A/N: Now then, as ever, the Embers Rule Persists; if folks don't like this; poof, gone, to the void it goes.

Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Poof! Gone! Deleted forever. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that.

That's not a joke.

So here we are, another fragment that didn't quite make it into a story.

...

...

...

Or did it? What do you think? Looking forward to reading your feedback.

Alright, I've kept you long enough. As Ever I own no references, quotes, themes or memes.

"You know the old saying.

If you want something done right...

~?

Do it Yourself

Salem crawled away.

She dragged herself through the ruins of her tower, over the still-dissolving corpses of her Grimm. Inch by inch. Bit by bit. Even as she bled out, even as the last of her strength slipped through her trembling fingers, she didn't give up. A peal of dark thunder crackled through the grief-stricken skies of the Grimmlands, chased by a bolt of golden lightning. Salem didn't stop to look at it. She didn't dare. Battered and beaten, she dragged herself on.

If she could just get away...just put some distance between her and her hated foe, surely she could recover.

She was immortal. Invincible. Her hated curse -how she loathed it so!- kept her from drying. Nothing on the world of Remnant could harm her. Not for long. She would always heal. Recover from even the most grievous of wounds. She was eternal. Inevitable.

So.

Why did.

This hurt so much?!

She was still bleeding, still dying, when she should have recovered. She dare not look at her savaged arms. Her pale skin was gone now, replaced by the healthy pallor of a mere mortal. Her eyes were no longer the eerie red of the Grimm, her once-ashen hair now a spun shade of long glistening gold glued to her bloodied back. Were she to gaze upon herself in a mirror she would see something still worse, realize just had badly she'd been bested; how she had been changed. What was...taken from her.

This couldn't be the end; it mustn't be so. This was not her fate. Not her destiny.

"You're feeling it now, aren't you?" a low voice called from the foggy gloom behind her. "What the rest of us live with every day. Mortality. How does it feel...?"

She snarled and dragged herself forward another inch.

"Curse you...!"

"Sorry," Something stepped out of the murk behind her. "Been there. Done that. Not very fond of curses."

Against her better judgement, she looked over her shoulder.

Blue eyes met hers, framed by whiskered cheeks, blond hair, and a stern scowl.

She didn't even know who he was! He simply come to her tower, torn it down around her ears and reduced her...to...this!

Light -no longer dark!- built in her good hand, concealed within a now-baggy sleeve. Frantic, she turned and flung it over her shoulder. It met an open palm and caromed harmlessly into the air, but the impact was enough to send him skidding back, just a little. Salem clamored to her knees and tried to run, retreat, anything that didn't involve being here.

Her little legs failed her. Of course they did. This body was too weak to go on. Small. Frail.

It was the form of a child, after all. Damn him and whatever spell he'd used...!

The faint crunch of upturned gravel was her only warning.

"Don't worry. You'll survive." his hand reached down, grabbing her by the back of the head. "I'm not a killer." she snarled at him and lashed out with her magic, to no avail; the spell skittered harmlessly off his chest. "But I didn't have to go easy on you. I could have killed you. I want you to remember that." he hoisted her up and spun her her around. "I wanted to remind you to stay out of my way." His eyes met hers. "This tower is mine now." his hand tightened around her shoulder, draining her yet further. Your people? Mine. Grimm? Mine."

He yanked her forward until her forehead touched his.

"In all the years to come," he growled, "In your most private moments, I want you to remember the one man who beat you. And remember...

His right hand slashed out, tearing a portal in the air.

Salem saw it and redoubled her efforts to escape, all for naught. She could see through it; see Vale and within it, the hated campus of Beacon. He wouldn't send her there, surely. To strip her of her power, reduce her to a mere child, drop her into Ozma's lap, stripped of her mortality, her strength, her very essence?!

"No!" she wall but wailed! "Don't you dare!"

...if I can get to you in your own tower? I can get to you anywhere."

He cast her through, Salem's skull struck something hard, and she fell into sweet slumber.

A/N: As ever, the Embers Rule Persists; if folks don't like this; poof, gone, to the void it goes. Poof! Gone! Deleted forever.

So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard!

So In The Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly? It keeps us all alive.

Without reviews, we wither and die. Sorry, but that's the truth.

Now then, we do hope you enjoy the previews. Read at your own risk, of course:

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

YE BE WARNED!

(POTENTIAL Previews/ For Different Things~!)

"Time for counseling~!"

"You know, a not-so-wise man once imparted these words of wisdom:

Ozpin's head snapped up as a giant shadow fell over Beacon.

And hsi conqueror simply smiled.

"BURN THEM ALL."

"Dark lord, eh? Don't much like the sound of that. Bright Lord sounds better."

He raised his hands and the tower began to rebuilt itself anew.

Tenten drooled as she beheld the custom scythe. "I want that."

Ruby whimpered. "I need an adult!"

"I AM an adult!"

Naruto yanked her back by the collar of her shirt like some naughty dog. "Tenten, no! Bad! Sit!"

"But it can transfooooorm! Noen of my weapons can do that!"

"Where's Salem?!"

"Sorry, this place is under new management."

R&R~!