Alright. To make up my late posting last week, I'm posting this chapter two days early. Again any helpful feedback would be wonderful. But also feel free to ask questions regarding anything related to the story or characters. I try and include the answer to those in the next chapter. But until next time!

Note: I do not own either RWBY or Fairy Tail. Those are owned by Rooster Teeth and Hiro Mashima ( and FUNimation). Please support the official release.

Note two: Bolded text indicates telepathic dialogue between Mavis and Zeref. Italic text indicates a flashback.

Salem could feel something entering the Monstra. She knew this magical signature–it was them. Then almost immediately after, she felt a second energy wave. But this one…this one smelled of death.

Even as an immortal, Salem found death unpleasant. Getting burned to ashes or obliterated into tiny pieces was painful, not that she couldn't deal with the pain. But even worse, reforming herself wasted valuable time. The time that she could spend plunging the world into darkness. Her day of embracing death would come, but first, Ozma and the world would pay for their crimes.

Summoning purple magic to her fingers, she slammed them onto the ground, she encased herself in a translucent purple shell. She watched the death wave sweep through Monstra, disintegrating everything it touched or rendering it lifeless gray.

Many of the seers that were stored in the Monstra screeched as the black energy enveloped them, before falling silent. Salem's protective barrier began to crack under immense pressure, forcing her to channel more magic into it. The whole area trembled as Monstra bellowed in agony.

It was only perhaps by a miracle that neither she nor the Monstra was seriously harmed. When she was sure the death energy had dissipated, Salem dropped her barrier, taking quick and deep breaths. It had been a long time since she needed to use this much energy.

Taking slow steps, Salem tentatively poked the grayed flesh of the Monstra, which caused it to flake off. She closed her eyes, scanning the whale, searching for any surviving seers. There!

"My children, capture those who caused this!" She ordered. Only one person could've done this. Well, two, really.

She was going to have so much fun with those two.

Zeref was only dimly aware of his surroundings, but even in this state, he could feel something was wrong.

Blinking out the sleepiness from his eyes, the Black Wizard looked at his hands. They were bound up by the red tentacles of a seer. The dome on its head, covered in bony plates, glowed a deep orange.

Then Zeref looked down, only to realize he was being dragged along the floor. Apparently, the seer wasn't willing to carry his whole body.

How did he end up in this situation again? He'd met up with Ozpin, along with Mavis, and got angry. He'd said some…harsh words. Perhaps too harsh. Then he and Mavis lost control. Wait…Mavis! He closed his eyes, trying to reach her. "Mavis?"

"Oh, don't worry about Mavis," Zeref whipped his head back around, focusing on the seer.

"Salem," He tried to keep his tone even. Losing control once was bad enough. Losing it twice wouldn't bode well at all. "Where is my wife?"

"Oh, we're just having tea," the Grimm Queen gave a sickly sweet smile. "You'll join us soon enough."

"Do not listen to her," Mavis finally responded. "I am okay, but she has me tied to a chair. It's getting annoying. She's having seers force-feed me chocolate chip cookies."

"Why do you think–"

"She's doing this? I think she wants to finish our first conversation."

"I can see the two of you are talking without me," Salem butt in. "It's rude to ignore your host." The seer raised a barbed tentacle to Zeref's neck, lightly dragging it over his skin, creating a small cut. "Isn't it?"

"Maybe we're a little too obvious, huh Mavis?" Zeref closed his eyes. He could sense his Fairy's magical signature, which was now just down the hall if you could call it a hall. Zeref didn't think he'd ever get used to the fleshiness of the whale. "I would like to walk the rest of the way if you didn't mind."

"And how do I know you won't run away?" Salem bit back.

Wow. Was she really that blind? "You have Mavis." Zeref deadpanned. "I'm not leaving without her."

"Fine." The seer unceremoniously dumped him onto the ground, before floating back to whatever its previous station was.

