So wow, this story got kinda popular fast. I'm really surprised. So, I decided to extend it to a two-shot. I hope you like it.
Like I said last time, I'm a complete review ADDICT. You can favorite it all you want (but don't follow, this is the last chapter), but I want reviews. I want to hear what you think. Please, they're great motivation
As I said last chapter, this story is based on a theory I had; that Ozpin and Salem were light and darkness. While that is my theory, everything else is purely just for this story.
Disclaimer: RWBY and its characters are the property of Rooster Teeth.
Light and Darkness
Conclusion
A young girl, no older that six, was standing out in the middle of a grassy field. She had pale skin and dark brown hair with a hint of red to it that hung down to her shoulders. Her big, silver colored eyes sparkled with childlike innocence. She was dressed in a pretty little orange dress.
The sun was beginning to set on the girl in the field. She held her hands out in front of her and they began to glow. One was a bright white and the other glowed a pitch black. The girl cupped her hands. Beams of white and black energy burst from her hands. As they descended skyward, the two pillars wrapped around each other. The lights faded from her hands as the beams formed a swirling sphere hovered in the air. The girl stared up at the sphere, all of her focus on it. After at least a minute, the orb vanished as the child exhaled.
"Very good Layla." A much younger Ozpin smiled towards the child. His attire and face was the same as it would be in the future. The only major difference between now and then was that his hair was pitch black. "Every day your skills get better."
The child giggled and ran to Ozpin's, hugging his legs. "Thank you daddy."
"Are you two enjoying yourselves?" A woman's voice called cheerfully.
Ozpin and Layla looked to see a beautiful woman walking to meet them. Beautiful was not a good enough word to describe her; she was breathtaking. She was dressed in an elegant, long, strapless, purple, long-sleeve gown that hung off her shoulders. Her flawless skin was pale like marble. She had long hair which hung down past her waist, and was colored similar to Layla's; it was dark brown. Unlike Layla, who had hints of red throughout her hair, this woman's hair was colored bright red at the tips. Also like the child, the woman had shining silver eyes.
"Mama!" Layla squeeled. She detached herself from Ozpin's legs, running over to the beautiful woman who dropped down onto her knees and hugged her.
"And just what is your father keeping doing keeping you out so late?" She asked with a light chuckle as she looked up at Ozpin.
The woman held her hand up to the sky. With a flick of her wrist, the sunset faded and was replaced by a moonlit night sky. "It is your bedtime after all."
The shift from twilight to night caused Layla to whimper and curl tightly into the woman. "Huh?" She asked. "What's wrong sweetie?"
"The dark." The child whimpered. "It's scary."
The woman looked up at Ozpin and smiled. She wrapped her arms around the child, cradling her as she stood up. "There's nothing to be scared of Layla." She smiled. "Not at long as you have us here."
"R-really?" The girl looked up at the woman, her silver eyes sparkling.
Ozpin walked to the side of the two girls. "As long as we're here Layla, we'll never let anything happen to you. I will light your way through the dark when you need it."
Salem nodded. "And as long as I'm here, there will never be anything in the dark to hurt you. After all, I am the darkness."
Several years had passed since that moment. Layla had grown up to be a beautiful young woman. Her father, Ozpin, was the light. Her mother, Salem, embodied the darkness. Layla was the twilight, the bridge that existed between the two.
Many other things had changed as Laya grew and became of age. In the forest that existed on the outskirts of their grassland home, humans started showing up. These weren't the technologically advance, aura-powered humans of the modern days. These humans were rather primitive. To Ozpin's understanding, they were settlers looking to make a new home somewhere. What started as a small camp did indeed quickly turn into a settlement in the woods.
Ozpin seemed to understand humans better than the others. After observing them, he realized they would be afraid of what they didn't understand. He warned his family not to go near the forest, but if they did, then they were not to use their powers.
It was on one fateful day that Ozpin's warnings went unheeded, and the consequences were indeed severe.
