Hello guys! Here is Khor, with a commission!

Commission by Azuring-Galaxy, story by Mika, commission for Mika.

Enjoy this slightly different version of a 'reading a fanfiction' story! And finally, my characters gets a final look for how he actually looks!

Ruby Rose was tired.

A day suffering all the rigours and quirks of Beacon Academy would KO basically anyone, but she was used to it – she was used to even worse!

Where others had to worry about not falling asleep in Professor Port's class, whose speeches were the most narcotic substance in the world, she had to worry about figuring out the infamous Roman Torchwick's plan, because despite him being now behind bars, her uncle had warned her that something was amiss.

While the rest of the students moaned over the speed at which Professor Oobleck, or Dr Oobleck as he liked to be called, talked during his lectures, she groaned at the bruises and wounds she received while fighting the White Fang, arguably the most dangerous terrorist organization the world had to offer – though their members weren't all that skilled.

And of course she didn't have it easy when it came to combat either! The rest of the student body trained against other first years, while she had to face rogue Hunters like Torchwick himself! If that wasn't unfair, she didn't know what was.

However, a large part of her exhaustion that day wasn't due to all those problems, but to the Vytal Festival.

The Vytal Festival was, as the name implied, a festivity that happened every year, every time in a different Kingdom – which meant that every Kingdom would house it every four years. Its name was a bit misleading as Vytal didn't mean Remnant, but it was probably a wordplay with 'vital', meaning a festival they couldn't go without as it represented the peace, alliance and unity between the four Kingdoms.

The main attraction of the Festival was the tournament. Huntsmen and Huntresses from all around the world would come to watch the newest generations of Defenders of Humanity, the students of the four Academies, fight each other in the Amity Coliseum, the giant flying stadium powered by immense Gravity Dust crystals that always housed the tournament. It was a pain to move between Kingdoms, though.

Everyone knew the rules of the tournament – which was that other that not killing or critically injuring your opponents, the kid gloves were off. One could win by either knocking their opponent out of the ring -though fortunately not out of the stadium thanks to a Dust-powered forcefield- or by lowering their Aura to less than 15%.

What not everyone knew, or rather the civilians didn't know, was that it was a damn exhausting experience. Between the anxiety, the nerves, the wait and the actual physical effort of fighting, it was no surprise no one fought twice in the same day.

Ruby Rose was no different.

She had just watched Team JNPR triumph over Team BRNZ. She had to say, she kinda pitied Jaune. While Flower Power might've not been the best name, his teammates could've at least remembered it. And besides, who was she to talk? She used Bumblebee and Ladybug! Who liked to have a combo named after an insect? Especially the first, since said insect was also very annoying.

Arkos didn't mean anything which was a plus, honestly – no one could call it stupid if they didn't know what it meant.

But anyway, all went well in the end. Even as she changed into her pyjamas, she could hear Jaune lecturing his team – as nice and kind as he was, Jaune was not a cinnamon roll. He could get annoyed and even angry, through the latter rarely at his team. He would probably lecture them on the importance of either remembering a combo name or speaking their mind when said name was chosen right in front of them prior the fight, and then he would send them all to sleep.

It wasn't that different to what she would've done anyway.

All around her, her teammates were getting changed as well. While outside was Autumn already, the weather was still warm – hot even. Blake didn't have any problem with it, since Menagerie was almost twice as warm as Vale in any season. Yang and she were used to it – Patch was still part of Vale and even if it was a bit more up North, the climate wasn't much different. Poor Weiss, instead used to the Atlasian cold, couldn't stand all that heat. The only thing keeping her from sleeping in her underwear was her 'properness' or whatever she meant by that.

Speaking of pyjamas, she had a sudden flashback of Jaune wearing his -admittedly ridiculous- bunny onesie. True, his claim of it being comfortable had to be true no matter how ridiculous it was, but it was a bunny onesie. Such a thing shouldn't even be taken into consideration as nightwear for a seventeen-year-old! He didn't seem to care though. As easily teased as he was, she'd never seen him being embarrassed by his onesie – and she had long since given up on figuring out why.

Still speaking of pyjamas, she changed into hers with a sleepy yawn. From JNPR's room, she couldn't hear Jaune and his team talking any more, though that was never much of a problem – Yang's snores were worse than any lecture. Surprisingly, no one on Team JNPR snored. She kind of expected Pyrrha not to, and Ren, but Nora didn't naturally snore, and Jaune explained how his sisters had 'taught' him not to snore since they often had to sleep in the same tent when out camping, until he got his own for reasons unknown.

She was so tired she yawned again. Tomorrow, she would need to elect the two moving up to the doubles round, the part of the tournament where only two people from every winning team had to fight. The final part were the singles, where one of those two would fight in a duel another winner. The one to win all battles would win the tournament.

With absolutely no offence to her sister Yang, she was pretty much sure Pyrrha would win. That Polarity of hers was just too broken to be defeated, and even without it Pyrrha was a monster in terms of skill and combat prowess. Defeating an Alpha Beringel would probably be easier.

Said Alpha Beringel, now shown running after Sun holding a cask of bananas by her sleepy and overworked mind, was the last thing she could remember thinking before she fell asleep.

/-/

Somewhere else, not on Remnant or even in that same universe, was a man. Or well, he looked like a man. His age was unknown and he liked it that way. That man sat in a room. It was a completely normal room, if one didn't count the dragons painted on the walls, floor and ceiling, the furniture shaped after dragons, the dozens of differently sized swords with dragon-inspired hilts hanging from the walls, a full set of dragon-themed armour with long claws on its gauntlets resting in a corner, and of course the sleeping black hatchling of the same race curled up on the amethyst-patterned blanket that covered the bed.

Other than that, it was a perfectly normal room.

The man himself was perfectly normal. Brown beard on his chin, shaved on the sides of his face. Brown hair kept in a ponytail that could've been a few inches shorter than Blake's if let down. Green-brown eyes not unlike those of the yet-to-be-noteworthy Oscar Pine, a simple farmer boy who didn't know he wasn't just a simple farmer boy. Standing at just shy of six feet, broad shouldered but not particularly robust or tough-looking, he was also dressed normally when one thought about it. He wore black jeans, tight not by choice but rather because any larger size would need a belt and he didn't like belts, a white long-sleeved shirt and a sleeveless black jacket – he kind of looked like a waiter in a restaurant, which was absurd since he didn't even like restaurants – he could cook just fine on his own.

Of course, he could only be described as normal if one didn't count the deep violet dragon wings on his back, the lower ends going as far as his shins while the tips being almost a foot taller than his head. Speaking of which, on his head there were two purple horns, tall and straight, about half a foot long, sprouting from just below his hairline, in his forehead. His eyes too weren't exactly normal as they had no white, but only an ellipsoidal black pupil in a sea of greenish brown. In addition to that, his skin was littered with small amethyst crystals embedded into the flesh, as if growing out of it like they normally did on stones and rocks underground. He had one on his forehead, two for each cheek and a smaller one on the tip of his nose, as well as three in either ear. Every knuckle was topped by a small crystal, as well as a larger one on the back of his hand. Even his wings weren't spared, with irregular-sized amethysts growing on the limbs but not on the membranes, giving them a sharp and serrated appearance. To top it all off, his hands were covered in dark purple scales, as was the skin around his eyes.

Oh, and when he yawned, his canines were pointy and sharp, and his tongue forked like a snake's… though most dragons didn't have forked tongues.

Other than that, he was perfectly normal.

The man was seemingly sleeping, but he would only appear as such to people not used to Wanderers.

Wanderers were, to put it in the simplest way possible, people capable of projecting their conscious mind into other universes and dimensions, solidifying it into a physical body -though some preferred to keep themselves more ghost-like for personal reasons- and interact with those universes. This ability also gave them more or less omnipotence, as they weren't limited by their bodies, but only by their mind: whatever they could think, they could do.

However, sometimes Wandering required them to focus on their projection more than on their surroundings. To prevent grave accidents -which had still happened at times-, many Wanderers chose to perform this feat only in safe environments, where no harm could befall them – and maybe where they had a way to know when it was dinner time.

The man was a Wanderer. One of the peculiarities some Wanderers shared was their choice to create a whole universe for themselves, to store their soul and mind in, to find better harmony than they did in their home universe. That room was no exception. And neither was the man's appearance.

Finally, the man opened his eyes and stretched, wincing when his back popped painfully. As much as he liked his wings, they were hell on the back, especially for someone always standing upright instead of crouched or on all fours.

Unless he was being less efficient than normal, all should've been ready. The only thing he regretted was needing to stay awake instead of going to sleep like he'd just watched the people of Remnant do.

Without a word, he laid face-down on his bed, carefully avoiding the sleeping hatchling. Normally, he liked being face-up more, but without knowing for how long he'd need to stay there, his wings might cramp. Which was always horrible.

After a few seconds to reorganize his thoughts and plans, the man closed his eyes again.

/-/

Ruby Rose opened her eyes to a world she could only describe as fuzzy. Everything around her looked like it had been drawn with oil paint, but was as solid and three-dimensional as the real world.

In comparison, her own body stood out a lot more, since it was the only thing that looked real in that painted world. Thought she didn't remember changing into her usual attire before going to sleep.

Sleep…

Of course! That had to be a dream. There was no other possible explanation for what was happening. Especially, there was no other possible explanation for why the world had suddenly decided it liked oil painting more than the normal reality. Though if she had to be honest, she kinda liked this dream. On the long term, it would probably give her a headache, but well, not all dreams were perfect.

As she walked through the dreamscape, which kind of looked like Beacon's mess hall to be honest, she realized one thing. There were no sounds. Her dreams usually involved sounds, even just everyday life sounds she heard all the time. However, this dream didn't seem to have them. All was silent, and she didn't like it. Her father used to say she didn't like silence too much because it let her hear her own thoughts, but she knew better, as did her uncle Qrow. Perfect silence was unnatural and something to be wary of. One should've never been with their guard down when all was silent.

She grabbed her Crescent Rose, happy to find it there, and deployed it. Maybe she would need it. Just to test it, she jabbed the point into a wall.

The wall ripped like an actual painting, lacerating down the middle and revealing a more real-looking room beyond.

And in that room, she could see six people sleeping, six people she knew very well – heck, she slept in the same room as three of them every day, and the other three lived just across the corridor!

