A/N: PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?
Sorry if this seem short, had to go into work early...again T_T
As ever reviews and feedback keeps me writing. Looking forward to chatting with you all!
Double update day! Whoo~! Hopefully! If I get off work in time. If my boss doesn't heap extra work on my desk. Lots of "ifs" there. Still! Wanted to get this out before the Season Eight finale. It'll be here by tomorrow...and if the leaked spoilers are to be believed...
Hoo boy. Its gonna be a doozy. I don't think we're ready. Not saying anything on that front!
Alright! Onto the questions, comments, and concerns!
Q: Surely the good guys can mount a counterattack! Give them a chance!
A: Without Ozma, they're aimless at the moment. Jaune's actions hurt everyone deeply. It won't last, of course. Ruby's not the sort to take defeat lying down; least of all with her newfound strength. Oh, no. She and Cinder WILL meet. I promise you that. And its going to be a glorious mess to write. I'll not say anything more on that front.
At this point, Cinder has a head start on her. KRWBY and JNPR need to go to Argus if they want to get to Atlas, and deal with the arc mess that follows.
Cinder has no such compunctions. And she's stronger than ever.
Q: Wait, wait, wait! Apparently every Relic has a spirit within them now! Jinn for Knowledge, Ambrosius for Creation, so and so forth. Thoughts?!
A: *Grumbles angrily* Many of my stories were written BEFORE Roosterteeth went and revealed that surprising little tidbit. I've since had to go back and modify my plans for a few stories because of that. Lets just say the Spirit of Destruction is...a stubborn sort. You'll see "her" soon enough. Just as you'll see the Spirit of Choice.
Remember! At present, Naruto has two Relics in his possession already. Knowledge and Destruction. Creation is clearly with Atlas. Choice...I'm going to have to wing that, because I'm pretty sure it'll be the final Relic we'll see in the series.
Furthermore, Jinn still has a single question left as well.
Q: Uh-oh. I foresee conflict in the future.
A: Whatever gave you that idea?
Q: Wait. Prisoner?! Does Salem have who I think she has?!
A: *whistles innocently*
Q: How many chapters do we have left?
A: This story is nearly finished, actually. Feels strange. I never thought it would be this popular.
Now then, lets get ready. Set! Go! Once again, chapter title is part of the lyrics from the song "All Things Must Die."
As ever, I own no references, themes or memes! Not a wit or one!
And so, with that said...away we go~!
Lets pick up where we left of, eh?
"Now I am become death. The destroyer of worlds.
Look upon me and despair.
Thine end is near."
~a discussion.
Closer to your Ruin
Salem couldn't remember the last time she'd cried.
When she reached for the memory she found only a yawning void in its place. The thought baffled her. Surely she had shed tears before. She must have. Everyone did. Even a monster like her. But...when was that? The memory eluded her as she gazed upon her offspring, slipping through her fingers like a wriggling eel. Ah. She remembered now. She had cried for Ozma after his first death. Cried for their children, so ignobly slain. Cried for herself. She'd since stricken the memory from her mind and sworn never to cry again.
But here? Now? She wept.
Tears black as night poured from her blackened eyes, rolled down her cheeks and trailed across the length her face, marring ghostly white skin. Salem couldn't bring herself to care. Try as she might she couldn't control her emotions. She'd never dared to hope this day might come, never dreamed that it might even be possible. It always seemed just that, a fever dream, a flight of fancy, something that would never come to pass. And now, quite suddenly, here they were. Her girls.
Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter.
Naruto had revived all four of them at once, souls and all. He would have been well within his rights to hold one or two back; to keep them from her as insurance and thereby force her compliance. In his shoe he certainly would have done the same. But he hadn't. Rather than hold them over her head like a noose, he'd simply...given them to her. She didn't know what to make of that.
No.
Hold a moment.
There could be only response for such a gracious gift.
"There you go." the jaded jinchuuriki wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and climbed back to his feet, looking just a touch more pallid than before. "They should wake any moment now. It wasn't easy to call their soul back; they were gone awhile and it really took a lot out of me to-
"MINE~!"
Mismatching eyes of blue and violet bulged as Salem's hit him full speed. Her mouth slammed against his. The sheer force of her vicious kiss clicked their teeth together and drove him back half a pace. Naruto recoiled in surprise, to no avail. Not a second later, the rest of her body caught up. Slim arms wrapped around his neck in a loose noose and strong thighs locked around his waist, physically trapping him in place. The weary warrior staggered but a little and moved to support her weight the only way he knew how. With his hands.
Unfortunately for him -fortunate for her!- that meant he got a handful of something.
