69 Departure of Atlas

Glowing lines resembling circuits embedded in the stone bridge over a large chasm. On one side of the bridge, there is the elevator that led down to this underground area. And on the other, was what seemed to be a cut-off point. A sheer drop down and resting out of reach on the wall of this large underground area was a cluster of massive rocks.

All of them were blue and glowing, all together easily being larger than a building. And in the center of all of them was a familiar golden door. It looked almost exactly like the door under Mistral Academy, the vault to the Relic of Creation.

"That black cat acts so passively around her Master, but she really is a brute." Torchwick's voice echoed from the top of the cavern. Surprisingly where there should simply be a roof of stone, instead, there was a massive hole. It was nearly perfectly clean-cut, not even an ounce of rubble could be seen.

Falling out of that hole first was Torchwick he landed directly on the bridge. Only a second later Taella also fell from the hole landing on the bridge as well. Looking up Torchwick whistled staring at the hole they came out of.

"I mean really, what kind of monster doesn't use the elevator?"

"It's not nice to talk behind people's back Torchwcik, though It is a shame. I asked Master to let me fight her but he said no." Taella was a bit more in control this time around, capable of holding a conversation at the very least.

"I don't know which leash is more impressive, the one keeping you from killing all of us randomly or the one making her so loyal. Either way, I suppose it is fitting." Hearing that Taella turned and looked at him with a near disturbing grin and glint in her eyes.

"You say that like you're not on a leash yourself. Although I suppose compared to mine, your's is a lot more lose, so much freedom must be nice. Lucky you huh?" Torchwick wasn't disturbed by her words at all as he moved his gaze away towards Taella's tails. They began to move frantically as the figure wrapped in them let out muffled sounds.

"Look like the Ice Queen is finally awake. Looks like you are getting good at exercising restraint." Within Taella's tails, Winter was struggling with all her strength, but considering she had been unconscious and was now low on Aura that didn't mean much. She didn't know what had actually happened, her mind was drawing a blank.

All she knew was she was captured now, the others were nowhere to be found, and they were close to the vault. It was obvious what she had been captured for.

'I need to get out of here… If I can't use my Aura or Semblance then!' Winter's eyes flared with blue flames representing the Winter Maiden's powers. However, before she could do anything there was a clicking sound. Her body froze as she felt something pressed against her forehead.

'When did he…' Before she could even notice Torchwick had utilized his Ultima Uniform and morphed his staff into a gun while clicking his tongue.

"Uh uh uh, that's no good Ice Queen, we need you to be obedient. So no going all icy on us, got it?" As he said that he tapped the tip of the gun on her forehead. Winter's eyes slowly went back into focus as she sneered.

"I know you two can't risk killing me, dont try threatening me." Hearing that Torchwick smiled as he pulled back turning the gun back into his staff.

"True. But considering your sister's life is in our hands… I would drop the attitude, got it?" Torchwick's voice lost its sarcastic charm as Winter's expression immediately changed. The blue flames at the corner of her eyes dissipated as she grit her teeth.

"Good girl." Taella laughed as her tails tightened around Winter even more, to the point it began to hurt. Winter let out a groan and both Taella and Torchwick made their way to the vault. As they walked to the drop-off, singular stairs began to fly from out of view forming a staircase up to the vault in front of them.

Reaching the Vault Taella's tails moved to force Winter's body like a puppet on strings.

"Wait, no…" She couldn't fight back, as her hand was forced to touch the door. Upclose it was like a golden circuit board, and the moment Winter's hand touched it the engravings lit up with blue light. Slowly sections of the door slid downwards revealing the alternate dimension inside.

It was a seemingly endless grass meadow with the sky being nearly perfectly clear. It was hard to tell where the light was coming from, as a single stone path lead to a platform. Held on top of the platform was a golden staff following a similar design to the Relic of Knowledge. It was surprisingly large and held a large bluestone at its top.