Ozpin sat cross-legged on a large rock, deep in thought. Night had fallen and a full moon had risen over the world of Remnant. As the years passed, Ozpin's once dark hair had turned to its more familiar silvery-white.
Heavy footsteps and panting drew Ozpin out of his meditation. He opened his eyes, looking for the source of the strange sounds. His eyes widened in horror when he saw his daughter stagger out of the forest.
Layla was hunched over, the knee-length orange dress she was wearing was stained and flecked with blood, her blood. She gasped and coughed as she wobbled across the field. She had been pierced with arrows; one was sticking out of her right side, three were in her back, one was embedded in her left shoulder, and there was one piercing her chest.
"D-Daddy." She gasped before falling forward.
"Layla!" Ozpin shouted. In a flash of speed, he was at her side, catching her before she hit the ground. Ozpin's heart was torn to shreds at the sight of his daughter. "W-what happened?" He managed to choke out.
"I…" Layla gasped, her head laying in his lap, "I wanted to practice on my own, so I went into the woods." She recounted. "I remembered what you said so I went deep where no human had settled." She coughed, blood spurting out of her mouth as she did so. "A hunting party came across me and saw me." She explained. "They called me a witch and attacked me." Tears started spilling from her eyes. "I'm…I'm so sorry daddy!" She sobbed weakly.
"Don't worry about that now." Ozpin's vision was blurred as he held his daughter. "Let's focus on getting you better." His hand glowed with the light he embodied. He hovered his hand above her body, moving it up and down. Nothing happened. No. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't save her. Layla was going to die.
Many would have assumed, because of their abilities, Ozpin, Salem, and Layla were immortal gods. They were not gods, and them being mortal was only "technically" true. If they were to live natural lives, they would indeed live forever. However, they were not invincible; they could be killed.
"What's going—LAYLA!" Salem screamed in horror, running to her daughter's side, kneeling with Ozpin.
"Ma-Mama." Layla's voice was weak, and full of fear.
"My baby!" Salem sobbed as she took hold of her dying daughter's hand. "Save her Ozpin!" Salem begged. "Please, save our baby!"
Ozpin closed his teary eyes as his glowing hand clenched into a fist. "There's nothing I can do!" He snapped, frustrated at his inability to heal his daughter. "Her injuries are too severe."
So Ozpin and Salem wept as they stayed with their dying daughter. Layla coughed again as she looked to her mother. There was a smile on her face. "Mama…" she breathed. "I'm not scared of the dark anymore." She closed her eyes, and was gone.
Ozpin lowered his head, crying silently. Salem released a pained wail. The night seemed to echo her heartbreak. For in her pain, the moon shattered, giving Remnant the moon it had to this day.
After that day, a crack formed in Ozpin and Salem's relationship. As he tried to console himself by opening up, she isolated herself. They couldn't say her name anymore without going through unimaginable pain. They resorted to calling her Twilight whenever they spoke of her.
It began on the evening of this fateful day. It was fitting in a sense, the evening was Layla's time. Ozpin had done it; he found a way to preserve Layla's spirit. He'd found a way to transfer her essence into a new, as-of-yet unborn vessel. With the first vessel inhabited, each of its descendants would go on to receive Layla's spirit, effectively reincarnating her. Ozpin knew this wasn't a perfect solution however; their daughter was truly gone. But, this way, Layla's legacy would live on. He had to find Salem, to tell her the news.
He did find her. She was where she usually was most evenings; the field where Layla died. In mourning, Salem now wore a simple, long black down with sleeves that stopped at her elbows. Along with her gown, she donned a black cloak. Her silver eyes stared at the forest where the human settlement was located. She stared with her eyes narrowed, unimaginable fury was boiling within her. It was their fault. They had taken her daughter.
"Salem!" Ozpin called, running to her. "I have the most wonderful news." He said as he stopped at her side.
"Do you remember when Twilight was little?" Salem asked, ignoring what Ozpin had said and avoiding uttering her daughter's name. "How she told us she was afraid of the dark?"
