Salem had a really nice place. It was located in the middle of nowhere, shrouded in darkness and surrounded by Grimm. It was perfect for anyone despising human interaction.
The castle itself was very large and menacing. The only problem was that it lacked bedrooms and guests were forced to sleep in chairs. Jaune shivered the entire time as he watched Grimm emerge from pools of black ooze.
"Come inside with me," said Salem, pointing to the large castle ahead of them. "There are some friends I'd like you to meet."
"You have friends?" asked Jaune. He assumed that Salem spent every day sitting in a chair hating humanity. No way would anyone want to visit when she had Grimm spawning from her front yard.
"Must you always spout every thought that enters your head?" asked Salem.
Jaune shrugged his shoulders and didn't respond. Most people would have had a lot more to say if they were in his situation.
Salem took Jaune through the entrance of the castle. It looked even bigger inside than it did outside. There was so much space and so little filling it up.
"You know...you could always get some furniture to make this place less lonely," said Jaune.
Salem looked back at him with her eyes glowing red.
"What?" asked Jaune. "You can't seriously be happy sitting in the same place every day."
"I have no need for such things," said Salem. "The conquest of this miserable planet is all I desire and all I need."
"Hopefully you'll get some furniture after doing that," Jaune mumbled under his breath.
Salem and Jaune walked into a large room with a long table in its center. There appeared to be a group of people already sitting there.
"I've returned with someone who will be of great service to us," said Jaune.
"I'm her contracted pairing," Jaune added.
One of Salem's friends stood up from his chair and walked over to Jaune. It was a man dressed in regal looking clothing. His mustache was so thick that Jaune gave it a double look just to make sure it wouldn't jump off his face and bite him.
"You brought an emaciated young man with bleached blond hair?" He asked.
"It's natural!" Jaune snapped.
"Dr. Watts," said Salem, "this young man is the key for our newest mission."
"Oh?" said Dr. Watts with a raised eyebrow. "And what's that?"
"He's going to help us acquire the vital resources from Pumpkin Pete's factory."
Dr. Watts paused, as if he was expecting more. When no answer came, his eyes twitched a little before he spoke again.
"With all due respect," he said, "There are much better places to confiscate than a cereal factory."
"I think it's wonderful!" said another one of Salem's friends. This one had a ponytail and had his eyes so wide that it looked like they were about to fall from their sockets.
"We can take all the cereal for ourselves while everybody else suffers from withdrawal, going crazy with every passing moment!" He followed up his insane idea with laughter that went on and on and on.
Being outside with the Grimm was starting to sound like a good idea to Jaune at this point.
"I object," said another friend. This time it was a burly man with a deep voice. "We shouldn't force people to suffer needlessly."
There was a sound of grunts that came from the table, but Jaune couldn't see who it was.
"Shut up, Cinder!" Watts barked.
"You understood that?" asked Jaune.
"No," said Watts. "But I can always assume that what she says isn't of any value."
"So what do you plan on doing with this boy?" asked the burly man.
"Oh! Oh!" I know!" said the crazy-eyed man. "She plans on throwing him into the factory machinery so that his guts will spill all over the cereal and tarnish its reputation forever! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Tyrian," sighed Watts, "Sometimes I wonder why I haven't given into my urges to spike sedatives into your food."
Jaune's head moved from one person to the next. None of them appeared to be completely stable, except for the burly man. And to think that he had been expecting a break before all of this.
"I have an idea!" Jaune interrupted. "How about I leave right now and let you all figure out what to do. Sounds great, right? Right! Bye!"
He turned to leave when a cold hand touched his shoulder.
"Who gave you permission to leave?" asked the cold voice of Salem.
"Uh…"
"That's right," said Salem. "Now turn around and assist me, or you'll be forced to undergo a torture that no character ever wants."
Jaune's eyes widened. "You can't mean…." he whispered.
"Oh I do," said Salem.
"You...You'd pair me with an original character?"
Salem's lips curved into a disturbing smile.
That was every character's greatest fear in the land of shipping. Original characters were imported from places unfamiliar to Remnant. While there had been some that people spoke fondly of, most of them were absolute nightmare's to be paired with. There were stories of them being so physically flawless that it was more like looking at a statue than a person. Even worse were the tragic backstories a lot of them had, giving them a lot of emotional baggage. Jaune had once been paired with one of them. A girl who always whined about how plain and unattractive she was, even though every male in Remnant seemed to be attracted to her without the slightest effort.
Salem probably had access to some of the worst. The kind that thought they were the Gods gift to the opposite gender. The idea of being with one of those made Jaune suffer.
"Fine," Jaune said in one deep breath. "I'll do it."
"Ughhughhhhhhuhhhhh" groaned Cinder.
"Shut up, Cinder!" said Watts. "Are we ready now or not?"
"We are," said Salem. "And our plan begins right now. You are to be partnered with a new addition to our council. She's well versed in street criminality. Come out!"
There was a sound of footsteps calmly approaching them from behind. Jaune turned around to see a very short girl dressed in baggy black pants and a sleeveless black shirt. Her hair was covered by a skull cap and her mouth hidden behind a black bandana. The only feature Jaune could really see were her eyes. One was pink and the other brown.
"This is Neo," said Jaune.
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Salem.
"It's Neo!" Jaune shouted, pointing his finger at the girl. "You just dressed her up in...whatever that is."
"What a startling discovery," Watts said sarcastically. "Did you not read the entirety of your contract?"
"What?" Jaune asked. He pulled out the sheet of paper he'd been given and read it. Apparently, his contract required him to have Neo included as well for the sake of pandering.
"I don't believe this," Jaune muttered.
"Well you'd better start now," said Watts. "Now off with you two!"
"Ughuhguhguhg-"
"Shut up, Cinder!"
Jaune wasn't sure what was going to happen next, only that it was probably going to have a bad outcome. He only knew one thing for certain: his agent was definitely going to get fired after this.