A hum of white noise permeated the surrounding air, and while I looked up at her, seeing in her eyes a faint excitement, I recognised swabs of disappointment as well.
She wasn't the only one disappointed.
Her body moved, the body of the once beloved and respected goddess of darkness. A millennium ago, any form of acknowledgement would have stirred the hearts of those who'd earned it, but much to my unfeeling dismay, my heart remained barren. Her figure, both powerful in presence and thought, did nothing for me, and no matter how I imagined our reunion would have gone, I could never have predicted my spirit to remain locked; keeping my emotions docile.
Salem, it seemed, was not enough to free them from their prison.
Hauntingly she flowed, like the ghastly shadow of a towering castle as the sun began to set. Muted and smooth, she descended from her pedestal, closing the short distance between us, not so much as lifting a leg. And why should she? Her legs were baser remnants of a discarded origin, and even back in my prime and shortly before my displacement via the dagger of a shrouded woman, Salem had begun to show her Humanity less and less.
Walking was for mortals; a deity of her power could project itself however it pleased.
She towered before me, momentarily, before her form shrunk ever so easily back to her natural height; the stairs no longer hovering her above, leaving us on an even plain. Her expression appeared void, and without addressing me directly, she spoke a command to all but myself; an order of such magnitude that all thoughts of rebellion were snuffed out, and yet, it was an order boasting indifference in way of one feeling or another.
"Leave me with him and return to your duties." For a solid minute, everyone stood and made off. All, that was, aside from Tyrian. Rather, he bowed before his superior, presenting her with a question.
"Shall I inform Hazel to prepare our transport?"
"Yes."
With that he stood, and offering me a respectful bow, the unusual man retreated. We were now alone, and in our silence my ears picked up on a dull throbbing and pounding which I could only attribute to the gargantuan monster's heartbeat. To most, such a noise might be maddening, but here in the privacy of Salem's presence, its rhythm sang a comforting tune. I looked into her eyes, who themselves were an inch below my own, and soon had my presence recognised when her voice wrapped around me, enveloping me in a way I knew she would never allow herself now.
"You've evolved." Salem began, reaching out to touch the skin above my heart. "Both in body and spirit; perhaps even in mind." Shying away, her tone relaxed itself, nearly falling into whisper. "Darkness envelops you; primal and... beyond this world."
"You've noticed?"
"I have." A pleasant smile pricked her lips, but such a sight quickly washed itself with lethargy; far too tired to even enjoy the brightest of days. Still, even without the energy, she carried on as if it were her duty to point it out. "Your mannerisms have twisted as well. Fifteen hundred years ago you would have been the one leading the prostration, and yet, this time you rebelled; standing tall as everyone else gave their devotions."
"I've been told things that incite doubt." I clarified, and her body appeared to settle into place, snaking calmly a few steps away. "Information I wish to be told are lies, but that I suspect are not."
"I see..." She encroached a touch closer this time. "And was it Ozma who fed you these doubts?"
"No." I paused, my mind losing itself to the imagery; the sight of Salem casting herself into death over and over. Blinking the past away, I replied with rageless fury; feeling nothing, but wishing I could reclaim my anger, if just to get the severity of its effect on me across to the one person in the world who might understand it. "A spirit by the name of Jinn showed me."
"Jinn..." She hummed, but a mild chuckle followed soot. "I know of only one spirit who could possibly show forbidden truths, and that phantom is a tool of the ancient gods who's abandonment of the world is what caused such mass suffering we see today. That spirit is trapped within the lamp of knowledge, and is safeguarded by Ozma himself. Would this 'Jinn' be the spirit of the lamp, or is all I say new to you?"
"She is." I had a feeling Salem already knew this, but I spoke anyway, and for my honestly, I was rewarded with a soft sigh. Complacent features dripped silently into controlled misery, careful not to reveal the full extent of her heart. Once again this showing died, and a thin line took up its place.
"I'd assumed so. Ozma has long since kept her name a secret, knowing it was the key to using the lamp's power. Although, truthfully, I've no need for whatever mysteries it may or may not hide. Possessing it alone will be enough for me."
