A little gasp accompanied the sickening twist of her gut, and for a split second Ruby clenched one particular hand.

In the crowds of perturbed people, her reaction blended perfectly, but the little shimmer of light which sparked in her palm for a couple of seconds before dying out was something Ruby couldn't brush off. Staring scrutinously at her hand, and knowing these strange reactions it had at times were usually signs of something regarding either V or herself, Ruby concluded that if there was ever a sign for them to head off and collect their friend, then this was it. Apparently, though, she wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable, as on her way to alert the others, she spied Weiss with her hand wrapped around the spot of her own mark.

Weiss, in turn, twisted to see her, and Ruby addressed her partner with empathetic concern.

"You felt it too, huh?"

"Yeah..." Releasing the grip on her neck, Weiss answered shakily as best she could. "I'm going to assume that's our cue to move."

Nodding, the pair took off, gathering up the rest of team RWBY who were wrangling in the copious amounts of civil unrest spread throughout the makeshift shelter. Blake came along with only a nod, while Yang made her concern all too clear, tossing out a casual complaint about timing and some fretting over the effects of the marks both Weiss and her bore. Either way, the group convened near the edge of the crowds, hushed away into a storeroom that was once a barber's shop. Clover ended up joining the fray, but his inclusion was more settled on being a direct overseer of his own part in the plan, that being the one to prepare the citizens of Mantle for the grand escape.

"What timeframe should we expect?" Clover cut to the point immediately, although there was a hint of edge to his words. Ruby opted to be the group's speaker, more or less because she was the one to come up with the plan in the first place.

"If we're lucky, less than a minute." Her optimism ended up fumbling out of the gate, because her own doubts took the lead following the initial best-case-scenario prediction. "But I'm not so sure we'll be capable of that. V went off to face Salem directly, meaning he's, at best, in the middle of facing her… or..."

"He's wrecking house in the gut of the beast." Her sister, Yang, finished for her, leaving Ruby to somewhat shy away. Granted, her hesitation wasn't all that unexpected due to the strange dread swelling in her tummy; it just felt gross. Weiss looked no better, so at least she wasn't alone in her feelings.

Nodding, Clover prepared himself to leave.

"I'll contact the general directly and let him know we're ready to go."

With that, he fully stepped out, and the group remained behind to fester in their own unease. Silence usually ended up being a fairly formidable foe to sanity, as being left alone with one's thoughts in times of doubt could drive even the best and brightest mad. Yang's sisterly worry, on the other hand, didn't allow the silence to maintain itself. Her older sister's words came out unusually soft, akin to that of the faintest memories she could drum up of their mother.

"Okay, give it to me straight: what's eating you up?"

"I feel... hurt." Unable to really describe the emptiness in her chest, Ruby merely tried to put the punctured barrel of emotions into words. "Not 'injured' hurt, though... It's kind of like when mom..."

With her body already in the midst of trying to function and process the strange effect her palm's wound had on her, Ruby wasn't able to finish the sentence; Yang, thankfully - or not - could.

"Died… right?" Yang rolled her head back a bit, blowing out a cool breeze before allowing it to flop back down. "Sheesh. It's been a while since you've made any mention of that."

It had been, which was especially weird since she'd been given the journal her mother kept by her aunt Raven personally. But back then, she was far too interested in the contents of the book to pay any mind to lingering emotional baggage. It seemed like bygone mercy had left her, and she was being pelted with a flurry of unhappy feelings all at once. Somewhat problematic in regards to this recent flood of negativity so brashly shoved upon her was the fact it was shared with Weiss too, meaning that: yes, it did relate to V in some way.

And, since it felt so close to the hollow echoes of her mother's passing, a part of Ruby wondered if V was dying.

Bad thought, bad thought! Just thinking that multiplied the feeling exponentially, and she almost started to hyperventilate, but before she could do so they were interrupted by the slight hum and slice of a crimson portal shoving itself between the four of them.

Out stepped Raven with an... honestly amusing look of impatience.

"Alright, move it kids." Yang's runaway mom spat, almost hissing out each individual syllable. "We're on a timer. Ozpin's waiting with the bomb, and I can guarantee you he's probably not happy to be in complete control of the boy. Heck, Maria herself wasn't exactly swimming with it either, but at least she wasn't bitching at me like some other useless cretins."

Yang, being the first to react to her mother's odd - but not unfitting - behavior, called her out on it in a prodding fashion, like she was poking a sleeping Ursa.

