What Happens Next (Slay The Princess/RWBY)

While you are strongly tempted to use this occasion to have some fun and explain your true nature to the Belladona, you decide that it would be better to discover what family time is like with Penny.

This is how you end up knocking on her team's door in the evening, intent to asks her if she wants to try and spend some time talking with you and Sable as your true forms. Familiarize her a little with them now that you have confirmed it is even possible.

Surprisingly, when your daughter opens the door to see who is there, you can spy Blake as well as Ruby, Weiss and Cardin behind her.

"Mother!" Penny exclaims. "That's perfect, I had a question I wanted to ask." She takes your hand and pull you inside right away.

"Hello everyone." You quickly greet the gathered students.

For some reason, you cannot help but note that Weiss and Cardin were in the same chair before you entered, but shuffled to make it look as if it wasn't the case.

Were they having a passionate debate?

You don't have time to think more about this, as Ruby appears in front of you in a flutter of petals, showing her scroll:

"You have to explain how you made this tiara work, Penny asked me if I could do one similar for her but I don't understand it and just looking at it gives me headaches." She quickly tells while gesticulating.

"It may be easier if you stopped moving so I can look at what you want to show?" You say with a smile, making Ruby blush and hold still long enough to take a look.

You recognize the tiara in that picture, it's yours, moreover, it is in the configuration it takes when you are in your true form, though it is too zoomed in for any of your more particular features to be visible.

"Penny?" You ask, your daughter answering with a quick *yes?*. "When did you take this picture?"

"Oh! I took it the last time I saw you wear it, you know, when I had to go to Ozpin's office because Dorothy asked me to come." She answers, making sure not to spill too much information given that Blake is still here.

It makes sense, this is the only time she could've, except you don't remember her getting her scroll out during that time… oh, of course, you are being an idiot, Penny is an android, her eyes can probably take pictures.

"Wait, this is yours?" Ruby exclaims. "I never saw you wear this one though. I think I would remember a design like that."

"Maybe she simply wore it when you weren't there to see it?" Blake cannot help but sarcastically remark while rolling her eyes. "It's not like you are with her 24/7."

"Except you did see me wear it?" You answer Ruby. At her confusing stare, you continue. "I am wearing it right now?"

She takes a look at your head, then at her scroll, then back at your head. Blake, Cardin and Weiss look over her shoulder to look at the picture more closely and you find yourself the target of several doubtful stare, everyone in the room making their own version.

Well, except for Penny, who is looking with an expectant air and a smile on her face instead.

"That's probably why you are having a headache looking at this picture actually." You explain to Ruby. "Just, look."

Then you take your tiara from your head and turn it a little in a higher dimension, leaving it looking like a small chain, then you turn it a little more and it is showing the same face as in the picture.

"See?" You say. "This is the same tiara." Then you realize that Penny is the only person in the room that isn't looking green for some reason.

"That was… nauseating to look at." Weiss says, Cardin alternating between rubbing his head and her back with his hands. The two of them getting closer to support each other.

"My head is pounding so much…." Blake whisper as if any sound was about to make her fall over in pain.

Oops? It seems as if they didn't like being shown that.

"Ok, what in hell did you do?" Ruby almost scream.

"Not so loud." Blake promptly tells.

"Sorry, sorry." Ruby continues at a far lower volume, pretty close to whispering in fact.

"Better…." Blake remarks, then clutch at her head at the sound of her own voice.

"I get it!" Penny exclaims at low volume, thankfully for the heads her classmates and Blake. "This Tiara is a higher dimensional object related to your…" she takes a quick glance at the very much listening Blake. "Nature. It uses the same methods you use to change bodies to change itself and has been so attuned to it you can do it without changing the rest." You are pretty sure she knows it is part of your body just as much as your clothes technically are, but isn't telling it to avoid giving away secrets to Blake.

"Could I make an object like that? Maybe if I…." Ruby begins to mumble to herself, soon taking out her scroll and beginning drawing things with it.

"Which reminds me." You tell your daughter. "I was originally coming here to ask you if you were willing to go to a picnic with me and Sable. You will be able to study my tiara's properties more closely during it."

"Can I come with?" An excited Ruby somehow manages to interject despite not having looked up from her scroll when you were speaking.

