RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

by UGX7

In the wake of the fall Team RNJR sets out to bring Cinder Fall to justice while the new Fall Maiden overlooks her master's plan in Haven City. Meanwhile Weiss tries to help a friend, Yang struggles with the loss of her arm, and Blake deals with guilt over the White Fang. Meanwhile someone from Cinder's past returns and Salem's newest pawn rises. Arkos, WhiteRose, SunnyBees, Renora

96. Cinder Remembers Part II

It's also been a long time, so I think I should remind you all of Cinder's nightmare from way back in chapter 53, as that will be important here.

Also, please check out Old Man Arc!

Chapter 95: Cinder Remembers Part II

Ember took Cinder home, not releasing her firm grip on her daughter's hand at all on the way through the forest. They didn't say anything to each other, they couldn't even look one another in the eye, and when Cinder tried to, all she could see was disappointment, fear, anger and shame.

They finally exited the forest and saw Kojin instructing Ashe in combat training, the young boy was landing jabs and kicks on an old training dummy. He was so far okay at combat, but hadn't excelled like Cinder had, it was probably why his wife was so focused on teaching him spells to help him out in a fight.

Ashe punched the dummy's head hard enough to decapitate it, "Yes! You see that dad?!"

Kojin chuckled, "Don't get too cocky, Ashe, that thing was old and bound to break, let's see how you do on a newer one," He said, before he turned and spotted his wife and daughter returning, but he quickly grimaced when he saw the grave expression on his wife's face and how she was holding Cinder's hand, not to mention the face of dread Cinder had.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Everything okay?" Ashe asked, looking concerned when he saw Cinder's expression, "Is she in trouble?"

"Ashe, get in the house, go watch tv." Ember said, somewhat distantly, before giving the boy a look that told him it wasn't a suggestion. He dashed off, not wanting to be involved in whatever was about to happen.

"Ember, what's wrong?" Kojin asked carefully.

"Cinder hasn't been alone out there, Kojin. She's been seeing and learning from…from Salem." Ember revealed.

Kojin's face twisted into a mask of horror as he took this information in. He looked at his daughter with a face that gave away how hurt, scared and furious he was, "Cinder…what have you done?"

"I…I didn't know," Cinder defended, "I still don't, for that matter! Who is she? What is she?"

"I think the less you know the better. Clearly your curiosity has gotten the better of you." Ember said.

"Right, we're the ones who will be asking questions. How long have you been seeing her?" Kojin demanded to know. Cinder told them the circumstances of how she first met Salem, a bit too hesitantly for her parents' liking, and she could see the look on Kojin's face, a look of regret, as if he blamed himself for driving her out there.

"Has she hurt you in any way? Have you seen any Grimm prowling the forest?" Ember interrogated.

"No! She never once hurt me, never even tried! And I haven't seen any Grimm, unless…she's one?" Cinder asked, confused.

Ember and Kojin looked at one another, not sure how to answer that question.

"Cinder, as of now you're grounded until further notice." Ember said.

"What?! But mom, I didn't do anything wro-" Cinder began to object.

"You lied to our faces! You stopped me from attacking her! That's reason enough to ground you for life! Now go to your room!" Ember scolded as fiercely as she could.

Cinder glowered at her parents and snarled out "I hate you!" before she turned and dashed towards the house, not looking back to see her mother fall to her knees and begin sobbing.

That night, Cinder lay on her bed, having finished her dinner that was brought to her room by a confused Ashe, who was being kept totally in the dark about what was going on. The teenager sulked to herself, her mind was a dark maelstrom as she thought of what she could possibly say to her parents about Salem, about the Aura Crystal, about leaving. About anything really.

She heard footsteps outside her window and rose from her bed, peeking out to see her father prowling around the house as if on patrol. He glanced at her window, but she ducked down so quickly he hadn't seen her. Cinder then heard her mother calling her father's name, so she looked out again to see her parents approaching one another.

As carefully as she could, Cinder opened the window and eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Ozpin will be here sometime tomorrow and he'll post some guards from the Valean militia to keep an eye on us and our home for the time being," She told him, "Are you sure we shouldn't just leave? I mean, perhaps we'd be safer in a capital city like Vale or Mistral."

"No way," Refuted Kojin, "We'd draw too much attention and word spreads quickly in cities like that. We'd attract thieves and gangsters like a corpse draws flies and it's likely Salem would find us wherever we go. Besides, it'd be easier for Cinder to run away in a city."

"You don't really think she'd abandon us, do you?" Ember asked, nervously.

"I don't know, anymore, love," Kojin admitted, "I mean, kids lie all the time but this is… Do you think Salem knows about the Crystal?"

"I think it's a safe bet. It's probably how she found Cinder." Ember said, "Maybe…maybe we should bring the Order in as well."

"The Remnant Knights? I don't know, there's some strange rift between them and the Guardians now. Besides, how would we get in contact with them? We fought alongside them, but we never really understood their ways." Kojin told his wife.

Behind them, Cinder's eyes widened in surprise as her parents had unknowingly revealed to her that another bedtime story was, in fact, reality.

"Salem revealed to her that I was the Summer Maiden, I didn't confirm it but it's obvious she has about a million questions that we'll have to answer eventually. Perhaps…perhaps it's time we told them the truth." Ember said, wrapping her arms around herself.

"The truth? Ember, we've spent their entire lives telling them stories of heroic knights and the valiant Maidens. If we tell Cinder the truth that may push her even further from us!" Kojin pointed out.

"Well we're going to have to tell her the truth about me sooner rather than later! Salem has forced out hands. What do we do, Kojin? What do you suggest we do?" Ember pleaded.

"I…I don't know, Ember. I just don't know. Cinder's a very bright and skilled girl and her powers are extraordinary, but I'm scared of what she could become if led down the wrong path." Kojin confided.

Behind them, Cinder suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, a slight pain in her heart as she heard her father admit he was afraid of what she could become. Tears began to form in her eyes again.

"We shouldn't be afraid of our daughter! No matter what petty fights we might get into or what she does, she's still our baby!" Ember cried, "She knows too much, we have to tell her the truth."

"Can she handle the truth? Will she even want to believe us? It could create an even bigger rift between us and drive her away from us!" Kojin countered.

"Maybe you have a point," Ember relented, "What do you think Salem wants from her anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious? She's using her to get to us and to the Crystal," Kojin said, "Cinder's spent the last month or so going out there and learning from Salem. She doesn't understand any of this, she's just a child…she doesn't understand what that monster is capable of. Who knows how badly her mind had been poisoned by that woman or what madness she believes in now."

"She and I talked this morning, she's convinced she's not meant to be a Crystal Guardian. She doesn't want to be. I said we'd talk about letting her go to an Academy-" Ember began before Kojin cut her off.

"Absolutely not! Salem might not have planted that idea in her head, but she sure as hell encouraged it. Sending Cinder off somewhere would only leave her more vulnerable to Salem's influence."

"I suppose you're right," Ember admitted, "So, we're going to have to keep her here for as long as possible."

"Yes. She might hate us for it, but we're her parents, we know what's best for her," Kojin said, "She'll thank us for it one day."

Cinder grimaced darkly, she couldn't stand to listen to anymore of this. She quietly closed her window and went back to bed, dark thoughts clouding her mind as she slowly faded off to an uneasy sleep.

Again, Cinder dreamed. She dreamed of being a popular Huntress, having friends she didn't have to hide things from, going on incredible adventures, winning tournaments and wiping out Grimm. She dreamed of saving people and being adored by all who heard her name. That was the life she so desperately wanted, to be loved and admired for her skills throughout all of Remnant. To have incredible power.

But then the dream began to change, the sky began to turn dark and the life she wanted so much began to fade away. She felt herself being pulled away from her friends and fans, who all looked upon her with faces that were strangely vague but their cruel, mocking grins were the only detail she could make out. Cinder uselessly tried to stop herself as she was dragged by a fiery hand away from the academy and through the forests, back to her family's home. She saw her mother and father, working together to form the blazing hand that dragged her back to them.

"Where do you think you're going, you little idiot?" Dream Ember snarled.

"Trying to escape your destiny? Do you have any idea how horribly you've let us down?" Dream Kojin scolded, "How much of an embarrassment you are?!"

"No! Please! Let me go!" Cinder pleaded, trying to free herself and resist as the burning hand dragged her closer and closer to her accursed home, its doors flying open.

She looked back to see Salem, standing not too far away, offering her hand out to help. Cinder was about to reach out, but she hesitated due to her mother's intense warnings against Salem as well as recalling her true, Grimm-like appearance.

"Take my hand, I can help you!" Called Dream Salem.

"No! We'll never let you go! You're here forever, you little bitch!" The Dream Ember roared as they used their combined powers to fling her inside of the house. The doors slammed behind her, leaving her utterly alone in the house, but despite how dark and empty the house was, there was light. She slowly turned her head and saw her brother floating lifelessly above her in front of the Aura Crystal.

Ashe grinned at her with glowing eyes and said in a dark, echoing voice, "You cannot escape your destiny!"

Chains of light shot out of the Crystal, flying out and ensnaring her, dragging her close. "No! Please! Stop! Let me go!" She pleaded as she was dragged closer and closer to the crystal, its light glowing brighter and brighter, utterly engulfing her.

