Nothing could be seen but darkness, until...
Cinder Fall's body is seen floating in water, ice chunks surrounding her. A closeup of her right eye suddenly opens up, twitching as she comes to terms with her current situation. Bubbles escape from her mouth as she struggles to get upright in the water. She activates her Maiden powers. The screen goes black, only Cinder gasping for breath is heard.
She is next seen crawling out of the pool of water onto the shore of an underground cave. Cinder holds her hand out and tries to activate a small flame in her hands, but it dies out quickly. Cinder grunts in frustration, slamming her Grimm-like fist to the ground, unknowingly opening up an exit to the cave. She looks up to see light pouring through the crack as well as the sound of howling wind. Cinder then looks up to notice the Vault under Haven Academy where she fought against Raven Branwen. Cinder then uses her Grimm fist to punch at the crack in the wall.
Cinder staggers out of the cave and into the rain. She struggles to walk for a bit before collapsing to the ground, dragging herself through the mud. A woman can be heard approaching her.
Woman: Gods, are you okay?
The woman, holding a basket of food, looks down at Cinder in concern.
Woman: Where did you...?
Cinder crawls forward, revealing her Grimm arm. The woman gasps and drops her basket. Cinder then looks up to the frightened woman, activating her Maiden powers and smiling evilly...
Ruby: We need to take the Relic to Atlas?
Team RWBY, JNPR, and Qrow Branwen are seen back at the house in Mistral.
Qrow: That's what Oz said.
Everybody looks to Weiss Schnee.
Weiss: You've got to be joking...
Nora: I mean, bright side, we finally get out of this house!
Weiss sighs.
Qrow: Well trust me, I'm not crazy about it either. And without the Spring Maiden here to seal the Relic back in its Vault, it's our best option.
Ren: Atlas may be the safest kingdom we have at the moment, but their borders are closed. General Ironwood called everyone back.
Qrow: Eh, not everyone. (activates his Scroll, showing a hologram of a highlighted portion of land) The city of Argus is a ways north of us and it's the primary trading port between Anima and Solitas. They've got the largest Atlas military base outside the kingdom. There's no way they'd leave it abandoned, and if we play our cards right, I think there's a good chance we could convince them to escort us straight to Ironwood.
Blake: I mean, we do have the missing Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.
Weiss: Ex-Heiress, actually.
Yang: True, true. But if there's a chance of reward money, I say we go for it.
Weiss: Ugh...
Ozpin: Hopefully the first option will suffice.
Oscar Pine, letting Ozpin take over, walks into the room.
Qrow: Glad to see you're feeling better.
Ozpin: Likewise, and while I'm sure we could all use more time to recover, I'm afraid time is of the essence.
Blake: Right, as long as that thing's out in the open, its power could fall into the wrong hands.
Jaune: Speaking of, what does it do exactly? Qrow never really told us.
Everyone looks to Ozpin, who turns around to face them.
Ozpin: Of course. (detaches the Relic from his hip) The Relic of Knowledge has a wonderful, and incredibly dangerous ability. (the Relic grows into it's original size as it was found) Its user can ask any question, and the lamp will provide an answer.
Ozpin places the Relic down, and it floats on the table.
Ren: (in awe) Intriguing...
Blake: That's incredible...
Ozpin: Indeed. However, it's not without drawbacks. The lamp cannot tell of events that have yet to happen, and it will only ever answer three questions every one hundred years.
Yang: Well, I guess that's not so bad. Adds a lot of pressure though.
Nora: Then let's put it to a vote! What should we ask first? Oh! Can we ask for more questions? CAN WE ASK FOR MORE QUESTIONS?!
Ren: (facepalming) They're not wishes...
Ozpin: (chuckling) I'm afraid you won't be able to ask it anything at the moment. (Nora grunts in frustration) The questions were used before I sealed it away.
Ruby: Well, at least now we know what it is. And we'll be sure to keep it safe!
Back in the present day, Ruby scours through the train wreckage and picks up Dust bullets, before looking to see the Relic of Knowledge slightly buried in the snow nearby. Yang can be heard complaining as she struggles to get Bumblebee out of the snow.
