Shine had been trapped in the room for what must have been an hour or 45 minutes minimum.
It felt twice as long under the circumstances.
She kept praying..."help me...send someone..."
When she could think of nothing else, she tried looking for th others to see if they were close, maybe she could portal someone there to help her.
But everyone seemed to be moving...
Ironwood hadn't returned yet for a while, so she waited.
She watched Winter too...she wasn't leaving the courtyard yet.
She decided not to risk bringing someone to herself until that happened. They might be in the middle of something else.
But this was getting tiresome...
Then she heard a commotion and voices, but whose?
"Hey!" She yelled. "Someone! Help!"
If it was Atlas people, she'd probably not be released...
Her voice didn't seem to carry very far beyond these thick doors.
Just when she wondered if they'd passed, someone started jiggling the door.
Had Penny locked it?
Then it vibrated off its hinges.
"Shine?" Wally hissed.
"Over here!" Shine almost choked in her relief.
"Oh there you are," Wally sped over. "Hey babe," he put his hand on the cuffs. "Huh...this could hurt you."
"I got it," Shine's aura appeared. "This seems to help, hurry up before it fades."
Wally vibrated the cuffs till they cracked into pieces.
Shine got up, rubbing her wrists. "Ah my feet almost fell asleep," she limped.
"Okay, I know we probably have to go, but how?" Wally asked.
"Penny." Shine said. "Winter ordered her to...I said I might have to try to rescue Fria, the Maiden."
"Maiden? Oh right," Wally snapped his fingers. "You think...but now?"
"I don't know," Shine said.
"Actually maybe," Wally got a bad feeling. "Cinder is here. She left a glass thing. Oh...and everyone on the team is now under arrest. Fugitives."
"All of them?" Shine said.
"Yes," Wally said. "And Ironwood is abandoning Mantle..." he quickly told Shine all else that happened, in like 5 seconds, but she was able to follow it just fine.
"Well...this flipped upside down fast," she said blankly. "One minute this was going well, and the next...that idiot."
"Yeah...I kind of see why he's mad though," Wally said. "But still, arresting them? They didn't do anything that bad."
"Depends on how you look at it, but I think that declaring a bunch of kids fugitives just for disagreeing with him is extreme," Shine said.
"So... are you going to say I told you so..." Wally said. "Because if you're going to gloat, I'd rather you do it here where no one else can hear it than in front of them."
"Oh wow, you all should have listened to me," Shine said all monotone. "I was so right. Yay. Does this help?"
"You know even if you're being sarcastic, it still stings that it's true," Wally said.
"What do you want from me?!" Shine threw her hands up.
"A plan. What do we do?" Wally said. "Seriously, I'm dying here, I have no idea what we should do next. I've never been a fugitive before...well, kind of that one time, but we voluntarily turned ourselves in, so it's not the same."
"You're asking me?" Shine said.
Wally grabbed her shoulders. "Look Shine, this is not time to start second guessing yourself, you're the ideas person! And one of the smartest people I know, so what do we do?"
Shine looked surprising at him, but then she swallowed. "The kids shouldn't get arrested, even if they were wrong. Ironwood has clearly lost his grip, and we can't trust him to rectify this. So they're the best bet. We'll need Oscar too, he and Ozpin are the only other people anyone will listen to. But we have to get the Winter Maiden. I know that making people's choices is outside our jurisdiction, but saving people's lives isn't. She can't just die like this, it's not right. Something about it will taint those powers, I'm sure of it."
"Okay, don't know what that means, but save her, got it," Wally said. "How?"
"We'd need a place to hide," Shine said. "One that Cinder wouldn't think of. She'll be after the maiden powers no doubt. For now, we'll just have to suffice with Mantle till we can think of something else. I'm not sure I can portal Fria, with her magic, however."
"The kids were getting a plane," Wally said.
"Okay...you get her out of the hospital," Shine said. "I'll find them, we'll get a plane somehow, and then come and find you. Assuming that works. While we're at, it, we can see about picking up Oscar. I think I can bring him, though. His magic doesn't seem to be an issue since he doesn't use it."
"This is a terrible plan," Wally said.
"You just asked me to come up with one!" Shine said.
"I'm not saying I could do better, it's just that we have almost nothing to work with," Wally said.
"Well, God is on our side," Shine said. "If that helps."
She kissed him. "Ready? I can get you closer to her."
