This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!

A silence passed between Minato, his mother, and the three adults behind the teenager as the atmosphere changed into a rater tense area.

But then a sudden breath escaped the female through her nose. Her face did not change at all. There was something behind that air though.

"…I see." Her words were curt. Turning around, she walked towards the farther end of the massive table. Now that Minato wasn't as focused on the female, he noticed that there were still no footsteps. Only the sound of the ornaments in her hair clinking against one another created noise which indicated her movement; almost bringing chills to one's spine due to the sounds alone.

He silently contemplated the words that escaped his lips. "Perhaps that was not the best way greet you after a long time." Minato found himself admitting, still standing in place while keeping an eye on the woman.

"…That may be." She only answered, approaching a chair that looked like a throne made out of the very crystals that Minato saw outside of the building. When she sat down, her gaze turned over to where he stood. With a pale hand, she gestured to the wooden seat that was to her right. "Sit." Her offer almost sounded like an order.

Minato found himself hesitating now. While all of this was going a little fast for him, there were at least a few things that stuck inside his mind. The main thing was that these were technically the people that tried to kidnap Yang and that his mother was the one to indirectly order it. Yet still…

Walking forward at a steady pace, he eventually found himself next to the seat which his mother had gestured towards. Looking at the wood, Minato turned his head back towards the female who stared back at him. Grabbing one of the arms, Minato eventually began to slowly descend himself down onto the chair.

The others soon took their own seats as well. Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts took their own seat around the two of them, making sure to leave a bit of a berth for the family.

Minato then began to have his head crane around the room. Everything look so… odd, warped, corrupted compared to the usual settings he was used to back in Vale. Yet he did not mind it at all. In fact, it made him feel at home. The dark colors almost embraced him. "…Who are you?" Minato finally spoke, his gaze falling upon his mother once more.

Despite his blunt words, she acted as if it were completely normal and did not mind at all. "…I am your mother." She stated calmly.

"I need something more specific." Minato replied back. "A name for example."

"…Understandable." She hummed but made no movement of her head. Her gaze was straight like his, but her expressions were shifting slightly for every answer unlike him. "My name is Salem." Her hand then made a sweeping motion around the table. "I assume that you've already met Tyrian," The scorpion-Faunus waved. "Hazel," The muscular-male nodded his head. "And Watts." A roll of the eyes was all the man did.

Minato glanced at each member she introduced.

But then the pleasantries, if there were any, vanished in an instant when the three adults had the full attention of Salem. "Tyrian, Hazel, why did you come back without the Spring Maiden but instead with my son?" Her question was asked in curiosity and displeasure. A small frown graced her lips and narrow eyes highlighted her face. "Out of the three of you, you two would be the ones who know better than this."

Minato could not tell if his mother was referring to him or this… Spring Maiden. The effects of her words however were almost immediate. Tyrian leaned back a bit while releasing a nervous sound. Hazel didn't visibly react but still gazed at Salem warily. "We-well, you see my lady," Tyrian started, in what looked like an attempt to calm Salem down. "What happened was that we did arrive where the Branwen Tribe was located. There was not only the Spring Maiden, but the Winter one too!"

Salem's gaze never changed one bit. However, her head changed to a different angle when the word winter was mentioned. "That does not explain your failure or the presence of my son." She answered after a period of silence.

"Minato was at their camp when we arrived." Hazel supplied for the scorpion-Faunus. "He helped protect the Spring and Winter Maidens from us. Upon recognizing him, Tyrian asked if he wanted to come with us back here." The muscular-man ignored the look Tyrian gave him. "Minato agreed to come to be able to see you, only under the condition that we leave the two Maidens alone."

Displeasure was beginning to become a common feature on Salem's face. "Ah – yes – that actually leads to another topic." Tyrian quickly spoke out after, trying to ease the tension. "The reason Mini-Mini gave those terms is… well… because…" For a rather simple sentence, the actual phrase was quite complicated.

"Tyrian…"

"Mini-Mini is in a relationship with the Winter Maiden."