Oh, my. She'd rather forgotten what that felt like. A pleasant tingle warmed her belly as he held her aloft with noting but his arms alone. Not an unpleasant sensation. Even weakened as he was, he was still her equal in many ways; that thought warmed even more.
...was that really necessary?"
Salem ignored him wholeheartedly, shifting in his grip. He didn't let go of her. His hands were bands of iron against her legs, just a little higher than strictly necessary. All as planned.
"You wonderful, wonderful man." She kissed him again, tilting her head to get a better angle. "I'm never going to let you go. Marry me."
His brow twitched. "As I said. Already. Taken."
Such loyalty. How touching. "That's alright, I don't mind a bit of polygamy-
Cinder snarled. "Release him!"
"I think not, child." Salem craned her neck. "Unless you think you have the strength to dislodge me?"
Cinder looked like she was willing to try. "My power has doubled since our last encounter."
"Twice the pride, double the fall." The Queen of Grimm scoffed. "You may be two maidens strong now, but remember, you are still little more than a fledgling to me." a coy smile flitted out at her. "Try to dislodge me when you have all the Maidens under your belt. Then you MIGHT stand a chance."
Poor girl was about to explode. Pity she didn't care.
Ah, but her girls were finally stirring from their eternal lumber, and the ire of her former minion was soon forgotten. Salem released her prize and dropped to her feet. Naruto rolled his eyes and drifted to Cinder's side to be with her. Salem had all of an instant to see the blond tug the fiery maiden into his arms -her black heart twitched slightly in jealousy at the sight- before her children were upon her. A horde of small bodies hit her and Salem found herself with no time for anything else.
"Mother!" the eldest of of her girls -Autumn!- all but dove into her arms.
"Mommy!" Spring, as ever, immediately mimicked her older sister.
"Mama!" Next came young Summer of course, always bold.
"Mom!" And there was little Winter, loudest of all.
Tears threatened to burst forth again and this time Salem managed to wrestle her emotion down before she made a fool of herself again. They were just as she remembered. Better even. They hadn't aged a day since that awful accident. Even their outfits were the same as they'd been on that terrible evening. As if they'd stepped forth from the very pages of her past. And in a sense they had.
"Where are we?"
"You're home now, my dears." she gathered them into her arms and held them tight. "There's nothing to fear."
"Mommy?" the eldest girl asked, "Why did you kill us?"
Alright, maybe a little to fear!
"Kill you..?" Salem balked, then carefully modulated her voice toward some degree of normalcy. "My dear children, that wasn't me at all, I didn't mean to; it was an accident...mommy and daddy had a disagreement. We didn't mean to catch you in it."
"She didn't." Much to her chagrin, Naruto came to her rescue with Cinder in tow. "You should forgive her. She's your mother after all. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you."
Spring sputtered. "B-But we died! It hurt! It really, really, really hurt!"
"I'm sure it did." Cinder quirked a brow. "But you got better."
The girls exchanged a glance. "Well, we did...
There it was again, that subtle, insidious charisma of his; a silver tongue to put hers to shame. Salem wouldn't have noticed it herself if she didn't know just what to look for. In short order the whiskered warrior had her girls charmed-all their confusion and fear for their second life forgotten. Just how many debts did he aim to collect from her?! She'd never be able to repay him at this rate.
Salem's youngest tugged at her skirt. "Where's daddy now?"
The queen winced. "He's...
"Your father sealed himself away to destroy a great evil and save the world." Naruto tore off the bandage and lied like he was born to it. "He was a Hero, and a good friend of mine. We'll never forget him."
The youngest whimpered. "Daddy's...gone?"
"He is." Salem pounced on the opportunity for what it was and pounced, gathering her children into her arms. "He loved you all very, very much."
"Ser...you...you said you knew him." Autumn tented her fingers and turned an earnest gaze toward Naruto. "Does that make you a Hero, too? Are you a knight?"
For the fist time since Salem had met him, Naruto Uzumaki found himself at a loss. Salem resolved herself to remember the moment in nothing else. That small, selfsame smile slipped from his face. Cinder saw it too and stifled a small smile of her own. His mouth worked wordlessly in confusion. A single, solitary sound escaped him.
"Eh?"
Her girls sensed weakness and the questions came quickly, badgering him with inquiries. Salem found herself stifling a smile behind the back of her hand as the blond and his mistress squirmed under such attention. How quaint. Was this...pride? Actual pride? Pride held in someone else? How very strange. She'd not thought herself capable of experiencing the like.
Spring piped up. "Have you ever seen the ocean, ser knight?"
"Oh, oh! Do you have a castle?!"
"Did you fight any dragons?"
