Interlude 3

With Tai damn near catatonic, Qrow and Raven decided to stay in the theatre room, while the rest of them left into the living quarters. Though, given what they saw, none of them were in any mood to do anything, so they just stayed gathered up, trying to make sense of what just happened.

Both on screen and off it.

Saphron was the last one to leave, aside from TRQ and, as she reached the door, she thought she heard something shatter. Looking around, she saw nothing was broken. Shrugging her shoulders, she exited the theatre, and approached the group.

"So…" Nora muttered, "Ruby actually did it. She…shit."

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder, to which she placed one of her hands over it.

"Blake always talked," Kali added, "On how Ruby was the heart and soul of their team, and to see her commit the closest thing to…well."

"It's not true suicide," Glynda retorted, "But it's damn close to it."

"Yeah," Sun agreed, "Unless Ruby's new form can one-shot Salem, I don't think I can enjoy whatever comes out. Tolerate, maybe, but be friends, nuuh. I mean, I only knew Ruby for a couple of months, but I still don't want to know what 'New Ruby' would be like."

Emerald clenched her hand in anger. After she gave that damnedable speech back in Atlas, now she decided to break. It just pisses her off. But, at the same time, the girl went through soo much before finally snapping, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise when it happened.

"I wish we could just go to the next episode, find out what's happened to her, but someone," she turns to Oscar, "Is having a midlife crisis."

"Hey, I don't know why he freaked out like that!"

Glynda added, "And I've never seen Ozpin that angry."

"So," Saphron concluded, "Any ideas?"

Taiyang could only stare forward numbly. His baby girl, Summer's baby girl.

Gone. And at her own hand. Neo may have given her the cup, but Ruby, in her broken mind, chose to, in essence, kill herself. The Afterans may have Ascension, but, while it was technically rebirth, and not suicide, they never actually seen what the other side was, and he hoped he never have to know. Now, he was forced to.

Qrow wasn't faring much better, trying to consult the man. But what could he possibly say to him, knowing that he felt the exact same way. The worst part about it all is that, these events haven't even happened, and, yet, there's nothing they can do to stop it.

"She's gone, Qrow," he muttered, his voice raspy, "She's gone, just like Summer. Summer's baby girl, she's…"

"I know, Tai. I…I don't know what to do. Maybe…" Qrow stopped himself. He wanted to hope that Ruby won't change too much. But, if Ruby didn't want to be Ruby anymore, then…he didn't know.

Qrow only saw Tai like this one time, and it was after Summer died. And, just like back then, he didn't know how to fix it. The only way he got out of that spiral was when Yang and Ruby went missing, and Qrow came back, having saved them from Beowolves.

Raven stood to the side, back to them, as she scowled.

'That damned girl. Should've killed her back on the train. But, you know what the worst thing about this is Summer? Your kid couldn't at least have the dignity to die in a fight, and that just PISSES me off!'

Raven heard more of Tai's choked sobbing.

'But, first things first.'

Raven approached the two, Qrow briefly turning his head, seeing the anger on Raven's face. He didn't know what to expect from his sister. Pity, annoyance, he definitely didn't think she'd mock him. I mean, according to Tai, she's been 'getting better', and if it was enough that she stayed this time and has another kid on the way, maybe that means something.

WHAM

Or she could punch Tai in the face hard enough to knock him out of his seat, and to the ground.

"Raven!"

"Shut it, brother! Tai, get your head out of your ass!"

Tai merely looked at her in both shock and rage.

"You're so far into your head, you can't use your eyes. If you are this despondent about Ruby's death, how do you think Yang feels?!"

Tai's eyes widened in horror.

"You're sporting the same face she did when Ruby killed herself, so she's going to be a wreck when she gets back. I'm a horrible mother, and an even worse person, but you were decent to her, and she's going to need you when she gets back. So suck it up, and be a parent."

Yes, the irony of her statement was not lost on her, nor any of them. Hell, Qrow himself would have cracked a smile, had the context not been so dire.

'Ah, that's the old Raven.'

Tai rubbed his chin as he stood up. "If you weren't pregnant, I would've punched you for that."

Raven scoffed, "You never could beat me in a straight fight."

"You don't have your sword, and I was always the best in hand to hand combat."

Raven smirked, "You are good with those hands."

"MOVING on!" Qrow exclaimed, wanting so badly to change the subject. Honestly, if the context wasn't so dire, he'd almost crack a smile. It felt just like the old STRQ days.

"Right, sorry," Tai sighed, sitting down, "Got distracted. It's just…Ru-"

"If it makes you feel any better, I doubt it's the end for her."

Both men turned to Raven.

"And…?" Qrow egged her on, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? Summer. She was the first voice we heard in this 'show', we saw her axe with the blacksmith, her reflection in the crossroads. Ruby's had her mind on Summer this entire time, even if she doesn't realize it. So, something tells me that we'll be seeing her one last time before this show is over."