"While I would love to spend time with your, friend Ruby." Penny begins. "I am pretty sure this is a family reunion, I do not think you can come." She looks at you for confirmation.

"Yes, we are going to a place we cannot take you to, sorry." You say to a slowly deflating Ruby.

"I wasn't aware your family had some secret place." Weiss says, still using Cardin to prop herself up. "No offense, but you do not seem the kind." She frowns a little while telling that.

"I'm showing Penny where me and Sable came from." You answer, giving an aside glance to Blake to indicate to Weiss what you actually mean. She acknowledges the point with a nod. "So, Penny? Will you…."

"Of course I accept, mother." Penny exclaims at normal volume, prompting a hiss from Blake. "Sorry, friend Blake." She whispers.

"By the way, why is Cardin in your room?" You ask your daughter. "I can understand Ruby if you were discussing my tiara, and Weiss is in your team. Blake is probably here to talk with the Schnee heiress." Blake nods to confirm your speculation. "But that doesn't explain Cardin." You frown, trying to see why he would be here. "Well, I know he likes to debate with Weiss, so was he here for that?"

Ruby snickers at your remark while Weiss is bet red for some reason, Cardin himself looking at everything but you.

"I can see why you said you weren't the best to give relationship advice." Blake chuckles. "I have only met those two and I can tell you that they are together."

You look at the both of them. They still refuse to look anywhere close to you but their faces are quite red.

"Are you sure?" You ask. "I haven't seen them fight enough for that." You say matter-of-factly.

"Not everyone fights their partner like you do, miss Panoply." Cardin says, his first words since you got there. "Though," he frowns. "Don't you have a lovey dovey form? Wouldn't she understand that? I can't see her hurting a fly."

"The Damsel? Well, I did have to stab my little bird in the heart several times before he saw me as her for the first time…." You begin.

"You had to what???" Weiss exclaims, right before remembering she still has a headache and regretting her action.

"Oh, it was so romantic." Your gaze grows unfocused as you remember the scene. "He was trying to stop himself from killing me due to the Narrator taking control of his body and I had to take his Pristine blade from his hands to end his suffering. Of course, he didn't see me as a threat at the time so I had to stab him a dozen times to make sure he died, I was awful with a knife and managed to miss an unmoving target." You sigh in wonder, a blush on your cheeks judging from the heat you can feel.

Blake and Weiss are giving you incredulous looks, Cardin is doing the same gesture as Glynda whenever you get too strange, Penny is awwwwing at you and Ruby is on the floor, laughing.

"You know you sound like a serial killer right now, right?" Blake manages to get out. "I don't even want to know more, I fear it would hurt my brain too much."

"You don't know how right you are." Weiss interjects, leading to a suspicious look from the Faunus.

"Anyway, Penny, picnic, in three days, bye." You decide that you should leave and let them explain however they want and begin going for the door.

"Goodbye, mother!" Penny waves at you.

---

You do spend more time with Penny before the date you told, time you spend to simply ask her about her friends. You are happy everytime you see her radiate joy when talking about them, it is clear that Ironwood's original idea for her education, having her stay at Atlas and not allow her to show too much of her true nature to anyone, would have been incredibly stifling for the girl even if she had a calmer mindset than her current one. That the man was intelligent enough to let go of his pride and accept she would be better off somewhere else speaks of his character.

Now if only he did the same with his grudge towards you.

But you are not there to judge hypotheticals, the day where you show Penny new wondrous things had come, you and Sable waiting in your room for her to arrive.

"Are you sure you want me here? Penny is not related to me in the same way as you and I would not want to intrude…." A nervous Sable says for the nth time.

"She is definitely curious about you, plus, we will have a lot of time for her and me to discuss with just the two of us in the future, the sooner she meets you properly, the better we'll be. You aren't intruding, don't worry." You reassure him.

There is a knock at the door before your silly little bird can continue his ramblings and you go to open it. As expected, a smiling Penny is on the other side.

"Sa-Lu-Tation, mother and Uncle Sable!" She exclaims. "I am ready for our family reunion!"

"Come in, come in." You answer giddily, letting her go past you into your room. "Sable was just telling how much he wanted to actually talk to you." You say, grinning at him from behind her back.

