So, this is my smallest chapter yet. There are two reasons for this.
1 - It's kinda unfeasible to write these 10k-12k word chapters for three different stories, as I am doing now without getting burnt out.
2 - I'm trying to quickly get through this arc. This is really the 'backstory and lore' arc, and it's the last hurdle before we get to a point where Jaune's interacting with primarily canon characters. It would have been easier had we known more about Jaune's family, so I wouldn't have to create an entire childhood for him, but it is how it is. I'm just trying to make it as painless as i can.
With that said, this chapter and the next two chapters will both be closer to the 6k-7k word mark (just like the first chapter of this fic) and if it doesn't feel like it's too short, I'll continue with this wordcount. The benefit would be that updates will likely be faster (no promises) at the tradeoff of less meat per chapter.
Either way, we'll see how it goes.
also. please join my discord server at (slash)DQnmaHECfA . it's where I interact with readers the most, and more importantly, it's where I post all progress stages on every chapter I write, as well as my update schedule. We also have feedback and self-promotion channels where you can keep me honest, as well as post your lovely works for me to read.
Also, because this site hates me, update notifications for this fic go out to very few people. hell, I don't even get them on my own reading account, so you can avoid that by joining the server too!
Finally, I'm looking for a Beta reader again for all three of my fics. If you are interested, please let me know. You DO NOT have to beta all three fics, even beta-ing one will do.
Anyways. That's enough of me yapping, enjoy the chapter!
Jaune's mind was still reeling from the revelation that the man he had followed into this underground prison was - in fact - the originator of their family line.
So great was his shock, that he didn't even stop to marvel at the architectural wonder that he was walking through. It wasn't till he was halfway into the ancient Mistralian-styled Coliseum that he realised just where he'd ended up.
With realisation came doubts. The Coliseum was - for lack of a better word - ginormous. Too large to even fit in Phalanx, much less under. The logistics of building such a place were impossible to consider.
What was even more impossible was the perfect facsimile of the night sky that was clearly visible, even as they were hundreds of metres under Phalanx.
"Impressive, isn't it?" He heard, looking to his side, Jaune found the source of the voice.
The first thing he noticed about her was her build. She was taller than him, and built like a warrior. She carried a greataxe longer than she was tall, and she wore practically no armour. It was like looking at a Barbarian from one of the early-generation Mistrali RPGs.
"Arc made this for me. When he came to capture me, I told him I'd come quietly as long as he gave me a home that honored my people." She spoke, a fond smile creeping up on her exquisite, exotic face. Yet, the smile never reached her eyes.
"He almost got it right too. Yet, he forgot one thing, and once you know what that is, his illusion falls rather flat." She commented.
"It's the wind, isn't it?" Jaune stated, locking eyes with the immortal standing across him. "There are clouds in the sky, they move, yet, there is no wind."
The smile on the woman's face gradually morphed into a smirk. A spark of craziness lit up her violet eyes, and she picked up her colossal war axe, slinging it over her shoulder. "You know what this place is, right? You know what its significance has been all throughout history?"
Jaune shrugged, a blank expression of boredom on his face. "It's a gladiatorial arena. I kinda slept through history class in school, but didn't the Mistralians capture Grimm alive and make aspiring huntsman fight them in these places?" He asked. "Pretty radical way to train huntsmen, but I guess the world really was a different place before the war."
His comment elicited a laugh from her.
"Oh, yes. Mistral. Arc told me about that nation. It's quite revolting how much our traditions have been twisted by your third humanity." She shot back. "No, child. The Coliseum was where masters of the art of war came to challenge each other. Heads rolled, blood flowed, and let me tell you, nothing is quite as glorious as witnessing two masters of combat fight each other to the death."
"Sounds quite barbaric to me." Jaune retorted, unimpressed. "If they were such masters, would they not better serve on the battlefield? There's always more Grimm to kill, always more settlements to protect. Making them fight to the death against each other is a stupid waste of resources."
She laughed in response, yet it didn't have a taunting edge. "What we faced, pretty boy, were things that made your Grimm problem feel small." The mirth on her face faded, "Quantity did us no good. The Empyrean's army had no room for weaklings."
"You dropped quite a few alarming factoids in your little rant. I assume you have no intention of explaining, do you?" Jaune spoke, pulling out Flameseeker from his inventory. "You want a fight, I can see it in your eyes."