Picking himself up, Zeref felt around his belt, only to find that his knives were still there. Curious that Salem had allowed him to keep these. Shrugging off the thought, he walked the last few steps, before opening the door.

Inside was a meeting room. A long table dominated the center of the room, with chairs along the table's sides and back. Salem sat at the large seat, at the head of the table. Mavis's bright pastel hair contrasted the otherwise dark red and black room. A seer floated above her, its appendages wrapping her arms and legs to the chair.

"Ah, you've arrived," Salem mockingly beckoned. "After you hosted me in your house, it's only fair I host you in mine. Come, take a seat." She stretched her hand impossibly far, pulling out the chair next to Mavis. Walking slowly, Zeref approached his seat but hesitated to sit down.

"Get rid of the seer," he commanded. "Or I won't sit down."

Salem sighed, before signaling the seer, who quickly floated out of the room. "I'd pegged you two as being into bondage, given your age."

"Bondage?" Mavis looked at her confused. "What do you mean by…oh." She turned away, face tomato red. Zeref was tempted to laugh, if not his own embarrassment and lust mixing with Mavis's.

Quickly sitting down, Spriggan tried to distract himself with the baked goods on the table. The cookies…actually smelled nice.

"The cookies aren't half-bad," Mavis, stretching her hands, snatched another one from the pile.

Zeref grabbed one and took a bite. The cookie was crunchy, yet, still smooth. The chocolates' bitterness was prevalent, but not overpowering. "When did you learn to make these?"

"Too long ago," Salem gripped the arm of the chair. "This brings me to my next point. I see the two of you are still helping Ozpin, aren't you?"

"So?" Mavis set her cookie down. "Why did you hate him this much?"

"I'll weave you a tale," Salem began, unraveling the narrative of her past. "Once upon a time, there lived a girl trapped in a tower, gifted in magic but unable to break the power that bound her. Men from far and wide attempted to free her but for their own gain. All of them failed. Until one day, a man named Ozma arrived."

"And the girl?" Zeref prompted.

"Her name was Salem," Salem smiled. "Do you understand where this is headed? When Ozma liberated me and we fled that wretched tower together, something shifted between us."

"Love," Mavis murmured, her eyes widening. In that fleeting moment, Zeref detected a glimmer of recognition in her gaze.

"We were destined to live happily ever after until Ozma succumbed to illness. It was a cruel fate for both of us. I'd spent my entire life stuck in a tower, waiting for someone to get me. And when someone did, they were taken away."

Salem continued, "So, I sought the God of Light, believing the gods would rectify this injustice. However, he rejected my plea, claiming it was essential to maintain the balance between life and death. So I turned to his brother, the God of Darkness."

"That's not how gods see it," Zeref muttered, almost as an afterthought. "In the end, we're just things to play around with."

"But Ankarhasm didn't," Mavis told him. "He…let us die. Let you die. Even if that wasn't what I wanted for you, he took pity."

"Well, he was a god of contradictions, of life and death. Perhaps that made him…different."

Salem seemed to sigh with relief. "Thank you for understanding. The gods granted my wish—Ozma was restored. Then, they stripped him from me again when they discovered I had first sought aid from the God of Darkness. As punishment, they bestowed upon me immortality. Regardless of my attempts—beheadings, stabbings—"

"Starving yourself, jumping off cliffs–" Mavis continued, lost in her own thoughts.

"And boiling in hot oil," Zeref finished.

"I couldn't die," They all said at the same time. A silence ensued for a few moments.

"Eventually, I realized that the sole solution lay in waging war against the gods. They would strip me of my immortality. So I traveled from kingdom to kingdom, tricking those foolish kings into thinking that they could steal immortality like I supposedly did. Suffice it to say, the attack did not go well. And the gods, in their 'infinite wisdom', eradicated the remainder of humanity, sparing only me. Then they left, shattering the moon as they did so.