"Or save a princess?"
"Not sure about the dragon bit, but saving a princess?" Naruto grinned and looked to Cinder. "You could say that."
"Princess?!" She sputtered much like her namesake. "Sentimental fool!"
He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "You know you love it."
Her oldest cooed at the sight; the other girls gagged, finding such romantic displays icky.
All in all Salem found her children seemed a tad upset at the loss of their father, but they seemed to agree that being a Hero was a very grand thing indeed. A knight, even moreso. And if Naruto was a knight, that made Cinder a Lady in their eyes. Oh, how she squirmed!
Really, you took pleasure in the small things when you were immortal.
Truth be told, Salem didn't like the idea of airing her dirty laundry in the presence of strangers, but in this case, she'd actually benefited by spilling her secrets. Naruto was still watching her like hawk, to say nothing of his merry band of misfits. Neo wore a cheery grin. Mercury and Emerald glanced away, somewhat discomfited by the tender scene. Roman actually dabbed at his eyes.
Hazel...was, well, Hazel. Always difficult to read, that one. No doubt he was stricken speechless by the resurrection of his sister.
Salem craned her neck anew to get a look at the girl. So that was Gretchen? Really, she didn't look a thing like Hazel. Then again she hadn't aged in the afterlife, whereas Hazel had grown old indeed. Small wonder Naruto was weary, really. He'd slain five souls and brought five souls back to the moral realm at once. Even using a shadow clone as a proxy to conduct the ritual must've strained his chakra. As she looked on the gentle giant clapped Naruto's shadow clone upon the shoulder. It sketched a bow and vanished.
And then his sister was upon him.
"Hello, brother." her eyes were flat and hard. "You've been busy."
Hazel opened his mouth to speak. "I can explain-
"Nope."
Clenched knuckles barreled into his noise and send him barreling through a wall. Gretchen Rainart didn't look at any of them. She simply stalked through the aperture she'd made and clobbered her beloved "big brother" all over again. Well, that was going to be a problem. Not for her, of course. The siblings Rainart would have to solve their problems on their own. And there went another wall. Really, they were making quite a mess and didn't seem to be slowing down-
"Ser knight, " Autumn spoke suddenly diverting her attention. "If mother knows you, does that make you our uncle?"
Naruto choked. "Uncle?!"
"Oh!" Spring clapped her hands and hopped in place, reminding one of a rabbit. "Then that means Lady Cinder must be our Aunt!"
Cinder whined. Actually whined. She hadn't done that since she was but a girl. "I'm much too young for that!"
But her girls had made up their mind and nothing would change them. They charged.
Naruto squawked when Summer and Spring latched onto his legs. "Uncle!
Cinder nearly went down as Winter and Autumn tackled her. "Auntie!"
And Salem just couldn't help herself.
It began as a snicker, one she stubbornly tried to stifle. She was the Queen of the Grimm, after all. She had a reputation to maintain. The snicker became a giggle. No! Resist! She clamped a hand down over her mouth to silence herself. Her shoulders began to quiver with repressed mirth. Her lips quirked into a smile behind her palm. She tried to hold it back. Really. Truly! She did! She couldn't.
Salem threw her head back and laughed.
Hope was a strange thing. She'd gone without it -without joy!- for so long that it threatened to shatter her completely. Paranoia said it would. Any moment now they'd come under attack. Ozma would return somehow, an army at his back. The prisoner would escape the dungeons and go on a rampage. The world would burn.
Nothing happened.
With a long suffering sigh, Naruto glared at Salem. "Are you satisfied?"
"Quite." She demurred with a smile and wiped a black tear from her face. "You've upheld your end of the bargain splendidly. I believe you deserve a reward. Watts! Break out the good wine!"
The blond quirked a brow. "I don't drink."
Salem laughed. "There's a first time for everything, necromancer. I declare this a week of celebration!"
(.0.0.0.)
Ironwood grit his teeth.
"We can't afford to wait any longer. Its time for a new maiden."
His gaze shifted to Freya; prone and still in her bed. Weak and old; growing cold. She wouldn't last much longer. And they were out of time. Every second wasted was another the enemy used to gather their forces. Salem would strike. Soon. The hammer blow would fall hardest here and they. Were. Not. Ready. Even with all their forces, all their ships, all their preparations, there was still a chance it would all go awry. The Winter Maiden was an almighty force, a power to be reckoned with both on the field of battle and off.
The time for waiting had passed. It was time to attack. Time to take the fight to the enemy.