The words were quick, but the sentence was clear and effective. Everyone went quiet after the reveal. Only their breath could be heard among the five of them. Salem's attention was brought back toward Minato. Seeing the pair of red eyes on him, Minato gazed towards them with his grey (could also be considered light-blue) ones.

"…Minato…" She finally spoke. "Is this true?" Her question was simple, and Minato nodded to answer. Salem seemed to process his action carefully. "Stand." Minato stayed still for about a moment, but then he got off of his seat. A second later, Salem rose from her own chair. "Watts, return to your duties. Tyrian and Hazel, you will stay here and reflect upon your actions while I think of the appropriate way to make sure you both think properly."

Watts nodded his head, rising from his own seat. The male didn't give the other adults a passing glance. But he eyed Minato for a second before exiting the room.

Minato saw this and watched the man walk away. Hearing the sound of ornaments tapping against one another, he looked around. Seeing his mother, Salem, striding in a direction, he assumed that he was supposed to follow her. While he trailed after her, he eyed Tyrian and Hazel still in their seat; the former seeming horrified while the other looked a bit grim.

Walking behind the pale-figure, Minato noted the row of large-windows that they were walking past. From his view, he saw the twisted sky when first arriving to this place now complimented by the shattered moon to show that it was now about night time.

"…Beautiful, is it not?" Salem's voice grabbed Minato attention. He nearly bumped into her but stopped himself at the last second. Her entire body was turned towards the glass and was looking at the large scene. "Can you imagine if it was whole? Not broken at all?"

Minato craned his head over and up to look at her eyes. He did not speak a word. Mainly because he felt like he didn't need to respond to her.

Salem was well aware of the silence. "…I apologize if I seemed cold to you back in the room." Her words came out slowly, like she was struggling with what to say. "I did not mean to make it sound as if I did not want to see you."

"Then what was your intention?" Minato asked, keeping his body parallel in front of the window but his head still stared at Salem.

"…How was it for you? Growing up away from here?" The blue-haired male's face slowly went down in displeasure. Her head turned toward him and saw the expression. She went silent, but then moved to a different topic. "You say that you are in a relationship with the Winter Maiden." Minato did not visibly react to the change of the subject, keeping his face from before on. "How did that come to be?"

Minato turned his head to look forward toward the moon. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I am curious." Salem answered. There was no answer coming from her son though. "Do you hate me?" The white-haired female eventually asked. "For having left you alone?"

Minato exhaled through his nose with enough audio for the both of them to hear. "…No, I don't hate you." He stated. Salem kept her eye on him though, as if wanting him to elaborate. Minato shook his head. "I loved you as any child could love their parent… until I figured out it hurts a lot less to just not care. I don't expect you to turn up when I come home? No disappointments. I don't expect you to comfort me whenever I ended up sad or hurt? No disappointments. But until that came to my head, I want to ask you, how many disappointments did you make me feel?"

The white-haired female was still silent, listening to her son rant on about how his life was without her. Her head dipped lower with each passing second, but she still maintained her patient and neutral gaze toward Minato.

"Yang was at least there for me. We first met when we were both thirteen. It was strange as she chose to be with me at first, but I eventually got used to it. After being with each other after a while, I proposed that we enter a relationship. We've been together for 3 years now." His hands dangled at his sides. "What exactly are you curious about? Is it about this topic of Maidens?"

She went quiet for a second. "…Yes, it is." She trailed off at the end of the sentence, Minato's words still in her mind. "You are curious about what they are about."

"I will admit, it's on my mind. But I've had time to think about it during the trip here."

"…And? What have you concluded?"

"That the story of the Four Maidens is true." Minato's statement was extremely blunt. "The wizard that gave those girls their powers. Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. All of them are real. It makes more sense now, considering that no Aura was lost when she conjured up ice."

Salem nodded her head. "…Yes, that is correct." Her eyes held a bit of curiosity. "You are quite astute."

"I can only imagine how Yang will react." Minato said.

"…Yang…" The female's tone was neutral but held an unknown emotion behind it. "That is the name of the Winter Maiden."

"That is the name of my girlfriend, mother." Minato corrected immediately, looking back up towards her. "Which brings me back to something. What do you want with these Maidens?"