/-/

Cinder Fall was confused, very confused.

She never had a dream like that. All around her, the world seemed to be made of solid, unmoving flames. Her team's dormitory was a sight to behold. The window was made of a large rectangle of crystal clear azure flames that still allowed her to gaze through into. Her bed was a red inferno with a white flame for pillow. Her wardrobe was a tall brown flame with bronze small flames for pommels.

As much as she could love fire, that was definitely overdoing it.

She went to the door, another tall brown frozen flame, and gingerly reached out for the doorknob. It didn't burn her. Confused but relieved to be able to touch things, she opened the door, only to find herself in a corridor whose walls and floor and ceiling were made of stony grey unmoving fire. She was really starting to be creeped out.

Not only that, but she couldn't hear any sound, and any warrior would know that it's too unnatural to be completely silent. It wasn't even the kind of silence heard before a predator struck, or the quiet before the storm. It was a complete silence that could only be associated with death, or powerful magic, like her mistress's. Neither reassured her.

Walking on top of solid fire was a new experience for her. While the grey flames licked her calves, the core of the inferno was solid enough for her to walk on without problems, even with her heels.

Without hesitation, she headed for the mess hall. If it was a dream, then moving was probably the best course of action. If it wasn't… then any surviving student would be gathered in the mess hall by the professors.

The morbid thought sent a small shiver down her back. There was a reason why she always hated dreams. One never knew whether they were good ones, or just waiting to turn into terrifying nightmares.

As she drew her swords, she took a bit of comfort in knowing she still had them with her, at least. Whatever weird dream or reality that was, she wouldn't need to face it on her own.

It didn't take long for her to arrive to the mess hall – the dormitories were close to it for the obvious reason everyone needed breakfast -and most importantly a good source of caffeine- before classes, even her. Especially her. Being far better than any student her age meant she was bored by more or less every single class in Beacon… even Combat Class.

However, when she arrived, she saw that the flames gradually disappeared, leaving a more normal floor and walls in their wake.

Entering, she saw she wasn't alone. Team RWBY was there as well, with their leader knelt by a sleeping Weiss Schnee. Three quarters of Team NPR were there too, their leader missing from the picture or maybe somewhere else. And also the remaining three members of her team were there, seemingly fast asleep on the ground, halfway across the hall from the other students.

Frowning, she cautiously went over to Neo and checked on her, finding her to be in fact asleep. "Ruby," she called out, startling the younger girl. While she didn't enjoy conversing with the child, she didn't hate it like Emerald did – despite her plan to destroy Beacon, she wasn't above some casual conversation with some students. She just couldn't stand the way the crimsonette could go on talking with seemingly no end to her words. "What happened?"

If that was a dream, then maybe Dream-Ruby would give her some clues. If it wasn't, then she would certainly shine some light on the whole event.

"I think I'm dreaming," she replied lightly. "But I don't understand. I never dreamed about things like these before, and never about you or your team… no offence, of course!" she hurried to add.

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "We can't both be dreaming," she claimed tensely. "Which means it's likely neither of us is."

That seemed to unnerve the girl. "Y-You think this might be real?" She chuckled nervously. "But… how? I didn't hear anything, and everything changed so much, as if by magic!"

For the girl, it might've seemed impossible. For someone who knew magic was far from a mere fairytale, it was very real and very terrifying.

Cinder was a powerful, skilled and proud warrior, but part of being a warrior was knowing when she was outmatched, and whoever had been strong enough to cause all that was clearly more than strong enough to beat her. For a second she thought Salem might've been the cause, but then she dismissed the thought – Salem didn't want to reveal herself to the world until all the Kingdoms had fallen. It would make no sense for her to show up at the stronghold of her bitter enemy, Ozpin.

Which left him as the possible cause. Him, or the gods themselves. Given how weakened he was after wasting all his magic in empowering his lackeys, she doubted he had enough to cast such a powerful enhancement.

She didn't want to think the gods themselves might've been behind it, but there weren't many other options.

"Be on your guard, and wake your friends up," she instructed the girl. Those were people she would watch burn in a week or so – but she wasn't above allying herself with them if it meant they'd be stronger against whoever or whatever had distorted the world like that.

Turning to her own team, she decided it was time they woke up.

/-/

She didn't know how exactly it had happened, but she intended to find out.

Even if physically she hadn't needed to sleep, she could often get mentally tired as her work was one extremely taxing on the mind. She had thus decided to take a break and rest for a while on her bed, not meaning to fall asleep. Apparently, it had happened anyway. Just like one could eat even after dinner, one could fall asleep even if they weren't excessively tired.

However, waking up just outside of Beacon's mess hall wasn't something she ever thought would happen. All around her, the world was warped – everything looked metallic. The floor, walls and ceiling were made of worn-out gold, so old it was almost worthless. Windows and doors were made of silver covered in dirt and age-old dust. Everything looked like it had once been magnificent, but was now woebegone and ancient beyond comprehension.

She abhorred it. Such beauty, destroyed by the carelessness and the centuries. Despite not being attached to things like most people, she could still appreciate art and precious gems and metals used as decorations. She disliked wasting them by hoarding them or selling them for money – the sparkling minerals held a beauty no coin could match.

She recognized her surroundings, despite having never been there in person. She'd been told a lot about Beacon, and she knew it shouldn't have looked like that.

Against her common sense, she headed towards the cafeteria, from where she could hear voices talking, shouting, arguing. She recognized a few of those voices.

The closer she got to the doors, the less metallic the world looked. Ruined gold gave way to cured stone, marble and bricks. Violated silver was replaced with glass by the windows and wood by the doors. Little by little, the warped world revealed itself to be more real than she initially thought.

A single hand was more than enough to move the large wooden doors that gave onto the cafeteria.

As she had expected, familiar and unfamiliar faces were waiting for her in that room, and turned to look at her when she entered. A few of them frowned, probably trying to remember where they had seen her before, while the others were just surprised to see her there.

She knew it would be hard to be recognized by anyone. Her pale blond hair, wan skin and light blue eyes might've made her beautiful, but they were far from unique. If anything, they made it harder for them to remember who she was.

"This is a most confusing dream," she finally spoke, startling some of them, as she walked into the room with slow elegance and majesty. "Especially because I do not remember personally meeting some of you, yet I am seeing you so perfectly detailed in my dream."

"M-Mistress?" The woman turned to look at one of the female students, confused as to why she hadn't used her real name… but unless hers wasn't a dream and it was all really happening, she couldn't see why she should hide her name from those unknown, most probably harmless students. And given her current looks, she was certain she was in a dream.

"My dear Cinder, why aren't you using my name? I thought you didn't like calling me such," she replied, her melodic voice surprising the woman even further.

"M-Mistress, w-what are you doing here?" Cinder stole a glance at the students behind her. "And… what happened to your hair and eyes? You look… different…"

"My dear child, this is my natural appearance, from an age long gone and forgotten – do you not remember what I told you?" she narrowed her eyes at her underling. As gracious of a superior as she was to her underlings, she wouldn't tolerate if one of them forgot the very reason why they fought. "As for why I am here, I'll admit I do not know the answer myself. It appears this dream of mine is odder than I thought."

"Miss, we don't think this is a dream," the young Silver-Eyed warrior spoke up, making her hide a grimace of distaste. While silver eyes were an absolutely wonderful eye colour, the Wizard had forced an unstable magic into them, gifting every silver-eyed soul with the power of petrifying or even destroying Grimm completely. She wouldn't lie and say it hadn't been a wise move, but still she thought that if the Wizard was in such need of warriors, then forcing his magic to move down the generations without giving him any control whatsoever on who was gifted by it was not the right way. That was a mistake he had made more than once.

"It has to be," she replied firmly. "There is literally no other option – I would not look like this, if this were to be reality."

"You are right, Lady Salem, this is a dream – but it is not just your dream."

Everyone was startled by the disembodied voice, and the woman quickly moved closer to the group to be able to protect her servants if she needed to – whatever that was, if it had been powerful enough to speak to her while she was dreaming, there was a chance it was powerful enough to actually fight her.

That, and despite her power she still preferred to have backup, even if said backup was just a group of illusions created by her dreaming mind.

The cafeteria's doors opened once again, and a very strange man walked in.

/-/

The Wanderer observed the reactions of the people before him in mild interest before continuing. "As I was saying, this is definitely a dream – but is it just a dream? I am sure all of you believe this to be your dream. Well, let me clear your mind." He stopped a dozen or so feet away, giving them space. "This, is a collective dream. All of you are dreaming, and your dreams have been weaved together like strands in a web."

"What?" The younger of the two blondes, whose hair reached her rear and was so voluminous it acted as a cloak for the girl. "How's that even possible?"

"I believe some machines might be able to successfully connect minds like this," the white-haired girl with a ponytail askew on her head spoke up. "I think they might be similar to virtual reality devices, reading the brain's-"

"It's amusing to watch people try to explain something like this in such a complicated way, all the while failing to consider the simplest option. How did this happen?" The man smirked lopsidedly for a second. "Magic."

He then raised a hand. "Please, spare me your rants on how magic doesn't exist – after all, if magic didn't exist, I wouldn't be here right now, but in my bedroom, reading or sleeping. Instead here I am, talking to you in your dreams, and connecting your minds so that you can all interact with each other."

The white-haired girl looked like she still wanted to argue, but the girl with red-tipped black hair was faster. "Okay, dreams aren't supposed to make sense so I guess we can accept your explanation. But then…"

"Why?" the red-haired girl with a ponytail finished her thoughts. "Why would this dream even happen?"

"I'm glad you asked. It's actually very simple: I want to show you something. I hope you will find it enlightening. I will not disclose who you are to the others, but feel free to introduce yourselves if you need to – I am not limiting you in any way." The man gave a small bow. "Starting with me. I am Lord Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh, and my list of titles is far too boring to mention."

"You are a lord?" the black-haired girl with a bow on her head asked.

"There are many kinds of lords, and many ways to obtain that title," the man cryptically answered. "Now, if you wish to introduce yourselves, I beg you to do so now, before we move onto the topic I wanted to tell you about."

"My name is Lady Salem. I have no last name that I care to remember," the older blonde went first.

"I'm Ruby." Normally, the girl would've probably said more, or in a more cheerful tone, but the man was just too weird -and frankly creepy with those crystals embedded into his skin- to let her guard down.