"So I wandered the earth alone." Salem continued, "I stumbled into the Land of Darkness. I thought, perhaps the remnant of the god's power, the Grimm pools, might've killed me. But, it didn't."

"It turned you into this," Zeref laced his hands together. "But it still doesn't explain your hatred of Ozma."

"Quiet boy!" Salem slammed a hand into the table, cracking it. "I have lived far longer than even you." She took a deep breath. "Eventually, humanity returned, somehow. I built myself a small house, on the outskirts of the first town, and waited. Then, one day, a familiar face returned."

"The gods brought back Omza," Mavis deduced. "Probably to try and fix the mess here."

"I wasn't aware of that at the time," Salem admitted. "He didn't confide in me. But that didn't matter at the time. We lived together, happy for a time even. Even had children. Then the lies he'd kept from me reared their ugly heads. He broke our family, and tried to steal my children away from me!

Now, all he seeks to do is stop me. With no success, of course. The gods did give me one boon, however."

"The relics," Zeref deduced. "When united—"

"And humanity is still divided," Mavis said. "The gods will destroy Remnant, for good."

"All I seek is release," Salem whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. "Don't you see?"

"No," Zeref sighed. "No, I don't. I suppose it's time we leave Mavis."

"Why..." Salem implored, her voice heavy with emotion, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Of all people, I thought you two, at least, would understand!"

Mavis clutched Zeref's hand tightly, attempting to ground herself. "That's just it. We do. More than you could ever know. But that doesn't absolve the pain and suffering you've inflicted for millenia."

"I once tried to reject the world, as it had rejected me," Zeref said, his voice carrying a note of pity, an unfamiliar sentiment. "And where did that lead me? Goodbye, Salem. May we never cross paths again."

And with that, they vanished.

Summer's hand twitched on her weapon, glancing behind her every so often. She wasn't usually this twitchy.

Qrow put a hand on her shoulder. "Summer," he gave a reassuring squeeze, "You don't have to be on the lookout. We got Oz here."

She forced herself to relax her hand. "Sorry. It's just…I'm the team leader, and I let myself get distracted."

"Summer honey," Raven chided. "We both know that you were just worried for me. Summer, honey, we both know you were just worried about me. But remember, you've got to take care of yourself first."

"But," Tai gave a disapproving glance at Raven, "In a team, we look out for one another. That's how it works. And you know how Summer feels about that Raven."

"But you can never truly trust your teammates, can you?" The sword wielder gave a sarcastic eyebrow raise.

"Raven," Qrow warned. "Do not start a fight with Tai again."

"Let her keep going Qrow," Tai smirked, "It won't end well for her."

"I think you meant yourself," Raven shot back.

"Guys," Summer intervened, grabbing both of their arms and bringing them together. A playful grin graced her lips. "I'll keep both points in mind."

"Team STRQ," August turned around with an inquisitive look. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, professor!" Summer gave a quick salute. "Nothing is going on."

"Sure," August sighed, turning back around. "Do whatever you want. Just, try not to break out into a fight."

"That was kinda weird," Tai decided.

"Yeah," Qrow agreed. "The professor is less of a…"

"Pain in the ass?" Raven guessed.

"He's excited to see his parents," Summer concluded.

"Speaking of his parents," Qrow gained a lecherous grin. Summer didn't like where this was going. The Branwen twins were always a bit more…open, with their flirtations, a byproduct of growing up with bandits, she guessed. But it made it much harder for her and Tai to keep them under control.

"Dude," Tai punched him in the stomach. "Shut the fuck up. Mavis looks like a child!"

"Well, she isn't," Qrow pushed back. "And look at you, judging someone for their looks."

"You know what I mean," Tai pinched his nose.

"Students," Ozpin's clear voice cut through their conversation. "We've arrived. Be on your best behavior, and under no circumstances provoke them."