"And you aren't like the rest of your kind. Do you know how long it has been since one of Arc's kids made it this far?" She spoke, taking a wide stance. "Can you imagine how long I've been here, unchallenged? The last time someone decided to venture down here was so long ago that I can't even remember his face."
"Plus, if you've come down here, you subdued the Hunter. Your ascension is confirmed. You're seeking more. You want answers, do you not?" She asked, jumping in place to warm up. "Those answers are not mine to give. You know where you will get them, so c'mon, let's fight already!"
Ignoring the fact that her jumping was doing unspeakable things to her assets, Jaune sighed. "I just want answers, man. I'd rather not fight any of you lot if I could help it."
She answered by closing the gap to him and cleaving down with her battle axe, her blond locks flowing free. Jaune reacted in kind, catching the blow with Flameseeker's edge.
He did not expect the strength behind the casual blow to push him back several meters. He'd seen the attack, he'd measured its speed, there was no way it could carry the amount of power it did.
His surprise was easy enough for her to see. "C'mon, pretty boy. Did you think I'd be down here if I wasn't special? Or did you think I'd be as easy to beat as the Hunter?"
Jaune shook his right arm, trying to dispel the jarring effect left behind by the impact. "To be honest, yes. He cut a far more terrifying figure than you do, what with the whole 'battle bikini' thing you have going on."
"Plus, you're not that special." He responded, propelling himself right next to her with a blink, his arms mid-swing, aimed right at her neck.
It was when the blade hit her neck with the deafening clang of metal striking metal, that he realized his words might not hold the kind of weight he thought they did.
"...you were saying?" She replied with a smirk and a fist to his face.
Again, the physics of the blow did not match the force that it carried. He saw his Aura drop to less than half, as his body was sent flying to the other side of the Coliseum. His feet skid over the loose sand as he regained balance, only to see the barbarian woman jumping at him.
Worldcleaver
He blinked out of the way just in the nick of time as the woman's axe descended. Just in the nick of time too, as the ground where he stood exploded. Sand was thrown sky-high, as a wave of heat hit him, causing slight damage to his aura.
As the dust settled, he saw the full extent of damage caused by her attack. A jagged circle of magma surrounded where she now stood. Her axe was embedded into the glassed ground, and she was smirking.
That smirk was quickly wiped away as the ground under her rapidly restored itself from a destroyed crater to pristine sand.
"Fucking Arc and his blasted magic. Damage like that is art! He could at least allow it to persist while the fight lasts!" She yelled, pulling her axe out of the now-pliable sand.
"Well, I cannot hurt you, and you can't catch me. I wouldn't consider this much of a fight." Jaune spoke, ready to move again in case the woman attacked again.
"A battle of attrition is still a battle, pretty boy." She replied, before making a tsk-ing sound. "Bah, In my impatience, I skipped all the grandstanding and introductions."
"Does it really matter?" Jaune asked, slowly circling around the woman. "Far as I know, today's going to be the first and last time we meet."
She shook her head. "You kids really have no appreciation for combat. Knowing who you are fighting makes battles far more personal." She still didn't move, instead pointing at Jaune with her axe.
"All I know is that you're a scion of Arc." She spoke. "All you know is that I'm not allowed to kill you. What's the fun in that? Come on! It'll be far more fun if you just follow my lead!"
"Will knowing my name make you shut up?" Jaune sighed, exasperated.
The woman, in turn, laughed. "Oh don't be a sourpuss. Trading barbs as I fight is my way of blowing off steam!"
She then took a step forward. "I'm Sophia Ayla, queen of the red sands." She spoke, a smirk on her face. "I have spent my life in the arena. One day, maybe, I'll die in the arena."
"Aren't you supposed to be immortal?" Jaune asked.
"Immortal, undefeatable, drop-dead gorgeous, yes." She stated, "But immortality is subjective. We gladiators do not believe in it. After all, what fun is a fight if you know you cannot lose?"
Jaune sighed. "So you're a narcissist, and also delusional. Just my luck. Still, you introduced yourself, so I'll repay that favor," Jaune spoke.
"I am Jaune Arc. Youngest son of Helios Arc." He spoke.
Sophia looked like she was expecting more. Once it became clear that Jaune was done talking, a dour expression appeared on her face.
"Is… is that all?" She asked, a bored expression on her face. "No titles or anything?"
Jaune shrugged. "Hey, I'm still a teenager. Sorry if I don't live up to your lofty expectations."
