Damn, I know Ruby's being the naïve optimistic girl she's meant to be here and that not everyone is into that, but is there anyone rooting for her anymore?
Salem was greatly annoyed.
Due to Ozma's little stunt destroying her great whale, she had to spend the next several months making herself a new vehicle. Now there was no way someone of her stature would walk on foot all the way to Vacuo.
She still wanted to attack as soon as possible, not giving them too much respite or humanity might have a slight chance of uniting against her, so she had to settle for something less… grandiose, but still large enough for her not to have to look at Cinder's unsightly face every day.
After much debate, she finally settled on the creature that would become her new mobile base. A dragon. A mighty dragon like in old legends, with wings and four limbs, unlike those pesky Gods. By the time she finished making it, the grimm was around three times larger than the wyvern that she had Cinder use against Beacon, just large enough to have a couple rooms in its stomach.
Then, as soon as her creation was finished, she took it along with the rest of her grimm army straight to Vacuo. Tyrian was supposed to find a new maiden for her and test out Mercury's loyalty while linking with the group they had been helping cause unrest in the Kingdom.
Unlike Vale, where they needed long prepared unrest to take out the main Kingdom defenses before letting the grimm finish it off, or Mistral where Lionheart had been serving them the Relic on a platter, or even Atlas where they needed to create a diversion for her army to approach close enough, in Vacuo's case they could simply overwhelm the defenses with a grimm invasion just fine. The group they had supported was only there to weaken the city's defenses and make it easier to destroy, it wasn't of any importance to the success of their operation.
As soon as she arrived and the attack was launched, Tyrian arrived as she expected with a girl in tow, and a very pale Mercury with him, who left them alone as soon as he entered the dragon.
"Anything interesting?" asked Salem.
"He just learned a valuable lesson about not trusting people," answered Tyrian, understanding Salem was curious about Mercury's behavior but didn't want to look like she cared, because she truly didn't, "The pink girl is formally on his side now."
"The pink… Is she alive?" asked Salem.
"Did she die?" asked back Tyrian.
"Cinder claimed as much," said Salem, "and I did see her make her and Rose's little team fall down an abyss created by the Relic of Creation, I am assuming she survived as well?"
"Yes my queen, she also seems far more skilled than before, I would have a hard time taking care of her," answered Tyrian.
"No matter," dismissed Salem, "She is hardly a priority anymore, unless she is capable of using her eyes properly now. Go to Vacuo, and look over her. If she tries to use her eyes, stop her, and if you find an opportunity, capture her, but don't risk yourself for her capture."
"Yes my queen," said Tyrian.
"Before you leave," added Salem as she focused her attention on the young woman Tyrian had brought in, "Can you tell me more about our new friend?"
"Nebula Violette, she and her team were present at the fall of Beacon and she was deeply traumatized by the experience," explained Tyrian, "Her answer to deal with that trauma was to bully her fellow students, to feel some semblance of strength. I felt like she was the most suitable for your plans."
"You did well Tyrian," said Salem, "Now go."
Tyrian left with a large bow, and Salem was left alone with the Huntress in training, who slowly stirred awake. When she finally opened her eyes and noticed her surroundings, Nebula started screaming and scrambling to flee.
"Fear not, my dear," soothed Salem, "I have no plans to hurt you, quite the contrary."
This seemed to calm her down a bit, enough for her to stop trying to run, but it certainly didn't reassure her.
"Where am I?" asked Nebula with a shaking voice.
"This is… how should I call it… my vehicle? Mother ship? Dragon? I'm afraid I never bothered to label it," answered Salem.
"Is it a grimm?" asked Nebula, "Like the Wyvern that attacked Beacon?"
"Oh dear, that Wyvern was child's play compared to what I'm truly capable of," explained Salem, "No, this is bigger and stronger than that beast."
Nebula shuddered and pushed herself away when Salem attempted to draw closer.
"Tell me, child, I hear you were at the fall of Beacon, but what did you do? Did you flee? Did you run, leaving thousands to die?" asked Salem.
"I…" was all Nebula could say, too terrified of both past and present to give a coherent response, not that Salem needed anymore confirmation than her guess was the truth.
"Tell me, what would you give to get the power you would've needed back then to fight? The power to not only survive, but strive and tower over your enemies?" offered Salem, "How much would you be willing to give me for that power."
The offer seemed to chase away the fear Nebula was feeling and her eyes lit up as she answered.
"Everything."
Cinder was deeply annoyed.
She didn't understand why Salem hadn't decided to launch their attack on Vacuo as soon as Atlas fell and instead temporarily went back to her castle. It felt like her overwhelming victory was being misused somehow.
