The group was pushing, wanting to see the truth in full, borderline demanding for Raider to get the next episode started. She gave them all a hard look as she about had it up to her head with their impatience. All of them were silenced when she harshly glared. That was until Ruby said in a quiet voice, "Please?" Raider nodded as that was more like it as well as a start.
(Volume 6 Intro)
It still felt insane for them to believe that that same woman was Salem. How on Remnant did she go from that to…what she is now?
Jinn created a scene where Salem was looking out her window. " Locked away by her cruel father."
Was that what had made Salem so evil? But that didn't seem right. It would have only made her resentful towards her father, not the entire world. It also wouldn't explain to them how she got the looks she has now.
" Salem was a girl who desired but one thing: freedom."
Weiss could heavily relate. Being locked away in your own home with your father being the sole control over your life? Horrible. She hated but sympathized with Salem on that level.
"She lived in a time when kings and their kingdoms were plentiful. When men and woman were capable of greatness." Ruby watched with confusion as Salem traveled across her room to her mirror.
"This is all must be so surreal to Ruby. She's essentially watching a book in real time," Oscar commented. It was less for them as they've been doing that for the past few days; they're used to it at this point.
"She's probably still trying to process that this is Salem and right now for her, she's basically gone back in time," Ren added.
"I'm still trying to come to terms that that's Salem," Ruby replied.
"We all are," Jaune included.
" And magic was a gift from the Gods that all could wield."
Magic was a common thing back then? What happened that it just erased from existence and has now become a fable?
Out from Salem's was a colorful display of magic, circling her palm with four floating spheres in the middle.
Everyone in the room gasped. It was so beautiful, and pretty. Did Salem still possess her magic from when she was…human?
"And yet there she sat within her tower." From the outside, the castle was created once more. "Until one day, a legendary hero came to brave the challenges within the tower's walls."
That looked like Ozpin's first body. They won't say reincarnation as they doubted he had that ability. How did Ozpin gain the power to reincarnate? All these questions when they knew they would all be answered here.
Qrow around the man and waved his hand in his face, but he phased right through him. " The people of the lands knew him as Ozma."
Wait, Ozpin wasn't his original name? Ozma was? Was this an attempt to keep his identity a secret from Salem? Honestly, they didn't think that would have worked very well as the two names sound so similar.
"Unlike those who have come before, this warrior was not driven by the prize of the young maiden's hand," Jinn told ad Ozma past multiple falling men. "He fought only for righteousness and his pure heart and courageous soul prevailed."
It was already hinted a few times that Salem was aware of Ozpin. Ozma? In any case, this is when they first met each other? Their history dates a looooong time back. "Why do the two hate each other so much, especially Salem? Hers seems to come from somewhere personal," Blake commented.
Ozma used his magic to defeat the evil soldier in the hall. He burst through Salem's door and the two lock eyes, the woman's smile loving.
Why…was Salem smiling at him like that? Don't them they…
"Holy shit!" Yang cried out, "Were those two a couple?!" Were they?
Both of them used their magic, fighting together, " They escaped the wretched fortress, and yet, something bound them together."
"They fell in love with one another?" Weiss murmured. The entire room was astonished, not expecting this to be part of what they were going to be told. Ozpin had been hiding that he used to date Remnant's most dangerous evil?
"Man, didn't know Ozpin had a type for the bad girls?" Nora leaned over and whispered to Ren. The boy sent her a dirty look. Nora raised her hands as if she did nothing wrong. Besides, Ren didn't think that would have been the case as he must have left her when she turned evil.
Both of them ran hand in hand, stopping once to catch their breaths. " Ozma had been ready to give his life for justice countless times, but now, he saw a woman worth saving it for."
Once again, their jaws hit the floor as the two really fell in love with each other. Where on Remnant did it all go wrong? Also, in this contextual era, what Ozma felt for old Salem was lovely.
"And Salem, to her surprise, found her freedom not in the outside world she had yearned for but in the eyes of the man who had saved her." Salem asked where they should go now. Ozma reached out his hand and said where ever she'd like. "The two feel deeply in love, planned adventures around the world, and lived happily ever after."
All of them scoffed as that was the farthest from the truth. Where did it start for everything to go downhill?
Everything faded to white, all disappearing when Jinn halted what would have seemed like a happy ending. "Or at least, that's what should have been. Ozma, the infallible hero of legend, fell ill." Salem was by his bedside, holding his hand as she wept.
So, that's where it all began to go south when Ozpin got sick. But, how did it all get worse, him just being sick shouldn't have caused everything, right? They were about to discover just how wrong they were in their thinking.
They felt horrible for them, though. This was all just a confusing clash of emotions, knowing the people now, but that wasn't them at the moment. They were both different, so they didn't want to have those same feelings and put them on them.
"And where all of the beasts and blades of the world had fallen short, a single sickness prevailed." Salem sobbed as she held onto Ozma's staff, Weiss was watching from behind.