Your love gives an exasperated sigh but thankfully doesn't contradict you.

"Very well, since everything is ready, let's go." Sable says. "We are going to be a little more careful than the last time, won't we, Princess?" He adds while staring at you with unblinking eyes.

You simply roll your eyes and motion to Penny to take your right hand, your other half takes the other and you both concentrate on not tearing reality apart when moving.

All in all, you think you have been pretty successful when you open your millions of eyes to see Penny smiling at you in front of your multitude and Sable's avatar simply nodding right next to her.

"Welcome back, dear." You greet her once again.

"I am home, mother." She dreamfully says. "This place really is peaceful, it seems quite strange to think that you and Sable had violent clashes here." She looks around here at her words.

"Oh, it wasn't here here exactly." Your love points out. "While we did have a final battle/debate in this space, most of our meetings before were inside the cabin." He takes a pensive pose. "I wonder how the voices are doing, Hero said he would find the others but I still miss them and fear he got too lonely."

"The voices?" Penny asks, cocking her head to the side.

"My little bird had some… incorporeal helpers in his adventures in the construct. I had the occasion to see them when I possessed him as the specter, but since the both of us didn't know the truth at the time we didn't learn much from the experience."

"Ooooohhh. Do you think I can meet them?" Your daughter wonders.

"I don't think so, I don't feel them anymore in my heart." You say. "I think they left for some new place after managing to reunite."

"Awww." Panny dejectedly says. "I would have loved to meet people who saw your past."

"Don't worry, I am sure that, wherever they are…." Your love begins.

---

In a completely different universe, a teenage girl is hiding from her parents to talk with her new friends.

Voice of the smitten: "I can assure you young Toga, I know the beauty of true love, and that isn't it. It lacks the depths of passion for your perfect partner."

"But I feel so giddy looking at him!" Himiko Toga protests. "He looks so good covered in blood." She hugs herself and giggle.

Voice of the Skeptic: "Have to agree with the lovestruck one on that one. You are feeling something, but that's only joy, maybe a small crush. How bad a situation is it that your brain would not even recognize it? Then again, they were quite violent with each other too…."

Voice of the Opportunist: "I say we try it her way. Just a little sip to check, after all, she's the one in charge here and she clearly has earned at least that."

Voice of the Cheated: "Rigged, the game is rigged I tell you. Random chance my ass, we had to end up with someone like them."

Voice of the Paranoid: "Shhh, what if She hears us?"

Voice of the Hero: "Calm down, everyone, I'm sure we can find a solution."

Voice of the Cold: "Just stop feeling, it will be better that way."

"NO! I won't be normal! Not anymore!" Toga screams.

Voice of the Contrarian: "Yeah! Never normal! You tell them!"

---

"…they're completely fine." Sable finishes. "Plus, we are here to answer, you only have to ask."

Penny gets pensive at that, hmming to herself.

"Can you… can you tell me about the time you were imprisoned?" She hesitantly asks you. "You have talked about the fact it happened several times, but you don't tend to really go in details." She turns her attention to Sable. "This would help me learn more about you too."

You and Sable look each other in the eyes, well, he looks at your central eyes and you turn your faces in his general direction, but the intent is the same.

"Of course, my dear, I think Sable should be the one to begin the story? He had more to see than a basement after all." You say, organizing a number of your bodies to take Penny so she can recline comfortably in your arms, your little bird simply sitting in the air.

"Hmm, yes, I think I can…. Yes, it always began like this:" He begins, then he let out a voice that is simultaneously different and still his in some way. "You are on a path, in the woods. And at the end of that path, is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin, is a Princess. You are here to slay her, if you don't, it will be the end of the world…."

That is how Penny ends up listening to your whole story with Sable in the construct. He plays the Narrator and his voices perfectly, not a surprise when he was shaped by the first and the second were part of him. You play your own roles, as well as give some insights that your other half cannot have seen from his perspective.

It is a tale of love, of conflicts, of change and stasis clashing without knowing.

It is all you knew until you opened your eyes.

Penny never interrupts you during the story, you feel she has questions, but she trusts you and Sable to give the answers by yourself over the course of the story, judging by her reactions, you do not disappoint.

