Chapter 25: Light and Dark.
"Welcome home, Nightmare." Salem greeted.
The Avatar of Darkness had a terrifying presence, Cinder noted. His figure, though small, had enough power in it to intimidate her. She may have to watch out for him-
"Salem!" The Dark God cheered and rushed toward her mistress and hugged her like a giddy child.
Wut?
"Easy on the hugs, little God." Salem rubbed his head passionately.
"What?" Cinder, Emerald and Mercury blurted. When did the latter two even get here!?
"How very intriguing." Merlot muttered.
"Look, I have feelings too, you know." Nightmare hissed.
"Lay off them, buddy. They are new." The dark witch smiled at them.
"This,... Is very alien to us. You being this happy I mean." Emerald cringed.
"Pfft! Nonsense. When was I ever dark and broody?" Salem turned to her with the little Dark God in her arms.
*Cue ominous music
Zoom out to the Evernight Castle, the Grimm roared and the sky was blood red. The shattered side of the moon was ever present on the lands.
"Okay, good point." Salem nodded.
"Hey, I like what you've done to the place." Nightmare chimed in.
"It's not too bad." Mercury shrugged.
"It's great! I like the castle you built." The Avatar of Darkness smiled.
"Thank you, I try my best to decorate the castle. But, it's in the Dark side of the tree, so the night is unavoidable." Salem put the Dark God down.
"I'm gonna have a look around. See ya in a bit." Nightmare said as he disappeared into the castle.
Salem looked at him as he left before turning back to Cinder.
"So,... Why did you come back again? I thought you went to kill the man who ruined your life." The dark witch asked.
The fire Maiden swallowed.
"I,... Failed." Cinder tried to avert her gaze.
"Okay." Salem told her.
"But,... I failed to destroy the man who took away magic from this world. I failed to liberate us! Why are you alright with this!?" The Maiden ranted.
"Another opportunity will appear. Be patient. We will get our chance." Salem explained.
"They will come to us, I assure you. They cannot let the Tree of Light remain in our hands."
Cinder dropped herself down to the chair and pouted.
'Then why did you let me go to him!?' Cinder screamed inside her head.
"You all the time in the world. Mine is limited. You will find another chance, but I may not for the rest of my life!" Cinder exclaimed.
"*Inhales* Cinder,... Corals die when they get stressed. If you were a coral, you'd be a hundred times dead." The dark witch deadpan.
"That's not - Wait, what would corals even get stressed about!?" The fire maiden asked confusedly.
"Hmmm, Current Events?" Salem half asked.
Cinder could hear laughter from the other side of the castle. Maybe Chara was right, this was a bad idea. If her sister is back, why bother fighting anymore.
"Oh my god,..." Cinder groaned. This was giving her a headache.
"Sup." The dark god suddenly appeared behind Cinder, startling her.
"I didn't mean that." The Fall maiden muttered.
"S'Okay." Nightmare waved it off and teleported away.
Salem smiled, before sitting right next to Cinder.
"Lettuce talk of something else."
Cinder groaned.
"What else do you want to Taco about?"
Cinder groaned louder.
"Look, being Punny Beets suffering in silence. You should try it sometimes. Who knows, you might find it aPEELing." Salem wheezed.
"I can read your damn puns on the screen! I. Loaf. It." The Fall Maiden snapped.
Salem stopped laughing immediately. The fire witch was worried she would be in trouble for a second. One second passed.
The dark witch's grin widened, and it hit Cinder. Oh no.
"Embrace the dark side~" Her mistress purred.
"No!" The Fall Maiden yelled.
"C'mon Cinder, don't let me tell Joe to make you~" Salem sang.
"Who's Joe!?" Cinder questioned.
The dark witch let out a Cheshire cat grin.
Outside
Emerald and Mercury heard a scream coming out from the room. He shudders to imagine what was going on inside. What kind of torture Salem was conducting on Cinder.
They both reminded themselves not to step out of line in order to avoid the wrath of Salem. Messing up was not an option.
"Do you ever wonder if you've chosen the wrong side?" Mercury asked.
"Shh! She might hear you!" Emerald warned.