"Well," Qrow muttered, "Then let's hope our old leader can convince Ruby to take back her choice…if that's even a thing. I mean, Afterans always want to ascend, so maybe context has an effect. I mean, pretty sure the tree would know that Ruby wasn't exactly of sound mind when she-"

"I get it, Qrow," Tai interrupted, "It's like the Cat said. Humans aren't Afterans. So ascension might be different for them."

Tai's hands were still shaking, an indication that he was still in a panicked mentality. However, he hoped that he would at least be able to watch the show.

As TRQ were having their discussion, the outside group theorized on Ozpin's outburst. However, any ideas they came up with came up short. Such as Ruby's ascension, Neo's 'death', the Cat turning out to be evil.

Eventually, Glynda spoke to Oscar, "Oscar, did Ozpin show any signs that would lead to that outburst."

Oscar narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

"There was something that made him freeze. Almost in dread. Something the Cat said to Ruby, right before Little came to help."

"Uh…" Sun scratched his head, "What did he say? The Cat, I mean."

"I remember," Klein exclaims, before sneezing, his eyes turning yellow, "He said something along the lines of 'I must know why my makers left me here.'"

Oscar's eyes widened, "Followed by 'Only to leave and make all of'. Little then bit him."

"Was," Saphron spoke up, "Was he going to say 'All of you'?"

"That seems obvious." Emerald snarked.

"Oh dear god," Oscar exclaimed, "Literally."

A realization dawned on them.

"Wait," Ilia yelled out, "Are we suggesting that the Brother Gods created the Ever After?!"

"But, why would that make Ozpin so despondent?"

At Winter's question, Ren spoke up. "Because it wouldn't be the first time they abandoned their creation."

Oscar nodded, "That might be the case. If the Cat is telling the truth, which, given the situation, it might not be too far from it, the gods created the Ever After, left, then created Remnant, only to leave again."

"Which begs the question," Willow solemnly declared, "How many other worlds have they made? Either before the Ever After, or after Remnant?"

"Ozpin has always held out hope that the Gods did care about us, that we had simply made a mistake rebelling against them, thousands of years ago. But, if Remnant wasn't the first world they abandoned, he might be questioning if they ever cared about us to begin with!"

"Yeah!" Sun exclaimed, "If Oz gets all four relics together, summoning them back, they might be like 'Oh, completely forgot about you guys!'."

"Exactly."

"So…In essence…Ozpin is having a midlife crisis."

Oscar was about to respond, when he clutched his head with one hand, and his eyes flashed yellow. Oscar sighed.

"You aren't far from the truth."

"Ozpin?"

"Yes, Mrs. Belladonna. And, I'm sorry for my reaction. I just…needed to sort some thoughts out. Taiyang deserves to know what happens next, but I couldn't get those thoughts out of my mind. To clarify, you are only half correct."

"Half?" Whitley replied.

"The Brothers being apathetic to our plight is part of it. But the other is Salem. Before our war began, she told me that the gods didn't care, that we should simply conquer Remnant, and improve humanity in our own way, rather than bring them back. Because I believed they cared about us, they did send me back, and give us the option to bring them back, afterall, I refused, thus leading to our war. However, with this it…it…"

"It almost validates Salem's words." Willow answered.

"Yes. And it made me fear if her way was better. If I should've worked with her. Yes, people would've died in our conquest, but how many more people have died because of our war, all for gods who, seemingly, abandon their worlds on a whim."

"Uh," Nora nervously says, "You aren't planning on switching sides, or saying we should stop fighting her, are you?"

Ozpin shook his head. "No. The option of joining forces has long since passed. Salem no longer wishes conquest, simply to end the curse on herself. And her winning would mean the end of us all. So I don't plan on joining her. Just…what could have been?"

"Okay, good!"

"Now, I do believe I have a father to apologize to, and we have a show to watch."

With that, the group went back into the theatre, with Ozpin walking up to Tai.

"Taiyang," Ozpin said solemnly, "I apologize for my behavior. You deserved, more than any of us, to see what happened next, and my selfishness made you wait. I hope you can forgive me."

Tai didn't really respond at first. He had known the man for years, and Ozpin wasn't prone to rage, so it was hard for him to decide if he should be angry, or feel pity. In the end, he simply sighed, turning back to the screen.

"Let's just get this over with."

Ozpin nodded, returning to his seat while also mentally apologizing to Oscar after releasing control.

With that, the YES flashed, and the next episode began.

Author's Notes: A much shorter interlude, mainly due to the fact that no one WANTS to stop, but Ozpin pulled the emergency brake. Plenty of you guys got the first half of Ozpin's reasoning for freaking out, so close, but no cigar. When put into the context of Salem, his freakout is much more reasonable. Imagine the centuries of combat, the friends, family, heroes sacrificed to fight her, all to realize that the very gods you fight for might not even care about you? And that Salem's idea may have been better? Yeah, Ozpin's definitely having a midlife crisis for that.

And what was that sound of shattering?

As always, leave a review, fav/follow, and I'll see you all next time.