Beta-ed by xenosaiyan and MasterPrince713
'Team RWBY are your friends now, Sitara. Always and forever. No matter where you go, even when we can't see you, we'll always be watching over you.'
How many millennia had it been since her dear friend had first spoken those words to Salem, since the Scarlet Reaper had lit the fires of hope in the crumbling depths of the broken princess's soul? How long had The Queen waited for time to catch up and reunite her with her dearest friends? She knew it would not be a perfectly happy affair, so much had transpired that no apology could rectify, but after the fraction of joy she'd known after her complicated meeting with Yang, she found that her eons of anticipation simply could not be dulled.
"Ruby. Weiss. Blake. Erza." Salem greeted, a beaming smile dominating her face. "Welcome."
The four Fairy Tail wizards funneled into the conference room with Yang and Summer, led by the Keeper that the Queen had sent to the Gate of the Maiden's room. Unsurprisingly, Salem found herself on the end of Weiss's furious glare and Erza's steely gaze, while Ruby and Blake looked on her and her surrounding entourage of End, Hazel, and Sienna with far more distrust than they ever had on Earthland.
Fortunately, their other allies were far more warmly received. Wendy wasted no time running over and grabbing Ruby's hands, Oscar shuffling over to Erza's side and receiving a motherly smile. With Loke keeping a wary eye on End, Lucy dashed over to Yang and engulfed the other blonde in a tight embrace.
"You're alright!" Lucy cheered, only to pull back and gaze in concern at her friend's lost arms. "You are alright? Right?"
Yang flashed a charming smile. "Don't sweat it, Luce. I've just been hanging out with mom."
Lucy cocked an eyebrow. "Mom?"
"Summer?"
Salem glanced over to Oscar, whose eyes had flashed emerald, indicating that the young boy was no longer in control.
Ozma stepped away from Erza, his confused yet awed gaze locked on Summer. The Golden Spirit Slayer stepped towards her former teacher and knelt before him.
"Hey, professor," Summer smiled, respect and fondness permeating her voice. "Been a while."
"You're alive. You've been alive… you stayed hidden to preserve the timeline," Ozma muttered, that brilliant mind of his finally weaving every disparate thread of information into the finished tapestry. "You're Esper Rosenflos. James… I failed you. I failed you both."
Summer looked down, guilt staining her eyes. "Perhaps. But I'm hardly blameless. And in the face of Armageddon, it's never clear what compromise we must make to stave off extinction."
"I put the weight of the world on your shoulders when I had no plan to help you carry it," Ozma murmured. "I drove you here."
Summer glanced over her teacher and pulled him into a hug. "You were afraid to hope. I understand. Mine got me killed. You were so afraid that if you tried to solve the problem, it would only burn everyone. But you don't have to be afraid anymore. The Queen's plan will work. We can save the world, Oz. Together."
Tears pricked at Ozma's eyes, only for him to sniffle and wipe them away. He looked to Salem. "And you… you're alright with this? With me helping?"
Such warring emotions behind such a simple question. It had been a long time since Ozma had been her husband, the deaths of their beloved daughters shattering that bond and leaving them both to wallow in despair. By the time they'd seen each other again, they were each certain that theirs was the only correct way to save humanity, unwilling to compromise on what they'd seen as the only paths to make sure their children had not died in vain. Despite the occasional alliance of necessity, Salem had grown furious and resentful of her former love over the centuries, unable to comprehend why he couldn't just see that he was dooming all they'd ever sought to protect!
Then Summer had arrived, and her wistful reminiscence of the Headmaster who'd been like a father to her had reminded Salem of the better nature of her sworn rival. His undying, infuriating refusal to just give up was reframed as the willingness to go as far as necessary for what he saw as right. The same willingness that had led him to rescue a princess from a demon's tower and care for her afterwards simply because, 'it was what he did'.
"We've always done our best work together," Salem said. "If you're willing to forgive me for the pain I've caused you over the years, and get your head out of your ass, then I am more than willing to forgive you for what you've done to me in turn. After all, for the plan to stop the Grimm to work, we'll have to complete our original project. And Summer has made a compelling case that bringing you into the fold would be to everyone's benefit."
"So long as you really do want to enter the fold," Hazel growled. "If this is some kind of trick or scheme—"
"Hazel," Summer cut off. She looked at him beseechingly. "That's enough."
"No, it's a fair suspicion. Such schemes have hardly been outside my arsenal these last few millennia," Ozma assured her, coming away from his student to stare down the other former member of his circle. "You have reason to hate me, Hazel. But rest assured, I am no longer in command. So, I would thank you not to bring harm to the boy that for now houses my spirit."
Salem cocked an eyebrow. What did he mean by 'for now'?
"I hope I have no cause to," Hazel replied.
Erza stepped forward and glared at the large man. "You will not."
End chuckled. "He will not have cause, or he won't harm him?"
"Neither," Erza warned, glancing towards the fire demon. "The latter most especially. Both Oscar and Ozma are under my protection."
End's smile only grew. "A venerable guardian. Once we are allies, I would love to test that protection in a spar myself, Titania."
"Ugh, enough with the posturing," Sienna sighed. "Shall we get down to business or not?"
Blake's amber eyes narrowed at the tiger faunus. "After everything that's happened, we should take our time to make sure everyone knows where we stand, Lady Sienna. For one, I didn't think you'd be one to authorize violence on Menagerie."
"Good to see you too, Blake," the tiger faunus dryly greeted her surrogate niece. "And I did not authorize any such attack on Menagerie. I even ensured that the Albain brothers were dealt with before they could inevitably move against your parents."
"Tyrian annihilated half the guard!"