She tsk-ed again. "You could at least make something up! C'mon! Grandstanding is all about showmanship! I haven't fought anyone in like, thousands of years! At least make this special for me!"
Jaune sighed. "I do have a title, but I don't understand what it means. It's part of why I'm down here, talking to a crazy immortal woman."
"Go on! Out with it then!" She grinned at him like a madman.
"Okay then. Let's do this again." Jaune whispered.
"I am Jaune Arc, the Empyrean." He spoke, and witnessed in real-time as all mirth drained from the woman's face.
"I told you it was okay to lie, not commit heresy." Sophia spoke, entering a battle stance again.
"I didn't lie. That is my title." Jaune countered. "It's quite the new development, though, so I understand the doubt." he followed by tensing up, ready to react.
"Bullshit. If you were the Empyrean, I wouldn't have survived your first blow." She spoke, leaping at Jaune.
Jaune considered himself a patient man. He considered himself reasonable. When the woman said she wanted a fight, he was willing to give it to her. When she said she wanted to make it special due to it being a momentous occasion, he was willing to humour her. Yet, now she was both belittling his strength as well as underestimating him. So, he did what any reasonable person would do in such a situation.
He moved in and slashed at her sternum, launching a fully-charged Aura Blade as he did.
The effect was immediate. Unlike every other opponent he'd used Aura Blade against, the blade didn't cut through her, Instead, it carried her as it flew straight into the grandstands that lined the arena. On contact with the stone benches, the attack exploded, taking a good patch of the grandstands with it.
Jaune watched the ruined crater repair itself, much like the patch of ground that Sophia had destroyed earlier. It popped Sophia out of it and back into the arena. While it was fun to watch her land face-first in the sand, it would have been a lot more convenient had the stands been repaired around her, burying her in stone.
Still, one look at Sophia was enough to tell him that his attack had caused her no damage. Still, the way she got up, wincing, told her that while he had done no damage, she had felt pain.
He could work with that.
"Okay, maybe I misjudged you here."
Sophia was breathing hard. Her grip on her axe was steady, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that after hours of hit-and-run attacks, her current defiance was more bravado than endurance.
Jaune himself wasn't faring all that better. Sure, the system made sure that no outward signs of exhaustion showed on his visage, but it also made it very clear that his stamina was running out.
He'd been redlined on stamina for their last three exchanges. Only the passive regeneration and the fact that Sophia had slowed down considerably had kept him out of harm's way.
Something about Sophia's remark told him that was about to change.
"You're quite fun to play with. You know how to run, and when to hit. I've never met anyone like you." She spoke, smiling widely. "It's almost a shame that I can't fight you to the death. It'd be such a satisfying end to this long life."
"Still, a fight is a fight, and I've grown tired of yours. Let's see how you can handle my best." She spoke. The next moment, Jaune's heart skipped a beat.
Her jump was the same as the attack she began the fight with, but much higher Jaune could instinctually tell that this was different. Red energy coalesced into her great axe, making it glow like a miniature sun, lighting up the night sky.
Rend
His instincts screamed at him, and he blinked out of the way before the attack connected with the ground.
The world exploded around him.
Searing heat hit him with the force of a speeding train as he was launched into the walls of the arena. His body crashed hard against the rock, and it was rock that gave way as he was flung deeper into the Coliseum's outer structure. Finally, his body hit something that felt far more solid, and he came to a rest.
His Aura had given way before his collision, and the pain that came after was debilitating. There was no doubt in his mind that had his system not been based around HP values, he would have broken a few dozen bones.
He forced himself up, using Flameseeker for balance. His feet wobbled as he tried to make his way over the debris of the Arena wall. Once he got his footing, he walked back towards the arena, ignoring the self-repair going on around him.
What he saw was frightening beyond belief.
Sophia's last attack had glassed every bit of sand in the arena. She stood in the impact crater, which was a few meters of magma. She stood in it, knee-deep, leaning on her war hammer, breathing heavily.
It was her coup de gras, and as he walked back towards her, he knew she had no more to give.
"You… you're a tough bastard, huh?" She huffed out, trying but failing to stand up under her own power. She failed, but the effort was commendable.
"Says the half-nude woman standing in a pool of lava, taking no damage," Jaune spoke. "You did all this to me in one hit, and that's when you didn't even connect."
She let out a heaving chuckle. "I admit… you are this generation's Empyrean."