"Okay, but careful, don't over do it, we might need a quick escape," Wally said.
"Mmm," Shine opened a doorway.
Wally ran through it.
* * *
Ironwood had called Winter right after the girls left.
He mentioned that Wally had taken them off also, but his main concern was tell her to secure the Maiden.
That meant take the powers.
Winter's stomach twisted but she said "Yes, Sir."
She motioned to Penny. "Let's go."
They rushed that way, but unbeknownst to them, Cinder was watching, waiting to see where they'd go.
"I do not feel right about leaving Miss Likstar alone," Penny said.
"She couldn't escape," Winter said, "not tied to the wall."
"That is not what I meant," Penny said.
They arrived there only minutes before Wally would arrive.
Getting Fria into the machine turned out to be easy enough; she was always docile with Winter.
Winter realized her hands were shaking.
"I hope...she won't suffer..." she said.
"Winter..." Penny said, "are you...sure that we're doing the right thing?"
"We have no choice!" Winter lashed out at her with surprising viciousness.
Penny flinched.
Winter forced herself to calm. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. What I mean is, we have to do this. For the greater good...even if personally we feel it's not right."
Fria was a sweet lady after all...
Winter had always tried to keep the job in mind while taking care of her... Still...
"I think I understand," Penny said. "But at the same time, Miss Likstar said something to me--"
"Forget what she said," Winter said. "That woman is not one of us. She's not military. She's just some person from outside the kingdoms who thinks she knows how to handle things. She doesn't!"
"But," Penny said, "that's just it. That's not what bothered me... She asked about when I died."
Winter stared at her.
"If it was worth it," Penny said. "And I realized...they killed me so they could win their war. Aren't we doing the same thing?"
Silence.
Winter looked from Penny to Fria, who wasn't listening.
There really was no difference, was there?
She thought about the look on Pyrrha's face when she talked about it... Did she look happy? Satisfied that she'd done the right thing?
And what happened to her? Killed out of spite...fighting over those powers...
Penny seemed to read Winter's expression.
"I think enough people have been killed fighting for this," she said.
Winter glanced at the machine.
"If we don't do it, we'll be disobeying direct orders," she said slowly. "That's treason."
"But maybe this is one thing we shouldn't be ordered to do," Penny said.
Winter remembered Shine's words: No one could order you to give up your soul--that was your own...
The General wouldn't understand that.
"Penny, even if we don't, he will," she said, shaking her head. "And the power may end up going to me anyway. What are we saving by not doing it? We have no choice. It might as well be us."
"That doesn't make it right!" Penny cried.
"I agree," someone else's voice cut into this.
A blast of fire sent Winter hurtling into the wall, and Penny turned.
Cinder, dressed way too cold for the weather in Atlas, was standing there, hand on fire.
"It most certainly wouldn't be right if you got those powers," she said, with a sly smile. "I, on the other hand, would be the perfect fit."
"You...you're one of the people who killed me," Penny said.
"It was, unfortunately, temporary," Cinder said. "How nice to find both of Ironwood's puppets in the same place. Saves me the trouble of hunting both of you down."
Winter got to her feet, drawing her sword.
Fria seemed to be asleep right now. Winter hoped she didn't wake up to see that--might give her a heart attack.
Would that be better than the alternative?
Then the realization she was asking this at all disgusted her suddenly. What on Remnant was she doing?!
Cinder gave her and Penny no time to contemplate the morality of their actions further--she attacked.
Penny did a decent job at holding her off at first, and then Winter attacked also, but Cinder blasted a hole in the wall and then flew outside.
Winter flew on one of her summoned creatures, while Penny flew.
Cinder yelled something about not losing to a toy--which didn't resonate with them as any kind of statement worth making--but then she knocked Winter off her Grimm, and Penny had to save her.
"I could have caught myself!" Winter shouted. "She'll get the Maiden!"
"I didn't want to take that chance," Penny said. "But maybe you're right."
They looped back around--just in time to see a cylinder-shaped pillar of ice cold snow and wind rise up out of the hospital, blasting the roof off of it.
Cinder had tried to grab Fria and had been stopped by her, with one hand. Then the cold had sent her out, and she was now unable to get past it.
"That is the power of a fully realized Maiden." Winter gaped at it.
She tried to reach in, and it was cold.
"One of us has to go in there," Penny said. "She can't last for long like this. And Cinder--"
"Wait, Penny--" Winter wanted to say she wasn't sure this was a good idea to do alone, but Penny didn't wait and dove in.