Her friends followed her lead.

"Weiss Schnee."

"Blake."

"Yang Xiao Long."

"I'm Pyrrha."

"Nora."

"My name is Lie Ren."

"Cinder Fall, and these are Mercury, Emerald and Neo." The woman dressed in red introduced her teammates as well as herself, before looking back at the man in what seemed like curiosity. "You said we are dreaming… then why are you here? Are you dreaming as well?"

"I am the one who made you dream – do you not think I could slip into this dream as well?" The now named Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh allowed himself a small smirk at his own rhetorical question. "Now, however, I wanted to show you something, something from another universe, maybe from another dream – but beware, because this will be as enlightening as it will be painful to watch."

"Why should it be painful?" Mercury asked suspiciously.

"You shall find out," the man smiled thinly before the world around them warped and changed. "You will be standing right in the middle of things, but don't worry – nothing can hurt you but yourselves. It'll be like watching holographic projections, or illusions. I hope you will enjoy what little you'll be able to enjoy, and learn from the rest."

"Wait!" Ruby exclaimed as the man seemed to fade a bit. "Why are you doing this?"

He smiled again. "Well, that would be telling. Let's just say, there's an azure galaxy involved in this."

And with that, he faded out of existence just as their surroundings morphed back into focus, showing what looked like a battlefield.

"I will forge a world that even the twin brothers will be envious of. A world that will know peace and calmness…" Queen Salem, Ruler of a hundred worlds

"Wait, is that you?" Yang turned to glance at Salem, who nodded pensively.

"Indeed. Unifying and bringing peace to the world has been my goal for a very long time, even though my ways have changed and varied a lot during the years. It appears that whatever vision Lord Khor is showing us, it involves me reaching my goal."

"You want to conquer the world?" Blake asked bluntly.

"If it is the only way to stop the bloodbath of people killing each other over small differences such as nationality or appearance, then yes," she replied steely. "I am ready to sacrifice lives if it means that everyone else and the future generations will be able to live in a world without wars."

The students exchanged glances. While world peace was truly a good objective, not all ends justified the means used to obtain said ends.

"But wouldn't that be committing the same crimes you want to stop?" inquired Ren, frowning ever so slightly. "Killing people who don't agree with you and forcing others to obey your rules?"

"I never said nor thought mine was a painless goal where no one will suffer," she replied callously. "There will always be people who value their own wealth and opinion more than they do other people's lives – and those people have to be dealt with. My goal would be reached with bloody means, but eventually it would lead to peace and prosperity, if handled correctly."

"But it would still be a crime," noted Ruby.

"Some actions are crimes only in certain situations," Cinder spoke up suddenly, knowing that she had more experience talking to people as naive as the students than Salem did. "If you injure or even kill a criminal about to harm or kill civilians, and you are a licensed Huntress, then yours would not be assault or murder but an unfortunate event that forced your hand. Why do you think so many Hunters are so arrogant? Their job protects them from the law a lot. So would it be a truly unforgivable crime to harm people to save millions more?"

The students glanced at each other, not really able to give an answer. Usually, they would've said that killing people was always killing people, but she had a point – criminals had to be stopped, sometimes even with the use of lethal force. No one liked the idea of a unity brought with a peace sign in one hand and a loaded rifle in the other, but they couldn't deny that, if it worked, it would be an improvement despite its cost.

Morals versus long term benefits were often a hard battle, and none of the students was prepared to face it already. They chose to remain silent, though they didn't stop thinking about it.

-unknown sector, Rebel controlled world-

"Keep firing! Keep those things off the wall!" A commanding voice yelled as dozens of armored soldiers were firing into the enemy force behind their high walls. Gun turrets fired red beams nonstop at the enemy, some began to overheat and erupt in flames, consuming the gunner. The commander watched as his soldiers fought with all their might. They had rebelled against the tyranny of the Imperium, fighting off those loyal to them in their system and even keeping reinforcements at bay! For a time their armies were strong, being able to keep their sector and planets safe...until they came.

Nearly everyone recoiled at the scene. While Salem and her underlings had seen their fair share of death -often by their own hand-, the change had still been sudden and they had been startled more out of surprise than out of disgust or horror.

"What…" Weiss didn't finish her question, trailing off as she observed the carnage going on in the dream all around her, flinching when one of the soldiers ran straight through her as if she or them didn't really exist.

"A war, it would seem." Salem commented. She had seen too many wars to feel many emotions beside disinterest and vague pity for the soldiers. In the end, those calling the shots were at fault, not the ones holding the rifles, though the latter were the ones who always suffered the most. "And not a small one either. They must be really desperate if they keep firing those turrets even if it's suicidal."

"I never saw weapons like those," Ruby murmured, horrified by the bloody scenario.

"I did," replied Cinder, not at all put off by the sight. "Laser technology. Atlas entertained the idea of creating laser guns for a while, but eventually they decided that the highly volatile but destructive Dust ammunition would work better against both Grimm and human opponents. Their Atlasian Knights are still equipped with Light Dust guns that work more or less like laser guns, but as you can imagine Dust rounds are more effective."

"In addition to that, laser technology has always been extremely expensive," Salem continued effortlessly. Studying the world and how it evolved had always been one of her passions, and she could say she was an expert in many fields of science and art, and most of all history, of course. "Atlas preferred to continue to rely on Dust mined with the use of illegal slaves from the Schnee Dust Company, due to it being the cheapest option. While high-power laser could be more destructive than Dust, compacting the needed machines to create it into guns would cost so much it was much simpler to only use it in non-military appliances."

Weiss almost bristled when she so casually mentioned her family's crimes, but she couldn't find words to deny it – also because deep down she knew she was telling the truth, just like Blake had been at the beginning of the semester. She could only hope she'd be able to change it before it was too late.

"Though I wonder what's this 'Imperium'," commented Mercury, his arms crossed on his chest. He would usually find fights amusement, but this was so chaotic he could barely see what was happening, which made it a lot less amusing for the young assassin. "Maybe Salem's?"

"It is possible," she conceded with a nod. However, she wasn't completely convinced. There were also those 'they' that had been mentioned.

Reports came of a vessel that came out of the warp, it crashed into the nearby planet before any of their ships could intercept it. Assuming it was just a lost vessel that made an emergency jump, a recover force was sent to investigate the wreckage, then the distress calls came in. Various reports of some kind of creatures attacking their various outposts, overrunning them. Slaughtering their defenders and easily overrunning the others. Then more reports of vessels coming out of the warp, crashing on many of their worlds and more reports of creatures. Cities were being overrun and soon they came...a massive force of…

Yang growled in anger at not being able to see the mentioned creatures, knowing it might give them an idea of what the enemy was. "What the hell is going on?!"

"It seems another opponent has entered the fray," Cinder noted thoughtfully. Maybe the Imperium wasn't the only monarchy with expansionist goals? And where was Salem? Was she the Imperium's queen, or was she a third party? Were those 'creatures' the Grimm she commanded?

"I just hope we won't have to watch this war for too long," murmured Emerald. As loyal as she was to Cinder, she always had to look away at some of her more horrible crimes. Sometimes she envied Mercury for being able to be unaffected by whatever horrific action they had to take.

"IT'S GOT ME!" a soldier shouted, snapping the commander out of his thoughts. He watched as the soldier was shooting frantically, others also shooting while another held onto him and before they knew it, the soldier was thrown over the wall by whatever that had got him.

Ruby and Nora gasped horrified at seeing the soldier being caught by whatever was beyond the walls. "I really hope they make it through," Nora whimpered sadly, knowing that with how desperate they seemed, only a miracle could save them.

"I'm really hoping they don't," Neo replied mercilessly, shocking her teammates with her voice. What? In her dreams, she had a right to talk! "Think about it. Would it be better to die a quick death, or to be possibly tortured to death later?"

Despite her making a good point, the 'normal' students felt squeamish at her carelessness. The fact they didn't know whether that was the actual reason why she hoped they would die or not didn't reassure them either. They'd always known Emerald's team was pretty weird, but not that weird…

"Dammit! You!" he yelled, pointing at another soldier whom was tending to wounded. "Get up on that wall and keep those bastards at bay!" The soldier saluted and ran to join the wall defenders. This was the last stronghold, the final bastion of resistance against the Imperium of Mankind and their corpse Emperor. Thanks to its natural barriers, the only way in or out of the stronghold was the massive gates that were currently being besieged by these "Imperial" forces.

"I highly doubt they will survive, then," Mercury stated bluntly, earning himself slight glares from the students. "Look, this might be a dream but it's not a movie – if that's their last stronghold in the entire planet, they have already lost. Even just because they don't have enough manpower to survive for long."

"As much as I hate to say it, Mercury has a point," Emerald admitted, grimacing as she did so.

"Hope is not lost yet" Blake proclaimed firmly. "Maybe they won't regain their planet, but they might be able to fight them off long enough to save themselves."

Emerald and Mercury exchanged a glance and shrugged in unison. "Dunno, they seemed pretty into fighting instead of running."

"By the protector, look out!" someone yelled as something exploded, destroying one of the gun turrets. The Soldier shook his head as he looked over the wall, seeing creatures scaling the wall. The bone like faceplates forever burned into his memory as they dug their claws into the structure. He aimed and fired, striking one of the wolf like creatures in the eye and causing it to fall below, where others lay dead, their bodies slowly disintegrating away into a black mist. He looked at the destroyed gun turret and then out across the battlefield, where he could see "Imperial Guardsmen" making their way across the battlefield towards the city.

"Grimm?!" Yang exclaimed, shocked. "But aren't we on another planet?!"

"Interesting," Salem mused, now sure that this third party had to be her, given the creatures that were fighting the rebels. "It said they came out of the 'warp', whatever that may be. Maybe it's a way to travel across the universe – or maybe Remnant itself is inside this warp. What surprises me, though, is the fact these Grimm were on a 'vessel', which I assume stands for a spaceship – but how, if Dust stops working past the stratosphere? Did we find another way around that? Or do we not use Dust any longer?"

"Dust is Remnant's only fuel and energy source, Lady Salem," Weiss argued respectfully, using the correct title. "I don't think it's possible for humanity to replace it completely, not in your lifetime – and if you rule Remnant and a hundreds worlds like it said at the beginning, it means this must be a very recent future."

