A/N: Hey guys I'm back, so before I start this story, just some more info. The ages of the characters are: Fikrul=16, Elykris/Reksis=15, Hiraks=14, Pirrha=12, Araskes/Kaniks=11, Yaviks=10, Mara and Uldren appear early thirties. With that said, let's get on with the story!

Bungie owns D2 and Rooster Teeth owns RWBY ENJOY!

We know the tale of how Remnant came to be, the result of Salem's greed and manipulation of the gods. However, there is another similar story that coincides with the events of the former.

This is how it goes:

Once upon a time, before the moon was shattered, there was a queen named Mara Senna. She ruled her land benevolently, and the people of her kingdom loved her. One day, she captured the attention of the gods. The two brothers saw in her the four ideals humanity was built on: creation, for she built herself an empire that would surely last for millennia after her death, destruction, for any who opposed her kingdom were crushed underfoot, choice, for any major decision in her kingdom was decided by her, and she never chose wrong, and knowledge, for she knew everything that a mortal could, and knew who to share that knowledge with.

The gods, impressed by this young queen, came to her in a dream. They told her that if she were to impart her values of the human ideals to the rest of humanity, they would in turn grant her with a fraction of each of their powers: light and dark. The queen agreed, and when she awoke, she was not the same. Her body, before porcelain, was now pale blue. She could feel the light and the dark mixing with her own magic. With this knew form, Mara saw it fit to rename herself, dubbing herself Mara Sov. Mara did as the brothers asked, and imparted her values on not just her people, but neighbouring kingdoms and villages as well, telling them to spread them in turn. She renamed her kingdom 'the kingdom of the awoken,' for its inhabitants were enlightened to their true purpose.

While her godly magic prevented her from aging, it did not stop the world around her from disappearing, including her brother. Uldwyn, the prince of the 'awoken' people, was very dear to Mara, and one day, died of sickness. Mara mourned her brother, and begged the gods to bring him back, but they refused, saying it would disrupt the balance of life. Mara, unpleased with their answer, sought council with her Techeuns, women with extreme magical power. They told her that only the gods had the power to bring back life.

And that was the key.

Mara wielded the power of both brothers, meaning that, with enough magic, she could resurrect her brother. However, Mara knew that the gods would undo whatever progress she made, so she outplayed them. She asked for one of her citizens to give their life for their prince, and one of her finest warriors, Sjur Eido, volunteered. Mara sent the soul of Sjur into the afterlife crippling her body with age and sickness after she was gone. She then restored Uldwyn's body, bringing back the body's youth and health. Additionally, she put a fraction of the gods' power into the body changing the tanned complexion to a similar tone as hers. Finally, she grabbed Uldwyn from the afterlife and placed him into the body.

And so, Uldren was born.

The gods were furious, and came before the royalty and the Techeuns, berating Mara for her betrayal. She only smirked in return, knowing that she had already outplayed them. She told the gods that she had used the four ideals of humanity in this ritual; she knew that bringing back her brother would disrupt the balance of life, and so she kept balance by meeting creation of new life with the destruction of another, allowing the sacrifice to choose whether or not to continue. The gods were speechless before her, the elder radiating disappointment, while the younger seemed oddly satisfied.

They then left, stating that another pressing matter required their attention. But Mara paid them no heed, for she was revelling in the feeling of standing as an equal to gods, while also manipulating them.

The Techeuns went to look outside, but Mara didn't care. This knowledge that she could so easily manipulate GODS, it was almost addicting.

The Techeuns shouted for her, and Mara would have addressed them if her brother hadn't stirred in her arms. "Uldren?"

His beautiful amber eyes opened slowly, focussing on her glowing blue ones.

"Ma-"

That was when the cataclysm hit. In an instant, a purple wave of power flooded the world, and Mara could sense that only one other human life remained. Tears threatened to fall down Mara's cheek as she stared at where her brother was moments ago, now only her shaking arms. She looked to where her Techeuns were, only to see them gone as well. She stood up and approached the window that overlooked her kingdom, feeling the light of the elder brother leave. Mara stared into the empty streets, thinking that it was her actions that killed humanity; although unknown to her it was another's selfish decisions. Mara felt the younger brother leave before she saw the giant beam of darkness retreating from this Remnant of civilisation, shattering its moon in the progress.

And as the shards fell, so did Mara's tears.

Mara watched as humanity grew again, struggling against the creatures of Grimm now that they had no magic. For millennia, she stayed in her castle, letting the Grimm deal with any unwanted intruders. She tried on numerous occasions to bring back her brother, but was unable to feel him in the afterlife, as if he wasn't there. After the first century, she stopped looking for her brother and entered a great depression.