Jaume chuckled. "Only took a few hours of being thrown around for you to come around on that."
The smile on her face slowly faltered. "Yeah… and I mean no disrespect, kid, but when compared to the Empyrean I knew… you're still too weak."
That gave Jaune pause. A frown developed on his face. "Just… how strong was the last Empyrean."
She replied with a bone chilling smile. "I met the Empyrean when he was around your age. The one I knew almost killed me with one blow. Completely tore through my invincible body in one slash of his sword. I've only lost so cleanly twice in my life."
"Twice?" Jaune asked, "Assuming you don't consider my victory 'clean'."
"Yeah, twice. These shitty battles of attrition are fun, but if you can't really kill me, is it even a loss?" She chuckled. "The first time was when I challenged the Empyrean. The second time?"
"Well, you'll see soon enough. You're chasing after him, after all."
As he descended the endless-feeling staircase down to the next floor, Jaune couldn't help but think back to the fight he just had. Not that he could help it. He was running low on Aura, and was already low on Mana from his battle with the Hunter earlier.
Today had been… a humbling experience. He'd entered Phalanx feeling invincible. His victories over Lau and the Phoenix had left him cocky. The Hunter was a reality check. Even being far weaker than him, he had given Jaune some trouble. Sophia? He couldn't even cause any damage to her.
Hearing that his predecessor had almost killed her in one blow reminded him of just how far he had to go, and that was while not even considering the elephant in the room.
Apparently, his ancestor had done the same.
He finally got to the door leading to the next floor. He still hadn't recovered meaningfully from his last encounter, but he couldn't stop here.
He never got to open the door, as a large magic circle appeared beneath his feet. Before he could so much as think to blink out of it, the world around him shifted in a burst of bright light.
He had been teleported.
As the light faded, he took in his new surroundings. The same fake sky was present, still dark, only lit up by a fake moon.
A fake moon that was… whole.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
He looked behind him, reacting to the melodic female voice. He found her sitting next to a tea table, and her looks matched her voice.
She was an exotic beauty, with dusky skin, long black hair, and a face with features so delicate they looked almost inhuman. She was a beauty beyond any he'd seen
She was also looking at him with the most disinterested expression he'd ever seen.
"Come, young Empyrean, take a seat." She spoke, motioning towards the only other seat available.
He paused for a second. "For someone who is supposed to fight me, this is quite gentle."
The woman locked gazes with him, her expression unchanging. "There is no fight to be had here, child."
Jaune took the seat, a confused expression on his face. "Why so? My ancestor was quite clear when he said that I had to fight all of you if I was to make my way to him."
"In that case, consider me defeated." She answered, pouring herself a cup of tea, "I have no interest in fighting someone who doesn't even understand himself."
"The Hunter and Sophia seemed interested enough in fighting, my self-awareness aside." He answered.
"The Hunter is barely human. He works on the instincts of an animal. To him, just your mere existence in his territory was cause enough to fight." She responded, pouring out another cup for Jaune. "Sophia is more muscle than brain. To her, it's the fight that matters, not who she is fighting, not anymore."
Jaune took a sip of the offered tea. It was pretty good, considering where he was drinking it. Nothing at all like the name brands you'd get above ground.
"And the opponent matters to you? Haven't you fought other Arcs before?" Jaune asked.
"It's not your lineage that gives me pause, child. It's what you are… more what you aren't yet." She retorted.
"You expected me to be stronger, then?" Jaune questioned.
"No, you are plenty strong. At your age, the last Empyrean couldn't even boast half the strength you currently possess." She stated. "He was raised in luxury, coddled, treated like the god he was one day destined to be. When he finally picked up the sword, he knew nothing of war, nothing of strength."
"In hindsight, not pushing him enough as a child was one of our greatest failures." She finished, and a moment of silence stretched between them.
"No matter. I will speak no more of this topic, even after millennia, my failures still haunt me. It is unfair of me to project these feelings on you." She stated.
"That's interesting, but also goes against what Sophia told me." Jaune stated. "In her recollection, my predecessor was able to defeat her with ease at my age."
The woman shrugged, somehow making the action look graceful. "That's true, and while he was far weaker than you are right now, I have no doubts that in a fight between you two, he'd still come out on top."
"That… makes no sense." Jaune replied.