Ozpin nodded slowly. Something seemed…off about his lover. He found her tone of voice unsettling.
Her voice broke slightly. "I told her as long as I was around, she wouldn't have to be afraid." A sad smile appeared on her face. "And when she died, I was there, and she wasn't afraid." She recalled Layla's final words.
Her smile dropped however. "But for these humans," she snarled, "who took our daughter from us, it will not be the same for them."
Ozpin watched As Salem swept her arm from one side to the other. A wave of pure black burst from her body, flowing into the forest. Cries of shock and fear could be heard from the human settlement as their fires and lights were extinguished.
Salem then stretched both her hands out. All around, black pools appeared on the ground. "I am the darkness." She declared. "And for taking my daughter, the humans will have a reason to be scared of the dark!"
These pools of black energy spawned monstrous hideous creaturs. Creatures that resembled animals except they were shrouded in darkness, with glowing red eyes, and white, bone-like protrusions sticking out of their bodies.
Salem pointed to the forest, and the world's first Grimm understood, with blood-thirsty shrieks and fear-inducing howls, they swarmed into the woods, slaughtering the humans.
"Salem!" Ozpin gasped, turning to face her. "Stop this!"
"Why?" Salem asked. She ceased her spell and the pools vanished. "They deserve this!" She spat.
"No they don't!" Ozpin countered. Could he tell her about what he'd done? Would she even believe him? In her current, inconsolable state, he doubted it. But he had to do something. One of the women of that settlement was pregnant with Layla's reincarnation.
Ozpin quickly stuck his hand out. A beam of light shot out of it, striking one of the Grimm, making it vanish. He fired a few more attacks, vanquishing as many creatures as he could. He was so distracted, he didn't see Salem's hand ram into his stomach. Using her powers, she released a pulse of dark energy, knocking Ozpin back.
"Why defend them?" She asked angrily. "You should be as angry as me Ozpin. They killed her!"
"And you think this is the answer!?" Ozpin shakily got to his feet. "Fear? More death will not bring our daughter back Salem!"
Salem's silver eyes widened. "You're just as bad as them." She said. "No." She shook her head. "Your worse. You had the power to save her!" Tears began to spill from her eyes. "You could have prevented her death and you didn't!"
Before her rant could go on, a twister of pure black smog burst from the ground beneath Salem's feet. It surrounded and enshrouded her. From within the harsh gale, Ozpin could a pained cry. The shriek faded and the twister vanished, and Salem was on the ground, hunched over and on her knees.
She looked different to say the least. Whatever happened had changed her physically. Her once dark hair had turned bright white to match his own. Her once marble-pale skin now resembled that of a corpse.
"This…is my true form." Salem said as she looked at her herself. She looked up at Ozpin, showing him the extent of her transformation. Below her eyes, purple marks resembling veins appeared on her cheeks. Her silver eyes had turned a glowing, sinister red and the whites had become bitch black.
"So be it." She said as she rose to her feet. She turned to Ozpin, her red eyes burning with hate and rage. "I am going to make you pay for letting her die!" She declared.
Before he could protest, Salem vanished in a puff of smoke.
Ozpin didn't have time to go after her. He quickly ran into the forest to eliminate the rest of the Grimm.
(Present day)
At last, this fight was about to come to an end. Salem stood at the edge of the cliff that overlooked her kingdom. Behind her, her pawns Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and Neo lay defeated. Across from the embodiment of Darkness, Ruby Rose stood ready with her scythe in hand. It was a long hard fight and her friends were out for the count. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Ren, Nora, all of them helped Ruby get this far. She had to win.
Behind Ruby, at the foot of the stairs that led to Salem's overlook, Ozpin was tending to Ruby's fallen comrades. Thankfully, none of their injuries were fatal. Ozpin turned back to look up towards the stairs. Hopefully, this conflict was finally going to be closed.
"Let's end this, shall we?" Salem smirked as she extended her arm. From out of her body, shadowy tendrils formed, adding to her already monstrous appearance.