"Are you saying its deceptions are true?" I couldn't muster much effort, but I still tried. In the end, my attempted shock came out garbed as mild irritation.
"I'm afraid so." She swayed over towards the hall from which I'd come, and where everyone took off again. "Jinn is a tool in concept, although in execution, I've no real knowledge of how sentient the brothers made her, or her siblings."
"Siblings..." I followed after her. "Then they are alive?"
"Somewhat." A small bit of snark showed itself. "I know only what I have learned over the years, from both my own research, and Ozma. Each relic is technically alive in terms swung around by the common people, but I only have concrete proof that two of the relics, that being the staff and the lamp, have physical forms they can exude. The third and final sibling is in the crown, but throughout all of my searching, I could never find any records tying a phantom to it, unlike the tattered remains of legends surrounding the previous two tools."
"What of the sword?" There were four relics in total, so why had she excluded it?
Salem scoffed as we passed out into the hallway, trailing along the sickly pulsating halls which appeared to hiss and hide from her presence. I felt anger in her, and while it wasn't anything furious like Cinder released during any of our bouts, it still simmered beneath the cover, quickly rising to a boil. But her rage never did lose control, and it soon bubbled back down as she began to describe the weapon.
"The sword is a tool, and like a tool, it has a use and function: to destroy that standing before its wielder. Such a task is simple, and does not require its own specialized guardian and personality." Something seemed to click, and her voice began to slither low across the ground. In a way, her words came out cocky. "But considering their origin, I'd not be surprised if the lack of a guardian spirit was the result of incapability, as opposed to genuine design."
"How so?" Destruction seemed simple, and oddly almost second nature to me at this point, but what did she mean by 'incapability?'
"I do not know if Jinn mentioned this in her time with you, but Ozma himself informed me when we first began our journey into founding the kingdom of Mobius. The relics teasing mankind with promises of 'salvation' were forged by the god of light and creation himself: the elder of the two brothers. Like his younger sibling, he possessed total mastery of his field, but that did not render him incapable of stepping into the other end of the pool."
"But he was no master." I could guess, based on the fact there were two gods, that they settled more into their familiarities as opposed to trying to control both elements of nature.
"Correct." Salem chuckled tauntingly. "Perhaps, had he called upon his brother's aid he could have forged a perfect sword of destruction, but all we can surmise from that overlooked fact is that his pride is greater than he'd let on. But I won't lie to you, the power of his sword is far greater than it should be. Really, it's quite familiar; so similar to a power I'd once experienced at the hands of the dark god himself..."
Salem sighed again, slowing her pace.
"But I digress. All you need to know is the god of light was, and still is I would assume, not as capable with darkness as he would need to be to make a genuinely relic-worthy sword. Lacking the necessary skills and artistry over the craft of destruction, I personally believe he rendered the weapon with only a basic function because of it."
So the god of light could only apply the basics to his sword, because he wasn't adept in the dark. Not really a mind-shattering revelation, but it made me weirdly happy; not normally happy, but muted happy. A deep part of my core wanted to snicker, to laugh aloud at the god. The fact I felt anything at all aroused suspicion, and I could not ignore it. Why did the idea of the elder brother being incapable of anything excite me, whereas meeting face to face with the woman I'd long sought since my arrival did not?
A small giggle pulled me from the concerns swamping my mind, and I noted her elevated mood. My old self would have been relieved; back in those days, when I was still mostly Human and new to the castle in my duties, such joy meant I'd either done something right, or something laughably foolish. Either way, her happiness meant nothing was of true concern, and all was well. But now, in the tubes of a grand beast, I wasn't sure if I would have felt the same.
"Ironically, the gift you hold so close to you is more akin to a true relic of destruction, as opposed to that sorry excuse of a knife the god of light offered the world."
"Are you referring to my sword?" I passed my hand over its hilt, and she sent another smile. Lifting her hand, she silently curled a finger, requesting I surrender it to her. I did so, and she ran her fingertips lovingly along its black blade, admiring the way it sucked in all light and even grayed her already marble skin.
