Blake's POV:
I staggered home feeling awful. There still wasn't a scar or a wound on my stomach, but I could still feel the mark where he stabbed me. My stomach was in knots, my head was swimming, and I could feel that Grimm fluid oozing around in my body. I limped to a bathroom and checked my reflection. My hair was messy, my eyes were red, and I could still feel Adam on my body.
My stomach gurgled, and I covered my mouth. I rushed to the toilet and began to puke with such intensity I almost lost my voice. When I looked in the bowl, I almost passed out.
Blood.
Blood was mixed in with Grimm fluid in the toilet, and I felt another wave flowing out of my mouth and into the toilet. I coughed as the last came out, and my throat burned. Before I could get up, the Grimm fluid began to bubble; it mixed with my blood and rose, creating a pillar. A bright red Grimm eye glared at me, then receded into the fluid, and it began to stretch and change shape until it turned into...
"Salem," I gasped, my voice hoarse, "what are you doing here?"
"Oh dear girl," Salem calmly spoke, "you've been through a lot with Adam, haven't you?"
"What do you want from me?!"
"Silence."
I looked at her, confused.
"I want you to keep quiet about where my hideout is and what you've been through."
"I'm already doing that," I coughed, "I'm not going to tell anyone what happened."
"Except for my dear Ozma, right? Though I guess his new name is Oscar now."
"I won't tell him either."
"I do not care if you tell that child my plans or what I'm doing. Just know that if you interfere with the process, I won't hesitate to end you!"
Salem clenched her fingers, and pain began to shoot through my body. The Grimm fluid in my stomach flowed through every part of my body, releasing a painful energy that seared my bones. I tried crying out and screaming, but the puking made my voice hoarse, and I couldn't make any noise.
"Now that we've got that clear, let me tell you what will happen from here on out: you will visit Adam when he calls you. You are not to tell anyone but Oscar that you're going, no information leaks, and if there is, you know what to expect."
I shivered.
"And don't think about running. The Grimm fluid will always let me know where you are, so escape is impossible. When all this is over, your life will be spared, girl. After all, you have the rest of your life to spend with your future partner to look forward to, right?"
"You leave Yang out of this!" I said raspily.
"Yang? Oh, the blonde girl. Yes, let's use her. If you want a future with her in it, you will comply with my plans until you are no longer needed."
"And why should I trust that you'll keep your word?"
"You can't."
Then she sank into the toilet and disappeared.
"Wait," I called, "what does any of this have to do with Oscar and Scratchclaw?!"
But Salem was already gone. I left the stall and looked at my reflection again. My appearance was fixed. My hair was fine, my eyes were ok, the pain in my stomach was gone, and even my voice was fixed. Fear shook my hands, but I couldn't let Yang and the others see this. I need to tell Oscar what happened to me and soon.
I'm just mad because now the situation went from me and Oscar not telling everyone until we could put a plan together, and now we can't tell anyone, or else I'll die.
Yang's POV:
Knock knock knock
Oscar opened his door and looked surprised to see I was there.
"Hey Oscar," I said, trying to make my way into his room, "I need to ta-"
Ruby was playing on her scroll while sitting on his bed with a blissfully happy look, which turned into shock when she saw me.
"Uh, Ruby," I scratched my head, "what are you doing in Oscar's room?"
"Uh, Oscar and I were...planning on...thinking of training regimens?"
"Eh yea," chimed Oscar, "we know Scratchclaw is out there, and I'm planning on training with Weiss and Winter soon, so we were thinking of possible ways to train. You know cuz I have Ozpin's cane while you guys have your multi-functional weapons."
"So why are you talking to Ruby and not Weiss or Winter?" I asked, leaning against the door frame.
"Well, I uh...I was talking to Ruby a few days ago and was about to tell her about my...scars and Scratchclaw, but something happened, and I never got the chance. So she came to see me now that I've told you guys and blew up at Harriet."
"Oh, Yea, that," I remembered how his arm looked again and glanced at it, "I'm sorry about what happened to you, and I hope you can overcome this. I also know what it's like to be hurt by someone and have that fear linger over you," I held up my prosthetic, "I promise you'll get through this. And you don't have to rely on Weiss and Winter alone. We're all here for you, Oscar; we're your friends."
"Thanks, Yang. I want to be confident that I can beat him, so I plan to train extra hard."
"Cool, cool, hope it works out for you."
I hesitated and stayed in the door for a while.
"Hey, is something wrong?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"No, it's nothing," o said, trying not to sound embarrassed, "It's just...Oscar, can I see your scars again?"
"Uh yea, sure," Oscar began rolling up his sleeve, showing me the scars again. I flinched at the sight of them.
"Can-can I touch them?"
"Sure."
I brushed my fingertips over them with my prosthesis thinking about what could've been. How Oscar could've ended up like me. I remember when I lost my arm and how my hands would shake from my PTSD; Oscar might have felt the same way.
"Hey, sis?"
I looked up to see Ruby staring at me worriedly.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just," I looked back at Oscar's scars, "I can't help but think that you could have ended up like me. If you had lost your arm all those years ago, you'd be the same as I am. I know how scary it is to fight someone that could've killed you easily, and...well, you don't have to train with just Weiss and Winter. You can train with me too. As one person who survived a traumatic experience to another, I want to help you overcome this. I had Blake to help me; now I want to help you too. If you hadn't gotten saved by your aunt, you would've been just like me," I flexed my prosthetic, "or worse."