Salem frowned at the attitude Minato showed her for a brief moment. "…You are fond of her." She stated.

"I love her." Minato replied immediately.

Quietly, Salem scanned Minato's body with her eyes. After a couple of moments, she spoke. "You are perhaps wondering why you were growing up out there in Remnant rather than here."

Once again, there was a change in the conversation and it did not fit well with Minato. Nonetheless, he nodded his head.

"When you were born, your father and I had an… arrangement between us." Salem began. "You stated how I looked a bit evil when you just saw me, remember? You are certainly correct, depending on your opinion." She paused to allow Minato to stare at her blankly despite her confession. "Your father impregnated me, and I gave birth to you months later. My goal is to bring the end to both intelligent species on Remnant. Your father's intentions however were different from what I expected."

"What does that have to do with me?" Minato asked after a period of silence. Yes, it was odd to him how his mother flat out stated her intentions to him like it was nothing. But he did not focus on that at the moment.

"Your father wanted you to play a large part of his desired achievement." Salem answered. "At first, I was fine with it." Minato visibly frowned at her words. "But… time passed. I came to discover that despite our goals being the same, they were extremely different at the same time. Not only that… but I came to a discovery that I did not want you involved with any of this. As I cared for you day after day, nurturing you… I eventually found myself loving you, my son."

Minato watched as her arms began to descend towards him. Her white hands grabbed his shoulders gently. That was when Minato's blank gaze began to break. It almost started to reflect what Salem showed as she had her knees bent and was staring straight at him.

"I did not want you to be used by your father, Minato." She shook her head slowly. "But I knew that he would do anything to achieve his goal. As long as you were here, I could not fully protect you from his grasp. That is why I had Tyrian and Hazel find a place for you to live that was far away from us. So that you wouldn't be involved any longer in any of this conflict at all. That your father, when he would come here, would never be able to find you. But… it seems as if fate is kind yet very cruel."

"…What about my father then?" Minato asked quietly after Salem had stopped speaking for a few seconds. "I could remember you, Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts. But… how come I don't remember anything about him? What he looked like? Who he was?"

"…Your father was an enigmatic soul." Salem eventually answered. "After impregnating me, he was left and waited for your birth and for you to be strong enough. He has not shown himself here for… almost fifteen years. But at the risk of coming back, I did not want you here. Unfortunately, it seems that my efforts have been for naught."

Minato grunted softly, accepting her explanation. "That explains why I was suddenly away from home when I woke up…"

"…Yes." Salem nodded her head while averting her gaze slightly away from his face.

"And the inheritance? What about that?"

To that, Salem looked curiously back to Minato. "Inheritance?" She asked.

"Yes." Minato answered. "When I was brought in, the people who took care of me said that there was a small to average-sized fortune that was left with me. I couldn't use it yet at my age though. So, they set up a bank account for me and I could use it when they felt it was appropriate."

A breath escaped Salem's lips, almost sounding amused. "It seems Watts does care for you as well but prefers not to show it."

Minato did not properly reply to that one sentence. "…So, should I still be here then?" He asked, earning himself a gaze from Salem. "You said it yourself. I'm putting myself in danger just by being here. Not only that, you're trying to destroy humanity and Faunus-kind while I want to protect them… Wouldn't that make us enemies?"

The grip on his shoulders tightened, but it was not so that it restrained him. "Minato…" Salem said quietly. "It is your choice of how you want to grow up in the future. I have accepted this when I hid you from your father." Her hands grasped a bit harder slowly. "If that is how you think, then it shall be. We may be enemies now, but you are still my son… I will always love you no matter what."

"…Do you love me enough to leave Yang alone?"

Salem went silent for a moment, but Minato had a good feeling that he knew the answer to that question whether or not it would be verbal. "You're right." She answered. "It is dangerous for you to be here. But it has been a very long time since your father has even set foot here, so I assume that he already knows what I have done and is searching for you across Remnant. If he does show up however, I will need you to run away from here as fast as you can. Do you understand? Nod if you do."

Minato slowly nodded his head to answer her. His response pleased the woman.

