Oscar thought Shine looked very tired after Qrow left...but never defeated.
"Hmm," Ozpin said, inside his mind. "Perhaps it's time I talked to Qrow myself. After all...this is partially my fault."
Couldn't agree more, Oscar thought back to him. But one conversation is not going to fix Ruby and Yang being gone...or anything else.
"No, but perhaps it's time I opened up a bit more about Alicia," Ozpin said.
Oscar froze for a moment, then he walked up to Shine, who had sat back down and rubbed her head.
"You okay, Babe?" Wally came over, rubbing his head.
"Hanging in there," Shine said.
"My brother was always one for being moody," Raven said. "I wouldn't worry about his opinion too much."
"Unlike you, I have a respect for Qrow's opinion," Shine said. "And I can't tell if you care about his feelings or not, but I have that burden also."
"I'm sure he'll come around." Wally patted her shoulder. "He's just hurting a lot right now. But he's a good guy, deep down."
Raven blew hair out of her face in an annoyed manner.
"What was Ozpin saying, Oscar?" Shine turned, startling him.
"Oh...uh...well, first, I'm...sorry about Qrow," Oscar said. "But Ozpin, he says he wanted to tell you more about Alicia."
"Well, it's about dang time." Wally sat down eagerly. "I knew there had to be more to it."
"Who's Alicia?" Raven asked.
"The person who was what we were, once," Shine said, "but 1000 years ago, wasn't it?"
"I've lost count, but more or less," Ozpin said.
"Much as I love talking to you, Oscar, perhaps you'd better put him on to spare us having to repeat all this," Shine said.
"Right, I'll still be listening," Oscar said.
His eyes flared.
Ozpin's voice sounded a bit catchy at first, like it used to when he changed, as if it was less integrated.
"Miss Branwen." He nodded.
"Ozpin," Raven said in a very flat tone. "So you've finally had the nerve to face me, huh? After what happened to Yang, if I find out that you knew about this, I might kill you on the spot."
"You won't be doing that," Shine said.
"Can I at least get a free shot?" Raven said.
"No," Shine said. "I said to leave him alone."
"Well, then he's hella lucky he's in that kid's body," Raven said.
"Yes...well, that has become apparent," Ozpin winced. "I know it doesn't make up for the past, Miss Branwen, but I truly did not expect that hole in the plan, quite literally. It's been a long time since I've heard of portals, and even if I had been warned, I'd long forgotten exactly how it worked."
"But something that would lend some explanation to this," Shine said.
"The truth is, Miss Likstar, I was ashamed to admit any more of what happened back then," Ozpin said. "Alicia was...like you, but a little different. Your gifts are from your power, right? Well, she had something like your ability to see people--but she could see the future, and the past, I think. She called it Visions, a thing I've only seen in the Lamp comparatively, but hers were far clearer. The Lamp only shows you what the gods know and what the people know, if you don't word it carefully. You guessed it before, I think."
"As usual, the wording is crucial," Shine said. "Perhaps a lot of time could have been saved if you just ask the Lamp how the gods thought Salem could be taught her lesson--but even then it probably would have played you false. You can't trust genies."
"Indeed...perhaps you're right," Ozpin said uneasily. "In any case, I gave up trying with questions like that. At the time, when Alicia walked this world, I didn't use the Relics for much. I relied on them later only out of desperation. So, her vision seemed even stranger at the time."
"And she told you something," Shine said. "Something you didn't want to hear."
Wally glanced at her.
"Yes," Ozpin said. "I've...been trying to tell myself that it didn't mean what it seemed to mean...but...well, let me start from the beginning..."
* * *
[Yes, we're getting a flashback episode, you're welcome.]
Ozma had been wandering his town, wondering where Salem was and what her next move would be...and how he could ever unite mankind.
The same thing over and over again that he always wondered when he was alone.
This new body of his had finally lost its consciousness completely just a month or so ago, leaving him changed, but still very much the same.
He wandered out of the city, down the road, and as he was walking along, no Grimm in sight, he saw something--a flash...a swirl of light...in the air?
Rushing that direction, he was surprised to see a woman caught upside down in a tree by her very odd clothes, with her blonde hair tangled up in the branches.
A staff was lying on the ground near the tree, like it had been planted there by accident.
"Uh...excuse me?" Ozma said.
"Mmm? Oh, hello." The woman had a strange accent to her voice. She looked at him upside down. "You must be Ozma."
