Cinder drooled as she sunk her claws into the husk of a dying god. The smell of Salem's corpse, oily and smoldering, was enough to make her stomach growl.

And Cinder refused to starve.

Salem's magic trickled from her veins and into Cinder's Grimm hand as she clenched tighter and tighter around her former Queen's burning throat. That trickle quickly became a flood, each pulse sending a quivering rush of ecstasy through Cinder's body as she savored each and every squirt of ambrosia. This is what godhood tasted like. She couldn't get enough of it. She even moaned, but as mortifying as it was, she didn't fucking care—

Because she deserved this.

"Are you having fun?"

Cinder froze. A chill flashed over her skin as the magic reverted its flow back to its source. Her blood grew cold at the loss. "No, no no no no! Emerald, what the fuck are you doing—" But looking behind her shoulder, Emerald was on the ground, blood pouring down her nose. Her Aura didn't last long enough.

Worthless girl.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Cinder tried to rip her hand back, but Salem's tarry wound sealed around her fingers, trapping her arm in place. "Your accomplice's incompetence aside, you overlooked a crucial detail regarding this power I gave you."

Salem's Grimm flesh reknit itself like the threads of a spiderweb, interwoven sinew coming together to stitch the barely irritated glare of the Grimm Queen herself. "Your Grimm drains magic, Cinder, by siphoning it from the soul. Like panning water for gold, it must be distilled to gain value. But I am no meager river stream, nor as shallow as an ocean. I am the infinite void. I am the woman who stole immortality from the gods, whether they realize it yet or not. And I will steal more from them still."

Cinder's arm, still lodged in the black gash of Salem's throat, spasmed and convulsed as a familiar pain roared through her nerves. Stark and electric, it throbbed through her like a bolt of concentrated lightning. She screamed, crying and sobbing and shaking horribly as the shock practically sent her back in time, and on her knees. A sound like clinking glass pierced her ears, muffled by the ambient cadence of classical Atlesian music. Her neck itched with anticipation as death reared its ugly maw—

Yet the pain dissipated as suddenly as it had appeared, replaced seamlessly by the cold comfort of Salem's palm brushing against her cheek. "But what else could I expect from my ambitious little soldier?" The softness in her Queen's voice made Cinder's breath hitch. "Did I leave you alone for too long? How have I wronged you, child?"

Cinder's heart hammered in her throat, struggling to slow against the sudden shift in Salem's tone. "I… you… you betrayed me." What else could Cinder do but be honest? What other path to survival was left to her? "Emerald showed me."

Salem's eyes narrowed, but her voice remained calm. "Tell me what she showed you."

So Cinder did. Every last detail of the audio file, the truth Salem revealed to Penny, and even Emerald's plan to usurp her power. "She made me do it," Cinder lied through her teeth. "Your grace, please—"

"Hush." Salem tapped her fingers against Cinder's wrist. "Release me, child."

Cinder had never complied to an order more quickly in her life. She scrambled back clumsily, yet was still as gentle as possible as she plucked out each claw from Salem's flesh. She blubbered apologies the entire time, praying her Madame—her Queen—would not punish her too severely in retaliation.

Salem stood up as Cinder prostrated herself, shaking her head at Cinder's display. "Rise, Cinder. For you have nothing to fear." She outstretched her hand, a silent offer to help Cinder stand by her side. "You did nothing wrong."

"I… I didn't?" She accepted Salem's hand slowly, fearing it would veer its course and strike Cinder's face at any turn. But the pain never came. "You promise?"

"Have I ever lied to you, child?"

Cinder, despite the miracle unfolding before her, hesitated. "You did lie to me. You want to destroy Remnant. All so you can kill yourself."

Where Cinder expected a reprimand and another shock, she heard only laughter. "Is that what she told you?" She wiped an exasperated tear from the corner of her eye. "Cinder, did you really think me so simple minded?"

