It had been a long time since Salem had gone out into the world. Much of what she had known was because of what her subordinates had managed to gather for her. Images and video clips of the four kingdoms has allowed her some knowledge of the ways of this current iteration of humanity. For this attempt, she had planned for many decades now. Carefully bidding her time while building her forces of capable enough people that could bring down the four kingdoms of Remnant. Those who believed their cause just or themselves as mistreated, it did not matter to Salem. What was important to her was that she would finally obtain that which she longed for: the sweet release of death.

How many centuries has it been now? One? Two? Three? She had lost count even by the calendars of her time. Her heart had long since gone numb and she doubts that anything could warm them again. The only thing she wanted now was an end to the curse that had been laid upon her all that time ago.

That plan of hers had involved Dust, humanity's resource and primary weapon against her Grimm. Salem had pretty much gathered all the Dust around the world, depriving much of the four kingdoms of their valued resource. Prices were skyrocketing and there was obviously unrest and unease among them. Deprive the people of their precious Dust and they would sooner kill each other before they would realize that their enemy had been waiting for them, hungry at the feast of negativity being prepared for them.

However, there came a problem: Salem's own group had run out of Dust to be used. The Dust that they had hoarded wasn't being hoarded just for its sake but rather for their own use of weaponry. According to Watts' calculations, they were short of Dust and thus needed to enter the kingdoms to gather from the scarce amounts it had. It would have been troublesome if they had decided to purchase it and so they had decided to steal what they can. Even then, it started to run dry and soon enough, Salem herself needed to step in if they still wanted that Dust.

It was for that reason that was bringing her towards the kingdom of Vale, the current residence of one of Ozma's many reincarnations. Cinder had been tasked here and she had returned without the Fall Maiden powers. Somehow, it had been stripped away from her by someone who supposedly had interfered with her plans multiple times already. No doubt that the interloper must have been one of Ozma's trusted fighters. Salem had never heard of this Sasaki Kojirou but it is obvious that his profession as a mere security guard of a Dust shop was nothing more than a façade.

Despite the arguments to the contrary made by the rest of her subordinates, barring Tyrian, Ozma always had strange methods and it wouldn't surprise her if this was one of them. How else would this Kojirou be conveniently placed in the same spot that just so happens to interfere with Cinder's plans? No. This security guard is clearly part of Ozma's inner circle. His role in it was still a mystery but Salem will unravel it soon enough. She sighed as the leaves fell from the trees. In another time, she might have perhaps enjoyed the calm and serene atmosphere.

Then, Salem stopped. She could already see the walls that led inside the kingdom of Vale but she was still a few ways off. While some are permitted to travel outside, there was a certain limit to how far they could go without some escort. It wasn't illegal to travel without protection but most have good enough sense not to do that. What had caught her attention however was the man in question: Sasaki Kojirou.

He was easily recognized by his outfit and the sheath on his back. She was given pictures and while grainy and weren't always of the highest quality, his appearance was distinctive enough that he could easily be recognized even without it. So, he must have known that she was coming, was it? In some way, Ozma must have learned of her movements and had sent this Kojirou to intercept. Her ex-husband must be getting desperate, then. This Kojirou didn't even silver eyes and frankly, the way he is now as she had caught him only served to infuriate her.

Her eyes narrowed on the things he had held in his hand. On one hand, he had a box which had contained food. On the other, a pair of chopsticks. While it was around the time of noon, who would honestly willfully choose to go outside of their precious walls just to have their lunch? His dumbfounded expression along with the shape that formed on one side of his cheeks only served to infuriate Salem further. He was clearly playing dumb and pretending that his convenient place here was just that, a convenience.

"Can I help you?" he asked her. He was committing to the bit as he swallowed his food.

"You have something I want," Salem responded. She was not amused.

Before this Kojirou could respond, she had conjured up a charge of magical energy. His face turned serious, his false act was obviously broken. Despite the sheer and growing power behind it, the man didn't turn to flee. In fact, the seriousness of his face was much closer to those built on experiences. How much had Ozma told him? How much had Ozma shown him? No other explanation had entered her mind for hers was already closed around him being one of Ozma's many pawns.

Kojirou put away his lunch carefully and drew his sword. A loyal one without a doubt. Did he think that just because he had bested Cinder's powers he could do the same to her? She would let him try but like many before him, she would always come back. Such is the curse of her immortality. Part of her actually hoped that this one could actually do that but she knew it would be a false hope. There is no other method of killing her other than bringing back the Brother gods to judge all of humanity.

He took his stance and the falling leaves blew about them as the winds generated by her magical energy fanned them. A scene of serene yet dangerous power painted the canvas of where they were standing. On one end, there was a great magical energy from ages long ago and longer forgotten. On the other, a peerless warrior who must have exceeded many other swordsmen in his life. There was only one way that this battle could end.

The swordsman attacked first. Salem's vision had been filled with a multitude of steel. She could feel every cut, every bone, and every vein that was sliced apart. In times prior, she would have screamed and wailed in pain. Not this time, though. She had grown accustomed to this pain that it no longer had the same effect that it did on her. It was a shame that her casting had been interrupted however but there was nothing that she could do about that.

