(Volume 6) Chapter 2: The Ugly Truth.

(Few weeks prior|Mistral)

Ruby:"We need to take the Relic to Atlas?" You're sitting next to Ruby with Sophie laying in your lap in the house as you all are watching Qrow.

Qrow:"That's what Oz said." You all look to Weiss...welp all that trouble to get out of Atlas only to immediately go back...that'll be awkward for her.

Weiss:"You've got to be joking..."

Nora:"I mean, bright side, we finally get out of this house!"

You:"Right, feels like we've been in this house for an entire year..." Weiss sighs 

Qrow:"Well trust me, I'm not crazy about it either. And without the Spring Maiden here to seal the Relic back in its Vault, it's our best option."

Ren:"Atlas may be the safest kingdom we have at the moment, but their borders are closed. General Ironwood called everyone back." Right, that guy...

Qrow: "Eh, not everyone." He turns on his scroll, showing a hologram of a highlighted portion of land "The city of Argus is a ways north of us and it's the primary trading port between Anima and Solitas. They've got the largest Atlas military base outside the kingdom. There's no way they'd leave it abandoned, and if we play our cards right, I think there's a good chance we could convince them to escort us straight to Ironwood."

Blake: I mean, we do have the missing Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.

Weiss:"Ex-Heiress, actually." Riiiiigggghhhhtttt, man her father is a complete douche...well...not as a big of a douche as yours since he's ya know...possessed by a mythical Serpent that's hell bent on destroying you for GOD KNOWS WHY!?!?!?-but.......STILL!!!

Yang:"True, true. But if there's a chance of reward money, I say we go for it."

Weiss:"Ugh..." She says VERY unamused.

Ozpin:"Hopefully the first option will suffice." Osc- er...Ozpin walks into the room.

Qrow:"Glad to see you're feeling better."

Ozpin:"Likewise, and while I'm sure we could all use more time to recover, I'm afraid time is of the essence.'"

Blake:"Right, as long as that thing's out in the open, its power could fall into the wrong hands."

Jaune:"Speaking of, what does it do exactly? Qrow never really told us."You all look over to Ozpin, who turns around to face all of you.

Ozpin:"Of course." He grabs the Relic from his hip "The Relic of Knowledge has a wonderful, and incredibly dangerous ability." The Relic begins growing as Sophie looks at it in awe into it's original size as it was found Its user can ask any question, and the lamp will provide an answer. Ozpin places the Relic down, and it floats on the table." Ooooooh mysterious

You(In Mind):"Hey Cole? Have you ever been around the Relics before?"

Cole(Consciousness):"I saw the king of Vale wield both the Relic of Destruction and Choice during the Great War when my power was in your less fortunate ancestors..."

You(In Mind):"HE HAD TWO!?"

Cole(Consciousness):"Indeed, and he was certainly a force to be reckoned with." 

Ren:"Intriguing..."

Blake:"That's incredible..."

Ozpin:"Indeed. However, it's not without drawbacks. The lamp cannot tell of events that have yet to happen, and it will only ever answer three questions every one hundred years."

Yang:"Well, I guess that's not so bad. Adds a lot of pressure though."

Nora:"Then let's put it to a vote! What should we ask first? Oh! Can we ask for more questions? CAN WE ASK FOR MORE QUESTIONS?!" You smirk looking over at Nora who's geeking out over this

Ren(facepalming):"They're not wishes..." You all hear Ozpin chuckling.

Ozpin:"I'm afraid you won't be able to ask it anything at the moment." Nora grunts in frustration "The questions were used before I sealed it away." Huh...wonder what the questions were probably something like...where's the largest deposit of coffee beans.

Ruby:"Well, at least now we know what it is. And we'll be sure to keep it safe!" You all smile and nod, more determined than ever to complete this mission

(Present Day|Train Wreckage)

You look over at Sophie who's still shaken up due to the train wreckage. You walk over to her and wrap your arm around her as she's also shivering due to the cold, slightly. You look over to see Ruby scouring through the train wreckage, picking up Dust bullets, before looking to see the Relic of Knowledge slightly buried in the snow nearby. Right that thing...good to know IT'S A FREAKIN' GRIMM MAGNET!!! You look over and see Yang who's struggling to get her Bumblebee out of the snow. Phew, it was a good thing that wasn't destroyed in the train wreck.

Yang:"Great! This is just great! We're stranded, we lost a third of our party, and we've gained a defenseless old lady!" She does one final heave, managing to get Bumblebee out of snow but she falls onto the ground in process...as the motorcycle does the same. Yang looks pissed...and for good reason, luckily Raiden's there as he sighs and helps Yang up before pulling the motorcycle off of the ground. 

