Hello again, I'm back with the next installment of this story! As for what this chapter is going to be about, there are a few reveals this chapter that may clear some questions up for those people who have them. Now, onto the review responses.

Artjom435: Yup, I also ship Qrow and Winter. If you want the funniest possible rendition of that little ship, check out RWBY: Warning from the Future by a guy called Patriot-112. Its how I got some inspiration for that bit with Weiss in chapter two.

Bear of Cali: Yup, got it. Discussed it in PMs. Thanks for the suggestions.

meeyaaargh3412: Honestly, that's the reason I wrote this fic in the first place. I always think of Summer as a sort of blank enough canvas, seeing as how her personality is never really shown in the show. She's a good character to write, and I like both seeing and writing fics where Summer and Ruby reunite. I feel that in the show, Ruby lacks a mother figure, sort of making her more than a bit... Depressed, in a way? Maybe? I find that if Summer comes back, Ruby can sort of open back up to the world.


The universe. So vast, so unknown, so intriguing. But it wasn't always so large and impressive. It once was only one singular being. That being's name is Anu. Anu was everything, both good and evil. He encompassed all existence, but as he was existence, existence was him and he was alone. But that was not an issue to Anu. He had no problem with being forever alone, as being everything in existence means you are never truly alone. However, Anu did have an issue. He wished to be pure, only good and nothing more. So Anu, in his infinite wisdom, decided to cast the darkness inside him out, to throw it away, to discard it. And Anu was purely a being of good. He now encompassed all things good, those being Justice, Valor, Fate, Hope and Knowledge among other things as well. But all the evil that Anu cast off did not just disappear, nor did it remain dormant. The pure evil energy manifested itself, congregating into a massive, eight-headed dragon which called itself Tathamet.

(An: Yes, I know that Tathamet actually has only seven heads in Diablo cannon. I also don't care because this is fannon.)

Tathamet embodied all things evil, those mainly being Destruction, Hate, Terror, Darkness, Pain, Agony, Lies, and Sin, among other things as well. Tathamet hated Anu, as good and evil can never truly live in harmony, and thus, Tathamet waged war on Anu, determined to destroy him, to eradicate good from the universe. The two behemoths fought for eternities, neither ever gaining an upper hand on the other. Eventually, after literal eons of fighting, they both died, both failed in their goals, their conflict over.

But the power they represented never truly dies.

Rather than them simply ceasing to exist as most things would, their power manifested in other ways, creating new worlds. Anu's spine became the Silver Spire, the pillar that sat at the heart of the heavens, where new angels are brought into existence, and his body the High Heavens themselves. The body of Tathamet, on the other hand, fell and became the Burning Hells. His heads became the Great Evils, four Prime Evils, the most powerful demons, and four Lesser Evils, second in power only to the Prime Evils themselves. The names of the Prime Evils were Mephisto, the Lord of Hate, Baal, the Lord of Destruction, Diablo, lord of Terror and Salem, the Lady of Darkness. The lesser evils were Andariel, Maiden of Anguish, Duriel, Lord of Pain, Belial, Lord of Lies and Azmodan, Lord of Sin. On the other side, there were Archangels. They were Malthael, Archangel of Knowledge, Auriel, Archangel of Hope, Itherael, Archangel of Fate, Tyrael, Archangel of Justice and Imperius, Archangel of Valor.

These two side of the Eternal Conflict fought for millennium over control of The Eye of Anu, the Worldstone. Salem, on the other hand, didn't fight in the war. She realized that it was no issue for her to deal with, and the fighting was pointless, seeing as the sides were evenly matched, thus there could be no victor. So she left, walking the endless void that was the rest of creation, doing everything but fight in the pointless war her siblings were caught up in. On her way, she discovered many things, like giant space squid gods and really big armies of demons that weren't controlled by Hell. But those are stories for other times, for it was then, on her journeys, that she discovered a second Worldstone, the second Eye of Anu. Initially, Salem contemplated the idea of telling her siblings of the second reality-bending god rock, but that idea was quickly pushed aside when she remembered the greed of demons, the same greed she shared with all her siblings, which also just so happened to be the reason that the Burning Hells never united under one banner, simply because they never would agree on who to lead. She wanted the power of the Worldstone for herself, and should her siblings be let in on her discovery, they would most likely try to take it from her. So, she shrouded the world behind a wall of magic and went to work on getting the stone for herself.