Ozma or Ozpin had passed away from a sickness. They felt deep sorrow that she had to lose someone whom she loved so deeply, many of them knew the pain of losing a loved one. But if Ozma had passed away, how would he still be here? They don't think he has his powers at this point.
Weiss looked sad as she felt bad for the woman. "How could the Gods let this happen?" Salem weeped.
Weiss looked up when Jinn continued, "The Gods, Brothers of Light and Darkness." Spinning and rotating was a glowing ball of yellow light and purple and black darkness —creation and destruction. Salem prayed they would see the injustice that had befallen her love and make things right.
As much as they hated to be the bearer of bad news, Ozma died from an illness and there wasn't anything to stop it. Death is a way of life and comes for anyone, no matter who it will be. Ozma had unfortunately been clutched in its grasp.
Blake observed as the two spheres combined and the room engulfed in light. "The Domain of Light was a sacred place." Everywhere around and ascended on the steps, leading up to the God of Light's territory was gold. "It was here the elder brother dwelled beside his fountain of life and creation." Salem had set down an offering of flowers, Ozma's staff in hand, and began to walk up the steps.
"Does Salem plan to make a bargain for Ozma's life?" Sun asked in disbelief. That's where it seemed it was going. She had such determination in her eyes and stance. They don't think the God of Light was going to agree to do that.
So, was Salem's willpower to bring back Ozma the cause of everything?
"It was here where mankind would fall to ruin." Salem looked down at the fountain as she stood at the top of the stairs.
The fountain was breathtaking.
Salem looked down at Ozma's staff and gripped it tightly, her determination shifting to desperation. Leaves from the tree in the fountain travel toward her, circling until the God of Light himself emerges from the water.
The group was sitting in amazement. They've only ever heard stories or seen retellings of the stories, but here they were, witnessing God himself on the screen. All of them agreed that now was the time to shut up, for multiple reasons, of course, but also to let this sink in for a moment.
The God of Light walked atop the water, and Salem dropped her knees, holding the cane to her chest and begging Him to bring Ozma back to her.
Salem had loved Ozpin, sorry Ozma, so much that she went to the Brother himself and begged for him to bring Ozma back to life, back to her. They could watch and feel her pain radiate through the screen as was evident in her voice.
"I understand your pain," The God of Light started.
Right off the bat, it was already a 'no' that he would not bring him back.
"What you demand of me, that I cannot make so. Life and death are part of a delicate balance." All Salem is hearing is that He won't bring him back. "To disrupt the cycle of–"
"But that's not fair, that's not fair!" Salem screamed, standing up.
Their eyes widened at the outburst. They knew she was upset and hurt, but to yell at the God… was the last thing that was going to get her results. Not that he would do it anyway, as He stated. Salem shouldn't bring Ozma back from the dead, that wouldn't be fair to him and she needs to move on, to have time to grieve. Going to the God of Light isn't going to do her any good.
Salem's voice echoed and thunder reverberated around them as the leaves whipped behind Him. "Let. Him. Rest." The God wasn't asking, He was demanding. Salem was taken back to the entrance of His domain, but she didn't plan on giving up.
"Salem, please, you need to move on, this isn't healthy for you," Pyrrha said gently. Also, to force a God to bring someone back to life wasn't right. She needs to let go, for Ozma and her sake.
Salem went to the God of Darkness's domain instead, seeking His help if His brother wouldn't do as she pleads. "The God of Darkness, none dared to enter His home as men knew what monstrosities emerged from His blackened pools of annihilation." Salem stared down at a skeleton with a dagger in its ribs, but that didn't deter her.
"Normally, a sane person would turn the hell around when they see that," Yang said. The God of Darkness's domain looked relatively similar to Salem's territory now. Was it the same place or different?
"Salem, please, you need to turn back, you shouldn't do this," Ruby whispered. She and the others were aware of what the consequences would do to her.
"And so you must understand the Dark Lord's surprise when he found a lone woman kneeling before him." Nevermores cried and Grimm surrounded her as the God of Darkness rose from the black liquid.
Yes, that was the same place. Well, they were thinking that it was.
The God of Darkness creepily crawled towards her.
All of them were horrified and disturbed by His body movements. Did He really have to come to her like that?
"Salem understood it well, she told Him of her loss and professed that she knew only He could answer her prayers. All while careful to make no mention of His elder." Salem presented Ozma's staff and the God of Darkness asked for Salem to rise.
By mentioning His brother, He would have immediately turned her away. She was essentially lying to Him, saying she only went to Him and only He could bring back Ozma. She really just needed the poor man to rest in peace.
"And let your faith in me be rewarded." Salem rose and the God created a purple bundle of energy that Ozma dropped from. Salem ran to him, and he gasped, frantically looking around and asking where he was.
He looked so terrified. He knew he shouldn't have been back, and yet she disrupted what the God had already told her.
