," Raven muttered. "Are they all naked?"

"Yeah..." Weiss was looking down. "And why?"

"Salem?" Jinn was staring at her. "No..."

Salem was startled that it had worked at all.

Then Jinn said, "I'm out of questions."

"We're well aware," Salem said.

"But you must know that's not why we're here." Shine was standing behind Salem. "Hello, Jinn."

"You..." Jinn eyed her. "I see..."

She went quiet. Indeed, since she couldn't answer a question, what else could she say?

Salem held up the Staff. "Ambrosius," she said.

He was not his flamboyant self this time. He looked utterly terrified of her.

"This is not right," he said. "Hey, Jinn, what are you doing here?"

"I can't answer any questions," Jinn said.

"Oh, don't be such a stickler. We both know that's a loosely defined rule," he said. 

"Honestly, for a genie, she doesn't seem that malicious," Wally said. "Can I look yet?"

"No." Shine was looking down.

"You again?" Ambrosius said. "What is this? Have you lost your minds?!"

"Shut up," Shine said.

He shut up.

"You're up, Oz-Man," Wally said.

"Mr. West, please, this is serious." Ozpin was actually sweating. "I suppose all I can do now is... well, the easiest one first."

He sighed. "Janus."

He said it like it hurt.

Out of the Crown came smoke.

Out of it formed another male-esque figure, without clothes on and with a chain same as the others.

Only he had two heads... or was it just two faces?

"What... is... that?" Blake said.

"It's freaky is what it is," Sun said. "Though kind of cool maybe."

"Shut up, man." Neptune was trying not to have a conniption.

"What are we doing?" Janus spoke in a much more sly voice than the other two. "My, my, my, some interesting choices."

"And you can be quiet also." Shine wasn't looking at him. "Honestly."

He looked miffed.

"Seriously, why are they all naked?" Raven hissed.

"Why would they need clothes?" Hazel didn't understand why she was making a big deal out of it.

[Why do they need bodies, CRWBY? Are you just pervs?]

"I feel faint." Ozpin leaned on his staff.

"One more," Wally said. "It's all right."

Ozpin drew some deep breaths. "Delilah."

[Okay, I know some people are going to be offended.

Delilah is the name my sister and I picked because the other options just seemed too creepy. While it's not exactly destruction, that is one meaning of the name, or "to weaken". Since the Sword does not do total destruction of things, it's more appropriate. I wouldn't take it too seriously, and of course Bible fans will get the reference.]

Smoke came from the Sword, and a feminine-looking genie appeared out of it, who had a very stoic expression.

She said nothing at all, just frowned at them all.

"You know what this means," Jinn spoke again. "Now you cannot undo it."

"I know," Ozpin said, nearly falling over.

Wally propped him up.

Salem stared at them all.

"Well, where are they?" she said.

"They were called as soon as you called the last name." Jinn apparently could answer this; perhaps it was now moot. "And your mortal eyes will no doubt see them at any moment."

"And then woe is us," Ambrosius said, "for we will probably be snuffed out... I lived too short a time!"

"Perhaps you will just be set free," Shine said. "You are all subjugated spirits, right? However did they get you?"

"I don't think you'd like the story," Ambrosius said. "But I don't think we'll be set free."

"I did wonder why they were people," Blake said. "Huh... isn't that kind of messed up?"

"It's the gods. Are you new?" Neptune muttered.

"Well, Neo, this is it. How do I look?" Roman said.

Neo gave him a👍thumbs up.

"Thanks." He put an arm around her.

"I thought something would look different," Jaune remarked.

No sooner had he said that then the Relics all glowed brighter and moved closer to each other, and then they began to swirl in a rainbow of colors.

Salem and Ozpin stepped back, now realizing that this was, in fact, not going to be undone.

The colors shot into the sky.

"What have we done?" Ozpin said.

"Do not bow." Shine was looking up, sword over her eyes. "Not to them. Everyone stand firm. Remember what we taught you. No fear."

"I think I have fear," Nora squeaked.

Ren took her hand.

Everyone had someone's hand or arm or at least was standing near to them.

Cinder was alone until Emerald slowly held out a hand and took her shoulder, with a weak smile.

Then she just looked up.

The sky turned bright white overhead, not like the white of bright day around the sun, but more like the Silver Eyes, white as paper. But there was a darkness in it also.

It was almost like a door in the sky, but it was also like a laser beam. [Marvel came knocking, anyone?]

* * *

Up, somewhere in another dimension of some sort, the brothers Grimm were in whatever state of limbo they spent their time in.

They both felt the pull of the thing they had not wished to feel.

They had no choice but to comply.

* * *

It must have been only about 1 minute, but it seemed like an hour before suddenly the light in front of them solidified into two figures.

Those who hadn't seen them in person gasped.