"What?" Ozma said. "How did you know my name?"
"You matched the image." The woman pointed outward--or for her just upward slightly. "I'd shake your hand and curtsy, but as you can see, I'm a bit hung up at the moment. Topsy turvy, it would be just my luck starting off here to end up in this fix, but how was I to know the door would just open sideways like that? I do declare, the Almighty likes to make a joke of my entrances every single time. Last time I landed in a lake, I swear--Are you not going to help me down? Just stand there gawking like some scarecrow?"
"Oh, um, of course." Ozma took her arm and pulled her out. She fell the rest of the way but then flipped somehow and landed on her feet with a roll.
Brushing herself off and smoothing down her very odd coat and under garments, she snapped her heels together. Then curtsied. "Well, it's not the most graceful of entrances, but here I am. The name is Alicia Vundar."
"That isn't a very normal name." Ozma tilted his head. "Or a very normal entrance. Where are you from?"
"Here and there," Alica Vundar said, gesturing nonchalantly. She plucked up the staff, which was tipped with a snake head.
"That's...an odd symbol." Ozma looked. "Family crest?"
"You could say so, one of many." Alica also had a sort of headband on that had a snake mouth where the bow would usually be. "Means healing... So you're the poor sod with two souls. I must say...I almost expected you to look a bit more cockeyed."
"I... How did you know that?" Ozma looked around. "Did she send you?"
"No, no, don't be ridiculous," Alicia brushed it off. "What utter rubbish--as if that she-wolf would ever send help to you. No, no, I am from another Master," She pointed upwards. "And not a moment too soon. But let's stop just standing here. I know those monsters that you have all over this world will be at our throats soon enough. Isn't there somewhere we could have some tea and a chat?"
"I...suppose." Ozma stared at her oddly. "But where did you really come from?"
"Out with it then?" Alicia said. "The truth is, I'm not from this world at all. I guess you could say I sort of just fell into this one." She laughed like that was a joke. "At least I certainly tumbled in rather ungracefully. Come on now."
["Alicia" actually either means "truth", "noble nature", or "exalted", depending on which language you use. Also, "Vundar" means "wonder" in German.]
* * *
"Wait, wait," Wally cut in. "She fell into a tree? That's so classic. How could you not like someone like that?"
"She sounds appropriately odd," Shine said. "We do tend to be a bit odd, I think, at least after a few trips. I mean, you know...it changes a person to hop worlds."
Raven glanced at them strangely. "Wait, did you just say hop worlds?"
"Raven, do try to follow along please," Shine said. "Ozpin, is this why you imitate our customs? I thought it was a bit odd how British you act sometimes. I bet this girl was from some alternative England. "
"I suppose she made an impression on me," Ozpin said. "She always insisted there would be tea whenever anything important happened. I guess I did pick it up. Just feels right now. And I thought the accent made her sound more learned at times."
"Even here, British people just sound smart," Wally said.
"It's the snobby attitude," Shine said. "But I kid. So, you didn't believe her?"
"Oh, no, I believed her," Ozpin said. "I couldn't account for her story any other way. And then it was just as you--she was able to scare Grimm. She could do other things too. Heal people just by speaking. She used the staff also. They could even just look at it, and things like poison would be gone from them."
"A shame we don't have her around for Tyrian," Wally muttered.
"I'm afraid you have a misconception, Mr. West," Ozpin said, holding his cane thoughtfully. "I liked Alicia just fine. In fact, for a time I enjoyed having one other person around who knew the truth about me and wasn't fazed by it."
"But at a price," Shine guessed. "She knew too much after a while."
"She...got along with other people also," Ozpin said. "The friends I had at the time. But she would say that I didn't show them my true face. She would talk about the reincarnation as being a curse, and the gods being wrong about Life and Death... She never raised anyone from it, and I thought she went on a bit too strongly about that subject. Of course now... But nothing really frayed our actual friendship, until a few months into it, but, I had a lead on one of Salem's movements, and...let's say that her advice didn't sit well with me..."
* * *
"You don't understand," Ozma said. "If I do not find something to stop her, more people will die. And she may end up discovering one of those Relics... I...I'm beginning to think I can't protect them all on my own. Perhaps if I split them up, hid them each in another place."
"Another place?" Alicia said, swinging her watch lazily and sitting on a rock. "Oz, come on, those Relics don't matter that much. If you just moved it, Salem would leave that city alone. Don't you think using these cities as barricades is wrong? At least without letting them know what's at stake. If you just told the world about it, you'd have help."