When the tale ends several hours later, your daughter is deep in thoughts, you let the comfortable silence continue, letting her shape her thought for if she wants to share them. One of your bodies gets a comb and begins using it on her hairs while hmming.

Finally, after a minute, she lets out a breath.

"Do you think I will one day be able to open my eyes in the same way you did?" She whispers.

You and Sable think on it, silently discussing the concept with movements and gazes, until you reach a conclusion.

"We do not know." You admit. "While it is a very good surprise, your very existence is a surprise. A piece of my power crystallizing around a seed to form a soul is not something we had anticipated. It is likely it will lead to something at some point or another, but until it happens, we cannot know what."

Penny seems to accept the answer, deciding to spend the rest of the time with you discussing other, less weighty, subjects.

The week ends, the time to attack Salem's castle come.

What perspective will you wear for its beginning?

[] The Mentor, Stella Panoply. (Forged by your experiences.)

[] The Eye of the Needle. (Steel chair not included… or needed.)

[] The Spectre. (Those are strange aeons.)

[] The… Damsel. (Nope, not here.)

[] The Thorn. (Strangle them with thoughts.)

[] The Stranger. (everywhere and nowhere.)

[] A voice among many. (You believe in them.)

A/N:

This update definitely wanted to begin in a direction I hadn't originally thought of.

Weiss and Cardin are technically not a recent development (they hit off when they began their debates, and it grew from there), but I didn't put many direct indications of it because I didn't think of it, for… reasons.

Blake was coming to see Weiss after her interesting interview, she wanted to see the Schnee heiress for herself and reasoned that someone that Stella was approving of couldn't be that bad, Cardin was there to see his girlfriend.

It feels strange to be so close to the end, next update is the (beginning of the) final fight.

Let's give it our all!

No changes since last time, let's make it official:


You are going to begin the fight as the Mentor, meaning as your base state.

Since it is unlikely she will have any occasion to fight in the short time left, I am going to say how a Voice among many would've acted:

She's basically a buffing/debuffing aura on legs.

She doesn't fight herself, but anyone she is aware of has some little things happen to help her allies.

Some small position adjustment there to help block, a well placed stone making the enemy stumble long enough to open them to an attack, some sense that you need to move to dodge an attack you hadn't seen....

She fades into the background, the enemy having troubles even realizing she is there.

You had lots of thoughts on what vessel to use for attacking Salem's castle.

You could have gone as the Eye of the Needle, hiding your true role by pretending to be the muscle without a brain used to get the other closer via pure brute strength.

You could have gone as A Voice among many, hiding yourself as *not important* even as you would be giving a push to everything everyone was doing.

On and on it goes, a reasoning for every single one of your gifts except for the Damsel, who would have truly been unable to act.

But in the end, you choose something simpler, you chose to go as Stella Panoply, the Mentor of two wonderful apprentices, the counselor of Beacon, the woman that this world made of you.

You will end this chapter of your life just as it has begun, with only your fists as weapons and the thoughts of everyone that believes in you pushing you forward.

You will keep begin Stella past this point, of course, live a new chapter of her life in a time of peace brought out by the dedication that allowed this world to survive long enough for a solution to appear.

You cannot wait to see it happen.

But first, you have to survive the most difficult part of all this plan:

Staying in a bullhead with Ironwood for hours without letting his lack of trust make you do something stupid. Like taking the form of the witch and beginning to snark at him for being too serious, or spending the whole voyage staring at him without blinking once with a smug smile on your face, or….

You have so many ideas going through your head about how to mess with the man you wonder how he hides his distrust under such a perfect facade of cold stone stoicism.

Or maybe it is just that you are bored out of your mind with the inactivity.

You are eternally thankful to Piettro for his own contribution to this endeavor, giving access to a prototype for an automatized craft that is fast and stealthy enough to relatively easily make the trip to the dark continent's center and come back all on its own, but it does mean that you don't even have to protect it on the way.

"Princess, it has been five minutes since we embarked. I know the anticipation is great, but isn't it a little too soon to begin fidgeting that much?" Your stupid love points out.

Ironwood sends you a disapproving stare, but Glynda put a hand on his shoulder before anything more happens.

"James, I know they don't always act like it, but you have to believe they are both perfectly able to be professional."

