A Different Way Down: A RWBY fanfiction, by NotScot

Interlude One: The Next Move


A/N: Short, but necessary. Read the notes at the end for an extra treat.


The light of the shattered moon shone down upon a twisted landscape of deep reds and purples. Jagged spikes of rock jutted out of the earth, like the teeth of some enormous beast. Sheer cliffs of crimson stone cast long shadows that blanketed much of the area in darkness.

And dotted all over were pools of black liquid.

Mercury looked out the window and watched as a large paw emerged from one of the nearby Grimm pools, and a Beowolf slowly pulled itself out and emerged into the world. One more Creature of Grimm to join the hordes that prowled Evernight.

"It's quite a sight, I agree. I, too, often find myself taking time to enjoy the view out upon our Goddess' domain!"

Mercury resisted the urge to recoil. He could feel Tyrian's breath against his neck as the madman leaned in to look over his shoulder.

Beside him, Emerald did pull away slightly. Not that he could blame her. Tyrian was easily the creepiest person he had ever met, even taking into account the owner of this castle.

"Sit down, Tyrian," said Watts lazily. "Let the children gawk out the window in peace."

Tyrian giggled at that, and Mercury was relieved when he felt him move away. He had not been holding his breath, and his fists had not been clenched at his sides, but he did feel a lot better when Tyrian wasn't looming over him.

Mercury waited until he heard Tyrian take his seat, then he turned around and walked over to the table himself. Emerald followed suit.

The table that took up the centre of the room was much larger than Mercury thought it needed to be. In all the time they had been here, Mercury had never seen anyone else besides those who were in the room right now. Other than Tyrian, Watts and Hazel, this enormous castle had no other occupants.

Well, besides himself and Emerald of course. And Cinder, wherever she was.

And also-

The sound of the door opening stopped Mercury's musings. The others all stood up at once, the legs of their chairs scraping against the stone floor.. Mercury himself stood ramrod straight, eyes forward, as she entered the room. Her soft footsteps were the only sound he heard as she made her way towards the head of the table.

No one spoke as Salem settled into her ornate wooden chair. She made a gesture with her hands, and Tyrian, Watts and Hazel all took their seats.

"Mercury, Emerald, please. Sit." Salem's voice sounded calm, friendly even, yet Mercury felt a twinge of unease as she addressed him by name.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Emerald pull out a chair and sit herself down, her movements stiff and robotic. Mercury decided to follow suit, taking a seat himself.

"Emerald," Salem spoke again, voice level. "Is there something you wish to ask me?"

Mercury looked at Emerald. He knew exactly what she wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure if she actually would, given that she was staring at the table instead of looking at Salem.

"C-Cinder," she said softly. "H-how is C-Cinder?"

Mercury heard a snort from across the table, and turned his head to see Watts wearing an amused expression. Further down the table, Tyrian began to chuckle.

"Watts." Both Watts and Tyrian fell silent as Salem spoke with an edge in her voice. "Do you find such malignance necessary?"

Watts sat up straighter in his seat, turning to look as her. "I apologize, ma'am. I'm just not very fond of failure."

"Then I see no reason for you to be displeased." Salem spoke in an almost conversational tone as she addressed the former scientist. "Cinder succeeded in her mission. Not only did she destroy the Tower at Beacon, but she also killed dear Ozpin." Mercury saw Salem smile, and heard the satisfaction in her voice as she said that. "So tell me Watts, to what failures are you referring?"

Watts frowned at her words, and not for the first time, Mercury wondered how Watts was able to get away with acting the way he did towards Salem.

Maybe the two of them are…

Mercury did his level best to push that thought out of his mind.

"Well, the power of the Maiden," he explained. "She failed to retrieve the other half. And that's not even mentioning her condition. What use is she now?"

"Cinder is one of us, Watts." Salem no longer sounded amused. "She is our comrade. I do wish you would both put your childish squabbling to rest after all this time." She the turned to face Emerald, who had finally decided to stop staring at the table.

"To answer your question, Emerald, Cinder is making good progress with her recovery. It is true that her injuries were severe, but they are not beyond my ability to repair."

Severe was not the word Mercury would have used. When Emerald had pulled Cinder out of the ruins of Beacon, he had honestly thought that she was dead. How she was able to survive what had happened to her, he had no idea.

"So… she'll be OK?" Emerald sounded hopeful.

"Yes, child." Salem spoke softly, and she gave Emerald a small smile. "Have patience for a little longer. You will see her soon."

Mercury resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Emerald smiled at Salem's words.

She wouldn't care if you were hurt, Em. Can't you see that?

"Watts." Salem turned back to the former scientist. "You will take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral."

"Of course, ma'am." Watts inclined his head in a single nod. "I will make my preparations. Am I to assume you would like me to keep one eye out for this… Pyrrha Nikos on my travels?"

Salem raised one hand. "That will not be necessary. I want you in Mistral as soon as possible."

"Understood," replied Watts.

"As for you, Tyrian," continued Salem, turning to face her other subordinate. "I have a new task for."

Tyrian clapped his hands and grinned widely. "You wish for me to pursue her, my Queen?"

"Yes, Tyrian. Spring can wait for the time being. Find the other half of the Fall Maiden, and bring her here."