"We both know that people would only fear her more, and she could use that," Ozma said. "Your eternal optimism about humanity is unfortunately not one I share after so many lifetimes."
"I don't have faith in people so much," Alicia said. "But I do think they need to be told the truth. Whether they believe it or not, is up to them, isn't it? Do tell me, how do you intend to keep her at bay all by yourself?"
"Perhaps you could help me," Ozma said. "Didn't you say you were here to help?"
"Yes...and I've told you what would help," Alicia said warily. "I have a King of my own, not like your gods. He would be able to help you. I'm sure He could break your foolish curse as well--if you'd only stop trying to fight Salem this way. Tell me, do you really think you're going to beat her? Didn't the god warn you: Where you seek comfort you will find only pain."
Ozma looked up sharply. "Who told you that?"
"I had another of my visions," Alicia said gravely. "One that finally explained to me what the trouble is. Oz...you can't save her. Do you think if you wait enough centuries, she'll learn the meaning of life and death? I tell you, your gods don't know it themselves. They think death is balance! Her task is impossible as long as she's going by their way of it. And you can't save her by supporting it either."
"You have no idea what you are speaking of," Ozma said tightly. "I am not trying to save Salem."
"You are!" Alicia said, with emotion. "You have always been--from the moment you found her in that tower, but it never does dawn on you that some people cannot be saved by mere force and effort alone! Some people have to want to be saved!"
"I'm sure she seeks release," Ozma said. "But I cannot let her have it, not like this. I have to unite mankind first."
"You cannot unite mankind!" Alicia said. "The Lord above couldn't even do that, not all of them. Only those who choose it. A choice they each make for themselves, Oz, not you. You are not God! Can you not get over trying to be one even now? Can you not stop trying to do their job that they so unjustly left you with?"
"Now you are calling that into question also?" Ozma said angrily. "And what do you know about it? Your own God has tasked you with trying to save this world yourself, but instead of worked with me, you want me to abandon the quest altogether. And what? Live out life after life in misery?"
"Of course not. I want you to be free. This is not your responsibility," Alicia said.
"What do you know of my job?" Ozma said. "You cannot even save mankind yourself, and you wouldn't even try."
"I certainly would not," Alicia said. "It is saved already."
"That is poppycock, to use your favorite word," Ozma said.
"It's not my favorite word," Alicia said. "But it does describe your reasoning!"
"Really, my dear, this is going too far," Ozpin said.
"You and your ideas!" Alicia said. "You think you can save anyone, being what you are, a mere man? The arrogance of it. I could just..."
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Ozma said. "But I must do it. I have no choice."
"What if I could release you from your curse?" Alicia said suddenly. "Right now? Would you take it?"
Silence.
* * *
"Wait, wait, wait, she asked you that?" Oscar said.
"Yes, what?" Shine said. "I'm with Oscar."
"Yeah, ditto," Wally said.
Raven leaned forward.
Ozpin sighed and looked at his hands. "It was...not something as simple as she made it out to be."
"What do you mean by that?" Shine asked. "You made it that, or she did?"
"I..." Ozpin faltered.
* * *
"You mean, undo the magic?" Ozma said after a long pause.
"Yes," Alicia said, holding up her staff. "It may be that I could do it, with His help... You might die..." She looked sad. "Or maybe you'd live--perhaps...but for the last time."
Pause.
"And you would stop Salem also?" Ozma said. "You would kill her?"
"It's not my task to kill her," Alicia said. "I was sent to you." She pointed at him. "If she was the sort who would receive my help, I'd be with her, wouldn't I? Stop worrying about her. Good gracious, Oz, will you let that woman hold you back from every good in life for all of yours? Or many of yours? How many lifetimes do you need to spend chasing her....l I know you only took this task of the gods so that you could do so."
Ozma stiffened. "I... That's not true."
"It was true," Alicia said. "And if he didn't know it, he was even blinder than I thought. That's a false god for you, however, blind and foolish. Empty as the solution they provided you. But you all still chase after them for some reason... This world is growing darker by the year, Oz. It won't get any better. The Grimm are bad now? But they'll get worse... I see things, at night." She put a hand to her eyes. "Visions of what will be if things continue as they are. Things Salem will learn how to do. People who will suffer. And I see our time to stop it grows short. I cannot stay forever, and you have allowed me to change so little."
"I haven't stopped you," Ozma said.
