The group filled us in on what happened. After clearing the train car of any civilians, they questioned Ozpin on why he didn't tell them about the relic attracting the Grimm, as well as to why he attempted to have Lionheart's involvement in the attack on Haven altered to make it seem like he helped defend the school. Eventually, Ozpin snapped at them, further shaking their trust in him when they learned he only put a certain level of faith in them. And so, Oscar held Ozpin back and used the former headmaster's memories to unlock the relic and summon forth the spirit inside, Jinn, who proceeded to reveal the truth to them.
Salem was once a human woman back in ancient times, when everyone could use magic. But this didn't stop her father from locking her up in a tower, until one day when she was saved by Ozpin's very first life, the hero Ozma. The two would then fall in love and get married, but before they could live happily ever after, Ozma fell ill and passed away from the deadly disease. A grieving Salem went before the God of Light, hoping he would return Ozma to her, but he refused, warning her to let him rest and not upset the balance of life and death. Refusing to accept his decision, she went to the younger brother, the God of Darkness, who granted her request after she lied and said she came to him before his brother. But the God of Light appeared and revealed her deception, at which point the gods punished her by erasing Ozma once again and dropping her in a spring of life, making her immortal until she saw the error of her ways.
But rather than learn this lesson, Salem decided to fight the gods, gathering an army to face the two tyrannical deities. But this was an overwhelming defeat for humanity, as the God of Darkness caught all the magic they threw at him, before wiping out the entirety of humanity, before the two gods left the world. Alone once more, Salem tried one final time to end her life by jumping into a Grimm pool, but the cursed pit could not destroy her immortal body and she emerged, changed for the worst as a Grimmified monster with pale skin, black sclera and red irises. But eventually, humanity somehow returned and the God of Light reincarnated Ozma with the goal of uniting humanity with the aid of four relics representing Creating, Knowledge, Choice and Destruction. Ozma would eventually reunite with Salem and pick up their lives where they left off, starting a family.
But Salem would eventually decide they should take over where the gods left off and rule humanity and the faunus in place of the gods. But seeing their efforts only further divided humanity, Ozma lost faith in this idea. And eventually, he would reveal the true purpose of his resurrection to Salem and she was NOT happy. Upon discovering their daughters had magical powers, Ozpin decided to try and take their children away, resulting in a cataclysmic battle with his wife that would destroy their family, killing their daughters before she killed him, though the battle did leave her scarred in the form we know her as today. And thus, Ozpin has waged war with his former flame for centuries, constantly reincarnating and merely doing all he could in order to keep the relics away from her at all cost, only attempting to keep the relics away from her, never attempting to fight back.
"Damn. And I thought some of MY break-ups were bad." I said.
"Yeah, you know you did something wrong when messy divorce proceedings seem like the BETTER option." Draco agreed.
"Salem can't be killed... you all heard her too, right?" Yang asked as Team RWBY all angrily glared at Ozpin, whose head was still down.
He looked up, with tears streaming down his face. Qrow Branwen just looked away. "I-" He started.
"Okay, Yang, wait a minute now. I know this looks bad, but-" Damion started.
"Bad?! How do you beat someone who can't die!?" She demanded, turning back to Ozpin. "There was so much you hadn't told us! How could you think that was okay?!" She demanded. Ozpin didn't say anything, he just hung his head back down in shame.
"Okay, well- first off, immortal doesn't mean you can't be beaten..." Nicolas began.
"Really? Because I fail to see how you can beat anyone who can't die! We saw Ozma basically obliterate her, yet she came back!" Weiss shouted.
"Professor..." Ruby's voice suddenly cut through all of ours as Ozpin looked up at her. "What is your plan to defeat Salem?" She asked.
"I... don't have one..." Ozpin admitted.
Qrow rushed forward to try and punch Ozpin, but I entered my demon form and blocked the punch. "Enough!" I snapped, flapping my wings once and launching the two teams and Qrow to the other side of the train, turning back to my human form. "Ozpin is a dick for keeping this from you, yes, but it's not the end of the world.
"Why are you sitting here and defending him?! He got Pyrrha killed in a fight HE KNEW was in vain! He dragged us into a fight that there's NO WAY we can win!" Jaune snapped.
"Because we CAN win." I told them.
"How? If we can't kill Salem, how can we expect to stop her?" Pyrrha asked.
"Jinn didn't say Salem couldn't be killed. She told that Tony Stark-looking version of Ozpin he couldn't kill her." Nicolas corrected.
"Oh, what? And you can?" Weiss questioned.
"Exactly! Gold star, Schnee! Good job!" Draco said, putting Weiss into a graduation robe and cap, handing her a diploma and shaking her hand.
"I... I don't get it. How can you kill Salem if Ozpin couldn't with all his magic and power from the gods?" Ruby asked.
"Well, first off, these have to be too of the most pathetic gods I've ever heard of. Like, I trained with a god who could wipe his ass with them back when I was THIRTEEN. Anything they could possibly do, I've seen it and beat it." I told them.
