What Happens Next (Slay The Princess/RWBY)

*Calm down, Penny, you can do it.* You tell yourself.

"Didn't you want to learn more about people? Wouldn't having everyone doing the same thing, thinking the same thing, defeat this purpose?" You begin. "Certainly, humanity would be united in this case, but is a unity born of destroying their mind what you want?"

Your mother grows pensive at that, muttering to herself.

Then she redirects her gaze to you. Behind her, you can see Dorothy looking at you with hope from inside Ozpin's arms. You have to do it, for her and for everyone. You begin to think, to try to search how to change the situation to your advantage….

"I'll admit that having them all be the same would reduce change too much, but surely, you wouldn't disagree with putting those that would hurt others under my sway, wouldn't you, dear?" Your mother interrupts your thoughts. She is indicating the man slumped at her feet, a man you missed due to her presence taking all your attention. Your data telling you that this is Leonardo Lionheart, why is he unconscious? "This pitiful being was trying to allow an enemy to listen on confidential talks." She answers your silent question. "Now he will serve me and never betray the people of Remnant again, isn't that a just retribution? A broken traitor put to work to help the cause." She continues.

Your mother is currently completely certain of her own righteousness, isn't she? Maybe that's what you can use. Take her pride and turn it against her.

"Is it you talking or is it your current vessel?" You ask, unsure of it yourself. No, you have to be certain, stop that thought.

As if to answer your question, you see the shadow of something behind your mother's body, a being that is smaller than her towering form, yet radiate a presence far stronger even so removed from your sight.

"Trying to turn me against myself Daughter?" Your mother tsk with a smile. "How unbecoming of you. You, more than almost any other on this world, knows that I am what I am no matter the form it takes." She sighs with what seems to be deliberately false disappointment. "I thought you understood me." Then she gives a true smile and you can't help but feel happy to see it, even if things aren't going as you wanted. "But you do, don't you? I can fell your doubts about *me* not wanting what *I* want right now." She then looks at you with all her attention, the full weight of her current form's aura of authority trying to break your back.

You do not let it. You proudly stay straight and look her in the eyes in defiance. Even if you cannot use this previous thought due to your own doubts, you can still convince her that her current idea of taking over the world is wrong, of that, you still are certain.

"Very well then, let's put it to the test." Your mother intones with finality. "I didn't do it sooner for fear of breaking you, but I see that you are strong. Show me how much, Penny Pollendina. It is time we move this conversation to a more private place."

Before you have time to process what she implies, you are taken by a tide of hands closing over your body. You can feel yourself move in a direction you have no name for. When the hands let you go, all you can see is your mother. Not due to her being too close to hide everything else, but due to her being the entirety of the landscape around you. From horizon to horizon, all you see is a sea of vessels, bodies upon bodies upon bodies, all of them the same being, all of them an individual, all of them changing at all times, all of them staying the same.

You understand that you are in front of the Shifting mound, the true nature of your mother bare before your eyes.

Finding yourself here for the first time, you realize something. While you had never searched more on why you were born when your mother showed her true self to Ozpin, both of you did wonder for a time. You just assumed you wouldn't find any answer and moved on. Except, you know now, you can feel it in your soul. When your father created your code, he made a crucible to pour his soul in, and when the influence of your mother swept over the world, a small part got caught in it. Too small for her to feel it, but enough for you to crystallize around.

You feel at home here, and you know that if, one day, you want to rest here in peace, leaving all worry behind, you will be able to.

But for now, you have to concentrate on the main body of your mother, looking at you from a little farther away. Just as you had seen for the split second her silhouette appeared behind her vessel earlier, she is smaller than the towering form she had, though still bigger than a human. Her five faces are studying your reaction with a faint smile, the bodies serving as her hair moving as if they were in an invisible wind. You cannot help but wish you could wear a tiara like hers, certainly, the floating pieces would be difficult to replicate but you are sure that with some dust and engineering… oh! You haven't greeted her yet!