"But I can only do so much," Alicia said, "when you won't accept it fully. I told you, faith is everything."
"I still do not understand that," Ozma said. "But if you cannot stop Salem, then these things you see will happen only faster if I'm gone."
"No, Oz, they will happen because you are here," Alicia said very seriously. "Because she will always try to get to you--you two drive each other like the heat over the ocean drives the winds, and always in a circle in the end." [Weather tidbit: That's how hurricanes are made.]
"Always you say things like that," Ozpin said. "And yet when we do nothing, I see no great improvement."
"You didn't do nothing!" Alicia said. "Just because you are not there in person does not mean you didn't do something! You still want to win this fight... I can't tell if you love her or you hate her."
"I cannot let her destroy another town," Ozma said. "Please, help me save it."
Alicia sighed and looked upward.
"I foresee...no great harm if I do that," she said. "But, it's not going to improve anything."
"If we save them now, it's sufficient for me," Ozma said.
"If only that were true," Alicia muttered.
* * *
"What happened after that?" Wally asked. "Did you save it?"
"Then, yes," Ozma said. "Even many other times. I told her it was just out of concern for the citizens... I don't think she believed me, but she was...a bit like you also, Mr. West, not willing to let people perish over petty disagreements."
Wally smiled.
Shine tapped his arm affectionately.
"I knew Alicia was a genuinely good person." Ozpin shook his head. "And...in a way I felt I was taking advantage of that, because in her heart, she still didn't think I was doing the right thing. But she grew quiet about it... Instead she told me stories, ones from your book, I think. Perhaps she hoped I would change my mind, but I only grew more stubborn. Whether or not that was right...time has not really made it clear. I couldn't believe that abandoning my quest was the right course of action. Alicia seemed to stop having her Visions for a while...but Salem, she began to catch on that I had some kind of help...and that was when I first began to see new kinds of Grimm...ones that she had made herself. Ones like the Wyvern over Beacon... Nothing so elaborate as the Hound yet; they were only small changes at first, but they were a little...more deadly. I lost some friends to them. Alicia was able to deflect them, but even she took some hits, and it convinced me even more that she was not invincible."
Shine was listening carefully. "And something happened to bring it to a head?" she guessed.
"It was about 6 months after her arrival," Ozpin said. "We were in what is now Vale... You'd recognize it--it's not far from where Beacon academy is. And we encountered some of the worst Grimm of all...but that is also when I chose to use the Staff. Alicia said not to--but we were down so many people..." He looked sad. "I had only a few friends left, who knew anything about Salem at any rate. Some had left me to join her, even. And Alicia wasn't saving everyone... She helped, but she couldn't do enough. And I knew it was the Relics that were drawing them after us. And the kingdom, such as it was then, wouldn't survive. I had been interested in Alicia's ability to make doorways. She told me she came from another world and that doorways would open to it."
Shine and Wally exchanged another look but didn't speak.
Ozpin looked forlorn. "I...had had the idea that, if other worlds and places between them exist, it would be the one place Salem couldn't find the Relics."
Raven caught her breath slightly.
Wally shuddered. For some reason this was creeping him out.
"I will...always regret how I went about it," Ozpin said. "But...when Alicia was momentarily knocked out in a fight, I picked up her staff...and it occurred to me that, with this, I wouldn't need a blueprint. Ambrosius could copy its power."
"You didn't..." Shine gasped.
"Alicia had told me her power could not be copied by magic," Ozpin said. "Not truly. I'd asked you know, if she'd teach me how to use my power the way she did...but I didn't entirely despair of a copy. So I took her staff and I took the Staff of Creation, and I asked him to imitate its power and create...doors into another world. One for each Relic. A world like hers...but where magic would not touch them except my own, the one specific thing I would link to the doors. I split it into four parts."
Shine shook her head slowly.
Ozpin closed his eyes. "I've... endeavored to forget what happened when Alicia came to and knew what I did..."
* * *
"And can you put each Relic inside them?" Ozma was explaining to Ambrosius.
"You do know that they will vanish as soon as you use me again?" Ambrosius said. "Then again...maybe not." He examined the snake staff again. "After all, this is unlike anything I've ever copied... Even an imitation of it might not be all gone."
"I think I've found a way to keep the door open using my own magic also," Ozma said.
"Well, I made the one for Choice harder, as you asked," Ambrosius said. "But I have a warning for you: Do not ever leave those door open. Anything might get in there."