Right then, Wally came racing out of the hospital.
"What the heck is that?" he yelled at Winter.
"What are you doing here?" Winter cried. "Aren't you a criminal now?"
"I don't know, maybe," Wally dismissed it. "Is that the Maiden...? Heck, even I can feel that magic..."
He shivered. "It's weird..."
"West, get out of here," Winter said sharply. "If I'm caught not arresting you, I'll get in trouble as well."
"No can do, Winter," Wally said. "We can't let you do this to her."
"Why do you care so much? You've never even met her!" Winter yelled at him.
"It doesn't matter," Wally shot back, though not that angrily. Just emotional. "She's a human being! We save people! That's what we do. Because people are worth something!"
Winter stared at him.
"Well, you're too late," she said, flatly. "If she keeps this up much longer, she'll die of exhaustion before either of us can do anything."
Wally glanced at the wall. "Magic..." he said. "We're supposed to be able to do something."
Then he got what was probably a pretty dumb idea, on paper.
"Spirit power time!" he said.
He dashed right into the swirling ice wall.
"Are you mad!?" Winter yelled after him. "It'll kill you!"
Wally ran around the same circle as the magical wind, then he ran faster than it, countering it...so that it got sucked away in the force of his whirlwind.
Suddenly it all vanished, and Fria and Penny were just sitting there.
Fria didn't look so good.
Winter wasn't sure whether to be more concerned that that idea had worked or that Fria was now vulnerable.
Cinder left her little time to think about it. She attacked.
Penny deflected.
Wally, who was now pretty cold, fell over.
"Young man?" Fria looked at him in bewilderment. "Are you all right?"
"I'm good," Wally shivered. "Just a little cold. Kind of makes it hard to run..."
"Cold?" Cinder smacked Penny aside. "I'll heat you up!"
She threw fire at him.
Winter managed to deflect it in the nick of time.
Then she attacked Cinder again.
After some badly timed strikes, she finally succeeded in cutting her arm off.
Cinder started screaming and writhing in pain.
But then it began growing back...
Winter almost threw up.
Penny recovered and stood in front of Fria. "How can we stop her?"
"Magic..." Wally groaned. "Should be able to fight it..."
Winter thought it was a stupid idea, but she had no better one, so she ran up to him.
"Here." She held up some fire dust and threw it in front of him. "Get up. Can you do something to counter her or not?"
"I'm not sure. I've never had to try," Wally said.
"Well, make up your mind," Winter said.
Cinder was almost recovered now.
Penny hit her into the snow, but she made more fire and used it to stop her before anyone was able to kill her.
Fria shivered.
"She needs to get inside," Wally said.
"And where do you suggest?" Winter snapped at him.
Then she moved to attack Cinder again--and got brutally beaten. Cinder pinned her and put a wall of fire between her and Wally and Penny at the same time.
She held up a sword.
Just then, Ruby and Weiss appeared overhead. Shine was right behind them.
"Here!" Weiss said
* * *
Shine had had no trouble finding the girls, and Maria had already shown up in a plane to bail them out.
Shine had told them to fly right to the hospital. [As an aside, how did they know to go there at all before?]
Ruby blasted Cinder just as she was about to stab Winter.
Wally nodded at Shine and then scooped Fria up.
"I had something to do..." Fria said.
"Yeah, but later," Wally said.
Shine pointed down the street.
"No!" Cinder said.
Ruby frowned at her.
She turned and ran for it.
"Winter!" Weiss cried, coming closer to her.
Wally took off with Fria.
"Ruby, Weiss, we have to go," Shine said. "Ironwood will send back up soon enough once he sees that hole in the ceiling."
"But Winter..." Weiss said.
"We can bring her," Shine said.
"No!" Winter struggled to sit up. Her hair had been knocked loose in the fight, and she had a black eye. "I'm not going anywhere with you. This has gone far enough! You should run."
"I can't just leave you here," Weiss said.
"Yeah, what if Cinder comes back?" Shine said. "She would, out of spite."
"You're not leaving me, I'm giving you a head start," Winter said. Pressing her com-link. "Lieutenant Schnee requesting backup and medical assistance."
"It could be an hour before they get here under the circumstances," Shine said. "It would be wiser to to let us help you. At least we could drop you somewhere less destroyed."
"You fool, you're a fugitive," Winter said.
