Salem lounged on her throne, looking just as imposing as she always did even as she gazed down at her subordinate with an unimpressed state. One hand rested on her cheek, propping her head up while the other was quietly tapping on the arm of her throne, displaying her annoyance for all to see.
The reason for her annoyance was the woman currently kneeling in front of her, prostrating herself to her queen and master in a way that she had become oh-so very good at over the years. Yes, Cinder had certainly become adept at the art of supplication.
And yet, that did absolutely nothing to make Salem feel any better about the absolute drivel spewing out of her mouth.
"Once again, I apologize for my lack of contact, master. I was so deep in cover that it was simply impossible to find and utilize one of your seers." Cinder bowed her head low, her forehead almost touching the ground as Salem's eyes narrowed minutely.
"Luckily, I was able to get a great deal of information on Sanctuary." She continued, "From what I have been able to find, it is extremely likely that Sanctuary will be the one hosting the upcoming Vital Festival as opposed to Beacon. There is also the possibility that the heads of the various academies will be there as well. It would be the ideal time to strike against them and deal a devastating blow to humanity's defenses."
Salem had heard more than enough. With a gesture of the Grimm Queen's hand, numerous tendrils shot from the shadows, wrapping around Cinder's limbs before the woman had a chance to do anything but gasp or widen her eyes in shock. They latched on tightly to her skin and clothing, pulling tight against her as she wrestled against them.
"Master!? What are you doing!?" Cinder said in panic, squirming against the tendrils as they began to raise her into the air. They only wrapped around her even tighter for her efforts, practically digging into her skin as she was raised to Cinder's level.
"Do you think me a fool, Cinder?" Salem spoke slowly, resting a cheek on one hand as she commanded even more tentacles in the woman's direction, "You must, if you have chosen to continue this blatant farce."
She sighed, "You disappoint me. I have long since known that I no longer had your loyalty but for you to be so foolish as to return here and attempt to convince me otherwise… perhaps I overestimated your potential."
She watched as Cinder's eyes widened at her words, the woman's face going slightly pale as she was blatantly called out for her actions, "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Master!" Cinder blatantly lied to the Grimm Queen's face, "I have been nothing but loyal to you! Practically my entire life has been dedicated to serving you!"
"Until just recently, yes?" Salem refuted her words, "It seems more than a little odd to me, that after months of complete and utter silence, you would choose to return to my castle completely unannounced on the one day that both Tyrian and Hazel are absent. Not only that, but your report which was so important that you needed to leave you 'especially deep cover' is nothing but maybes and guesswork. Not a single iota of surety in any of your words."
Cinder was sweating now, "Master I assure you-"
"Your assurances mean nothing." Salem said, gesturing and causing one of the tendrils to slip over the woman's mouth, "I know that that Carze woman has gotten her hooks into you, my own investigations confirmed it. You are not nearly as sneaky as you seem to think you are, Cinder, and I am not nearly as oblivious."
With a flex of her will, another tendril rose from beneath Cinder though this one was different from the rest. While the others were slender and smooth, this one was much thicker and held a wickedly sharp blade at the tip. Cinder froze, eying the thing as it slowly moved towards her, stopping just above the skin of her throat.
"By all means, I should kill you for your transgressions." Salem spoke, her quiet voice echoing throughout the entire room, "Betrayal is not something I tolerate, Cinder. You know that better than most."
Cinder didn't say a word, staring at the blade with fearful eyes as it slid just above her neck, imagining what might happen.
Salem hummed, pleased by her fear, "Yes, I should kill you. But I think I have a much more appropriate punishment in mind." In a flurry of motion, the blade swiped over Cinder's restrained form with enough speed that the wind whistled around it. The woman shrieked into her gag, closing her eyes in fear as her doom came within millimeters of her skin time and time again, flitting close enough to slice through the infinitesimally small hairs that covered her body.
And then, just as soon as it began, it was over. Cinder's eyes hesitantly opened as she noticed she was not in pain whatsoever, staring at the blade in confusion as it retreated back into the darkness.
She shifted slightly in her binds, and it was then that it was revealed exactly what had been done to her as all of her clothing slid from her body at once, having been held there only thanks to how frozen in fear she had been. Cinder froze as the tendrils loosened just enough to allow the scraps of clothing to fall to the floor, leaving her completely naked in front of the still lounging Grimm Queen.