"And then secondly- and this one might surprise you a bit, I know we don't bring it up too often, but..." Damion began, before all four members of my team entered our devil forms again.
"WE'RE DEMONS!" We all shouted at the same time, before turning back.
"Even some of the weakest demons have attacks that can destroy someone's soul. Soul destruction is the be-all, end-all. There is NO coming back from that. Each one of us, plus every other member of any of our families are capable of soul attacks. My youngest sisters, who are twelve right now, could put down Salem for good. Just because Ozpin couldn't kill her doesn't mean she's unstoppable. That's what happens when you ask a genie a question. They find some form of way to screw with you. So, whatever Salem plans next, we just pull up on her doorstep and obliterate her when she tries it." I explained, looking at all of them. "Any further questions?" I asked.
There was a short pause for a moment, before... "Do you get tired changing back and forth like that?" Yang asked, to which my team and the rest of Team RWBY face-vaulted.
In the Land of Darkness, five Nevermores were perched on a rocky outcropping with large purple crystals. They flew away when an airship flew by them, heading towards a large purple structure in the distance. The airship lowered down to an outcropping that served as a dock and Hazel, Mercury and Emerald hopped out. As they proceeded forward, they noticed Taipan, the Cobra Faunus assassin who jumped team RNJR and I back in Volume 4 with help from Tyrian and his sister Viper, now the only one still alive from that group.
"Tell me that Blade suffered." He said as he walked up to them, only to see their defeated expressions. "No... Dammit! How can he keep surviving all of this!?" He demanded, before noticing something. "Where... Is Cinder?" He asked.
They had no answer for him, however. "Let's go." Hazel said as the three proceeded past him.
Taipan could only gulp nervously at this. "Salem is NOT going to like this. If we lose many more members, she might not have enough to stay in this chess game of Ozpin's and hers. And she might just scrap us and find some new pieces." He said.
In the meeting room, Salem opens her eyes and glared at her subordinates. Taipan and Watts were fearfully sitting at the table while Hazel, Emerald and Mercury were kneeling at the other end of the room. "Stand, all of you. What reason have you to kneel?" She asked.
The three of them were surprised at this, but didn't make any move to get up. "Because... we failed you, ma'am." Hazel explained.
"Your loss during the battle of Haven WAS regrettable. It WOULD have been a failure of SPECTACULAR proportions if not for Cinder and that demon." Salem told them.
"Cinder? And the demon boy, Sai Blade? She failed us and the demon foiled our plans and caused us to lose the relic? How can this be anything BUT a failure?" Watts questioned.
"The lamp can be recovered. As long as we can take it back from them, it is not lost to us. As for the demon, in his rage-driven path to make Cinder suffer in their battle, he reduced his own arm to ash, along with much of Cinder's body. Including the arm of the Geist I gave her. The culmination of this brought forth a magical child with attributes of both a demon AND Grimm." Salem explained.
"Y-you knew?" Emerald asked in shock.
"Indeed. And I also know both Cinder and the child still live. And with that child, we now have the powers of a true demon on our side. This war has FINALLY turned once and for all." She declared.
"I'm... not understanding. How is a little demon brat going to help us? I mean, sure, it's a demon, but also a mere child." Taipan said.
"Even a demon child is capable of learning to attack souls. With that power in my possession, nothing will be able to stand in my way. ALL of my enemies will be destroyed. Even HIM." Salem elaborated, clearly referring to Ozpin as she meant "him".
Hazel stood back up as Taipan let out a small sigh of relief and Watts straightened his coat. Salem glanced outside, where several Nevermores were flying, before looking down and closing her eyes. "And so we must... press on." She told them, turning around to face her subjects. "The Sword under Vacuo's academy, Shade-" She began to explain.
"Ma'am." Hazel interrupted, everyone looking at him with varying degrees of nervousness. "I have... more to report." He explained.
Salem's eyes narrow and she spread her hands, causing a red glyph to appear and Geit-like arms to emerge around Hazel's feet. Hazel looked down at them nervously before explaining himself. "Qrow, the children and the demons are taking the Lamp to Atlas." He explained.
"I'll go. I'll kill them before they reach Argus." Taipan declared.
"And they're being led... by Ozpin." Hazel added.
At this, everyone slowly looked toward Salem with fearful expressions on their faces and Mercury noticed the windows starting to crack. "How could that bastard come back this soon?! I thought it takes like forever!" Taipan snapped.
"He's the only man with a chance of getting through to Ironwood. If that happens..." Watts began, but suddenly stopped as he and everyone else noticed the windows cracking. They then looked at Salem and dark smoke emanated from her.
"Leave..." She told them furiously.
"Let's get out of here." Taipan said in fear, him and Watts hurrying out.
Emerald looked on in fear before Hazel put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on." He told her. Everyone quickly proceeded to exit the room as the windows started to crack even more. Emerald took one last look behind her as the doors closed. Salem, left alone, seethed with anger before calming herself down. Everything was seemingly quiet, but then all of a sudden, Salem yelled out in rage and the windows shattered violently.