Yang: Great! This is just great! We're stranded, we lost a third of our party, and we've gained a defenseless old lady!
With one final heave, Yang manages to extricate Bumblebee, but falls over to the ground, with her motorcycle following suit as she's partially covered in snow.
Maria: My name is Maria Calavera, and I am not defenseless! I'm just a little hard of hearing. And blind without my eyes, that are in desperate need of repair. (taps on her prosthetics, which open wide and close, before opening narrowly again.) Okay, I'm starting to see your point.
Qrow: (grunts) Yang, knock it off, will ya? If we lose our cool now, we'll just be inviting even more Grimm.
Blake: Does that even matter? Apparently, we've been attracting Grimm ever since we left Haven.
Yang: Oh, and how could I forget about that? (turns to Oscar) What happened to "no more lies and half truths"?
Oscar: Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation...
Oscar's eyes glow as control of his body is switched to Ozpin, who furrows his brow at Yang's accusations.
Ozpin: I did not lie to you...
Weiss: Well you certainly didn't tell us everything about the Relic.
Ozpin: Please, now is not the time.
Yang: No, we're past that! I wanna know why you're still not telling us everything!
Ozpin: It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics. It's faint, but undeniable. I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option.
Weiss: You know, I'm getting real tired of people choosing what's best for me.
Yang: Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?
Ozpin: Yes, as a matter of fact, I believed the Kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the truth. And I believed Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years.
Yang: Missteps?!
Ozpin: What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently, but does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of his good? Do we not all have regrets? You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him.
Yang: Look, we're supposed to be in this together. You can trust us! We're not gonna turn our backs on you.
Ozpin: (raising his voice) Do you really think Leo was the first?!
Everyone stops.
Ozpin: That he didn't say those exact same words to me? I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I... (suddenly stops and realizes something) Where's the Relic?
Ruby: Right here. (holds it in her hands) It got scattered in the crash.
Ozpin: Please, hand it over.
Ozpin reaches his hand out, but Ruby hesitates.
Ruby: So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?
Ozpin: (sighs) That's not what I meant to suggest. Miss Rose, the Relic is a powerful item and I simply feel as though it is my burden to bear.
Ruby: But, you said it couldn't do anything right now.
Blake: Why does it matter who carries it?
Ozpin: I need you to listen to me--
Ozpin reaches his hand out, but suddenly is stopped, stuck in his position.
Qrow: Oz?
Oscar: (fighting back for control) Hurry... he's... trying to stop you!
Yang: Stop her from what?
Oscar: He's afraid... you'll find out what he's... hiding!
Oscar suddenly collapses, Yang, Weiss and Blake glare at the boy with intense looks while Ruby holds the Relic of Knowledge defensively.
Oscar: Her name is Jinn. Say her name to summon her.
Ruby: Her name?
The wind picks up much more gradually, blowing snow even harder. The Relic starts to glow in Ruby's hands.
Ruby: Jinn?
Suddenly, the snow stops, floating in midair. The wind stops blowing too.
Qrow: What?
Ruby then lets go of the Relic as it floats a short distance away, cyan smoke emanates from it. Suddenly, the lamp is enveloped in the smoke, and from it, a giant, semi-nude feminine figure emerges. He skin and hair colored blue, and decorated with gold jewelry and ornaments. The figure stretches and moans as she has been awakened once again. This is Jinn, the aforementioned being inhabiting the Relic of Knowledge.
Jinn: Wonderful.
Everyone stares in awe at Jinn.
Jinn: Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?
Back in Mistral, Cinder, now dressed in the clothes of the woman she encountered earlier, steps out of an alleyway. Her Grimm arm is bandaged up. She looks to her left and notices a holographic screen showing portraits of her and her allies. A subtitle below says "LAST KNOWN LOCATION: HAVEN ACADEMY, APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH AGO".