"Indeed. And remind me, who ordered the guard to open fire on him, with cannons, before he'd done anything besides invite you to your friend's side? After he'd even saved your parents' lives?"
Salem held out her hand. "That's enough, Sienna. Tyrian has already informed me of the error of communication that took place in Kuo Kuana. He took one of Blake's comments and Leo's presence to mean that they already knew who I was. Which unfortunately turned out to not be the case."
"Yeah, our only experience with 'Salem' at that point was Cinder," Blake glared at The Queen. "You can see why Ozpin's story was believable."
Salem scowled. Once more, her trust in Cinder had come back to shoot her in the foot. The Fall of Beacon had acquired the Fall Maiden powers and nothing else, not even the Relic of Choice it had been intended to get. In turn, it had alienated her friends, driven them to Ozpin's foolishness, and forced Summer to accelerate the Atlas Operation, which had led to…
"Weiss," the Queen said, turning to look forlornly at the White Fairy. "I am so sorry for everything—"
"That I had to go through, that my mom is dead, that Klein is dead, that my brother and kingdom hate me, yada-yada," the White Fairy rambled off, her face coated with barely restrained fury as it split its glare between her old friend and Summer. "I've heard. I don't care."
Salem gritted her teeth, but she squashed that instinctive defensive reaction before it could even begin to trigger Seram's Madness. Weiss may not have understood the metaphorical needle the Queen had been forced to thread to save the world, the impossibility of not killing at least some innocent people over the millennia, but she wasn't supposed to, not after all she'd had to suffer. It was the unfortunate truth of humanity that most of her unavoidable victims had to be kept in the dark so that their longing for justice didn't lead to themselves and everything else being destroyed.
But Weiss was not a member of the idiotic masses, she was a Fairy Tail Wizard. She could be trusted to handle the truth, to help save the world, but that did not mean she was without a commendable yearning for justice. Unfortunately, it did not change the fact that justice would not save the world.
"Salem."
The Queen looked to Ruby, the Scarlet Reaper's silver eyes both dull and wet, red from her reunion with her mother.
"Did you know?" she asked. "Did you know she was my mom before you killed her?"
"Ruby," Summer sighed. "She didn't—"
"You looked almost exactly like me," Ruby bit out. "I told you that I lost my mom when I was young. I told you she was a huntress. Did you forget? Over all the millennia, did you forget?"
"Never," The Queen declared. "I never forgot. Initially, I mistook her resemblance for actually being you. Then the Silver Eyes flashed, I was turned to stone, and my rage and disappointment triggered Seram's Madness when I came out."
Ruby let out a mirthless chuckle. "And thus, the world lost the mom I'd told you it'd lost."
Sympathy poured over Salem's face, Yang and Wendy both coming over to support the Silver Spirit Slayer. Summer could only look on longingly but kept her distance as Erza protectively stepped between her and her daughter.
The Queen had never intended to hide Summer's abnormal ascension from her children, Raven's shattered Kindred Link had been more than sufficient evidence of her death, but she'd hoped that her return would have helped ease her friends' pain. Instead, it seemed to have made things worse.
She reached within the folds of her gown and withdrew an object that she thought might help.
"The Book," Ruby noted.
Salem nodded, placing the tome that had started it all down upon the center of the conference table. "Time does not like being broken. It can be, we've all seen proof of that, but it doesn't like it. It wants to happen. The world of Remnant only came to exist because of actions you were destined to take on Earthland, and you were only born as you are because Earthland became Remnant. On that section of our endless adventure, the road was already laid. If you didn't know there was anything else going on, why would you have ever deviated?"
Ruby groaned, glancing away from the book. "You've got a new route in mind now. Care to share the details?"
Salem grinned. "Gladly."
The two factions moved towards the table and took their seats, The Queen taking her throne at the head of the table with End on her right side and Summer on her left. Erza sat at the foot, with Ruby on her right and Lucy on her left.
"First thing's first," Ruby said. "We came for Yang and Jaune. We've only found Yang."
"No need to worry. Jaune is perfectly fine," End smiled. "He has accepted the call to duty and is undergoing his Ascension as we speak."
"What?!"
All of the Fairy Tail wizards shared the outburst, but only Ruby and Weiss leapt to their feet. Salem raised her hands to placate the worried warriors.
"He is safe. Everything is under control," she assured them. "And when he emerges, he will be more powerful than he ever could have dreamed."
"And under your control," Weiss accused. "You can command the Zodiac Spirits. Why should the Gates be any different?"
"The Gates are different," Salem explained. "The Eclipse Etherious is a new species. I can no more control their actions than Lucy can summon them with her keys."
Weiss looked to the Celestial Spirit Wizard, who sighed. "I tried summoning Scorpio on Menagerie. Tyrian mentioned it was an 'invitation', but it didn't do anything."
Salem nodded. "Coercion is a tool that has its place, but not among friends. I assure you, Mr. Arc's new abilities will be his to use as he wishes."
"Okay," Wendy replied, not sounding at all convinced. "But if you're all here, who's performing the Ascension? It doesn't sound like a process Jaune could do on his own."
Salem inwardly flinched. This was not going to be well received.
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"The process is being overseen by Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury."
Ruby wasn't surprised when her friends all paled, even Blake, Lucy, and Leo who'd never encountered Cinder personally. She herself felt a spike of horror and fear pierce through the haze of despair that had built since her mother had returned her memories. The idea of Jaune, her fellow leader, under the mercy of the woman who'd nearly killed Pyrrha and burned Beacon to the ground was not an idea she was willing to allow.
"You don't need to worry," Salem assured them. "He is perfectly safe."
"Safe?!" Erza snarled. "You put him under that monster's knife and call him safe?"
