The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 53: Barely Alive

Salem's eyes fluttered open, slowly adjusting to the dim light. Above her head were metal ceilings with hefty pipes that ran along them, the sound of steam rushing through the metal reaching her ears.

The memories slowly began to come back. Of standing in Ragna's palace and fighting death incarnate. Of seeing the corrupted skin of the First Vao in Yin's Reality. She sat upright with a start, cold sweat rolling down her skin. But she wasn't in Ragna anymore.

She found herself in some sort of bay, with injured dwarves and nonhumans laying on bedrolls. Her turquoise eyes scanned the room, trying to process so many things at once.

"You're awake."

She flinched at the sound of the voice, turning her head to see Verde sitting beside her. The witch's head had been bandaged, and her nose looked broken. Salem took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart. "V... V-Verde... What...?"

"Vao, Sasha, and King Port carried us out of the palace with Sapphire's help. Tourmaline and Jasper flew ahead and instructed everyone to evacuate," Verde explained. "Ragna is destroyed. There is nothing left to save. Even after the Cultists retreated under Mono's orders, nearly everything had been razed to the ground. We are currently inside Penny. This room and the one above it are currently being used to house the injured. You and I were very lucky."

Lucky? Salem looked around again. Some of the nonhumans and dwarves were missing limbs, and very few were even awake. She looked down at herself. Her chest had been wrapped tightly in bandages to keep her broken ribs in place, and her leg was fastened to a makeshift splint to keep it straight. She really had been lucky. Her injuries weren't as serious. Her heart stopped, the princess looking up at Verde in horror.

"O-Ozpin-"

"Dead," Verde interrupted monotonously. "Pyrrha is dead. Mr. Xiao-Long is dead. Chuck is dead. Sasha is still unconscious, but alive. We are returning to Faralda to seek better treatment than what we have now."

There was still one person. Salem gritted her teeth, grabbing Verde's shoulder. The sudden movement sent pain shooting through her chest, but she ignored it as much as she could. "Y-Yin... Is he...?"

Verde was quiet. After a long pause, she spoke again. "... Alive, but..."

"But?"

Verde shook her head. "... We had to place him in solitary confinement," she answered. "The moment he awoke, he became very hostile and rambled incoherently. He didn't hurt anyone, but it wasn't something we were willing to risk."

Salem felt nervous. "C-can I... Can I see him?"

Verde shook her head. "I would not recommend that," she replied. "We've been able to learn a very small amount of what the First Vao was doing to his Soul. He was no doubt showing Yin his memories in an attempt to torture him. The First Vao was very likely unaware we had been pulled into Yin's Reality." The witch hummed softly, leaning back on her bedroll. "... Many of us didn't come back," she continued. "But you're taking it very well."

"Just... Used to it," Salem muttered. She didn't know how else to put it. The truth was that she was very desensitized to death. She still feared it, and didn't want it to happen, but after having lived for thousands of years in the First and Second Timelines, death didn't affect her. It was a force of nature; everyone died at some point. The only thing she could do was try to stop needless deaths. But when it came down to people actually dying, she didn't see much of a point in crying, or breaking down. And a big part of that feeling was because she knew the Gods would never let them rest; the Timeline would reset, over and over. They were all like animals in a cage, trapped by a neverending cycle until the Gods grew bored with tormenting them.