"No, no, let him think that, the spectacle is a great way to pass the time." Qrow traitorously says. "If I cannot drink." He looks at Ozpin pointfully when saying this. "I can at least enjoy that much, don't you think?"

Ironwood sighs, relax infinitesimally, and the impression of *not trustworthy* that had been washing over you abate enough for you to relax too.

"I spent all my life working on helping humanity get out of the thumb of Salem's machinations." He turns to Ozpin. "I know you said you trusted them, and I trust you enough to take it into account, but… you have seen what happened when she showed herself to us. You cannot reproach me for not being able to full trust her."

Oh joy, you are going to have to do your job while you are on the way to what is probably one of the most important fights in the history of Remnant… although….

You watch James Ironwood with your full knowledge as Stella Panoply, all the experience on human psychology you have accumulated, both by people thinking you have it and your own learning to compensate for if it ever wasn't enough.

The man is nervous, but he is able to put his doubts aside. He is here, with Sable and you, instead of trying to stop this plan. He trusts Ozpin's judgement about you, the main obstacle is the impression the Tower left.

But even with her obscuring the horizon, the man is ready to see the dawn break, not your dawn, the one the Apotheosis wishes for, humanity's dawn.

Winter is, as always, at his side, if you didn't already know their relationship was closer to him begin the father she wishes she had, some would think they are a couple. Well, you think so, the recent remark about Weiss and Cardin apparently having been one for months still leaves you unsure of your judgment on this kind of matter.

The important part being that he already has support, his closest confident, his friends, his mentor.

You probably wouldn't help, so you don't try and let the silent and not so silent conversations between the close-knit group do the job for you.

The rest of the voyage is spent asking Ozpin and Ïronwood about why this particular version of a bullhead is not readily available. As you expected, the answer is simply one of cost. The technology required as well as the precision of some of the components means that the thing is very, very expensive, even if James admit Piettro is working on a cheaper version to help *connect the kingdoms together even more than they are today*.

At least, the vehicle does do as advertised and you do not see much signs of any Grimm catching on on what is happening and where you are going.

"Attention all passengers." The AI piloting the craft says via its speakers. "We are approaching the destination, all huntsmen are asked to get into the launching bay for disembarking. We remind you that the craft will not stop and will return only after being called back to prevent any risks of inopportune destruction. Have a good day."

All passengers get ready at the words, the atmosphere changing to one of release after the end of the long wait you had.

You position yourself right next to your other half, spending one last moment sharing body heat before the fight. Ozpin looks at the group and begins opening his mouth several times, but he doesn't seem to find the words for a proper speech and instead settles on a:

"Good luck and thank you all for your help in those long years. Let us finish this."

As if the AI was waiting for it, which isn't impossible, the doors open and you see Salem's castle in the distance. The plan asks for you to not get too close in the air due to the strong possibility of defenses against it.

Ozpin jumps right away, followed quickly by Qrow and Glynda, Winter and James take one look at the castle before doing the same, the woman guiding their fall with her glyphs.

You look at Sable with a smile, one that he returns.

"Let's race to the castle…" He begins, before his smile grows even more. "Princess."

Then he jumps and you follow suite, he uses his wings to stop several groups of nevermore that got too close from doing anything, running circle in the air around an opponent that is clearly not used to not having the superior maneuverability. You simply fall and stop your momentum by crashing into a Beowulf at terminal velocity.

Then the run to the castle begins.

Winter uses her glyphs to great effects, dispatching most of the biggest opponents by distracting them, allowing James some clear shots with his oversized gun. Glynda takes control of the local geography and unleashes a storm of gravel and boulders on the Grimm on her way, not slowing down for an instant. Qrow alternates between his bird and human form, quickly moving all along the battlefield to cover gaps in the other defenses and impale Grimm on his scythe as if they were wheat.

Ozpin.. blurs, the man unleashing the entirety of his repertoire on the hordes, moving fast enough the eye has difficulty tracking him, launching dozens of strikes at once to remind the Grimm that he may not fight often, but he still has centuries of experience to drive from.

You run ahead of the group, jumping over a snarling Alpha Beowulf with a kick on his head, destroying it, before you land on a Deathstalker's back with a crunch. The great beast is not so easily deterred and tries to dislodge you with its pincers and stinger, only for you to catch the second and plant your heels in its armor.

