Note: Hey, so this was originally a oneshot, but we were bored when we should have been studying for finals, and so we decided we were going to expand this story a bit. Expect some more chapters after this one. Probably getting increasingly raunchier. We'll see when we get there. Enjoy.
All things considered, Emerald didn't mind spending her days trapped in an evil room in an evil castle in a land of eternal evil.
The usual procedure in the castle was to have their morning meetings in the chapel, where Salem would sit at the head of a long table and ask her followers about their progress on various assignments. It was usually something relatively simple. Destroy a village here. Steal some Dust there. Seek out and slaughter any hidden Silver-eyed Maidens. Then, she would dismiss her subjects, and go about breeding more Grimm and plotting her inevitable conquest of Remnant. Considering that Emerald's assignment was typically to train and assist Cinder—who she may or may not have been slightly in love with—she didn't really see any total downside, especially since her schedule allowed her to get a decent portion of free time in. Salem's library was vast and full of knowledge thought lost to the rest of the human race, but far more important than that, Dr. Watts was able to use some of his technological mumbo jumbo and install free cable in her room. Free cable! Hell, she was even able to snatch his Dustflix passwords, so she had plenty of time to catch up on her shows. Like Breaking Sad. She thought it was overrated.
Of course, all of that was predicated on Salem being in a good mood, and ever since they returned from Haven Academy, that was certainly not the case. To say that Salem was upset with their failures would be an understatement. In the week since they had returned, Emerald could hear Salem's screams of rage and anguish echo throughout the castle, penetrating through the walls night and day. Every few hours, there would be a loud crash, and Emerald would look around to discover another wall broken with a hole punched through it, or another priceless artifact smashed into smithereens. It was a very fretful time for the young assassin, and not even picking apart plot holes in Breaking Sad seemed to make her feel better.
One day, it reached its apex. One day, Emerald was invited into Salem's chambers.
Naturally, Emerald was terrified. No one—not even Salem's most trusted allies—were ever invited into her chambers. That was a sacred place that no soul ever dared to disturb. When Tyrion told Emerald that Salem had requested her presence, she first thought it was a cruel joke. But then Watts repeated the message to her, and then Hazel, and then Mercury, and then eventually a Seer appeared at the entrance to her room, and she reluctantly followed it to what she figured would be her certain doom.
The doors to Salem's chambers were massive, taking up the entirety of the dark hallway, and when Emerald nervously knocked on its wooden surface, she heard a voice from within calling her inside. Taking a deep breath, Emerald stepped inside and worriedly looked around her surroundings. The space was massive, with walls of bookshelves on either side and Seers in every corner. To her right, nestled away, was a sort of workbench covered in strange materials, roots and algae and animal parts that she used as part of her strange and cruel experiments. On the back wall was a bed, exuberant and covered in silk red sheets. She was surprised that a being like Salem—whatever weird Human-Grimm hybrid she was—even needed sleep. Maybe she never used it, only keeping it there for aesthetic purposes. Standing at the foot of the bed was the Queen of the Grimm herself, a dull sneer on her face as she looked at Emerald with those creepy red and black eyes.
"Emerald. You're late," she said distastefully.
"S-Sorry, My Lord," Emerald muttered, bowing her head.
"Come closer, child," Salem instructed. "I will not harm you."
Emerald questioned the validity of that statement, but she didn't really have a say in the matter. She took cautious steps deeper into the chamber, Salem staring her down all the way until she was but a few feet away from her master.
"What is it that you want from me, My Lord?" Emerald asked timidly.
Salem grimaced. The bed and its surrounding area were slightly raised off the floor, giving Salem just an extra bit of height to tower over the young woman. Not that she needed any help; she was already an overwhelming figure, but the extra few inches just served as another reminder of how powerless Emerald was in her Lord's presence.
"I'm sure you are aware of how… disappointed I have been recently," Salem said bitterly. "Despite Beacon's fall, we have not come any closer to our ultimate goal of obtaining the Relics. My Grimm have been slaughtered by the remaining Huntsmen, Ozpin is gathering his forces to stop me once and for all, and Cinder Fall, my most faithful student, has turned out to be an utter failure."
Emerald nodded solemnly. "Yes, My Lord. I promise that we will not repeat our failings."
"That is good to hear," said Salem. "But I did not bring you here because I wanted promises. What I want from you, Emerald, is perspective."
"Perspective?"
"Yes," Salem explained. "It appears that even Hazel can no longer be trusted to give me reliable information. He has attempted to protect you and Mercury by taking the burdens of your failings at Haven Academy unto himself. A noble goal, if a fruitless one. However, it was you, dear child, that was willing to speak truth to the matter."