Salem calmly tells him that everything is going to be okay as Ozma is still panicked. The God of Light makes His presence known, standing at the top of His brother's stairs. "What have you done?" Salem looks between the two, horrified.
"I've done what I please, brother. You may bask in the powers of creation, but you do not own them," The God of Darkness gestures to the two humans.
They were getting a sinking feeling of why Salem looked the way she did, they were hoping they were wrong.
The God of Light said bringing someone back was not creation. "Do not lecture me!" The Grimm around the growl, stepping closer. The God of Light looks at the Grimm and says he'll do what he must to meet order. He raises His hand and gold light envelopes Ozma.
He's not gonna do what they think He's gonna do, right? That would just be cruel. To bring Ozma back from the dead merely just to kill him again! That was just plain sickening.
Ozma's body breaks and evaporates into nothing. "No, what did you do?! Bring him back!" Salem cries.
"You dare enter my domain and show such disrespect?" The God of Darkness creates an orb and Ozma is brought back to life. Salem cries for her lover.
"I'm abiding by the rules We agreed upon." Rules that the God of Darkness sees more in His brother's favor. The two walked closer to one another.
"Someone just pick a side! Don't play back and forth with his mortality!" Blake screams. What they were putting Ozma through was just inhumane.
"What the fuck are with these guys! Human lives are not something that can just be played with!" Yang shouts.
"But yet when a mortal comes to pray at my feet before your own, so then you arrive to lay your judgment upon me!" The God of Darkness's body shifts as He transforms into His true God body. He roars at His brother and Grimm come rushing. The God of Light glows and He transforms into His God body. His tail moves away from His eyes as they're silver.
"Wait, the God of Light has silver eyes?" Ruby exclaimed.
"And it seemed his have done the same as what we've seen from you," Weiss adds. That would explain why silver eyes are so powerful and why Qrow said the Grimm fear silver-eyed warriors, it's because the trait came from the God of Light Himself!
"I know we have our differences, but I have not come here with the aim to control you. The same, however, cannot be said for her," The God of Light spoke, looking down at Salem. "This woman came to you only after I denied her pleas, pleas that would have disrupted the balance that you and I created, together."
The God Darkness ponders momentarily before declaring, "It seems I owe you an apology, allow me to correct my mistake."
"WAIT, STOP!" All of them screamed as they just wanted this sick and twisted madness to be over. What kind of Gods were they if they freely tortured human souls like this? To think that they saw them, especially the God of Light, as higher beings who thought and did better than this!
A purple beam was released from God's mouth, and Ozma was obliterated. Salem held his ashes as they blew out of her hands. "You-you monsters! Give him back to me, give him back!" A burst of magic came from Salem and the God of Light flew before her, opening His jaws. Salem then found herself falling from the sky and into the Light's fountain.
For a moment, all of them were scared, thinking she would freefall and hit the ground, but they couldn't help but sigh with relief when she landed in the water. Just for a second, they couldn't understand why they were having these kinds of emotions for someone they should want dead. But, this wasn't that woman yet, all she sought was the impossible, she hadn't done any harm to the people yet.
This was Salem before all the destruction, the Salem who actually cared for someone.
Salem lay on the water, before the two Brothers. "When you first came to me, I did pity you, but it is clear now that your selfishness and arrogance have led you astray." Salem looks at her hands and asks what He's done to her.
"I've made you immortal."
All of them felt their hearts drop. Salem's…immortal…? THAT WAS ONE OF THE FUCKING THINGS OZPIN KEPT FROM THEM?!
"Are you fucking kidding me?! The villain we plan to stand and fight against can't even be killed?! Are you serious?!" Yang angrily screams, standing up from her seat.
"So Ozpin was just sending us to fight her like lambs to the slaughter?" Blake shouts.
"He told us the reason he kept these things from us so we don't have to worry, but he refuses to tell us a detail about her that should be known!" Jaune cried out.
The room grew into an uproar as they all began cursing and yelling about this very important little detail that Ozpin had deliberately forgone to mention to them? Yang's eyes widened as she remembered, "I was just making a damn side comment about her being immortal! I didn't think it was actually true!"
Blake turned from the screen and pointed at Raider, "You! You knew about this, but yet you didn't think to tell us?!"
"I did tell you, what do you think that is?" Raider shouts, gesturing to the screen. Blake's ears flicked agitatedly and she glared daggers at the entity. Raider was having a hard time controlling the room, but that was to be expected after what they just learned. Emotions were running rampant and there was no stopping them. After about 10-15 minutes, they all began to sit back in their seats, but none of them remained quiet.
Salem was confused and the God of Darkness explained she couldn't die.
"We know what immortal means!" Weiss shouted.
"You cannot be with your beloved."
Now, that was just adding salt to the very big wound you'd just inflicted on her.
Both Gods spoke in unison. "So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face."
"You must learn the importance of life and death," The God of Light tells her. "Only then may you rest." Salem was brought to an empty field after trying to reach out to the Gods.