He would succeed where Ozpin had failed. No longer would he stand idly by and wait for the enemy to come to him. He would take his forces and end this. One way or another. Perhaps that was foolish of him. Perhaps it was unwise. Perhaps he was being paranoid. Who could say? Not he. There was only one path forward. Better to be the attacker than the defender. Too much could go wrong in Atlas. Salem might breach their defenses and endanger the people. They might be betrayed. Who was to say they hadn't already, that innocent lives wouldn't be lost int the conflict to come. No.
Not. One. More.
"Do what must be done." his gaze swung back to Winter, under the unyielding geas of Mettle once more. "Do not hesitate. Show no mercy. This is for the good of Atlas."
"I...yes, sir." his subordinate flinched only a little and steeled her heart. "Glory to Atlas."
The specialist drew her blade and approached the bed.
Freya opened her eyes. "Winter...?"
Blue eyes shone with tears.
"I'm sorry."
The Winter Maiden new saw the blade until it pierced her heart.
(.0.0.0.)
"You're finally awake."
Silver eyes opened in the dark as wakefulness came back to her in fits and spurts. She tried to move her arms and legs, only to find them bound to the floor. Floor? Where was she? She couldn't see anything beyond rusty iron bars. No, wait. There was a man there. Somehow crouched over her in the low light.
"What? Where am I...? Who are...?"
She squinted at them ad found herself gazing at a well dressed man with graying hair and a mustache.
There was something in his hand.
"Thirsty?"
Yes!
Chapped lips parted in a hoarse croak. Her jailer must have heard it, for they pressed a glass of cool water to her. She drank greedily, coughed, and keened for more. Another came and she polished it off all the same. By the third she felt sated, if somewhat confused. Why was she shackled? Why was she bound? Why couldn't she remember anything?
"Deep breaths now." he instructed her. "You've only recently recovered, and only by the grace of our Queen. You'll be weak for quite some time."
Queen. The name stirred a strange sense of compulsion in her. She shook it off.
Hope sparked to life in her chest. "Are you going to set me free?"
"Unfortunately...not just yet. You're to be bait for someone, I'm afraid." his mustache twitched. "I don't much see the sense in. Never had children myself, you see. But a daughter does love her mother." here at last, a resigned smile twisted the man's visage. "I do apologize for this. Were it up to me, we would've killed you long ago. That would be a mercy." He shook his head and muttered something about barbarism. "You should be grateful. I suspect dear Ruby Rose will be delighted to join you."
The name jolted her memory. "Ruby?! No! She can't come here!"
"Ah. Perfect." a scroll clicked off. "That was just the voice sample I needed for our message. Back under you go. You'll be woken when you're needed. By then you should be more...compliant. Who knows? Perhaps that blond buffoon will find a way to have you released once he sees you. He strikes me as the soft sort."
Realization dawned. He was going to do something to her. Drug her. Mess with her mind. She felt fear, but not for herself. Ruby! She mustn't come here! Weak legs thrashed and kicked against her restraints, to no avail. She was too weak to escape. Still she struggled. One of the chains holding her legs snapped and she kicked out wildly, flailing like a hellcat. It availed her naught. Strong arms came in and held her down and she snarled in response, flailing and kicking. Something pulled the last of the strength from her bone.
"Now, now." Watts tutted softly. "You may feel a slight pinching sensation."
A needle slotted home into Summer's neck and her world went black.
Arthur tittered softly. "Sweet dreams."
(.0.0.0.)
Cinder awoke to silken sheets, warm and secure between two naked bodies.
Wait? Two bodies?
Amber eyes fluttered slowly as he blinked the cobwebs out of her eyes and stared at a hideously purple ceiling. Salem really did favor that color far too much. Everything was too bright. Her lips pursed into a scowl as she rolled over, wincing only a little. She felt deliciously sore in all the right places. Ordinarily that would be something to delight in. Intimacy was not a foreign art to her and she gloried in it. But this felt wrong. There should only be a single body beside her. Not two.
She dared to crane her neck. And saw.
There was Naruto of course, sound asleep. She'd been tucked into his chest.
But on her left...oh. Oh dear. Oh dear indeed. Salem's slumbering visage reclined soundly against her, naked as the day she was born, one leg twined within hers. There could be no doubting what had transpired. A spot of high color flooded Cinder's visage. She looked down upon herself and beheld the marks upon her body. Someone had left a decidedly vicious hickey upon her neck, another on her collarbone...and other places. There was a fresh tattoo not unlike the one on her back, painted just above her breasts.
Her brow began to twitch.
...what the hell."
She remembered...drinking. Drinking quite a bit, really. Everyone had been celebrating. How many days had passed in a drunken stupor? One? Three? Five?! Salem mentioned that the wine was strong; she'd neglected to mention said wine was from the age of the gods! She tossed her head from one side to the other, hair thrashing as she tried to banish the image she'd seen.
