RWBY: Son of Salem
Chapter 36
Marek
"Locked away by her cruel father, Salem was a girl who desired but one thing: freedom." Jinn said as she showed Salem in her castle. "She lived in a time when kings and their kingdoms were plentiful, when men and women were capable of greatness, and magic was a gift from the gods that all could wield."
I watched as my mother sat down and held out her left hand. Four magical spheres with a magic circle in six basic colors appear over her hand.
"What..." I looked down at my hand and held it out. Trying to replicate what I had just seen, a small spark erupted from my palm before disappearing.
"And yet, there she sat within her tower." Jinn continued. The scenery changed to outside of the castle. "Until one day, a legendary hero came to brave the challenges within the tower's walls."
A man in armor and a cape wielding a scepter appears standing proudly in front of the tower. "The people of the lands knew him as Ozma." the man started to walk towards the castle. "Unlike those who had come before, this warrior was not driven by the prize of the young maiden's hand. He fought only for righteousness, and his pure heart and courageous soul prevailed."
As he walked, warriors were shown falling in battle and as he neared the castle, the scene changed to Ozma defeating a dark armored figure. Ozma opened a door leading to Salem's room, where she stands up and offers a grateful smile to him. Blue smoke reforms the scene of them battling side by side with their magic powers.
"They escaped the wretched fortress, and yet something bound them together." Jinn narrated.
Smoke reforms the scene showing Ozma and Salem running away from the tower holding hands together. Once at a safe distance, the two stop to catch their breath before looking to each other.
"Ozma had been ready to give his life for justice countless times, but now saw a woman worth saving it for." Jinn continued. "And Salem, to her surprise, found her freedom not in the outside world she had yearned for, but in the eyes of the man that had saved her."
"So, where should we go now?" my mother asked.
"Wherever you'd like." Ozma replied, offering his hand to her.
"The two fell deeply in love, planned adventures around the world, and lived happily ever after." Smoke envelops the environment around Ozma and Salem as the two hold hands. The two disappear into a bright light of white space. "Or at least that's what should have been."
The scene changed to inside of a bedroom, where Ozma laid on the bed unconscious as Salem kneeled by his side, sobbing. "Ozma, the infallible hero of legend, fell ill. And where all the beasts and blades of the world had fallen short, a single sickness prevailed." his body disappeared, leaving Salem heart broken as she held his scepter, crying.
"How could the gods let this happen?" she asked out loud.
"The gods, brothers of light and darkness, creation and destruction. Salem prayed they would see the injustice that had befallen her love and make things right." Jinn said.
Again the scene changed, showing Salem standing before a stairway that went into the mountains. "The Domain of Light was a sacred place." Jinn continued. "It was here the elder brother dwelled beside his fountain of life and creation. It was here... where mankind would fall to ruin."
The scene changed to my mother kneeling before some sort of pool. A few seconds passed before a glowing gold figure emerged from it. "Please... Please, bring him back to me." my mother pleaded.
"I understand your pain, but you demand of me that which I cannot make so. Life and death are part of a delicate balance." the God of Light replied.
"So...you won't do it then?"
"To disrupt the cycle of-"
"But that's not fair... That's not fair!" Salem shouted.
"Let him rest." the God of Light transported Salem to the bottom of the mountain.
"No."
The scene changed again to show my mother standing before a dark and eerie place. A long staircase led into the mountains. "The God of Darkness..." Jinn said. "None dare to enter his home, as men knew what monstrosities emerged from his blackened pools of annihilation." My mother approached a large pool of black tar-like liquid and kneeled before it. "And so you must understand the Dark Lord's surprise when he found a lone woman kneeling before him."
The God of Darkness crawled out of the pool, twisted and contorted as he crawled towards Salem. "Salem understood it well. She told him of her loss and professed that she knew only he could answer her prayers, all while careful to make no mention of his elder."
"Rise, child, and let your faith in me be rewarded." The God of Darkness said as he brought Ozma back to life. Salem hugged him, happy to be holding the man once again.
"Where am I? What is this?! WHERE AM I?!" Ozma shouted, confused.
"It's okay!" Salem comforted him. "Everything is going to be okay!"
Hearing thunder suddenly sound, I looked to the stairs to see the God of Light standing on them. "What have you done?!"
"I have done what I please, brother. You may bask in the powers of creation, but you do not own them." the God of Darkness replied.
"This is not creation."
"Do not lecture me!"
The God of Light glanced at the Grimm that were slowly approaching him. "I will do what I must to maintain order." he turned back to Ozma and held out his hand, turning Ozma to golden dust and sending him back to rest.
"No! No! What did you do?! BRING HIM BACK!" Salem shouted.
"You dare enter my domain and show such disrespect!" the God of Darkness brought him back.
"Ozma!" Salem hugged him.
"I am abiding by the rules we agreed upon!" the God of Light said to his younger brother.
"Rules that I now see are ever in your favor. And yet the day a mortal comes to pray at my feet before your own, so do you arrive to lay your judgement upon me!" the God of Darkness started to transform as he spoke, turning into a nightmarish dragon-like creature.