" Salem was a prisoner once again."
She was a prisoner for all of eternity.
"Her fruitless attempts to reunite with Ozma eventually became nothing more than acts of spite and defiance against the Gods."
Fruitless attempts? She wasn't saying she…
Ruby looked at the shadow of Salem holding a knife, impaling her stomach with it.
Everyone gasped. Ruby covered her eyes, why did it have to show her reacting to that? She didn't want to see that.
Ruby gasped as Salem easily pulled the blade out, walking as if nothing were wrong.
She really was immortal. If that didn't prove, they didn't know what would.
"But perhaps the Gods were not as powerful as they seemed. " Salem walked to her window and stared out. "She lied to them, turned them against one another, they…were fallible. If she were to turn humanity against Light and Darkness, she could rid herself of their curse. Or at the very least, she could make them suffer."
This was the Salem they all knew. Willing to trade innocent lives, so that she could obtain her own death wish? This is the Salem they're familiar with.
Salem tossed her sword and Ruby put up her arms as the blade went through her.
"Ruby!" All of them screamed, but then remembered that none of them could be affected by what was happening. Well, they were certainly emotionally affected as well as spiritually. How were they supposed to defeat someone who couldn't even be killed? What was even the point of taking part in an endless battle?
"Salem traveled from one kingdom to another, telling tales of how she stole immortality from the Gods," Salem tossed down an axe with blood on its blade, to a king's feet.
"She did that to show every ruler? That must be horrifying for them," Pyrrha gasped. Imagine how petrifying that is for all the kings, to see someone easily "kill themselves", just to make a point. Don't forget that she is manipulative, it can only end badly for her to turn mankind on beings so powerful.
"Welcomed any swordsman to cut her down and demonstrated her powers. With the kings and queens in awe."
"Repeatedly "killing yourself" in front of them, 'Oh wow, that's amazing' they all said," Yang spoke with sarcasm. "'Why don't we jump on the bandwagon to do that too?'"
"She pulled them deeper into her schemes, she painted them pictures of a time they would no longer have to watch their loved ones wither and die."
"Promising that they could be given the same thing and have them go face the Gods…what is wrong with you?" Weiss shouted. This was only going to end in mass bloodshed!
"When they could claim the powers of their creators for themselves, and in return perfect their own desires." One of the rulers let out a battle cry and his army joined him. Guards rushed up the steps of the Light God, stomping on her offering. "All they needed to do was destroy their old masters."
Did humanity actually think they stood against the two creators of their world? Gods who could kill them and just as easily bring them back to life? Salem, what have you done? She brought them all together only for every one of them to die in those same domains.
"The Gods had hoped Salem would learn from her eternal curse."
"What would have happened if Salem had actually gone to the God of Darkness first, would all of this have been avoidable?" Ruby wondered. They didn't know, and they would never find out.
God of Light, in His dragon form, stood before all the people. "And she did. She learned all the hearts of men are easily swayed." The God of Darkness appeared next to His brother and roared. The God of Light asked who had led them down this path.
"Who do you think?" Sun cried out.
Salem walked through the prepared army and glared up at the Gods. The God of Darkness was more than displeased to see her again. When Salem began attacking them with her magic, the rest of them followed.
"You know, this would probably be a good place to voice a good lesson they could wrap their heads around, for all of them to hear!" Nora shouted.
The God of Darkness easily absorbed their magic into a ball and held it, stunning the people.
"This is why you. Don't. Fuck. With. Gods!" Yang cried.
"My own gift to them, used against me." The God of Darkness looks at the ball of magic and His brother looks away, knowing what he plans to do next. The God crushes the magic in His claws which creates a catalyst that spreads over the entire world, killing Every. Single. Human.
Everyone is covering their mouths, frozen. Out of all the courses of action to take, the Brothers deemed that human extinction was the best one? Oh my–no, the Gods were horrible!
Their ashes fly through the air, but Salem is the only one who remains.
"WHAT HAVE ALL THREE OF YOU DONE!? YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST LET OZMA DIE!" Weiss screamed. Ruby brought Weiss into a hug as the poor girl was shaking, tears streaming after watching that.
The God Darkness crashes his foot in front of Salem. "You thought there was no greater punishment we could bestow upon you?" Salem tells them she'll come back, and tell the rest of the world of the massacre, build a new army.
"No, this isn't even about Ozma anymore!" Ren shouted. No, they didn't want to watch another moment like that, the first one was already traumatizing enough!
"You do not understand, there is no one left. You are all that remains of humanity." Salem's eyes widen upon this revelation.
"Also, His brother letting Him do this? What the hell!" Sun yelled in disbelief.
"This planet was a beautiful experiment," The God of Light declared, "But, it is merely a Remnant of what it once was. We will learn from this failure, I hope that you learn from worse." The God Light fades away and Salem shouts that He can't leave.