The students responded with varying levels of enthusiasm. As they looked around, they could only see an unassuming cabin with a small wooden overhang and windows flanking the front door. Headmaster Ozpin knocked on the door three times, and a muffled voice responded from inside. A muffled voice came from inside the house. Oz opened the door, stepping inside, with the rest of them following suit.

"Mavis is finishing up the pasta," Summer saw a teenager, possibly 16 or 17, talking with Ozpin. He had black hair and onyx eyes, with a similarly colored dark shirt. A white towel, or possibly robe, was wrapped around his waist, forming a skirt of sorts. "And these are the students." His tone sounded bored.

"Uh, hello," Summer extended her hand. "I'm Summer. This is Tai–"

"Qrow and Raven," Zeref finished. "I have met some of you before. And sorry, I don't…"

"Oh!" Summer lowered her hand. "I just wanted to say thanks on behalf of my team for saving us."

"Please," Raven scoffed, seating herself on the green couch and kicking her boots onto the coffee table. "We could've taken that Ursa."

"Raven," Summer tried to say.

"Is that so?" Zeref raised an eyebrow. "That's not how I remember your fight with the Nevermore going."

The red-eyed girl glared at him. "I was caught off guard."

"Then you need to learn to react faster," Zeref retorted. His hand twitched, and suddenly, knives were poised against Raven's throat, stopped only by her aura from breaking the skin. Her hand hovered near her sword as if she were ready to counter.

Qrow was the first to unsheathe his weapon. "What the hell are you doing?"

Zeref gave a hard glance at Raven. Summer readied her axe for a swing. "Look, I don't care who you are or what Ozpin told us. Release Raven now."

"Oz," Zeref removed the knife from Raven's throat. The girl instinctually put a hand to her throat. "Why did you bring them here? You didn't come here just for small talk."

"First of all, I didn't," the headmaster shrugged. "Your son did. And second, I thought it'd do them some good if you and Mavis could…see them."

"If only for our friendship," Zeref put away his weapons, pausing for a moment, "Come along kids. We're eating lunch outside."

Mavis pinched Zeref's ear, dragging him into the kitchen. "Why would you do that, you idiot?" She glanced back at her guests who were happily savoring the farfalle pasta with tomato sauce she had prepared for lunch.

"I…don't feel comfortable being around them," the Spriggan confessed, his voice tinged with vulnerability. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

That gave her pause. "I get that. But lashing out at people won't help that." Mavis debated telling Zeref about what she felt, back in Ozpin's office. "When you confronted Oz about throwing children at his problems…"

The Black Wizard's eyes widened. "Mavis, I didn't mean it that way."

"Then how did you mean it?" The Fairy Tactician demanded. "From where I stand, what Oz wants to do and what I did, they're not so different. I threw my guild members at a problem, just like throwing knives against a cliff face – at you!" Her voice quivered, betraying the guilt she felt.

"I can't watch my kids shed any more blood!" Makarov uttered his last words. "If the life of this aging soldier can give those kids a future, then I'll gladly give it up."

Tears welled up in her eyes, their heaviness causing them to trace a path down her cheeks. "If that's truly what you think of me," she began, her voice trembling, "then maybe I shouldn't be here—"

Zeref pulled Mavis close, allowing her tears to stain his shirt. "Mavis Vermillion. Their blood isn't on your hands–they're on mine. So don't you dare consider yourself a monster, even for a second."

"Don't," Mavis sniffled. "Don't say that. Please."

They stayed like that, both finding comfort in the other's warmth. "I'll give Ozpin the benefit of the doubt," Zeref finally said.

Mavis couldn't help but smile, standing on her tiptoes to plant a quick kiss on Zeref's lips. "Finally," she teased. "Was that so difficult?"

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Wait, was that the reason you–"

She placed a finger to his lips. "Shhhh," She smirked.

The backdoor slammed shut, evident someone had eavesdropped on them.

"We should get back outside," Mavis decided, her face beet red.