"He is safe," End interceded. "I understand your concerns about Cinder's… Cinderness, but I would not have allowed her to oversee my candidate's Ascension if I did not trust that she knew her place."
"You can trust my daughter, Erza," Summer said. "She knows better than to overstep herself again."
"Your daughter," Weiss sneered. "Why does that fill me with less confidence instead of more?"
"Weiss," Ruby sighed, reaching a gentle hand over to her partner's arm. "This isn't helping."
Weiss yanked her wrist away, wheeling on her leader. "Did you even just hear what she said? Her daughter?"
Ruby gritted her teeth. "I heard, Weiss."
Honestly, if she hadn't seen Yang's distinctly displeased frown when Summer had spoken, she might not have believed it. As it was, she still should have been more shocked, more stunned, more paralyzed. The woman who she'd nearly fought to the death atop Beacon Tower was her sister after all.
But with all the constant world-shattering revelations and newfound truths that flipped everything she knew upside down… this was a bit more pedestrian by comparison. To be filed under the mass of emotional turmoil that she was already suppressing in order to focus on making sure this negotiation didn't break down into a fight they couldn't win. Something that Weiss's fury was not helping with.
"We can't just leave Cinder to mess with Jaune's body unsupervised," Ruby proclaimed, glancing at Salem before returning her gaze to her partner. "Weiss, can you—"
"Gladly," Weiss concurred, scowling at Summer. "Probably best I don't spend too much time near this slime."
"I'm not so sure that is such a good idea," Salem said.
"Why?" Erza challenged. "If you have nothing to hide, what's the harm in allowing one of us to watch over the process?"
"The potential harm is Cinder," Salem elaborated. "I trust her to keep to her orders and oversee the Ascension properly, but given her previous poor teamwork and… errors, I am concerned that adding additional factors may cause another… undesirable outcome."
"Is that a threat?" Weiss barked.
"No!" Salem immediately insisted, almost panicked. "I'm not trying to… I'm only trying to minimize the risk of pain. If you truly need to oversee the matter, Hazel can come with you to assist."
"So you can have another Gate look over my shoulder?" Weiss snipped. "No thanks."
Ruby's lips fell into a frown. She didn't want to risk Weiss being pitted against a Gate alone either, but she wasn't sure if this was the issue they could drawn the line at, especially given the discussion still to come about the details of Salem's plan. But she also couldn't risk Jaune's safety by not sending someone to make sure Cinder wasn't playing mad scientist with his body. She needed to think of something! She needed another move, something clever, something—
"Your grace, if I may?"
Mom?
All eyes on the table immediately turned to Summer, the white-robed woman elegantly commanding the room even when all she did was speak up. Salem inclined her head to the Gate of the Maiden, her trust in her friend obvious.
"You asked me to ensure that Cinder learned from her past mistakes. I believe that she has done so, at least to the extent that she does not require supervision in this scenario," Summer said. "In addition, if our alliance is to be truly effective, we're going to have to show trust."
End raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this?"
Summer nodded. She looked down the table to Weiss, meeting the Ice God Slayer's furious gaze with her own morose golden eyes. "I've gone a great deal to harm you, Weiss. But I also have faith in you. Whatever your anger towards me, I do not believe you would start something that would put the world at risk."
"Don't worry. I know why we're here," Weiss growled. "And when you show your true colors, I'll be ready."
"You've already seen everything I have to show," Summer responded, turning to Salem. "My queen?"
Salem sighed. "Fine, fine. Paranoia is only so useful before it becomes a liability. Keeper! Take Weiss to Neo-Hell's Core."
"We just talked about how I don't need a Gate looking over my shoulder," Weiss argued, whacking the floating tentacle Grimm back as it pleasantly approached the table. "Now you want to put a Grimm there?"
Salem blinked. "Do you know the way to Neo-Hell's Core?"
Weiss glared at the Queen for a few moments. "… no."
"It's a very large castle. You will need a guide," Salem pointed out. "Don't worry. I will be dealing with things here, so it will just be a guide, nothing more."
"And even if it is more, it's just a Grimm," Yang observed, the spherical Grimm bobbing back to the wizards. "You can take it easy."
"That is true," Blake noted. "You could destroy it in an instant."
Weiss's eyebrow twitched over her forehead. "Fair point. Come on, tentacle balloon. We've got to make sure that bitch doesn't turn Jaune into tall, blond, and… demon-y."
"Wait, Weiss," Ruby piped up, rising to her feet. But when her partner whipped around to face her, she felt herself shrinking back. "I'm going to keep my promise."
Weiss's eyes glanced down to Summer, narrowing immediately before she stomped on her way, the Keeper Grimm floating behind her as she left, slamming the door behind her.
Ruby sighed as she plopped back into her seat, Wendy and Yang both reaching out supportive hands to her shoulders. Yet, her own gaze could only land on her mother across the table.
She understood Weiss's reservations, but if the recent exchange had proven anything, it was that Summer was a crucial ally to have in these negotiations. Just on her word, Salem's paranoia had been assuaged. And if things didn't go the way Ruby wanted them to, they would need that influence on their side.
"Now then, you used the Relic of Knowledge to discover my past?" Salem attempted to clarify. "How much did it reveal to you about my plan?"
"What you shared back when you recruited the Zodiac Spirits," Ruby replied. "Between that and what Ozpin found out on his own over the years, we've been able to guess some of it. But we want to hear the details from you."
Salem smiled. "That is perfectly feasible."
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The Queen divulged the details of the planned assault on The Gods from there. The necessity of enchanting the power of End and the final Fairy Sphere's occupant into an army of Eclipse Etherious, some kind of Etherion satellite array instilled with the same power as heavy artillery, and, perhaps the most notable detail, Universe Omega.