"Still demanding things with your creators." In a blast of purple energy, the God of Darkness flies into the sky and through the moon, making it to what is now Remnant's moon.
All were stunned as they learned of the origin of why the moon is the way it is. Part of what they're learning right now in this episode is that both the Gods and Salem have all made horrible decisions.
Pieces of the moon came crashing down as asteroids, and Salem dropped to her knees, crying. " Once again, Salem was alone."
Who knew that a simple lonely girl in a tower was the root for the destruction of all of mankind.
Salem walks through the lands of what once was the domain of the God of Darkness.
"The Gods just…left?" Oscar mutters. They also couldn't imagine what that would feel like, to know you're quite literally the last person on Remnant.
"She cursed the Gods, she cursed the universe."
"Salem really has no one to blame but herself," Ren stated. If she just let Ozma rest then none of the events after would have transpired. Now, she's left with no one and nothing.
Salem walked across Remnant, looking at the abandoned houses and all the Grimm surrounding the land. " She cursed everything, everything but herself."
"Does she seriously think none of this is her fault?" Yang spat. Salem was to blame for all yet she's so arrogant to think that she's the victim of all the tragedy?
She wandered the face of the planet, awaiting a death that would never come. Until fate led her back to the Land of Darkness." She stood at the edge of a cliff, peering down at the Grimm pools. "This was it, this had to be it, the Brothers Grimm, the pools of black that continued to give rise to horrific nightmares."
All of them were frozen. This was how she got her appearances, because she willingly fell into a Grimm pool, hoping to end her suffering? Hm, well that's a pleasant backstory to know.
"If the fountain of life granted her immortality, then surely the pools of Grimm would finally take it away." Closing her eyes, her body was consumed by the inky depths. "She was wrong." Salem's eyes snapped open as the powers of life and death clashed. "This force of pure destruction could not destroy a being of infinite life. Instead, it created a being of infinite life with a desire for pure destruction." Salem's hands shot out of the pool, gripping the land as she pulled herself out, her new body the result of her despairing choices.
This was their Salem. The pools from the God of Darkness were what ruined what little humanity she had left. Her actions were what led her to become who she is now. All of them were silently watching as the creation of Salem was born.
"Is she, like, a Grimm-human hybrid of some sort?" Jaune asked. Raider stiffened as they would see later what that really looked like. This wasn't even close to that.
"And in time, she would find her adversary." Ozma, awakening in a place filled with nothing, walked around, Blake and Yang were looking with expressions of rage.
The reason their counterparts must have been angry as they saw this as just more lies and deceit that added to Ozpin's already large pile. They, on the other hand, none of this was Ozpin's fault, he was dead for all this and didn't ask to be brought back to life then to be killed again. Ozpin was not responsible for Salem's actions, he didn't make her do any of those things, she chose them of her own volition.
But, then again, they seem to be giving her too much credit. No one ever told the God Darkness to wipe away all mankind.
"Ozma," The God of Light spoke, bringing the man's attention to him. Ozma asks the God where he is. "We're between realms. I'm afraid a tragedy has befallen your home at the hands of my Brother. We have chosen to depart this world but in our absence, I would like to offer you the chance to return to it."
Was He serious? After all of that?!
Ozma doesn't understand. "Mankind is no more, yet your world remains and in time, your kind will grow to walk its face once again."
It seemed to hit them all at that moment, they were the Second humanity. It took them a while as they were too busy trying to drink in the entire extinction of the First humanity and Salem's transformation and origin.
"However, without our presence, they will be but a fraction of what they once were. Creation, Destruction, Choice, and Knowledge," Each of the Relics is created before him.
So, that's what the other Relics look like.
"Were the ideals upon which humanity was made. Now, I leave them behind with the hope that you may learn to remake yourselves."
They all could only feel a fraction of the weight that the God of Light must have put onto Ozpin's shoulders when he was telling him this.
All the Relics come together to create a ball of light. "If brought together, these four Relics will summon my brother and I back to your world and humanity will be judged."
Judged…hooow exactly?
"If your kind has learned to live in harmony with one another and set aside their differences, then We shall once again live among you, and humanity will be made whole again."
"Yeah, as much as that sounds greeeat, what if we don't want to live beside you both?" Noara asked, drawing it out.
"Even as it may be necessary, we've seen how you handle conflicts and we all don't want to die," Sun added.
"But if your kind is unchanged, if you demand our blessings while still fighting amongst yourselves, then man will be found irredeemable and your world will be wiped from existence."
Yang slaps her hands on her legs, "Oh, nice, so we're fucked either way. That's nice to hear!" Everyone was horrified, for now, there was no way they could combine all of the Relics now as that would mean another extinction for mankind. Appalled was another word they would use to describe what they were feeling. Some so many innocent people don't deserve that kind of judgment and the Brothers would wipe all of them out without a second thought.