You heave until it snaps, taking the stinger with you while getting down from your mount to launch it at the nearest nevermore, sniping it from the sky. The deathstalker you took the stinger from tries to catch you while you are seemingly distracted but Sable simply plants his Pristine blade in its head.

You are already moving, launching yourself low to the ground at an ursa, rising in a powerful uppercut when it begins registering how close you are. The beast crumples around your fist and you push with your shoulder, using it as a battering ram to get some space.

All along, you are getting closer and closer to your objective. A frankly ugly collection of rocks in the general shape of a castle.

Couldn't Salem have asked some people to help redecorate? She had Centuries! Plural!

Even the Tower has better taste! And her main design choice is *makes me looks imposing*!

You are distracted from your little critic of the local architecture by a group of Beowulf launching themselves at you in a good approximation of synchronicity. You catch the closest one, forcefully place it in the trajectory of another, backhand the third with enough force to cleave it in half, and let go of your little prize to catch the last one by the snout.

You then proceed to launch it over your shoulder at a passing Nevermore. One less pest in the sky.

Of course, there are technically a whole lot more, but your goal is not to kill all of them, just enough to get the attention of their master.

You have no doubt she will stop them from attacking when she comes to taunt you about how she *cannot be stopped* and that you should *kneel to the inevitability of her victory*.

Ozpin did take some time to describe his previous calamitous tries at assaulting the place. The woman loves some drama, not that you would complain, you are a creature of perception and with that comes a tendency to chew the scenery to make an impression. Far from you to launch the first stone on that one….

Speaking of stones, you take one from the ground and, after checking its weight, you launch it at full strength towards another Ursa, the beast now having nothing higher than its neck.

You can spy Sable enjoying a ride on a gryphon, well, Sable is enjoying it, the gryphon is too busy trying to remove the blade your love is using as a steering wheel to do so. You decide to use the opportunity, launching yourself by stepping on a Beowulf, you rejoin your love and look at the battlefield.

While some people would tell that you should think less during a fight, you are not currently the Eye of the needle. So, instead of letting your feelings guide you, you watch and analyze everything you can see. The first thing you see is that Sable and you are clearly a separate unit to the rest of your group. While Glynda is mostly working with Ozpin, and Winter with James, both duos are keeping close to each other, with Qrow moving on the side to capitalize on some unlucky mistakes from the Grimm or to cover for ones by his allies.

You could integrate in their battleplan more, go in and show that you are a friend just as much as any other. But you are currently known for being a very cerebral fighter, and part of it is knowing how to manipulate the enemy's perception. You already know that Salem is watching, you can feel her perspective of you, and she sees you as the weak link to Ozpin's current endeavor, the person most likely to break under the stress and join her, or, at least, sabotage his efforts.

Unfortunately for her, she is alone against all your closest friends in thinking this, and you are not the weakest link, but the center of the plan.

So of course, you will misdirect by going with what she thinks at first glance.

You *ignore* some of the attacks against Ozpin and his confidents, never to the point of actually hindering the man but just appearing more concentrated on your other half than on the group that came with you. You let the Grimm direct you a little farther away, staying in sight but not in easy reach in the chaotic battlefield. You make sure to emphasize how you dance with Sable but appear to stumble when it comes to working with any other.

The seven of you kill Grim after Grimm, all of them being young ones, which would seem strange if not for the facts that the spawning pools are right there and Salem is more than enough to defend her own castle. Of course she wouldn't risk her more precious, more experienced, Grimm against what is clearly another desperate attempt to stop her, doomed to fail in her eyes.

Then, a break, one second you are elbow deep into an Ursa, ready to move to the next target, and the next, all Grimm in a large radius move away. Not fleeing, but leaving you space, some of them forming a guard of honor for an approaching figure.

Even now that the fight is finished, you make sure to put Sable and you slightly farther away from Ozpin than the rest, strengthening the illusion of division.

