RWBY Through Worlds (End)

211: Pick Me From The Dark

The team was waiting for Shine, and it felt like it had been hours, but in reality it had only been about one.

Oscar lost control to Ozpin after only brief moments of being himself.

The Maidens began to feel their power acting up again too. Whatever had driven them back had worn off.

Qrow struggled to maintain human form, but it felt as if he only just barely succeeded.

Pyrrha, Emerald, and Hazel kept watching the castle with dubious or else somber expressions. The others were almost afraid to even look at it, but they watched for Grimm.

* * *

"You've listened to me this long for a reason." Shine didn't answer Salem's question right off. "Why?"

"You said you would give me what I want," Salem said.

"And what do you want?" Shine asked.

"The Relics," Salem said.

"That is what the gods want you to want." Shine stood up also. "To be reliant on them. Can that be satisfying? Knowing that the only way to get out of this is through them, the same things that made it this way? You lose either way. Unless you could answer their riddle, it's not like they would relent. Don't you feel hopeless?"

"I don't require your counsel on this," Salem said.

"Then I have nothing more to say to you." Shine picked up her bag. "If you don't need my help, then you don't need my help to get the Relics either."

"Do you really wish to incite me into battle?" Salem's eyes glowed red.

Shine stared back, and her eyes flashed gold. "What would that accomplish for you? Has it worked once in thousands of years?"

"This close it would yield results," Salem said.

"And you can be sure they will be the ones you want?" Shine replied. "Defying the gods got you cursed and alone before. Third time? Who knows what they would do? There's always new horrors that can be inflicted. Suppose they strip you of magic this time?"

Salem flinched inwardly... That would truly have left her quite pathetic.

"If you accept our help, that's the best chance of that not happening," Shine said. "But I am asking a lot of you. So I won't demand an answer right now. All I want is that you'll consider it. That's all I came here to accomplish today."

"I thought you wanted to test me," Salem said mockingly.

Shine raised an eyebrow.

Salem frowned.

That was the test.

"Well, the first test--" Shine seemed to read her expression "--was to see if you'd wait at all... Congratulations, you passed that one. I'm encouraged."

"Do not mock me," Salem said.

"I'm quite serious. Ozma didn't do so well." Shine was wise to play that card--only person Salem would have cared about showing up was him.

"Ozma," Salem said quietly. "Yes, he would never agree to any of this... unless he thinks it's possible that it would, in fact, end his curse."

Shine suddenly had a thought that she was surprised she hadn't had before... or if she had, it hadn't been clear enough to be a real plan.

"I don't really rely on his approval," she said aloud. "You would think he'd be in favor of this plan, wouldn't you?"

"That's not the impression I got before," Salem said.