" Beautiful~"
"Of course," I said, prying up memories of before. All the death I'd reaped with this divine blade had all been done in service to both the kingdom and its living gods. And yet, with both gods now supposedly being ousted as once being Human, I didn't know if I could label it as godly anymore. It didn't matter in the end; spiritually derived or not, Salem's power leveled that of divinity, and so that was good enough for me, as was her gift. "It was made by you, after all."
"No." Salem expressed, handing back the sword and slowing her pace as we passed into a familiar hall. Just off in the distance, I spied the great door again, but that wasn't quite my focus at the moment.
"No?" With curiosity winning out, I had cut her off. "What do you mean?"
"I did not forge this weapon." Her voice, although low, remained powerful even as she denied responsibility. "And nor did I forge the emblem you wear with your armor; that symbol which you've apparently kept even in a new state of dress."
"My rose?" It sat innocently in place atop the little pauldron, maintaining balance in my appearance even though it was nothing like its endowed brother on my other shoulder. It clicked in my mind, a suspicion which brought with it a new untested idea. "Is it similar to Pale Bloom in some way?"
"Both are born of the same material, and possess, I would suspect, similar power." Her eyes swayed over, teeming with... not quite excitement, but somber satisfaction, and maybe even acceptance. "However, your sword has shown its purpose directly. Tearing through a barrier born of technological mastery is the same as a mage whose magic outclasses a master; it is no easy feat."
"You knew it was me... How?" She couldn't have been counting on something so unpredictable, and if she had, then how could she predict Cinder would not only challenge me, but fail in such a way that I would end up unintentionally shattering the boundary between the floating city's people and the invading Grimm? Did she know my sword was capable of such a feat?
"Your achievement was merely coincidence, but considering your origins, I lacked true surprise when you'd shown that power. Watts was supposed to shut down the city's barrier, but you went on ahead and beat him to the punch; rather impressive, even if somewhat suspected." She came to a stop, and we were right next to the darkness being watched over by flame. "At that same time, I felt Cinder's personal connection to me die; I guess I owe that credit to you as well."
She settled her eyes on the onyx barrier, appearing to both admire and loathe it. Much as my own miniscule remnants of emotion twisted paradoxically at the sight, so too did hers. While an explanation as to what it was might indeed be on the tip of her tongue, the presence of Cinder within her ranks slipped into my mind.
"Why take in someone like Cinder?" She was reckless, self-centered, and mostly blind before odds which were brightly alight against her. What use was someone like that?
"She was a little girl with hatred, and the will to see it through." Salem said simply, almost humming like one does when singing soft reassurances to a child. "Abandoned by those close to her, I could see it in her actions, and I could hear it in her cries. She would have the vengeance she sought, and she would let nothing stand in her way. Left alone, an individual of her kind would have marched towards death to see her misplaced anger wrought on anything within her crosshairs. But that passion was too good to be wasted, and so I took her in, promising her the destruction of Remnant as a whole by my hands. In return, her determination would be mine to command."
"Now that she's dead, will you still keep that promise?" Right now, I wasn't sure I could care either way, but some part of my heart, even incapable of feeling, didn't want to see Ruby or the others dead. Salem smiled again, but this time it looked brought on by a bitter taste.
"Of course." She cast her eyes to me, and I bit the line, hooking myself on her demanding attention. "Your very presence here has guaranteed Remnant's doom, one way or another." Once more her eyes paid their toll to the shadow standing over us, and specks of my hatred still wished to tear it down; to face off against whatever lay beyond. But Salem's voice pulled me back. "I knew, when the first of the fires showed life again, that you had returned, and Remnant was thus forsaken to my whim."
I watched as she approached one of the orbs, almost cupping it with her hands, but refusing to touch.