Yes. Truth. Sort of. Emerald had confessed a bit too quickly in the chapel that Cinder was the one responsible for failing them at Haven. Which, to be fair, was correct. If Cinder had succeeded, then they wouldn't be in such a mess. Of course, she conveniently left out the part that she could have helped Cinder more than she ended up doing, but was that really necessary when the evilest being in the universe was interrogating her? Emerald didn't think so, and she was a reasonable person, so surely she could trust her own judgment.
"So, what do you want from me?" Emerald asked suspiciously.
"I merely desire your opinion," Salem stated. "As you are apparently the only voice I can trust amongst my forces, I want you to tell me what you think the cause of our failures are, and what you think is our chance to succeed. I already know of Cinder's lackluster abilities, her proneness to being distracted by her thirst for vengeance. But, what about the rest of my forces? What of their abilities?"
"Um…" Emerald stammered. She never had so much trust or responsibility placed on her shoulders before, not even by Cinder. She hardly knew where to begin.
"Spit it out, child. I don't have all day."
"Well, to be honest," Emerald stuttered, "all of them kind of… suck?"
"They… suck?"
"Yeah. Your forces kind of suck," Emerald said more confidently. "I mean, they all failed you during the assault on Haven. Hazel got distracted by trying to kill that dumb kid. Lionheart abandoned us in the middle of fighting like a coward. Adam let all of his Faunus get surrounded and captured by the police, and Mercury was more interested in making quips than actually fighting the enemy."
Salem grimaced. "So, what you are telling me is that all of my followers are incompetent?"
"I mean, I guess," Emerald ranted. "Any of them could have done more. I mean, we're literally fighting against a bunch of teenagers. You think they wouldn't be that hard to kill. But they kicked our asses. Hell, the only reason we were able to escape in the first place was that I scared them so badly with my Semblance that I distracted them enough to run off."
The corners of Salem's mouth twitched upwards. "I see. Your Semblance was the only thing that kept you alive."
"Yes, ma'am."
"How could I not see it?" Salem said aloud, pleased with herself. "You have the power to create powerful hallucinations. You can cause the mind of our enemies to be filled with horrific nightmares. That kind of power might be the key to our victory."
"You… you really think so?" Emerald said eagerly.
"Why not? After all, if you can create a hallucination that is so terrifying, so absolutely hideous and disturbing that you can stop even Ozpin in his tracks, then surely you have a talent that has gone far underutilized. Tell me, child, what was it?"
Emerald blinked twice.
"What?"
"What monstrous thing did you cause them to hallucinate?" Salem asked, her voice dripping with excitement. "You injected a nightmare of horrid proportions into their imagination, and I want to know what disgusting thing caused them such paralyzing dread."
"Oh. You…" Emerald said uncomfortably, scratching the back of her head. "You know, it's not really important…"
"Of course, it's important," Salem stated with a wicked grin. "I have to the know what putrid, revolting, trauma-inducing monstrosity of cruel and untold hatred you summoned to cause such distraughtness, such fear, such paranoia that they—"
"It was you."
Salem paused. Her smile faded. "I'm sorry, come again?"
"Um… it was you," Emerald cringed, looking away nervously. "I sort of summoned a big image of… you."
Salem stood frozen for a long moment. "So… the hallucination you summoned that was so horrible that it terrified our enemies into submission was… me?"
"Yes."
"So, what you're saying is… my enemies were so shocked that their greatest enemy Salem had arrived before them, that my mere presence startled them?"
"Actually, they had no idea who you were," Emerald admitted. "I think they were all scared because you looked kind of… you know…"
"I looked…"
"A little spooky."
"Spooky?"
"I mean, the hallucination was like a distorted version of you," Emerald said quickly. "So, the distortions were what scared them… probably."
"I-I see," Salem said rationally. "W-What kind of distortions are we talking about?"
"Well, you had some bendy arms."
"Bendy arms?"
"Yeah."
"They were bendy?"
"Bendy."
"Bendy how?"
Emerald stuck out her arms in front of her, and rapidly wobbled them up and down. Salem's eyes followed them up and down, her face unmoving. Emerald lowered her arms, and then shrugged as Salem's eyebrow rose.
"Was my face… also bendy?"
"Uh… maybe a little?"
"A little?"
"Okay, not really."
"So... what you are telling me is that... my normal, everyday face is so horrifying, so terrible in every way, that people get repulsed into traumatized submission just by looking at it?"
"I wouldn't use those words exactly."
"But?"
Emerald shrugged reluctantly. "Um... yes?"