Salem looked her over, taking in her nude form. Cinder looked much the same as she always had, soft in all the right places with just a hint of muscle from her extensive training. Even Salem would admit, the woman was excellent eye candy.
The Grimm Queen gestured once more, causing even more tendrils to join those that were currently restraining her. The tendrils slid along Cinder's bare body, wrapping around the limbs as they wound towards her pussy and breasts. The bound woman tensed, attempting to move her legs away from the unwanted caress but succeeding in absolutely nothing.
Another gesture by Salem and Cinder's eyes widened as two more tendrils slipped into her pussy while another took her in the ass, sliding inside of her without any warning even as she bucked and tried unsuccessfully to get away from the unwanted intrusion.
Luckily for Cinder's possible discomfort, Salem's tendrils were intentionally self-lubricating, a feature that the woman had intentionally crafted them with on the off chance that she decided to enjoy their embrace herself though she almost never did.
Suspended in mid air in the middle of the throne room, Cinder was forced to endure as she was fucked in every hole she had by the cold, slippery manifestations of Salem's will. The noises that were produced from both her throat and lower holes were extremely erotic and Salem licked her lips as she stared at the scene before her.
Salem didn't have a physical connection to her tendrils as they were a mere manifestation of her tainted magic rather than anything close to a physical limb. Despite this however, the Grimm Queen could feel herself beginning to get aroused as she idly defiled Cinder, reducing the strong-willed woman to a set of holes to be filled up.
"I'm sure I can find other uses for you. Perhaps a breeder for my more salacious experimental grimm." Salem mused idly, thinking aloud as she watched Cinder writhe in midair, "I normally destroy them when they begin to display lustful tendencies, but I'm sure I could leave a few in existence to enjoy your feminine wiles. It would certainly make for good entertainment at the very least."
Cinder made no indication that she heard her, too preoccupied with writhing in unwanted pleasure as the tendrils invaded her every orifice. They wiggled inside of her, sliding against every inch of her holes as they writhed. Cinder tried to fight it she truly did, but there was just nothing she could do when faced with such a pleasurable assault.
Salem raised an eyebrow as Cinder suddenly moaned loudly, the woman throwing her head back as much as she could while restrained as her eyes widened. Her body shook and even from her spot on her throne, Salem could tell that it wasn't another attempt to escape her binds.
Salem felt a small modicum of amusement as she realized that Cinder was currently having an orgasm and the Grimm Queen increased the speed of her tendrils, fucking the woman even faster then before as she came her brain out in midair.
As she watched Cinder shake with pleasure, her body quaking with pleasure as she came upon the thrusting tendrils, Salem's cock hardened beneath her robes. Her eyes were glued to Cinder's body and the sweat that glistened upon it and she swiftly decided on her next course of action in punishing the woman.
As Cinder slowly came down from her orgasm, Salem approached the panting woman with a deliberately slow gait. Her long, flowing robe that she had worn for countless years slipped down her body to pool on the floor as she walked, baring her nude form to the world.
Her cock swayed between her legs, pulsing and throbbing as she made her way to the woman responsible for her arousal. It had been a while since she had relieved herself thanks to Cinder's absence, and here was a perfect opportunity to do so while at the same time punish the woman for her transgressions.
Cinder breathed heavily from her orgasm, panting as she stared up at the ceiling while her body shook with micro-tremors from what she had just been subjected to. She made an odd noise, confusion breaking through the haze in her mind as the tendrils restraining her suddenly shifted, lowering her downwards while at the same time forcing her arms behind her back.
Her fingers clenched as they suddenly hit something solid below her, and Cinder just barely managed to turn her head to find that Salem had created a large platform out of the same substance that her tendrils were made out of.
Said tendrils unwound from her legs, instead taking a position along her abdomen. They sound around her breasts, sliding softly against her heated skin as they bound her to this new prison.
Salem stepped up to the platform that her former subordinate was restrained on and wasted no time to continue her punishment. She leaned down and grabbed the woman by her thighs, practically folding her in half as she forced her legs up towards her head, baring Cinder's holes to her.