"These flames had reached the end of their lives, about to finally be snuffed out after a millennium of burning, but then you restored the first of the locks, ensuring this seal would stay strong until my conquest reaches its highest point." I saw pride in her eyes as they directed themselves to me. "Ruby warned me of the two possible outcomes, and so did he, but in either scenario, I would win." An incomprehensible nostalgia overtook her face, but the mention of Ruby overshadowed my perspective to most of it. "Interestingly, they spoke as though both possibilities were inevitable, as if both would come to pass, even though each invalidated the other."
"R-Ruby?" Real, genuine confliction; fueled by emotions which froze and now melted anew. Why was Ruby the only one capable of bringing out my 'self?' Or, was this thing I considered my 'self' a lie to hide from the truth of who I am? No... instead, I wondered why Ruby always changed my mind, even in passing mentions.
Salem softly inhaled, coolly humming. Fleeting shock obscured itself behind soft amusement, and dare I say joy - although it was clouded by the defensive fog she rolled across her emotions.
"So you're not entirely dead after all." Seemingly pleased by that, she shook her head, and for the first time in forever, I felt as though I were truly home; being gently scolded as I had been a boy. "Don't get yourself worked up; the Ruby I speak of is not the one you've newly come to know... Although, she is not unfamiliar."
That only served to de-escalate my mood, but it did not diminish it fully. After a short pause, she told a more believable tale.
"I speak of the 'Ruby' that this era's Ruby was named after." Every single ounce of negativity seemed to dribble out after that, leaving behind a respectful admiration of that which she spoke of. "Summer's love for her daughter was on full display during our bout; all this talk about making the world a better place, of building a world where her little girl didn't have to suffer. Even when she was dragged away by her less aspiring partner, she still insisted that even if she were to die, then her daughter would be more than strong enough to defeat me."
"An empty promise." Salem could not die, but did Summer know that?
"Yes, but a hopeful one." Awash with sympathy of all things, Salem appeared to be indulging her own fantasies now. "A Human... a mother, who possessed fear not for her life, but hope for what her children could do. A woman willing to die to see her belief in that hope understood, even if she would never live to see it."
With words dropping into regret, the hateful comment to come just barely reached my ears.
" Again I watched one wilt for this undeserving world…"
Shaking her head, Salem collected herself afterwards, shoving the darkness of her mind away in favor of indulging me again. While twisted in uncertainty, what she followed up with was not entirely untrue, and nor would I expect it to be.
"But such is the way of legends. Regardless of truth, the inspiration they evoke can sway even the most fearful and logical of hearts."
"And has it swayed yours?" I tried, making no attempt to hide what I was asking. "Did her hope change your heart?"
"Even if it has, the outcome of Remnant remains the same. I will destroy it." She reached over, pulling up my sword-arm and taking my hand in her own. "But that is only my mission. You have a far more important job to finish."
"No, I don't." I pulled away, releasing her grip and stepping back. In this instance shame would have been shown, but without Ruby in the core of my mind, it appeared I yet remained incapable. "My mission was to see you again, and now that I have, I've nothing more to do."
"Are you quite sure of that?"
"I am." What more was there for me? "Every goal I've undertaken has been to see you again, and to return to our home. But our home is long dead; our lands have since fallen and our people are gone. When I learned this, my lord told me that you had fallen to deception by those you surround yourself with, and hence my mission became to rid you of that evil. In the end, that was nothing more than a lie."
"Ozma is quite good at that." She approached, again taking my hand. "Lying in a bid to defend Humanity, wholly ignorant of the damage his close guard of their lives is having on their courage."
"As I would learn later from Jinn." I pulled back, once more escaping her hold; her mercy. "I witnessed all of it: your history, and your curse. It nearly drove me into madness... Although..." I looked down over my body again, and noted how, despite releasing all of my concerns and reasoning, I continued to feel nothing. More than nothing; naught but emptiness seasoned my voice. "At this point, I'm fairly sure I've already arrived."