Cinder snapped awake, crying out in panic as she found herself still in her room, the sun already up. She looked around, patting at her bed and the walls before finally slapping herself in the face to make sure she was truly awake. She finally buried her sweaty face in her hands, groaning in misery and anger.

Later that day, as Cinder emerged from the bathroom fresh from the shower, she found herself face to face with her mother.

"We have a guest who wants to talk to you about your encounters with Salem," Ember said, her voice noticeably careful but distant.

Cinder nodded, "All right. You gonna tell me what she is? Was she telling the truth about you being the Summer Maiden?"

Ember sighed sadly, "You'll learn about Salem from our guest, but as for me? Yes, once upon a time I was the Summer Maiden, but then I met your father, I fell in love with him and I decided that those powers were too much of a burden on me. I gave up power for my own personal happiness, so I could have a family," She then placed her hand on Cinder's shoulder and caressed her cheek, "Cinder, please understand that…we're going to have to do some drastic things to keep you safe, but we're going to do it because we care about you."

Cinder nodded, but it was obvious that she doubted her mother's excuses. Inside her head, a voice told her not to believe her mother, that she was lying, trying to hold her back.

She and her mother walked towards the dining room, and glancing outside she could see men from the Valean military out on patrol around the house. They came to the room as Ashe was walking out, "See you later, Mr. Ozpin!" He said before he noticed them, "Hey, Cinder! Mom and dad brought some guy from Beacon Academy here! He's really nice, is he going to interview you about going to the school?"

"Something like that, honey." Ember said, before Cinder could say anything.

"Awesome! I showed him some of my skills and he thinks I've got potential, so you're definitely gonna make it, Cinder!" Ashe told her, his face smiling brightly.

Cinder nodded, giving him a small, fake smile before she followed her mother into the dining room while Ashe dashed off to play or watch tv. Cinder saw a man about the same age as her parents, maybe a tad younger, sitting at the dining table, with dark gray hair and glasses, with a smart green suit and a cane propped against his chair.

"Ah, hello there, Cinder, it's good to meet you. My name is William Ozpin, I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy," He greeted, rising up and bowing his head respectfully to her, which she returned.

Deep down, however, Cinder was quite wary of the man. She remembered Salem's warning against the Beacon's Headmaster, but should she even trust that? Then again, Salem, despite keeping her true appearance hidden, had been more honest with her than her own parents had been…

"Hello, sir, it's an honor to meet you." Cinder said, bowing before joining her parents in taking a seat across from the professor.

"Now that your brother has departed, we must get serious. Cinder, your mother claims you were in the presence of Salem, and have been seeing her nearly every day for several weeks now, correct?"

"Yes sir," Cinder confirmed, before explaining the events that led to their first meeting.

"I understand," Ozpin said as he contemplated her story, "She has a history of taking advantage of those who feel vulnerable and angry, especially teenagers such as yourself."

"She never hurt me, she trained me, helped make me stronger…" Cinder began, before Ozpin cut her off.

"She has done the same for many others in the past, my dear, it always led them to a gruesome end," Ozpin told her, "I believe that she may have been spying on you all for the Aura Crystal, and saw an opportunity in Cinder's frustrations and sought to turn her against you."

"By the Brothers and Sisters…" Muttered Kojin, "We're lucky Ember followed her and discovered this when she did."

"Mom, why did you follow me?" Cinder asked meekly.

"Well, I wanted to make sure you were being honest with us," Ember said, "I wanted to make sure you weren't going off to have sex with some boy or do drugs or something."

Cinder winced, did her parents really think that little of her? Didn't even trust her to stay away from drugs?

"Sadly, this is worse than either of those," Ozpin spoke up, "I consulted with the other Guardians of Remnant at an emergency session last night, I was able to talk them out of relocating you or confiscating the Crystal entirely, but they want to leave a small group of guards here for the foreseeable future."

"I see no problem with that, and thank you for your efforts, William." Kojin said.

"I'm just doing what I can. They will stay out of your way unless necessary, you won't even notice their presence. Now, we must decide what to do with you, Miss Cinder." Ozpin said, looking directly at the teenage girl, "And it's a very precarious situation. There is the option to allow you to come to Beacon or any Hunter Academy you'd like when you come of age in a few years, but putting someone who has been exposed to Salem could be quite risky to my other students, and I'm sure the other Guardians would be strongly opposed to it."

"As are we," Kojin confessed, "Cinder has been homeschooled her entire life, very sheltered from the world around her so we could keep the Aura Crystal safe. After this mess, I personally think it would be for the best if she did not go to an Academy."

Cinder looked at her father with a hurt expression as Ember spoke up, "I'm afraid I must agree with my husband. It would be in everyone's best interests if Cinder were to stay here. We can keep her safe with help from the guards you've brought."

"What about what I want?" Cinder asked, clenching her fists against the table surface.

Her parents looked at her, noticing the edge in her voice, how she sounded on the brink of either crying or yelling in fury.

"...Cinder, you're young. You don't understand what's going on nor do you really know what's best for yourself. I'm sorry we have to do this, love, but it's for your own good." Ember told her daughter.

Cinder was silent for a moment before hanging her head and saying in a hollow voice "I understand."

"So you and Ozpin met before? How did he not recognize you when we were staying at Beacon?" Emerald asked.

"Yeah, is he that stupid?" Mercury chimed in.

"Well, it had been nearly two decades, so if he did recognize me he probably brushed it off as a coincidence, plus thanks to Salem's dark magic, my body hasn't aged all that much since I reached twenty or so, plus my hair was much shorter, I wasn't as tall… I have no doubt he probably suspected something about us but dismissed it as paranoia on his part." Cinder explained.

"I gotta be honest, I always thought pulling off the fall of Beacon was too easy, I was wondering if Ozpin was secretly helping us out," Mercury noted, "Is he that incompetent?"

"I mean, he did select a first year student and celebrity like Nikos for something as top secret as the Fall Maiden after all," Emerald pointed out, "Hello! Someone like her vanishing would raise a lot of questions."

"He was a fool and we were just that good," Cinder replied with a slight smirk before continuing, "Anyway, I didn't bother listening to the rest of the conversation. Their words went in one ear and out the other, not really registering in my mind. To be honest my mental state was a swirl of negative emotions…"

Anger, fear and misery were coursing through Cinder's mind as her family bid Ozpin goodbye after a few more hours of discussion. Afterwards she simply went off to be by herself in the small estate's training ground, pouring herself into training, doing as much as she could to improve her skills. To become stronger. Stronger than her parents.

That night, after a very awkward dinner, she returned to her room. However, Ashe caught up to her and managed to get in front of her, looking at his sister with concerned eyes, "So…guess it didn't work out?"

"What do you think?" Cinder replied, sounding harsher than she had intended, but she no longer cared.

"I'm sorry, Cinder. If Ozpin didn't want you, it's his loss, right? Must not be that smart after all." He said, trying to comfort her, "But it doesn't matter, you and I can-"

"Doesn't matter? Doesn't matter?!" Cinder growled as she turned on Ashe, "It mattered to me! Now my dreams are ruined and I'm stuck in this damned house for the rest of my life! I'll never see the world, I'll never be part of a team, all because of our stupid parents!"

Ashe looked at her, shocked, "I-I'm sorry…I wish there was something I could do…"

Cinder sighed, "There's nothing you can do, Ashe. I'm sorry I blew up at you. You're the only one I don't really have a reason to be mad at."

"It's okay, I get that you're ticked at mom and dad, but maybe they'll change their minds someday. You still got a couple years to go before you're the right age. Who knows? Maybe they'll change their minds by then, and you could go to Atlas or Mistral." He said, trying his best to cheer her up.

Despite everything, Cinder managed to smile, "I wish I had your optimism, Ashe. I can only hope I'm not stuck here forever."

"And if you are, then I'm stuck here with you." Ashe pointed out.

Cinder gave him a genuine smile, the first she had worn since yesterday and hugged him warmly, "I guess no matter what, I'll always have you."

"I love you." Ashe told her as he hugged her back.

"I love you too." She replied.

That night, Cinder looked out of her window up at the stars that shone brightly in the cloudless sky. Salem's words about reaching for the stars had stuck with her, and looking up now at those twinkling stars, she almost felt as though she could reach up and grab one. There was a chance she could be burned by that star, but the glory would make it all worth it.

She heard her door opening, so turned her head to see her mother standing there.

"Cinder…I'm so sorry. I really, truly am. I wish we could let you go out into the world and live up to your potential, but it's for the best if you remain here. You're not even grounded anymore, we freaked out because of what was happening. I'm sorry. We're doing this because we love you, okay?" Ember told her daughter.

Cinder nodded, "I understand." She said, doing her best not to let the bitter resentfulness within her leak out into her voice. "Were you ever going to tell us the truth?"

"One day we would have, and I promise you once Ashe is old enough we'll tell you both the truth about my past and how we met. For now, just please get some rest." Ember said before gently closing the door, leaving Cinder alone.

Time went by; days turned into weeks which turned into months, and in all that time there were no further signs of Salem in the area. Occasionally there was a Grimm spotting but that was the extent of it, and it was always quickly taken out by the local Hunters.