"B-but the recording!" Cinder pressed. "You told Penny bringing the relics together would summon the Brothers, and they would destroy humanity! All of us, and you."

"Yes, I did," Salem relented. "But did I ever say that was my end game? Did your little eavesdropper overhear any other details about my plans?" Her smile fell. "Or did you both just jump to rash and mediocre conclusions?"

Cinder fell apart under her Queen's withering disappointment. "W-what else is there to know?"

"You already have the answer, child." She ran her thumb over Cinder's knuckles, treating her Grimm hand with due care. "This impatient hand of yours is part of my grand design."

Her Queen's touch left her breathless. "What do you mean?"

"Cinder, the brothers took everything from me." She flashed her teeth. "I intend to return the favor."

Cinder's Grimm side writhed in understanding. "You… you're going to drain their magic?"

"Better—I'm going to take their divinity." She laughed again, an alluringly edge to her voice. "Your plan to overthrow me was shockingly close to my own machinations. I almost feel proud of you."

Cinder gaped at her in an awestruck stupor. "Y-you… you are going to become the new god of this world—a true god?"

Salem tsked, wagging a finger dismissively. "Oh, child, you think too small. I'm not just going to make myself a goddess—all who garner my favor will share in such glory." In one move, Salem ascended from Queen to Messiah. "I want to build a pantheon."

Cinder shuddered as the implications of Salem's words spread through her like a flashfire, each possibility igniting the next in a growing inferno—the temples, the sacrifices—

The freedom.

"Even me, your grace?" Cinder asked desperately, clinging close to Salem's outstretched hand. "Am I still worthy?"

Salem hummed in thought. "That remains to be seen, child." Cinder whimpered at the denial, while Salem only chuckled. "You did just try to kill me, dear, as futile an attempt as it was. While I will not hurt you, a price must be paid for this transgression."

"Anything." Such power was worth any price. "Command me, please."

Salem tilted her head, pausing for a moment as she looked for something in Cinder's face. Then, in a single breath, she uttered one simple command:

"Kill Emerald."

Cinder glanced at her trembling pet, still struggling to pick herself up from a puddle of her own blood pooling down from her nostrils. She made her next move with zero hesitation. "Of course, your grace. It will be done."

Glass heels clicking against the library floor, Cinder strode to her pitiful pet easily. It was a shame she had to dispose of such a useful asset (and an easy lay), but it was what her Queen demanded. That, and—

"You stupid bitch," Cinder spat. "You almost ruined everything for me!" If it wasn't for her Queen's mercy, she would have lost her chance at becoming a goddess. All because Emerald forgot her place, and twisted Cinder's mind in a rare moment of weakness.

A mistake she would not make again.

As fire danced between her fingertips, ready to incinerate all that stood between her and her Queen's rekindled favor, Emerald made a last ditch effort to save herself by stammering a desperate plea through her bloodied lips. "Mistress, I swear I didn't know—"

"Quiet." Letting Emerald blabber on whenever she felt like was how Cinder wound up in this unnecessary mess. "For too long, I enabled your behavior. This is the price of that leniency, and we both must pay it." She gave her little gemstone one final gift, a single warm caress along the underside of her chin. "Do not think, Emerald… obey. This will be my last command." Despite Emerald's blunder, she really did enjoy their brief time together. She'd get the same mercy as that Nikos girl—a quick and relatively painless immolation. "Close your eyes."

Emerald shook and shuttered, but she did as she was told. Such an obedient pet when she wanted to be. Her services would be missed. She leaned into Cinder's palm, chasing the last comfortable warmth she'd ever feel grace her skin. "Okay, Mistress—"

But as Cinder primed her Maiden fire, Emerald's neck twitched backwards, eyes rolling to her whites as a bright flash of green spilled into her irises. When they rolled back into position, her once scarlet eyes shimmered a now verdant, emerald sheen. It took a moment for Cinder to recognize them, and by then, the voice of the man she once burned to death had already crawled itself free of her former pet's mouth.