"But..." Weiss said.
"I don't feel right about this," Penny said.
"Penny," Winter said, "the General will blame you for not doing as he said..."
"But you too..." Penny said.
Shine frowned, then she said, "No...she looks beat up enough for him to buy that she lost. You don't. You have a choice to make."
Penny looked from Ruby and Weiss to Winter.
"Come on," Ruby said. "You should be with us."
"I...I should protect the Maiden," Penny said. "That's my job. I'm sorry, Winter."
"Go then," Winter said, tightly.
Penny and Ruby took off.
"But..." Weiss said.
"I've got it," Shine told her. "Go, I'll meet you there."
Weiss ran.
"Don't get any ideas," Winter said. "You're in enough trouble as it is."
"I'm only going to make sure that Cinder does not come back," Shine said. "And there's something else you should know: Neopolitan is also here."
"Who is that?" Winter asked.
"She helped in the fall of Beacon," Shine said. "Tri-colored hair. Worked for Roman Torchwick... She has to be connected to this somehow. I can't be sure how. Don't trust anyone who can't speak, all right? Cinder had to have gotten into the school somehow."
Winter swallowed.
"Did you try to do it?" Shine asked, after a moment.
Winter frowned. "Why does it matter? You're stealing her."
"Saving her, actually," Shine said. "We both know she won't last long away from power and medical care. But it's better than the alternative. You didn't answer my question."
"Ask Penny," Winter said shortly. "She's more honest, isn't she?"
"I guess I'd know if she lied," Shine said. "I'm sorry, by the way."
They heard voices suddenly.
"I guess they were close," Shine said. "That makes sense, on second thought. We are next to the hospital. I have to go. But here--"
She suddenly had the hand cuffs, and she slipped one around Winter's not-sprained wrist, then took her (Winter's) sword and jabbed it into the ice with the other cuff around it.
"What are you doing?" Winter frowned.
"Making this look convincing." Shine saluted her. "See you later."
She ran away.
The medical team and a few soldiers arrived right after that, to find what certainly looked like a convincing scene of Winter being overpowered. No questions were asked.
Winter had two thoughts.
One, she'd just failed...both on purpose and unintentionally at the same time.
Two, she'd just seen her sister leave with the Winter Maiden, and Cinder was out there looking for her.
Could this get worse?
[Volume 8 says it could always get worse... *Cries in viewer.*]
* * *
Shine caught up to the others.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5," she said.
"Huh?" Weiss asked.
"I'm counting how many portals I used since we left your house," Shine said. "I have a limit of about 6, maybe 7 if I haven't done anything else strenuous. After that, I could die if I push myself."
"That's just great," Yang said sarcastically.
"Shut up, Yang." Shine was in no mood for this. "I can still bring Oscar and team JNPR here. They are in the same place, right?"
"We told them to find him," Ruby said.
They met team JNPR running out of the school grounds.
But Oscar was not there.
"He went off alone, said he had to do something," Jaune said. "And...we lost the Lamp."
Pyrrha shook her head.
"How did you...?" Weiss said.
"It was Neopolitan," Ren said. "She was there."
Shine slapped her forehead. "I knew I should have mentioned it sooner! How could I forget?"
"What?! You knew?!" Yang said.
"I saw her at the mansion, and I was going to tell you all, but then everything went chaotic and I forgot that I hadn't yet," Shine said.
"You just forgot to mention that some psychopath was on the loose!" Yang said.
"Kind of like how you all forgot to mention it to Mantle," Shine shot back.
"Okay, stop," Ruby said. "It won't help to point fingers now. How did she get the Lamp?"
"She accosted Oscar in disguise and then us, and then she gave us the slip," Jaune said.
"Pyrrha probably could have stopped her," Nora said, "with her Semblance and all, but unfortunately, a bunch of other Atlas jokers kind of came for us, and she got busy fighting them. We ran on ahead, and by the time she caught up, we lost her."
"Oh..." Weiss said.
"Wait...can you track it?" Pyrrha asked Shine.
Shine's eyes lit up and then went out.
"No," she said slowly. "It's magic. I can't track magic, not usually. And Neo is too close to it for me to see her. Magic blinds us."
"How is that possible when you can sense it?" Ren said.
"Because what I see and what I sense are two different things," Shine said. "I see things because of my gift to find people and the truth. Magic does not rely on truth. I sense it the way you sense an illness in your body, not the way you feel your heart beat. Only when it's near enough for something to go wrong, in other words."