Salem didn't bother to correct her on her age. "Maybe Remnant still uses Dust, but if we were to find an alternative power source, it wouldn't take too long to reinvent much of the modern technologies." She smiled thinly. "I'm sure it happened when Dust was discovered too."

"But there have been millennia and millennia of difference between that age and ours! Science has gotten so far, and technology as well," the heiress held onto her argument, which would've been valid, hadn't she been discussing with someone with so much more experience, insight and knowledge than she did.

"But humanity adjusted quickly to having to rely on odd crystals embedded into the ground," she replied calmly. She was used to explaining why her plans worked in certain ways. Not all of her underlings were as sharp as Cinder or Watts when it came to understanding plans. Especially Tyrian.

Weiss was stumped for a second, and that was all it took for Ren to step in. "Why don't we see how this war ends before we start arguing on what could or could not have happened in our world's ancient past?"

Cinder was marginally impressed. She didn't think any of those students would be smart or wise enough to actually stop a discussion to focus on the more pressing matter, namely the huge war that had seemingly engulfed the entire planet of this 'Rebels'.

These guardsmen, they were different. They didn't look like typical guardsmen, no, they were different in many ways. Their armor was vastly different from the others, looking like ancient knights of the Imperial Homeworld of Terra's ancient past. Some appeared to have what looked like ears or antlers jutting out from atop their helmeted heads. Abhumans? He didn't know nor cared, it was the fact that these guardsmen were fighting alongside these creatures was worrying. He watched as some were riding atop the wolf like creatures and firing at them from atop their steeds, some hanging onto them as they climbed the walls.

"Are they riding the creatures of Grimm?!" Ruby squeaked in clear horror and distress. The so-called 'abhumans' were obviously Faunus soldiers from Remnant, but what were they doing riding the embodiment of darkness and evil itself?!

"Maybe they found a way to control them," Salem replied mellowly. "After all, if some Semblances can take control of people's minds, why couldn't one use it to control the Grimm? Semblances don't follow any logical scheme anyway."

"She's right. It's probably just a Semblance," nodded Cinder, though she knew better. "That, or the Grimm stopped being…"

"Grimm?" Blake offered helpfully, glaring at the monsters. "Somehow, I doubt it."

"Keep firing! Keep th-" the soldier didn't get to finish as head was blown clean off, his body falling off the wall and down to the ground below. The surviving soldiers shot back, trying to keep the creatures off the wall but they were too late, one made it over. It wasn't alone as its rider began firing at them, killing a few while the creature slashed others with its claws. It let out a blood curdling howl as more and more were climbing over that section of the wall. Some alone while others with riders.

Weiss felt sick at the violence, with Ruby not too far behind. Others, like Yang and Pyrrha and Ren, were shocked at the sight of people working so well with the Grimm, using them as simple but excellent steeds.

'That's odd,' Salem thought pensively. 'Despite my power, the level of control over the Grimm needed to allow a person to ride them is incredible – I surely wouldn't be able to do it on all those Grimm, for all those people. Not unless I were to become much stronger – maybe by using the Four Relics? If people are fighting alongside my Grimm, maybe I am the Queen of Remnant in this world…'

"I really hope this never becomes reality," Blake gagged in disgust. "It's sick."

"Maybe, but after all, we're just seeing the war at the borders, not the peace this new world might hold inside," replied Cinder, not at all surprised by how the students were reacting.

"Aren't you disgusted by all this?" Yang asked aggressively, trying to vent part of her horror into anger.

"I do not find enjoyment in seeing such massacres, but I'm far too used to blood to be fazed," she answered smoothly. "Any experienced Hunter would be able to hide their horror, and I think I am more than a little used to it."

"How?"

Cinder's eyes darkened. "I'd rather not talk about it – people don't usually get used to seeing death in a nice way."

"Take the gate controls! We need to allow the main force in!" yelled one of the riders as they fought the defenders back. The commander of the defenders yelled orders as he shot from below, striking one of the attackers from the side. Before he could fire again however, he watched as the wolf like creature covered the injured attacker. It kept him covered as another guardsman ran over to tend to his wounds. More and more creatures were making their way over the walls, from the wolf like ones to larger versions of the wolf ones to even other creatures.

Salem was even more surprised. That couldn't possibly be instantaneous power, it had to be more of a permanent change. Instead of grabbing the Grimm's minds and forcing them to go against their nature every second, she had to have modified their nature itself into warriors and comrades to humans. Such a change was near impossible – she could infuse people with her power so that Grimm wouldn't attack them, but she never thought of changing the entirety of the Grimm!

Mostly because she'd never thought it'd be possible. After all, falling into a pool of Grimm, even with all her powers and her immortality, had permanently changed her, not the pool, so she'd always thought she couldn't manipulate the Grimm's true nature.

Maybe she did get the Relics to increase her powers, after all. It seemed something she might've done, had she conquered all of Remnants and many more worlds.

"Grimm… defending people?" Weiss said shakily, not really believing what she'd just seen.

"Well, if they can travel through space with stuff other than Dust, it's not so hard to believe that Grimm might be able to defend people," Neo shrugged, not really seeing why everyone was so shocked. Grimm weren't all that aggressive until negativity was around. Sure, they attacked, but they never looked for prey until they felt negativity. It wasn't so shocking to see them protecting someone who was helping them kill people.

"Beringels coming up!"

Another creature made it over the wall, a hulking mass of a creature that roared as it grabbed one of the defenders from behind and threw her over the wall. The wall was lost. More and more of the defenders were retreating, some jumping down to the ground below despite the height in an attempt to get away from the creatures and the attackers. Others were being simply kicked off by the attackers and their monsters.

"Are they suicidal?! Jumping off like that is almost sure to either kill them or at least strain their ankles!" Weiss exclaimed, shocked by their behaviour.

"Well, it's either jumping off and risking death or fighting the Grimm and dying for sure," Mercury replied with a shrug. "Besides, any Hunter would be able to do that."

"Yes, but these people seem to be already out of Aura," Pyrrha noted, worried. "Which means they are as vulnerable as any civilian!"

Mercury was nonplussed. "Hey, death by mauling compared to possible death by fall? Many would take their chance with the latter.

"Open the gates! We have control of the wall!" no sooner did a voice say did the mechanized gates begin to open, they survivors could hear yelling from the otherside as more creatures and Guardsmen began pouring into the courtyard, fighting the defenders with the help of their monsters! The commander fired, killing a few of the attackers as a creature charged at him, its jaws open and claws outstretched as it lunged at him. The commander stayed calm, raising the lasgun up and letting it build up a bit before pulling the trigger and letting loose a plasma bolt that made contact with the face of the creature, killing it instantly. He fired at more of the creatures, rallying his forces to fight off the invaders!

"Mmph," huffed Cinder. While sometimes people who were always obnoxiously calm annoyed her, especially if it was that bastard Watts, she admitted the commander of the rebels was good. Not just anyone could stare death in the face and put a bullet between its eyes.

"They already lost," Mercury scoffed lightly, disappointed by how short the battle had been. "The enemy controls the only way in or out, and the walls, and they already had the numeric advantage. Doesn't take a military genius to know they're screwed."

"No, but they can take down as many as they can!" Nora stated angrily, hoping the rebels would at least beat back for a while both Grimm and whatever psychopaths were riding them.

"Nora…" When she looked at him, her childhood friend just looked sad. "I think Mercury is right. The battle has been lost. Not even a miracle would save them now."

"Don't let up! Send these bastards to void itself!" he yelled as his forces fought back, some able to bring down one of the large creatures known as a Beringel. Then he noticed something, he watched as one attacker quickly killed some of his men easily with his weapon, only to watch it change into a sword like weapon. He saw other guardsmen weapons doing the same thing, changing from rifles to either swords or maces.

"Why are they surprised?" asked Ruby, trying to concentrate on the weapons instead of the mass killing going on in the dream around her. "Mechashift weaponry is pretty common – almost everyone has it!"

"Maybe on Remnant, but that's not Remnant," replied Emerald. "What puzzles me is why are they surprised now? If these Grimm and these people have been taking over planet after planet, why haven't they noticed that the people wielded mechashift weaponry?"

"The Grimm themselves are a good attack force – it is possible no one ever survived long enough to actually see the riders arrive," Salem commented carelessly, still thinking on how she could've changed the Grimm so much all by herself.

"That's a scary thought…" murmured Ruby. "The Grimm being so many and so strong the rest of the army never even had the time to arrive… I really hope this never happens in our world."

"Of course it won't, you dolt," retorted Weiss, using her 'insults' to distract herself like Ruby had done with the weapons. "This is all just a dream."

He noticed another attacker was dressed a bit differently than the others, wearing a different kind of armor. While dressed in similar metallic armor, this one had a metal mask on that looked like the face mask of one of the creatures. He fired at the attacker, only to see for a brief moment what looked a bluish field that covered the body of the attacker, easily deflecting the the bolt of plasma. Before he could fire again, a loud thunderous horn was heard, causing all the attackers and creatures to quickly back away towards the opened gates. The surviving defenders looked at them, ready to continue fighting if need be but were confused by the actions of their attackers. But they soon realized why. Why they stopped fighting.

"Welp, boss area time," Mercury scoffed casually, as if comparing videogames to bloody warfare were to be perfectly normal. In his defence it could be said that it did look like the boss was coming out. In his offence it could be said he could've very well kept his mouth shut.

"More like the herald or the commander of the besiegers," Emerald rebutted, as always irritated by the assassin's comments. It wasn't completely his fault – it was just that everything that define him made her angry, including his skill in combat. Even when he was silent or serious, she felt annoyed at him.

Mercury huffed at her logic. "Always ruining my jokes, Em. It seriously looks like the boss's about to enter the fray. Just chill and stop being such a stick-in-the-mud."

A scathing retort was on the tip of her tongue, but a sharp glance from Cinder froze her before she could throw it at the assassin. In the end, it wasn't worth causing her boss's ire.

An extremely loud roar echoed from outside the gates, the "guardsmen" moved out of the way as something massive made its way inside. A towering monstrous creature slowly walked in, resembling an ancient long dead creature that the commander had seen in old pictures of Terra's past. A Tyrannosaurus rex from what he remembered but this...this monster looked wrong. Bone like spikes ran down its back, ending on a razor sharp tail, its massive three toed clawed feet caused small cracks to form on the ground with every step. Its snarled at them all, showing off its sharp teeth as its glowing orange eyes scanned around. The rider upon its back simply patted the side of its head and the monster calmed itself.

