The Lords of Grimm

AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Well, with Volume 8 on the horizon, I thought I would give a little update on the story. I cannot wait to see what happens in the following RWBY episodes. I hope you do too.

Now to reviews.

MadTitan9: Oh? Well, aren't you dark? But I honestly didn't think that it would be the right time to kill anyone just yet.

Hmason: Yeah, I know. But the reason I had that fight was to demonstrate what Wolfram is capable of, and considering that the only reason he lost was to special circumstances I'm pretty sure it's clear. But don't worry, I won't have people just miraculously survive encounters with him.

5 Our Grimm Destiny

After the fight with the Grimm Lord was over, Cordovin then went to take care of the giant Leviathan Grimm that went to attack the town, and it was eventually destroyed by her with the help of her military. The civil unrest was calmed down eventually as the Atlas troops went back to their regular posts.

With an uneasy step, Saphron Cotta-Arc walked through the streets of Argus along with her wife Terra and their son Adrian in her arms, the baby currently snoozing. Her mind was still on her little brother, wondering if he was hurt. From what she heard, there was a massive fight in their escape attempt, and she currently couldn't reach him to see if he was alright.

Terra noticed the uneasiness that Saphron held, and she knew why it was there. "Calm down," Terra said as she took Saphron's hand. "They made it out, and they are on their way."

The Arc woman looked at her wife's brown eyes with blue ones. "I know that, but I would at least know if they are all fine."

Terra sighed. "Trust me, so do I," she said. "But you know that our calls can be tracked and if they catch us-"

"Yes, yes, no need to remind me," Saphron said. "But I'm still Jaune's big sister, and I helped to get him into such trouble."

"There is nothing we can do about it now," Terra said as she gave their baby a slight rub on the back. "We have other things to worry about, and Jaune is grown up. So please, instead of being a sister, be a mother right now. That is currently more important."

Saphron was silent for a moment before giving a nod. Terra was right, now was the time to focus on their baby. Jaune can take care of himself… At least she hoped he could.

Then her ears perked up and she turned backward, though she saw nobody else there, the street they were in being mostly empty.

"What's wrong?" Terra asked with a raised eyebrow.

Saphron shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm probably just being paranoid," she said before she resumed the walk with her family.

On top of a building, Wolfram looked down upon the two women walking. After he got away from that cliff he decided to go back to Argus to do some investigation. He followed his nose to find out where the highest concentration of scents from those brats was gathered. He needed to keep a low profile so he wouldn't be caught by the military, otherwise, he would make more frequent use of the Grimm.

He was eventually led to a house belonging to these two women, the combination of the scents being the strongest there. When Wolfram saw the resemblance between Saphron and the kid with the sword and shield, he immediately knew the connection. But he was still surprised by something. Two women? Married? That is definitely something you wouldn't see from when he was from.

Regardless, Wolfram saw an opportunity he had with this. Some would assume that he would take out his revenge by killing them, but he wasn't that simple-minded. No, he would save those three for later. He just needed to wait for the right time.

But now he needed to go back to Salem. She would definitely want to hear what he's been doing. Good thing that he was fast and he pretty much never got tired, just some things that made not regret leaving his humanity behind.

Back at the ship, Adam was slowly waking up. He groaned as he felt his body in pain. Trying to remember what happened, he recalled the fight he had with Wolfram. If that could even be called a fight. Adam gave his all but that man either easily avoided the attacks or not even flinch when struck. And when he struck back, it didn't last long at all.

Blinking the haziness from his eyes, he noticed where he was, a familiar sight. His eyes widened as he recognized the interior of an Atlasean ship. He tried to move but saw that his arms were bound by some black rope.

'No! No, not again!' Adam thought frantically as his mind came back to the past, back when he and many other faunus were taken in by Atlas into forceful labor, and all the hours of pain and torture he endured. The branding on his eye began to hurt again.

"Adam?" the moment the soft voice reached his ears he gained a raging expression before turning to the one who called. Blake.

"You!" he growled out and tried to get up but a sharp pain ran across his right leg, and then he remembered that in his fight with Wolfram he was grabbed by the leg and the Grimm Lord tightened his grip until bone broke.

"So, is the sleeping beauty awake?" Qrow asked as he looked back from the passenger seat.

Adam then saw several others, some he recognized from before, like Yang Xiao Long who glared at him. And one of them being Weiss Schnee.

"Adam, please calm down," Blake tried to reason with her former colleague, despite all the things he had done.

"Calm down? Is that a joke?" he asked harshly. Adam then let out a laugh that made everyone feel a bit unnerved. "Of course fate has to play one final joke. Not only did I lose everything, not only was I utterly humiliated; now I will be brought back to Atlas by you of all people. Well, I hope you are happy now."

"Adam, listen to me," Blake said. "You won't be sent to the Schnee Dust Company, not this time." Her face then became stern. "But after everything you did, you will be sent to prison in Mantle. General Ironwood is a fair man so you don't need to expect him to be bigoted towards you."

Adam scoffed. "You really think that? Do you really think that I will be brought to any proper justice? No, Blake. The moment we get there I will be brought back, forced to work until I drop dead. Or what?" he turned to Weiss. "Is your Schnee friend going to pull some strings for me? Heh, I doubt it."

Yang gritted her teeth and walked closer. "I think it was better when he was knocked out," she said before pulling her arm back, ready to pay him back for the one he cut off.

Her arm then was then grabbed by Blake. "No, I won't silence him," she said sternly. Yang gave her a shocked look for a moment before putting her arm down and nodding. "Listen, Adam. You betrayed our cause; you turned the White Fang into exactly what humans accused us of. And for what? To make yourself feel strong?" Blake closed her eyes before turning away. "Maybe you do deserve all that you get. But at least I'll make sure that you don't end up working in the mines."

