A live broadcast played all over Remnant. Ruby told the world that Atlas was under attack, revealed the existence of maidens and relics, and told the truth about Salem.
"We didn't have time to prepare for Salem, but now you do. The fact that she can't be destroyed doesn't mean she can't be beaten. Don't give up hope."
There was a pause, and then Ruby went on. "I know many people want to see Cinder Fall put in the Hunt. But the Hunt is not justice, and Cinder is innocent. I saw with my own eyes that an unknown woman used her semblance to impersonate Cinder, and friends saw it too. General Ironwood is concealing evidence that proves Cinder's innocence- that other woman's blood at the scene of the crime. The Hunt has gotten it wrong in the past, and if Cinder is killed in the Hunt, yet another innocent person will have been slaughtered for crimes she didn't commit. Just like Tawny Fox, the faunus woman who was stabbed to death in The Hunt last year under a false defamation of character allegation, and Marlon Hawk, who was falsely accused of abusing a human woman. People of Remnant, we must-"
But the message cut out there, because global communications went down.
...
" 'As long as the world turns, you shall walk its face.' That was the curse laid upon her."
Recovered from Penny's attack and back in the grimm whale, Cinder was listening with Emerald to a conversation between Ozpin and Hazel. She was surprised that she had gotten away with defying Salem's orders and going to Atlas. Salem had been as calm with her as ever. Had she really gotten away with it?
Cinder knew about Salem's curse of immortality- she'd told her the gods had cruelly decided to wipe out humanity and leave one person behind. She'd always wondered why they'd chosen Salem to leave behind.
She had conflicting feelings about Ozpin being alive again. Everything she'd heard about him from Salem pointed to him being a terrible person. Yet she felt some inexplicable relief that he was alive, and Oscar being dragged into this situation made her feel even more guilty about killing Ozpin. Oscar was a kid whose life would be forever changed by what Cinder had done.
"Cinder," Emerald whispered. "Do you think Ozpin is telling the truth?"
Back in Vale and Mistral, Cinder would have never believed Ozpin. But after conversations with Ruby and Penny, she wasn't sure what to believe.
"I don't know what to believe," she answered. "But soon, I'll know the truth."
It had been a hard decision for Cinder to make, knowing that once she used the lamp's last question, Salem would have to wait another one thousand years to find out what happened to her precious daughters and any descendants she may have. Emerald was going to use her semblance to steal the lamp, and they were going take it to the Schnee mansion. If Ruby was telling the truth, Cinder would give her the relic. If what Ruby said was false, it meant that Salem's new world may not come in Cinder's lifetime- Cinder was giving up the power that Salem had promised her. But she had to know the truth about Salem and her plan. Lives could be at stake. If this quest for the truth turned out to be for nothing and Salem was innocent, Cinder hoped that Salem wouldn't be too deeply wounded by what Cinder had done, and hoped that Salem wouldn't hurt her again.
...
"It was a person," Ruby said quietly, falling to her knees.
They had just killed the grimm hound Salem had sent to Weiss's mansion. Ruby would be forever haunted by his faunus face and his silver eyes. She thought back to when Salem had appeared via seer in Ironwood's office and taunted her with the words, "your mother said those same words to me."
Is this what had happened to her mother six years ago? She also thought of Cinder's grimm arm. Was this her future if The Hunt didn't get to her first?
...
After the commotion, Blake got a scroll call from her parents.
"Blake, sweetie, are you somewhere private?" Kali asked gently.
Blake sat up straighter, her tail curling slightly. "Yes. What's wrong?"
Ghira's deep voice came through next. "Corsac Albain confessed to something… something concerning Adam."
Blake inhaled sharply, her fingers tightening around her Scroll.
"He admitted to drugging Adam with a substance called Rabid," Kali continued, her voice laden with sorrow. "It's a drug that only works on Faunus. It makes them more aggressive, strips away their restraint."
Blake's breath hitched. "Are you saying—"
"Adam's autopsy showed traces of the drug in his system," Ghira confirmed. "Blake, we don't know how long he was exposed to it, or how much of his actions were truly his own."
Blake felt the world tilt slightly, the weight of the revelation pressing down on her. Adam had done terrible things. He had hurt people—hurt her, hurt Yang. And yet… she had known him before he became the monster he was in the end. She had loved the person he had once been. How much of that cruelty had been him? How much had been the drug?
Her fingers trembled. "Corsac… did he say who ordered it?"
"No," Kali murmured. "He refuses to say."
Blake closed her eyes. "Yang and I… we killed him. But was it really him? Or was it the drug?"
Kali's voice softened. "Blake, this doesn't mean what you and Yang did was wrong. You defended yourselves."
Blake swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I just… I keep thinking about who he was before everything. He was passionate, he cared about Faunus rights. What if we could have helped him?"
Ghira sighed. "You can mourn the man he was, Blake. But don't let guilt weigh you down."
Blake exhaled slowly, wiping at the corner of her eye. "I just wish things had been different."
"So do we, sweetie," Kali whispered. "But you're not alone in this."
Blake nodded to herself, gripping her Scroll a little tighter. "Thank you, Mom. Dad."
The call ended, and Blake was left staring at the screen, a swirl of emotions threatening to overwhelm her.