Everyone's jaw dropped, even Salem's. While she'd seen Tyrant Rex before, they were extremely rare since they were so powerful. The pools of darkness didn't exactly pour out any kind of Grimm at all times. It was like using energy and having to wait until that energy came back. Beowolves could be created in packs without problem, Ursai weren't much worse, even Beringels didn't really exhaust the pools. The Wyvern… it had taken two months before a single other Grimm had been formed, and only because she'd been the one to order it to. Usually, powerful Grimm like those were created every now and then, and often remained hidden in the world for a long time before coming into the spotlight.

The Tyrant Rex had been powerful, but eventually it was just another tank. She had dropped the idea of creating an army of those in favour of generating Grimm with different abilities or powers and up until then, she'd never regretted that decision. Who knew how many other monsters she would see in that dream.

"W-What is that?" Pyrrha asked shakily, the first to shake off the horror and the fear.

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "A Grimm, obviously, thought not one I've ever seen. It seems to be very strong, but it might have-"

"It doesn't have any special ability," Salem cut in firmly. "That's a Tyrant Rex, a Grimm dinosaur. The last known individual was slain over seven hundreds years ago, but it's quite possible for one to have reappear in recent times – after all, the Grimmlands are so vast it's impossible to know exactly what there is or there isn't in there."

"Is it strong?"

"Quite so, Young Rose, but fortunately for you far from invincible. It's a hulking mass of ferocity and power, but lacking any kind of special ability. Nonetheless, it's a formidable foe and… I dare say… the perfect weapon to breach a besieged city."

"N-no way…"

"It can't be…

"Oh gods, we are forsaken.."

"Well, they're not exactly wrong," winced Mercury, feeling slight pity for those soldiers. No one liked having such a beast pop up after a long and exhausting siege. "Boss area indeed…"

Various voices reacted to the who was Riding the monster. The commander gulped as he watched the creature lower itself down so that its rider could step down. The Rider towered over the other attackers, cladded in heavy power armor with a cloak that waved faintly as the figure walked over to the commander, each step heavy as he did.

"Either this guy kills them all, or he's gonna offer them survival in exchange of their immediate surrender," noted the very same grey-haired assassin. "Not many other reasons why he would've stopped his army just when he was about to win, honestly."

"Am I the only one scared by that guy?" Nora asked, fear evident in her voice.

"I think we're all scared, Nora," Ren replied, even quieter than normal. "Let's just remember this is all a dream – nothing can actually harm us here."

"No – but it can and probably will harm them," Blake counter uneasily, pointing at the soldiers. "And Lord Khor said this is from another universe, which means it might be real for them…"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Salem reassured everyone, though in all honesty she really wanted for that to happen – it'd mean she'd won her war. Who cared about other worlds when she could rule Remnant and show a metaphorical middle fingers to the Gods?

"You fought well." The figure told him as it walked towards, a soldier tried to attack only to be effortlessly knocked away by the armored giant.

The students winced at the backhand. He hadn't even tried to put strength into the hit. Had he actually hit the soldier, the poor guy would've probably died on impact with the ground or something…

"Your soldiers are fearless, you should feel proud of that fact." he continued, his voice calm and deep. It was a voice that demand compliance and obedience. "Your armies proved far more resistance than the Imperium let on, you even gave the Grimm here trouble." he gestured to the creatures they stayed put. "But here you are, your armies destroyed. Most of Your planets now under the banner of my mother's kingdom." he finished as he stood before the commander. The commander had to look up at behemoth of a man. Or well a God-warrior. For standing before him was a Primaris Marine, a super soldier and the pinnacle of Human evolution. Bred and trained to be the ultimate soldiers. Taught to never retreat. Never to surrender. They were perfect warriors. They knew only war. It was their purpose.

This time the students didn't wince, they straight-out shivered as if caught in a cold Atlasian winter breeze. "That's not intimidating at all…" Yang tried to be sarcastic, but she only managed a small amount of snark in her words.

"Mmh, very advanced eugenics, it would seem…" She wondered if Watts had had a hand in that, or if she'd done it all by herself. "Which means this must be fairly far in the future, as it would take generations to make such differences in the genes of people. Unless… they aren't selectively bred but modified genetically."

Then a thought struck her. "Wait, 'my mother's kingdom'? That man is my son?"

Her underlings winced, knowing how she actually looked out of the dream, and didn't say anything. They really didn't think a millennia-old Grimm woman would be able to have children.

"Well, it's possible, right?" Ruby offered with an awkward look. "If you were to marry someone really really big…"

Salem, for the first time in centuries, rolled her eyes at the girl's naivety. That wasn't exactly the point. Though if he really was her son, it meant she would later marry… and she had no idea who the lucky or unlucky man would be.

His armor was colored black and red, resembling the creatures of Grimm. His face hidden by the bone white colored helmet, red markings etched into it in order to resembling that of the creature he rode on top of. It looked as if it was molded to look like the creature as well. The optics of his helmet glowed that frightening orange, similar to the creatures eyes.

"Okay, now that's really creepy," admitted Weiss, more than a little scared of the man's armour. "First we see Grimm fighting with people, then people riding them, then this man riding a- a- a Tyrant Rex, and now his armour is built to make him look like a Grimm? And who's the mother he's talking of? The Queen of the Grimm?"

Cinder and her team exchanged a glance before looking at Salem, who didn't have any visible reaction. However, inside she was slightly smirking. While the Grimm weren't really nice to look at, they'd been her only constant servants thorough all the millennia she spent fighting. She even made sure to keep Vlad safe, as the Beowolf had been with her since the very beginning and was now so powerful it could probably fight a Goliath on even footing.

"Well, I guess it fits with the rest of the army, and it suits him," Pyrrha commented, though she too disliked the armour, and the man, and the army itself.

"So I ask you this, Will you surrender to a superior force or die trying to fight for a lost cause? The choice is yours."

The choice was clear to him. His army was on its last leg, this stronghold held the last of them. He looked at them all, some were wounded, barely clinging to their lasguns while others lay dead or wounded. He looked at the Primaris Marine, dropping his plasma pistol and bowed to his knees. "I surrender." He simply stated.

"Mmh. He actually gave him a choice. I wasn't expecting that. I can say I'm surprised," admitted Mercury, slightly put off by the Grimm commander's behaviour. Especially since he had to be working for Salem, who wasn't known for being merciful to her enemies.

"Well, at least he's not a complete and jerky monster!" Nora exclaimed, trying to bring the morale back up, but unfortunately not succeeding in the slightest. Dejected, she slumped back down, so very tired of that world full of wars and death.

"Interesting. Now let's see if he respects that surrender or if he orders his army to kill them," commented Cinder, though she wasn't sure he would do it. "On the other hand, they were already winning – it'd be pointless to attack them now and not earlier."

"Raise the flags of your queen!" The primaris marine order as the flags of the rebels were cast aside and another flag took its place. The guardsmen saluted the flag by placing their fists up to their chests.

"Glory to her Majesty, Queen Salem!" they yelled in unison. "Glory to the sons of Salem!"

The Primaris Marine walked away from the commander as the Remnant Guard began to tend the wounded rebels and round up prisoners. The Royal Symbol of Salem fully displayed on his cloak, showing that he was a Son of Salem.

Everyone turned to look at her, and she just shrugged. "No, I do not have an army of Grimm and Grimm Riders, nor am I looking to conquer other worlds, nor am I able to make Grimm turn into trainable animals or efficient soldiers," she answered their unspoken questions, skirting around the truth. "And besides, it could very well be someone with my name – maybe one of my descendants. I doubt I would be able to conquer Remnant and then a hundred worlds all in my lifetime. Though I do have a symbol, just like all of you, but I do not like to showcase it around."

They had to accept her words because honestly, they made sense, and none of them knew any better. Though her underlings were thoroughly impressed and intimidated by that knowledge. And reassured that they had chosen the winning party by siding with her and the Grimm, despite everything.

"Well, at least he didn't order anyone to be killed," noted Ruby, a note of hope in her voice. "The opposite, in fact! They went to help the rebels as soon as the fighting was over!"

"That is definitely a point in their favour," nodded Weiss, before her expression darkened. "Which puts them one to a million. Still not among my favourite people."

"My lord, you have an incoming transmission, it is lord Nokris." a Remnant guard informed him, he looked down at the faunus girl as she held a communication. Her helmet held to her side. She placed the communicator on the ground as a hologram of another helmeted Primaris Marine formed infront of him. The faunus bowed as Nokris gestured her to leave.

"Malach, our mother wishes to know the status of your mission and your wellbeing along with the others." he told Malach.

Reluctantly, Blake acknowledged that this Salem at least cared for her army, or at least her children. Adam hadn't often asked such questions about their fellow White Fang members during some of the more dangerous missions. While it wasn't a redeeming quality, it was at least a quality.

"It's nice to see you as well brother. The mission is complete, the last of rebels have surrendered and our forces will begin gathering all surviving Grimm soon." he explained to his "brother." While not related by blood, they were brothers still by the experiences and hardships they endured. And their history. All those in the "Sons of Salem" Primaris marine chapter were brothers, for they all shared a single mother. Salem. "The Young blood are currently establishing bases for the Imperium's forces when they arrive. When they do, we shall make our leave back home to Remnant. Let our mother know that her flags fly all over this system and many have bowed to her will." He concluded as Nokris simply nods. The transmission cuts off as Malach walks away, his monstrous mount lowers itself to allow him to climb back on.

"I'm still not over the fact the guy's riding a gigantic dinosaur Grimm like it's a docile pet," muttered Nora. While she too sometimes rode Grimm, it was in a far different way – it was to tire them out or kill them outright, not just to use them as transport.

"Well, given how this has been going on, I think we'll soon see more battles," commented Mercury, not at all fazed by that. True, duels were more entertaining that all-out battles, but still even wars held some sort of charm.

"Interesting, so I do not have a husband in the future," Salem murmured to herself, surprised to feel relief instead of disappointment. She hadn't thought about having a man or woman by her side in a long long time, and given how her last relationship ended with her incinerating her husband, she wasn't keen on finding another significant other.

"So these 'Sons of Salem' are just a military group," noted Ren.