Until she felt a calling, one she hadn't felt for thousands of years.

The feeling of two magical forces clashing in combat.

Mara had thought herself the last person able to use magic in Remnant, but now it seemed that she was not quite as alone as she thought. So for the first time since before modern humans, Mara left her castle.

The sight that Mara came upon was…. Interesting to say the least. A castle, completely destroyed, laid under the light of dawn. Mara investigated the rubble, hoping to find some trace of the old humans. As the former queen say a toy dog in the rubble, she heard sobbing. Following the sound, Mara came upon what must have been the aftermath of a final showdown. A path of blood led to charred ground, and above it, was a woman, with Grimm white skin with silky hair to match, wearing a black dress with a cloak attached, kneeling and bawling.

Mara, despite the sight, was ecstatic. Finally, after such a long time alone, here was someone who hopefully knew of the world that Mara was born into.

And so the former queen made her presence known, her voice carrying curiosity, "Why do mourn what was clearly an enemy?" Mara saw the woman stiffen, and her sobbing ceased. She stood up slowly, and muttered just loud enough for the awoken to hear.

"What did you say?"

Mara now summoned her regal, commanding voice, "I asked you why you mourn your former foe, now answer my question." The mysterious woman's body began shaking, and Mara believed she was going to start crying again.

"Because…" Mara could now identify, that it was, in fact, rage that shook her body and filled her voice. And as she turned magic in her hands ready to be used, icy blue orbs met blood red ones. "I LOVED HIM!"

The red magic shot at Mara so fast, that she was only barely able to summon a defensive spell. The countless years of neglecting her magic leading to inexperience. After the blast ceased, Mara was panting, the use of magic more taxing than she ever remembered it being. However, the shock on the woman's face told Mara that she had her attention.

"Y-you… h-how did you do that?"

The same smirk that Mara had before the gods came onto her face.

"Magic."

After a day or few (hundred) of talking, Mara and the now revealed Salem knew each other as if they were friends for years. The Grimm woman understood the void that Uldren left in Mara, as well as her god-born powers, and the former queen understood Salem's tragic romance and 'break-up,' as well as her curse of immortality. Both immortals felt that they had found a friend in the other; a being that understood the things they knew was unheard of in this new world.

One day, however, Salem brought up something that Mara took great interest in.

"We've both been cursed by the gods, forever to be alone from those we hold dearest," Salem started. Mara looked from the window to the throne the Grimm woman sat in. They were standing in Salem's new castle in the former land of the younger god. Mara nodded.

"Yes, I believe we both are aware of this, so why do you bring it up again?"

Salem stood from her throne and walked to stand beside Mara at the window, looking at the emerging beowolves.

"And you are aware that there are four relics that can summon those gods that… scorned us?"

Mara nodded hesitantly, not knowing where Salem was going with this.

"Yes, you told me that if Ozma," Salem stiffened, but showed no signs of aggression from her former lover being brought up, "unites the people of Remnant and summons them, they will live among us again, but will otherwise wipe out this world."

Salem smiled, looking into Mara's blue eyes.

"Correct, but," Mara could see some form of mirth in Salem's eyes, "what if we were to summon them, and get our revenge." Throughout their time together, the two queens had each come up with bizarre ideas for revenge against Ozma or world domination, but this takes the cake, and Mara wasn't afraid to show her shock."

"Salem, "her tone was curious, "do explain.

Salem was now full on smiling, knowing that she would convince her partner.

"If we summon the gods, we can try to kill them," Mara looked at the witch with doubt, but she continued, "and if we fail, we can use your ritual to create a new world when they destroy this one."

Mara… liked that idea. A lot. It was the perfect way to get revenge, and spite the ones that had punished them. She had but one concern, "What do we do about Ozma then?"

Salem was wearing the Cheshire's smile.

"We make it impossible to rally humanity, after all, the hearts of man are swayed easily.

For centuries after, the two queens gained followers, only a few a generation, and attacked every defence Ozma put up, destroyed any alliance he made, all while waiting for the perfect moment to strike in this game of chess. Now, Mara was a patient woman, and a good strategist, but she just wanted to do something other than wait for Ozma's (now Ozpin) next move.

So when Arthur Watts spoke of a company led by a single man gaining influence and power in Atlas, Mara knew that she could strike now. When she proposed the idea to Salem, she approved of it, recommending she took her place as soon as possible.

Now, Mara was going to hit Remnant like a storm.

A/N: and then Mara marries Craask, conspires with Jacques, you know the rest. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing the first part of this chapter in the theme of a fairy tale. Not much else to say, except… SALEM AND MARA ARE NOT A THING IN THIS STORY, just want to make that clear, as there were some moments were people may have thought that. With that said, I will see you next time.