Those months were dark times for Cinder, however. In addition to the normal problems every young woman faced at her age such as puberty, her relationship with her parents grew even more strained. She would barely talk to them outside of what was absolutely necessary, and despite their efforts to reconnect with her, she would brush them off, remaining cold and distant, even beginning to grow distant from her brother.

Despite this, her skills grew, she became one of the best fighters either of her parents had ever seen. Even the guards assigned to watch over them had tried their hands at sparring with her and she successfully defeated them, causing the guards to remark that they could tell her abilities would have made her second to none in an academy. Ember and Kojin had to agree, but it haunted them knowing that Salem had a hand in her growing strength.

Worst of all, every night Cinder went to sleep the dreams continued to plague her.

Sometimes it would be visions of her as an old woman worshiping the Crystal, which seemingly refused to acknowledge her devotion.

Other times she would see herself as a heroic Huntress and the top student at her academy, but one who would be surrounded by hundreds of vicious Grimm that would swarm her, ripping her apart as her parents looked on, unwilling to help. She would scream in agony as her body was torn apart and clawed open, slowly being eaten alive as her parents watched with shame and scorn in their harsh eyes.

One night she dreamed of being in the meadow, simply resting and watching rabbits play among the tall grass. She saw Salem, in her human guise, coming to sit next to her, pointing into the sky, where a hawk was soaring above. The hawk suddenly dove down, its talons glinting in the sunlight, and snatched up one of the rabbits, its talons slicing through the small animal's neck, severing its head. The head fell to the ground and rolled towards Cinder, coming to a stop mere feet from where she sat, looking at her with dead eyes.

"In this world, you can either be strong and cunning like the hawk or weak prey like the rabbit. You must choose." Salem told her.

The dreams went on, changing each night but every one of them was horrible, making her feel helpless and weak. And in each dream, she kept hearing sinister voices taunting her, telling her she'd amount to nothing and that the world would never care about her or know her name.

The voices kept telling her that the only way to escape this fate would be to turn against her parents and kill them. Kill her family. Kill them all. Kill them.

Kill them all.

These dreams persisted, and as hard as she tried to forget and suppress the dreams and the voices urged her to kill her family, but it was no use. The voices kept tormenting her and as they did, her resentment of her mother and father grew and so did her burning desire to escape from her life of confinement.

And one night, she found herself in an empty, abandoned version of her house, wandering around until she came across the room where the Aura Crystal was kept, and the sight that greeted her made her gasp in terror.

She saw another version of herself; weak, utterly alone, unloved and chained to that damned Crystal.

The Cinder chained to the Crystal weakly looked towards her and said in a tired, raspy voice "You can't escape this. This is your destiny…your fate…your end. To be forgotten…and weak."

Cinder let out a scream of anguish as she fell to her knees, "What do I do?! How do I stop this?!"

"Kill them." Said a soft, friendly voice from behind her.

Cinder turned and her eyes widened to see another version of herself she had seen in her dreams, the version she so desperately wanted to be. The powerful and respected Huntress with incredible skills and stunning beauty. The Huntress version of herself sauntered forward and said "You must kill your family and leave to join Salem. Only then will you be truly free."

"I-I can't do it…I can't kill my family…" She said to her alternate self, who's face became grim.

"You must. For if you do not, you will have resigned yourself to this shallow hell of a life. You will live out the rest of your days in obscurity, unknown by the world. You can become great like me, be free and help Salem change the world," The alternate self pointed at herself before grabbing Cinder's head and forcing her to look back at the weak and old version of Cinder chained to the dark version Aura Crystal, "Or be reduced to that pathetic creature and die as a complete nobody."

"No…" Cinder whined, dread filling her entire being.

"Seize your destiny. Reach for the stars, and take them!" Shouted her alternate self.

Cinder snapped awake from the horrible dream, her body covered in sweat and trembling. She brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as the words from her dream counterparts echoed in her mind.

For the rest of the day, she tried to go on as though nothing was wrong, like everything was normal, but she couldn't deny the tension she felt within. The resentment towards her parents and the relic they had dedicated themselves to, the powerful desire to leave her home.

To make matters worse, she couldn't stop thinking about her most recent nightmare, it played in her mind over and over throughout the rest of the day.

And the more she thought about it, she couldn't deny the truth to herself; she hated her parents. She hated this house. She hated the Aura Crystal.

She wanted to get away!

But there was only one way she could do that.

That afternoon, as she brought the final load of freshly washed clothes to her mother, who was busy putting them up on the clothesline, she suddenly announced "Mother, I challenge you to a proper fight."

Ember, standing on a small stepladder, was surprised by this, especially because of the serious tone of Cinder's voice. She turned to face her and asked "What do you mean 'a proper fight'?"

"A full on battle," Cinder answered, "If you really were one of the Maidens from the old stories, then you must be far more skilled in combat than you've been letting on for all these years. I want to see what you can do, and since my own skills have grown considerably in the last few months, I wish to test them against a worthy opponent. I can't think of anyone as worthy as you, Summer Maiden."

Ember looked at her daughter with a sad expression before sighing and hopping down so their gazes would be at nearly equal height. "Very well, if you're so determined to do this, I will face off against you tonight, after I've put Ashe to bed." Ember said.

Cinder nodded, "Agreed, he doesn't need to see or be a part of this."

"And I have several conditions." Ember replied.

"What are they?"

"If you win this battle, your father and I will reconsider releasing you and allowing you to attend a Hunter Academy," Ember said softly, surprising Cinder.

"Really?"

"Yes. No guarantees, but we'll talk about it. However, if I win, then I want us to talk this out. Let me help you get over this darkness you've been stewing in, let me help, please. I want you to know we don't think any less of you for your struggle to connect to the Aura Crystal, some Guardians didn't connect until they were much older than you, you're not a failure and we never considered you one," Ember assured her, "Your father is ashamed of himself, he feels he has failed you, so if I win this, we must do everything we can to repair your relationship with him."

"Very well," Cinder said, in a dispassionate voice, before she turned and walked off to prepare.

Ember sighed and placed her hands together and prayed, "Oh Brothers and Sister, please hear my voice; help my daughter, guide her out of this darkness she finds herself in. Please bring her back to us…and forgive us for failing as her parents."

That night, the family had an awkward dinner, which would ultimately prove to be their last. During the dinner, Cinder and her parents did their best to pretend nothing was wrong for Ashe's sake. Kojin, however, did his best to not look at his daughter, as he couldn't hide how didn't approve of her recent actions and behavior in the slightest. He even refused to watch the match, and would meditate in his study instead.

When Ember had put Ashe to sleep, she collected her gunsen from the small arsenal room they had and went to find Cinder. She eventually found herself in the room containing the Aura Crystal, but her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

Ember looked at the floating relic, suspended with the aid of Gravity Dust and walked forward, softly placing her hand on the Crystal and closing her eyes, praying silently to the Crystal to give her the strength to win her daughter back. A sudden surge of energy ripped through her and a beam of light shot out of the Crystal and onto Ember's body. Ember shuddered as the light retreated back into the Crystal, taking a fragment of her soul with it.

She collected herself, steadying her breath before she turned to see Cinder entering the room, a scimitar in hand.

"Are you ready?" Ember asked.

"Are you?" Cinder asked, before she rushed forward and attacked her mother, opening with multiple ferocious strikes that Ember was just barely able to defend against.

The older woman was able to block one attack, but left herself open to Cinder's fist smashing into her face, which knocked her into a wall.

"What are you doing?!" Ember cried as she recovered.

"Seizing my true destiny, mother!" Cinder spat before she attacked again. Ember blocked strongly and slapped her daughter in the face before Cinder kicked her in the gut. Ember parried a strike as she went down and then rolled out of the way as Cinder slashed up the floor. She kicked Ember in the back, making her fall forward and then followed it up by slamming the hilt of her scimitar hard into her mother's back.

Ember recovered and managed to parry Cinder's next attacks, their blades slashing cuts across the wall. Ember managed to get in close towards her daughter and knock her back before landing a few hits with her gunsen that made Cinder's aura flare brightly, but Cinder fought back, kicking Ember in the knee and then flipping over her before slashing her across the back.

Ember cried out in pain before turning around and blocking Cinder's next strike as her aura flared furiously from the attacks she'd been hit by.

"You're not giving it your all, mother," Cinder hissed, "Fight back!"

"Why are you doing this?" Ember demanded to know, her voice giving away how this was breaking her heart.

"Because I am sick of this place, sick of the Crystal, sick of dad and sick of you!" Cinder seethed as she charged again. Ember sidestepped and sliced a cut across the sleeve of Cinder's kimono, making her aura flare brightly.

"Cinder, please don't do this." Ember warned as they exchanged more blows, but Cinder smashed her fist hard into Ember's chest.

"I have to. It's the only way left." Cinder said before launching into another series of attacks, which Ember managed to parry before she managed to slam her gunsen against Cinder's blade, hard enough to make the grinding steel spark, and then elbow her daughter in the face. Cinder flipped backwards, managing to score a harsh kick against Ember's chin, knocking her back as well

Ember panted, she had been sparring with her kids for years, but she hadn't had a serious opponent since Cinder was an infant, leaving her rusty and out of practice.

Cinder, however, was clearly not holding back and was pouring all of her raw emotions into this fight. Cinder attacked, blasting herself forward and slamming her fist hard into her mother's gut before slashing her across the chest, causing her aura to flare up as she cried out in pain.