This was more understandable to keep from the people as this would result in a worldwide panic that would lead to massive Grimm attacks all over Remnant. This would be a nice thing that is great to know beforehand, because if they unsuspectingly bring all of them together, without this knowledge, the Gods judge them, and everyone is killed.
Ozma's eyes widen and he falls to his knees.
This is an enormous responsibility that the God of Light thrust upon him. They hoped this was a choice and not a demand.
"Until your task is complete, you will reincarnate but in a manner that ensures you are never alone." Ozma is sorry but his world isn't as dear to him without his love.
Oh, man… he must have been in such a rough awakening when he saw that Salem wasn't the woman that he originally fell in love with. They didn't know what was going to hurt him worse, to hear of the things she's done, or to see that she's so drastically changed.
Ozma would rather return to the afterlife to be with Salem than take on the God's task.
"So, um, interesting news, she's actually immortal and can't really die," Sun says awkwardly.
"You will not find her there," The God of Light tells him.
Even if she did die, they…doubted she would have passed on to the better place.
"Salem lives, but the woman you hold dear in your memories is gone. Heed this warning, when you see comfort, you will only find pain."
"She's changed, a lot," Ruby says. They felt horrible that Ozpin had to lose his love in the worst way. They hoped Salem felt all her guilt for what she's caused when she gets Ozma back.
"So, will you–"
"I'll do it!" Ozma replied rapidly, only thinking about it for a second.
That was a little too fast. Was he sure he knew what he was getting into?
The God raised his brow but agreed. "Very well, our creation rests within your hands." The God then evaporates.
They were gaining more and more understanding of his secrecy and behaviors. A large responsibility, the very fate of all life, rests on his shoulders.
"And so, Ozma was reborn." Ozma woke up in the body of a man who stabbed a beowulf with his rake. Around, people were screaming and running away. He turned around to find a burning town and a man trying to fight another beowulf.
What a terrible place to be reincarnated into!
The man tried to fight his sword, but it was swiped out of his hands and he screamed for help. Ozma took over the body and quickly ran and grabbed the sword, slashing at the beast before impaling its stomach. The man he saved turned him around and thanked him, wanting to know his name, but Ozma looked at his hands in shock. "He didn't know," Oscar muttered.
To be brought back to a time that you don't know and to have no recollection of yourself must have been awful. Ozpin had quite literally been to hell and back, multiple times, may they add.
It was shocking that he came up with a name so similar to his original.
"Ozma had found himself in a world completely unfamiliar to him. Cities looked different, creatures known as the Faunus bore fangs, and claws, and were locked away in cages." Faunus were trapped and one shook the bars in rage while the others looked defeated.
Both Sun and Blake flinched, the girl wrapping her arms around herself while Sun's tail wrapped around his.
"And without the blessing of the Gods, no one could perform magic like mankind was once capable of."
That was how Ozpin was able to turn Raven and Qrow into birds because he still must have had some of his magic from his first life, though it must decreased each time he reincarnated, he still must have retained some.
Ozma walked past a pile of dust crystals in a shop. "No one but himself and a woman known as…The Witch." Ozma paused, looking at an old boarded-up home.
Salem…
"During his years of travel, he heard the same frightened whispers that spoke of a terrifying sorceress."
Yep, definitely Salem.
"Who commanded dark powers in the wilds among the beasts and monsters. Ozma was convinced that this witch was Salem and decided he needed to see what she had become." The door opened and an angry Salem stepped out, but she gasped, her breath ragged when she immediately recognized her lover. "Call it magic or call it something stronger, but in that moment, the two knew exactly who it was that stood before them."
If they didn't already know who the two people were, they would have thought this was the climax to the most tragic love story they've ever seen. The way Jinn was telling it to them didn't help either.
They each raised one of their hands, their palms touching before their fingers intertwined. "What do we do now? " Ozma asked. Salem told him whatever they liked.
Geez, not the parallels.
"As Salem and Ozma recounted the events which have brought them back together, each withheld parts of their story." Salem's home became theirs they slowly began to rebuild it.
"Well, that doesn't seem like a healthy relationship, keeping such things from each other and purposefully keeping them from one another," Pyrrha commented.
"I'd give it about a couple more months," Nora said, waving her hand dismissively.
The two sat outside their home and chatted. " Salem, fearing Ozpin will reject her, blamed the end of the world on the Gods. Ozma, still unsure of where the truth lay, kept his tasks and the Relics a secret.
The others agreed with Nora, this wasn't going to last.
"Though time passed and all seemed well, Ozma's conversation with the God of Light still lingered in his mind." The two got up and walked back inside their home. " He had found happiness but humanity seemed more divided than ever before."
"Are you surprised? This world is quite literally godless. These humans have no one to guide them," Salem explained, holding a teacup. "Perhaps that's all they need."
They felt like this conversation was going to bring their love into division, their views coming to light.
Ozma asks what she's saying. Salem looks down at her tea, "We could become the gods of this world, our powers surpass all others, our souls transcend death, we can mold these lands into whatever we want."