"You… you modified Universe One?" Wendy whispered, unsure if she should have been awed or terrified.
"That rancid Celestial bitch!" Irene shrieked in her head. "I spent centuries working on that spell! How dare she steal my research without permission?!"
"Indeed," Salem replied, completely unaware of the Dragon Queen's displeasure. "It took me centuries to fully understand it and a millennium before I was confident enough to begin work on what I needed. Irene Belserion was truly a genius of magic and this was her Magnum Opus."
"Don't think your good taste absolves your thievery!"
Wendy winced. The group had agreed to try to keep a few cards close to the chest until they'd discovered if they could truly trust Salem. Irene's existence was one of those secrets. Probably for the best given the Scarlet Despair's possessiveness over her grandest spell.
"Forgive my skepticism, but by your own admission, you're hardly a master of enchantment," Erza pointed out. "How can you be sure this masterstroke of yours will actually work?"
"Other than tens of thousands of years of constant review and perfecting? I'm not," Salem confessed. She waved her hand and the doors to the conference room opened up, another Keeper Grimm floating to the table, a rolled-up blueprint clasped in its tentacles. "I am well aware of the possible fallibility of my enchantments and given their crucial role with both empowering the Eclipse Etherious Army and Universe Omega, I thought it of utmost importance to have a true master look over the designs."
"Oh," Wendy piped up, accepting the offered Universe Omega blueprint from the Keeper. "Thank you."
She unfurled the parchment and spread it out over the table in front of her. Of course, she only got a glimpse of the design before Irene's spirit charged through and spread herself out over the blueprint, her eyes frantically combing over every inch of the spellwork. Wendy had to fight to keep her exasperation from showing on her face, having to look through the High Enchanter's ghostly form to make her own estimation of the sorcery.
"She's butchered the grounding glyphs!" Irene crowed with amusement. "How does she expect to keep it stable… oh, wait, that bypass. I suppose that could work… might even increase the overall efficiency, but then how would she compensate… oh… I see… that's actually rather clever…"
Wendy hummed, watching the Queen of the Dragons slowly shift from mocking derision to stumbling contemplation, to finally begrudging respect. The Maiden of the Sky, while skilled, didn't have as much experience with Universe-class enchantments herself. Give her a few days and she could likely analyze it, but Irene had the ability to do it in only a few minutes.
"Well?" Lucy spoke up, her sudden voice drawing both Wendy and Irene's gaze. "What does it look like, Wendy?"
The Sky Dragon Slayer spared a tiny smirk. Trust Lucy to come up with such a subtle move. Wendy couldn't try to draw Irene out of her analysis stupor and ask for her input without letting Salem's group know that there was another presence. But by having the Celestial Spirit Wizard frame it as inquiring to the Maiden of the Sky herself, the Gates wouldn't notice anything was up.
Wendy grabbed the blueprints and raised them up, making a show of looking at them while really casting her questioning gaze to Irene midway.
The High Enchanter pressed her lips together, clearly unhappy about what she was about to say. "It needs a few tweaks before I would advise putting it into action, but those adjustments are minor. On the whole, as long as we have the necessary data to calibrate to the target's essence, it should work. It will work."
Wendy gulped, but she relayed the analysis verbatim to the others at the table. Salem's side of the table and even Yang all lit up with joyous smiles.
"Excellent! Thank you, my friend," Salem cheered. "Do you think you'll be able to make the necessary adjustments to ensure its success?"
Wendy received a short nod from Irene and gave one herself to the others. "I can."
"I can't say this assuages all of our concerns," Erza spoke up. "After all, just because the Gods won't be able to wipe us out with a snap of their fingers doesn't mean we will have the power to kill them. Even if End's power could in theory give us the ability to do so, even if the sheer number of the army could give us the raw power to do so, do you expect them all to have the skill to use those offensive curse flames to defend as you do?"
"Of course not," End responded. "That's what the last Fairy Sphere is for."
Wendy cocked an eyebrow, the rest of the Patch group sharing similar expressions of confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked. "All the members of the Strongest Team have been released."
"And even if they weren't, we have no way of tracking a Fairy Sphere," Blake pointed out. "Unless you already know this one's location?"
"No, we do not know where it is. Locating it, along with the rest of the spheres was why I sought the Relic of Knowledge so desperately over the millennia," Salem explained, turning to Lucy. "Though, if necessary, I have also constructed a ritual that can utilize Lucy's link to her previously cast spells to pinpoint the final Fairy Sphere's location. With either one, we can bring together all the pieces to construct our army."
"Final… what are you talking about?" Lucy asked. "Ruby's right. All the Fairy Spheres I cast have already been opened."
"Not all of them."
"Uh, yeah, all of them," Lucy insisted. "I only cast five that day."
A playful, pleased smirk crossed over Salem's lips. "You cast five 'that day'. You have cast six."
"What do you mean—"
Lucy's face suddenly went white, her eyes widening with shock. Wendy was confused for a moment before the implications of what Salem had said fully hit her. Then, she, Irene, Loke, and Erza, all having connected the dots, mirrored the Celestial Spirit Wizard's horror.
"No…" Erza stammered. "That's impossible."
"Why would it be?" Summer prodded. "A Fairy Sphere perfectly preserves and protects whatever is sealed within."
"You've all seen firsthand what his natural defenses are capable of," End said. "With Universe Omega weakening them, it would be a trial even for The Brothers to overcome them."
"Wait! I'm lost!" Ruby confessed. "What are you all talking about? Who is in the final sphere?"
Lucy turned to the red hooded girl and gulped. "Acnologia."
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Acnologia.