"What do we have here?" The woman that is almost certainly Salem says. "I thought you had learned your lesson when you didn't try to attack again for more than a century, my dear Ozma." She looks at you in search of a reaction. "Tell me, what did he promise you? That *this time, it would be different*? That by stopping me you would save this world?" You make sure to hesitate and get closer to Sable to take comfort when her gaze goes to you. "Let me tell you, you are not the first, and will not be the lasts. Ozma cannot beat me, all he is doing here is sacrifice pawns to try and delay the inevitable." She begins staring at Ozpin.

You observe her with all your attention. Besides her physical appearance, you can feel a number of problems with this woman. Her soul is covered in two different films, one is dark and trying to go through the other to finish infecting her, the other is light and while it is doing an excellent job at stopping her soul from collapsing and forming the core of a new Grimm, it also is stopping her from changing….

No, not entirely. If you had to guess without being able to completely dissect the field, it seems it allows for surface changes but not deep one. Which means that the woman can adapt to circumstances and even learn a little, but not change her more internalized views or completely understand things that don't enter her current paradigm.

Didn't Ozpin say that the god of light wanted her to stay under the effect *until she learned to respect the importance of gods* or something similar? If that's the case, he made it impossible when making her immortal that way. What a waste.

Salem's gaze jumps back to you, you might have released some little amount of magic when observing, most of your natural one is hidden thanks to Ozpin's lessons, but Salem clearly felt something, since her opinion of you just changed.

"Oh? Is that why Ozma thought he could do it this time?" She asks while taking a step in your direction. You also realize that she is followed by a man with an unhinged grin as her movement allows your attention to pretend to look everywhere but at her. "A new magician in this age? You are not a Maiden, I can feel. Then…" She draws herself to her full height. "You are the one that launched the spell that took Cinder's power back, aren't you? If you think you can do the same to me, I am sure that you can see that my abilities would not be so easily taken."

"Mistress, can I kill the others?" The still grinning man asks. "We only need her if that's the case, yes?" He smiles, well, he gives something that may look like a smile at least, if you squint, and are blind, and have no idea about human's expressions. Too many teeth, for one.

The part of you that is a counselor is drooling at the potential challenge of allowing this man to reintegrate society. The part of you that is a mentor is recoiling at the amount of hours it would take, hours you could not dedicate to your students.

Both agree he needs helps and a nice padded cell.

"Man, talk about a way to greet someone. I'm sorry guy, but I don't think I'll let you do that, not before you buy me dinner at least." Qrow cannot help but quip. It seems this man's way of dealing with stress is either alcohol or bad jokes, and you confiscated the alcohol.

The little remark is still enough to dispel the paralysis that Salem's mere presence put on everyone. James put her in his crosshair and Winter follow suite with her sword.

"You can wait a little, James." Ozpin says, making his friend lower his gun once again. "Make sure we are all ready."

"Look at you, so confident." Salem sneers, then concentrate on you once again. "I can guarantee the life of your lover if you surrender now. Think, do you want to continue with Ozma's farce? Help me and I will teach you how to reach heights you have never even dreamed of. Heights this man would never allow you to reach for fear of you overcoming him. Will you stand with me, or will you die here?" She finishes, absolutely certain of herself, using her magic to create a wind to appear more impressive and begin floating above the ground.

"Hehe, I hope you choose to resist, you seem delicious." The man at her side adds.

Salem just gave you a job offer, how do you react?

[] Fist, meet Salem's face, pleased to make you acquaintance.

[] Make it appear as if you are thinking about it, preferably long enough to make Ironwood react, then refuse.

[] Look at Ozpin in seeming desperation, as if you were far out of your depths.

[] Kick the man in the groin with all your strength, he seems like a creep.

[] Show her the bird, no, not your love, the other kind of bird, the insult one.
-[] Actually, give her a preview of what she's in for, do it with all your hands.

[] Tell Ozpin this is his show, you are going to watch him win then finish this.

[] Write-in

A/N:

If you're wondering where Hazel is, I gave him some neurons and he used them to refuse Salem's offer.

In short, he ded.

Man, I hope no one is going to decide that it would be a great idea to ally with Tyrian against one of the good guys in this fight. Then again, the man is clearly unhinged, nobody would be that stupid, I am sure. Especially if it's against someone that proved reasonable.

*Looks at Qrow*

Last little thing: The options may be a small bit different than most times, but this is a *how do you present yourself to Salem* vote.