"Yes, but one united by their time on the battlefield," Pyrrha amended his statement, narrowing her eyes. "Though it seems this 'Imperium' they mentioned is actually an ally of… well, the Sons of Salem."

"Or maybe it was conquered itself and is now just a department of Lady Salem's army," Neo replied in a bored tone. "We'll never know."

"My lord, what should we do about the other holdouts?" another guard asked. Malach looked down at her from his grimm mount and simply laughed within his helmet. She looked confused at this but composed herself as he spoke.

"Any who resist my Mother's will are to be dealt with understand?" she nodded at him. "Exterminate them as you would an insect." he signal his grimm to walk forward as other Grimm followed closely. The remnant guards watched as Malach rode away; Malach "The Siege Breaker", the ninth born of Salem.

"Well, at least he's not some weak-ass commander who doesn't have the guts to kill if people resist," commented Neo. "That would've been very disappointing after watching everything he did."

Yang bristled at that, alongside every other student. She, though, frowned as she looked at the girl more closely… she really reminded her of someone… but who?

"Well, with a mount like that, it's not so hard to win sieges," Mercury spoke up without a care in the world, as if Neo hadn't just said she would've liked to see people die. "He didn't even fight… maybe his title is more in convincing people to surrender than in killing them?"

'Now that'd be so disappointing,' Neo scoffed in her mind, but kept silent. She didn't want to blow her cover, even if it was all a weird dream. Who knew what was actually happening…

-rebel system, another "liberated" planet-

"You must be cleansed. This planet must be cleansed." Remnant guard walked about, tanks strapped to their backs as a tube connected to them led to a flamethrower like weapon. They stood guard as Grimm walked by, a faint orange glow could be seen in the distance. "Cleanse with fire, it can cleanse even the most vile of sins." a distorted Voice said calmly. The remnant guards looked at who was speaking, his cloak displaying the royal symbol of Queen Salem as he stood in front of a large fire, serpent like Grimm slept around it for warmth. The fire reflected off his orange optics, his helmet was painted and fashioned in a way to resemble a Manticore. He extended his massive gauntlet, fire erupting from under the palm as it fed the fire before him more.

'I'm calling it now, that guy's some trans version of Cinder,' thought Mercury, hiding a grimace. He already had enough of pyromaniacs. One fire bitch was enough, he didn't need a fire bastard.

"I like him," Cinder admitted with a shrug. "He really knows his stuff about fire." As if to complete her words, she created a small fireball on her hand. "And I can respect that."

"Did you forget he's burning down a whole planet?" Weiss snapped at her, as if her cold words could somehow extinguish the flames all around them, created by the dream.

"Weiss, maybe that's how they handle stress?" Ruby offered weakly, but even she wasn't so sure. "Maybe they make comments like those to hide the fact they're scared or…"

"I'm not scared," Cinder remarked scathingly, glaring at the now cowering girl. "I just saw too much of this world's dark side to be impressed by mere wars."

"Enough." A single, authoritative word from Salem was enough to stop all bickering. "We are not here to snap at each other. I, for one, am finding myself incredibly interested, so be silent until the dream ends…" 'If it will ever end,' she added in her mind.

"Lord Onyx, an urgent transmission for you." A Remnant guarded informed the giant as he looked away from the fire. The Remnant guard placed the device in Onyx's massive hand, a holographic image immediately formed. It was Malach, his younger brother.

"Malach." he said as the helmeted face of his brother looked up at him.

"Ah Onyx, I see you're being well you." Malached said, his attempt at humor didn't faze Onyx.

"What do you want little brother."

"Jeez, someone's not the mood right now, huh?" Mercury commented sarcastically.

"Humour is not always funny, especially yours, Mercury," Emerald snapped at him, irritated by his umpteenth comment. "So why don't you keep your mouth shut?!"

"Well, not my fault if I'm the only one who has something to say," he shot back cheekily, grinning when she began to fume in anger. It was really too easy.

"Mercury, Emerald, stop arguing like five years old children," Cinder sighed, for once not angry but just exasperated.

"Yes ma'am."

"Sure."

"Our eldest brother wants to know how you're mission went and mother wishes to know if you are well."

"My mission was a success, the young blood," gesturing to the other Primaris marines that stood nearby, ordering the Remnant guard. They too were giants among men, their armor painted in the same way as Onyx's and Malachs, save for them not wearing cloaks. No, they wore the royal Symbol of their mother upon their pauldron. They too were the sons of salem. "and the Remnant guard have cleansed this planet of the sins that tainted these people." Onyx looked towards the orange glow, watching as a massive city burned in the distance, illuminating the surrounding area as if it was day.

'Now that's some good fireworks,' Cinder inwardly complimented Onyx's work, though outwardly she was completely impassive.

"I guess this one is less understanding than the other…" noted Emerald, at least the other had given them a chance at surviving. This one was just burning everything and everyone around him indiscriminately.

"Or just has different methods," Salem replied evenly. "Maybe he just waits for them to surrender instead of giving them the option outright."

"Still makes him much less merciful," Blake retorted shakily. She already didn't like wars, but seeing an entire city set on fire was something out of a post-apocalyptic movie.

"Alright then, we have been called home, our mission is done here." Malach stated before the communicator shut off.

"Awaken my beast, we leave this cleansed planet."

"Now let's see what kind of monstrous mount he will have instead…" muttered Yang. "I really hope none of those Grimm actually exist in our world…"

Salem rose an eyebrow. The blonde girl had a point. Maybe she should give those kind of creatures another chance… then she shook her head. Those were students – of course they'd be impressed by those kinds of Grimm. Professional Hunters, though, would just kill them without batting an eyelid.

The words awakened a massively sized slumber grimm, it moved towards its master, revealing to all a Manticore Alpha. It dwarfed the other Manticores and even caused some to go into a frenzy as it let out a mighty roar as fire escaped from its mouth. The Remnant guard backed away from it, Onyx however was not fazed by its actions. It lowered its head, giving Onyx a chance to gently pet it before walking to its side and mounting it. Upon doing so, the metallic armor it was wearing hummed to life, a dark purple glow emitted from parts of it as the large flamer weapons on with side of its face hummed to life.

"Okay, that is both cool and terrifying," Yang admitted, barely keeping the shaking out of her voice. "The Grimm is huge! What kind is that?"

"A Manticore, Alpha or older," Salem replied pensively, looking at the creature. While it was strong, it was far from the most powerful… her 'sons' probably relied more on their skill than their mounts. Those were probably just for show or in extreme cases. "It is able to shoot fire, as you've seen. It can also intimidate other kinds of Grimm, most often Sphinxes, to form a pack – and that's the normal kind. An Alpha is even bigger and stronger."

"I've read their name somewhere, they should be mostly found in Atlas… which makes no sense if they spit fire!" exclaimed Weiss, recalling reading that name on a book back at the Schnee mansion.

"They are Grimm – they don't have any kind of specific habitat. They just wandered wherever they want." What Salem didn't add was that extreme temperatures could still freeze the Grimm solid, effectively killing them. They'd find out once they graduated… probably.

"Soldiers of The Remnant guard! Young blood, we leave this planet and we return home! We have cleansed it of sin!" this caused the soldiers to yell in victory as the "Sons of Salem" Marines simply looked upon their elder brother. Onyx signaled his forces to begin their trek towards the landing point as thunderhawk gunships flew in the sky to take them aboard their warships that orbited the planet.

For this planet had been cleansed by the fires of Onyx, "The Fire lord", third born of Salem.

"I guess this one was a bit more focused on destroying everything," Neo snarked, enjoying the looks of annoyance the others sent her way.

Salem narrowed her eyes, frowning at the clear lack of respect towards one of her 'sons'. However, the observation seemed correct.

-rebel system, other rebel planet-

Two Ursa fought over a dead rebels body as Remnant guard scoured over a battlefield, the battle won in their favor. One noticed a rebel trying to crawl away. "There, Lord Ares was correct about some being alive." The Bull faunus stated as she kicked the rebel down, the barrel of her weapon pressed against the back of his head. He pleaded but it fell on deaf ears as she pulled the trigger. A distant explosion pulled her attention away from the body, looking towards the ruined stronghold where it originated from.

Ruby and Weiss felt sick again. "And this one instead hunts down the survivors," Cinder remarked flatly, not willing to anger Salem even though the words slipped out almost unconsciously.

"Fear tactics, maybe, so other rebels wouldn't even think of resisting?" offered Emerald, sickened by the scene but holding on.

"It is possible," conceded Salem, not at all fazed by her 'son's apparent cruelty nor by the discussion the other dreamers were having. She wasn't one to feel insulted easily, after all, and it would be stupid to feel insulted on her son's stead. So she just let it go.

"Lord Ares and the other Sons are really giving it to them." her companion stated as A beowolf walked next to her. She placed her hand on top of its head as they got back to their task. Various shots could be heard as hundreds of Remnant guards scoured the battlefield for survivors, the Grimm picking off any as well, for this was their task given to them by Lord Ares.

-in the stronghold-

"Dammit! What the hell are these things!" A rebel yelled as an Ursa charged at him, only for it to be gunned down by the gatling lasers of the sole remaining mechsuit they had left. They were pushed back by these creatures and their masters, these marines.

"Again, I am surprised they don't know what the Grimm are," said Weiss, trying to keep her mind off the carnage.

"Maybe they just never left survivors," Pyrrha stated, darkening the atmosphere around the students.

"Sir! We-" the rebel didn't get to finish as a bolter round literally blew him into pieces, leaving a bloody mess of parts. "Sons of Salem" marines moved up, the giant warriors shrugging off the rounds that the rebels fired as if they were nothing but pebbles. Their Ursa ran up ahead, trying to overcome the defenses only to be gunned down by the mechsuit. The Rebels clung to that hope, that hope they would survive this and counter their attackers but that hope was dashed as the Sons of Salem kept advancing.

They were stunned as one slowly walked forward, the others stopping their march as this single marine stepped forward. This Marine was different, he was bigger than the other marines around him. A good two feet taller than the others. Two massive chainsaw axes held in both hands, the razor sharp teeth of the axes dripping with blood as the defenders could feel the aura of dread coming from the single massive marine. His helmet painted and fashioned in a way to resemble the Ursa. His cloak flapped in the wind as he stepped forward. But what drew some of their attention was his exposed arms, unlike the others, his arms were exposed. Scars and wounds riddle the purple veined deathly white skin of the massive marine's arms.