Her pussy was red and swollen from the abuse it had sustained and Salem couldn't help the scoff of derision as she noticed that the woman was extremely wet, "I didn't realize you were so weak willed, Cinder." She said, disappointment in her voice as she looked Cinder in the eyes, "To get so excited to be taken by your former master while under the thrall of another is something I hadn't expected of you."
Cinder glared at her from under a curtain of hair as she panted but didn't respond to her taunt, or perhaps she was simply far too out of breath to even attempt speech. Either way, Salem scoffed even as she placed her cock to the woman's entrance, "Pathetic."
With that word, she forced herself in, sliding inside of Cinder's cunt in one smooth motion. Cinder tense up, pulling against her binds as her body raised off of the platform at the sudden feeling of being filled with cock. Salem closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of the snug hole wrapping around her cock once more, before beginning to move.
She pulled her hips back until the head of her cock was almost visible before slamming herself forward once more, sliding the entirety of her cock back into the clenching hole as Cinder let out low groan.
Salem was gentle in very few aspects of her life and sex wasn't one of them. When she fucked, it was with the pure intent to relieve whatever stress had been plaguing her at that moment, normally in an extremely rough manner.
As such, she held absolutely nothing back as she slammed into Cinder, barely making a sound as she fucked the woman. She dug her fingers into the flesh of Cinder's thighs, tightening her grip enough to hurt.
But it still wasn't quite enough. As much as this was for Salem's benefit and stress relief, it was also a punishment for her subordinate's betrayal. She needed to remind the woman exactly what happened to those who betrayed her.
With just a modicum of effort and tainted magic, Salem began to alter her form, changing her body so that she would better be able to punish the woman beneath her.
Cinder's mouth opened in a silent gasp as the cock lodged within her swelled unnaturally, growing at a rapid pace and filling her completely as it swelled and lengthened to the shape of her pussy and then even further beyond. She groaned, almost seeing white as she was split apart by her former master's new tool, the immortal woman continuing to fuck her through her transformation.
Once upon a time Cinder had been somewhat accustomed to her master's size due to her proclivity to take the woman to bed at least thrice a week. The Grimm Queen would often fuck her for hours and even days at a time after particularly annoying meetings, continuously shaping her pussy to the woman's cock over and over again.
The time spent with her mistress had somewhat allowed her to recover, her pussy tightening once more in the absence of a hammering prick almost constantly filling it. It had been something
Now that she had gotten her hands on the woman once more however, Salem was seemingly intent on making sure it never would again. Her former master thrust into her with more force than Cinder could ever remember having experienced., shoving that unnaturally massive cock inside of her cunt with all the force available to her.
Salem's face was set into that same focused expression that she always had, the millenia-old woman an expert at hiding her emotion when she wished, but the way that her hands gripped Cinder's thighs and the glare of crimson eyes into her own let Cinder know exactly how she felt. Salem was angry.
Angry that Cinder had betrayed her or that the woman had been sloppy enough to get caught in the first place, Cinder wasn't sure. All she knew, as Salem suddenly pushed forward even harder and caused Cinder to groan as the tendons and muscles in her legs were strained, was that she wasn't intent on going easy on her in the slightest.
Salem pounded into her with incredible force. The claps of her balls on Cinder's ass just barely managed to drown out the sound of her heart beating in her ears and the almost deafening sensation of her massive cock filling her up again and again.
The only warning that Cinder got of the impending eruption was a small sigh that was lost in the squelching coming from her cunt and the moans that Cinder wasn't able to quite suppress. Salem's cock throbbed inside of her and suddenly she was being filled with cum. It spewed out of Salem's cock hot and plentiful, coating her insides with enough jizz to impregnate a woman three times over.
Salem released a small groan as she unloaded, relishing the sensation of her seed flowing into the woman as her hips slightly bucked, slotting her cock as deeply into the woman as possible. The feeling of her balls emptying for the first time in several months was as relieving as it was uplifting and she could feel her stress practically melting away as she filled Cinder to the brim.
It was truly a shame that Cinder had been careless enough to fall under the whims of the Carze woman. Her capture had deprived Salem of one of the most willing holes that she had had in centuries.