The Grimm lunged at the God of Light but he killed them as he changed into a beautiful oriental-like dragon. "I know we have our differences, but I have not come here with the aim to control you. The same, however, cannot said for her. This woman came to you only after I denied her pleas...pleas that would have disrupted the balance that you and I created. Together."
The younger brother glanced down. "Then it seems I owe you an apology. Allow me to correct my mistake."
"No!" Salem tried to shield Ozma as the God of Darkness blew a column of purple like fire at the two, turning only Ozma to ashes. "You…You monsters! Give him back to me! GIVE HIM BACK!"
Salem started using her magic, creating a lightning-like shield around her. The Gods lunged at her still and as they reache here, the scene changed to show Salem falling from the sky and landing in the Pool of Life.
After a few seconds of being submerged, Salem was brought to the surface of the water but her hands and arms were...glowing.
"When you first came to me, I did pity you. But it is clear now that your selfishness and arrogance have led you astray." the God of Light said.
"What did you do to me?"
"I have made you immortal."
"Immortal?" Salem repeated.
"You cannot die. You cannot be with your beloved." the younger brother said.
"So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face." the two said at the same time, almost like one.
"You must learn the importance of life and death. Only then may you rest." Salem reached out to the two gods but was transported away.
"Salem was a prisoner once again. Her fruitless attempts to reunite with Ozma eventually became nothing more than acts of spite and defiance against the gods." Jinn said as the scenery changed back to Ozma's room.
Salem stood in the center of the room, holding a sword to her chest. She thrust the sword through her chest, causing me to look away.
"But perhaps the gods were not as powerful as they seemed..." Jinn continued. "She had lied to them, turned them against one another, they…were fallible. If she were to turn humanity against light and darkness, she could rid herself of their curse, or at the very least…she could make them suffer."
Salem apun around and threw the sword across the room as Jinn changed the scene to show Salem in different kingdom's throne rooms.
"Salem traveled from one kingdom to another, telling tales of how she stole immortality from the gods, welcomed any swordsman to cut her down, and demonstrated her powers." Jinn said. "With the kings and queens in awe, she pulled them deeper into her scheme. She painted them pictures of a time when they would no longer have to watch their loved ones wither and die, when they could claim the powers of their creators for themselves, and in turn, perfect their own design. All they needed to do was destroy their old masters."
The warriors Salem had gathered rushed into the God of Light's domain, weapons raised. As they neared, the God of Light emerged from the pool in his dragon form.
"The gods had hoped that Salem would learn from her eternal curse, and she did. She learned that the hearts of men are easily swayed." Jinn added.
The God of Darkness appeared beside his brother, in his dragon form as well. "Who has led you down this path?" the God of Light asked.
Salem pushed through her army, revealing herself to the gods. "You..."
Salem shot a fireball at the dark god and her army quickly followed. However, the God of Darkness caught each piece of magic in his hand, holding a purple orb. "My own gift to them...used against me."
The God of Darkness crushed the purple orb, creating a wall of purple light that reached to the sky and evaporated all that it touched. "No...no..." Salem was on the ground as, what was left of her army, blew away in the wind.
"You thought there was no greater punishment we could bestow upon you?"
"I'll come back. I'll tell the rest of the world of this massacre! Build a new army!" Salem growled.
"You do not understand. There is no one left. You are all that remains of humanity." the God of Darkness replied.
"This planet was a beautiful experiment, but it is merely a remnant of what it once was. We will learn from this failure. I hope that you will learn from yours." the God of Light said before leaving the planet.
"No! You can't leave! You can't leave! COME BACK!" Salem shouted.
"Still demanding things of your creators..." the God of Darkness followed his brother, leaving the planet in a purple light. Looking to the sky, I watched as the moon broke into pieces as the god left.
"Salem cursed the gods. She cursed the universe. She cursed everything, everything but herself. She wandered the face of the planet, awaiting a death that would never come..." Jinn said. Salem walked to the edge of a cliff and looked down, seeing the black pools of Grimm below. "Until fate led her back to the Land of Darkness. This was it. This had to be it, the brothers Grimm, the pools of black that continued to give rise to horrific nightmares. If the fountain of life granted her immortality, then surely, the pools of Grimm will finally take it away." letting herself fall into the dark liquid, she was submerged entirely.
A few seconds passed before something start to lash out at her. "She was wrong. This force of pure destruction could not destroy a being of infinite life." Salem crawled her way out of the dark pool. "Instead, it created a being of infinite life with a desire for pure destruction."
Her skin was a ghostly white, her hair matching her skin and her eyes were like those of Grimm. I looked away, clenching my fists at the sight my mother had turned into because of pure selfishness.
It was too much.
"I don't want to see anymore." I said softly. What I had seen already started raising more questions. Questions I never want answers to.
"Very well." the scenery changed back to the snowy woods, where Ozpin was still kneeling in the snow.
End of chapter 36