Salem stood in silence for a very long time, completely expressionless. She looked at Emerald standing awkwardly in front of her, and Emerald just sort of stared back at her, gently tapping her thighs with her palms. Eventually, after an eternity of staring, Salem gently stared back and sat at the foot of her bed, bringing her hands into the lap and staring at the emptily at the floor.
"Oh."
"Hey, come on now," Emerald tried to say encouragingly, but Salem dismissed her glumly.
"No, no, I get it," Salem mumbled. "My face is so hideous that merely looking at me sends my enemies into a state of fearful shock. I mean… I guess that could be a good thing."
"Salem, don't be like that. You're not hideous. You're super pretty."
The Grimm Queen shook her head. "No, really, it's fine. You don't have to flatter me."
"I'm not flattering you."
"Emerald, please," Salem said sternly. "I decided to place my trust in you because I thought you were honest. There's no reason for you to feel the need to lie to me. I know I'm not exactly a spring chicken. I've been alive for countless millennia, and I'll be the first to admit that the satanic pools of black Grimm spawn aren't the most helpful for maintaining clear skin. You can tell me that I'm scary. I won't mind."
"You aren't scary, Salem," Emerald repeated, but her master wasn't having it.
"Come on, Emerald. Be honest. Brutally honest. Please. I can take it."
Emerald shifted uncomfortably on her heels, desperately not wanting to say anything, but her master kept staring at her expectantly, wearing her down, until she eventually couldn't help but blurt out her words. "Okay, look, the only reason people think you're scary is because of your presentation. I mean, it's not that you aren't hot, because you are—even with the super pale skin and all the weird veiny things—but oh my God, you need to get a different outfit. Whatever this weird witch thing is, it ain't working for you, sister. Like, your robes are super unflattering to your figure because they just drape over you, and dressing in all black makes you look super ghastly, even kind of emo. You need a splash of color. Fuck that, you need a bucket of color. And what's with the hair? You look my grandma trying to self-style after her dementia diagnosis. That big bun makes you look like your forty millennia old instead of ten, and those weird feathery things sticking out the side with the black bands? What. The. Fuck. And also, stop being all stoic and serious all the times. Throw some sultriness into your lifestyle. Spice it up a little. Show some spunk. Because right now, I'm not getting Salem: All Powerful Queen of Evil—I'm getting Salem: All Powerful Queen of the Crazy Cat Ladies."
Emerald finished with a huff, crossing her arms. Salem miserably stared at her before crossing her own arms, pouting and letting out a sigh.
"Okay, you didn't have to be that brutally honest."
Emerald rolled her eyes and took a seat on the bed, wrapping a comforting arm around Salem's shoulders. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come off like that."
"No, you're right," Salem groaned. "I used to have so much confidence in myself. I traveled the world and ruled over humanity with an iron fist, and now look at me. I'm just sitting in this castle by myself, wasting away, lounging around in these robes as I make all of my worthless minions do my work for me."
"You know what your problem is? You've been getting too caught up in your work," Emerald explained. "You spend all of your time thinking about ways to destroy humanity. You keep thinking, 'What can I do to help evil?' when what you really need to be thinking is, 'What can I do to help me-vil?' Do you know what I'm saying?"
"Not particularly."
"I'm saying you need to get your confidence back," Emerald said powerfully. "You cannot be expected to wipe out humanity if you can't even wipe out your own anxieties. Before you can kill Ozpin, you have to prove to him that you are a killer."
"A killer?" Salem said, intrigued. "I like the sound of that. But… how?"
Emerald smirked. "Girlfriend, you just leave that to me."
As it turned out, a person could get next-day shipping even in the middle of a destroyed wasteland. The wonders of technology! It allowed Emerald to spend all night shopping for every designer trend she could find, and when they arrived in massive cardboard boxes, she eagerly brought them to Salem's chambers and shoved them and her master into the closet to try them on. She had done most of the work already, including fixing her Lord's hair and makeup and succinctly selecting her outfits down to the minute details; all she had to do was wait.
"I'm not sure about this, Emerald," Salem called to her from behind her closet door. "This feels very… strange. I haven't worn heels in years."
"That's because you are used to wearing trash," Emerald stated. "Come on out. You'll look great."
After a few minutes of bickering back and forth, Salem finally relented and stepped out of the closet. Upon seeing her completed work, Emerald let out a long whistle, and stepped aside so that Salem could reluctantly take her place in front of the mirror.