"Why do your powers have such stupid rules?!" Yang burst out.
"Can you find Oscar?" Ruby changed the subject.
"How long ago did he go missing?" Shine asked.
"It must have been 15 minutes, nearly," Jaune said.
Shine's eyes lit up and then flickered out again.
"Oh no..." she said.
"What?" Ruby said sharply.
"I thought I had him for a second, but then it clouded over," Shine said. "Magic..."
"So he has the Relic again?" Nora said hopefully.
"Why else would he be around magic?" Ren said.
Pyrrha suddenly gasped. "The Vault."
* * *
Oscar had gone down to the Vault to speak with Ironwood again. To try to reason with him one last time.
He was still hoping he could smooth this over, mending the broken trust.
It wasn't a great sign that the first thing Ironwood said was, "And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"
Oscar felt a chill even from his tone.
"Still just me," he said, holding the cane out. Neo had beaten him up pretty good.
Only reason she'd not killed him was, when she tried to, he activated his Aura and it was much stronger than usual--she'd been bounced off it like a forcefield.
Seeing that, she'd decided to just hightail out of there.
He still wasn't sure how he'd done that, and Ozpin had not given him any help in the matter, so he had set it aside for later.
[Better explanation than the show's--which was none at all, unless you believe Neo just thought he was too cute to kill.]
"It was smart of you not to bring the Lamp down here," Ironwood said. "I wouldn't trust me either."
It was probably not the best time to say they'd lost it.
"Trust is what I'm hoping to fix," Oscar said. "I know we can still figure this out. There's more. There's still things we haven't tried--" He was about to suggest trying Shine and Wally's idea but Ironwood didn't give him the chance.
"Do you intend to fight me?" he said, looking at the cane.
Was he even listening?
"No," Oscar said carefully. "That's exactly what she wants... I guess it's because of Oz, but holding it helps calm me down, when I'm afraid."
At least it didn't seem like it was magic. He didn't like using magic. He put it away.
"You still think I'm afraid?" Ironwood said.
Uh...he hadn't said anything about him being afraid...
Oscar wondered again if James was even listening to him at all. [Nope. Paranoia really will do that to a guy.]
"We all are." He struggled to maintain a neutral position. "It's what we do in our fear that reveals--"
He wasn't sure where he was going with this, but the words just seemed to come to him.
They had some effect--James got angry.
"That's easy for you to say!" he yelled. "You can label me whatever you'd like, but the fact of the matter was I was right! The minute I softened, let my guard down, that's when Salem had her opening!"
"If you abandon Mantle now, you abandon our best chance of uniting the world, of saving Remnant, leaving millions to fend for themselves, so a few can survive. What kind of--" Oscar began, trying a different tact.
"All excellent philosophical points," Ironwood cut him off, "that won't matter if Salem wins."
"They won't matter anyway then!" Oscar cried. "Listen to me!"
"No, you listen!" Ironwood cut him off. "I am done letting others' inability to see the big picture get in the way of doing what's right. Robyn, the Council, this kingdom, even you." He looked hard then.
And calculating...like he was sizing Oscar up.
"Then you're as dangerous as she is, James," he said slowly.
Was that Ozpin's thought? Or his...? No, it didn't matter this time, because he knew it was right... James was doing exactly what Salem had done once...casting aside all other considerations except his own.
James looked down. "James is what my friends call me," he said. "To you, it's General."
Oscar had a million things to say right then, but before he could say any of them, General Ironwood pulled out his gun and shot him, right off the edge of the walkway.
There was a void into the hunk of rock that Atlas was on, and Oscar plummeted down it.
Ironwood walked away.
* * *
Falling... Falling...
"Oscar!" Ozpin's voice spoke. "Listen to me. I have a way to save us. Focus and call on my powers. Make a forcefield."
"Huh?" Oscar was barely even conscious after that, but then he snapped awake.
No! He didn't have a landing strategy!
Where did that come from?
"Okay," he said. "Magic...right..."
He focused.
The feeling of magic began to build a little inside him--
But strangely there was another feeling, almost like one of panic or outrage, that rose up against the magical feeling.
"What is this?" Ozpin said.
Don't do it, another voice said in Oscar's head. A small, quiet voice that didn't match how fast his thoughts were racing--or Ozpin's panicked ones.