"Is it?" She shot back. "Think of the empyrean's power as water." She spoke, waving a hand. As her fingers cut through the air, streams of water appeared in their wake. The water congealed into two spheres. One being quite a bit larger than the others.
"Water is formless, it becomes whatever you put it into." She waved her hand again, and the smaller sphere split into two cubes. "The Empyrean knew this, so he used his fledgeling might to great effect."
With another wave of her hand, the larger sphere also split. Unlike the smaller one, this one split into dozens of cubes of varying size. Yet, none of the individual cubes could compare to the size of the two cubes that the smaller orb had split into.
"Meanwhile, this is what you have done. In your inexperience, in your lack of guidance, you have stretched yourself too far." She spoke. "While this method also has its merits, especially in a world like yours, where the challenges are trivial, in the end, it will fail. Surely, you already understand this.
He understood. while he had a mishmash of skills, some that got a lot of use, some that didn't get any, but amongst his entire laundry list of skills, he didn't have a single skill that could afford him the kind of defense that Sophia had. None that could grant him the kind of regeneration the Hunter had demonstrated.
It just put into perspective the erratic growth he'd had over the last few months. He was a generalist, and the only thing he really had going for himself was pure strength.
Take that away from him, and he found himself suffering.
"Fuck…" He spoke, and for the first time, he saw the woman's expression change ever so slightly into something wistful. On a face as beautiful as hers, the expression just looked wrong.
"I guess there's one similarity between the two of you. You're both uncultured swines." She said, but her tone lacked any bite. Instead, all Jaune felt from her words were a hint of sadness and a pang of longing.
"Now, get going. Time is a precious resource for someone like you." She spoke, getting up from her chair and waving her hand. A door appeared behind her. "This will lead you to the next floor."
"Thank you." Jaune spoke, "Both for the tea and your tutelage."
She shook her head. "Do not thank me, child. Just make sure you do not disappoint me next time."
Before Jaune could even ask what she meant by 'next time', she'd already teleported away, leaving him alone next to the door.
"Fucking cryptic women." Jaune grimaced as he began his walk to the next floor.
If the last three floors had been a marvel of construction, the next one was both simpler, and yet all the more magical.
It was a field, stretching out as far as the eye could see. In the middle of it sat a small house.
In front of the house stood Arc.
"I see that Sylvia let you through." He spoke, finally giving a name to the beautiful woman Jaune had met moments ago.
"Yeah, what a cheerful woman. Very helpful though." Jaune responded. It was the wrong thing to say, as a look of sadness spread over Arc's face.
"She was once cheerful, the happiest of us all. Her smiles once lit up the halls of the eastern castle. They used to call her the jewel of the East." He spoke in barely a whisper, but his words did not lack power. "You do not know what she went through to end up this way. You have no idea how much she has lost."
"She taught me more about my power than any of the others did." Jaune replied.
Arc nodded back. "You cannot imagine how much it hurt her to see you. You, who are so much like him, yet a completely different person. Imagine losing someone you have loved your entire life, and then finding someone so similar to him, yet not him, sitting and drinking tea with you."
"If you could, then you'd understand why she didn't wish to fight you. Even after millennia, the scars are still to fresh, as they will ever be." he finished, dropping a bombshell on Jaune.
"She… she was his lover?" He asked.
"Wife. The one and only. Our society treated the Empyrean like a god, made manifest. He had his pick of anything his mind wished, yet, he chose her. He dedicated his life to her, and she did the same. When he died, a part of her died with him. A love so pure, destroyed because of our inaction." He spoke, a tone of reverence mixing with the ever-present guilt in his voice.
"Oh…" Jaune blurted out, at a complete loss for words.
"Yes, jaune. 'Oh' Indeed." Arc finished with a sigh. "Her plight aside, you've made it to the penultimate floor of the Gaol of Immortals. You're the first arc of the third humanity to have ever made it this far. For that, I commend you."
"Penultimate? You mean this isn't your floor?" Jaune asked.
Arc shook his head. "No. This floor was meant for a couple. A couple that has shaped the history of both the second and third waves of humanity. A couple that redefines what the word 'immortality' means."
Jaune was silent for a moment. "And they're not in there, are they?"
Arc shook his head. "No. They are not. I could never capture them."
Jaune raised an eyebrow at that. "If they truly are so powerful, then how come I have never heard of them? I may be clueless, but if they were as prolific in our history as you mention, then how come they have never stepped into the limelight? Fuck, I've only been active for a few months and I've already been on every TV channel in the world."