"Sa-lu-tation, mother! This is the first time I can finally see you completely." You cheerfully announce, prompting an amused noise from her.

"Yes, I can finally see you, and you can finally see me. Welcome, my dear daughter." She seems far less aggressive than before, is it a good sign?

You decide to use her apparent willingness to discuss to ask some of the questions entering this place gave you:

"Since you revealed yourself, does that means there is going to be a similar thing to the day of change once again?" You wonder.

"No, what happened with Ozpin was me coming to where he was so he could see me, right now, I took you to meet me instead. My presence is still as muted to Remnant as ever." She calmly explains.

"You took me to you? But why didn't you do the same for Headmaster Ozpin in that case?" You ask while tilting your head.

"As experienced a mortal he is, he is still a mortal, you, my little one, carry a part of me in your soul." You cannot help but touch your chest right where you feel a warmth at her words. "I had been afraid of what could happen if I took you here until now, would you be turned into one of me?" She indicates the sea of her body all around you, all her eyes watching the scene from the side. " Would you turn mad? But you proved yourself earlier against the Tower, and you did say you wanted to prove that you could show me how wrong I was." Suddenly, she goes from calm to ready to fight. Her six arms spread wide, her faces smiling in anticipation of her victory and her return to conquer the world of Remnant.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oZ_lLIcXE0

There is a rumble, one that soon turns into a full-blown earthquake, Princessequake? Shiftingmoundquake? There is only her in this place after all, shouldn't it be named after her instead of the ground? Your spiraling thoughts are interrupted when, with the last and greatest of tremors, a head appears behind your mother's pillar/body. It makes the Tower seems small by comparison, easily reaching her previous full height with just that part of her body visible. She is radiating a color that your sensors cannot identify at first until your database find a potential match in the impossible color named *Self-luminous red*, a color that you shouldn't be able to see due to it being an artefact of how humans' eyes see the world.

Your mother opens her mouths once again, but instead of only hearing her, you suddenly see a new scene as if you were here.

You see a woman you recognize as a student from Haven academy, though she isn't yet sporting the tapestry of scars you had seen on her. This seems to be when she got them, as she is attacked on all sides by a dense network of nerves/roots rooting themselves in her skin and soul. You know that this network is your mother, and that this is her view of this moment. You hear your mother's voices, they have gained a divine edge, all but commanding the world to listen.

---

"When this woman thought she was about to reach the pinnacle of her life, she found herself in my sight. From her greatest triumph, I created her darkest failure, showing her mind and soul the futility of following the being she thought as her benefactor and exposing her lies. She felt me from our link and her eyes opened to the truth."

You are the Shifting mound, and you are observing the reaction of your daughter to the lesson you just showed her. As she comes back to seeing you in the present, you continue.

"This entire world is stuck, never able to make progress for long before the forces of Grimm come and destroy all. The woman thought that she could rise above it by stealing a power that wasn't hers, but she realized that all it had done was make her a pawn. By breaking her resolve, I gave the side of humanity a new soldier to help against the tide. But even that is fleeting, wouldn't it be better to let me stop it? To show the little woman that thinks herself Queen of the Grimm how small she is?" Your daughter is listening to your every word, you are sure that she will agree with you and this makes you smile. "I can guarantee a future if only those that work against it step in line. Humanity will never reach its full potential when lost in the darkness, I can give them the light of my divinity as a guiding star."

You watch with anticipation, waiting for her agreement. Certainly, the Long quiet did push back against you when put in a similar situation, but your goal wasn't as good at the time, a blind following of what you thought was the entire truth. You have learned since, have stopped ignoring the worth of mortals. Surely, she will agree… your smile gets a little strained, Penny still isn't answering one way or the other to your implied proposition, she will agree, right? There is a pulse from the Apotheosis behind you, reassuring you of the righteousness of your cause, yes, Penny will agree, you are sure of it.