Don't do what? What was going on?
"Did you hear that?" Oscar asked Ozpin.
"I heard nothing, except that you're not using magic," Ozpin said.
"I can't... Something stopped me," Oscar said.
"Fight it, Oscar, we're going to die!" Ozpin said. "More accurately, you will, and I'll reincarnate!"
"No," Oscar said. "It's too soon for that."
"Let me, then!" Ozpin took over without asking
Magic formed below him.
They were about to hit the ground, and he blasted a hole out of it.
They fell out of the chunk of rock.
"There now..." Ozpin said.
Oscar felt weird still.
"Oz, I don't like this," he said. "Something is wrong."
He realized his soul was trying to merge with Ozpin's while he was using magic, but at the same time, something else was pushing it, like a hand.
"Oz, stop using magic!" he said.
"If I do that we die!" Ozpin said.
The feeling was getting unbearable.
"Stop it!" Oscar said.
Suddenly he was back in control.
"Oz?" he said.
"Ow..." Ozpin said. "How did you do that...?"
Oscar saw the ground below him...getting closer by the second.
"Oh no..." he started yelling.
* * *
"We can't leave without Oscar!" Ruby was arguing with the rest of the team.
"We won't have a choice if he doesn't call us!" Yang said.
"We can't stay here. Someone will find us," Maria called.
Shine shook her head.
Suddenly a terrible feeling gripped her from the inside.
Oscar flashed into her mind.
She stood up suddenly, and her eyes lit up.
"I see him!" she yelled. "He's--oh no--"
"What?" Weiss said.
"He's falling." Shine opened a portal without another word to them and dove into it.
Ruby might have gone after her, had it not shut instantly.
"Falling?" Jaune said nervously.
"Oh no..." Pyrrha said.
* * *
Oscar wondered why he'd been told not to use magic when he was about to die.
"Oz?" he said. But Ozpin seemed to have lost his voice.
Suddenly right below him there was a flash of purplish-gold light, and Shine fell out of her portal.
"Ahh!" she screamed...then she looked up.
"Shine?" Oscar choked on air.
"Oscar, grab on!" Shine screamed at the top of her lungs.
To what?
Then Oscar remembered the cane.
He held it out, and she somehow managed to grab the end of it. She was only just below him.
"One more," he heard her saying. "Give me the extra grace for one more."
One more what?
Then a door opened right below them, and they fell into it. Shine pulled Oscar after her.
It shut overhead.
Instead of opening to a room, it was just to more air--about 5 feet from the ground below, in Mantle, right by the crater.
They hit the ground painfully, but their Auras activated and helped break their fall a little.
"Ow..." Shine moaned.
Oscar sat up. "We're...alive?!" he said, in a really not manly voice.
Shine pushed herself up. "Yeah...that was close."
"You...saved me?" Oscar said.
"Yeah...barely," Shine said.
Suddenly Oscar started shaking from head to foot, and almost convulsing.
"What's going on...?" he cried. "Ow... What's wrong?..."
Shine's eyes gleamed again.
"Magic..." she said. "Did you use magic?"
"I...did..." Oscar said.
"Oscar!"
"Ozpin did," Oscar said. "For a moment, but then he lost control..."
Shine dragged herself over to him and pulled out her sword.
"Oscar, disagree with it, now," she said.
"What?"
"Say you're not Ozpin and his magic will not affect you," Shine said.
"What's that going to--?" Oscar broke off to gasp because it was getting worse.
"Say it!" Shine said. "I'll help."
She put her sword on his shoulder. "Ozma's magic is not Oscar's. Let him go."
"It's not mine..." Oscar managed to get out. "Let go..."
Shine said something else. It sounded like a name.
Oscar almost blacked out...and then suddenly it was gone.
He felt completely fine.
Shine sat back. "Well, that was interesting."
She fell sideways. "And I'm drained now. No way I can get us back to the others... You'll have to call them..."
Oscar wasn't sure he'd be able to right away.
"What was that?" he asked.
Shine had her eyes closed, or half closed. "You received new power yesterday, when we were talking about it..." she said in a sleepy voice. "Remember?... That new power is antithetical to magic. When you use magic now, it's going to be at war with it... Our power is stronger, but if you willingly compromise with magic, it will grow weaker, be eaten away. If Ozpin tries to do it against your will, it will fight itself... You must maintain control unless he is willing not to use his powers. Or both of you will end up helpless."