The students recoiled at the inhuman skin colour. "Is that an alien?" wondered Nora, disgusted and horrified.

"More probably a mutated human," Ren corrected her, remembering what had been said about the Primaris Marines.

Salem wasn't listening. So maybe they were her actual sons. Though, the four daughters she had held none of her Grimm appearance, so why did these do? Maybe they had bathed in the Grimm pools themselves? How had they survived, if that had been the case?

Then they saw something else that utterly terrified them, walking up from behind the marine was a massive Ursa Alpha. It dwarfed the Ursa Majors around it. Adorned in metallic armor with a single twin barreled gatling laser mounted on its back, the creature growled, awaiting its master's orders.

"You will all die here," The massive marine spoke, pointing a claw at them. "You make a mockery of this battle and my warriors by hiding behind your machine and your walls. I shall show you what a true warrior looks like!" he roared as he charged, the other marines resuming their fire as they charged ahead. Some wielding their chainswords, chainsaw like swords that roared to life. The rebels fired, fired all they had only for it be in vain as the massive marine stomped his way towards, lunging at the mechsuit and sinking his chainsaw axes into it. Sparks flew as the teeth began to eat through the armor plating of the suit, eventually slicing the pilot inside. The Rebels were ripped apart, brutally slain by the Sons of Salem and Ursa. it was nothing short of a massacre.

Within Minutes, dozens of bodies lay strung about as the marines ensured none survived. Salem's flag was soon placed high above the stronghold, signaling this planet was taken.

"Lord Ares!" a voice yelled out, the massive marine turned to see a Remnant guard riding upon a Beowolf ride up to them. "A message from Lord Nokris." he informed the massive marine as he patted the head of his Ursa Alpha. The Remnant guarded handed the communication device to a marine before riding off. Nokris eventually appeared upon the hologram, looking up at his brother.

"Ares, i see that your mission was also a success. How many rebels survived this final battle?"

"More like a bloody slaughter," Blake corrected, looking sick herself. Ruby and Weiss were trying to hold in their dinner.

Salem frowned. Why had the first one given them the option of surrender, and the other two instead chosen to just kill everyone? Weren't they under specific orders? Did she leave them free reign on what to do and how to do it? That sounded impossible… but she had no other explanation.

"None did, my soldiers are ensuring even the wounded are slain. They have made a mockery of this battle by not fighting head on, but instead hid behind the walls of their fortress!" he yelled as Nokris stared at him. Nokris knew it was fruitless to argue with his brother, even if he was in the wrong.

"When you are finished there, return home. The Imperium's dogs can have the scraps. Mother wishes for her sons and her armies returned home." Nokris ordered as the communicator shut off. Ares looked up at the sky as a massive shadow blanked the land. His massive warship hovered above, awaiting the return of Ares, "The War titan", Fourth born of Salem.

"Let us return home brothers." he stated as they made way to leave the former fortress, now little more than a giant tomb for its former defenders.

The Rebels were able to drive off the Imperium for 10 years…. It only took the Sons of Salem and Remnant guard six months to take back the entire system.

"Are they working as mercenaries for this 'Imperium'?" wondered Mercury, seeing as they didn't like the Imperials but yet allowed them to take the planet they had just bloodily conquered. "Or are they reluctant allies? It seems like Salem's is the strongest party here, so why not just destroy the Imperium itself and absorb it in her reign?"

"Maybe she just wasn't interested in those planets and just wanted them destroyed because they were useless," Cinder replied thoughtfully. "Or maybe they didn't kill and destroy everyone and everything, but only those who we saw. I can't say for sure."

"Let's hope we won't see any more battles scenes… I don't feel so good…" moaned Ruby.

-Remnant, Sepia system; Named after one of Salem's daughters-

Salem scowled at the reminder, but kept silent. She'd rather wait and see instead of blow up.

"Oh please, do you really think Queen Salem would allow any of the Outsiders near our home planet? You Know Remnant is only for those born in this sector of the Imperium." A lion faunus stated as she ate her lunch with another girl. Both were dressed in an academy uniform belonging to their academy. The uniform was standard for those who attended The Fall academy, named after its founder, Cinder Fall.

Everyone turned to Cinder. Salem hummed. Making her the founder would've been… honestly stupid. The woman was incredibly skilled in combat and in planning, but she held no patience with people, was arrogant and self-centred. All in all, definitely far from a good choice.

"I have no idea what this dream is going on about," Cinder admitted frankly. She wouldn't even like being a Headmistress. From what she saw of Ozpin, it was a really stressful and thankless job, one she'd rather avoid if possible.

"Congratulations for your promotion?" Emerald offered awkwardly, earning herself a deadpan from the woman.

"Well that's what I heard!" the other stated as she looked up at the sky from where they sat. A massive "Sons of Salem" Warship flew overhead, casting a massive shadow over the city as it was followed by a few standard Remnant guard warships that were dwarfed in comparison to the Sons of Salem ship. They slowly hovered away, heading towards another direction the girl did not care for. She simply looked at one of the many ships that safeguarded their sector of space. "Its just, what if she does? What if the Imperium tries to instill some governor or something that would have more power than the queen?"

"As if! Do you really think her sons would allow that?" she looked at her friend as she finished her meal. "The first ten would never allow her to be dethroned or have someone else try to rule over us."

"Plus we would fight back, an entire system going to war against a false ruler. The Remnant Guard, the Sons of Salem, the first 10 and even us regular people would rather die than let some Outsider dethrone our Queen! Billions upon billions of people and faunus from all across the planets she rules, would fight back to ensure her rule stays." The Lion faunus stated proudly.

"Plus it would be an affront to the first born." her friend stated, causing the Faunus to look at her. She calmed down when hearing that,

"Who's the first born?"

"We don't know yet, you dolt," Weiss snapped before sighing and calming herself down. "I apologize, this whole dream looks more like a nightmare to me. I just want it to end…"

"Well, if it helps, I don't have any children," said Salem. 'Any more,' she bitterly added in her mind, remembering the four beautiful girls she once had… the four daughters killed by her first actual fight with Ozpin. She would never forget, and she would absolutely never forgive him, or the Gods, for what had happened. It was her reason to live.

"Yeah, it would be spitting on his sacrifice…"

"...He who gave his life to ensure our Queen, his "mother", lived and brought upon our Golden age."

"Mauve, do you ever wonder what the first Born was like? I heard he was kind and that his eyes were beautiful and calming." The human girl asked the faunus as she laid back onto the grass.

"Wow, so quite the difference from Mr 'dark and imposing', or Mr 'flame and ruin', or Mr 'death and destruction'," Yang snarked angrily, not really believing that any of those warriors would be anything but monsters in human skin. And not even so human given how Ares's looked like.

Salem growled under her breath, but contained her anger. It would be pointless to snap at a girl as young as her – she was just talking about things she couldn't understand, and using that sarcasm to hide her fear underneath. Maybe she would learn her lesson over time, but that wasn't her job, it was the girl's teachers'.

"It's sad to say I'm surprised by the fact a human and a Faunus are talking so easily to one another. Aside from a few people, most preferred to stick with the respective race," Blake noted sadly, knowing that in their Remnant it would be hard to see something like that. "Though I'm surprised that in a world where the Grimm are welcome, there is such peace and acceptance…"

"Well, it's always being under the same banner, isn't it?" Emerald shrugged at her statement. Light or darkness it didn't really made much of a difference – it was all about how you treated your allies… and your enemies. If everyone was your ally, there was no need to treat them poorly… unless said ally was Mercury, of course. Then she would understand any kind of hostility towards him.

"I mean, we did learn about him and the others in school or did you forget about that Maze?" Mauve asked her friend, looking at her.

"I know! But there is more to history than what we read in books. For instance, did you know that he led the charge that freed her majesty when she was taken by forces of the four ancient Kingdoms?" Mauved ears perked about when hearing that.

"I'm guessing those four 'ancient' Kingdoms are the ones we currently live in," Ren hypothesised, and rightly so. "Just how much time has passed if we are ancient history?"

"Probably centuries," guessed Salem, earning herself many looks. She rolled her eyes again. "As I said, this Queen might be someone with my name, or my descendant." Again, she wasn't technically lying. Herself was someone with her name.

"So it might be someone existing now… but wait, if the Queen was saved in ancient history, how comes she's still alive now, since she asked how the mission was going she has to be alive!" Weiss's observation made everyone look at Salem in question.

She inwardly huffed at having become the source of mind-clearings and information for everyone. "It's not so impossible. Maybe, to enforce my power as Queen, or future queen, I named my heir the same as me, and so on, to give the false conception of me being eternal." She shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time a Kingdom has done so, though the last one has ceased to exist centuries ago. It's ancient history… not unlike ours will be in the future."

"I guess it does make sense…" No one was really convinced, Weiss least of all, but it wasn't like she could really be immortal, so they had to accept whatever explanation she could give.

"No, i didn't!"

"Yep! Learned that from an old Journal that was found recently, belonged to some old Remnant guard. This was only a bit after the Imperium found our sector." Mauve was surprised by this, why didn't they teach this in Academy!

"Also there is another tidbit, Salem wasn't his mother."

"Well yeah, we all know that while the Sons of Salem are named as such, they aren't really related to her by blood. I mean, well there is that other thing that connects them to her but still!"

"True, the first ten are kinda her children since she raised them but the first born was still related to her." Maze informed, Mauve looked confused at her. Yes, the Sons of Salem were not really her sons but she still treated them as such. She mourned for any Son of Salem that died while fighting on far off worlds. Even held month long mournings for anyone of them that died.

"If she loves them so much she shouldn't send them to fight wars on unknown, faraway planets full of people who did nothing to earn death," Weiss snapped with a glare.

Salem composed herself for a second under the nervous glances of her underlings, before she replied evenly. "Following that same line of thought, there shouldn't be a single Hunter in the entirety of Remnant, because their parents should've prevented them from fighting the Grimm or criminals. Maybe those planets aren't as innocent as you think, and had to be dealt with."

"Hunters are different – the Grimm always attack first and we have to defend ourselves!" protested Yang.