His eyes widened. Had he realized it that soon? Had Kojirou understood that it was a hopeless endeavor that quickly? He must have for more of Salem's vision had been filling up with sword slices. He was increasing the speed behind his swings. He already had impressive speed that it was like multiple blades were being swung at her at once. The increase of speed only served to impress her now. She would let him have his moment. Until she was nothing more than a mere sludge on the ground, Salem will allow Kojirou to swing away as much as he wished. It didn't matter anyway as she would always return from that black smudge. A single drop is all she needed just to return.

Her vision had vanished. It was expected when one would lose their eyes. At some point, Salem had also lost her hearing. It was a miracle that she hasn't gone mad from this sort of thing. Losing one's vision, hearing, consciousness, and many others only to regain them back would drive anyone else insane. There was a nothingness to Salem that would always be predecessor before she would return to her original form. In fact, the first thing she felt was the regrowth of the limbs that shaped her body. Her eyes may have been closed but once she regained feeling of it, she opened them, expecting to see Kojirou go down in despair since he had failed to kill her. From a little drop to full body, she could always come back.

What she ended up seeing was the color white. That was strange. This was the first that she had ended up in a completely different location. Was it some kind of semblance? A semblance that allowed that Kojirou person to bring her to a different location. The feeling in her arms and hands returned to her. When she looked at her hands, Salem jumped in shock at the sight of it. Gone was the Grimm features that she had grown accustomed to in the past millennia; in its place was the fair skin that she had before she dipped herself into the Grimm pools.

Her hands tapped her face. It was hard to tell but the red veins that marked her face seemed to have been gone. Those weren't always directly flat and would sometimes pulse outward that she could feel it burst sometimes whenever she got too angry. None of that was here. Looking down on her clothes, they had changed as well. It was the same set of clothing that she had worn all the way back when she had been freed from the tower.

Many questions had filled Salem's mind. What is this blank and empty space? Why had she returned to this form? Where had everything gone? She tried to conjure up some magic but found that not even the tiniest spark had come. This was the first time that Salem had experienced this and she was unsure of what should happen next. It had always been regenerating to full. Even if there was only a tiny drop of her left, she would have regenerated to full even though that it would take some time given how small a droplet would be. Pinching herself, it was indeed real. She had been brought to some other location and stripped of her Grimm form in some way.

Then, Salem heard voices that she never had heard in a long time. Voices that she remembered vividly even to this day. She turned to the source of the voices and when the sight of those four entered her vision, Salem could not believe it. Tears had begun to form at her eyes with many already streaming down her face. She fell to her knees as she realized what had just become of her. Never would she imagine that it would be like this. Had Ozma always known? Had he believed in that Kojirou person enough to entrust such a thing? Was this Kojirou capable enough of cutting her so much that not even a single drop of her remained? Was this nothing more than an illusion that plagues her own memories? Did it matter that it was a convincing copy? It would have been impossible otherwise for Salem and yet here she was, seeing four little girls running towards her.

At the recognition of their mother, the four girls cried out once again as they barreled at Salem and held her in a tight embrace, "mom!"

Salem never thought that she would hear those words again. Fake or not, it felt real for her and if it was, this was a compromise she was willing to take. If it was real, then everything was well and she had already accomplished that which she had sought. Either way, she owed many great thanks to one Sasaki Kojirou.

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"Kojirou, what happened?" asked the shop keep at the sight of his employee drenched in sweat. They were not at the Dust shop this time but rather at a stand near Beacon Academy for the Vytal tournament.

"I had to rush here as soon as I can," replied his trusty security guard. "There was this strange person who interrupted my break, sir."

The shopkeep nodded in understanding. With a place with plentiful people like the cities, it was inevitable that one would encounter some strange persons. With the Vytal Festival in full swing thanks to the tournament, that likelihood could only go higher with the influx of tourists. The final rounds were next and there was little much else left to do here as most had either already restocked on Dust or are only finding means to watch the tournament.

"Clean yourself, first," shopkeep said. "There isn't much to expect right now so you should freshen up."

Sasaki Kojirou bowed. "Yes, my Master."

As his security went off to freshen up. Old man shop keep went back to his stand. While the Dust shop had a slowed customer base, the same could not be said about his ramen stand. Those required constant attention as the passing tourist might want to have some food. He had some stalls ready and some of the students of these huntsman academies were already approaching. By the looks of them, they must have been participants in the tournament who had just gone through their match. The dejected looks on their faces was evident of what had happened to them. Shop keep served them as he would any other customer while his security guard returned for his afternoon shift.

/-/

Headmaster Ozpin was busy planning out his next move. Things had gotten well with Amber gaining her powers again and thus far, no attack had been made when the Vytal Festival is busiest. The crime rate has started to go down as well with the Dust stolen by Torchwick being returned in circulation. There was more being found elsewhere as well.

Salem must have lost and sought to retreat for now. He will take full advantage of this to ensure that humanity can grow and survive. He never realized that that part of his duty had already been accomplished.

AN: At least somebody had a happy ending.