The stone, however, knew of this and created a protector for itself. It created The Wizard, the same one from the legends of the Maidens. The only major difference being that this wizard was more a power than anything human. He had no form, but he held consciousness and power. He tried to fight Salem and the battle turned into a stalemate, neither side gaining or losing any ground. This is around the time the Wizard begged the Worldstone to help him and it did, creating four spirits, the Maidens, along with blessing, or as some thought it to be cursing, all five of these spirits with infinite reincarnation. The Wizard would reincarnate into the body of a man, and the maidens would reincarnate into the body of a young woman close to the fallen maiden. As well, the Worldstone created four keys in the form of relics to keep itself safe and made it so only Maidens could unlock the vaults in which they were held. Later, arrived humans (descendants of Nephalem), and they later some were adapted to become Faunus. Salem's army of Grimm emerged to threaten the mortals, the Great War occurred, the Faunus rights war happened, and now, here they all are today, fighting over one of the greatest powers in the universe. And most of those fighting don't even know it exists.


The Grimlands… Six days before the Breach

Salem sat on her chair in her counsel chamber in her ebony black castle. It was the head of the table, with her allies, or pawns, whichever, flanking her on either side, sitting in their own chairs, the group discussing things such as the goal they all strive for or how exactly they are going to try to take over reality this time. Salem had never before told the group before her of her intentions mainly because they fear her and what she can do. That is enough for her, as fear brings loyalty and if they are loyal, that is all that matters and they need not know the end goal. And to Salem, undivided loyalty is the best thing she could get in a world of traitorous humans.

"So," Arthur Watts, a genius, yet disgraced, Atlassian scientist, said, "Cinder Fall is in position, and she is ready to tear The Vytal festival apart. Though I must ask, once we have the Maiden's power and the adjoining relic, what comes next?"

Salem was quick to reply "It is quite simple, Arthur. We get more. We know of the other Maidens, we will find them, convert or kill them, and use their power to get the other relics. I believe I explained this to you before, Watts."

"And once we get the relics?" Hazel asked.

"Then we can mold the world to our desires, Hazel dear. We shape reality to our will, bend the rules of life and death." Salem said slyly. Not one of her inner circle knew the power that would truly be unlocked when the four relics were gathered. Only she knew the raw reality warping power of the Worldstone. Then again, she was the only one old enough to have borne witness to its strength.

"I must know, Watts, are you positive the virus has what it takes to work on the CCT tower?" Salem asked to Watts.

"Will I am disgraced by Atlas," Watts retorted, "That doesn't mean that I don't make a good virus. Putting it fairly, we definitely will be able to hack the AK-200's."

"Very good. When we are ready, we will turn their own weapons on the fools of Atlas." Salem smirked, "Just be sure it works."

Watts bowed and said, "Yes my Queen."

It was then that she heard the knock at door. It was not just a knock, rather it was a pounding at that door signaling that someone had arrived. As Hazel went to go and get the door, it burst open, nearly flying off its hinges and three figures walked in.

Hazel had a look of visual confusion on his face and asked the strangers, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Really?" the first man said, with a maniacal glint in his eye that would make Tyrian shit his pants, "Did our dear sister not tell you of our arrival?"

"You… are… here. This was… unexpected. Regardless, welcome, Mephisto, Baal, Diablo. Welcome to my humble abode." Salem said.

"Salem, how do you know them?" Arthur asked as the three men sat down. The first, the man with the look of a maniac was Baal the lord of Destruction, the middle brother. The second was a man who radiated hate, distaste, wrath. He was Mephisto, Lord of Hate. Finally, the last had a red crystal impaled in his forehead, and to be honest, everyone, save his siblings, was terrified of him. He was Diablo, Lord of Terror.

"Well then, brothers, with your timely intrusion, I guess I have to reveal what I truly am." Salem said sarcastically, "Thanks for that."

Diablo chuckled, "There is no issue with revealing your demonic heritage to these mortals. After all, they do serve you."