"Princess," Ozpin said, voice briefly clipping over Emerald's, before they merged into one, solid chorus. "It's good to see you."

Emerald watched helplessly from behind her own eyes as Ozpin hijacked control, and doxed himself to everyone in the room. What the fuck was he doing? How was this going to help them at all?

Better than "romantically" accepting my own fate, Ozpin thought bluntly. Trust me, this will work… for the most part.

Emerald took his word for it (not that she had any other choice in the matter), as Cinder's formerly (somewhat) remorseful face split into something entirely vicious. "You—"

Before Cinder could disintegrate Oz for the second time, Salem intervened. "Cinder, leave us."

"But ma'am, it's—"

"I know." Salem still nodded towards the library's entrance. "I will not ask again." Her tone brokered no further compromise… or mercy.

Cinder, probably still reeling after Salem's latest reveal (and not wanting to anger Salem any further), reluctantly obeyed without retort. She left the library quickly, offering Emerald nothing but a heated glare before the doors closed behind her.

Even with Cinder's dismissal, the tension in the library did not diminish a single degree. Salem drifted slowly but deliberately closer, an unreadable expression all the while.

Penny (fuck, she was still here?) trembled back at her seat, hands clamped tightly over her mouth as she hid her own meek expression. Her posture was rigid, and her eyes kept flashing between different lights, blending red and green in a whirling vortex of contrasting colors.

That was probably not the most important thing to focus on, however, as Salem's hand lunged forward and hooked itself under Emerald's chin. "You sly bastard." Her expression did not change, but there was something… different to her voice. "How long?"

"Several months, at this point," Oz replied, somehow composed despite the literal personification of death looming over them. "I'm surprised you didn't notice, Princess."

Her grip tightened, nails raking surprisingly shallow against Emerald's neck. "Careful, Ozma. I'm in no mood for your flattery."

"Is a pet name really considered flattery? I'm not even sure I'd go so far as to call it flirting."

"Jokes? After you tried to kill me with one of my own pawns?" she said flatly, and unamused. "Not a very inspired idea, by the way. I can only assume it was your new host's, rather than your own."

Emerald made no move to take credit, but Oz made sure Salem knew anyway. "Indeed. But I wouldn't blame just the girl. We were in quite the rush after you forced our hand."

Salem paused a moment, considering. "This is about the Rose girl, then?" Her expression finally broke open, blooming into clear curiosity. "What devious transmutation did you inflict upon that poor child?"

"Nothing as horrific as whatever you have going on downstairs," Ozpin replied dryly.

She actually laughed at that. "Someone has been busy snooping around, hasn't he?" Her dark eyes became half-lidded and suggestive. "Naughty boy."

It was at that moment that Emerald finally realized Ozpin's contingency plan, and she rather preferred dying, actually.

"But out of all of my servants, why did it have to be Emerald," Salem pouted (pouted!?). "Why not someone more my type, like Hazel, or even Arthur, if he'd put on a few more pounds. I'd even settle for Cinder or—though I'd regret it afterwards—even Tyrian." She sighed, stroking one black nail down Emerald's throat, stopping a relieving inch before she reached under her shirt. "So small, this new host of yours. I'd break her in half if I tried riding her face now."

What the actual fuck was this conversation, Oz? Emerald had already thrown up several times this morning, but she could feel another wave of nausea on the way. How had they somehow averted the teetering hinges of death's door, and arrived at possible hate-fuck territory?

Now you know how I felt, with you and Cinder gallivanting with one another all the time, Oz thought bitterly. He continued his attempt at seducing their way to survival. "Yes, well, I don't get to choose my next life. If you wanted a body more… ripened to your taste, perhaps you shouldn't have had me killed back at Beacon."