Ruby looked forward undeterred. In the time leading up to this, she trained and pushed herself past her limits. Now, she was ready to live up to her destiny as a Silver-Eyed warrior.
Salem snarled when Ruby didn't cower in fear of her. She bent her arm back behind her head, the tendrils moved with it, poised to strike. With a furious yell, she flew forward, prepared to destroy this little girl who had the audacity to oppose her. Raising Crescent Rose, Ruby charged at darkness herself.
Salem thrust her arm forward, the tentacles of shadow flying and spiraling towards the girl. Ruby channeled her inner power. Her silver eyes glowed bright. With a cry, she released a burst of energy from her eyes in the form of a wall of light. The attack hit Salem head on. Her tendrils shook and twitched as they shriveled away to nothing. Salem herself was affected by the attack as well, momentarily stunned by the blast. It was long enough to give Ruby the opening she needed to end it. With a thrust forward, she buried the blade of Crescent Rose deep in Salem chest.
Her red eyes widened as she gasped and sputtered, coughing. It was a fatal blow, she knew that much. She looked at Ruby, the warrior who defeated her and gasped. For the first time, she noticed the girl. Pale skin, silver eyes, dark brown hair with a hint of red.
"L-Layla?" She whispered, calling her daughter's name for the first time in centuries.
Ruby Spun around in a circle, swinging her scythe with her, the force of the spin caused Salem to detach from Ruby's weapon; she collapsed onto the ground and fell and rolled down the stairs, landing at Ozpin's feet.
Despite everything they'd gone through, despite all the centuries of pain they caused each other, Ozpin couldn't turn away from her. She was still the woman he loved. He knelt down, lifting up the dying woman and cradling her. The large wound in her chest began to seep wispy ribbons of shadow.
"Oz…pin…" she mumbled weakly.
Hearing his name, Ozping couldn't help but smile. "I'm here Salem." He whispered to her.
Her read eyes looked into his. And, for the first time in a long time, all the hate and fury in them was gone. Ozpin nodded. He gently rubbed her cheek.
"I thought I saw our daughter up there." She spoke.
Tears threatened to spill from the silver-haired man's eyes as he nodded. "Yeah. That's what I wanted to tell you all those years ago." He finally told her. "I couldn't save her, but I made sure she could live on."
After so long, Salem smiled again. "Guess…" she gasped, "guess I overreacted then."
Before he could answer, something happened. Salem, as she was now, melted away. Instead, replaced in Ozpin's arms was the Salem he once knew. Pale skin, silver eyes, dark hair with red tips. He never would have guessed that dying would have brought her back.
She started to cry. "I'm so sorry." She sobbed weakly.
Ozpin wiped her eyes. "Save your tears. Despite everything that's happened, I forgive you." Despite telling her not to cry, he himself was crying.
Like her wound, the edges of Salem's body began to turn into black smoke and dissipate. She was slowly vanishing, fading from this world. Even though he knew it was futile, Ozpin held her closer.
"I never stopped loving you." He whispered.
"I—I know." Salem grunted when she felt a jolt of pain. "And despite all my hatred, I still loved you." She slowly, weakly raised a shaky hand to caress his cheek. "And I still do."
The two were crying in a mixture of sorrow and joy. Ozpin leaned forward and placed his lips upon hers in a soft kiss. All the centuries of unspoken love was communicated between them in such a simple gesture.
Salem broke the kiss to gasp out in pain again. In his arms, Salem rolled over, looking up at the sky. Her eyes widened and she outstretched her arm towards the sky. New tears spilled from her eyes as a smile broke out onto her face.
"I see her Ozpin." She gasped, crying. "I see Layla."
Ozpin watched as she was fully consumed by the black smoke, leaving nothing behind. He wiped his eyes as he looked up, watching it dissipate into the air.
End
So what did you think? Tell me in a review. And I'm not writing anymore. This is the true conclusion to the story. So please please please be vocal with your feedback.
