Glynda had either gotten over the shock of it all rather fast, or was at least pretending that she was fully composed now, because she had quickly ensured that all of the students got the non-alcoholic drinks.
She had visibly gone over whether or not to give the real stuff to Roman and Neo, consternation clear on her face, but ultimately gave in. It’s not like Neo wouldn’t have gotten some for them regardless, given her semblance.
And so the group awkwardly stood around, sipping on their drinks, with the exception of Roman and the resident alcoholic who tossed theirs back in a single gulp and went back for more.
Nobody knew what to say. Where to start. James probably should have taken the lead in a situation like this, but after all they’d seen his mind was racing with information. Thinking over what they’d learned of their enemies.
That Salem was apparently immortal, and Ozpin had never thought to tell them.
Eventually, though, Weiss took a crack at it.
“So what’s the trick behind all of this? Some sort of illusion based semblance? Is this a part of some test we’re not meant to know of until it’s over? Perhaps to pass we’re meant to deduce that the scenario isn’t real. Although something like this is so far-fetched that I feel I should be insulted that you thought we might fall for it.”
“If only, Miss Schnee, but I’m afraid that as far as I can tell, this is quite real!” Doctor Oobleck looked out of sorts, but it was impossible to tell if that was because of what they’d just seen or because he was now drinking something other than coffee. “Though I will admit, even knowing that secrets were going to be revealed at this meeting, I am having trouble believing it all myself. There being alternate universes or a multiverse or whatever you might wish to call it is not something that I had ever given much thought to, but only because they were unfalsifiable theories. With the bit of evidence we have, I could accept such a thing. I’ve never been terribly religious, but Gods, or at least beings with enough power that they would be indistinguishable from such, existing is something my mind is at least reasonably prepared for. My dealings with Ozpin and Qrow had given me some prep for all of the nonsense that is apparently magic, though I resent that terminology…”
His gaze fell on Second Thoughts. “But everything I know and love being little more than popular media in another world? That one is a bit much for me. It was said that our minds cannot draw from nothing, but what does that mean, exactly? Do these other worlds already exist, and your imagination allows you to peer into them like some sort of clairvoyance semblance? Does imagining something pull on some sort of magic that then forces your thoughts into existence? Magic would not be nothing after all. This sort of thing has many implications that I do not like.”
“You can’t be serious,” Blake chimed in, though it came off as more of a demand. A plea. “That was… it was preposterous. One of those scenarios was a video game! You can’t expect me to just- just take it at face value as real!”
“But Blakey, wasn’t it awesome!” Nora grabbed the faunus girl’s arm and violently shook her. “If Second came from another world, can we go to other worlds? I want to go to the video game world!”
“Nora, that’s insensitive.” Ren tried to gently remind her, pulling his partner off of Blake.
They’d all seen how Second had been brought to their world after all.
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Pyrrha denied. “Even if… even if we accept what was shown to us,” though given they’d witnessed her death, nobody could blame her for the grimace that accompanied that statement, “Even if we accept these… other worlds, and Gods, and… how does transferring a soul from somewhere else make them end up as a semblance of all things? They used the word reincarnation, but Second…”
That was a good point, wasn’t it? Reincarnation as a concept typically referred to someone getting a second shot at life, but a semblance wasn’t really alive. Not on their own, anyway. They were part of a person who had had their aura unlocked. You couldn’t even call Second a parasite or some other sort of life form that was dependent on another, because it wasn’t like he was using Jaune for nutrients or something. Right? Although, with the information they had now, he could see how parallels might be drawn somewhere else…
The object of his thoughts wasn’t the talkative type, but her eyes met his, as if she had read his mind. Did she know about his involvement with the project? It wouldn’t surprise him, at this point.
“It’s not quite the same,” James finally spoke up, “but there are… similarities to how the power of the Maidens works.” He wasn’t really supposed to be sharing these things with students, but the cat was out of the bag on this one. It might be best to try to have a calm discussion about it all rather than let everyone fall into a panic. “When we were figuring out how to transfer the Fall Maiden’s power from Amber, there were… concerns about what would happen. The machine essentially pulls aura from one person and transplants it into another, so we couldn’t be certain that whoever ended up holding it afterwards would stay the same.”
He watched as Roman gave Neo a concerned look, but she simply smiled and shrugged, apparently not having any issues so far, or at least not willing to share if she’d experienced any.
“It could also be said that the scenario shares some properties with my own,” Penny spoke up. “My aura was sourced entirely from my father, and yet I am able to act on my own, think on my own. Father sometimes says that he had trouble distinguishing which aspects of me are due to my programming and which are due to the soul that resides within me. You might consider my relationship with my father similar to the one between Second Thoughts and Jaune, though there are likely differences between a soul implanted into a semblance and one implanted into a mechanical body that would be difficult to comprehend.”
Roman downed what must be his fourth or fifth glass at that point, before butting in. “Look, all of this nonsense is far, far above my paygrade. I’m a simple gentleman thief, out to live my best life. The only part of this whole thing that I find important is the tidbit we heard in the question within a question. This Salem bitch is Cinder’s boss, right? And she’s queen of the grimm, and also immortal. I’m gonna need an explanation for how you all plan to get around that before I waste any more of my time here and not trying to get an in with my old employers.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Winter scowled at him. “And what makes you think that you could do such a thing? If Neo goes back she’ll no doubt be killed so that Cinder can gain the rest of the Fall Maiden’s power, and that’s assuming you can actually make it that far.”
“What, you want me to give up my plan so easily? Not likely.” Torchwick was bold, but James could see the tension in his body. The criminal didn’t have a plan at all, did he? He was bluffing, hoping for someone to reassure him that he wasn’t doomed.