The assassin shut up immediately. He dared not to imagine what might happen to him if she heard that.
Salem walked out of the room with a satisfied smirk on her face. They bowed their heads in fear, but the Queen of the Grimm did not pay them any heed as she walked away.
Mercury and Emerald poked their heads inside and looked at Cinder. She was on her bead, holding two pillows pressed against her ears and shaking.
"C-Cinder? What happened?" Emerald asked.
"It was,... Terrible! Every one of them was absolutely horrendous!" The Fall Maiden cried out.
She had no wounds on her, Cinder was completely intact. So, Mercury concluded that it must've been some horrible mental torture.
"Awful,..." Cinder said weakly.
Definitely horrible mental torture. Not whatever kinky images he had in his mind.
Beacon
'why does frickin' everyone know Oz!? first Gaster, now the goddamn GOD OF LIGHT! just who the HELL is that guy!?' Sans yelled in his head.
'i swear, things keep gettin' crazier and crazier.'
The former skeleton looked down into his clothes. Everything was in the wrong color. His clothes were bleached white and Papyrus' scarf was blue while his undershirt turned black instead of its regular white.
He flopped onto his bed and started snoring. At least if he hides here, they won't attack him for that stunt he pulled in the middle of last night. Sans was completely drained, battle bruised and battered. He'd be lying if he said he won't be out of the game for a while.
"SANS! You're back!" Ruby busted into his room in joy.
"hey Rubes,..." The white haired boy muttered through his tardiness.
After one quick look at Sans, Ruby panicked. The red Rose rushed to his bed and held his face up. Sans seemed confused at the gesture, but he quickly realized why.
In his human form, his left eye socket is a hollow hole and around his right eye has cracked scars. Some blood stains were on his clothes, and he looked as tardy as a dead person.
Heck, his bone pale skin made sure that he looks dead.
Ruby gave him a look of worry before she gave him a hug. The red reaper held him close to her chest. Her heat radiating onto his cold skin.
Ruby never realized how cold his skin was until she actually hugged him. Was it new, he had always been that way?
The red Rose did not know, nor did she care. He was tired at the moment, and he needed a hug.
"warm,..." Sans murmured..
"I know I am." Ruby blushed, but smiled nonetheless.
Whether or not the blush was heating her up didn't matter. What mattered was the one in her arms.
Suddenly, the door, along with the hinges and the wall, was busted through like the Kool Aid Man commercial.
'Oh no,...' Ruby thought to no one but herself
"OH YEAH!" Along came Nora's yell.
The little Rose instantly let go of Sans a little too hard. The former skeleton was pushed off the bed and landed on the floor tangled in his own blanket.
'It was fun while it lasted.' Ruby thought.
'What was fun?' Chara asked.
"N-Nothing!" Ruby yelled out.
"But I didn't ask anything?" Blake questioned.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Oookay?" Blake half asked.
'I went away for like, 10 minutes and you've already bed Sans. Sans! Of all people,...' Chara ranted.
'D-Don't judge me! And I didn't!' Ruby flustered.
"Why are you blushing?" Weiss questioned "Wait,... Don't tell me you two-"
"NO! IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!" Ruby cut her off and held her face with both of her hands in embarrassment.
*Awkward silence*
'Gee, ain't that obvious, dude.' Chara remarked.
"Hello!" Pyrrha decided to chime in and break the silence.
"why are you all in my room again?" Sans questioned.
"Weeeeel, to answer that question, I-"
"Nora wants to break my leg, and we're trying to stop her. It seems like we didn't try hard enough." Ren spoke.
"oh, what gave that away?" Sans remarked sarcastically.
"The broken door?" Jaune half asked.
"That was a rhetorical question, dolt." Weiss spat.
"And he gave a rhetorical answer!" Nora sang.
"T-That is not even a thing!" Weiss complained.
"Yes it is. If there is a rhetorical question, it is possible to have a rhetorical answer." Nora explained.
Weiss' eyes twitched
"You keep saying that word, but I don't think it means what you think it means." Ren chimed in.
"It means strange, right?" Nora asked.
"No." Everyone replied monotonously.