Oh, well. An unwilling hole would work just as well, she was sure.
As she finally finished filling Cinder's pussy, Salem began to pull out. It was a bit of a challenge to get her engorged cock through the relatively small entrance of the woman's cunt, but she managed, the head of her tool popping out of the woman and causing her thighs to clench.
Stepping back, Salem took a moment to just admire the gaping cunt that she had left in her wake. Cinder's legs twitched and spasmed, turning red in the places where Salem had gripped them while she battered her pussy. The woman was breathing heavily, staring straight up at the ceiling as she tried to calm herself down after the brutal fucking that she had just enjoyed. Sweat slicked her skin, glistening in such a way that caused her tight body to look even more appealing in Salem's eyes and brought the Grimm Queen's arousal right back to where it had begun minutes before.
After enjoying the sight for a good amount of time, Salem made yet another gesture with her hand. The platform that Cinder was restrained upon began to turn, rotating the woman until her face was directly underneath Salem. Cinder stared up at the immortal's mountainous cock as it cast a dark shadow upon her, obscuring her view of the woman herself all the while it dripped semen directly onto her face.
"It has been a long time since I have enjoyed your mouth, Cinder." Salem spoke as she brought a hand down to gently stroke her cock, "I will admit, when you returned I had planned to have you fellate me until your tongue was raw as punishment for staying out of contact for so long, but now it seems I will not have to be nearly as gentle."
She leaned down and grabbed Cinder by the face, squeezing it in such a way that her mouth would pop open to alleviate the pressure, "I am going to fuck your throat. Take your breaths now because when I begin, I will not stop until I have cum." She warned.
Heedless of whether or not Cinder was following her commands, Salem moved her cock to the restrained woman's mouth. She lined herself up and made sure that she wouldn't accidentally scape her cock on Cinder's teeth, before shoving all twelve inches of her veiny dick directly into her throat.
Cinder's jaw strained and popped as it was forced to accommodate the ridiculously girthy shaft and the woman's eyes widened as she was force-fed her former master's cock. Her hands clenched at her sides as the massive tool was forced into her throat, jerking against her restraints as the flow of oxygen to her lungs was completely cut off.
Salem leaned forward, gripping Cinder by her thighs and pulling them upwards, forcing her into the same position that she had fucked her in only moments before as she slammed into the woman's throat with absolutely no regard to her health or wellbeing. Even Salem couldn't stop the small sigh that escaped her lips as her length was massaged by the extremely tight tunnel as Cinder's throat seized from lack of oxygen.
As she fucked her face, Salem chanced a glance down at what little she could see of Cinder's expression only to sneer as noticed that Cinder's eyes had rolled back in her head, "I told you to breathe." Salem reprimanded even as she moved forward and onto the platform, placing her thighs on either side of Cinder's face, "It seems that your time under the Carze woman has left you unable to follow the simplest instructions. A pity."
As she said this, Salem leaned back, putting her full weight on Cinder's face as she slotted her cock as deeply into the woman's throat as was physically possible. Her full balls pulsed against Cinder's lips as she forced her cock down the woman's esophagus. She held herself there for a long moment as she just enjoyed the feeling of the tunnel constricting around her shaft from the woman's lack of oxygen.
Cinder's legs flailed, kicking in the air as she bucked against her restraints and the woman currently sitting on top of her face. It did nothing to move Salem, the woman simply too big for her feeble efforts to even slightly budge.
Said woman hummed, lightly bouncing up and down and causing her cock to slide inside Cinder's throat, "Perhaps you could make a good chair. I imagine that all those dull meetings filled with nothing but disappointment and dissatisfaction would be lightened immensely if I had a warm hole to slot my cock inside." She mused.
Cinder could barely hear the woman speaking, her brain too focused on the lack of air inside of her lungs. She was just barely cognizant enough to notice when the woman shifted on top of her, sliding off of the platform and Cinder's face to instead look above her as before.
Salem leaned down placing a hand on Cinder's throat and feeling the bulge that her cock had made there. Slowly, she began to slide herself out, arousal bubbling up inside of her as she felt her cock throb through the woman's neck. She would enjoy this.