"Understood," Ozma said.
"OZMA!" someone suddenly yelled at him.
Ambrosius cringed and said, "I'll been leaving you to...uh...clean up after this."
He vanished.
Alicia came charging into the cavern near the mountain.
"What have you done?" she said, in a dreadful voice.
"I'm sorry..." Ozma said. "I had to hide them somewhere, and this was the only place she couldn't track them too. But your staff is not harmed, see?" He held it out.
It flew into her hands, but she shook her head. "Ozma...what have you done?" she repeated. "Did I not tell you not to try to imitate this power?..." She shuddered. "I can feel it, you've torn a hole in this dimension...more than one... There should only be one at a time anyway, open... Do you know what you could let in?"
"I..." Ozpin said.
There was a viscous roar.
"And that's the Grimm now!" Alicia said. "They'd be drawn to this, just as they were to the Relics, you idiot!" She slammed the staff into the floor.
"I had to!" Ozma said. "If she got the Relics it would all be over, and we no longer have the manpower to defend them! You were exhausted. I had no choice."
"Ozma!" Alicia said. "You've only made it worse... If Salem gets into another world, why...do you know what would happen?... I don't know at all. All these doors are connected at the other side, aren't they? I'll have to close them myself. It's the only way."
"No, don't!" Ozma said. "I have sealed them off. The Grimm may find them, but they can't get in. I'll hide them. I have a plan. I'll surround the vaults with people, the warriors of the kingdoms--the Grimm will never get in."
Alicia's eyes glowed.
"Ozma," she said, "your plan will not work. You may stall, but Salem's determination to get these items will grow and grow the longer you keep them away from her like this. Mankind will divide more and more the longer you try to unite them. And where you seek comfort and security, you will find only pain and betrayal, because people will not serve a false thing forever. Sooner or later, you will see it for what it is. Lifeless."
"Stop it," Ozma said. "It won't happen. I cannot let it."
"You can't stop it!" Alicia said. "You will never stop it, ever, forever."
"You cannot say that!" Ozma said. "You..." He suddenly got a hard look. "Leave."
"Leave?" Alicia said.
"Yes...leave," Ozma said. "You are only adding to the problem. You said you'd leave if I no longer needed your help...so go."
"Think carefully about that, Oz," Alicia said, paling. "If I go, I will not be able to return... The doors are weak. They won't keep the evil out of your world forever, or the other that you connected them to..."
"I don't want to hear it!" Ozma said. "I'm going to take care of this world. That is my task. It is not yours!"
"What have you become, Oz?" Alicia had tears in her eyes. "At first, I thought you were wiser than this...but you've...really made the curse you own. What would you do without it?"
"I said leave!" Ozma turned his back on her. "Use that door if you like. It's your world, isn't it?"
"Not fully." Alicia looked at it with a sour expression. "It's not fully mine; it's not fully yours... The Staff only cheaply imitated my powers...but close enough...enough to trap them... Well, it will hold the Relics, and maybe you're right--for a while, you can keep her out of it...but she'll find a way... I see things..."
She put a hand to her eyes. "Yes...I have to go...but...one last thing I will do for you... I will seal those doors from the other side... I can do that much, in another world, if I can't do it here... Nothing will come out of them this way, not for a long time. If you can keep anything from going in, perhaps we can avert disaster, until they can be destroyed...but the magic will alter time, because you mixed it with my powers... Ambrosius is right--it won't fade when you use the Staff, because you made a hole between the worlds, and those do not just heal on their own... Every time you open the door, you'll tear it open more... Don't open the doors, Ozma... Don't use the Relics. They will only bring you more trouble."
Ozma looked back at her, not sure what to think of this.
"I foresee that you will..." Alicia stared into space. "Be wary of the Sword and the Crown in particular--they have the most dangerous powers. And the easiest to abuse...like the god that made them... Well, I have to leave you now, Ozma." She held out her staff, and the door opened, glowing brightly. "I'll seal them all... Time runs differently in other worlds... It may be years here before I get to all of them, even if for me it is hours. Guard them until then...if you love anything about this planet."
"Alicia, I..." Ozma began to feel sorry. "I..."
"Don't let the Grimm near them," Alicia said. "And never tell Salem about the portals... Do you understand me?"
She walked to the doorway. "Goodbye, Oz... You have been my first failed mission...I hope you're my last also. If it matters at all, I loved you also, for all the quarreling."
She wiped a tear away. "I hope in the end some good comes of this."