Ember swung her war fan had enough into Cinder's scimitar to knock it out of her hands, sending it clattering across the ground. Cinder caught her mother's wrists as they struggled for dominance, but Cinder headbutted her forehead against her mother's nose, causing her to lose her grip on her weapon and stagger back.

Using the gunsen war blade, Cinder attacked her mother, striking rapid blows that wore down on her aura before Cinder jumped up and drop-kicked Ember in the chest, smashing her into the wall.

Glaring down at her mother, Cinder dropped her weapon and got on top of her, attacking her head, chest and stomach with a barrage of harsh punches until her aura finally shattered. Ember cried out in pain as she lay at Cinder's mercy.

"Stop…please stop…Cinder…why?" Ember begged.

"Because I hate you," Cinder whispered, her voice dripping with spite, "Because you want me to waste away in this house, to guard that worthless relic which refuses to acknowledge me. Because you won't set me free!"

She wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and squeezed. Ember choked and gagged, struggling to get free as her daughter's hate-filled eyes bore deep into her soul.

"I will change the world, become more powerful than you ever were! My name will be respected by all and I'll destroy anyone who stands in my way!" Cinder vowed as she began strangling her mother to death.

"Cin-der…st-op…plea-se…I'm so-rr-y..." Ember rasped out before the life faded from her eyes and her body went limp.

Ember Kasai died then and there. Cinder carefully removed her hands from her mother's neck, her body shaking wildly as she slowly looked at her hands.

The hands of a killer.

"What have I done? No…she made me do it. They forced me to do this…" Cinder bargained with herself, "I had no choice. They wouldn't let me go…they wanted to keep me trapped here, waste my life…it's not my fault. They're to blame…"

She knew that the Aura Crystal had bonded her parents together when they were married, so doubtlessly her father would have sensed Ember's life being snuffed out.

He had to die as well. And Ashe…

No. Not him. He wasn't like their parents, he was innocent. He could live. She didn't have to kill him too.

Breathing shakily, Cinder escaped from the room that contained the Aura Crystal, just as a panicked Kojin entered.

Cinder could hear her father crying out, "Ember?! No! NO!"

"Whoa, that's…that's awful," Mercury said as he and Emerald took it all in. Cinder had taken notice of how uncomfortable the young assassin looked as she told them how she brought about her mother's demise.

"Do you regret any of it?" Emerald asked.

Cinder considered her loyal thief's question before answering "In the early days, I felt a little regret, but that faded away as I became stronger, as I learned more and more about the world that they hid me from. They were obstacles in my path to power, they stood in the way of my destiny, tried to make me a slave to that relic. Their fates were just."

Mercury looked at her, thinking carefully before saying "Seems like your mom didn't put up much of a fight."

"I suppose she couldn't bring herself to truly fight me. Her love was her downfall." Cinder mused.

Emerald then asked "So what happened next?"

"I went into Ashe's room and woke him up, told him that our father had gone insane out of the blue and killed our mother. He was tired and being woken up and told something so horrible made him scared out of his mind and easy to manipulate. I hid him in a closet so I could face my father alone." Cinder explained.

"Why didn't you kill him too?" Mercury asked.

"I was young, and while I deeply hated my parents, I had no reason to hate Ashe. I had, perhaps foolishly, decided to spare him. Something that would come back to haunt me," Cinder said, briefly thinking back to sharing Ashe's final moments of life before she killed him. "Anyway, my father and I eventually ran into one another…"

"I have truly failed you, as a father and a teacher." Kojin said as he gripped his katana tightly, shifting his body into a combat stand as he stood firmly as his daughter entered the living room.

"It's nice to hear you admit it," Cinder replied spitefully as she approached him, "Admit it, you never saw me as a daughter! Only as a slave, a servant!"

"No! You're wrong! We never viewed you as anything less than our daughter, our heir! We always hoped you would surpass us-"

"And I have!" Cinder spat before she rushed forward. Despite the tears in his eyes and the grief over the destruction of his family, Kojin didn't back down. He met her head on with a wild swing on his blade that met Cinder's with a mighty clash that sent sparks flying. His next swing was hard enough to make Cinder stagger back, but she quickly recovered and met his next blow with a fierce one of her own.

The two blades met numerous times in a frenzied duel before Kojin pressed his sword hard against Cinder's, pushing her own blade closer and closer to her face before she kicked up, hitting him in the gut and making him fall back, allowing her to land a hard slash across his chest that made his aura flare.

Kojin slashes his katana against the wall, sending fragments of wood and plaster flying at Cinder, momentarily catching her off guard as she was forced to shield her eyes and then he used his Semblance to fling fire at her, knocking her down, but she rolled back and recovered, staying in a crouching combat stance.

"You couldn't accept that I wanted to walk down my own path, could you? You had to have everything your way! Keep me enslaved to tradition!" Cinder snarled.

"No! That's not it at all! That's Salem talking, not you!" Kojin cried.

"No, it's all me! For the first time in my life, I'm making my own choices! And I'm going to make you pay the price for your fanatic devotion to that accursed relic!" Cinder snarled.

"Please," Kojin said, heartbreak wrought on his face, "I don't want to hurt you."

"You already have." Cinder said before she rushed him, but he launched a powerful fire blast that knocked her into the wall. Cinder groaned as she recovered, looking up to see her father charging her. She sidestepped his attack and slammed her blade into his side with all her might, making him cry out in pain as his aura flared up again.

She followed that up with a spin-kick to the head, slamming him into the wall and then stumbling out the doorway and into the hall. She chased after them and they moved through the house, their blades clashing against one another a total of fifteen times in a series of graceful yet fierce attacks before Cinder slammed a flaming fist into his chest, hard enough to knock his blade down the hall and send him sprawling on his back.

Kojin rolled away from Cinder's follow-up attacks and recollected his sword, leaping up to his feet with a strong flourish of his sword that landed a hit on Cinder's leg, making her grunt in pain as her aura flared up. He attacked his daughter again, their swords met twice and as he surged his blade against hers, she gave in a stepped back, dodging as he swung his sword at her head and then parrying his follow-up attack.

Father and daughter were locked in deadly combat, their blades slamming together in a fierce bind.

"I am truly sorry for how I have failed you, Cinder. I wish I could undo my mistakes. " Kojin said.

"Too late!" Cinder growled as she activated her Semblance and slammed a fiery fist into his chest before slashing him across the neck with her scimitar, his aura finally shattering.

Kojin grasped at his wounded neck with one hand while pointing his sword at his daughter with the other, eyes wide and betraying how much pain he was feeling.

Cinder didn't show any mercy, and pressed on with more attacks. Kojin retreated, parrying two more blows before he launched himself forward, aiming to slash her across the chest. Cinder was too fast, however, and grabbed his wrist with enough strength to make him drop his blade. She then flipped him over her head, smashing him through a window and knocking him out into the yard.

Kojin scrambled up to his feet, watching as Cinder, now wielding both swords, leapt out of the shattered window and slowly approached him.

"Guards!" Kojin shouted, calling out to the guards Ozpin had left them. He looked to the spot where they were supposed to be camped out, but gasped when he saw a glimpse of several destroyed tents.

He looked back to face his daughter for the final time. He fell to his knees and begged "Kill me. I deserve such a fate for failing my family so horribly, but please, spare Ashe."

Cinder looked down at her father, gripping both swords tightly and quietly replied "I will."

He looked back up at her and said "I know you're still in there, that Salem hasn't totally corrupted you. I believe you can stop-"

Cinder rammed both swords through her father's chest while activating her Semblance, causing his body to catch fire as the blades erupted through his back. Cinder ripped them out and allowed her father to fall to the ground, a smoldering corpse.

She watched as smoke from her father's body drifted up into the sky, where the stars shone brightly, uncaring about the carnage that had unfolded. She felt as if she could just reach up and pluck one out of the sky.

Nothing could stop her now.

"Hm, can't say your dad didn't have it coming," Mercury commented, "Still, wasn't anywhere near as bad as my old man was, may he rot."

"I suppose my father's abuse was a more subtle and controlling kind compared to what your father did to you," Cinder admitted.

"Well, we all know you let Ashe live," Emerald said, "I guess you loved him more than your parents, I remember how you acted when you were reunited with him at that construction site back at Haven."

"Yeah, it was like you became a different person." Mercury added.

"Emotion can get the best of all of us. I let my love for my brother overwhelm me for a brief moment, until he made it clear he stood against me, and that my mother bestowed him with abilities she never gave me." Cinder said bitterly.

"Do you regret killing him?" Emerald inquired gently.

Cinder looked at her and answered "Yes. I might have been forced to hide my feelings over it, lest I invoke her ire, but my resentment of Salem has been festering within me ever since she forced me to kill him."

"Anyway, after I killed my father, I went back into the house and let Ashe out of the closet, and showed him our mother's body…"

Ashe fell onto all fours, crying his heart out as he beheld his mother's dead body, her lifeless eyes staring at them. Cinder kept a hand on his shoulder as she knelt down to comfort her brother, pulling him into a hug and letting him cry into her chest.

"W-wh-why? Why did dad d-do it?" Ashe sobbed.