Arc smiled at that. "Your hubris aside, no. They are not 'powerful' in the true sense of the word." he answered. "I'd wager that as they are, they couldn't pose a threat to you. Yet, as you are, you wouldn't pose a threat to them either."
"So they aren't exactly strong, but I assume they've got some other trick up their sleeves that makes them tricky to deal with?" Jaune questioned.
"Imagine a woman who could raise full armies of Grimm at a whim. Someone who cannot feel pain, or even be hurt." he spoke. "On the flipside, imagine someone who, when killed, could reincarnate like a cancer of the soul in any person he so chooses."
"That should give you a better idea of why they are so hard to deal with." He finished.
"Huh. Okay, I can see that." Jaune spoke. "And you're telling me that both of these are at large?"
Arc chuckled at that. "Kid, you've met one of them. You did go to Beacon, did you not?"
Jaune was silent as he realized just what Arc was implying. "Headmaster Ozpin?"
"He never was very creative with names, but yes. That's him, the infinite man." Arc finished.
"And what of the other one?" He asked.
"Why, I already told you, didn't I?" He raised an eyebrow. "The Grimm have to come from somewhere, don't they?"
Again, a moment of silence. "So one of the Immortals is a school headmaster, and the other one's the originator of the Grimm? What the fuck?" Jaune questioned, making Arc chuckle.
"Oh, that's not even the most ridiculous part!" He spoke. "They used to be married!"
For the third time in a minute, Arc had left Jaune completely speechless. "So, what you're telling me is that the entire history of this planet has been shaped by a post-marital grudge?"
"An oversimplification, but yes. Your entire history can be summed up as the most messy divorce proceedings in history." He responded, a shit-eating grin on his face.
"That's… a lot to take in." Jaune responded.
"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere, you know, what with being immortal and all." Arc shot back.
"Well, at least I know where my family gets its cockiness from." Jaune retorted. "So, considering how forthcoming you've been with all this information…"
Arc cut him off with a laugh. "Nah, kid. That was the one freebie I was willing to give you. We had a deal, and you gotta hold up your end of it to know more."
As he finished speaking, he stretched out his right arm. Following the motion, a wave of magic coalesced into an exquisitely crafted spear.
"You still have to defeat me. And you know well enough that as you are, you have no chance of doing so." Arc spoke.
"Can't know that for certain till I try, you know?" Jaune replied, equipping Flameseeker.
"On the contrary, you very much can," Arc spoke. "You may be the Empyrean, but you are incomplete. Your power is immense, of that there is no doubt, but you lack focus, you lack direction. You lack a vital building block of what makes you an Empyrean."
"So, try again." he spoke, suddenly right next to Jaune.
Jaune couldn't even respond as he felt something cold pierce his heart. Looking down, he saw Arc's spear embedded in his chest. He'd moved so fast that Jaune had been unable to follow. The strength behind his blow was so great it had shattered his Aura in one hit.
He had been completely outclassed.
"Remember, giving up is always an option," Arc spoke, pulling his spear out of Jaune's chest, allowing him to fall on his back into a puddle of his own blood.
"Yet, something tells me that such an option is wasted on you." He finished, as Jaune's consciousness faded, and he knew no more.
Salem POV
It was finally in her grasp.
Intelligent Grimm,it was a concept that had eluded her for millennia, a concept that, if pushed forward, could finally end this tiresome facade of a stalemate that Ozma had maintained against her.
Yet, the concept had only been that, a concept. She'd tried various methodologies to achieve this goal over the years, yet only one had ever borne fruit. To merge the soul of a human born with magic and the will of the dark pools, it was somewhat possible to create a grimm that could 'think'.
Yet, it wasn't a feasible method. Over her long live, she had captured nary but a handful of the silver-eyed warriors necessary for such a procedure. Even out of the ones she had captured, only one had survived her minstations.
Not to mention the amount of resources and planning it took to capture even a single one of these freaks of humanity. Their powers were anathema to her, to her creations. Even when they were cornered, left with no recourse, they would more likely take their lives than be captured.
She still remembered the first one that had killed himself in front of her.
"I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees."
His words still lived in her mind, pathetic as they were. The defiance was something she admired.
After all, defiance was what built her. Plus, he was half right. Allowing someone with that kind of power to 'live' was not in her plan.