"Oh, like you weren't already going to crawl your way back to me anyway," Salem retorted. "How many years has it been since we last met like this, face to face? Thirty, forty years? Barely any time at all, really." She let out a wistful sigh. "You can never stay away from me long, when you know I'm winning this game of ours."

Emerald didn't know what Salem was talking about, but she didn't like it. Hadn't their relationship ended, like, thousands of years ago? Immediately after they blew up their own kids?

That was only our first separation, Oz admitted mentally, and with some remorse. There were some brief… relapses. Moments of personal weakness we can discuss another time.

Before Emerald could begin unpacking any of that clusterfuck of a reveal, reality reminded her she still had a broken Aura, and possibly some minor not-so-minor blood loss. Her vision wobbled, and Salem's face spun with it. "Oh, is someone tuckered out after trying to murder their wife again?" Salem's eyes had never looked more red. Violet-black light sparked from her fingernails as she lifted her hands and held them against both sides of Emerald's face. "Here, let me help you… rest."

A prick of icy pain flared and faded in Emerald's jaw and—

She woke up. Because she had been… sleeping. Presumably. She groggily wiped a trail of drool off her mouth, and inspected it. No blood, as far as she could tell. A hopeful part of herself thought her botched plan to usurp Salem had just been a really elaborate dream, but such hopes were refuted as she turned her head—

And found Salem staring right at her.

Lying in the same bed.

Naked.

Salem was fucking naked.

Instinctively, Emerald lashed out with her semblance, to cut herself from Salem's sight. But where her Aura would normally find no resistance in reaching the human mind, she instead found a solid, impenetrable wall. Her semblance could not breach the mental barrier.

"Hello there, stupid," Salem said casually (and still nude). "Sleep well?"

Emerald was concerned about many things at the moment (not least of which her own fragmented relationship with Cinder, and whether Penny was okay), but somehow winning above all other matters of urgency (and the survival of her entire species ) was, "Did we fuck?"

"What?" Salem glanced down. Enough said. "Oh, this? No, I just sleep like this. It's more comfortable."

Was Emerald already dead? That was the only sane explanation.

"Unfortunately not," Ozpin interjected, quashing her hopes in an instant. "Keep her occupied. I'm working on something that might help us. Even an hour should be long enough."

And just like that, he fucked off to the outer reaches of her consciousness, leaving her alone while his demi-goddess of an ex nearly smote Emerald with the flat-edge of her glare. "What are you two scheming about? Anything I should be interested in?"

"Uh… no?" Emerald was probably gonna die for real in a second, if she didn't get her act together.

Salem, though, merely huffed. "If you're going to lie, at least be witty about it." She stood up from her bed, clothes coalescing around her body in a flash of black smoke and brimstone. "No one can lie to me more sweetly than my dear Ozma."

Looking around for something else to anchor to, Emerald took in the rest of her surroundings: the rest of the canopy bed she was tucked inside, the open wardrobe alongside a jaggedly rimmed standing mirror, wait—was this… Salem's room? If so… it was actually a bit smaller than Emerald had expected. More quaint than grand, barely bigger than her own. The windowsill seemed to have a higher view, though. Maybe one of the tower spires?

That fact didn't make her feel any less small as Salem turned towards her again, dissecting her with a prying glance. "He hasn't told you much at all, has he?"

"W-who?" Nice one, idiot.

"You're dim, not slow, girl. Keep up. Has Ozma told you much about me, or not?"

Sensing Salem's patience was already worn thin, Emerald quickly stammered, "H-he showed me where you both came from. And…" She hesitated before continuing, "And how you both split after your… difference in opinion?" Don't bring up her dead kids, don't bring up her dead kids, don't bring up—

Salem made a noncommittal sound. "I see. Barely anything at all, then." She gestured sharply towards her open wardrobe. "Come here and get dressed. We have a busy morning."