She'd known it was coming, and the name still rang through Yang's head like a thunderbolt. Watching Ruby and Blake both pale at the mention of the late Dragon King seemed like an appropriate reaction.
"I thought… he was dead," Blake stuttered, whipping her head around to the various Fairy Tail members who'd fought the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse. "He's dead, right?"
"He is," Salem confirmed. "Though his body could survive while his soul was merely separated from it but still able to supply it with life energy, his spirit's destruction in the Ravines of Time severed the sustaining link between them. No longer able to resist, his body died and was sealed away in a Fairy Sphere powered by every wizard on Ishgar."
"Uh, okay?" Ruby replied. "But how does that help us?"
"Because the sphere has perfectly preserved his corpse at the moment of his death," Wendy declared. "His power hasn't had time to dissipate away. It's still there… waiting to be eaten."
Ruby's eyes widened. "Fifth Generation Dragon Slayers."
"Exactly," Yang nodded.
Wendy had told them about The Strongest Team's struggles against the Dark Guild Diabolos, about the nature of Fifth Generation Dragon Slayers, the so-called Dragon Eaters. By devouring a living or recently slain dragon, they could absorb its power into themselves, take on its element and some of its magical energy. With Acnologia's body perfectly preserved at the moment of his death, he was still a perfectly viable candidate. Only one person, maybe a few people at most, could consume the corpse and gain the Dragon King's sorcery, and they'd have to do so within a few days of the Fairy Sphere's protection being lost, but once that ability was within a willing host? It'd just be another element to be enchanted into others.
"All humanity turned into an Eclipse Etherious army enchanted with the power of End and Acnologia," Erza murmured. "It would be the greatest force ever seen."
"It's the force we'll need," Summer concurred, a worried frown still staining her lips. "It's the only force that might give us a chance at victory."
"A chance?" Ruby gulped. "Only a chance?"
Salem nodded solemnly, inclining her head to Ozpin. "As has been noted before, our enemies are still The Gods. Even with humanity's evolution, even with the satellite array, even with Universe Omega, that is still true. They outlasted their original universe, and they will do everything they can to ensure they do the same to this one."
Yang shrugged. "A chance is better than nothing. If we just wait around to die when the Umbral Spirit King finally finds a way through, we will die."
The Devil Slayer didn't know why, but Ruby shot a furtive glance at Weiss's empty seat at those words.
"Taking on The Brothers is a risk," the blonde continued. "But if we don't take a risk, if we don't do what needs to be done, then that's it. Everything we fear will happen if we fail will just happen anyway. It's not guaranteed to work, but that's why it's called 'risk'."
Sienna smirked. "Well spoken. If a cause requires action, then inaction is a choice as well. The wrong choice. Do you disagree?"
Hazel glared at Ozpin as the tiger faunus gave her speech. The professor lowered his head in shame.
Yang sighed. She really wished the big guy would ease up on the old man. Her worst nightmare was being alone, and thus being trapped without anyone who could be called 'friend', even if it was in part due to being paralyzed by his own fear, was a fate she wouldn't wish on anyone. Whatever bones she had to pick with her former headmaster for all he'd hidden from them, she wasn't without sympathy for him.
But then again, Hazel had lost his whole family to Ozpin's inaction, including his beloved sister. Perhaps Yang didn't really have the perspective to judge the rage he felt for that. Who knew what she would do if Ruby, her mom, her dad, or her uncle were taken from her?
"We wouldn't be here if we disagreed," Blake scowled. "But… but…"
The cat faunus glanced towards Erza and Ruby, hoping the teacher and her apprentice would have an actual reason to oppose Salem's plan.
Yang could relate to her partner's distrust. She'd shared it before her mom had explained it all to her. Honestly, she was feeling better that Blake hadn't been able to come up with anything immediately. Yang wasn't dumb, but she knew herself well enough to know that she was probably the most likely of her team to miss something important in the explanation of the plan to kill the gods. But if her partner hadn't noticed anything, that meant she wasn't jumping to extremes while missing an extremely obvious alternate option.
Though if there was some detail that didn't add up, which she didn't think there was, she could count on Ruby or Lucy to spot it.
And if the way Erza nodded at Ruby was any indication, it looked like her little sis had something up her sleeve.
"I agree that something has to be done," Ruby said. "But if possible, we should do whatever we can to lower the risk, right?"
Summer nodded. "Of course. That goes without saying."
Salem cocked an eyebrow. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
"Why are we going after The Gods?" Ruby inquired. "Why not use Universe Omega on the Umbral Spirit King instead?"
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"We can't," End declared. The fire demon held up two fingers. "Universe Omega requires two factors to work. The enemy needs to step on it, and, more importantly, the enchantment needs to be tuned exactly to the target's unique essence. We have the Relics to force the Brothers into place and the data to tune it to them."
"So, we need to get the Umbral Spirit King's data?" Ruby inquired, her brow furrowing as thoughts swirled through her head. For the first time since she arrived at Castle Evernight, her desperate, dangerous gambit didn't seem like the only option.
A smile tinged her lips, a possible path forward appearing. Her hopes of talking Salem down to something less dangerous than attacking the Gods didn't seem so far-fetched anymore.
"You say that like it's an easy task," Salem groaned. "If we were to attempt to do that, we would first have to find a way to break through to the Umbral Spirit World, which we don't have. In theory, I could go through the mud portal, but only me. Anyone else would die."
"But couldn't you obtain the data then?" Blake asked. "I know you can't beat him—"
"I can't beat him here. There? In his world? I could not even stand if he did not wish me to," Salem insisted. "Perhaps we could create a device that could obtain the data in a few minutes, but I'd need to be in his presence for that time, which I cannot do—"
"You don't have to," Ruby announced with a grin. "We don't even have to go to the Umbral Spirit World."