"Honestly, I think I look stu… pid…"
Salem trailed off as she looked at herself more clearly. Emerald had done more than just some work; the girl near renovated the whole damn project! She had started with the hair, tearing down the bun and the offshoots and giving it volume, letting it fall down her shoulders in beautiful, defined waves. Then there was the makeup bringing added depth to her complexion, the highlight of which was the red lipstick bringing out the fullness of her lips and the malicious blood-red color of her eyes. And there was her dress—not a flimsy, gothic robe that looked like it was stitched by her mother-in-law as a late birthday gift—but a dress, bright red and snug to her skin with a deep V-neck that showed off her ample bust and a slit down the left side which allowed her run a hand down her supple thigh. And there was the diamond necklace and the assorted bracelets and the gorgeous earrings, and seeing it all at once sent shivers down her spine.
"Oh. My. Me."
"I know, right?" Emerald nodded excitedly. "Isn't it incredible how stunning you can look?"
"I don't even know how to describe it," Salem said, smoothing her palms down her hips. "I look so… womanly. I haven't felt like this since that time Oz and I did that schoolgirl-teacher roleplay two thousand years ago."
"Of course not, because you haven't been trying," Emerald said, completely brushing past her master's comments. "But you should feel like this. You are a sexy, fierce, powerful woman who is control of her own enterprise and takes orders from no one. This world trembles before you in awe, and you have to work. That. Shit."
"I don't know," Salem said cautiously. "I mean, I look hot as all hell, but don't you think this is a little much? I mean, I look like I'm about to go to a gala, not destroy and conquer humanity."
"Salem, you are forgetting something. You aren't just a boss, or a conqueror, or a Grimm. You are a Queen. And what do Queens have to do?"
"Subjugate?"
Emerald smirked. "Queens have to slay."
Slay? Salem liked that a lot. She was good at slaying. Incredibly good at it. She had slain so many people she had made a habit of it. Slaying, maiming, torturing, decimating… she was a master of all those and many, many more. Was that the secret to recapturing her womanhood? The true method to finally rid the world of humanity once and for all? "Slaying," as it were? It was so simple, and yet it had been hidden right before her very eyes! Maybe this whole charade had a purpose to it. Maybe there was a chance she really was going to better herself. She could already feel the power of the dress take hold, giving her confidence in her own skin. It appeared that putting her trust in Emerald was the best idea she had in centuries.
"I can slay," Salem said slyly. "I'll slay any poor bastard who dares to stand in my way."
"That's the spirit," Emerald said proudly, pumping her fist. "You need to step outside and show the world who's boss. You need to find Ozpin, walk right up to him and say, 'I am Salem, I am the Queen of the Grimm, and I am a bad bitch who won't take shit from you anymore.'"
"A… bad bitch?" Salem said hesitantly, unfamiliar with the expression.
"Yeah, it's a good thing," Emerald stated. "It means you're a tough-as-nails, independent fighter who rocks her style and knows that she's the coolest motherfucker in the room anywhere she goes. That needs to be you, Salem. You get me?"
"I… guess?"
"No! Bad bitches don't guess. Bad bitches know," Emerald declared. "Who slaughtered the students at Beacon Academy?"
"I did?" asked Salem.
"What was that?"
"I… I did," Salem said more confidently.
"Who killed Ozpin so many times she lost count?"
"I did," Salem said louder.
"Who's going to go to Atlas Academy and burn it all to the ground?"
"I am," Salem stated, louder and stronger still.
"Who's going to gather all the Relics and destroy all humanity?"
"I am."
"Who's a bad bitch?"
"I am!"
"Let me hear you say it!"
Salem popped her hips out, admiring her beautiful form in the mirror. "I'm a bad bitch!"
"Louder!"
A heat grew between her legs. "I'm a bad bitch!"
"Louder! I can't hear you!"
Salem roared into the mirror as loud as she could, lusting after her own image. "I'm a bad bitch!"
"You're a bad bitch!" Emerald screamed.
"I'm a bad fucking bitch!" Salem declared, losing herself. She rummaged her hands through her hair as she began to writhe in the mirror, shaking her hips and showing off her body.
"You are a fucking strong, independent woman who needs no man to tell you what to do!" Emerald shouted at the top of her lungs.
"You're goddamn right, I don't!" Salem screamed in ecstasy, suddenly grabbing her tits and squishing them together. "Look at me! I am a sexy badass, with huge tits and a great ass!"
"You are hot as shit!"
"I'm so fucking hot that human beings betray their species for me!" Salem squealed, squeezing her breasts. "See what you're missing out on Ozpin, you piece of shit! You want to ditch me? Leave me for fucking dead? Well, I don't fucking need you, you worthless motherfucker!"
"You are going to be the world's hottest dictator!" Emerald decreed.
"Fuck yeah!" screamed Salem. "You know why?"
"Cause you're a bad bitch!"