"I don't know. Perhaps…perhaps he resented us, felt we weren't worthy to be Guardians of the Aura Crystal. Perhaps he was drunk and gave into some inner-hatred he's kept buried. I don't know for sure, Ashe." Cinder told her brother.

"Wh-what are we gonna do?" Ashe asked, tears falling from his eyes, "Where are the guards?"

"I don't know where they went," Cinder said, "Perhaps dad killed them as well, perhaps he sent them away. As for what we'll do…I'm going to bury them, please, don't try to help. You're too young for this."

She and her brother wrapped Ember's body up in old robes and blankets, and Cinder left Ashe to stay behind with their mother's body as she went out to Ember's garden shed and retrieved a shovel.

Cinder spent the next several hours digging a pair of graves, and then unceremoniously dumped her father's charred body into it and then covered it up. She went back inside into the house and found Ashe, kneeling before his mother's dead body with tired, sorrowful eyes and a face wet with tears, his body trembling.

"I've buried dad, I didn't want you to see what I had to do to stop him," Cinder told her brother as she brushed some of his tears away.

He nodded distantly, not taking off his mother's covered body. Cinder gently picked up their mother's dead body and carried it outside, Ashe slowly following her.

Cinder laid Ember's body down into the earth and climbed out of the grave, looking at Ashe, who couldn't take his eyes off the body. Cinder placed a hand on his shoulder, saying "You have to be strong, Ashe."

He nodded "I will."

He helped Cinder bury Ember and sat before the grave once it was completely filled. He couldn't cry anymore, his eyes were out of tears to shed.

Cinder looked away, looking out at the forest. She knew what she had to do, even though there was a part of her telling her to stop, to take Ashe and run far away where no one, not even Salem, would ever find them. To just go and forget all of this…but she couldn't do that.

Not after what she had done. There was no turning back now. She had come too far to back down now.

"Stay here and guard the Crystal," Cinder told him, "I need to go."

"Wh-what? Go where? Why do you need to go?" Ashe asked, his voice shaky and tired.

"With our parents dead, I'm no longer beholden to the Aura Crystal. I need to go out into the world and learn to become something great and live up to my full potential. I'm sorry, but you can't come with me." Cinder told him.

"W-why?" He asked.

"I am casting off this life, Ashe. I must leave everything behind, including you." Cinder said.

"Will we ever meet again?" Ashe asked numbly, the situation overwhelming his young mind.

"Perhaps. I don't really know. Go into town and tell the people what happened." She instructed.

He nodded, not taking his devastated eyes off of her. Cinder went back and hugged him and quietly whispered "Goodbye."

With that, she walked away into the forest, leaving her brother utterly alone.

For the first time in months, Cinder returned to the meadow where she had first met Salem. She walked into it, hopping over rocks in the river and over to the willow tree, seeing no sign of her mysterious mentor.

"Miss Salem? It's me. Please, if you're out there, I need you. I've…I've killed my parents. I was tired of them holding me back. Tired of not being allowed to be my own person. I accept your offer, I want to become a Maiden and I want to help change the world for the better!" She called, trying not to cry as regret festered within her, "Please! Just take me away from this place!"

"As you wish, poor child." Came Salem's voice from behind her.

Cinder turned to see Salem standing several meters behind her, just at the edge of the river, with a portal closing behind her.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Cinder, but your parents left you no choice," The Mistress of Grimm said as she walked forward and captured Cinder in a hug, "They drove you to this, didn't they?"

"Yes…they did, as well as my nightmares…" Cinder confessed.

"Nightmares will trouble you no more, my magic will protect you from them. Your old life is over, your new life as my apprentice is just beginning." Salem told the teenage girl in a motherly voice.

"Salem…what are you? Are you really the Queen of the Grimm?" Cinder finally asked.

"I'm afraid I am, my dear. This is what happened to me after my sister Maidens and I were left for dead. Darkness offered me salvation and justice, so I accepted, and it granted me both. It has kept me alive for centuries and has given me the power I need to save this world from itself, with the Creatures of Grimm at my side. Now, if you're not afraid of me or my beasts," Salem gestured to the treeline, where a pack of Beowolves emerged, dragging the guards' dead bodies behind them, "You may come with me to my home. I've been watching you, my dear, I decided to remove these men from the playing field to make sure you wouldn't be disturbed." Salem told her.

"How much do you know?" Cinder asked.

"I know what I need to," Salem said, "And I'll even allow your little brother to live, blissfully ignorant of the truth. He was not an obstacle in your path like your parents were."

"Thank you. I will do whatever you ask, Miss Salem. Please, just help me become stronger, help me realize my full potential. I want to be someone great and powerful." Cinder begged as she got on her knees.

"And you shall. Now rise, my apprentice. We must leave this place, you will never return here." Salem told her.

"I have no desire to." Cinder said.

Salem raised an eyebrow, "Not even for your brother?"

Cinder swallowed and forced herself to say "No."

"Very well, come," Salem said as she used her magic to open up another portal. She took Cinder by the hand and led her through.

And the next thing the teenage girl knew, she was standing in an incredible, dark throne room in the biggest building she had ever been in. Behind the throne, that doubtlessly belonged to her new Mistress, was a large window that showed the shattered moon shining in a red sky. Standing off to the side were two men with tanned skin, one a huge, muscular man and the other a smartly-dressed mustached man with his arms tucked behind his back, men she would come to know as Hazel Rainart and Dr. Arthur Watts.

"Welcome to my palace, my dear. Your new home." Salem told her.

"In the years that followed, Salem showed me the world and the Four Kingdoms, showed me how dark the world could be, the expansive criminal underworld, the corruption that had taken root into the governments, the petty squabbles among the politicians, the horrible things done by the elite that went unpunished while the poor suffered, the racial injustices the Faunus faced, people treating each other worse than animals…she showed me that the world wasn't the good and true place my parents had told me it was."

"Heavy stuff. Hey, what about Ashe? Why didn't Ozpin take him and the Aura Crystal in?" Mercury wondered.

"Ashe and I knew of a special case my parents had comissioned, one that could contain the crystal and keep its power hidden from scanners. Ashe placed the crystal inside and managed to disguise it as a simple suitcase, he kept his word and guarded it with his life for years. Apparently he was able to convince Ozpin that the Crystal was disintegrated in the battle and was allowed to stay with a widow my mother was friends with. I don't know if Ozpin ever bought it, but apparently his lies were good enough for the fools on the council at the time." Cinder remarked.

"However, in my time as Salem's apprentice, I have also learned that she has lied to me as well. Her methods are pointlessly cruel and she has enlisted evil monsters such as Callows, Giger and Norvik to do her bidding. She forced me to murder my brother. Burned this scar into me to ensure it would not heal…but that's not all. Last year I overheard her cursing Ruby Rose and a Knight called Argentius for vanquishing something called the Dreameater. I studied in her vast library and discovered that the Dreameater was a unique Grimm she created early into her role as the Mistress of Grimm that stalked the dreamscapes and could manipulate them to give a person nightmares. Salem was the source of my bad dreams," Cinder revealed, "For all my parents can be blamed for, they were right when they said Salem was manipulating me."

"Wow, weird that Ruby was apparently able to take it out." Emerald remarked.

Cinder smirked, "Indeed, I suppose I should thank her before I kill her. It's been nearly a year since my defeat at Haven and I have spent much of that time contemplating my role in all of this. My hatred, my regret, the things I've done… We have been her slaves and puppets, but no more." She then looked directly at Mercury and asked "I have ensured that my room is free of any bugs or listening devices, so I am comfortable in telling you this here and now, Emerald and I are plotting an insurrection against Salem. Will you join us?"

Mercury looked at his companions, surprised. "Hey, you're the ones who recruited me, not her. I mean, yeah she terrifies me but I know you well enough to know you'd never even consider this unless you had some kind of plan." He said, "You do, right?"

"Of course I do, I will explain it later when the others are gathered." Cinder said.

"Others?"

"You're not the first one we've recruited. Ilia and Trooper are in on it too." Emerald explained.

"Wow, it kinda hurts that you didn't come to me first." Mercury noted, crossing his arms.

"This coming from the guy who nearly ruined our Vytal plan because you couldn't lay low and had to bump into Ruby and taunt her?" Emerald pointed out.

"...Point taken." The silver haired assassin admitted.

"I trust you understand how important this is. We can overthrow both Salem and the corrupt Councils, as well as the Guardians of Remnant who believe it's best to rule over the world and lord over its people from the shadows. We can do all of it, if we work together and work in secrecy. I'm going to trust you on this, Mercury, and I trust you know what will happen to you if you betray me." Cinder warned him.

Mercury slowly nodded and licked his dry lips, "Hey, I've seen what you're capable of. You're the one who saved me from the hell hole of a life I was stuck in. If it wasn't for you I'd probably be rotting in prison for killing my asshole dad. I'm with you."

"Good. Emerald, go get Ilia, gather the three I've selected and bring them to our secret hideaway." Cinder instructed.

"Right away, I'll meet with you there in half an hour." Emerald agreed before she got up and walked towards the door, glancing back at Mercury and saying "I'm glad to have you with us."

Mercury nodded at his partner before she walked out the door and then looked to Cinder, "Hey, one question; if you and your brother struggled with that Crystal so much, how did Nikos and Arc apparently connect with it? I mean, it accepted them, right?"

