RWBY Through Worlds

167: We Wonder What We've Done

[AMV by Tromboneking87 to "Call Me" by Shinedown.]

Well...once Salem was gone, you could have heard a pin drop.

Then Oscar fell to the floor, and Ozpin burst out, "You've gone mad, really and truly mad!"

He was actually raving.

"Ozpin, stop it!" Oscar protested, but it was too late.

The same pain and terrible feeling of before came over him, stronger than ever.

Winter and Raven gasped and fell onto the floor also, and Vara swooned, but Theo caught her.

Cinder screamed and clawed at her chest.

The others stepped back from them, except Ruby, Pyrrha, and Jaune, who tried to help.

"Stop it!" Ruby's eyes flickered silver.

The feeling became a little less but persisted.

"I will never allow you to do this! It is mad, utterly mad!" Ozpin said. "Salem cannot bring together those Relics. If the gods see what she has done to us, they'll end us forever this time. I have failed. I cannot fail them, not now!"

"Will you freaking get a grip?!" Raven shouted at him. "You're not just hurting yourself right now--ow!" She grabbed her head. Feathers shot out of it.

Then she turned into a bird all the way.

But still, she said, "Someone, get him to stop!"

Shine moved closer, and he swung at her with his staff.

"You traitor!" he cried. "How dare you do this?! After we trusted you!"

Qrow was looking like he was in pain.

"This was your plan?" Theo said to Shine, over the noise. "Throw the towel in?"

"I knew you would say so," Shine said, "but I cannot undo it now. Should have stopped me before."

"You made us promise not to," Yang said.

"Yes, nothing has changed since then, for me," Shine said. "I have had this plan for a long time."

"But why?" Blake said.

"It is the only way," Shine said. "I don't ask you to understand that, but it is what I'm sure of now. I knew you would not like it."

"I didn't like it either," Wally said. "But I see why it has to be this way now. Salem won't ever quit. She's just going to have to get what she wants. And when the gods show up, then we'll just confront them ourselves."

"Ah..." Pyrrha pointed to her head. "That is what the connection was... I thought it must be something like that, but I wasn't sure how Salem fit into it. Of course..."

"You're okay with this?" Jaune looked up at her.

"I think it makes sense," Pyrrha said. "Only the gods seem able to compete with Salem. We might as well call them on purpose. If we allow her to, we could perhaps at least be there. If she steals the Relics herself, we have no control."

"That doesn't make the idea less mad," Theo said.

"Doesn't matter," Shine said. "Whoever is willing to join us, Wally and I will be taking those Relics to Salem's house starting tomorrow. I don't know how long the journey will take, but however long it takes, once we get there, things progress as we said."