"Damn." Nora muttered.
"*Sigh* C'mon Ruby, let's go back to our room. Let him rest." Blake spoke up and turned to team JNPR "That goes for the rest of you too."
"Good Night."
"Bye."
"Welcome back and goodnight."
"I'll break your legs in the morning, but goodnight for now."
And with that, team JNPR left.
"Do I have to?" Ruby whined.
"Yes, you do." Weiss responded.
"Noooo,..." The red Rose whined again as she hugged Sans.
"Do you want me to tell Yang you bed someone?" Blake questioned.
"GETTING UP!" Ruby jumped right off the bed and landed right next to Blake.
"Goodnight, Sans. Good luck on the test tomorrow." Blake went to close the door but remembered that the door was busted, so they left without any other word.
As he lay there, Sans considered getting up to prepare for the test Blake spoke of, but decided against it.
"eh,... i'll do it tomorrow." The white hood muttered to himself.
'hope Dream is having a better time than me.'
Dream's POV
'Yup, this old man is crazy.' The God of Light thought.
"Why are you looking at me as if I am crazy?" Ozpin asked.
"Because you are." The Avatar of Light said.
"Nah." The Headmaster replied.
"You can't deny that fact." Dream spoke.
"Nah." The Headmaster of Beacon replied.
"You mean to tell ME, that you shook hands with Salem, the witch of the Dark,..." The Light God started
"Yup."
"To make a peaceful world,..."
"Yup."
"By letting her set Grimm all over the planet,..."
"Yup."
"And trapping Monsters under a mountain so they won't be able to fight them. Did I get all of that right?"
"Yes, I just told you all of that. Why did you have to reiterate everything I've just said?" Ozpin questioned.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" Dream screamed.
"See what I mean?" Goodwitch chimed in.
"Now this conversation is going full circle. As I've told you before, and I will tell you again. No, I'm not crazy." The Headmaster stated.
"Did you even realize the weight of your decision, what you've unleashed on this planet!?" Dream exclaimed.
"Yes, I absolutely do. I brought order all over the planet. Monsters and humans can't coexist peacefully. Once a while, a conflict will happen, a war will come after and people will die. To avoid that, we have to get rid of one race, or another. Even then, that would not last long. Monsters have little to no issue fighting Grimm so they will thrive and make the creatures of Darkness minor inconvenience at best. Humans, however, lack magic. They need Maidens' souls to unlock their magic. That alone would make the Grimm a constant, glaring death threat, forcing them to reconsider before going to war." The Headmaster explained.
"So, you let people live in constant fear?" The Light God questioned.
"Yes. For their safety." Ozpin answered.
"You must be stopped. I will stop you." Dream growled.
"You will try, yes. But have you considered the fact that things were not at all better under your rule? One of you snapped and half of the planet got scorch - "
"Consider your next words very carefully." The Avatar of Light warned.
"Consider this, fuck you. You made me the protector of the people, I am protecting them. And, we are doing a much better job than you two, to be honest. You asked for peace, I'm keeping it. You don't get to complain after going for a wild goose chase for your brother instead of thinking for your people." Ozpin finished.
One of Dream's hands glowed with power as he spoke.
"You overstepped your boundaries, Protector."
"Maybe, but my faith in you has long expired." Ozpin calmly said "I care for the people, someone has to."
The little Light God can only puff his cheeks in anger and stomped out of the room. Glynda sighed in relief while the Headmaster sipped his drink with an unreadable, almost bored, expression.
She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. It felt like a fever dream. Ozpin had just talked down THE Light God, who was acting like a child throwing a tantrum might she add, as if he was another angry teenager.
Professor Goodwitch felt her respect for the man increased considerably.
"Glynda, can you get me another cup of hot chocolate? Also get me the stack of papers I left at the canteen while you're at it." The Headmaster of Beacon asked.
And he just had to lower it back.
TIMESKIP
The next morning almost ended in disaster since the former skeleton forgot to actually study for the test. It wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't been a Literature test, his greatest enemy, second only to running exercises.
Luckily, he was excused since he had just returned from a solo field mission. On the plus side, Sans got to look smugly at his friends as he is allowed to skip class. On a negative note, his door is still on the floor along with the rubble.