"No." She snuck in again, placing a firmer grip over my hand. "Dark, unsure, unfeeling; yes, you are all these things now. But mad? Far from it. Despite missing the crux of your original aura, the 'you' I'd raised into true knighthood and the 'you' I'd shielded from harm, there is still Humanity in your heart. I see it in the color of your soul; the violet has not yet, and will never, engulf you unless you permit it."
"And how can you be so sure? With my motives being so malleable, how can you believe me capable of that power?"
This got a strong and fairly annoyed sigh from her; a strange thing to see coming from the picture of nobility.
"Like mother like son; incapable of accepting their own potential even when they've nearly reached their goals. If you're unable to believe in my faith, then will you at least trust in hers?"
"Mother knew of this?" Salem nodded, and I... didn't know what to make of that, save asking the obvious. "Did father know as well?"
"No. Both Veronica and Thorn were oblivious to the truth regarding you. Only your mother and I knew."
Something looked to dawn in Salem's eyes, and my lack of immediate response might have been what coaxed a realization from her mind.
"They never told you, did they?"
That alone confirmed it.
"They are... not my real parents, are they?" Had everything I'd believed been a lie? Was that all life was capable of giving me: lies upon lies? Salem looked to drown herself in thought, vocalizing everything as if stumped. Were they supposed to tell me that fact eventually? Better yet, what did this mean?
"I knew she wouldn't ever mention it herself, but to think they wouldn't as well..."
"What?" My command came out, burning with far more fire than I reasonably fueled within. I sounded more furious than I felt. "What didn't I know?" And then it came to me, and stupidly, it was such a simple thought. The one question I should have asked from the get-go the moment I learned my parent's weren't my parents. "Who is my mother?"
Salem snapped free from whatever tangled her thoughts, and perhaps sensing what should have been dismay, decided to elaborate clearly. Sorrowfully, she sighed, and handed me my answer.
"Veronica, of course." Salem spat, a bit uncomfortable, but she quickly regained a proper appearance. "She raised you, even though you never shared blood with either her or Thorn. But that's not what you're asking, is it?" Of course not, but she knew that anyway; I could tell she was testing the waters. "Never forget, family runs beyond blood."
Staying silent, she took that as acceptance, and in a way it was. I hadn't meant to discard their work, truly, but if I wasn't theirs, then whose was I? Salem knew who it was, and I could guess she knew why I was left to the Rose Clan, so why hadn't I ever been told. Sure, as a boy it would have hurt, but I've long since left boyhood behind. I was a man once before, and even if I was more monster now, I still should have been told. The fact I wasn't implied something went wrong, or was there really a reason for my continued ignorance. Was the truth really so dangerous that my ignorance stood justified? Only now, in my concerned state, had I picked up on one last oddity.
The other voice in my head, that other me, he was being awfully silent in the wake of all this.
"I know that." I said, throwing my thoughts and concerns away. I couldn't be distracted by anything else. "I just want to know why I was abandoned."
"You weren't abandoned." Salem finally released her grip on me, and looked up with a soothing stare, as if applying bandages to my wounded mind. "Even if she left you in Veronica's care, she was there beside you every step of the way. Tell me, do you recall who it was that joined you, as you introduced yourself to me for the first time."
The one who joined me? Such an easy to picture memory was made all the more clear when Jinn's little performance before had re-enacted the event in startlingly perfect detail. The implication was clear, but that itself still left me with some confusion.
"So... Miss Scarlet was my mother? The servant who'd held the position of my personal caretaker." Salem nodded, but that just prompted me to spill the contradictions. "Then why was I given to them? If she was going to be there anyways, then why leave me ignorant? And more over, why would the clan accept me to begin with if I wasn't theirs?"
Shaking her head, Salem almost looked sorry for me.
"Despite how harsh she may have come off, Veronica always had you on her mind. But if that alone won't quell your doubts, then perhaps you might blame your father; he always was, as I'm sure you remember, a bleeding heart, or are you going to tell me even he had left your mind?"
"Even if my main concerns lay with their acceptance of me into their lives, that doesn't answer why Miss Scar- why mother hid the truth."