Placing one hand on her hip while keeping the other on Cinder's neck, Salem began to thrust into her, fucking her throat in long strokes and relishing the noises and sensations that came from it.
For Cinder, this change in position was actually a blessing in disguise. Salem's long strokes as she fucked the woman's face gave Cinder just enough air to stay conscious through the experience. That meant that she was awake to feel as the woman's balls slapped against her face and her cock throbbed inside of her throat.
It was a supremely uncomfortable experience, but it was also one that Cinder was somewhat used to. She was no stranger to taking Salem's cock down her throat and even her mistress had used it on occasion and so she was able to bear with the discomfort and not immediately panic at the rough treatment.
After what felt like several minutes of the Grimm Queen fucking her throat, Salem's cock throbbed within her throat, a sign that the woman was nearing her end.
Salem pushed herself deep into Cinder's throat one last time, her heavy balls resting on the woman's face as she unloaded into the woman once again. Jets of hot cum soared down Cinder's throat as Salem sighed above her.
The orgasm lasted several seconds, Salem's heavy balls managing to produce just as much cum as they had when she was fucking Cinder's pussy. What felt like cups of thick spunk was forced down her throat, choking her almost as much as Salem had when the woman sat on her face and Cinder just barely managed to bear with it, swallowing as much of the load as she could do so she didn't suffocate.
As her orgasm slowed, Salem suddenly pulled out of Cinder's throat, emptying the rest of her load over the panting woman's body. She grunted as her cock bounced with every jet of cum that exited her balls, plastering Cinder in her thick spunk.
The flow soon stopped and as the last of her cum leaked from Salem's cock, the woman stepped back, just taking a moment to admire the sight of her former subordinate covered in her seed.
With a simple gesture, Salem raised Cinder back up upon her tendrils, restraining her once more and suspending her in the air. Cinder's hair fell in front of her face preventing Salem from getting a good view of her haggard features but the Grimm Queen honestly thought the look suited the woman. Covered in semen and displayed for all to seem. Maybe she'd keep her there as a sort of art piece.
"Well that was certainly quite the show. I'm glad I managed to grab front-row seats for this."
Salem turned her head as the presence that she had been sensing for the past several minutes made itself known. Her eyes narrowed as she was met with a young woman with black hair and purple eyes. Her hands were firmly shoved in the pockets of her purple and black suit as she walked forward, smirking at the Queen of Grimm like she were just another person and not the most dangerous being on the planet.
"Violet Carze… So you've finally decided to stop skulking in the shadows like some common thief." Salem turned to face the woman fully, her eyes narrowing at the cocky grin on the human's face, "You have been watching for some time. Were you waiting, or simply enjoying the sight of me defiling someone who you have taken as your own?"
There wasn't even the slightest twitch of annoyance in Violet's face at her deliberately goading words. The woman didn't look concerned or ruffled in the slightest as she strode forward, sparing a glance towards her thrall, "Hmm… I will admit she does look good like this. Cinder's a cocky bitch at the best of times so to see that so thoroughly stripped away from her is always a pleasure."
"T-Thank you, Mistress." Cinder moaned out from behind Salem. The Grimm Queen scowled, gesturing with a single hand. The tendrils that had been inside Cinder moments earlier returned, moving back into place and plugging all of the woman's holes and eliciting a muffled squeal from the woman.
Violet eyed the scene with interest, "Wow, that really is something." She whistled, "I wish I could do that, it would make it so much easier to shut up some of my more mouthy maids. Actually, can you feel things through those? That would actually be-"
Unamused by the woman's arrogant demeanor, Salem suddenly lashed out with a hand, sending sharpened tendrils streaking towards the woman at speeds she couldn't hope to dodge. Her eyes narrowed as Violet didn't even flinch back at the attack, instead just standing there as it approached her. The reason why was clear as the tendrils passed through her as if she weren't even there, which she likely wasn't.
"A projection." Salem sneered as her tendrils faded back into the shadows, "I should have known someone such as you wouldn't have the guts to face me in person."
"In person?" Violet laughed as if that was the funniest thing she had heard, "I may be many things, Salem, but I'm not insane. Coming here in person would do nothing but give you an incredible opportunity to separate my head from my shoulders. I'll stay where I am, thank you very much."