"What's got your feathers ruffled?"

Rolling her eyes, Raven either refused to take the bait, or she simply didn't care, instead answering curtly.

"I'm losing brain cells keeping the masses up above from scattering in terror. Now hurry up; the sooner we get V and plant the bomb, the sooner we can start siphoning all the idiots onto the ships."

Yang, ever the mature one, went 'bla bla bla' wordlessly, mimicking her birth-mother's scowl half-heartedly. Raven, again, ignored this disrespect and just thrusted her sword towards the portal, once again jutting them to move. Ruby somewhat pitied Raven, what with being relegated to a doorway. But that pity died when she remembered the woman had run away from Yang, and so Ruby viewed this as a sort of just deserts. Wasting no more time, they all flooded through the mass of red and popped out into an oversized hanger.

With so few people inside, the steel space seemed to exemplify every step taken. A few soldiers could be seen rushing around, loading smaller Bullheads and other ships with what Ruby assumed was ammunition. These must have been the remainder of Atlas's forces, doing what they could outside of the battlefield, and probably wishing they were there to help defend their kingdom. But everyone had their place, and while it wasn't glamorous, Ruby knew their jobs were just as vital as those in the field.

Unfortunately, this mess of scattered action and restocking would be pointless if they didn't take out the whale, and so Ruby stilled her thoughts and focused on the present. Raven's portal popped them out right before a much grander sight, as situated right behind Oscar - AKA Ozpin - was a massive metallic sphere. It sat strapped to a platform lacking any sort of connection with the ground, floating and somehow not tipping. Ozpin's head reared up, and a small, albeit reclusive smile filled his features.

"Glad you could make it. We're finally ready to begin." Not quite as sorry sounding as before when he'd first reappeared, Ozpin nevertheless spoke against his emotions, leaking nothing more than what was absolutely necessary.

Yang again took point, but not in a leading sense. Rather, she looked up and down at the supersized explosive, whistling before taking a verbal jab.

"It's somehow both as big as I expected, and a little bit smaller."

"Did general Ironwood really design this?" Blake took her turn, appearing far less gung ho with the idea now that she got a look at what they were dealing with.

"Not this particular type." Raven, shockingly, stole the stage, passing them all by and scowling as she curled a brow, only to face them again and address the whole. "He may have come up with the initial designs, but this piece of work here owes its power to the R department."

"But still..." Blake looked genuinely a little afraid of the thing. "A bomb of this size isn't something you can just drum up in a few hours. How long has he had something of this magnitude locked away? And... what for?"

"Grimm, duh." It felt weird, hearing something like that coming from Raven; mannerisms so similar to Yang's were present, but sounded strange when filtered through her. Then again, a nonchalant Raven was better than an angry Raven, so Ruby wasn't entirely bothered by the shift in tone.

To tell the truth, Ruby kind of felt like Raven was having a bit of an internal crisis with the idea of setting out for Salem.

Clearing her throat after, Raven settled back into her grumpy default.

"If you're worried he was plotting this as some sort of war tool, then you can stuff those worries back in the holes they crawled out from." Raven spoke confidently, far too much for a basic guess. "Take it from me: war and invasions aren't things you can just casually throw out. Any actions you take will be met with reactions of either an equal or worse severity, be they Grimm or man."

"Is that something he told you personally?" Blake never was one to settle down quickly, especially when doubt reared its ugly head.

"No, but it's something I can infer without too much trouble." Blake gained a crooked lip, just begging to have a chance for retort, but Raven wasn't done. "Being what most would categorize as a warlord myself, I know a thing or two when it comes to battle tactics and invasions. Raids were a common part of my life, but one of the key components was knowing when and when not to commit a raid."

"But the general isn't like you, right?" Blake laid her piece out, cutting no corners. "Running the military of a kingdom isn't the same as running a tribe of bandits."

"Of course not!" Raven spat, looking insulted at the thought. Aggression made way for a cooler head however, and she replied with a more down-to-Remnant reason. "But there are still similarities. You've seen the sizes of Grimm out there, and I can guarantee you something like this here." She patted the side of the gigantic pow, accentuating her point. "Would never be approved without a justifiable reason. War breeds uncertainty, not only in civilians, but also politics as well. War would give way to infighting, and many in their positions would be at risk if they made even the slightest mistake."

"It's a politician's nightmare." Weiss jumped in, crossing her arms and sighing. "And none of them would know how to handle it. Any potential cause of war in peace time would be career suicide for them; if they themselves weren't booted out for a poor decision or something being blamed on them, then their fellow chair people would turn against them in an instant if they found out said individual was responsible for even being connected to the cause of the fighting."

