Despite the swarm of grimm, the panicked retreat, and smoldering evacuation ship up beyond the loading ramp, the entire harbor seemed to almost fall silent as Salem made her slow, menacing approach. The woman had her hands clasped behind herself as she seemed to almost glide across the asphalt. Her expression was completely unreadable, and despite the apparent lack of malice, Sun couldn't help but feel terrified by her mere presence. When he noticed that her eyes were locked on his, every hair on his tail stood on end. He could hear his heart pounding in his eardrums as he refused to blink and the witch drew ever closer. Not even Blake's hand seizing his own was able to shake him from the trance, and her voice was nothing more than a distorted, otherworldly echo somewhere around the edges of his mind.

Salem stopped a mere twenty feet from the faunus, maintaining eye contact with him as one side of her mouth upturned into a smirk. It was the sort of expression that told Sun she knew something, probably many things about him that he couldn't even begin to guess. Her arrival was no mistake, and he was her target. Blake tried again to talk to him, only for Salem's voice to interrupt hers, cutting through the haze in Sun's panicked mind like a razor-sharp blade.

"…Sun Wukong, isn't it? The man responsible for bringing the Relic of Knowledge here to Solitas, and quite likely the one who came up with the plan to misdirect me to Sanus in order to buy time. Come. Speak with me, little faunus, and should you continue to hold my interest… no more harm will come to anyone present."

With a tense inhale, Sun dared to glance toward Blake for a moment. Despite his intention to get some reassurance from his partner, his attention was instead drawn past her to where the horde of grimm was standing around the defenders in a ring. It was only then that he realized that while they had all been transfixed by Salem's arrival, they could easily have been torn apart by the monsters chasing them up the docks. Each and every beast had stopped their advance with the arrival of their queen, even the ones overhead hovering in place as they seemingly awaited further orders. A harsh squeeze against Sun's hand snapped his attention back to Blake, and he finally managed to fixate upon her face for a moment.

"…be careful," Blake whispered, her apprehension obvious. "Remember what happened in Kuo Kuana. We have one chance at getting out of this…"

The words triggered a memory in Sun's mind, vivid enough that it was almost as though he was reliving it. While he couldn't remember the exact words that had been exchanged due to the mounting stress and tension, he could see Adam standing before him. He could feel the smug satisfaction of dressing him down in front of the public and calling out his every lie. A katana was thrown Adam's way from the crowd, only for the blade to be intercepted. Had it made it to its owner, Sun knew he would have been dead.

"…yeah," Sun acknowledged, his mouth dry as he let his hand limply slide from Blake's grasp. "Priority one is getting us out of this alive…"

"If anyone can do this, it's you," Neptune encouraged, his face pale and his grip tight around his halberd. "I believe in you."

"It seems that many do," Salem said as Sun took a few steps forward. "Why is that, I wonder? Your other allied and supposed leaders seem to have failed, one by one, in ways that are costing you more and more. Ozpin. Ironwood. Even Ruby Rose, the huntress responsible for stalling my efforts at Beacon Academy, all floundering and making critical mistakes that have done nothing but erode trust. What is it about you that's so attractive to those looking for guidance?"

Sun came to a stop, trying his best to think of a satisfactory answer… and determine whether or not the question was worth answering to begin with. He secretly hoped that Blake would jump in and answer for him, followed by Neptune, and then a rousing chorus of people he didn't even recognize would sing his praises and prove that he was the worthy hero who could stand up to the legendary evil before him. Unfortunately, no such fairy tale moment came.

"I…" Sun started, failing to figure out his secret strength. In the moment, all he could think to do was be honest, and take his best guess at answering a question he had asked himself over and over again. The faunus chewed his bottom lip for a moment before meeting Salem's eyes and resolving not to break eye contact again. "…I listen. I listen to what it is that people want… or need… and I do my best to get it for them. I do what I can in any situation to help people be their best selves, even if I know that it isn't always possible… and I understand that when they can't, that's not who they really are. They trust me because I trust them to do the same once they realize I'm being genuine with them."

Salem's eyes narrowed as she inclined her chin upward and began to look the boy over. Sun suddenly felt incredibly lame, as though he had given the worst answer imaginable and potentially cost them everything. Even so, he remained rigid and refused to back down as his tail twisted subtly behind him.

"…spoken like a true idealist," Salem observed. "So unlike the typical warmonger, bureaucrat, or businessman. So unlike the sort of man who actually gets things done on any sort of large scale. You know… I was like you, once. I had hope. Hope that those with stolen positions of influence far above my own would ever listen. That they would consider my words as having any sort of value in comparison to their own. I had the naïve notion that perhaps the unjust and arbitrary laws of this world could be changed, if only those with the power to shift them would consider a new perspective."