Worse still, Salem had tasked her with trying to get a useful creation out of that insufferable genie that was in the Relic of Creation. According to Salem, she was forced to do this because Watts was dead and they didn't have the Doctor 'brilliant expertise' to make whatever creations they wished, and that made it all the more exasperating as she felt like she was being punished for it, despite Salem not having the slightest clue about her actions.
Throwing the Relic to the ground once more after having been made fun of by Ambrosius' shenanigans, Cinder wanted to scream her frustrations when a seer entered her room. Salem was calling for her.
Finally glad to have a reason not to deal with the genie, Cinder grabbed the Relic and made a beeline for Salem's throne-room, where she found her waiting with what seemed to be a new addition. Maybe this one will take on the work of dealing with the Relic of Creation.
"You called for me?" respectfully asked Cinder as she gave Salem the Relic.
"Yes," answered Salem, "I believe it is time we settle some little things you did."
"That I did?" started Cinder before she screamed in pain as her grimm arm acted up. It felt like it was tearing itself away from her, trying to take along with it something she was definitely never going to let go of.
"Did you ever wonder," said Salem as Cinder fell to the floor, "Why I had you deal with the Relic despite your incapacity to produce satisfactory results over the last several months?"
Cinder didn't answer, too busy fighting off her grimm arm while screaming in pain to do so, although Salem clearly didn't expect any answer in the first place.
"Did you truly believe that your little actions went unnoticed?" asked Salem, "Did you truly think I didn't know that you killed Watts, used your little pink friend specifically to kill Ruby Rose, and most importantly tried to kill her yourself, directly going against my orders?"
"ARGGGH!" was all Cinder could shout at Salem in this moment.
"Did you think you could do anything you want because you are the maiden I need to open the vaults?" asked Salem, her anger raising, "Did you truly believe I would let you do as you please as you! Clearly! Disobeyed me?!"
With every one of her last words, Cinder's pain intensified as if the arm that was attached to her reacted to Salem's emotions.
"Well," added Salem in a calmer manner, "Meet Nebula Violette, my new maiden. With her here, you will find that you are no longer… necessary."
Cinder seethed as she gave Salem a defiant look, her eyes lighting up as she tried to use her maiden power, only for it to be suppressed and for Salem to give out a small chuckle.
"Oh, is the unruly dog trying to bite the hand that feeds it?" asked Salem not without a touch of sarcasm.
"This power is MINE!" shouted Cinder through her pain, "MINE! I DID EVERYTHING FOR IT! I DESERVE IT!"
"Nobody deserves anything Cinder, you'll find that you won't be able to keep anything if you don't continuously work hard to keep it," said Salem, "And you certainly didn't do any work to keep it."
Salem slowly walked up to Cinder and reached down to her, grabbing her grimm arm.
"One last thing," she added, "I'm sure you'll be delighted to learn that Ruby Rose, Neo Politan, and their little friends that you sent down the abyss of Ambrosius' creation are all alive and well."
Cinder looked shocked, but not as much as when Salem brutally teared her grimm arm away from her along with half of the maiden power that was contained within her.
"Now, Nebula, it is time for you to prove yourself capable of holding this power," said Salem as she threw the grimm arm at Nebula and it quickly shifted into a white veiny glove, "Take what remains of the maiden powers from Cinder, then throw her off or kill her, whatever suits your fancy."
"Yes ma'am," answered Nebula, a sick smirk growing on her face as she stepped up to Cinder and slammed her heel into her face, "I'm going to enjoy this."
Salem watched with a smile as Nebula slowly drained the remaining maiden power away from Cinder while torturing her at the same time, getting a kick out of Cinder's screams and despair.
When she was done, she grabbed the broken former maiden and threw her out of the room.
"Well done," said Salem, "I believe this is going to be a very fruitful arrangement my dear."
"Yes ma'am," obediently said Nebula, "I will live up to your expectations."
"I don't doubt it a single second," said Salem as she walked out, before adding, "And make sure this pathetic excuse for a human being isn't still here by the time I come back."
"Of course," answered Nebula, "May I ask where you are going?"
Salem looked outside, watching as one of the strongest grimm, a large worm, fell to the ground and started to dissipate.
"It is time I remind these people exactly why I am to be feared."
I'll admit that writing Cinder's fall was the most satisfying thing I've ever done.
Next week was going to be a break (I know, I'm evil), but thanks to Dandaman5's comment it'll be instead an interlude containing all the stat sheets for every character up until now, including the dead ones.
What kind of torture am I putting myself through? XD
Interlude on March 12th
To be continued on March 19th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 18
Level : 21 (43%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Destiny : All for one [Everyone can die, if it means you get to survive]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 11/11
AP : 110/110
STR : 12
CON : 11
DEX : 20
INT : 23
WIS : 13
CHA : 17
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses:
AC : 29(34)
For : 22
Ref : 28
Will : 25