Slow down now, let's not start the beginning of a god complex.
"What you want, create the paradise that the old Gods could not." Ozma didn't exactly like that idea. But he smiled when Salem placed a hand on his shoulder.
"The hearts of man, are easily swayed."
No, no! He didn't actually help her in trying to take control of the people, did he? One of the mistakes he's made, this must have been one of them.
People, terrified, ran from the nevermore attacking them. With the use of Salem's powers, the beast was killed and the two rose into the air. All the citizens below bowed to them.
"No! They both had a god complex!" Yang shouted in dismay. All of them couldn't help but cringe at that.
"Ozpin, no! You were better than that!" Nora added.
Weiss and Yang stood in front of the statues of them.
There was the statue of Ozpin that they saw in the intro.
"The two amassed a following, that following grew into a prosperous kingdom, and at the head of that kingdom blossomed a family." Inside a large manor that started as a portrait of Salem and Ozma that became a picture of his family.
Does that technically mean that Ozpin was a ruler? A king?
"Oh, okay, so I think we underestimated how long this would go on for," Nora commented.
"He had children with her?!" Sun exclaimed.
They…were not expecting that.
Mhm, Ozpin wifed up with the evilest being in Remnant and gave her four children, Raider thought, attempting to hold in her laugh.
"Holy crap, he had kids with her!" Yang yelled. Oh, Gods, what happened to the kids? Please tell them the kids weren't hurt.
"Wait, were the four original Maidens his daughters!" Weiss cried. They were colored coordinated to them; summer, winter, spring, autumn. What on Remnant happened? What caused the falling out?
Everyone was happy, Summer and Autumn were running and playing, Winter was reading, and Spring tugged on her mother's dress.
Now they all wanted to cry, everything looked so happy and wholesome. "This is all so cute! Which is why it hurts all the more because something is gonna go wrong!" Ruby cried. Weiss rubbed Ruby's back in comfort.
The two smiled at their daughter before looking at each other lovingly.
Why did their history have to be so messed up?! Now it's going to affect their children and they don't deserve that! Now that makes them all angry at the two in a new way, a more protective way.
Salem smiled as she watched all the people fighting and Ozma asked if they were sure what they were doing was right. "You said we need to bring humanity together," Salem said, looking at her lover. "In order to do that, we have to spread our word and destroy those who will deny it."
Surely, Ozpin will speak about how wrong that is, right?
His eyes widen, but he doesn't say anything looking back at that window. His reflection moves on its own and it's asking him what they're doing.
That is a wonderful question!
He jumps back startled, then looks over to his wife and says that isn't what He asked of him. Salem paused wanting him to repeat himself.
"Yes! Speak! Up! What you're doing isn't right!" Weiss exclaims.
Winter comes bursting into the room and shows her parents her magic that she's able to do. Salem is happy and proud, but Ozpin is not so much. "It was a miracle, their children could perform magic. But what should have been a joyous occasion, was short-lived."
Gods damn it! This hurt so much more now because children were involved in the mess.
In a study, the two talked in private, " Ozma told Salem everything, the true reason the God of Light had brought him back."
Oh boy, they were all prepared for a fight that was going to break out between them.
"The Relics that They scattered around the world and the day of judgment he had been told to prepare for."
"Don't you see? None of that matters anymore," Salem tells him.
Of course, it matters! What about the people and their kids? They don't they've inherited their immortality.
"Why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans when we can replace them with what they could never be." Salem reaches out her hand, thinking Ozma will take it.
"And would that include your family? You don't care that you would be sending them to die?" Weiss screams.
Ozma stepped back, and later that night, he tried to escape with them. Spring muttered 'mommy' and the rest turned their heads.
Raider had silent tears rolling down as the others shook their heads in horror. They pleaded that Salem wouldn't fight him with the kids there. Please…no…
"Salem, they're your children…" Pyrrha whispered. If Ozpin were with Oscar, he would've hated having to see this again.
Pyrrha heard a sniffle from behind her and saw Raider, quietly crying. Pyrrha, tears welling in her eyes as she covered her mouth.
Salem was down the hall, furious. Ozma gave a small shake of the head as his daughters were scared behind him.
"Don't you fucking dare, Salem!" Yang screamed, weeping.
The two fought, silhouettes of their fighting on the walls as Weiss and Ruby watched. Red and green painted the walls and with the force of their magic, the tower of the home came crashing down. Spring's toy lay on the ground as Ozma crawled away while Salem came back to life.
All of them were bawling their eyes out as the toy implied the daughters were dead. "Salem! Y-you…y-you…" Yang trailed off, wiping her eyes, yet they continued to fall. The children should never have been involved in their feud, they should have never been in the crossfire.
"Horrible mother!" Weiss screamed, her head burrowing into Ruby's shoulder. The girl wasn't fairing much better with snot running down her nose. This was hitting them harder than any adult death they'd seen would. They've never been more enraged with Salem as she didn't care that she killed her kids, she just wanted Ozma to feel her anger.