"Wait--" Ozma began, but the door shut quite suddenly.
* * *
Silence in all the listeners.
Oscar was in shock.
Ozpin opened his eyes. "I guarded the doorways for months...years, even. One by one they became more stable, and I was able on my end to put spells on them to keep Salem from exploiting them, without the use of magic. I gave my power to the Maidens as a hope of making it harder... They came to me at a time I was...very discouraged. Alicia's absence had made it worse... I wondered if I'd lose everyone... Their kindness gave me hope again, and I gave them magic in return...but I'd begun to question if the magic should be one person's responsibility, so I made it pass from one person to the next... Of course Salem found a way to twist it...by hunting them, but, so far I'd kept her from ever getting them all in her grasp. The last door was here, in Vacuo...by then I'd gotten rid of most of the Grimm, sealing the Wyvern in a mountain when I couldn't kill it. The silver-eyed warriors were ones I worked with sometimes, but they so often disappear after a while... Finally, I thought to use the Sword of Destruction to try to take care of some of the Grimm... One particularly terrible one, smarter than some of the others, would not leave the area alone... Against Alicia's counsel, I opened the door... By some stroke of luck, she found it at just the same time. I think on her end it had been weeks only. I thought I might have a chance to apologize to her, maybe undo the wrong I did... But before I could say more than few words, the Grimm followed me to the Vault, as she also said would happen... But I thought I could buy time. I was wrong."
"And did she kill it?" Shine asked in a low voice.
"I went to get the Sword," Ozpin said. "And she said, 'No, Oz, it's not safe yet. I haven't blocked this door off. You might tear this whole place so badly that it won't be patched up!" And I stopped. But the Grimm, it went right for the Relic, I suppose to bring it to its master. And Alicia hit it aside, but it didn't dissolve. It was tougher than the others. Instead it ran off into the world itself. Somehow it got around her. I guess her barrier wasn't in place yet. Well, I said I'd go in after it--but she said no. We couldn't keep the door open any longer and she'd go after this herself."
He looked upward. "And then I had the last words from her..."
* * *
"Alicia..." Ozma said... "I'm sorry, truly."
"I know," Alicia said grimly. "I know you probably believe that you are...but it won't be the sorriest you'll be, Oz...and I can't stop it, not now.... I can only hope this slows it down." She raised her staff and began to swing it over the area. "That thing will come back to the Sword. I hope my line holds it off...for a long time..." She sounded tired. "But I don't think I can hold off that long... Well, I gave it all I could. I realize that it wasn't good enough, but I'm sure your mind was set from the beginning... You had your chance."
"Alicia, I never meant to cause any harm to you or anyone else," Ozma said.
"I know," Alicia said. "But your obsession with this will harm more people than me... I will never return here, Oz...but I will pray for you and ask that, maybe, another answer will be sent...sometime when you're ready... Perhaps next time, it ought to be when you're weaker, less set in that magical way of yours. Maybe that will save you...since you refuse to save yourself. I will pray that someone else will do what you did not have the strength to do and stand in the gap for you. As it has been for all of us before."
She came up to the door, eyes burning. "Look for these signs, Ozma... Death will not stick, magic will weaken, the monsters you call Grimm will be afraid for their lives, and old things will come to light that you didn't want to be known. When the truth is known, it will set you free...If you no longer stand in its way. I see this for you...but it will not be from me." She held up her hand. "God have mercy on your soul, Ozma. On all of them."
"Alic--" Ozma began, but the door shut in front of him again.
* * *
"And that was the last time I ever saw the world like that," Ozpin finished slowly. "Every time since, when I opened the Vault doors, or a Maiden did, I saw a small piece that must have been cut from the rest of it, and I saw she had made it so. I never saw her again. And I never saw that Grimm. I hope she killed it."
They all stared at him in silence.
"You see why I didn't want to talk about it," Ozpin said. "If you had known that I was the one who closed the door in her face, I thought, you would expose all to everyone else, what little they didn't know already. The Lamp so happily didn't show that part, because I think the Lamp does not know it, but I knew you would."
Raven stood up.
"And why did you pick now to tell us that? You b-----d!?" She sounded just like Yang.
"I..." Ozpin faltered. "Oscar has been telling the truth so often...and you've been working to try to mend things... I began to feel it was unfair not to let you know why you were having such difficulty...but...I don't know now that I should have told you."
There was a long pause that was terrible to bear for everyone.