"Well well." Raven clapped, sneering cockily. "At least one of you has some sense. Just look at Ironwood for instance; he'd locked this whole place down even after the assault on Beacon. They bloody knew he wasn't responsible for what few of his drones went rogue, and yet anyone can tell they put him through the ringer."

That was true. The ensuing lockdown he implemented probably did more than just keep Salem's people at bay: it could have also helped him retain his seat within Atlas, while justified in practice due to his suspicions of a resulting fallout and caution from other kingdoms. It hurt Ruby's head to think about too; why did all the crazy actions end up making some stupid form of sense?

Blake still seemed unsure, but she did let go of a breath she'd been holding.

"So this was made purely for dealing with the Grimm?" It came off like begging, but Blake kept a steady stance. Raven let out a subtle sigh of her own this time, nodding as she confirmed that idea.

"Yes, it's only for the Grimm. You can trust me on that." When no one else spoke up, Raven fell back into her stoic expression. "Now, is there anything else either one of you needs to get off your chest? Do it now, because once we're inside the heart of enemy territory you won't get a chance. You can't have anything eating away at your attention while inside, otherwise you can just kiss your asses goodbye."

Nobody spoke up, and at this point, even a good portion of the few remaining soldiers had shimmered away to presumably fulfill duties elsewhere, leaving their group the only people in the barren hanger. Nodding to herself, Raven drew her blade.

"Alright then... here we go."

With that whisper, she sliced open a link between the last defenses of Humanity and its murderer, before stepping aside and motioning for them to pass through. Sharing one final look with her team, Ruby chose to fulfill her role as leader right for once and took the first steps into darkness.

.

.

"As far as we can?"

"Yes." Salem, twisting her eyes down to the last good remainder of anything left in this wretched world, doubled down on her explanation. "He will be the one to guide you once he wakes; believe in him, as you would me."

Hazel, just as he had many times before, simply grunted, taking the unconscious warrior from her arms and turning towards the ship he had prepared. Tyrian was already inside, looking absolutely giddy and reared for adventure. Such loyalty was wasted on anything less than the most important of duties, and Rainart's mercy would align well with the valiant demeanor little Vermillion used to embody.

A kind heart, filled to the brim with hidden wrath; both Rainart and her champion were similar indeed.

The inclusion of a few personal airships in their invasion had been Watt's recommendation, and once more his planning was on point. Being born of her own design, her flying fortress, modeled after one of the more majestic ocean mammals, was capable of healing at an extreme rate. Due to this, there was no need for any external openings for their hanger, as the speed and power of their airships was more than capable enough to rip through the layer of flesh protecting the beast.

Aside from the mouth, spaces close to the hide, such as the room they now stood in, could be busted through with enough force; healing up mere seconds after the flames of the thrusters passed into the outer air.

Leaning down, she offered one last hidden smile to Vermillion; he would not see it, but this was the final kindness she could offer.

Backing off, the pair crawled into the cockpit, and just as Hazel strapped both the boy and himself in, a distinct whirl pulled her away from the peace she'd been enjoying. Such a coincidence tasted sour, and a foul understanding of just who would dare to interrupt her final moments with the knight didn't even need any of her wisdom to be predicted.

Turning smoothly, without so much as bending a limb, Salem laid eyes on the bloody vortex, and the young woman born from the interspatial womb.

Finally, we meet at last. Ozma, while she was sure he'd pop in at any moment as the girl standing across from her very clearly wasn't foolish enough to venture here alone, hadn't taken the initiative. The fact someone else was in charge of this ill-timed visit culled some of her fury. Expanding a small portion of magic, Salem leered into the maiden's soul, confirming its similarity to Summer's. Yes, this was her child... but that wasn't it.

This soul was familiar... No, no this soul wasn't familiar; it was identical.

"Ruby Rose, I presume?" Offering the now wholly present group of cockroaches a polite bow, Salem put on a more professional display. Expelling not so much malevolence in her stature and appearance, but rather... dignified opposition. Ozma's wretched soul was there too, now in the body of a poor young boy, and for that, she pitied him - the new one had no idea just how accursed he'd become with the parasite infesting his spirit.

The girl didn't seem all that shocked by what surely should have been an odd greeting, and for a brief spill Salem teased the idea that she may have kept some of her memories from the era of old. Only, those hopes were dashed the moment Ruby opened her mouth.