Salem turned to give the woman her full attention even as she began silently ordering her grimm to spread out and find the woman if she was nearby. When she located this little upstart, she wouldn't even order her grimm to tear her limb from limb. No, she would handle this impudent's mortal's punishment herself.
Her crimson eyes narrowed at the woman who had invaded her inner sanctum, "And to what do I owe this visit? It must be important if you have decided to speak to me face-to-face instead of through an intermediary."
"It's quite simply, Salem. I'm here to give you an offer you can't refuse." Violet's cocky smirk grew to even greater proportions as Salem's frown deepened.
"And what exactly could you have to offer that I would have any need of?"
"Oh, only the one thing that you want most in the world." Violet said, "Death in every sense of the word. Well, except for your body of course. I would be remiss to let such an incredible form go to waste." She leered at Salem's naked form causing the immortal woman's lip to curl in disgust.
The immortal woman almost immediately scoffed at her proposal, seeing the thinly veiled attempt to enslave her for what it was, "I am not foolish enough to give myself over to you. A life as a slave, beholden to the whims and desires of one such as yourself, is no life at all."
"But it would be better than the life you currently have, wouldn't it?" Violet postulated as she slowly walked towards the glaring Grimm Queen, "All of your memories, your personality, it will all be wiped clean. Not an iota of your original being left in existence. It's a death in all but name, and one without the possibility of reincarnation or regeneration."
Salem's face twisted in righteous anger, "Do you think I have not tried doing such a thing!?" She all but spat at this arrogant woman, "The curse that those foul gods have put upon me is far too powerful, penetrating my soul so deeply that any alterations that I have made were reversed instantly. You believe you can do better?"
"Maybe I can. My semblance works by literally manifesting my soul's will over another's, bending their very being to my whims and desires." Violet said, "Millenia of wanting nothing more than to die has no doubt degraded your will to do anything but down to practically nothing. Perhaps with that, my own desire will be enough to make any changes that I create permanent."
"You believe your will to be more powerful than that of literal gods? You truly are the most arrogant being I have encountered in all my days." Salem was growing tired of this woman's talk. Her seers had reported nothing amiss in the depths of her fortress and the grimm she had roaming the lands had said much the same but she knew that Violet must have been nearby. There was no semblance that would allow her to manifest such a convincing simulacrum from so far away.
In response to her words, Violet just shook her head, "Not at all. Even I'm not that powerful. No, I believe that your curse won't even notice my influence."
Slight intrigue cut through the derision that Salem was feeling, "And why is that?"
Violet's lips twisted into a wry grin, "Well, I'm not exactly from around here, you see. As a matter of fact, this isn't even my original body. Violet Carze, as this world knew her, died in the same explosion that her parents did, slipped into a coma that she was likely destined to never wake from. And she didn't, I did. After some misfortune of my own."
Salem stayed silent, listening to the woman's tale. It sounded far fetched and more than a little asinine. She was no stranger to reincarnation, but to hear that this woman was another victim of such a cruel cycle was surprising and more than a little hard to believe.
And yet she couldn't shake the possibility that she might be telling the truth. Salem had kept tabs on the entire Carze family, making sure to keep them in her sights just in case their company had some major breakthrough in their researching and manufacturing of weapon components. It always paid to be prepared in case they suddenly happened upon a discovery that would devastated her grimm.
In her spying, she had caught glimpses of the heiress to the family, Violet Carze, and what she had seen was a sweet and slightly shy girl, one who would doubtlessly have trouble stepping into her father's shoes once she came of age.
The woman standing before her was not that girl. Not in the slightest, and though she had once attributed the sudden drastic shift in personality to the explosion that had devastated her family, the story that she was currently being regaled with told her otherwise.
Violet continued to speak as Salem thought, "It's my belief that my own soul's alien existence will allow me to bypass the curse that's been placed over your soul. There's no reason for the Brothers to have bothered defending against a presence such as mine."
Salem paused momentarily, rolling the woman's words over in her head. If what she was saying was at all true, then it might be possible. The Brothers were arrogant, that was one of the reasons she had detested them so much in the first place, so it was doubtful they would believe anything from beyond their realm could unravel the curse that they had placed on her.