"That would probably be for the best," Zeref kissed her cheek. "We can continue this later."

Oz sipped his cup of tea, admiring its consistent taste. Despite its simplicity, the mint tea had a calming effect. Especially after what he'd seen from Mavis and Zeref. From his perspective, the two were, at one time, highly experienced and logical adults, and emotionally unstable teenagers.

Speaking of which, Mavis stood on one end of the grassy field, plucking the bowstring in anticipation. On the other, team STRQ was deep in conversation, occasionally glancing back at Mavis's bow.

Ozpin hoped a simple sparring session would help endear the immortal couple to the team. Unfortunately, Team STRQ was taking this a little too seriously.

It didn't help that Mavis asked to fight two of them at the same time, bruising their egos.

"Have you chosen your fighter, Team STRQ?"

Raven and Tai stepped forward. "Yeah, I'd say we've chosen."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tai sounded uncertain as he equipped his gauntlets. "Without aura, she could get seriously—"

"Mr. Xiao Long," Ozpin interjected, "as I have stated numerous times, your concerns are unwarranted. Mavis will be fine."

"I want you to hit me with everything you got!" she waved excitedly.

Raven pulled out her sword, thumb on its blade switcher. "Oh, you got it." She ran forward, holding her sword in preparation for a lunging attack.

Mavis pulled her bow back. As she did so, a lance, made of swirling earth dust, formed. Raven had to jump off her left foot, dodging out of the arrow's path. It continued to fly across the field, racing toward Tai.

The brawler took a fighting stance, his legs bent, open-palmed hands at the ready. He caught the earth dust, forcing it into the ground, causing the earth to spontaneously grow and launch him into the air. He pulled back his arm, preparing for an earth-shattering punch.

Raven launched another attack, closing in on the blonde.

Ozpin couldn't help but feel intrigued by how Mavis would handle close-quarters combat. The petite immortal offered a small smile before releasing an ice dust arrow at Tai, freezing part of his leg and sending him off course.

She swiftly transformed her bow into a shield, painted with a green, fairylike symbol on the front against a dark red background with orange trim. It sparked against Raven's sword, shoving her backward. Gritting her teeth, the black-haired sword wielder resheathed her sword, switching from the fire dust blade to the ice blade.

Meanwhile, Tai managed to break free from the ice, rejoining his teammate. "She's tough. We're getting nowhere."

"We may need to overwhelm her," Raven responded, readjusting her blade to hold it over her head. "Are you ready?"

"Yep," Tai ran forward, dashing forward.

Mavis released a second ice dust arrow, loading another shot into the firing chamber.

Tai punched the arrow, shattering the ice into a dust cloud. He continued forward forcing Mavis to reconfigure her bow back into shield form.

The impact from Tai's attack unbalanced Mavis, allowing Raven to run forward herself, jumping into the air at the last moment.

As the blade swung down, Ozpin was tempted to stop the match. Just because he knew Mavis would survive, Oz rather didn't want the children to witness the gruesome nature of true combat.

"Leave her be," Zeref looked at him. "Just watch."

The blonde popped out the dust round she'd inserted into her bow, then tossed it into the path of Raven's sword.

That was clever, Ozpin had to concede. Because Raven had jumped into the air, she had no way of stopping her own attack. The fire dust exploded in Raven's face, sending her flying to the ground. Her aura flickered dark red.

"Raven!" Tai, throwing caution to the wind, ran straight at Mavis, fists close to his chest.

Every ice and earth dust shot Mavis fired was shattered to pieces.

Then he caught a face full of electric dust, electrocuting him. His aura flickered a pale yellow, before shattering entirely, sending Tai to a kneeling position.

"Nice job guys," Mavis folded her bow, before slinging it over her shoulder. "Though, there are a few things you could improve on."

Raven, clutching her head as she sat up, sounded reverent. "Hit me."