"You know my name?"

I should have known. A missed opportunity, this was, to do some potential catching up, but not unexpected. Recycled souls logically couldn't recall their past lives, otherwise they'd all be remembering past deeds and such at birth. Regardless, Salem had been about to address the question, but her sights locked on to a certain something latched to the woman's wrist.

"That bracelet..." For the first time in centuries, Salem misspoke. Faulting herself would have been simple, but how could she do such a thing when it was staring her right in the eye. It wasn't a perfect carbon copy, per say, but like the counterpart she had stowed away in her treasury, the simple and yet detailed collection of beads and the like echoed the boy's to a t.

Most of the group responded how she expected they would to the unusual exclamation: each one mildly puzzled and silently shooting looks at the now raised wrist of their apparent leader. Ruby, however, didn't question her on it immediately, rather commenting.

"It belonged to my mother, but I guess you already knew that too." Soft spoken, but fearless; this iteration of Ruby, even if she lacked the memories of her original scheme, held that same tired courage her knight's caretaker had. "From what I know, she owned it before me. I'm guessing you'd seen it when the two of you fought?"

"Perhaps I had... Or, perhaps I had not." Salem made no moves to strike, and neither did her guests. They'd settled into a stalemate of sorts, with one side very much unsure of whether attacking suddenly might hinder or help their cause. For Salem, she was in no rush to begin battle; she'd win either way. This all was merely an amusing distraction along the path to total annihilation.

One thing of note, however, was the massive sphere behind the group, but that wasn't the focus of their conversation here. Surely it was a weapon of sorts, but as they would soon discover, death had long ago abandoned her, as did hope for Remnant's salvation.

Ruby put on a half-hearted glare, and Salem, perhaps due to the unintentional sense of wayward companionship born of recognising the reborn soul, ultimately chose to put the girl's mind at ease; there was no harm in at least identifying where she'd come across such a special gift.

"I have one myself, you know?" That opened Ruby's eyes, and the girl stuttered.

"W-what?!"

"It was a gift from someone important to me, over a thousand or so years ago." Salem took one cautious step towards them, not so much out of fear for herself, but more so to keep up the ideal stalemate. They tensed, but once she stopped, they remained put; all aside Ruby, who showed no fear whatsoever. "You wouldn't happen to know the origins of that bit of jewelry you wear on your wrist, would you?"

A hesitant pause settled across the field, but eventually, Ruby opened up.

"It was a gift passed down throughout my family, supposedly from a young boy."

"Ah~" So it was the same. Yes, Salem supposed that made sense. Ruby had been gone for quite a while, so it was only rational that such gifts had been bestowed to more besides herself. "Say no more; I can already guess the child's name."

"You can?" Ruby looked a touch uneasy - funny, seeing as she seemed to hold no fear towards the danger right in front of her.

"There was a time when I tolerated Humanity, once." Slowly, Salem began to settle into a state of relaxation which served its purpose in unsettling the group. "And back in those days, I knew of a woman very much like you. In fact, she even shared your name."

"Ruby Rose..." Such a strange sensation, hearing the name coming from the reborn conspirator's own mouth; Salem felt a tingly sensation shoot up her spine from the irony of it all.

"Indeed." Clasping her hands together and masking her face with an almost humorous smirk, Salem felt like laughing as she laid out her own piece. "She was such an interesting figure back in those days. She tended to the boy you're no doubt itching to inquire about." This got a flinch from Ozma and the blonde girl, but not from Ruby. She wasn't quite done though, and before Ruby could ask anything else, Salem threw out a wildcard of her own onto the field. "She was very much like you, child. I doubt Summer really knew just how closely you'd grow to mimic your namesake. Both fretting so much after Vermillion... Or, are you going to tell me you see him as nothing more than a strange companion. With how much trouble he's no doubt caused you, why not entrust his presence to me? I don't mind keeping him out of your hair."

"Give him back!" Ruby blurted hatefully, only appearing to catch her own voice a few seconds later, and covering her mouth. She most certainly hadn't intended to yell with so much raw emotion, but unbeknownst to the girl, she'd warmed Salem's heart. Not enough to hinder her desires for death, but enough to earn at least some smidgen of sympathy.

"Had this been centuries ago, I'd see fit to reward your loyalty to my champion. I can tell he holds a special place in each of you." Salem lifted one arm upwards, snapping her fingers.