Blake then took a seat next to Ren and Nora, her arms crossed. Yang glared at Adam one last time before joining her friend.

The former White Fang leader was silent the whole while as his gaze never calmed before turning back and leaning back into the corner where he was located. To him, he couldn't fall any lower than this.

Weiss looked back at the bull faunus, and couldn't help but feel guilty. The brand he had over his eye was all she needed to see to know how he turned out like this. She began reflecting back, remembering how she herself didn't view the faunus in a very positive light. Maybe she could have helped people like Adam from their unfair treatment. At least in some way.

So she decided that she would help Blake in whatever means she could. She would make sure that Adam got some proper justice.

Wolfram was back at the Land of Darkness, just walking through the halls of the castle. He had to admit, every time he came back here a wave of nostalgia washed over him, remembering the beginning of how he became someone who actually mattered in the world.

He remembered the God of Darkness changing his life, after which Wolfram decided to spend the rest of his days conquering the lands, and bringing even more power to him. Because in the end, that's all that mattered.

Power.

Power is what makes the world function. Power is what made people truly matter. Everyone, even his own father craved it, for whatever purpose they wish to fulfill. And he achieved more power than any mortal could hope to have.

He remembered being pleased with seeing so many people shocked to see a dark lord with many monsters under his command suddenly arrive. He remembered his father begging as he crushed his skull in his hands, and taking his father's castle as his very own but under his terms. So he became known throughout the world as a monster, a scourge on humanity, a Lord of Darkness, and he reveled in all those titles.

Yet, something was still missing in his life. Companionship. After so many years of conquest, there was certain loneliness that followed him. He tried to be with some women but he got bored of them quickly, none of possessing the proper power he desired in a woman.

Then Wolfram later heard of a woman that was held in a castle by her father, one that possessed great affinity in magic. He thought it interesting, as he heard that her father was an incredibly powerful warrior, a legend in all sense of the word. He decided to give it a try and see if that woman was worth the trouble, only to be later disappointed when he found out that the woman was rescued by some man named Ozma, who is supposed to be an incredibly powerful individual in his own right.

But he wasn't about to give up on her. No, he was still going to take the woman as his own. This led to a conflict that eventually brought out Ozma and the woman Wolfram desired, Salem. But he was also shocked to find out that Ozma was a student of Huntar, who wasn't at the castle when Wolfram conquered it much to his shock.

Still, eager to test them out, he fought against Salem and Ozma, and they didn't disappoint, Salem especially. She proved her worth to him, and he knew that she was the right one. It was unfortunate that Huntar ended up sealing him away.

And now, as he walked through the castle and hearing what became of Salem, he was utterly convinced that she was the right one. Her power rivaled his, she was even more beautiful than before, an immortal like he was, and they held a worldview where ruling over humanity is the only proper way of having anything done right. She may not want him now, but he knew her defenses will crumble eventually.

So right now, he entered the throneroom, with Salem sitting on the throne in a relaxed position.

"So you're back," Salem said as she rose. "Was your little trip fun?"

"It most certainly was," he said with a smile. "Though not in a way I thought it was going to be I have to admit."

Salem raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked and he proceeded to explain what happened. "Oh, I see. So you lost."

"Only in a technical sense, my dear Salem. You know that none of them could actually pose a threat to me," Wolfram defended his position. "Though, you could have told me about those Silver Eyes. I could have at least taken one of them down if it wasn't for that."

Salem shrugged. "It must have slipped my mind," she said dismissively. "But that doesn't matter now. Watts and Tyrian have been sent to enact our plan. And it will soon be time to move our forces to attack the kingdom of Atlas."

Wolfram couldn't help but grin. "Oh, I cannot wait. It will be just like the good old days when I led my Grimm horde," he said before walking behind Salem, the witch keeping an eye on him the entire time. "But this time, I will have you at my side." His hands went to her hips, surprising her before she moved away from him.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"And what does it look like?" he asked as he approached her again. "Come on, Salem. You have to see that were made for each other. Please, I ask you as I did before. Become my queen, and let the lords of Grimm be fully united so we can truly rule this world together."

Salem only stared at him, unsure what to say at first. After what happened with Ozma she never went to find love, mostly because with the way she was who could have. But Wolfram actually presented an opportunity to be with someone like her, despite the differences in their character. Still, there was something holding her back.

"I'll… think about it," Salem said before walking away.

"And what is there to think about?" Wolfram asked, stopping her. "Be honest with yourself. Who else do you have?"

She looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, who else is there like us in this world? Salem, we were meant to be. We are the most powerful beings on the planet, and we are immortal. Once the conquering is done we will only each other to confide in as everyone else dies around us. And you know that you can't just throw someone into the pool to make them like us, we were special cases."

He then once again approached her before grabbing her chin. "What are-" she was about to ask but was interrupted as he gave her a kiss on the lips, making her eyes go wide.

Wolfram then ended the kiss with a satisfied look on his face. "Sorry, I couldn't resist," he said before walking past. "I'm pretty sure the answer is obvious, but I'll let you think about it. I can be patient; we have an eternity after all." When he was at the door he gave Salem one last glance. "I eagerly await your answer." He then walked out of the throneroom, leaving a confused Salem behind.

After a few moments, Salem shook her head. His forwardness really caught her off guard. She knew that he would make things more complicated but she didn't expect something like that.

But she couldn't think of that now, she had other matters to attend to. She just hoped they could clear her head a bit.

AN: And that is it for now! There wasn't any action in here, but after a whole chapter of nothing but fighting all of us need a bit of breather, don't we? Still, I hope you enjoyed the character interactions nonetheless.

I also implore you to check out my other stories, trust me they are worth it. And leave a review, they are great motivators.

See you next time!