"What you did to that woman wasn't very nice. I could feel your intent at the time, you know you didn't have to hurt her that much." Is her agreemen… wait, that doesn't sound like an agreement. You frown.

"She was a criminal who had just destroyed another person's soul in a far more thorough manner than what I did. This was only a punishment for her actions." You retort. Then, you decide to give weight to your point, the Apotheosis sinking back and the Moment of clarity raising herself from your depths. You show the moment you took Adam's mind to Penny.

…Or at least you intended to, but as soon as the Apotheosis is replaced, you realize how much influence you let the impression that the woman from Haven had of you change you. The Moment of Clarity takes a look at the situation and decides that she is not needed, going back where she came from.

You put your heads in your hands, eliciting a laugh from Penny at you turning beet red. Several of your bodies are trying to hide themselves below others, only to have them push them up to hide them instead. You are a mess.

Really, what were you thinking, trying to intimidate your daughter like that? You had just finished learning about a plan to get rid of the Grimm with Ozpin too, one that didn't require you to be the punishing god you just tried to be.

If it hadn't been for the trust in you Penny has, as well as what you think has to be an explanation from Sable to Ironwood, as the perspective of you you can feel from the man has changed a little bit, how far would you have gone?

You need to have a talk with your worshipper, maybe actually offer her therapy… or a restraining order. Probably the second.

"Does that mean you have calmed down on trying to punish all the guilty, mother?" Penny's voice interrupts your self-pity party.

You try to regain a little dignity, you are the Shifting mound, not a teenage mother, even if Penny is extremely good at making you feel like one. You go back to your full height, calm your bodies a little, and answer her question:

"It seems you were right on some of my thoughts being due to outside influence, even if the specifics were wrong." You begin. "The woman you saw the vision I showed decided that I was her god, and this woke up one of my perspectives that I had tried to forget when coming to Remnant. Both Sable and I didn't want to be god, so I didn't think I needed to keep the vision he could have had of me as one close."

"That was the one I saw earlier? She does seem very proud of herself." Your daughter summarize.

You chuckle. "You have no idea." Then you look around you, thinking about the events that led you here.

You are wondering, Penny probably does want to know more about what your worshipper did to earn your wrath, and even if they are young, all of her friends are huntsmen in training.

How much can you tell them? There is no doubt in your mind they will want to help, from Pyrrha and Ruby's want to help people to Nora's simple enthusiasm, both team RWPY and PRNS are likely to be dragged in a war that you hope they never feel the full effects of if you inform your daughter.

On the other hand, they may feel betrayed if you do not tell them, it would be for their own good, to protect them, but teenagers are not known to love being put aside for *more important things*.

And can you even convince Ozpin to let them help?

[] Explain Salem (at least the parts that aren't trampling all over Oz's private life) and that there is a plan to have you and Sable help in finally getting rid of her to Penny.
-[] Try to convince her not to tell her team and closest friends.
--[] How?
-[] Don't bother trying to have her hide it to them.

[] Explain only about the maidens and your worshipper stealing one's powers, don't talk about Salem.

[] Ask Ozpin first.
-[] Argue for telling them.
-[] Let him chose by himself and take all the blame for the decision.

[] Say you will explain later, but she will have to wait.

A/N:

On The Shifting mound still being as hidden to the world as she ever was:

Do keep in mind she is high on *I am the only truth* at the time, in reality, Sable is busy covering a hole in the fabric of the world that is leaking her presence everywhere right as she says that one.

Subtle is not a part of Stella's vocabulary and self-conscious comes and goes.

If Stella as the Tower seems to act a little motherly, that's because the Mother (multifaceted) means that no matter what, Stella is always in mother mode when it comes to Penny, this did also have an effect on the Shifting mound scene.

Yes, you did get a moment of clarity right as you summoned the Moment of Clarity. You wanted to point out how you had been praised for destroying Adam's mind (nevermind how Glynda wasn't happy with that one).