"Very well," Salem said, "Arthur, Hazel. I am indeed a demon. My name is Salem and my domains are that over Darkness, thus my title, the Lady of Darkness. Any questions from either of you?"

"Uhm… just one." Watts said, "Does this change our goal and our reward?"

"Of collecting the relics?" Salem said, "No, it doesn't, though it will not be by their hand that we shape the world. Rather, they are simply the key to the power we will use to unlock this world. As for your reward, that is also not changed, you might even get more. Now, Watts, Hazel, leave us. I have a lot of catching up to do with my brothers."

Hazel nodded and said "Yes, my Queen." As he and Arthur left the room.

"Funny how those mortals think. They think they will be rewarded. Now that those two are gone…" Salem said looking at her brothers, "Did any Angels follow you to this place?"

"No." Diablo said, "However, there may have been some Nephalem that did follow us."

"Which Nephalem?" Salem asked.

"The ones that defeated us, sister dear." Mephisto replied.

Salem looked with a shocked expression at her brothers "Please tell me that they don't have…"

"A Black Soulstone?" Baal said, "No, that was destroyed by Malthael when the fool of an Angel tried to purge the demon blood from Sanctuary by killing all humans. They would need a Horadric mage to create another one. And, sadly there are none of those left. Poor old Cain."

Salem then asked, "How many Nephalem came?"

"We believe eight, though one was a fallen angel. Tyrael, if you remember, the Archangel of Justice." Baal replied.

"With one already here…" Salem said, "This could be quite difficult."

"Which one, if I may ask?" Diablo asked.

"I do not know her name, but one of her children trains at the Huntsman Academy that we are targeting first." Salem replied, venom itching at her words like a snake, "She has slain so many of my children here… her presence angers me so much…"

"Do the others know of her existence here?" Mephisto asked.

"I do not believe so. They must think her to be dead. It has to have been twenty years since those who knew her have seen her, after all." Salem said. "Even then, a single one could shift the scales ever so slightly in their favour."

"Well, in that case, we must prepare for the final assault on the 'Academy' as you call it." Diablo grunted, "Do you have an… infiltrator in the Academy that you wish whipped off the map?"

"Of course. Your lessons of plotting never will escape me." Salem replied, smirking.

"Good. We will need to keep a personal eye on her. Might I suggest Belial?" Mephisto said.

"As long as we keep him on a short leash, yes that would be a grand idea." Salem said, "Who knows, it might speed up the plan."

"What of your puppet? Should we let them in on our plans?" Baal asked.

Salem thought about it. Cinder trusted her, and she had to maintain that trust. Unlike her other mortal minions, if Cinder turned against her, the results could be devastating, and her plans could fall apart. So, she responded "Yes, we shall, as a precaution. Come, brothers. We have someone to contact."


Beacon Academy dorms…

It had been a few days since Cinder, Emerald and Mercury infiltrated Beacon Academy. Only a few. And Cinder was already on top of the world. In just a few short weeks, she would obtain something most people would only dream of becoming. She would become a Maiden, something she dreamed of since she first heard the story. Something she longed for, to have power dancing at her fingertips, to be able to do as she pleases. She was currently sitting on her bed, thinking about what she could do her powers when she obtained them, eyes closed. It was then that Salem called on the Seer. The Seer, or Eye Grimm, as Emerald often referred to it as, was her primary message of communication between her and Salem. Being that it was Salem calling, Cinder wished to know what was going on.

As the Seer' ball flickered to life, Salem, along with three new faces, appeared. Faces that Cinder did not recognize and had never seen in her life. The first of the three looked gaunt in its features, with two bony looking horns coming out of his head and a pale face. He radiated Hate, pure and untouched, seeming to feed off of it. There was so much hate coming from this one man it was almost like he was constantly thinking, 'I hate that, and that, and that to. But most importantly, I hate that really little thing over there. A lot.' The second looked evil, but also more human, but also very, very evil. He had had a less pale looking face, but also a smile that looked like it would give Tyrian a run for his money in the psychological department. He also looked like the kind of guy who would love for nothing more than a giant explosion to level Vale and kill everyone there for fun. The last one had glowing red eyes, with a giant red crystal impaled in his forehead. Cinder attempted to look away from him as much as possible, as he terrified her in every possible way one could feel terror. She didn't know why, but these three people struck her as… off, to say the least. They weren't normal in the slightest.