"Looks like that's the payout." As the two of them walked into the vault Torhcwick heard Winter's voice. It had changed a bit, almost sounding suggestive.

"You- You know, the Relic of Creation can create anything. Are you two really just going to hand it over to Shen? This may be your only chance considering he won't let you two touch it after you give it to him." When the two of them heard that Taella couldn't help but begin to laugh, and slowly Torchwcik did as well.

"Hehe… Ahahahaha! Ahahaha!" Taella continued to laugh as Torchwick glanced at Winter and spoke to her.

"Oh, that's hilarious… I have to commend the effort. But really, that's the oldest trick in the book. If that's all the incentive it took for betrayal, things would be a lot easier for everyone."

…

Above aground back in the courtyard in front of Atlas Academy, Blake was waiting silently. Despite there being more than five of them there, no one spoke. Though this shouldn't be contributed to the lack of attempts.

Ruby was still in no condition to speak or act, but Yang and Weiss still tried to play on their past friendship with Blake. They had been trying to talk to her since Taella and Torchwick left with Winter. But after all their pleading, Blake only gave them one response.

"Don't confuse yourselves. While I did like you three, the moment you caused issues for my Master your lives became forfeit. The fact you three are still alive and breathing now should be the only and last bit of mercy you expect out of me." After she said all of this with a straight Yang and Weiss went quiet.

Finally, something broke the silence as Atlas in its entirety began to ruble and tremble. At this moment Ironwood opened his eyes staring at the ground in shock.

"This- Dammit, so soon…" Ozpin in Oscar's body caught on as well. The Relic of Creation had been removed from the vault, which meant Atlas would no longer be able to float in the air for much longer. The Relic of Creation was the power source keeping this city in the sky aloft, but now that power source was gone.

'That's the signal.' Holding out her hand a scroll began to appear from the void in the center of her palm. She quickly sent a message out to Sienna, they had the relic and now it was time for them to go.

Within the hour, Torchwick and Taella made their way back to the surface walking out of Atlas Academy. At the same time, multiple of their airships carrying soldiers flew into Atlas airspace making their way to Atlas Academy.

"Welp, time to go. As fun as this is, I'm definitely not a fan of the cold." Blake stared at Torchwick who tossed the relic over to her. She obviously did not trust him with it. Winter was once again knocked conscious held in Taella's tail.

When the airships landed soldiers immediately began hopping out and getting to work. They had special cuffs that stopped the use of Aura and one Semblance. Ruby and the others were the first to be handcuffed, with the surviving Huntsman, Huntresses, and Soldiers being next.

Excluding Ruby, Yang, and Weiss who would be traveling with Blake and the others, all of them were being sent to the same place.

"You three be careful, they'll try to break you. You must resist." Ozpin could only try and reinforce their will as he and Ironwood were separated from Ruby, Yang, and Weiss.

"I'm sorry It turned out like this. But just hang on, this isn't the end." Ironwood's eyes shined with ferocity as he was pulled away and forced onto a ship by Dreadhorde Soldiers.

"Ruby there right, we have to remain strong. I know how much you cared about Penny… About everyone who died, but we give in. If we do…" Weiss couldn't finish what she was saying as she shook her head. Ruby remained unresponsive as she kept her head down, seeing that Weiss sighed.

"Weiss, don't worry about Ruby. She'll be fine, she's just… Needs time." Weiss looked at Yang and slowly nodded.

"Well, you three will have plenty of time together from now on. It's going to be fun to see how Blake breaks you." Taella said that as she got onto the ship first carrying Winter with Torchwick following behind. Ruby and the others were last as they all got on the ship Blake took one last look over Atlas.

'I wonder why he decided to leave this place alone without conquering or destroying it.' That thought flashed through her mind as she finally got on board and the airship closed its doors. With that all of the ships began to take off in formation rising into the air.

Sitting next to Ozpin in Oscar's body, Ironwood stared out a nearby window.

'In the end, everything went exactly like she said it would. I suppose now I can only she'll hold up her end of the deal.'