"Indeed it has. Perhaps we were too young and not knowledgeable or experienced enough, or maybe Nikos and Arc are just so perfect and nice and had been through so much that it decided to accept them," Cinder said, her voice growing agitated the more she thought about it. "If I ever get the chance, I'm shattering that damned Crystal, consequences be damned. Now allow me to ask you a question, Mercury. I noticed you seemed rather uncomfortable when I described how I killed my mother. Were you fond of your mother? You once told us she was dead, but never elaborated."

Mercury looked away from Cinder and down to the ground, clasping his hands together as he tapped the heel of one of his mechanical legs.

"My mother was the only real good person I had in my old life. My dad was staying in Mistral for a long time to do some work for the mob over there and she was one of their…prostitutes. He really liked her, got her knocked up with me and when she insisted to her bosses she didn't want an abortion, my dad had one moment of human decency and apparently decided 'what the hell?' and married her. He treated us like shit, she was less of a wife and more like a slave to him, but we had nowhere to go. He'd hit her all the time and never even hesitated to smack me around when I tried to stop him. Hell, when I was four he knocked a tooth out." Mercury told her, gesturing to his mouth.

"I'm sorry, Mercury." Cinder offered.

"It's okay. Anyway, my mom…got sick. Ovarian cancer. My mom was everything to me and I watched her get weaker and weaker until my dad decided life support wasn't worth the cost and the bastard just…let her go. Let me tell you, when I killed that son of a bitch, I enjoyed every second of it. It's probably one of my most treasured memories," He confessed with a dark smile before it became more wistful "Along with helping my mom in our garden and letting her voice lull me to sleep."

Cinder nodded, "I suppose you'd like to help make the world a place where no child has to suffer through the abuse you did?"

"Hell yeah, that'd be nice. So…don't we basically have the same goals as Rose and her friends?" Mercury asked.

Cinder glared at him, "No. They stood in my way, humiliated me at Haven, Rose did this to me," She said, tracing a finger along her scar, "And then Nikos buried me under Oum knows how many pounds of metal. They also work for the Guardians of Remnant and that cult of Knights who allowed the world to become so miserable and no doubt will prove to be obstacles in the future. We will deal with them and make them answer for their crimes against me, just like Salem and Ozpin."

Mercury shrugged, "Okay, just asking since, frankly, I'd love another shot at 'em. Just worried you'd consider getting all buddy-buddy with Team Beacon."

The Fall Maiden scoffed, "Oh please, Mercury, I might regret things I've done as Salem's apprentice, but that little cabal of Hunters-in-training won't be spared my wrath for what they've done to me. Trust me, when I next meet them, I will show no mercy." Cinder swore, "Speaking of cabal, come with me, we need to recruit more members for our little splinter cell."

---

Not too long after, Emerald led Ziz, Mavis and Anastasia down into the dark, dusty lower levels of Salem's palace, moving carefully past masterfully crafted spiderwebs that were littered with the tiny remnants of the arachnids' victims. Emerald held out a small flashlight to show the way as the three women followed her, while Ilia shadowed them from behind with her camouflage abilities to ensure no one was following them.

"Ugh, if Cinder wanted to discuss something, couldn't we do it in the library or something?" Anastasia complained.

"Gotta agree with her, the amount of dust in these halls makes it look like Salem's housekeepers have steered clear of place for years." Ziz remarked as she made sure to stick close to Mavis.

"Cinder insisted we meet here, everyone tends to stay away from this area after one of Giger and Merlot's old experiments got out and went on a rampage a decade back," Emerald explained, "So if we want to keep this a secret, this would be the perfect meeting place."

"Okay, see your point, but are sure there's nothing down here with us?" Mavis asked nervously as she glanced at something that looked like an old, dried up blood stain along the wall and floor.

"Might be some Grimm still prowling around, but it's probably nothing we can't handle, plus Cinder makes sure the area is clear whenever she comes down here." Emerald assured as Ilia revealed herself beside the small group, giving them a minor scare.

"Oum! Stupid Faunus, give us a little warning next time!" Anastasia scolded.

Ilia glared at the blonde before saying to Emerald, "We're clear, no one's following us or noticed us coming down here."

"Good. Not far now," Emerald said, before stepping on the skeleton of a long-dead rat, causing the cracking of bones to echo throughout the abandoned halls and making Mavis cling to Ziz, "Sorry about that."

"So, uh, does Mistress Salem know about this?" Mavis inquired, her terrifying encounter with her master still fresh in her mind.

"No, hopefully she never will," Said Emerald, "In fact, Cinder was able to deactivate all the security systems down here to make sure we're left totally alone."

They passed under a spider-web covered archway and through an antechamber, leading into a large, octagon-shaped corridor where Cinder and Mercury were waiting for them, with the former standing patiently in the center while the latter leaned against the wall, eyeing the new arrivals as they entered.

"Ah, welcome Anastasia, Ziz and Mavis. Welcome to our little hiding place," Cinder greeted.

"This had better be good, Cinder. I've spent all day training and I should be getting some rest, not mucking about in this dingy place." Anastasia voiced, displaying a typical case of Atlesian arrogance that Cinder had come to suspect from people like her.

"Oh, I believe it will be worth your time." Cinder replied.

"So, any particular reason you don't want the boss lady knowing about this little get-together?" Ziz asked suspiciously.

"A very good reason, I assure you. We certainly wouldn't want her learning of how you helped Pyrrha Nikos and her friends escape from our Haven facility, would we?" Cinder said, looking right into Ziz's red eyes.

"You did what?!" Anastasia cried in surprise.

"How did you know?" Ziz demanded.

"Your good friend Trooper informed me before he departed with Ante and the other Enforcers." Cinder answered.

"Why did you help them?" Mavis asked her friend,, "I mean, aren't they our enemies?"

Ziz didn't take her eyes off of Cinder, but she gripped her weapon, Shatteraxe. "Because Nikos helped me learn the truth about my team. Salem lied to me; Jack, Lana, Tom…they didn't abandon me! They thought I had already pulled out with the other villagers we were saving from that cluster of Tarantula Widows and Deathstalkers! They felt so awful about leaving me behind that they went back into the desert to find me, convinced I wasn't dead and it got them killed. I hated them for years until 'Fotia' encouraged me to find out what happened to them to give me closure," The winged Grimm Commander said, "Pyrrha helped me see the light, helped me see through Salem's lies, helping her escape that hellhole was the least I could do!"

"When Mistress Salem finds out you'll suffer greatly!" Hissed Anastasia.

"Bring it on! I'm tired of working for that witch!" Ziz snapped.

"No! I don't want to lose you too!" Mavis cried as she grabbed Ziz's arm.

"We are not going to tell her!" Cinder announced, "While I find it very annoying and I'd like to make you pay for your small part in my defeat, I can recognize that I require an ally like you. I need you, Ziz. I need all of you to help me overthrow her!"

The three women looked at Cinder incredulously before Anastasia spoke up; "Have you lost your damn mind?!"

"So that's why Trooper snitched on me to you," Ziz remarked, "You're plotting an insurrection!"

"But that's crazy! Fighting Mistress Salem would be su-suicide!" Cried Mavis.

"Under normal circumstances, yes, but not if we get the upper hand," Cinder told them.

"Not exactly easy to do. I mean, Salem hasn't had to fight anyone for Oum knows how long, but we all know how powerful she can be. Remember how she blasted Arc when he mouthed off to her? How she picked Mavis up without even trying a few hours ago?" Ziz pointed out, "And now that she has the Winter Maiden powers back, she's more dangerous than ever."

"True, my friends, very true, but no one is invincible. My victory against Pyrrha Nikos proved she was not the so-called 'invincible girl' all of Mistral touted her as, and my own defeat at the hands of Ruby Rose and her friends is a painful reminder that I myself am not invincible. That fact also applies to Salem." Cinder explained.

"If she's not invincible, what exactly is your plan to take her out?" Asked Ilia.

"Before he died, Ashe warned me that Salem would cast me aside once she has no further need of me, and now I realize he was right, and that applies to all of us. He also said that my power is like an insect compared to a dragon when you compare me to her, and that was also correct. We need the Relics to defeat her. Once Watts deciphers the map that will lead to the Relics, we'll be dispatched to retrieve them, but when we return we'll use them as weapons against Salem and cast her down!"

"The three of us, plus Trooper, are already in," Emerald said, gesturing to herself, Mercury and Ilia, "We can't do it alone, because even if we do get the Relics, we'd be outnumbered by Salem's other forces."

"Okay, but what brought on this little change of heart?" Ziz questioned, "You've been Salem's apprentice for over twenty years, Cinder, longer than some of us have even been alive. She gave you power, made you the Fall Maiden…why would you turn on her?"

"I thought that would be obvious," Cinder said, gesturing to the scar that ran across her face, "Not only for burning this scar into my face…but for my brother."

Mavis looked at her sympathetically while Anastasia snorted, "Aw, so you did care about him! Did you figure that out before or after you burned a hole through his chest?"

The next thing Anastasia knew, she was slammed against the dusty wall, webs sticking to her back and hair as small spiders scattered from the heat of Cinder's hand, which was inches away from the blonde's face.