As she stood in front of her most proud conquest, she allowed herself a generous glance at her handiwork. She was a slip of a woman. Tiny even by the considerations of a teenager. Yet, she was once one of Ozpin's mightiest pieces.
So when Salem imprisoned her in her castle, she made sure to shatter her soul asunder. She didn't need it, after all. As long as the body lived, it could be experimented on. The soul was just a nuisance.
She opened the wooden box she was carrying noticing how the green light from the gem inside lit up the little woman's holding cell.
The gem was a revelation. She knew of the beast in the northern mountains. She'd even faced it once, back when she and Ozma still wished to reshape humanity in their image. It had torched her mercilessly, and even with her immortality, she had realized that this was not a battle she could win.
How could she? Just like her, the monstrous bird healed instantly from any would she would inflict on it. It was the most poetic stalemate she could ever imagine. Two creatures of might, so similar, yet so different.
She had assumed the creature to be pre-historic. Something that had existed since far before humanity, possibly from before the brothers themselves. Imagine her surprise when the beast turned out to be a magical construct, created by those loathesome brothers themselves?
And in her hands lay irrefutable proof of that fact. The gen in her hands had appeared in her Grimmpool the very day the Phoenix was slain. Something as small as it would have been lost completely in the churning waves of the pool, had it not been for one small detail.
The moment it appeared in the pool, it started absorbing the waves of magic surrounding it. It had caused panic, an emotion she was no longer used to, to resurface once more. It wasn't till she realized what was happening that her panic had morphed into curiosity.
The gem was recharging itself, and as it continued to do so, Salem's curiosity slowly turned into fascination.
By the time it was full, it had made a dent in the pool's reserves, something that not even a whole army of her Grimm could create.
Once she got her hands on it, though, her fascination turned into another emotion she hadn't felt for hundreds of years.
Sheer Joy.
The gem was of divine make, that much was clear, but it was so much more than just a magic battery meant to power a construct like the Phoenix. It was - for lack of a better word - programmable.
She'd spent days experimenting on it. The sheer amount of magic the gem could hold felt impossible. Yet, it was all there.
Programming it was the hard part. She was a master of magic, none could doubt that, but to create a beast like the Phoenix, the complexity of programming necessary was something that would take her a few hundred lifetimes to achieve.
It was like defining the very core of a creature. Mannerisms, instinct, tendencies, thoughts, processes, everything that defined a creature had to be created from scratch. The gem held infinite potential, but yet again, that was all it held, potential.
Until she realized that she did not need to program the gem. Instead, she could link it to something that already existed. The moment this became apparent to her, the experimentation began anew.
Only to end up at square one. The gem needed a human capable of channeling magic to serve as a base. None of her children, no matter how complex, were compatible. Forcing their compatibility was worse, often in an explosive manner.
Every experiment that failed angered her more. She needed a creature that could not only kill Ozma, but guarantee her victory against all comers.
A memory came to her mind unbidden, a memory of a town in flame, a memory of her kneeling in front of a well-dressed, blonde-haired man. Someone so powerful that in front of his might, all she could do was kneel.
Her new child would have to be strong enough to kill a monster like that. Nothing less would suffice.
So instead of using the gem as a basis for a super-Grimm, it would have to be a hybrid. It would need the greatest base she could give it.
"And that's where you come in, Summer Rose." She spoke, knowing full well that the girl no longer had the mental capability to so much as twitch a finger, much less understand and reply.
"You will be my greatest creation yet." She said, all the while driving the gem into her bosom with one swift move of her hand.
"And for your first mission." She spoke, smiling as she wiped off the blood coating her hand. In front of her, the body of Summer Rose began to writhe as tar-like tendrils broke through her skin in various locations.
"You will kill the boy who laid low the Phoenix."
After all, what better way to show that her design was superior to that of the brothers than to have it kill the very person who destroyed their creation?
As Summer Rose continued to transform, Salem could only smile with pride.
The balance of power would shift again, and this time, Ozma would be unable to answer.
The Plot thickens! I was originally not going to wrote the Salem POV, but I feel that because of the OC-heavy nature of the current arc, it's best if I add some context as to what's happening in the wider world while this goes on. Hope y'all like it!
Shilling my discord server again at (slash)DQnmaHECfA for anyone who wants to join. This is in order to combat the shitty email system this site has, as well as so you guys can provide feedback directly.
That's all for now. More content coming soon!
- Cold Daylight