No dice. The sight was forever engraved into her mind.
There were bottles of wine and other ambrosia scattered about int he corner of the room, mingled with broken glass. Ah. They'd been drunk out of their minds, then. She could forgive Naruto that. Salem wasn't the sort to take no for an answer; she must've been a right nightmare when she was inebriated. Not that she could do anything to stop her. She knew it. Salem knew it. Naruto didn't. He didn't truly comprehend the way her twisted mind word.
As she was now, Salem could take him whenever she pleased. Assuming he let her. And what if he did...?
The thought galled her ego something fierce, but there was nothing he could do. Once she added the powers of Winter and Fall to her own, she'd show her what for. There. Much better. That thought brought a smile to her face. One day soon she'd put her in her place.
Her stomach roiled abruptly, turning her smile to ash.
The Maiden grimaced against it. "Tch. Again?
Cinder stumbled upright, uncaring for her nakedness and stumbled toward what she hoped was the bathroom. By some miracle, it was. Even then she barely made it to the toilet in time before her body truly betrayed her once and for all. What little she'd eaten -and drank!- came roiling back up with a vengeance, leaving her quivering helplessly against the porcelain bowl. She wasn't sure how long she lay there, feeling weak and wretched like a useless waif. However long it was, it felt far too long.
A traitorous thought stole out of her. She'd always handled her alcohol better than this. She never got sick. Unless...?
No. That wasn't possible. It was too soon. Much to soon.
Her stomach had just begun to retch again when the first explosion rocked the tower.
"SALEM!" A voice boomed outside, made tinny by the loudspeakers of countless ships. "This is General Ironwood! Your time has come! Surrender now or you will be destroyed!"
Cinder's head kissed the bowl.
"Today is just not my day."
A/N: Foolish, foolish James. He doesn't know Salem is immortal.
AND SO THE END APPROACHES. PLEASE. READ. THIS. Else, you might be horribly confused. Wouldn't want that, would we?
Sorry, no Naruto P.O.V. this time around, folk. Salem and the rest really stole the show.
Not much to say. Reviews keep me writing, and without them, my inspiration falls flat.
Surgery hurts. Surgery hurts a loooot. But silence from readers and reviewers? That hurts even more.
As ever, reviews keep this old man alive during this dark and crazy time. I ain't joking.
Seriously, we're all locked away anyways these days, its all that sustains me.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... Review...Would You Kindly?
And enjoy these previews! Remember those hints?
Yes? No? Hope you paid attention. Because!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Read at your own risk!
(Preview)
"And so it begins."
"Ace ops? Don't make me laugh!" he turned and spat a wad of blood onto the pristine floor. "I spent every day of my life training. I have cut my teeth on bloody battlefields that would make you lot balk! In this world and the last!" his body twisted, shedding the last of his bloody coat. "Where did you brats train?! IN A SCHOOL?!"
"I hate you!"
"You hate the fact that you're powerless to stop me, Harriett." The monster before her tilted his horned head, eyes flashing as he his woulds began to heal. "That you're completely outmatched." A lazy hand caught her jab and shunted it into Elm, sending them both sprawling. "Well imagine feeling the way you do now. All of the time. Fools!" an elbow smashed into his Vines face, denying him his attack. "You're no soldiers." he caught the pale man by the face and flung him over hi shoulder. "Just a buncha bullies in uniform...
Marrow's hand snapped up. "STAY!"
Naruto twitched and found himself unable to move.
Clover's fist smashed into his cheek. His whiskered face twitched back, eyes flashing, and Clover crashed backward.
...No." Naruto growled, voice lacing with that of Kaguya's. "I will keep advancing. Until my enemies are destroyed. Lets see how long you can hold me, Marrow!"
His eyes began to glow. A low roar built in the back of his throat. He took one step forward. Then another. Another still.
"IRONWOOD! I'm coming for you!"
"I can't be a mother." much to her own horror, Cinder began to babble. "I just cant. I'll be horrid!"
Penny frowned. "Please surrender. I do not wish to harm you."
Hazel grunted. "Nor I, you...
"Surrender the staff to me and Atlas shall be left to its own devices."
A wickedly sharp spear of ice as large as Salem was tall burst out of cover and blew off her head. Her headless body simply grew another.
"Is this all the Winter Maiden is capable of? How...disappointing. Perhaps I shall exert myself for once. Or...perhaps." She stepped aside, watching Cinder climb to her feet. "Let us see if you've learned your lesson, my dear."
R&R~!