"Mock my brother's death again, and I'll kill you," Cinder threatened, her voice dangerously serious, "I don't care if it angers Salem, I'll tell her you were trying to ambush me and take my Maiden powers for your own."

"And we'll back her up on that," Mercury said boldly as he came up to stand side by side with Emerald and Ilia.

"We will too. Our word against yours, blondie," Ziz said.

"Okay, okay! I understand! I'm sorry!" Anastasia said. For all her arrogance, Salem's third apprentice knew she couldn't defeat Cinder in a fight, "I just thought you didn't care! You didn't seem that affected by it when you returned from Haven!"

Cinder released her and turned around, lowering her head as her thoughts turned to that terrible afternoon at Haven when she shared Ashe's last moments, seeing him badly bloodied and battered from his fight to the death with Saul Jude.

"Of course I didn't. I have to appear cold and cruel around her," Cinder told the group, "I didn't want to do it, but I had to, to appease her. I thought by killing Ashe, the final link to my past, I'd finally cast off all limitations and become stronger. And while I have spent much of the past year training and growing stronger, I've also been struggling to admit how I feel ever since I killed him, and I can't deny it anymore. I am haunted by regret over killing him. I've been having dreams of my brother and others dead because of me like my parents, the previous Fall Maiden, Roman Torchwick, saying I'd never amount to anything of value as long as Salem lords over me. Those dreams are right! Salem used dreams to seduce me into becoming her apprentice, and now my own dreams have encouraged me to take her down!"

"So you're saying we turn on Salem and try to kill her, which will most likely end with all of us being brutally killed, because you feel guilty over your brother?" Anastasia asked, skeptically.

"No, my regret over killing my brother is not the only reason I wish to overthrow Salem. The fact is she's a lying monster. She recruited us all under the pretense of righting the wrongs we were dealt by society, and while the world does need radical change, the darkness that turned Salem into the Mistress of Grimm has twisted her from a victim of tragedy into something horrible," Cinder preached, "We all know what her path to a perfect world requires, we've already taken part in it; death and destruction, and the things we've done so far at Vale, Vacuo and Atlas have only been tastes of the genocide that's to come if Salem wins in the end."

"So you're saying you regret your actions at Vale during the Vytal Festival?" Asked Ziz, "You regret killing the Winter Maiden?"

"Perhaps. I don't really know anymore," Cinder admitted, "I assured Mercury I'm not about to betray Salem to the Guardians of Remnant and try to become friends with Rose and her little band of heroes. Salem is right in that the world must change, the corrupt ones that maintain power over Remnant like the councils and the Guardians of Remnant must be brought down, and those Hunters from the academies are their loyal lapdogs who will stand in our way. We must take them all down, but not with Salem in charge. She has abused her power, gone mad from the darkness she has dwelt in for centuries and lost her way, but I have found my own path. I welcome you all to join me on it."

"And we have already accepted," Said Emerald as she stepped forward, "But what do you think?"

"I think it's absolutely crazy! There's no chance this could ever work! Salem has been alive for centuries! She's learned so much and become so powerful that even if we do get to the Relics before our enemies do, who can say for certain that they'll be of any help in a fight against her?" Anastasia questioned.

"If they didn't have incredible power, Salem wouldn't want them so urgently, she didn't even seem to think the Aura Crystal was that high a priority. She was willing to let it go after she got me. If she wants these Relics so badly, there's a high chance they can harm her." Cinder reasoned.

"It's desperate and crazy, but that's worked out for Pyrrha and her friends so far. Maybe it'll work for us too," Said Ziz, a small smile on her face.

"And just look at how the world is changing. That Crawford guy would've been able to buy his way out of any prison time ten years ago, now he's rotting in a cell on Ironwood's ship. Yeah the world can be cruel and wicked, but should we really destroy all that's kind and beautiful about it in order to make it a 'better place'?" Ilia pointed out.

"No, we shouldn't," Mavis spoke up, smiling boldly, "I allowed some people to escape during my attack on Margarite Harbor. This family was cornered by pirates who wanted to rape and murder…I couldn't just stand by and watch that happen. I had my Sea Feilongs kill the pirates and I let the family go. I…I actually really liked using the Grimm for something heroic rather than evil. I want in too."

Ziz smiled at her younger friend and patted her on the back as Cinder said "We're glad to have you, Mavis. What about you, Ziz?"

"You kiddin'? Just give me a chance to slam Shatteraxe into the Queen Bitch's face and avenge Team BLTZ, and I'm all yours." The Winged Grimm Commander said, her smile widening.

"This utter madness! You lot must have a death wish or be completely insane! She'll massacre all of you!" Anastasia objected, "Why did you extend this invite to me, Cinder? You don't seriously expect me to go along with this, do you?"

Cinder frowned at her, "Think about it, Anastasia, you are her youngest apprentice but you also seem to be her least favorite. I have watched you train until you pass out, do anything she tells you to, praise her at every opportunity, but nothing you've done has truly won her favor. After all, both Thorn and myself have been given opportunities to take the powers of a Maiden, and yet you have not. Salem even gave herself the opportunity to take back the powers of the Winter Maiden, yet you were assigned to help in the attacks on Atlas."

Anastasia faltered, thinking Cinder's words over carefully. "The Spring Maiden has proven to be elusive…"

"And earlier this evening when you were defeated by her Son, did she show any concern for you? No, merely scorn for being defeated. She views you as a weakling, the least of her three apprentices. Doesn't it infuriate you that you, one of the Atlesian elite, is unfavorably compared to a simple girl from Vale like myself or a low life like Thorn?" Cinder asked.

Anastasia glanced downwards, trying to hide her face as she muttered "You have no idea of how angry it makes me that she doesn't show me any respect after all I've put myself through to appease her. I've had to leave my luxurious life behind, lose my father to some vile cancer, and she can't even give me a chance to prove myself against a Maiden," She looked up at Cinder and asked "Do you really think those Relics can give us a chance against her?"

Cinder nodded and Anastasia sighed before finally saying "Then you can count on me."

She offered her hand and Cinder accepted it.

"Thank you all for joining us."

"So…it's just gonna be the seven of us plus Trooper?" Mercury asked, "I mean, who else is there who'd join us?"

"Tyrian is a complete psychopath and is more loyal to Salem than anyone aside from the Son, so both of them are out of the question," Emerald pointed out.

"And the rest of the Red Fang don't care much about anything other than hurting humanity," Ilia added, "As long as Salem can give them the opportunity to do that, they'll be loyal to her."

"There's Ante, but with that bomb planted in his head, I don't think he's stupid or crazy enough to turn on Salem," Cinder admitted, "And his men, sans Trooper, probably wouldn't want to risk it either."

"And the pirates Skarnage and Silvers are about as trustworthy as a mountain is throwable." Mavis chimed in.

"We might be able to persuade Sheer Kaa, but it's not likely since he's pretty loyal to Salem after she saved him and Steppenwolffe from humans during the last Great War," Ziz noted, "And there's no way in hell we're having Norvik join! Anansi is a maybe, but he can be pretty opportunistic too, don't forget where Salem found after he was excommunicated from that bandit tribe in Vacuo."

"Watts and West are obvious no-gos," Said Anastasia, "And Cadmus is so locked away from us in his labs churning out new Grimm Knights and overseeing the modifications of the Dreadwing that I wouldn't be surprised if you had all forgotten he exists."

"Wait, who's Cadmus again?" Asked Mercury, proving her point.

"Dark skinned guy, works with Sherizawa. Makes Grimm Knights." Emerald reminded him.

"Regardless of how relevant Dr. Cadmus is, she's right in that he's too busy with his mechanical toys and is just happy to work for Salem, so it'd be a dire mistake to approach him. Thorn is a slippery, opportunistic snake who was literally born and raised a criminal, so there's no way we could trust her." Cinder decided.

"So I guess that really only leaves Hazel, right?" Emerald remarked, "But he'd probably never join us."

"Don't be so quick to dismiss me, Emerald," Came a familiar, deep voice that made everyone freeze up.

They looked to see none other than Hazel Rainart emerging from a shadowy corridor.

Mercury shifted into a combat stand as, along with Cinder, Emerald, Ilia and Ziz, who prepared their weapons while Mavis, afraid, got behind Ziz's spread-out wings.

"Oh, Mr. Rainhart! Please, this isn't what it looks like! We were just joking around! No reason to tell Mistress Salem about any of this right?" Anastasia said, forcing out fake laughter with such obvious nervousness it made everyone glance at her.

"You can all relax. I heard everything, and I've known about this plot ever since you spoke to Trooper last week, Cinder. I want in." Hazel announced, shocking everyone.

"...What?" Anastasia asked so quickly and flatly that the word sounded more like a random noise.

"How did you know about my meeting with Trooper?" Cinder demanded.

"I happened to notice you heading into this level and I followed you. I know I'm a large man, but I can be quite stealthy when I want to be." Hazel told them, "Relax, if I was going to report your little conspiracy to Salem, I'd have done so and she'd be here with me. I want to join you."

"This doesn't make any sense, you've been here longer than almost anyone else, save for Watts and Norvik! You've killed dozens of people in her name and have stood as one of her subjects for nearly twenty-five years, so why in the name of the Brothers and Sisters would you even consider betraying her?" Cinder demanded.