"*smacks lips* just go back to sleep. the solution will show itself when i wake up. if it doesn't, i will think of one. until then,... zzzzzzzzzzz." Sans fell back asleep mid sentence.
Outside, on a tree branch, a Raven looked at a Crow.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." The Raven said.
"Look, I know how it looks, but-" The Crow was cut off.
"I flew from Anima to Vale! VALE! Because you're worried about some nameless hack!? I mean, look at him! Does he look like a Mage to you!?" Raven ranted.
"Will you shut up? Yeah, he looks weak. What about it? Looks can be deceiving. Many literally see him use Magic with a capital 'M', including Oz. Fuck, he even taught some of them Magic." Qrow was cut off again.
"Ozpin is a senile old dumbass. I wouldn't put it above him to be tricked by an idiot." Raven seethed.
"Oi, give the old man some credit. He may be old, but he ain't senile,... Yet. The old man still got some tricks up his sleeves and was much more observant than you gave him credit for." The Crow argued.
"ok, i'd like to branch out and smack you two for being loud, but i'm kinda lazy. so, i'm just gonna give you two warnings for yelling at one another and talking about a person who is listening. don't you have nieces to stalk on, Qrow?" Sans suddenly appeared sitting on a tree branch right next to the two birds.
The two birds fell off the tree and flew away. They seemed to be in a hurry. The white haired boy looked at them with his code eye as they left.
"Man, people are so rude these days." Sans muttered.
The former skeleton yawned as he teleported back into his bed. Everything would probably be dealt with when he woke up.
Few weeks later
"... ns,... ans,... Sans!" Ruby called.
"bwah? what is it, Ruby?" The former skeleton asked.
"It's noon. Get up." The red Rose ordered.
"why?" The white haired boy asked.
"It's summer tomorrow, we have something to finish." The reaper answered.
"it's the twins, isn't it?" Sans asked.
"Yes." Dream answered for Ruby.
"figures. let's get this over with, then i can hopefully rest easy." The monster grumbled.
"Rest easy?" Ruby questioned.
"yup. after this, i kinda don't have anything else to do. maybe i'll stick with you and go with the flow." Sans shrugged.
"I'd like that." The red reaper smiled.
"is everyone ready?" The white haired boy asked.
"They are. They're just waiting for us." Dream stated.
"well then, any idea where we should start?" Sans asked.
"Blake suggested the Fang. Then we will move to the Grimmlands. The White Fang is kind of our side quest though, Yang and Blake wanted to stop the White Fang, Weiss wanted to stop the other twin, so we decided to fix the Fang on our way to the Grimmlands." The red Rose explained.
"fine by me,... but yall doing the talking. 'fraid I can't help with that." The former skeleton remarked.
"Pfft, easy peasy." Ruby gave a thumbs up.
Outside, everyone waited for them. With a smile, team JNPR and RWBY took off.
This would be better for him. A pacifist route. A new ending.
Inside the skeleton's house, a machine is left in a dark basement under the wraps, waiting to be turned on.
The Grimmlands
"Go fish! I win." Salem exclaimed.
"Darn." Merlot cursed.
"I wanna rematch!" Nightmare stated.
The mad doctor was lost. Everything he strived for, all of his life's work, every one of his goals was achieved and more. Sentient Grimm, a Grimm Queen and a God.
It was more than what he could've asked for. So,... Why does he feel so lost, so,... Empty? He couldn't figure it out and didn't even want to.
He was purposeless. Not knowing what to do anymore, the doctor only mostly followed his orders and remained in the castle, hoping for something new to come.
"Are you okay?" Salem asked.
"I am fine, your grace. It is not a matter for you to concern yourself with." Merlot sighed.
"I see,..." Salem looked at him with a questioning gaze.
"Alright, let's start again." Nightmare picked up the cards as he spoke.
"Do you think your brother is coming after you?" The dark Queen asked.
"Yup." The Dark God answered.
"And you're okay with that?" The witch questioned.
"Why not?" Nightmare shrugged "Let them come. I'll be waiting."