"You tend to charge in too quickly," Mavis said as she approached, extending a hand. "You should assess your opponent's fighting style first. And unless you possess a Semblance for it, try to limit aerial maneuvers. They reduce your options in a fight."

"Any good news?" Raven took the hand, standing up.

"Your techniques are flawless," Mavis answered. "And you can adapt. Now Tai, on the other hand–"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He got to his feet, fingers still moving erratically.

"You should dodge more often," Mavis said. "Just because you can block, or redirect an attack doesn't mean you should. Like aerial attacks, blocking keeps you in place and gives you fewer options if there are multiple opponents."

"Got it teach," he joked. "No, but seriously. I think you would make a great teacher at Beacon."

"I don't think I would," Mavis muttered. "Anyway, it's getting late. And I happen to know that Summer is a bit of a weapons nerd."

"I wouldn't say weapons nerd," Summer began.

"I've been working on some upgrades for my knives," Zeref chimed in, producing the dark steel blades and allowing them to glint in the sunlight.

"Ooh!" Summer's eyes lit up as she took one of the knives. "Titanium-steel alloy, built-in dust charges...who made these?"

"We did," Both Zeref and Mavis answered.

Summer's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

"Oz," Qrow muttered. "I think we're going to have to camp out here tonight."

"No," Oz answered, before turning to face Zeref. "I trust you'll take her back to Beacon immediately after?"

Zeref nodded. "Sure."

"Alright then," Oz finished the tea and stood. "Team STRQ, we will be heading back to Beacon now, except for Summer."

"I'm going to stay," Qrow answered.

Oz turned back to him. "I'm sorry?"

"No offense, but we just met these two last week." Qrow put a hand on his blade's handle. "I'm not going to leave your team leader alone with them."

"Qrow," Ozpin sighed. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Then trust me on this: Zeref and Mavis will not hurt Summer in any way."

Summer walked up to Qrow, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I'll be fine Qrow. I can handle myself."

"Sure," Raven looked at Summer.

"Shut up," Summer playfully pushed Raven.

Qrow stared at her for a few moments, before relaxing his grip. "Alright, but I want you to call us when you leave."

"Don't be such a worrywart bro," Raven swung an arm over his shoulder. Let's go teach."

"How did you get your hands on the 1st model of Atlas's Dark Flower?" Summer gripped the gun, trying to get a feel for the weapon "And this is an early edition!".

"We got it when it first came out," Mavis explained.

Summer, uncertain, set down the weapon. '"Uh huh. But you don't seem that–"

"There's...a story behind it," Zeref placed his knives on a worktable. "But you'll have to ask Oz about that one. We should hurry up"

"Oh," Summer seemed to deflate. "Yes sir." The three of them subsequently worked mostly in silence, with the occasional clarification.

"Summer," Mavis looked up from one of the many joints that made up the new blade extension. "Why did you want to become a Huntress?"

"Oh!" Summer stopped spinning the rotational chamber to house dust charges. It was an upgrade meant to streamline the process of loading dust canisters into their weapons. "Oh, well, that's easy. I want to help people, and from the stories, becoming a Huntress was the fastest way to get to that point."

"Was it the best way to help people?" Zeref fastened one of the knife's handles to a wall clamp. "What happens after you and your team graduate?"

Summer picked back up the rotary chamber and the welding torch. She aligned the chamber with the handle of the knife, before activating the device. "I'm not sure. Honestly, all I want to do is help people, no matter what happens to me. And even if it may not be the most effective way to help people, I'm not alone in this. I trust my friends to stick with me till the very end."

"But why a Huntress specifically?" he pressed.

"My parents died to Grimm," She refused to elaborate further.

Zeref pursed his lips. He looked at Mavis, who nodded in turn.

The Black Wizard pulled out his scroll. "I need to make a call." Stepping outside, Zeref called Ozpin.

"What's your verdict?" The headmaster asked tiredly.

"They're ready," Zeref finally said.