"Thank you." She nodded her head as well.

That was when Minato felt himself be pulled towards Salem. In an embrace once more that day, Minato noted the difference and similarities between Yang's hugs and now his mother's. Yang's body was hot and helped him feel relaxed. Salem's meanwhile was cold, but it brought a warm feeling to him.

It was an internal debate soon after. As he said before, he did not hate his mother at all. Minato was mainly disappointed with her. Yet still he soon started to sluggishly wrap his arms around his mother's body hesitantly.

After a few more seconds, Salem broke the hug and had her hands back gently on his shoulders. But saw the look in his eyes. "You have more questions. However, it is getting late by your standards I assume." She stated. "Come, you can sleep in my chambers."

Minato blinked as Salem turned and began to walk down the pathway inside of the building. Choosing not to speak, he followed once again behind her. A couple of minutes later, he entered a room after her that was large yet very plain. The only feature inside was a queen-sized bed at the far end of the room.

"…There's only one bed." He stated.

"Yes, that is correct." Salem answered. "But I have almost never used it. My body does not require sleep, but I do if I choose to do so." She held her hand out towards the furniture, offering it for his comfort.

Slowly and hesitantly, Minato moved closer to the bed. In voluntarily, he released a yawn which proved Salem's point of it being late by his standards. He then looked over to her. "…Do you mind?" He asked, taking off the suit that was on his person.

Salem turned around while he stripped down so that he only wore his boxers and undershirt. He was not fully prepared for sleeping in another bed, but he had to make do. He was at least convinced that his mother would not harm him.

All the while, he wondered how Yang was actually doing at the moment. Right now, she was with her own mother. If the blonde knew what he just went through, Yang would probably start comparing how their relationships with their moms were weird. Minato even thought that he would end up agreeing with her if she ever did mention that.

Putting the rest of his clothing over the bedframe, Minato slipped under the covers. He had to admit, it was incredibly awkward having to sleep in his mother's bed. But it slightly dropped down a bit when she said that it was hardly ever used.

Laying in the bed, he was about to close his eyes when he saw that Salem was still in the room. It then occurred to him. "…Could you not punish Tyrian and Hazel?" He asked, causing the female to turn around and gaze at him. "It was me being curious and wanting to see you. They just complied because they thought it was appropriate and good for me."

Salem narrowed her eyes just by a fraction and she approached his side. She turned her head to various angles to get a better look a Minato under the covers. "…If that is what you think is appropriate." She nodded her head.

"…Thank you." Minato nodded back.

But his mother did not leave. Instead, she stepped closer to her. Eventually, she began to sit down on an empty space that was next to him. Reaching over, she slowly began to start brushing her hand against his head.

(Play Memories of Mother – God of War OST)

Gentle humming began to fill the air soon after. Salem's voice became soothing to Minato's ear. Her fingers gently passed through his hair. Softly, she caressed the top of his head tenderly. He stared up at the ceiling, listening to the soft sounds he never knew could come from his mother; let alone existed. As the sounds of her voice carried on, Minato's body felt heavier with each passing second. He did not mind it at all, feeling almost peaceful listening to his mother.

As his eyelids eventually closed and he went to sleep, Salem still hummed to try comfort him for the years that he was gone.

(End Song)

Y13

"…And after we woke up, we heard a bunch of people outside of our door yelling IT WAS A SOCK! IT WAS A FUCKING SOCK!"

Raven could not properly expression how she was feeling at the moment right after hearing the story that Yang had just told her.

A small tea cup was just an inch away from her mouth. The steaming liquid was filled into the small holder half-way as even the black-haired female's lips were open. For a while, her jaw was dropped when she learned that her daughter had been high once. Even her companion was a part of the drama that had ensued that very night Yang had become the Winter Maiden.

"Yeah, that's how I pretty much became the Winter Maiden." Yang shrugged her shoulders, ignoring the cup of tea that was on the table in front of her.

After moving back towards the new camp right after the battle, Raven had Yang go straight to the private tent so she could get proper information right out of Yang. But the blonde almost proved to be stubborn, wanting her own answers as well. So they had come to an agreement, a question for a question.