"…what changed?" Sun dared to ask before he could stop himself. The sound of his own voice and the narrowing of Salem's eyes emboldened him, and he made sure to shift his tone to a more sympathetic one as he took a step forward. "What… happened to you…?"

"Ozpin didn't trust you enough to fill you in?" Salem asked, tilting her head mockingly. "That figures, does it not? It also proves my point entirely. Play your cards right, and I'll allow you to get that answer from him yourself. We'll see what you do then, with your faith in the inherent goodness of people. I'll be honest with you, Sun- I'm not so much interested in you as I am your connections. It seems to me that you have a lot to lose… and for that reason, you would be likely to connect me directly to Ironwood at my request. All I wish to do is talk. Make the call. My patience is not infinite."

"Call… him?" Sun asked, taken aback. "Like… on my scroll...?"

"Did you have another idea?" Salem asked, her question only serving to make Sun feel incredibly stupid. "We'll speak to him together. Come closer."

Sun put a shaking hand down into his pocket and grasped the scroll General Ironwood had given him before sparing a quick glance over his shoulder. Blake's ears were still flattened, though she gave him a hesitant nod. Neptune was instead emphatically shaking his head. Sun couldn't help but be somewhat amused by the stark contrast between them. With a deep breath, he dialed the number and took a few steps forward, putting the device on speaker as it began to ring. He made it to within two arm's lengths of Salem before he received an answer, and he stopped walking with a grateful exhale.

"…Sun? Why are you calling me personally? What's going on?"

"It's…" Sun started, daring once again to look at the witch. "…i-it's Salem. She's… here. She wants to talk to you…"

"…what are y-"

"Hello, James," Salem interrupted, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "I know that you're a busy man, what with trying to get Amity into the sky to reestablish communications with the rest of Remnant, and all. Stop that."

The venom in Salem's last words caused Sun's blood to run cold, and he struggled to hold the scroll flat and keep his hand steady. He looked between the device and Salem as he waited for a reply, only for General Ironwood to answer in an equally biting tone.

"Now why would I do that, when you're in the middle of invading Mantle? If you're about to threaten me with the lives of Sun and his crew, then save it- you could easily go back on your word the second I stop efforts to get global communications back up, and I wouldn't know until it's far too late. I don't trust you. You don't trust me. What game are you playing?"

"A simple one," Salem answered patiently. "All I desire is the Relics, James, and you have half of them in your possession. Stop impeding my search, and this all ends. Hand over what you have, keep your twin cities, and Argus, for that matter, and we can both go on our merry ways. Vacuo and Vale have nothing to do with you, and I will succeed regardless of your efforts. Be smart, rather than stubborn."

"I know Arthur Watts is on his way here," General Ironwood replied. "You wouldn't send him unless you have faith that he can stop me."

"Wouldn't I?" Salem asked rhetorically. "Perhaps I tire of that arrogant man. He is under orders to wait patiently outside of Amity until after this call concludes. If you refuse my offer, he will enter the arena, and you may dispatch him to do us both a favor. His services will no longer be needed beyond this point. Give me what I want, and your people will be spared from this point forward."

There was a long pause as Salem's eyes found their way back to Sun's. He once again refused to look away.

"…I have additional terms. Sun… take it off speaker and give the scroll to Salem."

"But…" Sun began, his face falling.

"That is an order. Give her the scroll and back away. This isn't for your ears."

Sun couldn't help but feel an intense sense of betrayal as his face twisted into an expression of anger. He did as he was told and offered the scroll to Salem, who took it with a smile.

"Good boy. What exactly is it that you want?"

Sun looked down at the pavement, stewing in anger as he turned around and began to make his way back to Blake. Quite suddenly, a violent, overwhelming force threw him forward into his friends as the sky all around him adopted an orange glow and his ears began ringing. Intense heat engulfed the area following the explosion, and Sun twisted onto his back to look behind himself at the spectacle.

Where Salem had stood only seconds before was a field of fire, viscera, and blackened pavement. The detonation of the scroll had left a crater covered in black goo and twisted bone, the ichor burning and trailing a foul stench into the air. Blake and Neptune helped pull Sun back to his feet as he stared in awe at the remains of Salem, only for his shock to quickly turn to horror. The burning bits of the grimm queen were slowly beginning to move, snaking back toward each other and twisting around themselves to form the beginnings of a body.

"Get to the remaining transports!" Sun yelled as he tried to gather his composure and the remaining grimm in the area descended upon them. "We need to get out of here, now!"

Author's Note:

At some point, Salem's probably going to get very tired of being killed…

-RD