Ozpin, who had seen them only briefly except in the limbo place he'd been in after death, also gasped.

Salem would never have flinched at their arrival, but she looked quite astonished.

Wally was gaping, and Shine's eyes were huge, though she didn't look afraid.

The light and darkness solidified further into the humanoid form of the brothers.

They had no faces, really--and that itself made Salem think of the book and wonder at it--but they seemed to look out of the lines where their eyes would have been at the small team.

They all felt so much smaller now. The gods were about 9 or 10 feet tall.

"Ozma," the god of light finally spoke.

"Woman," said the god of darkness.

* * *

Even Salem nearly fell over at their voices--and then it passed.

Really, the team had expected them to be more scary, but while they were intimidating, it wasn't... well, it wasn't even as frightening as Shine could be when she was in a righteous fury.

Wally was relieved to find he wasn't that afraid of them now.

"It has been a long time for your race," the god of light spoke. "You have watched over it for millennia. Has your task been completed?"

"Have you yet learned not to make demands of your creator?" the god of darkness said to Salem, nastily.

Salem was, for once, speechless.

But she looked hard.

Ozpin looked very afraid. "I--" he began.

"No," Shine said to him. "Do not answer him."

The god of light looked right at her then--well... they thought he did.

Pyrrha felt strange... tingly, but it wasn't quite pleasure and not quite painful...

It was almost like how you feel when you almost touch a hot stove but just miss, like the shock of the danger is still a part of it even without the real damage.

Roman also looked like he was shaking.

"Are you okay?" Jaune noticed Pyrrha trembling.

"I do not belong to their world," Pyrrha said strangely as if it was just dawning on her. "Not since I... The power isn't theirs. They... they feel it, I'm sure."

Jaune stood more in front of her.

"You," the god of light said to Shine, with something like anger and something like resignation, "you did not heed my warning."

"And I will hear no warning of yours," Shine said defiantly. "You, what is your name?"

"I have no name but the god of light," the god said.

"Everyone has a name," Shine said. "But you wouldn't tell it to me because it would give me power. Very well. You know who we are." She put a hand on Wally's shoulder.

"We know what you are." The god of darkness glared at her, and he turned into a dragon and snapped directly at her face.

To his surprise, Shine jumped back and pulled out her sword and hit him right in the nose.

He reeled back, as if that had actually hurt him.

Thankfully, this snapped Salem as least out of her daze. She stepped back a little and glanced at Shine and Wally like she wanted them to speak.

"That was a warning." Shine's eyes flashed gold. "Try to touch one of us again, you devil, and you shall feel more than that from our King. He will rebuke you. I have no need of it."

She made this seem like she'd done it before.

"Brother, that was ill done," the god of light said. "You know the ways. Let us not incite them to war."

"You be quiet," the god of darkness snapped at him.

"Even so, we have dominion over this world," the god of light said. "And not you. You are trespassers. And by the ancient laws, you cannot claim this world for yourselves."

"We can claim any world." Shine held up her sword at him warily. "As you well know, one day we will judge all. But you are right that at this moment we are not suited enough to do so. However, as you can see, they are here with us. And they can, by the laws. 'The earth He has given to man.' And this you know."

The gods stirred uneasily.

"Humans are not fit to rule this world," the god of darkness said. "And they never have been fit to rule any world. Even ones such as you are weak, sniveling cowards."

"That is not for you to decide," Shine said. "You are not our judge."

"But we are." The god of darkness began to circle around them all, eyeing them. "All of you belong to us. Where did you get your powers? Where did you get your existence?"

"We don't want them anymore," Winter said, looking pale.

"Yes, take them back," Raven said.

"This thing is impossible," the god of darkness said. "Once a gift is given, it cannot be removed."

"He lies," Shine said, keeping her eyes on him. "It's true that they cannot remove it, likely enough. Destruction cannot undo itself, and creation cannot destroy. Only He who is master over both can do and undo."

"He has never ruled this world," the god of creation said.

"Isn't that a lie?" Wally said. "I'm not on the level about all this yet, but I know the basics. You guys never made man, did you?"

"We made man all that he was!" the god of darkness raged at him. "More than you could make yourselves."

"It is true that we gave man gifts," the god of creation said. "We made man mighty."

"You made man dependent on you," Shine said. "I see it now... that is what this magic was always about. And these Relics. The spirits in there are slaves, just as mankind are as long as they follow them."

The group gasped.

"You are playing a dangerous game now, Worldling," the god of destruction spat. "You have not the power to displace us. We will not allow this to stand. Look at that rebel over there."

He meant Salem.

"I see only what you did to anyone who began to catch on that you were not as you say you are," Shine said. "I see beastly cowards, so it's fitting that you take the shape of beasts now. Perhaps your heads will be crushed."