"Cinder, do you remember my story of how I came to be in service to Salem? I told it to you not long after she first brought you to this palace." Hazel said to the Fall Maiden.

Cinder nodded, "I do, but I suppose it would be best if you indulge the others."

Hazel nodded and looked to them, "You may put your weapons down, I have no intention of harming any of you and if I did they wouldn't do you any good anyway."

The others all glanced at one another and eased up, placing their weapons away, but still keeping their hands on them just in case.

"Many years ago, I had an older sister, her name was Gretchen. We were orphaned after a tornado destroyed our home and killed our parents, but we survived and since she was the only one I had left and vice versa, we made sure to always look out for each other. When Gretchen reached the age appropriate enough to enter Beacon, Ozpin took an interest in her and also noticed me. He pulled some strings to allow me into Beacon early, and despite my younger age, I made up for it with my size and strength, so many didn't realize I was the younger sibling. I was part of Team BHRN, with my partner Brielle Sanderson, Rhys Havard and Navya Gupta, while my sister led Team RANG with her partner Albert Lockwood, Nianzu Cheng and Gyuri Hwa. Gretchen and her team were considered to be among the best and brightest Beacon had to offer at the time, even Ozpin called them his star pupils.

"Everyone looked up to Gretchen and her group, especially me, the proud little brother, just happy to witness his sister's dreams coming true. In our fourth and final year, incidentally the same year a Team STRQ had been formed,"

"Excuse me but, who's Team STRQ?" Mavis asked, flinching a little at the annoyed looks some of the group gave her.

"The team who's leader would give birth to Ruby Rose, and another member would give birth to Yang Xiao Long and eventually die at my hand." Cinder explained.

"As I was saying, in our fourth year, my sister's team were frequently assigned missions more dangerous than what Ozpin would usually give. Towards the end of the year, a mere month before our graduation, Ozpin assigned Team RANG to help some professional Hunters to wipe out an unusually high amount of Grimm that had been forming in Vale's Hoia Forest, and he also decided to assign my team as support, just in case."

"What happened?" Ilia asked gently.

"A spawning pool had formed deep in those woods, and there were more of those beasts than we could have anticipated. I watched as Gretchen sacrificed herself to destroy the spawning pool with a cluster of very powerful incendiary bombs supplied to us, killing dozens of those monsters with her. None of Team RANG made it out of that forest alive, nor did any of the professional Hunters. I managed to get my team out, though they were all badly wounded and my leader Brielle, someone I had grown quite close to, eventually died of her wounds, her lungs flooded with her own blood. Rhys and Navya survived but…I suppose you could say the old Hazel Rainart died in that forest and a new one emerged. A Hazel who was darker, traumatized by the loss of his sister and his partner.

"When we returned to Beacon I…I just lost it. I barged into Ozpin's office and I screamed my guts out at him, telling him that he didn't send enough people, he should have brought more professionals on, should have waited for better information, how I had lost two of the most important people in my life because of he sent us into that forest. I yelled and shouted at him about how he had sent us in there without enough Dust, ammo and information, about how my family was now totally gone, about how I had lost my best friend. I yelled with every ounce of hate I had until my throat was raw. Ozpin blamed himself for their deaths and begged for my forgiveness, but I had none to give.

"I did the only thing I felt I could do, and quit Beacon then and there. Sure, Rhys and Navya were still alive, but after seeing so many good people die, people like Gretchen and Brielle who deserved so much better…I just couldn't be a Huntsman anymore. I gathered what few meager belongings I had, left Beacon behind and never looked back. For the next two weeks I drifted through Vale, drowning myself in any alcoholic drink I could get my hands on, eventually finding myself too drunk to fight and tossed out into the gutter. One night I wandered out of town and fell asleep in a ditch and that's where she found me."

"Mistress Salem." Mavis stated.

"Correct, young one. My hatred for Ozpin had been so intense that it alerted the Grimm living in the Emerald Forest. Using a Seer, she spied on me, just like she had used one to spy on your family, Cinder," Hazel told the corrupted Maiden, which made her grimace, though this was a fact she had learned long ago, "And when the Seer saw me pass out, she knew it was too good an opportunity to pass up. She appeared before me in the guise of a normal woman and offered me a chance to take my revenge on Ozpin. Being the drunken young fool I was at the time, I accepted.

"By the time I woke up, I found myself in Salem's palace and she had already revealed herself to me. She explained her history with Ozpin's ancestors and that she had already encountered him as he had become a major figure in the Guardians of Remnant and knew he would be a formidable opponent, so she wanted an ally who passionately hated him. At first, realizing she was a Mistress of Grimm, right out of the old legends, I tried to kill her…she fought back and broke nearly every bone in my body." Hazel told them.

"Whoa, why did she let you live?" Asked Mercury.

"Because she admired my hatred for Ozpin and my own strength, which is why she gave me a second chance," Hazel explained, smirking bitterly and saying "She said that fighting me was the first time in centuries she had broken a sweat. I knew that if I refused, I'd be killed, so I reluctantly accepted the chance to become her servant. I sold my soul to her and I've hated myself for it ever since, keeping a mask of stoicism in order to hide my true emotions.

"All these years I have desired to kill her, to accomplish what Ozpin and his Guardians never could and put an end to her evil. So far, the opportunity has not yet arisen, and every time she does get involved in the action, she makes sure the odds are in her favor. However, your plan has a chance of working, even if slim," Hazel told Cinder, "I will gladly help you, when the time comes and will do whatever it takes to defeat Salem once and for all."

"And I'm glad to have you, Hazel," Cinder told him, taking the hand he offered her and shaking it, feeling like she finally understood the man.

"You do realize our success depends entirely on if we can actually obtain those Relics, right?" Anastasia pointed out, "What if we fail?"

"There are four of them, and we are to soon know the location of two, there's a very good chance we won't have to require all four of them to destroy her." Cinder said.

"What if Salem suspects something?" Asked Ilia, "Pretty recently she gave us all that speech about how she needs our loyalty to accomplish her goals and how she isn't unprepared for those who think they can betray her? Think she suspects something?"

"True, but it's hard to tell if she suspects anyone in particular of having traitorous intentions, since she gave that speech to everyone practically one at a time," Hazel stated.

"Don't remind me!" Anastasia said with a shudder, not pleased at being reminded by Salem's ice spikes coming so close to her face.

"All we have to do is keep our minds clear and think of anything else we hate besides her, it's how I've kept her from realizing how much I hate her ever since Haven." Ziz remarked.

"Then we'll just do that, I can imagine it will be easy for most of us. Now, we must swear to absolute secrecy that none of us will breathe a word of anything that has transpired here to anyone who isn't already a part of this conspiracy. Agreed?" Cinder asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Good. And if any of you plan on selling me out to Salem…" Cinder continued, before the shape of a leaf formed around her eyes and she lit her fists of fire and added in an intense voice, "I'll make sure you'll suffer a horrible death from a Maiden's wrath before Salem can punish me, understood?"

Everyone shivered at Cinder's tone of voice, save for Hazel who had heard far worse from Salem over the years.

"Okay, if we're all satisfied and understand how important keeping this little cabal a secret is, I think it's best if we return to the upper levels before our absences are noticed." Cinder told them, something everyone could agree with.

Cinder led Mercury, Ilia and Hazel out one way while Emerald guided Ziz, Mavis and Anastasia back the way they came. As Cinder walked side by side with Hazel, she said to him, "I wanted to thank you for the kind words regarding Ashe. I think the two of you would have gotten along."

"I'd like to think so," Hazel acknowledged, "After all, we did have something in common besides our strength and our mutual hatred of Jude."

"What's that?" Ilia asked.

Hazel looked at Cinder and said "We both loved our sisters very much."

Cinder gave the muscular man a genuine smile. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Deep within her, Cinder could feel something was different, she felt as though a burden had been lifted. She felt better.

She and Hazel had both been following Salem like obedient lackeys for years, and while they still had to play those parts, they now had a decent chance of successfully freeing themselves of their servitude to Salem and overthrowing her.

Cinder smiled to herself. Yes, if she made the correct moves and played the game as well as Salem had taught her, then there was a good chance that there would soon be a new ruler of the palace, a new dark queen.

Her name would be Cinder Fall, and Salem would be but a memory.

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Next Time: The SunnyBees trio take the next step!

Cinder's backstory is very tragic, and while Salem was the mastermind behind her downfall, Cinder's own desire for glory and power was a major contribution, as were her parents and Ozpin's own mistakes. I did my best to make Ember and Kojin look like flawed but good people who were making the wrong choices because they were scared for their children and trying to do what they thought was best for them, but it ultimately led to their demise, and another regret that haunts Ozpin.

I also wish to stress that Cinder is a bit of a tragic villain, but her sad backstory doesn't really do much to justify all the terrible things she's done. She's a twisted version of Cinderella, where she actually had a decent life but allowed her greed for power and fame to get the better of her. She had a good family that she destroyed for petty reasons and regret has been slowly brewing inside of her.

The Aura Crystal also never deemed her unworthy, she was just young and not ready at the time, whereas Jaune and Pyrrha had been through a lot of awful stuff and sacrificed so much they had already proven themselves as worthy guardians. Cinder wasn't unworthy until she killed her family.

Salem's backstory, addressed in these last two chapters, is adding more detail to her past given in the final chapter of the Fall Special.