"Why did the kids have to die?" Jaune cried out.
Salem kicked him over, stomping her foot in his chest. "We finally have freedom." Ozma never got to say anything as Salem burned him alive.
"You monster!" Nora screamed. They swear if any of their counterparts still held more resentment than understanding, they were all going to be so disappointed in them or that person! After all he's been through? How could you not understand where he's coming from? Past or not, his behaviors could sure as hell be backed up with experience.
"Thus began a long and painful cycle of death and rebirth for Ozma. Some lives were spent in mourning," Next reincarnation was that of an old man, walking past graves, the next was a younger man who drank and walked past many empty bottles. " Many were spent attempting to forget it all, but no matter what, his mind would eventually turn back to the task he had been burdened with." His next reincarnation was a man who slumped over, holding his current cane in hand who then straightened himself.
The only anger they all felt for him now was that he never told them about Salem's immortality and what would happen if all the Relics were brought together. The rest were nothing short of empathetic and understanding of his actions. Ozpin has been through so much and with a better understanding, could every amount of their disdain be pointed at him?
"And as the centuries went on, Ozma began to learn the importance of living with the souls, with which he had been paired." The other soul behind him, leaning against the wall, nodded. He then heard a cry outside and opened the door to find Grimm attacking the people.
They were happy for him that was able to live with the families of the souls he's been paired with. Though, they could imagine that some of those times might feel a little awkward. They didn't want to think about those and figured it best to focus on what Jinn was telling them.
On a different note, the kids were adorable. Distract themselves with something more cheery.
"But, no matter where or how he moved, her presence was always felt." Ozma looked at his family and his wife nodded. "If humanity were ever to stand a chance of being united, one thing was clear." Ruby mumbles that he has to destroy Salem.
While Salem wasn't known to the world, she was still what was standing in the way of true unification, even if she hadn't made herself present.
Ozma was in his underground shop, working on his cane, and by the white hair and lines, time had long passed. " Knowing he could never rid the world of her through any mortal means, Ozma sought out the power of the Relics." Ozma took his cane and locked it away. "Armed with my knowledge, he believed he could fulfill his promise to the God of Light." The safe was opened once more and a new man took out his cane.
The Relic of Knowledge could tell them how they would be able to stop Salem!
Jinn appeared and his first question was where the other Relic were.
Good start. Maybe that could give them a headstart. They are only aware that the Relic of Knowledge is at Haven, but what about the others?
"He asked me his questions." All of Team RWBY were next to him.
"Why am I the only one who still looks angry while the rest of you all seem sad?" Yang questioned. She had a feeling she was going to be the one to yell at him.
"What powers do they possess?"
"And though I gave him my answers."
"How do I destroy Salem?"
The students were on the edges of their seats.
" Not all of them were to his liking."
"You can't," Jinn told him.
All hearts in the room dropped, but before anyone could react further. "WAIT!" Everyone jumped as Ren shouted. "Ozpin asked if there was a way that he could destroy Salem, not if she could be destroyed, but if he was able to. That would imply that Ozpin wouldn't be the one to take her down, someone else would have to." All their hearts were still racing with different emotions, but they all paused to think about that.
That's true, Ozpin asked Jinn if he himself was able to destroy Salem, so that could mean someone else would be able to. By asking the question if she could be destroyed without specifying someone to do so, they would get a different answer as that's a different question. So, this answers one of their earlier comments as they need to be specific in their wording because as they're seeing, a single word could change the entire answer.
All of Team RWBY's reactions were different. Yang was furious, Ruby was terrified, and Blake and Weiss were discouraged.
This, they will let their selves have a pass in their emotions because they're seeing, to Ozpin's knowledge and their ignorance, that the man was sending them all off to fight an enemy that can't be killed and believes that can't be stopped. To them, they were seeing it as information that Ozpin was just sending them all to their demises. And deliberately failed to tell them all this.
Ozpin dropped to his knees in dismay. Jinn fades away and they are all now back in the present. Oscar is quiet as he's on his knees.
The episode finishes and they're all quiet. There was so much to impact from all of that. They've just watched Ozpin's entire life in the span of 25 minutes and they've never felt so much whiplash. All of them felt like they aged multiple centuries from watching that. They made a mental summary of all they watched.
The Lonely Girl in the Tower was actually a true story, so what other stories are actually true, now they're really doubting that was the only one, Ozpin and Salem used to be lovers and had children together, Salem is immortal and will be painful to stop, she's a horrible mother who didn't really care for her children, Ozpin has the entire weight of humanity on his shoulders, placed there by the God of Light, if the Relics are brought together all of the world will be judged and if they did it now then they would all die, their generations weren't the First humanity. Were they missing anything?
"This has to be the worst case of divorce I've ever seen," Nora mumbles. All heads slowly turn and she finds all eyes on her.