Oscar stared at her. "But...isn't that...making it worse? Not better?"
"I should say so!" Ozpin was finally able to speak again. "I felt like I almost died! Inside!"
Shine looked up, a bit more alert.
"Did you really think switching masters would have no consequences?" she said oddly. "Oscar, this means turning your back on all other gods... Where do you think magic comes from?"
Silence.
"So...what now?" Oscar said.
"Do you want to go back?" Shine said. "You want magic, at the cost of binding your soul to his bit by bit? Or do you not feel yourself merging with Ozpin when you use it? Why do you think that is? Magic is from the gods. It makes their curse stronger. Did you not understand why we wanted you to have a different power? Every time you rely on Our Master, your curse will weaken. If you backtrack, you're saying you prefer the curse. Because you don't get one without the other. If you want to live in one man's house, you will eat his food too. And pay his rent. If you wish to move, you have to leave it all behind. That is the choice you must make now."
"No magic..." Oscar said.
"None?" Ozpin said. "But we'd be practically helpless..."
"Maybe, maybe not... 'What is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?'" Shine asked. "Quite literally, in your case. You wanted the world...but you lost your soul. What choice will you make, Oscar?"
Oscar suddenly saw that she was right.
There was no choice, then. Not for him.
"All right," he said. "No more magic. I thought it felt wrong anyway, I just wasn't sure why. Even before..."
"Yes..." Shine said. "Something tells me that you must have already had some ability to sense the difference even before now. Must be another gift."
"Does this mean I won't get a Semblance?" Oscar said.
"I'm not sure. If you do, I anticipate it will change somewhat from the others'," Shine was sleepy again. "Don't worry, Oscar, we're not helpless. It just might take some time for you to learn to fight how we fight. That's why I'm here..."
She said, as she was already half asleep.
Somehow, though, Oscar felt safer anyway.
"Well...thanks for saving me," he said. "That was risky."
"Please, I beg of you, do not remind me of how risky that was," Shine mumbled. "If I had time to think about it, I would have fainted."
"Well...she's a brave girl," Ozpin said seriously. "I don't know if I like this situation, Oscar...but it's yours to make. I...won't try to force magic on you...especially not after that experience."
"Thanks, Oz." Oscar began to hope for the first time that Ozpin might just have learned something the past two weeks.
Who knew?
"I still failed..." he mused, "to stop Ironwood."
Shine looked up again.
"It was never your job to do that," she said slowly. "He will have to stop himself, or else he'll be stopped by force. You didn't fail. All we can do is try. We cannot make people listen, the Bible says. If you warned him, you did your job. We all have a choice, Oscar, and the best words in the world will not reach someone who's hardened their heart so much they don't care about what's true anymore. Don't let it make you feel weak--be glad that you still tried. Not many people would have."
Oscar sniffled a little. "But now what?"
Shine finally sat up and then moved to a piece of wood that was around and motioned him over.
They both sat against it.
"We'll wait for the others to come get us," Shine said. "In the interim, I always like to pass the time with a song after a stressful experience."
She really hadn't been kidding about that.
Oscar supposed it was fine...at least to take his mind off what just happened.
Shine started singing--a song that sounded like it could have been written for this situation.
"Another couple kids with their heads on top
Just another stranger just another plot
Another track home where the city streets stop
Just another kid with another bored cop. Just another lemon into lemonade job
Just another rust and dust facade
Just another key stuck broken in the lock
Just another scarecrow choking on a cough
It all feels so typical. Guess I'm looking for a miracle
Rise above it, yeah!
Rise above it
Don't care what they're telling me
We can be what we want to be. Listen up loud, listen up, listen here
Just because you're running
Doesn't mean that you're scared
Just because it's law don't mean it is fair
Never let another tell your soul what to fear. Here we go again, give it one more try
Don't believe the system's on your side
Just another lover turned enemy fight
Just another blood and nicotine sky
I get so sick of it
It feels so counterfeit
I rise above it
Rise above it
Hear our voices rise
Hear our battle cry
We've been under the curse
With our arms raised high
Hear us sing tonight
Like the last night on earth
We will rise like the tide
Like dead men
Coming back to life
We are rising
Rising. Turn it up now, listen loud and clear
Just because you're present doesn't mean that you're here
Oh, come on!
The curse is spoken
The system's broken
Rise above it, yeah!
Rise above it."
[End of Arc 2.]