RWBY Through Worlds

30: I Won't be Silenced

["Fear" by Jeff Williams. This is actually Oscar's theme song according to the internet.]

Emerald had been thinking about what Ozpin yelled about for a while, and now that it seemed Salem was distracted by directing the Zeppelin outside, she snuck past the Seers to the torture room.

She hadn't heard nearly as much sounds of pain coming from here, so she suspected Hazel was actually talking to him, but she didn't expect to hear what followed.

"You can make things easier on yourself if you start telling the truth," Hazel was saying. [I checked the timing of this scene, and the way it started with Hazel's OG line makes it seem like it's right after the throne room scene, but given that the whale moved and Emerald had to sneak to the room and Ozpin has clearly been beaten some more, too much time has passed for that to make sense, so I changed it.]

"You never wondered why she recruited you, you specifically, to help her find the Relics?" Ozpin asked in a low voice, so that Emerald had to strain to hear it.

"We share a vision," Hazel said. "She's gonna create a new world order."

This was what Cinder had told Emerald, so it lined up.

"No kingdoms and no huntsmen academies," Hazel added.

Emerald thought there was more to it than that... That wouldn't be that new, really; there didn't used to be kingdoms, right?

"New world order, no. When Salem gets all four Relics, there will be no world left at all," Ozpin spoke.

He sure sounds beat up, Emerald thought. Also...what the frick?!

"Don't you get it?" Ozpin went on. "She's been alive longer than you can comprehend. All she craves now is release. Death."

Hazel growled. "Stop lying!"

He turned and, from the sound of it, hit Ozpin hard enough for him to swing on the hook he was on--like a piece of meat.

"Salem can't be killed!" Hazel said. "When she came for me, I killed her over and over again. The longest she was gone was only a few hours before she put herself back together again."

Ew... Emerald thought. Also...she had no idea Hazel did that.

She didn't know that much about her co-workers, but dang, Salem let him join after that? That didn't sound like her.

"When I couldn't lift my arms anyone, she showed me that, through her, I could have the vengeance I needed."

"Oh, Hazel." Ozpin sounded remorseful. "Don't you see? That is why she came for you. Because she could make you believe that this is what you needed."

At this stage, Oscar was actually suggesting this to Ozpin, who wouldn't have seen that on his own, quite frankly, being much too caught up with the fact that Hazel had tried to kill Salem initially.

"This is what you deserve!" Hazel yelled.

"Yes." Ozpin finally got more on top of it. "But Oscar? The people of Atlas? Remnant? You haven't done what you've done for justice, you've done it for yourself. Because she pushed you to think it would help you."

He paused dramatically. "Has it?"

Emerald gulped.

* * *