Tyrian's face fell. Mercury watched dumbfounded as the madman pouted like a child, before he shrugged his shoulders and nodded an affirmative, his grin returning quickly.

"And Hazel," Salem addressed the quiet man sat opposite Mercury. "I'm sending you to meet with Sienna Khan. Adam Taurus has arranged everything. The boy has proven to be quite loyal. Ensure that Sienna feels the same."

Hazel closed his eyes. "As you wish," he said, his deep voice carrying across the room.

Salem rose to her feet. It seemed the meeting was over. "Because of your efforts, Beacon has fallen. And Haven will be next."


Cinder opened her eyes and looked around her.

Her surroundings had not changed. Nothing else had appeared since last time. It was still an empty white void in all directions.

This is getting to be extremely frustrating.

Cinder had no idea what was going on. The last thing she remembered was being in the basement underneath Beacon. She had been so close to claiming what was hers. It would have been hers. It should have been hers.

But Ozpin had done something, and now she was here. Wherever here was.

Cinder sat down. It wasn't like she could do anything else. She had tried walking around the first few times, but quickly found that nothing changed no matter how far she walked. It was just endless white, stretching out forever.

Cinder placed a hand over her heart and called upon the power that dwelled within her. The magic of the Fall Maiden pulsed within her soul, a familiar feeling.

A maddening feeling.

Because she felt incomplete. She only had half of the power, and it burned. It was like a thirst that would not go away, and there was nothing she could do to make it more bearable.

Except for one thing.

It's mine. I will have it. I refuse to starve.

If she could just get out of this place, she could go after the girl who stole her destiny from her. Cinder would make her pay for taking what didn't belong to her.

"Cinder."

Cinder lifted her head, eyes widening. She knew that voice very well.

"My Queen?" Cinder pushed herself to her feet. "I can hear you."

"It's time to wake up, Cinder."

Wake up? What did that mean?

Suddenly, Cinder felt her whole body convulse with pain, and her vision began to darken.

What's happening?

Cinder opened her eyes for real, and the sight above her was comfortingly familiar, the red and purple of the castle she now called home.

"Welcome back, Cinder."

Cinder turned to look at Salem, who she saw was standing beside her bed.

"My-" Cinder only managed a single word before her throat closed up with pain.

"I would strongly advise you not to speak or move until I tell you otherwise." Salem walked around the bed to stand at her other side. "I have not yet finished repairing you."

Repairing? What was that supposed to mean.

Cinder felt her head throb with pain, and she lifted her hand without thinking to rub her-

Cinder froze, staring at the black lump in front of her eyes.

"I told you not to move," Salem said sternly. "This is a delicate process."

Cinder lifted her head to look down at her body, as she realised she could not feel her legs.

Because they were gone.

So were her arms.

Cinder's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

She couldn't even scream.


Author's Note:

Who's been pulling ev'ry-body's strings?
It was Salem, all a-long!
Who ma-nipulated ev'ry-thing?
It was Salem, all a-long!
She's ne-far-i-ous! (Ha-Ha!)
And so, te-na-cious!
And no-body ever noticed, and the pity is! (The pity is!)
Pity pity pity pity!
It's too late to save any-one, now that ev'ry-thing's fall-ing down...
Thanks to Salem! (Yes, it's Salem!)
It was Salem, all a-long!
(And I killed Summer, too! Hahahahahahahahaha!)

I'm so sorry. I just finished watching WandaVision, and the opportunity was just too good to pass up.

Yes, Cinder is indeed still alive. Her role in this story is not done yet, although you won't be seeing much of her for a while.

Now to address the reviews. Firstly, it seems I was a bit unclear in my explanation regarding shipping. To be clear, I personally don't have any particularly strong views regarding any ships one way or another, I was simply trying to be up-front for the benefit of those who do take such things seriously. This is not going to be a romance-focussed story. There will be elements of romance, but only so far as it furthers the plot I have in mind. Jaune and Pyrrha's relationship will be a large part of their characters' arcs, as will Blake and Yang to a lesser extent. I am not planning for Ruby and Weiss to be anything more than really close friends, but I want to leave the door open just in case I decide later down the line that it could add more to their arcs.

Secondly, I see that a number of people are worried that having the story be told in separate arcs may cause more problems than it solves. I'm not one to ignore others' advice, so thank-you all for your reviews. That being said, my version of the Menagerie Arc is going to move quite a bit faster than the cannon version, and I don't want to mess with the flow too much. So, let's compromise: The Menagerie Arc will be told in one go like I had planned, but the other two arcs will be told in alternating chapters (mostly) once we get there. Unlike Menagerie, those arcs aren't going be told over the course of a few in-world days, so I'll adjust my plans accordingly.

So then, next chapter will be the start of the Menagerie Arc. Here's a little preview of what'll be happening:

Yang's eyes flashed red, and her hair ignited as she activated her Semblance. With a yell of rage, she fired her gauntlets behind her, sending herself flying towards Blake.

"Yang, no!" yelled Sun. "Stop!"

I hope that puts your minds at ease until then.

See you again in a week!

Until next time,

NotScot.


P.S: If Salem is RWBY's Agatha Harkness, then who would RWBY's Scarlet Witch be?