Disclaimer: Nope, not owning anything here.
This story is a challenge that was sent to me. The premise is that the fight at Haven was completely lost, resulting in no one being left to really oppose Salem and her winning. This story now deals with a number of the villains, realizing that victory is not as sweet as they had hoped. The chapters will be rather (very)short and each one will be dealing with a different character. That said there is actually a proper end to the story which will happen when Salem's turn comes.
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Everywhere Mercury looked, he could see nothing but destruction. He supposed this might have once been a Village. But by now little more then rubble and a few burnt out houses were left. At times they could see the remains of a few of its former inhabitants, no one had been spared.
After they had stopped Ozpin and his last few remaining supporters, mostly children really, they had been merciless, destroying everything they could find. Salem had demanded nothing less but the entire destruction of everything they could get their hands on.
And while it had felt satisfying at first he just could not bring himself to feel good anymore. When he had first joined Cinder he had known that he would end up dirtying his hands, or rather his feet. But he had never expected things to end go that far. He had never expected to be responsible for the destruction of life as they knew it.
Salem was completely and utterly insane, that he had realized long ago. No matter what she might have promised Cinder once, it was clear she did not care about holding up her side of the deal anymore. It was as if she cared about nothing but the relics. He did not even want to know what she was planning with them but he was sure that it would make things even worse then they already were, if that was even possible.
The only thing he still knew is that this was not the kind of world he wanted to live in. Yes, he had been hatefull towards the world but he had never wanted for it to come this far. Everything was gone, not one Kingdom remained. For a while it had looked like Atlas might be able to hold out against them but even it's might was not enough to hold off Salem's hordes of Grimm forever.
It had been weeks since they had last seen another human being, a living one at least. He didn't think they had an actual goal, Cinder just leading them wherever her steps would cary her. He couldn't blame her for that he supposed, it was not like there was anything left they could go to.
He took a careful look at Emerald walking besides him, her eyes looking horrified at all the destruction and death surrounding them, she had taken what had happened even harder than him. He did not like to see that look on her face, once he might have made fun of her for it but that time was long past, now it only made him feel sad.
She had been with him through everything and while they had been at each other's throats at times, there was no one he trusted more than her.
Hell, she was the only one he trusted. She was the last thing that kept him alive, Cinder he had long since stopped believing in and he knew that Emerald had as well.
Suddenly Cinder stopped, looking at the ruins of a house that looked to be relatively stable.
''We will rest here tonight.''
And with those short words, she searched herself a place to sleep, finally coming to rest on the rests of a mattress that had remained. Emerald, exhausted from their wandering quickly let herself fall into a corner and closed her eyes as well. At least they could sleep without having to worry about Grim attacking them.
Mercury was feeling tired as well but he knew that this was a chance that would not come so quickly again. Today they had walked longer than almost any other day before and as a result, they were all extremely exhausted. This meant that Cinder, normally a very light sleeper would not only sleep deeper than usual but probably also longer.
Gently he let his gaze land on Emerald, she really shouldn't have to see what they had done to the world anymore, she had suffered enough already.
He had made his decision, he would leave Cinder and he would not do so alone.
As careful as he could he picked up the sleeping Emerald and silently he left the House.
He did not know where to go but he knew he had to get as much distance between them as quickly as he could, Cinder would not be happy when she woke up again and he did not want to face her fury.
He just hoped that Emerald would understand why he had acted this way, he couldn't bear it if she would reject him. She was the only thing he had left in this world.
But even that didn't matter now, he had to find a place in this dead world, were at least a bit of life could flourish. He would make sure to at least give Emerald back a bit of the happiness she had given him in the last months, just by being there, by his side.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, a genuine smile found it's way onto Mercuries face.
There might not be anything left to go to anymore but maybe, just maybe, they could create such a place again, together, just the two of them.
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Well, that was the first character. Like I stated at the start those chapters are all on the very short side. Next up is Emerald.
As always every review is welcome. As are questions.
This chapter has been beta read by Murphy Sl4w