"My lady," Cinder said timidly, trying not to anger the three men in the back, "You have summoned me?"

"Yes, Cinder, I have. I am contacting you for two reasons. The first, I would like to introduce you to my brothers." Salem said.

"Your brothers?" Cinder asked in a confused way.

"Yes. Firstly, this," Salem turned and pointed at the man with the horns, "Is Mephisto, my oldest brother and the Lord of Hate."

"Hello, Cinder Fall." Mephisto said, his mouth sounding like someone trying to gurgle hydrochloric acid, making Cinder cringe with every one of the three words he spoke.

Salem then gestured to the man with the evil smile and crazy eyes "This is Baal, the second oldest of the brothers and the Lord of Destruction."

"How do you do, little one?" Baal asked. Cinder did not feel comfortable responding to a man that looks like he wants to kill babies in front of their parents just for the laughs.

"And finally," Salem said, pointing to the tall crystal-in-forehead guy "This is Diablo, my 'Twin' as some would say and the Lord of Terror."

"Greetings." Was all the seven-foot-tall man said. Honestly, Cinder was glad that was all he said. If he talked any more, she may have crapped in her nice white panties, which would take forever to wash out. That would also explain the pure fright she felt for him.

"My lady, if I may, what exactly are they doing? There, I mean." Cinder asked.

"They are helping us complete our mission, of course." Salem replied, "On to the main reason why I summoned you. You will be getting a fourth member of your team. He will arrive in the next week or so and is named Belial. It is crucial that you never call him that name, however. There are people who would immediately investigate you should they find out you are working with him. Call him Belian in public. And for that matter, in private as well."

"If it is so dangerous to send him, why send him?" Cinder asked.

"Because," responded Diablo, "Belial is a master of deception. He once tricked a whole city into thinking he was its ruler. His identity will be safe, so long as you don't screw with his lies."

"How do we know he can be trusted?" Cinder asked.

"Because, we Lord over him," replied Baal, "After the Sin war, the great exile and his defeat in Caldeum, he will never betray us again. I have made sure of that. Besides, we share a common enemy, there is no need for betrayal."

Cinder thought about it for a second and said, "Very well then, I will meet him when he comes."

"Good girl," Salem purred, "You are my most valuable asset. Once all is said and done, you will be very well rewarded."

"Thank you, my queen." Cinder said, before the Seer shut off.

As Cinder walked back to the beds, slightly shaken from her encounter, Emerald asked "What was that about?"

"The Queen is sending help our way." Cinder replied, "Our new teammate comes some time soon."


Salem looked at the black ball of the Seer, contemplating what to do next. Of course, as she knew this world the best, she would be the one to orchestrate the forces of Hell in their assaults on Remnant. But, before they began…

"Will Azmodan show up?"

"That is... Unknown at the moment. Without him, the army of Sin will not follow." Diablo replied, "And that is a problem."

"That doesn't matter." replied Salem, "Better that we bring all of our forces here than to leave some behind. To win this war, we will need everything we have."

"Very good point." Mephisto said, "I suppose The Army of Sin can join us… if Azmodan cooperates."

"He will." Diablo replied, "Whether he joins us us willingly or not is his choice. But he will join us, and he will obey."


A few days later, after dance… Three days till the Breach…

The dream. The same dream. The steaming corpses of Grimm and some other creatures littering the forest floor, the howls of more on the way and the screams of people being killed in the most horrid of ways. The white snow, covering the ground in a thick layer. The blood drenching the white floor, making the snow she stood on slick to the touch. It was the same, yet different. The crushing sounds of trees and houses sounded behind her, the screams and howls of both people and... inhuman beings perforated the air. She began to run away from the sounds. She ran after the white cloaked figure in the distance, as she always did. The figure began to walk, the space between the two people decreasing bit by bit, as she got closer to the one she longed to see again.