Still, Salem was never one to give someone the edge over her, especially not someone like Violet. She fixed the girl with a glare, the shadows around the room deepening ever-so-slightly in a clear display of intimidation. Despite not being there in the flesh, Violet was clearly wary, her eyes darting into the shadows momentarily before locking back onto the Grimm Queen as she spoke.
"And what do you want in return for this?" Salem questioned, "When my memories are destroyed, my ability and knowledge of how to create and control the grimm will fade alongside them. I will be nothing more than another pretty face for your pleasure. Surely you don't just want another whore to add to your harem, not when you could have your pick of nearly anyone on Remnant thanks to your influence and semblance."
"Exactly." Salem eyes widened minutely as the woman's face which had been so self-assured and confident mere moments ago twisted in pure frustration, "I can have nearly anyone on Remnant. But what about the ones that I can't reach? Those villages in the middle of bumfuck nowwhere that have never heard of a fucking bullhead much less aura or semblances? Or the aristocrats who seem intent on snubbing me at every turn, not even entertaining the idea of meeting with me because of some petty grudge they hold with my company or simply because they believe they are too good to meet with someone who comes from inherited wealth instead of having built it up themselves?"
The woman's voice gained a slightly manic edge and her fingers twitched imperceptibly, "How am I supposed to teach them who their rightful ruler is? To show them who exactly stands above them when they won't let me!? Everything I need to become empress of remnant, a goddess among the masses, is right at my fingertips, and yet I can't reach it! All because some people are too full of themselves to accept what could be if they just submit to me! I could make this world a paradise! But they WON'T LET ME! THOSE FUCKING IDIOTS!"
Salem was suddenly struck with a revelation as she stared at this woman, this would-be-goddess as she came down from her sudden tirade, her pupils dilated with her anger and her chest heaving with her heavy breaths. The front she put on for the world, the suave-speaking and collected young woman who had been stricken with tragedy and risen above it, creating a new academy on an island that nobody cared for and brought new opportunities for the people there, was nothing but a farce.
This raving maniac, this woman with a gleam in her eye that spoke of equal parts madness, megalomania, and narcissism, this was the real Violet Carze. Hidden away under layers of geniality, benevolence and charity, it had been laid bare before Salem to view as the woman's control over herself slipped.
The lapse in control didn't last long however, as it seemed that Violet was an old hand at regaining control of herself at a moment's notice. With a single breath, that glimpse of the real Violet disappeared, replaced once more by the front she had assumed for the past year.
Her words were much more collected as she spoke once more, "I can't reach all of Remnant in any reasonable amount of time and even if I could, there would always be pockets of people that would always escape my grasp." She confessed, "That is where you come in. Or I suppose I should say that's where that new grimm of yours comes in. As for controlling it well, just because your memories of controlling Grimm are gone, doesn't mean your knowledge on how to do so disappears as well. And I only need one."
All at once, things clicked for Salem. The reason that Violet had come to her castle in the first place, if she even truly had, was made clear. Her eyes narrowed and Cinder moaned as the tentacles holding her in place tightened, "You want the Shadowstrider." She accused, slightly incensed that the woman even had knowledge of her most recent creation in the first place. It seemed that Cinder had been snooping while she was still unaware of the woman's duplicity.
The tentacles tightened even more, restricting the bound woman's limbs hard enough to bruise. Violet glanced at Cinder as she panted before shaking her head with a grin and returning to facing Salem, "Correct. The grimm that you've been working on and perfecting for the past several years would allow me to reach practically all of Remnant at once. Combined with the SDC network which is under my complete control in all but name, there won't be a single soul on the planet who can escape my grasp.
Salem immediately understood her intentions, the woman's millenia-old mind parsing the hidden meaning behind the headmistress's words and unraveling her plan in the blink of an eye.
"You mean to open portals all over Remnant and put everyone under your thrall at the same time." Salem almost scoffed at the sheer arrogance of this woman, "And you believe that you have the aura for such a thing? Your semblance will drain you dry before you manage to get through a fraction of this world's infinitesimally small population. Your plan was doomed to fail before it was even conceived."