Right then, several black threads ripped up from the floor between Salem and the airship that Hazel, V, and Tyrian were seated in. Between those threads, red fleshy membrane began to fill in the gaps, latching to the makeshift beams and tightening quicker than anyone could blink: sealing off access to the craft and ensuring its escape. Salem could hear it from behind the improvised wall, the sound of the trio's ship ripping through the hide, now on their way to Vacuo. Satisfied with their exit, Salem smiled calmly. With them gone she was able to commit all her focus onto her challengers.

"Unfortunately, I can't have you impeding his mission."

The fools and her reborn servant stumbled over themselves, staggered on the spot from her quick action. The one in the back - Raven, she believed was the woman's name - snapped from her stupor fastest, raising her sword. This alone confirmed her the creator of the portal, and that was more than enough for Salem to step in. Much like the wall behind her, Salem extended her influence into her fortress itself, causing a tendril to shoot up from the space beneath Raven's arm and latching onto it.

This was her territory, and it was time to teach Ozma and his cronies what that truly entailed.

Within the blink of an eye, Salem guided her magic through the beast she stood within: from her body, across the floor, through the black limb, and into the complexities of Raven's exposed soul. Inside, she could feel the way this particular soul's semblance functioned. It cataloged the energy signatures unique to every soul, recreating them internally and using its own dormant magic - like all semblances did, what with being the remains this second coming of Humanity was able to hold onto - to manipulate the surrounding space and tear a hole through it towards the desired spirit.

Unlike Ozma, Salem had been honing how her own magic interacted with the environment, and while it had lost a little of its power over the centuries, it was nowhere to the extent of her ex-husband. She still possessed the ability to reach into the souls of Humanity, and made use of that to great extent over the years. Cinder's soul, for example, had been reconstructed extensively over a five-month coma to make it capable of housing all four sets of Ozma's abandoned magic: the maiden powers.

Too bad the girl expired before then.

"MOM!" The blonde one, in a panic, tried to reach out to her squirming mother, who suffered in agony under the live spiritual surgery.

Oh no no no, we can't have that. One by one she took advantage of her second-greatest creation, wrapping up everyone and holding them still. It took a bit of energy, but she could release them and enjoy a more fitting workout once she rectified the mistake Raven was trying to make.

Bit by bit, Salem combed through the woman's soul, making note of every reading she could feel, until she'd identified all the familiar signatures within. This took maybe five seconds, and once she'd gotten a hold of every single one, Salem injected her own destructive energy into them all. The symptoms of her handiwork had violent scarlet lighting running all across the aura shielding the woman, and Salem sighed content at having effectively erased not only the woman's connection to Vermillion, but also the rest of her pawns: Emerald, Mercury, and Tyrian.

Apparently, Raven wasn't close enough to connect with Hazel, meaning her semblance had a range and perhaps specific factors as to who she connected with.

Raven jolted, sending out broken screams as her body was put through some severe pain; messing with the soul, no matter how professionally done, tended to ache - doubly so when done quick and dirty, like just now. Having secured her knight's separation from Ozma's reach, Salem let them all go. Out of all of them, the young miss Rose looked the most affected, gritting her teeth and hissing as she cast a glance back at Raven. While curious, Salem ignored it for now, more content to begin their little scuffle.

It had been so long since she'd tasted battle personally, and she was just itching to see what Ozma's new breed of warriors was capable of.

"Now then." Clasping her hands once more and allowing her body to relax as the group got back on their feet, Salem spared no expense in setting the mood in her favor, pretty much asking for an all out brawl. "I believe you came here to defeat me?"

Author's note

...

Aaaaand he's gone.

Yep, they got away with V, and thanks to Salem's handiwork - and the fact she's using her brain - Raven can't cheese a quick portal to him. Gonna be honest, the way Salem was portrayed in volume 8 kind of disappointed me. Sure, she looked menacing, but she didn't appear any stronger than your average baddie. Seriously, she's supposedly been kicking Ozpin's ass for centuries; the least she could do was show some control over a creature she created.

But whatever, complaints aside, I'm just hoping this gets everyone at least a little excited. JNPR's gone, V's taken to Vacuo to apparently finish his mission, and RWBY - along with Ozpin and Raven - are facing off with a Salem whose a touch more powerful than we've seen officially. All in all, it should be fun.

We got an interesting exchange between Ruby and Salem, which shouldn't come as a shock seeing as the two share history, even if one doesn't quite know how deep it goes.

I'ma leave it off here.

Until next time.