RWBY Through Worlds

29: Time to be Defiant

Cinder came around shortly thereafter, and Emerald was waiting for her.

She decided not to mention what she saw--even if Cinder was pissed that they'd brought her back. [Way to be grateful to the only person who likes you, Cinder.]

Emerald tried to explain, "You were hurt. I was just trying to help."

Not a good moment for Mercury to walk in, but he did... That meeting had been short.

"I think she's had enough help," he said meanly. "Besides, she went against our queen. I'd be careful who you back."

"Cinder's hunch was right," Emerald argued. "If we'd had support, then maybe we would have--"

"Would you stop trying to protect her already?" Mercury held his hand out. "She doesn't care about you." [Takes some guts to say that in front of Cinder...and did she help herself?]

Cinder's eye lit on fire.

"Both of you, get out!" she snapped. "I'll let you know when you're needed next."

Emerald lowered her head. She was pissed at her...but why? What were they supposed to do?

"Yeah, about that--" Mercury never did seem to care if Cinder blew his head off with her magic. "--Salem's got other plans for me. I'm not gonna be taking orders from you anymore."

Emerald couldn't believe her ears...not that she hadn't seen this coming, but was he out of his mind?

Wait, why was she so horrified? Wasn't this just kind of what they did now?

"She wants everyone on the bridge," Mercury added. "Something big is about to happen."

There was nothing to do but get up and go, so they did.

* * *

Oscar's head stopped spinning after a while, and Ozpin resumed talking to him.

He was sore all over, but at least Oz provided a bit of a distraction from his many injuries.

"I'd like to express again," Ozpin said, "This is my burden to bear, not yours. His grudge is with me."

"No, it will be even worse," Oscar managed to speak, with difficulty. "He's holding back with me, I can tell."

Had he been able to see himself right then, he might have wondered just how much good that was really doing him.

Somehow, though, he didn't think he'd sustained any internal bleeding from all this.

"I understand, I do," Ozpin said, "but you've done so much already. The least I can do is give you a break. And try to get us out of here."

"We can't leave yet," Oscar said. "This is our chance."

Something he'd been thinking about while getting knocked around was that...why did Salem even have these people working for her?

It made no sense...unless maybe she lied to them.

Hazel might be kind of a jerk, but Oscar had seen him do minor acts of kindness before. He didn't think that, deep down, he was a sadistic psycho like Tyrian. So what would possess him to work for Salem, the only other person he could blame for his sister's death?

[As an aside, he's lucky that Salem didn't have Tyrian torture him--I suspect because Tyrian would have gotten carried away and just killed him off. I really couldn't have watched that.]

Maybe it was inheriting Ozpin's experience, or maybe it was that Shine had grilled him on how to read his opponent for the last week or so, but he was starting to think that something didn't add up...and maybe he could use that.