Yang came to learn that the stories and fairy tales she heard as a child were true so far. It was especially bizarre for her to learn that she was actually had the power from one of the characters of the Four Maidens story. The Winter Maiden to be more specific.

"…I cannot decide if I should now be disturbed by you becoming the Winter Maiden or that you gained that role because you were high and did not know which direction to go." Raven finally spoke after a while.

"Yeah, it was quite the trip. Pun intended by the way." Yang grinned at her own little joke before slapping her hand onto her knee. "Right, my turn to ask a question." She leaned forward, allowing the happiness on her face to drop. "Why were you completely against Minato even being next to me after those two weird guys attacked?"

Raven put her cup down. Closing her eyes, she thought hard about what words should come next. She knew that her daughter was able to take things seriously depending on the situation. Despite what she thought from what Qrow had told her, the earlier fight had shown that her daughter was indeed strong and had the capability of being smart.

"The creatures of Grimm…" Raven started slowly. "They have a master named Salem. She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest until humanity crumbles at her feet. Those two that attacked? They were her followers." She then grabbed her cup again and looked at her reflection in the liquid. "Just imagine what that spawn from her could become."

The sound of a gunshot cracked through the air as porcelain shattered. Looking up, Raven saw that Yang was on her feet with fists clenched and eyes red. "Don't you dare talk about Minato like you know him! From what you described of this Salem person, he is the complete opposite of her!"

A weapon being lifted soon came as the blonde looked behind her. Right at the entrance of the tent, Vernal was standing with a strange looking weapon pointed right at Yang's back. "You need to calm down." Vernal stated with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, trust me, I am calm." Yang scoffed, turning around to give the girl her full attention. "If I weren't, that thing would be broken and you'd be flying toward the other side of the camp right now." Her fists shook, creating the sound of metal rattling. Eventually, she took inhaled deeply and sighed. "…Is that the reason you left us? Because you were scared of this Salem?" Her question came with display of her lilac eyes.

Raven stood up as well. "There is so much more to this world than you realize. It's not just about you, and not just what I've been told, but things you see with your own eyes. You can't imagine what I've seen myself, Yang." She stepped closer to her daughter. "I know the Grimm have a leader, I know people who can come back from the dead, I know that magic is real." The black-haired female leaned in closer. "And I know that nothing good comes from Salem."

"You don't know everything." Yang challenged, leaning closer herself. "You haven't even properly gotten to know Minato. You CAN stop Minato, you CAN reason with him, and he's becoming a huntsman to protect people! How is that similar to this Salem?" She sighed again, allowing the air to calm her down. Yang then sat herself down. "Just… at least don't hate Minato just because of how you think he is."

Raven stared at Yang. Looking up, she gestured for Vernal to wait outside. Watching the girl leave, Raven stayed standing. "Fine, I'll leave the subject there. But only because I'm sure that you have more questions for me. Forget about out agreement, I'll answer everything of my choice." Her eyes however narrowed dangerously. "However, if Minato is anything different from what you described to me, I will take my time to enjoy the agony on his face when I'm through with him."

Yang raised an eyebrow to that statement. "The agony on his face?"

"Yes, that is correct." Raven answered. "Do you have a problem with that?" She asked. But then she grew confused to why Yang had that look on her face.

"Mom, let me tell you something. It is next to impossible to get any sort of pained look on Minato's face when hurting him physically. To prove a theory, I one time straight up punched him in the dick as hard as I could. When he went into the air, he grabbed the shoulders of my jacket and used the momentum behind my punch to flip over and slam me back down onto the ground while only giving me a really weird look. It hurt my pride more than anything... Well, except my tailbone which he bruised. Did you know the scientific term for tailbone is coccyx?"

Hm? Hmm… It's not bad. I could have ended up making it far worse. I'm not sure if I wrote Salem well for you guys. I got a lot of flak from a Guest because of characters not being as they are so it is to my concern. I already had a tough time writing this out since… it's Salem. I've hardly seen any fic even touch up on her.

I mean… I'm happy with how I wrote her. I guess I did make her a bit too compassionate though.

No flames please.