Maria:"My name is Maria Calavera, and I am not defenseless! I'm just a little hard of hearing. And blind without my eyes, that are in desperate need of repair." ...dear lord you all traded Team JNPR for this...She taps on her artificial eyes, which open wide and close, before opening narrowly again. "Okay, I'm starting to see your point." Well at least she recognizes how awful this is as well! Qrow grunts

Qrow:"Yang, knock it off, will ya? If we lose our cool now, we'll just be inviting even more Grimm."

Blake:"Does that even matter? Apparently, we've been attracting Grimm ever since we left Haven." Oh boy this is turning really bad really quickly...

Yang:"Oh, and how could I forget about that?" You all turn to Oscar "What happened to 'no more lies and half truths'?" You can't help but feel bad for Oscar, he didn't ask to be burdened with Ozpin roaming around in his head...

Oscar:"Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation..." Oscar's eyes glow as control of his body is switched to Ozpin, He frowns lightly

Ozpin:"I did not lie to you..."

Weiss:"Well you certainly didn't tell us everything about the Relic." You look down at Sophie who's getting annoyed by this.

Ozpin:"Please, now is not the time."

Yang:"No, we're past that! I wanna know why you're still not telling us everything!"

Ozpin:"It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics. It's faint, but undeniable. I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option."

Raiden:"How is keeping us in the dark a safer option!? You saw what happened to me when I thought that was the right thing to do!"

Weiss:"You know, I'm getting real tired of people choosing what's best for me."

Yang:"Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?"

Ozpin:"Yes, as a matter of fact, I believed the Kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the truth. And I believed Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years."

Yang:"Missteps?!" You frown at the fact that everyone's being so negative, it can't be helped but even still

Ozpin:"What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently, but does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of his good? Do we not all have regrets? You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him."

Yang:"Look, we're supposed to be in this together. You can trust us! We're not gonna turn our backs on you." Ozpin snaps

Ozpin:"Do you really think Leo was the first?!" Everyone stops...all looking straight at Ozpin... "That he didn't say those exact same words to me? I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I..." He stops and realizes something important... "Where's the Relic?" You glance over at Ruby...holding the relic in her hands, looking down slightly before speaking up.

Ruby:"Right here." She holds it in her hands "It got scattered in the crash.'"

Ozpin:"Please, hand it over..." Ozpin reaches his hand out, Ruby hesitates.

Ruby:"So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?" Ozpin sighs...feeling the error of his wording

Ozpin:"That's not what I meant to suggest. Miss Rose, the Relic is a powerful item and I simply feel as though it is my burden to bear." Wait...his burden?

Ruby:"But, you said it couldn't do anything right now."

Blake: Why does it matter who carries it?

Ozpin:"I need you to listen to me-" Ozpin reaches his hand out, but he stops in place, stuck

Qrow:"Oz?"

Oscar(Fighting back):"Hurry... he's... trying to stop you!" O-oh no...Sophie is breathing rapidly as Raiden is glaring at Oscar

Yang:"Stop him from what?"

Oscar:"He's afraid... you'll find out what he's... hiding!" Oscar collapses to his knees, Yang, Weiss, Raiden and Blake glaring at him intensely as you look over at Ruby, still holding the Relic of Knowledge defensively. "Her name is Jinn. Say her name to summon her."

Cole(Subconscious):"Oh Ozpin...just how long were expecting this act to keep up..."

You(Subconscious):"Did you know about this as well..."

Cole(Subconscious):"I knew of others who betrayed Oz...but I've never suspected my comrade and friend to be so riddled with secrets..."

Ruby:"Her name?" Sophie is shivering more as the wind picks up much more, the snow blowing even harder." The Relic starts to...glow in Ruby's hands? "Jinn?" 

Suddenly, the snow stops, floating in midair. The wind stops blowing too. You all look around in shock

Qrow: "What?" Ruby then lets go of the Relic as it floats a short distance away, cyan smoke emanates from it. Suddenly, the lamp is enveloped in the smoke, and from it, a giant er... feminine figure emerges? Her skin and hair colored blue, and decorated with gold jewelry and ornaments. As she is uh...very nearly naked, you look down as to not be rude. The figure stretches and moans...you all look at this figure in awe

Jinn:"Wonderful." You are all HIGHELY confused"Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?"

(Very short chapter I know, but expect the next chapter to come very soon!)