Newscaster: The perpetrators, Cinder Fall, Hazel Rainart, Emerald Sustrai, and Mercury Black have still not been seen since the attack and are presumed to have fled the city. The Mistral police department is offering a reward to any citizen...
Cinder, realizing she's a wanted criminal, puts her hood up to conceal her identity. She walks out into the rainy streets of Mistral, among crowds of people with their umbrellas up. People still carry out their businesses as usual, both legally and illegally. As Cinder continues walking, she notices a symbol - a spiderweb with a spider in it - etched into the wall.
Cinder then walks into a restaurant, with some of the customers bearing tattoos similar to the symbol she found. She then walks up to Lil' Miss Malachite, who she presumed is leader of the gang. Lil' Miss notices her just as she was about to have her meal.
Lil' Miss: That's far enough.
Her two bodyguards walk up to Cinder, blocking her way. Cinder tosses down a sack full of Lien on the table.
Lil' Miss: Okay.
The bodyguards step back and Cinder takes a seat across from her.
Cinder: You're Lil' Miss Malachite?
Lil' Miss: (takes out her hand fan) I'm Lil' Miss Gon'-Skin-You-Alive if you ever take that tone with me again. (looks to the Lien on the table) Looks like your life's savings.
Cinder: It was somebody's.
Lil' Miss: (laughs) Cute. (closes her hand fan) What do you want for it?
Cinder pulls out her scroll, showing portraits of Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Team RWBY.
Cinder: I'm looking for these travelers.
Lil' Miss: Well, sweetheart, you came to the right place.
Cinder jolts a little as she looks behind her, noticing a man entering and being greeted by his group of friends sitting around a table.
Lil' Miss: (chuckles) A little jumpy today, hmm? You know, I used to be afraid of spiders. Want to know what I did about it?
Cinder: Learn to kill them?
Lil' Miss: Oh no, the world needs spiders. I just made the spiders work for me.
Cinder looks around, noticing all of the customers have the tattoo of spiderweb, insinuating that they all work for Lil' Miss.
Lil' Miss: Give us a week, we'll find your travelers.
Cinder then gets up and leaves.
Bodyguard: Lil' Miss, we already know where they are. That big guy asked about 'em last week.
Lil' Miss: I know we know, but what we don't know is who here in Mistral might be asking about her...
Back in the snow, Maria adjusts her goggles to get a better look at what's in front of her.
Jinn: I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every one hundred years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer--
Ozpin: That's enough!
Everyone looks to Ozpin, who managed to regain control over Oscar's body.
Jinn: ... two questions this era.
Everyone is shocked, despite Ozpin telling them that the Relic won't work for them beforehand.
Jinn: (chuckles) It's a pleasure to see you again, old man.
Ozpin: Ruby, please... Don't.
Qrow glances to Ozpin, and steps forward.
Qrow: Hey.
Suddenly, Yang, Weiss, and Blake get defensive at Qrow. Ruby stares in disbelief.
Qrow: (relenting) Do whatever you think is right, kiddo.
Ruby: (pondering her question) Jinn?
Ruby turns around to face Jinn, who has a curious look on her face, while Ozpin grits his teeth in anger.
Ruby: What is Ozpin hiding from us?
Ozpin: NOOOOOOO!!
Ruby gasps and looks behind her. Ozpin lunges forward and is about to touch her, but suddenly, Ruby finds herself alone in a blank white space.
Ruby: Wha-- what? Weiss? Yang?
Ruby goes off screen, Yang comes from her position.
Yang: Blake? Ru--
Yang goes off screen, and Weiss then appears, also calling out for their team leader.
Weiss: --by? Ruby?
Weiss goes off screen, and Blake then appears.
Blake: Yang?
Suddenly, an environment manifests, showing a path leading to a castle in the distance. A woman humming can be heard in the background.
Jinn: (narrating) Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower...
Smoke envelops Blake, and Qrow appears where she was. He looks behind him.
Jinn: ...that sheltered a lonely girl.
A rather beautiful woman sitting in front of a mirror then appears. Ruby is seen walking up to her.
Jinn: Named... Salem.