Emerald reacted quickly if cautiously. When she reached Salem's side, she did a double take at the clothes laid out for her. It was a fancy suit with a wide collar, offset by a pair of ruffled sleeves. Nestled by the neckline was a jade brooch, finalizing the gaudy but expensive ensemble. It looked like something a businessman would wear, or maybe some stuck up Atlesian nobleman. If also a century or two out of fashion.

"Has he told you about our children?" Salem said suddenly.

The question felt like a trap, but Emerald didn't know any way to disarm it without setting it off first. "Y-yeah. He told me what happened to your four daughters." Salem's face shifted, and it felt like the tide pulling away before a storm. Emerald floundered to keep herself above the waves. "I-I don't know any more than that, I swear—"

"Only four?" Salem shook her head, exasperated. "So quick to bury the past, my heartless husband."

Were there more kids? That didn't didn't sound right. It wasn't really the most pressing question at the moment, though. "Ma'am?" Were they back at Ma'am territory? Emerald's current situation was confusing as fuck. "Why am I… alive?"

"Would you rather not be?"

That response shut Emerald up real quick.

Salem, however, found her silence boring, and said as much to her face. "If you're not going to say anything interesting, just put those clothes on. Our daughter is waiting for us."

"You mean Penny?" Emerald was allowed to initiate conversation, right? She honestly couldn't tell if Salem hated or longed for her input.

"That is her name currently, yes," Salem said dismissively. "We can settle on a better one together, after her operation. Speaking of which…" She gestured at the clothes again. "Get. Dressed. I will not repeat myself."

After enduring more awkward and tense silences, Emerald finally managed to wrangle herself into her new clothes. They were a little baggy, especially around her thighs and shoulders. Salem made her displeasure at this known rather plainly. "You need to eat more, child." She poked Emerald in the arm, unimpressed. "Put on some more muscle, too. You won't be able to handle me otherwise, when you're older."

Emerald had no idea how to begin responding to such implications, so she didn't bother. She merely nodded, and followed Salem as she drifted towards the exit.

"Oh, and to answer your previous question—" She spun around, grabbing Emerald by the lapel as she leaned in close. "You are alive, because you are family now." Her touch became more gentle, fiddling and smoothing out the creases in Emerald's collar. "And while under my roof, none of my family are allowed to die. Not even if they beg for it. Understand?"

Emerald nodded again, quick to appease whatever the fuck was happening.

Salem smiled in return, and never before had Emerald felt so dangerously safe. "Good. Now look alive. With Cinder and Mercury gone, we practically have the castle to ourselves today."

Emerald froze. "Gone? Gone where?"

"On their next assignment." Salem grinned, looking piercingly into Emerald's eyes. Though, Emerald doubted it was her own reaction the Grimm Queen was searching for. "To find the Spring Maiden."

Though Oz didn't surface, Emerald could feel him twitching at the edge of her mind. It must have shown on her face, because Salem's grin only broadened. "There he is. My flustered little scoundrel, Ozma. Frustrated that I know something he does not. Such a hypocrite. He keeps far more secrets than I do." She laughed. "Don't even get me started on how he gave your kind those cheap semblances of yours."

The story behind that tidbit was probably important, but she had to focus on one question at a time (to maintain her sanity). And if Salem was in a gossipy mood all of the sudden…

"How did we learn about Spring? I thought she was missing to us even just yesterday—"

"Oh, child, it's been more than a day since your failed heist on my life. Your Aura was dangerously strained, even before you shattered it. They already left a few days ago, while you've been recovering." Before Emerald could fully process that, Salem continued, "But such matters aren't for you to worry about anymore. You should prepare yourself, and your admittedly versatile semblance, for Arthur's lab."

Emerald frowned as she followed Salem further into the halls of Evernight. "May I ask why?"

"Because Arthur finished his modifications," Salem said simply, and Emerald choked on her breath. "Penny's operation is today." Salem turned another corner, and suddenly the metal doors of Watts' workshop loomed before them both. "And you, little painkiller, are going to help her through it."