"Ruby knew you'd end up here; why she planned it as such I can only guess. She came to me the night before you were found, gave me both the blade you carry and the symbol upon your shoulder; gifts I was to give you when you grew strong."
That too was incomprehensible to me, and I only ended up worse off. Confusion wouldn't even begin to describe what I was trying to wrap my head around, and I rattled off another question, hoping at least to get partially educated.
"Did mother know of Ruby's plan?"
"You..." Salem took in a deep breath. Her body now stood with stoicism. "I apologize. I've confused you. Yes, she did know of the plan. It was her plan." Before I could inquire, she cut me off. "Gem Scarlet was an alias, Vermillion. She revealed it to me during our final confrontation. Her true name was Ruby Rose."
"I..." Ruby Rose… She bore our clan's name. Did that mean she'd been part of the clan anyway? Was she a relative of my father's who he'd never mentioned? "What?"
"Ruby had many aliases she'd gone by, but I'd only learned her name when we constructed this trap together." Salem sent a quick glance to the door. "She put all her hopes into it." Her crimson iris burned into my own as they shot back, showing within something... new. "I know this is confusing, but she had a plan for you. She promised me freedom through death, and she'd proven the strength of her will during her final moments. I don't know what she has in store, but she'd banked all of her hopes on you: her son."
Something began to leak from her form, and I watched as Salem reached for my chest once again, and I felt a chill run across my skin. Smog flowed freely, wrapping around and covering my back, interweaving itself with the straps which strung across my chest and back. Clinging to my skin, it took a similar shade to that of her own dress; pure black and, like Pale Bloom, devouring all light to dare reach for it. Bits of it strung down across my arms, covering the already dark leather with an even more dastardly representation of terror. The spider's web imprisoned the simple material underneath, but hindered nothing, and allowed pieces of the material to still soak in the light of day.
The upper core of my chest was all that remained uncovered, but the flaps of a sharp collar poked past the corners of my vision and just beyond the shoulders, and atop their pointed rims bright bone sharply carved the air.
"Consider this a symbol of my faith in you as well." Everything began to go dark again, and I struggled to stay on my feet. "She believed in you, entirely unbothered by the potential of failure, and so sure of our enemy's defeat. I don't know what provoked such unfathomable, indestructible courage, but even I struggle in the face of guaranteed failure to admit our loss. Even if I am damned to destroy this world, and even if we'd lost before the war even began, I will at least see your purpose fulfilled."
I lost balance, unable to move, and unable to think, with Salem's defiant glare towards the dark door being the last thing to cross my mind, along with one final word.
"And I shall see your suffering extended. Don't think you've won; escape will render you ignorant. I will taste death, and I know he will not let you go unpunished."
What lay beyond the door didn't matter anymore, because when I awoke, it was to the wastes of searing sands, with a strange man standing above me.
Author's note
...
This was actually a challenge to write; not so much from lack of information, but due to the scope of it. So much available, but so little chance to show it. Honestly, the biggest challenge was ensuring this here doesn't make later events feel redundant; easier said than done. On the bright side, the extent of Salem's knowledge comes out in the open; what was this plan she spoke of, and what trap was she talking about?
Actually, that's something that'll pop up soon - depending.
One final outfit change too: a small addition of an open-ish shirt with a spooky collar from Salem herself, finally completing the outfit. Additions from the Humans, Faunus, and now the Grimm; seems like everyone got their pieces in.
It's probably a little disappointing that this wasn't a super emotional event, but with V being dulled and Salem's questionable headspace, it wasn't really going to be one. At least it's been fully confirmed that Ruby was his mother; although at this point, I'm pretty sure it was made obvious long before, but at least V knows. Granted, he doesn't know both Rubys are, technically, one and the same.
But whatever; V losing himself to confusion and doubt is good enough I guess.
Technically we're coming up on the endgame, but we need to wrap Atlas up first, and finish off the other half of the story. What was this trap Salem seemed conflicted on? What is V's purpose in the plan? What the heck is going on with the door? And what's with this chapter's ending?
Stick around to find out.
Until next time.