"Thanks, Yang," Oscar sounded a bit more cheerful, "I appreciate you trying to help me with this, Yang; it means a lot."
"No problem, dude."
"And Yang, I'm already like you."
"What? But you don't have a robot arm like I do! You weren't 'injured' like how I was!"
"True, I wasn't. But it's not our injuries that make us the same," Oscar held my prosthetic with his scarred arm, "it's the parts connected to it," he grabbed my normal arm with his hand.
That calmed my heart. I got over what Adam did to me, but I still feel like he's out somewhere waiting to sever the rest of me.
"Thanks, Oscar," I turned to leave but then remembered why I went to him, "Oh hey, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Yea, what's up?" Oscar replied.
"Uh, well, I just... can't help but notice you and Blake have been...spending a lot of time together and...and I was wondering if you knew where she went."
"I... can't really say, Yang. I think she just went out for a walk or something."
I sighed, "Well, thanks anyways. If you hear from Blake, tell her I'm looking for her, ok?"
"Yea, ok."
Oscar closed the door, and I headed back into the living room.
I sat on the couch thinking about Blake and why my sister was in a boy's room alone when the door opened, and Blake walked in looking like a mess.
Blake's POV:
I hobbled into the room and saw Yang sitting on the couch; when she saw me walk in, she ran straight to me and held my face.
"Oh my god Blake," she gasped, "are you ok? You look a mess. Did you hurt yourself? Was it Cardin? I'll kill him!"
"it wasn't Cardin, Yang," I yawned, "I've just...had a long day today and feel really tired. Oh, but where's Oscar?"
"Why do you wanna talk about Oscar so bad? You guys have been hanging out a lot lately. Is there something going on?!"
"Nothing Yang. There's...look, I'm tired, and I want to lie down for a while."
"I thought you wanted to talk to Oscar?"
"I do, I do. But...maybe later."
I headed to our room and plopped onto the bed.
While rubbing my stomach, I tried to cope with what was happening inside my body with that Grimm fluid circulating along with whatever Salem's real plan was. A million questions were racing through my mind as I tried to calm myself down. Why did Salem want me for this? Adam said she didn't need me specifically, but why was I chosen? Why would she bring back Adam, and how does she even know Scratchclaw in the first place? Oh, I hope Oscar's going to be ok.
**The next day**
I told Oscar what had happened to me and Salem, and he was shaken up.
"Oh my god Blake," he said, his voice breaking, "I'm so sorry. I knew we should've told the others sooner, and now we reached a point of no return! Oh my god, if we tell Ruby and the others, you're going to be killed! Do you think the others would understand why we did this? Ruby and Yang are suspicious of us and keep asking me about you. This has gone on far enough, Blake; we need to find some moment, a gap, a hole in this situation so we can tell everyone and come clean."
"I know that, Oscar!" I snapped, "You think I don't want to tell my fiance that I've been lying to her for weeks about the nightmare we ended!? I'm just so scared and..." tears began to streak down my face out of fear, "I don't know what to do! I need you to keep this up for me, Oscar, please! I don't wanna die and...and I know Yang will be mad at me, but I want to keep her safe even if she'll hate me for life about this."
I saw my whole relationship with Yang flash in front of me; Meeting at Beacon when we were in our pajamas and I met Ruby for the second time, fighting Roman in the mech suit, the Mountain Glen incident, the Fall of Beacon, reuniting at Haven, learning Oz's secrets, fighting the Ace Ops and watching her fall into the void.
"Ok, Blake," sighed Oscar, "I know what you're going through is hard, and I promise to keep this a secret for a little while longer. Get more information from Adam or whoever you can, but when we get enough, we need to come clean. I hate lying to everyone else, and I know that Ruby has enough in her mind!"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What do I mean about...what?"
"You said Ruby has enough on her mind. Is she ok? Is there something wrong with her?"
"Uh...no. No, she's uh, she's fine."
"Come on, Oscar, it's me. You can tell me about Ruby."
"I can also tell Yang about you, right? She doesn't want me talking about this to anyone because she doesn't feel ready to talk about it."
He got me there.
"Ok, ok," I said, "I guess that makes sense. You don't have to tell me about Ruby, but if she's having a problem, I hope she can tell us about it eventually."
"I know she will. She just needs to find the courage to do so."
"Ok. Thanks again, Oscar," I said, giving him a hug, "I'm so glad I have a friend like that in my life right now because," my voice began to break, and tears started flowing again, "I don't think I can do this alone. I'm really scared and...I-I need someone to rely on right now and...thank you for being here with me."
"Anytime, Blake," Oscar smiled.
I gave him a hug and squeezed tightly. I didn't want to let him go right away.
"Oscar," I whined.
"yes, Blake?" Oscar replied.
"I don't wanna die."
"Hey, you won't."
"I want to live with Yang and have a future with her. What if I can't have that because of this?"
Oscar pulled me away and made me face him, "I will not let you die if I can prevent it, Blake. I will ensure you and Yang have a happy future and a life together. I'm here for you, we're both struggling and suffering, and I will stand by you even if the truth threatens to tear us apart."
I hugged Oscar so hard that I nearly squeezed the life out of him.
"Blake," Oscar gagged, "you're choking me."
"I know," I sighed, "just bear with it for a little while longer. For me."
"Yea, for you," Oscar suffocated as he helped me feel better.