Everyone at the table paused at that.
"Ruby?" Summer said. "What do you mean?"
The Silver Spirit Slayer smiled. "All these years, all these centuries, you've all been focused on thing: The Gods and the grand plan to take them down. Professor Ozpin has been desperate to stop you and you've been desperate to bring together every little piece to get your one in a million shot. You've been looking for complicated rituals and epic peaks of magic to track down all of us across time and space."
"I am aware of how arduous a journey it has been," Salem deadpanned. "I'm still not sure what you're getting at."
"You don't need to make this any more grand and complicated to have a chance to win. You have us now. We're back together," Ruby reminded her. "And we have the Relic of Knowledge."
"Ha!" Summer laughed, her palm rising up to smack herself in the forehead. "Son of a gun, she's right! Why didn't we think of that?"
Erza smiled at Ruby with pride. "A simple soul spies simple answers."
Ruby smirked. It was a good sign that both the Gate of the Maiden and the Queen of the Fairies liked her idea. Both of them carried a lot of influence in their respective factions. Already, End and Hazel were nodding along, the women's words ringing true in their heads.
Surprisingly, worryingly, Salem was not, her eyes widening in surprise at the new idea.
"Will that really work?" Sienna queried. "I admit I'm still rather new to magic and everything, but is it really that simple?"
Ruby looked to Ozpin. "You know the rules of The Lamp best. Will it?"
The ancient wizard furrowed his farmer-tanned brow, running a finger along his chin in contemplation. "I believe so. The Lamp's only restrictions are its number of questions and its inability to gaze into the future. Even if the Umbral Spirit King remains in his own realm, we should still be able to acquire the necessary data to modify Universe Omega to work on him."
"If we take your word on the Relic's capabilities," Hazel harshly observed.
"It squares with what we've been able to learn about its powers," End pointed out, his suspicious eyes falling on Lucy. "However, if we use the last question, that will require us to use The Queen's ritual to locate Acnologia's Fairy Sphere. Can you endure that kind of agony, Heartfilia?"
Lucy met the Etherious's glare head-on. "I can handle a little pain for my friends, End. If it gets us a battle we have a better chance at winning, it'll be worth it."
"It's certainly a start," Summer said. "Though, we will also need to figure out a way to force the Umbral Spirit King onto the enchantment in our world. That will take a bit more work to figure out."
"A way to force him into our world…" Ruby murmured, her eyes widening. Fortunately, she'd already been looking at Ozpin, so the others didn't pay any particular notice when they shared a meaningful gaze. After all, they both knew one avenue they could research to try to forcibly summon the Umbral Spirit King to Remnant. And who controlled the semblance that would be the key to all of it.
"I think I might know something we can look into. We'll have to test it, but if it works, we'll be able to leave the gods be-"
"Leave them be?!" Salem suddenly demanded. "Why? Why would we ever do that?"
The darkness permeating the room suddenly pulled close, shadows thrashing and wriggling as they skirted around the table. Ruby, the rest of her party, and even Yang and Sienna all sat up straight, their skin crawling at the iron vexation in The Queen's voice. Lucy's hands went to her keys, Ozpin's to The Long Memory. Erza slid her hand under the table and flashed a dagger into her grip as Loke flicked sparks of Regulus across the floor to Blake. Even Hazel stood to place himself between Sienna, Yang, and the dark lady on her dark throne.
But two were unperturbed by Salem's displeasure. End and Summer showed no sign of fear as they turned to look at their mistress. The Ophiuchus cocked his head in confusion while an understanding look of sympathy bloomed over the Gate of the Maiden's face.
Ruby wasn't sure what exactly had set Salem off, but she was fairly certain that her own ability to mitigate her old friend's disapproval was not up to snuff. But Summer did seem to know, seemed to know immediately like she always did when the silver-eyed girl or Yang hadn't known how to verbalize what was bothering them.
She'd known her mother would be a crucial ally. Now, she could only hope that Summer would be enough.
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Leave them be?! Just leave Ankh and Seram be?! Just let them get away with everything!?
Salem hadn't meant to let her emotions get out of hand, she was doing everything she could to clench down Seram's Madness, but she couldn't help a little leak through. Ruby's suggestion made no sense! All these millennia, all this blood split, had been for the purpose of saving the world and getting justice for all those who'd been slaughtered when Earthland had been destroyed. They couldn't just leave the work unfinished!
"Your grace, if I may, what is your objection?" End asked, somehow perplexed at her revulsion. "True, we'll need to investigate this new lead, but if it gives us a better chance, there's no reason not to look into it."
"It doesn't accomplish our purpose!" Salem protested. "When Seram dies, the Umbral Spirits die with him. The Grimm are rendered extinct in one fell stroke. The Umbral Spirit King's demise will not provide that victory."
End shrugged. "It will remove the greatest danger from the board. There'll be no one to enforce Seram's will in the Umbral Spirit World."
"And how long until Seram tires of that? How long until he puts that diabolical mind of his to work cobbling together something worse?"
"Your grace," Summer gently began. "If the restrictions he and Ankh are bound by allowed such a thing, he would have done so by now. Or simply strengthened the existing portals to let the Umbral Spirit King come through any time before now."
"He cannot directly interfere, Salem," Ozpin reminded her. "He can give orders to his underlings, but he cannot take direct action by creating new ones."
"And what about the ones that already exist? Do you think the Umbral Spirits will just stop fighting the unholy crusade they've been waging since the moon broke?" Salem accused. "What about the literal army of Grimm still on Remnant? They won't just disappear as they would if Seram fell."
"But they'll be an army without a head," End pointed out.