“Have you forgotten the warning you were given already, Torchwick?” Glynda jabbed with ice in her glare. “The only way for you to survive is to side with us, as much as it pains me to think about putting up with you any longer.”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes, I’m sure that my chances of survival are much higher on the team that lacks the evil immortal. Ozpin clearly doesn’t have any idea of how to stop her, or else he’d have done it what… thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years ago? If nothing else we can get out of here and live the rest of our lives peacefully away from all you whackos. Being on the run is nothing new to us.”
Ozpin tapped his cane against the floor, the thud bringing all attention to him. “I am sure that there is much that many of you wish to say to me.” And he was right on that front. James was certain that after this was over, there would be words in the man’s office between so-called old friends. “But… given what we have learned, what we have seen… I suspect that Second has some ideas that could answer your current inquiry.”
The group turned towards Jaune and his semblance. The Arc boy had a confusion and anger on his face that James was certain they all felt, and Second Thoughts looked… lost. If his reaction after Jinn’s little show was genuine… well, James couldn’t blame him for being out of sorts after learning that he had died, but he also wasn’t sure of what else he would have expected. He’d been the one with the most information going into this, why would he be so shocked?
Neither of them seemed to be paying attention to the conversation.
“Second!” Ruby whispered as she gently prodded at him to get his attention. When he jolted to awareness, she asked him once more how they could stop Salem.
Second seemed to withdraw even more when he saw how much attention was focused on him. “That’s… a topic of some debate…”
James frowned. “What do you mean? If you…” He couldn’t believe he was saying this… “If you somehow viewed our lives in a manner similar to a television show, and you’ve had all of this future knowledge… I imagine Salem’s defeat would be the end of the story, would it not? Everyone lives happily ever after?”
“Unless it’s a story where everyone dies in the end…” Blake muttered.
She promptly shut up when everyone glared at her. He had known that was a possibility, but it wouldn’t do to fill them all with negativity by confirming they were doomed.
Second had been altering the timeline since the start of the school year. Even if the “story” he was familiar with had an… unpleasant ending, surely he had been working to correct that.
Second grimaced. James didn’t like the implications of that. “If we consider the… main story,” and James definitely didn’t like the way he hesitated there, “then… Well, I’m not sure anyone knows. The original creator of the show was… no longer with us, and the show itself… well, the company behind it hadn’t been doing so well…”
Ruby balked. “Are you saying my show got cancelled?!” She turned red and cowered when the attention was brought to her. “What?! The title card said RWBY! It was definitely…. Um… I’ll shut up now…”
Second picked up where he had been interrupted. “There was talk of another company picking it up, but… well, yeah, it got cancelled. I’m not sure if they even had the ending figured out, and even without that I had sorta stopped…” He trailed off, and the mood in the room plummeted. Had they really gotten their hopes up for nothing?
Second wasn’t done, though. “But I’ve seen other endings! It’s just… a matter of figuring out which would work!” He turned towards Ozpin. “Is this a universe where assembling all of the Relics will let us make a weapon capable of killing Salem? A sort of the Relics, which use the power of the Gods, can overcome the curse put in place by them deal? I know that Jinn said Salem was immortal, but in the hierarchy of untold power, she ranks above all of us and below the Gods. It could be that the Relics don’t work on each other, and so Jinn either wouldn’t know or wouldn’t be able to tell us that combining them negates the immortality…”
Ozpin thought for a moment. “It’s a… novel idea. But if we were to require them all to make this supposed weapon, would that not just summon the Brother Gods back here? Them coming back to ruin everything sort of defeats the purpose…”
“W-well… in one timeline, the Brother Gods were summoned, and… how did it go… I think they had spent so much time away that they’d actually matured and were willing to be reasonable in a discussion? They ended the curses put on you and Salem and then fucked off…”
“Why does it sound like you don’t actually know?” Winter demanded.
“That one was a long time ago!” Second defended. “Do you think Blake remembers every detail from every book she’s ever read?! Some of these timelines are more memorable than others, alright!”
“Be that as it may…” and Ozpin looked about as pleased with that as the rest of them, “I cannot approve of a plan that risks the destruction of Remnant as the Brother Gods threatened initially. What other ideas are there?”
Somehow, Second looked more nervous at that. “Well… the question that you asked Jinn, it was how you can destroy Salem. Jinn was… generous today, but if she was only answering the question you asked…”
Oobleck nodded. “I see, you’re suggesting that if the question were instead how can Salem be defeated, the answer would have differed, both because it does not restrain the answer to Ozpin himself, and also opens up possibilities that may count as defeated but not destroyed.”
“Exactly!” Second agreed. “I mean, if it really comes down to it, we could use the last question on that, but we could try things like… keeping her immobile for eternity, or putting her in a coma, or… well… as odd as it sounds, we could try to make it so Salem just isn’t a monster. Mentally, anyway, I’m not sure we could do anything about her appearance…”
Ozpin looked dumbfounded. “What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that we invite her over for tea and talk things out?”
“Well, not you, she hates you given the whole… you know. But before things went south, you and her ruled Remnant together, didn’t you? In the timeline where Jaune became a professor, he got her to accept therapy and then talked her into spending eternity sampling all of the nice things that humanity could do for her…”
There was a pause, as they all processed how insane that sounded.
Roman face palmed. “You’re telling me that your plan for dealing with the evil, immortal queen of the grimm… is to have her enjoy a vacation for eternity?”
“...maybe?”
Even with all that had been revealed by Jinn, James didn’t feel mentally prepared for this conversation.