While that insult or threat was lost on most of the group, Oscar, somewhere inside Ozpin, did remember that it was from Genesis and referenced the devil.

The god of darkness seemed to recognize it, for he snarled at her.

But he didn't attack again. Perhaps it was true that he could not.

"You cannot protect them or hide them," the god of light spoke. "And we did not harm them more than they harmed themselves. Actions have consequences. If they have fulfilled our missions, then we will spare them, but if not, they must be judged."

"No," Shine said.

"No way," Wally said.

"They will be judged, but not by you," Shine said. "They will be as we all will be, in the end. But this is not the end."

"Heck no," Wally echoed. "You guys need to clear out. Seriously, give it up already. Everyone knows the jig is up. You're not gods."

"Is that so?" the god of darkness said.

"You are calling us into question?" the god of light said. "Do you know what that means?"

"Whatever it means, we intend to see it through," Shine said. "You will renounce your hold on their world, and there is no if. That is exactly what is going to happen."

"And you're going to let these poor people go," Wally said. "They've suffered enough because of you."

"So you think they will truly forsake their own gods?" the god of light said.

"We will!" Ruby cried.

"Yes," everyone began to chorus.

For now they saw that, in fact, the gods did seem to be worried about it.

In a strange way, for some of them, the gods had cut almost a smaller figure than they thought.

Salem smirked. "And you thought after all this time no one would do it," she said. "But they have found you out. You are unfit."

"Silence," the god of darkness said. "We will deal with you later."

"No, you won't," Shine said. "She will be dealt with by the true God, as will we all. You will not judge her or Ozpin."

"That is not a matter for you to determine," the god of light said. "Nor for all of these people. And if they all insist upon this, then we will do as we promised."

He rose up and turned into a dragon.

"Do not back down," Shine admonished them all. "They use threats to cow people into giving in. They can do nothing to you while you are with us."

She pulled out her sword, and Wally produced his also.

"We place all of them under our protection," Shine said.

"Yeah, back off of them," Wally said.

The gods both hissed menacingly, even the one of light.

This frightened Ozpin and Salem, even.

Then the god of light spoke again.

"There is more than one way to settle this matter. If you will interrupt our way directly, then we can use the old methods. Ones even you cannot stop. For it is in all worlds."

"What does he mean?" Wally asked.

"I believe he means--" Shine began to answer, before a great change came over the landscape.

Well... strictly speaking, it wasn't exactly that it changed.

It was that it was gone.

Everything was enveloped in white light, just as when Jinn had paused time.

And just as in her visions, they all were suddenly alone.

To those who hadn't experienced it before, it was utterly terrifying.

Wally and Shine both found themselves in this void alone, though they were almost thrown into unconsciousness by the gods' opposing aura.

Shine gasped. "You knew what that would do to us."

"It's a pity it didn't do more," the god of darkness said, appearing in the white void. "But you will see. These humans will fail you as they failed us."

"They cannot fail me," Shine said. "Only themselves. And they may be wiser than you think."

"You will regret ever coming here, Worldling," the god replied. "Enjoy your final moments."

He vanished from view.

Shine glanced around.

"They are going to test us," she said to herself. Her voice sounded strange in the void. "Unfortunately, that is allowed... I suppose all I can do now is pray that we taught them enough and that they will not lose heart."

She had no answer. Instead the void was increasingly difficult to look at, nauseating almost.

She closed her eyes.

[Psych, you thought the gods would just come and go easily. But nope. Always more to it than that.]

https://youtu.be/vf5v2wuzUFk

[If you look at the lyrics, they're basically what they've been saying the last couple chapters.]

"Time for me to be defiant

"'Cause I won't be silenced
When I suffer (oh, oh)
Slingin' shots to Goliath
Gonna call down fire
In rain and thunder (oh, oh) I see the world around me start to darken
Resistance makes me stronger
So make me stronger (stronger, stronger, stronger)
Whatever comes (comes) I'm standin' in the storm like never before
The pressure builds around me
Let the winds surround me
Whatever comes, I'm not givin' up
Fearless as a lion
Not afraid of dyin'
I still got some life in me
You can try to shake me
I still got some fight in me
But you can never break me
I'm standin' in the storm like never before
The pressure builds around me
Let the winds surround me. I'll stand in the storm
I still got some life in me
I'll stand in the storm
I still got some fight in me. I feel the voices underneath me callin'
I sink into the graveyard of the fallen
Tell me that you hear 'em (hear 'em)
Tell me that you don't fear 'em (fear 'em)
Resist a little longer
Death before dishonor. Nothin' left to be decided
'Cause I won't be quiet
When they threaten (oh, oh)
Through the hate and the violence
Got truth on my side and
Love's my weapon (oh, oh)I feel the voices underneath me callin'
Resist a little longer
Death before dishonor (honor, honor, honor)
Whatever comes (comes)."