"The entire point of the Ascension is to make sure that the entire population becomes Eclipse Etherious," Summer added. "Even if they're not Gates, the average Eclipse Etherious could handle themselves against most Grimm."
Salem frowned. "We can't just throw away everything we've been working towards—"
"And what have you been working towards?" Erza challenged, her gaze narrowed. "You've been claiming that all you want is to save the world."
"I do!" Salem insisted. "And this is how we do it! We win!"
Erza snorted. "Then why does it sound like you want to settle a grudge match with the gods?"
"It is not a grudge! It is necessary!"
"Is it, your grace?" End asked. "Or is it meaningless sentimentality?"
"It is our path to victory! To survival!"
"It is only a chance for victory, your grace," Summer said.
Salem smashed her teeth against each other, clenching her hands into the edge of the table so hard that the obsidian cracked beneath her fingertips. Within her mind, tidal waves crashed against each other as her willpower and intellect fought to overcome both Seram's Madness and her own emotions. For all that she had anticipated Team RWBY and Fairy Tail having doubts about her actions, she couldn't understand why the details of her plan's ultimate target had become such a sticking point! For that matter, why had Summer and End suddenly sided against her?! Why had her friends turned on her!? Why was everything in the universe always against her—
A soft pair of hands cut off her crumbling emotions, a cool breeze drifting over her flesh. Salem looked to Summer, the Winter Maiden's glow fading from her golden eyes as she clasped her mistress's wrists.
"My lady, none of us doubt your intentions to protect us all," The Gate of Maiden gently spoke. "But you gathered us together because you knew you could not do this alone. Did you not want us to warn you when we thought there was something we could do better?"
"How is this better?" Salem queried. "We waste time on a plan that we don't know will even work, instead of focusing on the one we know will give us our best possible chance? The Umbral Spirit King could find a way through any day now."
"You've said it yourself. It's been millennia," Ruby said awkwardly. "If he hasn't found a way through yet, I mean… we've probably got time."
Summer flashed a smile at her daughter and combined that warmth with her own to turn back on Salem with double the strength. "Perhaps the lead to potentially force the Umbral Spirit King through will come to nothing. Perhaps the plan will come to nothing. But if we do not at least investigate it when we have the time to do so, then we leave ourselves vulnerable, do we not?"
"That is… not untrue," Salem allowed. "But it does not change the fact that eliminating The Umbral Spirit King does not solve the problem for sure. Why waste our efforts on a stop-gap when we have a chance to ensure our people are protected for all time?"
"It is true that leaving the Gods alive will leave the Grimm alive," Summer acknowledged. "But they will have lost their king, the only being that can turn them into a legitimate army through Seram's Madness. Unless The God of Darkness intervenes personally, which we know to be unlikely at worst and impossible at best, they will be a mindless, uncoordinated horde. We will still need to evolve humanity to be sure to defeat the Umbral Spirit King, so those Grimm that remain will be manageable by our forces."
Salem pursed her lips. "They will just reincarnate. They will just keep coming. Over and over again."
"Then we will kill them. Over and over again," End shrugged. "As long as humanity becomes Eclipse Etherious, the Umbral Spirits will be at an unassailable disadvantage."
"We fight to make a new world," Summer advised. "We must do whatever it takes to ensure someone lives to see it. And to do that, someone must live. We must win."
Salem took in a deep breath, her friends' words swimming through the raging tides of her mind.
Her friends. So many millennia alone, warring with Ozma, alone with only her grief, her will, and her desperate hope to one day see Team RWBY and Fairy Tail again, to glimpse once more the sun that had warmed her in her darkest hour. It seemed in that time, she may have forgotten what it truly meant to have the companionship she craved. She was no longer rushing towards the end of her road, she had allies to live the marathon with. She had since she'd first released Natsu and Happy from their sphere fifty years ago.
Summer had wormed her way through her head, forced her to slow down before her instinctive, defensive reactions could dominate her better sense…
Summer Rose, her dear ESR, was her friend, as was End. They were her seconds. They knew better than to contradict her in front of others unless they felt it absolutely necessary. The Gate of the Maiden had been entrusted with polishing her strategy and The Ophiuchus had to protect the Gates from The Queen's own weakness.
Was that her weakness? She knew she wanted to save the world, but as she combed through her own thoughts, she couldn't deny that she had a hunger for justice against the deities who'd ruined her life three times over and rained genocide down before her eyes. That hunger had driven her forward, had warmed her hearth in her moments of doubt over the millennia, when she'd wondered if she'd ever find the Fairy Spheres or if Team RWBY would be born before the Umbral Spirit King discovered a way to Remnant. Without that fuel, she would have floundered and wasted away to apathy long ago.
But had that precious fuel consumed her purpose? When had her hunger superseded the imperative of protecting the world? She supposed it didn't matter. After all, as she'd thought in regards to Weiss only a little while ago, justice would not save the world.
She had to take the world as it was. No matter what she might want to do, what she needed to do came first.
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"Forgive me, my friends. I have allowed myself to lose focus on our main objective," The Queen sighed, all fury and tension fleeing her body as she sagged back in her throne. "You are all correct. We should investigate this avenue to switch our target to the Umbral Spirit King if at all possible."
A smile blossomed over Ruby's face, joy breaking through her trepidation as all the others stashed their weapons away once more. She looked across the table and shared a look of elation with both Yang and Summer.
End and Erza had played their parts, but Ruby hadn't missed that Summer had played the primary role in calming The Queen and making her receptive to the others' arguments in favor of shifting strategy. She'd been patient, careful, acknowledging Salem's concerns while pointing out how the alternate plan would fulfill their goals while having lesser drawbacks than she initially thought.
