"Oh, Mercury! I do hope that you're awake in there." Tyrian peers around the entrance to his "room," his usual creepy grin firmly in place. "I'm afraid that our dearest savior wishes to see you."
The moment he hears Tyrian's annoying singsongy voice, Mercury knows that today is going to suck. Since Cinder introduced them to the "inner circle," he's never been fond of the others working for Salem—and even Cinder herself isn't (wasn't) great—but he finds Tyrian in particular exhausting to be around. It's not just that the scorpion faunus is obnoxious, although of course he is. Watts is annoying too, with his arrogance and Atlesian attitude, but Tyrian is just so weird that Mercury tries to avoid him at all costs.
But he probably shouldn't keep Salem waiting, especially after seeing her rage the other day. As far as he knows, the windows in the main room are still completely shattered. He hates to admit it, but he's reluctantly grateful to Hazel for getting him out of there. Mercury's never been great with people, but he finds Hazel especially difficult to understand.
Speaking of Hazel, he wonders how Emerald is doing. He hasn't seen her since Hazel whisked the two of them away from Salem's magical temper tantrum. He knows that she's taking Cinder's loss harder than him. Unlike her, he'd always seen Cinder as a means to an end, someone who valued the skills he had honed and would give him a job to use them for. It's why he's fine with continuing to work with Salem, even after her death.
But Emerald, on the other hand, well. For some reason, she'd adopted Cinder as some sort of parental figure, seen her as the mother she'd never had, despite Cinder having never returned that affection. With Cinder gone, Emerald is probably wondering what she should do now. Because while Mercury is content to stay so long as he's given a purpose, Emerald has made it pretty clear that she wants "more" than that, whatever that means.
The situation isn't going to last forever. Eventually, something is going to give, and if Emerald isn't careful, she's going to be the one on the receiving end of Salem's wrath. And Mercury isn't Hazel. He knows when it's better to keep his head down and mind his own business. He's only willing to stick his neck out so far to protect her.
Emerald's going to have to figure things out for herself. He's not willing to hold her hand and walk her through this.
Even if she's much less annoying than Tyrian or Watts or even Hazel.
When he arrives in the great room, Tyrian and Watts are already inside, standing at attention in front of Salem. Great. Just great. He joins them, bowing his head and hoping he seems respectful enough or whatever. Keeping his gaze on the floor, he notices that someone has swept up the broken glass, although the windows are still broken, letting in a breeze from outside.
Despite the wind coming in through the windows, the room still feels stuffy and oppressive. The breeze is anything but refreshing, smelling of rotten eggs and undercooked meat, and it's warm as it ruffles his hair. It reminds him of the breath of a giant beast. Mercury swallows hard and tries to ignore it in favor of whatever Salem is talking about.
"Although we've had many—setbacks lately, thanks to Cinder's disobedience, I am please to announce that we are fortunate enough to still have a clear path forward."
"That is wonderful, my lady!" Tyrian crows gleefully, his ever-present creepy grin widening.
"Of course." Watts nods, looking satisfied.
Mercury, for his part, does his best to look excited at this announcement.
"Although Ozpin is now in possession of the Lamp of Knowledge, the fact that the Lamp has been removed from the vault means that it is now vulnerable. It can easily be taken when the time is right."
"Of course, my lady!"
"We will not fail you in our duties."
Once again, Mercury remains silent. Salem seems unconcerned by his lack of response. "But first, before we attempt to retrieve the lamp once more, there is something else we need to acquire." She looks them over, and Mercury resists the urge to shudder as those inhuman eyes meet his own. "Which is why I am sending the three of you to the Branwen tribe's encampment. There, you will once more locate the Spring Maiden, and bring her to me. Is that clear?"
The three of them nod.
"We are happy to assist you, my lady!" Tyrian chirps.
"Sounds great," Mercury says, trying his best to seem like he's not lying through his teeth.
"We will depart at once," Watts promises.
"See that you do." Salem's gaze sweeps over their faces once again, lingering for a moment on Mercury. "I do hope that that you three realize that we cannot afford any more failures right now. See to it that you are successful in your quest."
Tyrian and Watts fall over themselves once more to assure her that they won't, while Mercury inwardly groans. A mission with both Watts and Tyrian? Just his luck. Why is he here again?
"And Mercury?" Salem interrupts him on his way out. "Do remind your little friend that if she doesn't adjust her attitude soon, I will adjust it for her. If she wishes to survive, she needs to readjust where her loyalties lie."
Mercury swallow hard, nodding hastily. "Of course," he replies.
"Good."
Just as he expected, Emerald is already on thin ice. And lucky him, he's the one who gets to break the news to her. He decides to stop by on his way out. After all, it's not like he's eager to go on an extended trip with Watts and Tyrian.
He knocks on the edge of the entryway to her "room." "Hey, Em?"
"What?" comes the immediate response. Oh, joy.
"I wanted to see how you were doing," he says hastily. "And—"he pauses for a moment. "Salem asked me to pass along a message."
"I'm fine," Emerald snaps. She sounds hoarse, and exhausted. "What is it?"
"She asked me to tell you need to uh, adjust your attitude, and where your loyalties lie, if you want to survive." She doesn't respond. "Emerald?"
"Go away!" she shouts.
"Emerald, come on. I know that you're upset, but—"
"But what?" Emerald demands. "Don't you care at all that she's dead?"
"Of course I do," It's not a complete lie; he definitely wishes that Cinder were still here. "But she's not worth dying over, Emerald." He sighs. "I know that you're upset, but she didn't care about you, Emerald!"
"Leave!" She screams in response. He decides to give up on trying to get through to her for now. Maybe Hazel will be able to keep her out of trouble while he's gone.
For all that Mercury thought he would be happy to stay so long as he had a purpose, he's starting to wonder if any of this is worth it anymore.
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