"Because I'm a bad bitch!" Salem moaned, overwhelmed with raw sensual energy. "I'm going to win the war against humanity and slay every last one of those miserable creatures myself!"
"Fuck yeah!"
"I'm going to find Ozpin and that stupid little team of his, and I'm going to kill each and every one of them!"
"Yeah, fuck 'em up!"
"And then," Salem moaned as the heat burned like lava between her legs, her body trembling as she groped herself endlessly "I'm going to take that silver-eyed cunt and I'm going to rip her eyes straight out of her sockets!"
"Rip those stupid things right out!"
"I'm going to fuck Ozpin's corpse!"
"Yeah, fuck his—wait, what?"
"I'm gonna… I'm gonna fuck his corpse!" Salem shouted in lustful bliss. "I'm going to kill him, and then I'm gonna take his body and… and… I'm just gonna fuck it! Just… right then and there! Fuck his dead body, just because I can! And then I'll… I'll find his new host body, and I'll drag it to his old body and… just, like… make him watch as I fuck his old body! Then I'll fuck his new body and his old body! Just… just full-on double penetration! And then I'll kill him again, to prove that he doesn't fucking own me!"
Emerald stared at her master in dead-eyed silence. Then, Salem turned to her and enthusiastically shouted. "Bad bitch!"
"Y-Yeah!" Emerald said with a shrug. "Bad bitch!"
"Who's the baddest bitch in Remnant?" Salem cried, nearly lost in the throes of orgasm.
"You are!" Emerald cheered her on, admiring her master's body as she began grinidng on the mirror.
"Who's the baddest bitch?"
"You're the baddest bitch!"
"Fuck yeah!"
"Yeah!"
"Bad bitch!"
"Bad fucking bitch!"
"I'm the baddest fucking bitch!"
"You're damn right!"
"Yeah!"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Fucking bad bitch!"
"Bad bitch!"
Salem suddenly bent over, leaning against the mirror and gazing over her shoulder. "Emerald, quick, spank me. I need it!"
Emerald, not being one to disappoint her boss, smacked Salem's ass as hard as she could, eliciting a delighted scream from the Queen. Licking her lips, Emerald smacked her ass again, and then again, and again, each time causing Salem to gush in pleasure.
"Oh, fuck yeah!" Salem cried. "Hit me! Do it!"
"Whooo!" Emerald shouted joyfully. She smacked her ass as many times as she wanted, watching excitedly as her plump rear jiggled with every strike through her dress. "Bad! Bitches! Get! Fucking! Spanked!"
"You're fucking right we do!" Salem squealed. "Don't you dare stop, bitch! Do as your bad bitch Queen commands and spank her!"
"Yeah, who's a filthy slut?"
"I'm a filthy fucking slut and a bad fucking bitch!" Salem declared. "I'm a naughty fucking bitch who needs to be spanked hard and—"
And then, at that precise moment, Mercury casually walked into the room, looking down at his Scroll as he walked inside.
"Hey, Salem, I got an update for you—"
He looked up, and then all three of them froze. Salem froze still bent over, her smiling mouth stuck open in a permanent pose of unrepentant pleasure, and Emerald froze with her hand resting firmly against her master's ass. Mercury stood completely still, like a statue, at the far end of the room. He looked at Emerald, and then he looked at Salem, and then Salem looked at him, and then Emerald looked at him, and then he looked at Emerald, and then Emerald looked at the Salem, and then Salem looked at Emerald, and then Emerald looked at him, and then Emerald looked at Salem, and then Salem looked at him, and then he looked at Salem, and then Salem looked at Emerald, and then Salem looked at him, and then Emerald looked at him, and then he coughed.
"So, uh… just wanted to stop by and say that one of your Seers found Team RWBY," he said quietly. "They're at Brunswick Farms in the Mistral forests."
"That is good to hear," Salem said, watching him from over her shoulder, still smiling and still bent over with a hand on her ass. "Thank you, Mercury."
"You're welcome, ma'am. I guess I'll… go now," he turned to leave, but quickly stopped himself before he got far. "Oh, and uh… I won't mention this to anyone."
Salem grinned at him. "You're goddamn right you won't."
Mercury closed the door and then sprinted down the hallway as fast as he could, rushing off to hide in his room and pretend he was suffering a nightmare. Meanwhile, Salem casually stood back up and straightened out her dress, gently clasping her hands at her waist and reclaiming her posture. Emerald back away slowly without a word. A silene lingered. An awkward silence, which remained between them for roughly a billion minutes, until Salem finally broke the silence with a subtle suggestion.
"Hey, Emerald?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you say we pay Brunswick Farms a visit?"