It was almost nostalgic for Ruby. Her mother had coaxed her into doing things for her own good all the time when she was young, eating her vegetables and taking baths. Seeing her pull off the same thing now, with the stakes so much higher, it created a comforting sense of continuity. She still wasn't sure how she could reconcile what Summer had done as Esper Rosenflos with the image of the person she loved… but she did now feel like she wanted to. She wanted to have her mother back.
And until she had to pay for her crimes against Weiss, and Gray, and all those she'd hurt… maybe they could. Maybe Yang was right.
Summer bowed her head to Salem. "Thank you, your grace. I have no doubt that this communion will be a great boon to our… cause…"
Ruby felt it just as her mother's speech slowed, the volcano of magic that had entered the castle, spilling ethernano like only one thing could. Everyone at the table perked up, their reactions ranging from curiosity to, in Yang's case, cold rage.
"It seems we have a maiden at the front gate," Hazel observed.
"You did say Emerald was in Neo-Hell's Core," Erza mused. "I take it the lab is shielded for safety purposes?"
"Indeed. My best replication of the Maiden Vaults' cloaking," Salem confirmed. "Though given that Emerald could not have gotten to the front gate without exiting its protection and the Summer Maiden has no means to be here, that leaves only one option."
"Raven," Yang snarled.
"She's here!" Summer grinned, sounding as if her birthday had come early. "Your grace, may I—"
"Yes, you may go," Salem chuckled, smiling at her lieutenant. "Someone has to guide through the castle, and you'll probably be the only one who won't spook her."
Summer hopped up to her feet, only for Yang to rise as well.
"Yang?" Lucy asked.
"I'm coming too," Yang declared.
Summer raised an eyebrow. "It's just an escort mission, firecracker. There won't be any trouble."
"And even if there is, it's not like the coward could actually do any harm," End said.
Summer shot him an annoyed glare, to which the fire demon responded with an unrepentant shrug.
"I don't trust her," Yang growled. "She'll try something, I know it."
"We were only able to come here with her aid," Erza pointed out. "It was your plan for us to rely on her."
"She's not playing an angle, Yang," Ruby insisted. "She just wants to help."
Yang snorted. "I'll believe that when I see it."
Summer pursed her lips in thought. "You will see it."
She turned to Erza. "I know you all came to get Yang, and I don't want to make it feel like I'm taking her away, but with your permission, I'd like the chance to show her Raven's better side."
"Like she has one," Yang grumbled.
Ruby frowned. She knew better than most how driven Yang had been to find Raven. Over the years, even as she measured herself so as to not repeat her mistake at the cabin, her sister had never stopped searching for leads, praying that the mother who'd abandoned her still cared for her.
Ruby honestly wasn't sure how Raven felt about any of them, but she wasn't sure Yang cared anymore. Being abandoned again during her battle with End must have brought all her desperate hopes crashing down around her. With Summer's miraculous return providing her with the loving mother she'd sought for so long, she had no desire to hope again.
But if anyone could coax her into doing so, into giving herself peace of mind, it was Summer.
"Sure," Ruby replied, only to squeak when recognized the question hadn't been directed at her. She sheepishly looked to Erza. "I mean if you think it's a good idea."
Erza's steely gaze never left Summer, wary and almost fearful of the Golden Spirit Slayer. Whatever those two had talked about before, it seemed the Gate of the Maiden's counseling of Salem was not enough to completely assuage the Titania's concerns.
"Please, Erza," Yang pleaded. "Do you really want her going off in the castle alone and unsupervised?"
Ruby sighed. Let it never be said that her big sister was dumb. Emotional, reckless, at times even hotheaded, but dumb? No. When she had her mind set on something, she could be as clever as the best of them at finding a way to get it. She knew Erza didn't trust Summer and she knew how protective the Queen of the Fairies was over those she led. The Titania was well aware Yang was playing to those maternal instincts, but that didn't change the fact that the blonde's negotiation of the situation wasn't wrong. It was the kind of contract drafting the Devil Slayer had learned on Earthland.
Lucy, who'd taught her such appraisal, could only look on with worry at her friend's work.
"Very well," Erza reservedly consented, her eyes never leaving Summer. "If anything happens to her, or Raven, or anyone else in that group…"
"It won't," Summer assured her. "I promise you, I have no intention of starting something."
Erza's suspicion did not abate. "So you've said."
A flicker of disappointment passed over Summer's face, before giving way to submissive acceptance as she moved forward, guiding Yang from the table. The pair headed for the door, only for the Eclipse Etherious to glance back and smile at Ruby.
"I'll be back soon," she promised. "With any luck, with your uncle in tow."
"Right," Ruby nodded, managing to fit a bit of genuine love in her conflicted return smile. If Uncle Qrow really had ended up in the same group as Raven, she did not want to be anywhere near the upcoming Team STRQ reunion. She had enough on her plate as it was.
With a final warm grin with Yang, the Silver Spirit Slayer watched her family depart from the conference room. She turned back to the table with confidence, confident that after being calmed by Summer, Salem was someone she could negotiate with. They could hammer out a plan that minimized the risk to Remnant and was their best chance to protect the lives and freedom of as many people as possible. No more need to cross ethical lines.
"What's next on the agenda?" Ruby asked, peppy optimism sneaking back into her voice.
"Nothing much," Salem announced. "I believe the only thing I haven't told you is how we're going to conquer the kingdoms."
Ruby's hopes plummeted down into her stomach, terror blanching over her face. "What?"
And so the first half of the Parley goes alright, with the final Fairy Sphere occupant revealed. Just to confirm, there are no more Fairy Spheres. The Acnologia containing one is the only one remaining.
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!