Her legs began to burn again, screaming out in pain as she urged them forward. She felt herself again gaining on the figure. Just a few feet behind the white cloaked figure, she began to push herself, crying out to them. Pleading them to stop going away, to come back home. The figure ignored it all, continuing to walk away.

She urged herself on again, in a full sprint. Just as she was about to grab the figures shoulder, the ground came away from beneath them. And they fell down into the deep below.

The figure turned to her. Her face barely visible under her hood, despite the speeds at which they were falling. The figure then did something unexpected. Something the figure in her dream had never done before. The figure hugged her, as they tumbled into the darkness below. As tears welled in her eyes, the figure once again spoke, as they did when she first had the dream again.

"I love you, Ruby. I always will. Never forget that."


Beacon Academy Dorms…

The first noise Ruby heard when she woke up was not the sound of a shower being had, nor was it the sound of Yang snoring with a determination to level the school. No, the noise that woke Team RWBY up from their peaceful slumber was that of Pyrrha kicking down their door, for whatever reason.

"Pyrrha… why did you kick down our door…?" Weiss asked groggily.

"Because," Pyrrha said, dragging Weiss out of her bed by her head, "Twenty minutes ago, my mother called me and told me she was coming. Knowing my mother, she would also want to see those who I consider my friends."

"Couldn't you have just knocked?" Blake said, quite annoyed at Pyrrha for interrupting her cat style beauty sleep.

"I have been," Pyrrha said "For the past ten minutes. So, get the heck up we gotta go now!"

As Pyrrha raced out the door to go to Team STNL (Sentinel), Team RWBY looked at each other and shrugged. This was going to be a long day. A very long day.

(A.n: Team STNL is basically the all-male love interests of Team RWBY. S with W, T with R, N with B and L with Y. So there. As for why they weren't introduced earlier, that's because reasons that will be shown later. They will be introduced next chapter in detail and will be references to games and books.)


Both Team RWBY and Team JNPR stood at the landing dock watching the bullheads pull up to them.

Ruby looked over at Jaune and asked, "She drag you out of bed to?"

Jaune, along with Nora and Ren, nodded and Ren replied "I have almost never seen Pyrrha this happy for anything. It is truly strange"

"Well, it is her mom." Yang said, still with some bed head because Pyrrha didn't give her enough time to wash all of her hair, "She has a right to be excited."

"Yeah, but she really didn't give any of us enough time to get ready! I mean, look at me! I look horrible!" Jaune complained while gesturing to his mucked up hair, shirt and pants. It had been a few days since the dance and since Pyrrha confesses her attraction to Jaune to his face with a kiss. Since then, they had been pseudo dating, not really dating, not sleeping in the same bed, nothing of the sort. But now and then they did share a kiss in public, maybe an awkward touch here and there. But since Jaune heard that Pyrrha's mom was coming, he knew he was in for some serious shit.

"Jaune, you look fine. You'll do just great." Pyrrha said, "I promise I won't let my mother tear you apart. If it was my father… well… just be happy it is my mother."

Just then, the final bullhead landed, it's ramp opened and out came a 6-foot-tall, well built, middle aged woman with long red hair and blueish green eyes, in combat armor similar to Pyrrha's with a trident and shield on her back. She also wore a similar tiara crown headdress thing to Pyrrha, only hers covered the sides of her head completely and had some wings with gold and red metal feather on it. Everyone, save Pyrrha, stared at her, unsure of what to do. Pyrrha, on the other hand, bolted at the woman and cried "Mom!"

"That's her mother?!" Jaune said, "Oum save me. I am so screwed."


Now Pyrrha's mom is here! Yay! Can you guess who it is? Hint, it is a named character from Diablo lore. You may need to dive deeper into some other blizzard games to find out who she is. PM me if you think you figured out who she is. Her name will be revealed in the next chapter.

Secondly, are any of you as big of a nerd as I am? If you are, you may have noticed two Easter eggs about two other Blizzard games that I personally enjoy.

Finally, if anyone wants to talk about the Star Wars: The Clone Wars trailer that just recently dropped, feel free to PM me. I personally can't wait for it to finally come out.

Alrighty, this is Narsauce signing off. See you in the next upload!