Despite her words, the smile didn't fall from Violet's face. Instead, it seemed to grow even larger, as if she was privy to some hidden knowledge that Salem herself was blind to, "Perhaps it would. If my semblance worked like a normal person's. Luckily for both my plan and myself, it doesn't."
Now Salem was intrigued, "Oh? And what exactly makes you believe that? Has your extra-dimensional nature gifted you some sort of hidden knowledge that I am not privy to?"
The woman chuckled in response to her words, "It's very simple. You see, I have a pitiful amount of aura. Truthfully, my reserves are small enough that even a rough tumble down half a flight of stairs would shatter it completely." Violet revealed, slightly shocking the Grimm Queen. So little aura would barely allow someone to use their semblance once a day, much less use it so flagrantly as the woman before her had been doing constantly for the past several months.
That would mean…
Violet grinned, "You get it don't you? My semblance isn't linked to my aura at all and whatever it is linked to, isn't running out anytime soon."
Which meant that Violet's completely asinine plan might actually be possible. It meant that there was a non-zero chance that she would actually be able to handle the task of putting her seal on hundreds of thousands of people at once, bringing the entirety of Remnant under her thrall and allowing her to rule the world as she saw fit.
Which, of anything Salem had seen while spying on the girl was any indication, did not bode well for a single soul on Remnant.
Still, even if that was the case, none of that mattered to Salem in the slightest. If the world was to be enslaved underneath the heel of this monster masquerading as a woman then so be it. The only thing thT was important to her was the fact that if everything Violet said was true then she might actually be able to do as she claimed.
Salem stared into this woman's eyes, rolling her offer over in her head with more seriousness than she had most things in her life.
It had been a long time since Salem had felt any semblance of hope, having long since resigned herself to an existence that was full of endless misery and torment. Bringing the twin gods back to the world that they had abandoned was truthfully nothing but hail mary, her last hope for an end to her life.
If this woman's semblance was truly as powerful as she believed, that Salem herself was starting to believe, then it was at least worth a try. Besides, if it didn't work it wasn't like anything would truly change.
With a gesture, the tentacles holding Cinder aloft faded back to where they had come from. The woman moaned at the sudden emptiness she was feeling, moments before she fell to the ground with a dull thud. She didn't attempt to rise, simply moving her head to place her face against the cool stone beneath her as she shuddered with the aftershocks of the experience she had gone through.
Neither Salem nor Violet paid her any mind as Salem looked Violet in the eyes, searching for any sign of deceit or manipulation. Even her practiced gaze found nothing. As far as she could tell, Violet was telling the truth.
"Very well. I accept your offer." Salem said curtly, "Though I warn you, if this idea of yours does not succeed, I will ensure that the short remainder of your life is a thousand times more painful than my continued existence ever could be."
Violet didn't look concerned with her threat, merely nodding at her with that ever-present smile on her face, "Of course, I understand."
From the shadows of her fortress, stepped an exact copy of the simulacrum standing before her. Said image faded away as Salem turned to this new Violet, noting that her colors and general presence was deeper. This was the woman in the flesh then.
"Trust me, you won't regret this decision." She said, coming to a stop in front of the much taller Grimm Queen.
Salem momentarily debated going back on her word and striking the woman down right there and then, it wouldn't be the first time she had given her word only to break it after all.
Violet's eyes glinted with a strange light as she reached out to Salem, an unknown energy that the Grimm Queen somehow hadn't noticed thrumming through her veins as she held her hand out in askance. The immortal woman eyed her warily, before slowly reaching out to take her hand.
Salem had done innumerable horrible things in her lifetime, things that would cause even the most hardened veterans to awake in their beds screaming their lungs raw, and yet as she finally placed her hand into that of this grinning woman, she couldn't help but feel like the decision she had just made was the worst one yet.
Even so, if it allowed her to fade from this miserable existence, she would more than happily accept each and every one of those sins.
Sorry for going so long without updating, everyone! I've been working on some other stuff and got somewhat bored of this fic just before I stopped posting and was hit with an idea for a continuation of the general idea. That's what I was working on while this fic wasn't updating! The sequel, Quirks of Change, takes place in the world of My Hero Academia and feature a new main character with a little megalomaniacal voice in her head!
The next three chapters of this fic, as well as the first four chapters of the sequel are available to patrons!