"Oh, really? If that were to be true, then you'd be right – but most Hunters perish on… how do you call them? Oh, yes… 'Search and Destroy' missions into the Grimmlands, where no human is in danger. Most of those Grimm have never even seen a human until the moment the Hunters arrived." Salem scoffed. "Grimm may be mindless beasts, but if there is no human in a radius of miles and miles, why send people to kill Grimm who aren't likely to ever attack? Especially when others will just take their place?"

"Because if they remove those Grimm, there'll be less to attack villages when or if a tragedy strikes and negativity is abound," Weiss snapped back, just as cold.

"Then, with the same mindset, they will fight on those planets to prevent those 'rebels' from ever invading Remnant. Offence is the best defence, isn't that what most Hunters play on while fighting?" Salem's words silenced everyone.

Not that they agreed with her. Grimm and human beings couldn't be considered the same, not now not ever. However, arguing with her about it seemed to be completely pointless, so they just let it go.

"So how was he actually related to her?"

"Well, he was actually a descendant of one of her daughters."

"What!? You're lying! All her daughters died when they were killed by that man!" Mauve rebuked, knowing that they were taught that her Majesty's daughters were killed by the Wizard.

"Its true! My brother, he's one of the guards that guard the inside of the First Born's Mausoleum, he says there is a plaque near the entrance to his tomb." Mauve looked away from her friend in disbelief, towards the massive statue that stood tall 900 feet tall, overlooking the City and Salem's castle. It was that of the first Born, wearing his royal Sons of Salem armor, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. He was the Guardian of the land of darkness and the Kingdom of Salem that resided within it. A massive King Taijitu rests near the base of the statue, one that is said to be one of the largest Grimm in history. Its said that the massive Grimm was the first born's trusted mount and protector. It slumbers now, only to awaken if the Land of Darkness comes under threat.

"Well, that has to be one massive Taijitsu if it's ranked as one of the biggest Grimm ever," noted Mercury.

Salem observed it carefully, but she couldn't remember ever creating one such Grimm. Maybe she had created it just for this 'first born'. It had to have taken a lot of power from her… why would she waste it for a sleeping guardian?

Meanwhile, the Beacon students peered at the statue, but it was too vague to actually make out who was represented. They weren't too sad about it though.

"What does it say?"

"Sweet, looks like we're gonna know the name of the one who helped the Grimm conquer the world," Yang commented, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Maze cleared her throat, "Here lies Jaune "Alexandros" Arc, The First born of Salem and the direct Descendant of her Majesty's daughter; Her Royal highness, Catalina! The Eldest of Salem's daughters."

Deafening silence took over the group. Apart from Salem, everyone knew that name. Well, Cinder and her group never really interacted with him but they knew him. Team RWBY and -NPR instead were very familiar with the name, and the person it belonged to.

"Wait a second… Jaune's the descendant of that sort-of Queen of the Grimm!?" Yang exclaimed, torn between being shocked, in denial at their kind and goofy friend helping such a vile being, and anger for that very same reason.

"Why would he help the Grimm?!" shouted Nora. "That'd never happen!"

"Nora's right," Ren agreed, eyes of steel, protecting his brother in all but blood. "Jaune would never do anything evil."

"The dunce just doesn't have it in him," nodded Weiss. As much as she hated his courtship, which had mysteriously ended after the dance, she didn't hate the one who performed said courtship. Did he annoy the hell out of her? Yes. But, he was still a friend, even if not a close one.

"Jaune would never do something like that!" exclaimed Ruby without an ounce of doubt in her voice, fully certain that her first friend in Beacon would never perform any evil act.

"Never," Pyrrha remarked firmly.

-Salem's castle-

Salem looked upon the ancient painting of her deceased family. Her three daughters. Sepia, her youngest daughter. Sangria, her middle child, and Catalina her eldest child. Her beautiful children whom were taken from her by that man! She quelled her anger as she placed her hand on the image of Catalina.

"I'm sorry my sweet child, if i had known… I would have been there for you." she said sadly as a small tear escaped the corner of her. No longer was her kept in a bun much like before but now freely flowed as it did before in the past. A Crown upon her head and adorned in an outfit similar to her old one though much more majestic looking for the Queen of Remnant sector, dark purple veins raced across her deathly white skin. However, what drew attention away from her unnatural appearance were her eyes. They were no longer black with red irises but had gone back to what their original state before her Grimmification, a gift from her first born. Her light blue eyes looked over at the picture next to her daughters, another wave of sadness washed over her.

"Eugh, so she too looks like a Grimm," gagged Nora, earning an offended look from Salem.

'Not like I can blame her though… my aspect did change for the worse…' she told herself to keep calm. Those students could really get on her nerves sometimes… she was beginning to understand why Cinder found her job so hard.

"I guess it makes sense, then, for her 'children' to look like that too," noted Cinder, as if she hadn't already known of her mistress's aspect.

'They were beautiful, and human… and now they're gone.' Salem blinked to get rid of the tears in her eyes. There was no point in dwelling in the past… nothing could bring her daughters back. Only the Gods… and they would never do it, just like they had only brought Ozma back when it suited their needs.

"Jaune…" she placed a hand over the picture of dashing young man with golden hair and ocean blue eyes. He was smiling in the picture as he stood next to Salem. His smile, he shared many traits of Catalina, her eldest. His smile was the same as her and so was his personality, the urge to protect their family and those that couldn't defend themselves. But he was taken. Anger filled her as she looked at where he stood, or where he stood. She had him cut out of the picture long ago.

Ozma was the reason he was dead…

"Ozma?" repeated Ruby. Odd how it sounded so similar to Ozpin, but of course that couldn't be true. While Ozpin was old, very old, he couldn't have possibly been that old. Definitely not someone who would still be remembered in centuries to come.

Salem gritted her teeth. "Maybe it'll be explained…"

-Long Ago-

A young Girl crawled her way out of the rubble of her former home. The magic she had was the only thing saved her but her sisters were not so fortunate. She looked around, seeing nothing but the remains of a place she once called home. A place that she had such lovely memories. A home filled with a family...family now gone. She heard something from behind a ruined wall, she clutched her side as blood ran from her cuts and scrapes. She looked from behind the wall, seeing her mother stand above her father.

She was saying something to him, something she couldn't hear. She was gonna call out to them, to stop this but before she could; she watched her mother kill her father. She was stunned. Horrified. She backed away as fear engulfed her.

Salem turned away as tears sprung from her eyes. Unfortunately for her, none of her children had survived… and if they had, she'd never known.

The students too were horrified. "She killed her own husband in cold blood!" exclaimed Ruby, shocked.

It took Salem every ounce of control she had not to lash out and tell them exactly whose fault it was, but the millennia had hardened her too much for mere words to cut her heart, even in her current vulnerable state.

Fear that her mother would do the same to her. She ran away. She could hear the Grimm coming as she made her way out of the ruins of her former home. She stopped as she noticed something on the ground. A piece of one of the banners that adorned their home, bearing her mother's symbol. She grabbed it, looking at it before clutching it close to her chest.

She still loved her mother. One day. One day maybe they'll meet again. She ran with the banner In hand before any of the Grimm would find her.

The symbol of her mother, she was told it stood for bravery in the face of adversity. Defender of the weak. Honor. She would ensure these ideals her mother told her would never die. Catalina ran, hiding from the Grimm as she finally made her way to a nearby village.

The young princess would endure. Catalina would grow from a girl who only fantasized about being a warrior to actually becoming one; using her magic and the skills she would acquire, she sought to help others.

Salem wished her daughter's story had been shown better, instead of mere flashes and short images. Was that what her eldest might've done, had she survived? Maybe she could still track down her descendants, had she lived?

Taking the last name "Arc", she would go from village to village, aiding the people against bandits and Grimm alike. Catalina would eventually start a family, unable to pass her magic to her children, they would instead inherit huge amounts of Aura. More than anyone on Remnant.

The Arc's would become a well known family in time, skilled warriors would be born from this family. Their symbol, an altered Version that Catalina had made, two golden arcs was one that brought hope to many on the frontier.

Catalina would grow old, no longer able to wield her sword. She would die with a smile on her face, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. A single tear escaping her eye as she remembered her sisters. Her father. And her mother. She had long ago forgiven her and had hoped to one day see her again…

"How could she forgive her mother like that?" Weiss growled. She would never forgive her father, and he'd done a lot less than that Salem!

"A child's love holds no bounds," Salem murmured softly. "Eventually, when you're at death's door, nothing is important any more. Nothing but the people you call family… no matter what they've done."

She knew it was true, because she'd always been ready to forgive Ozma, had he come back and truly apologized, not just empty words that meant nothing. She had still been ready to forsake the Gods and live with him forever… but that had ceased millennia prior. Now, she just wanted revenge, because he'd made his choice…

And he found love elsewhere, away from her.

-many years later-

A Young boy played outside near his village, wielding a wooden sword and pretending to fight off bandits. His golden locks swayed with every movement as his ocean blue eyes look for the imaginary danger.

"Take that you band it scum!" A six year old Jaune arc yelled out as she slashed his wooden sword around.

"Let's go then sir knight!" A voice yelled from behind. Jaune stopped and looked, seeing his friend, Nokris with his own wooden sword. The boy was no older than six himself. His indigo eyes locked onto his friend. He wore bandanna over his face, adding to his bandit costume. His brown hair tied into a ponytail. Jaune let out a yell as he charged at his friend, sword raised as his friend simply moved out of the way, causing the young boy to stumble and fall. Nokris walked over, his sword pointed at Jaune's throat.

"Hey, isn't Nokris…"

"The name of one of the Sons of Salem, the one Malach, the third born, called his 'older brother', and thus Salem's second born?" Cinder finished in Ruby's stead. "Yes, it is. Apparently, they were childhood friends."

Pyrrha, meanwhile, smiled at how cute Jaune was as a child… though seeing him like that was kinda weird since she liked the older version and was now looking at child him.

"Surrender knight!"

"Never! An Arc never surrenders!" Jaune stated, knocking his friend back as they fought. Laughing and smiling as they played. Unaware of the snickering scorpion Faunus who watched from behind the trees a good distance away. Bandits hidden behind him as they waited.

"Oh the fun we will have. Play and play to your heart's content little ones!" He snickered, "come tonight, itll be our turn to play and you won't like the outcome."

"Who's that?!" Pyrrha shouted, worried for Jaune.

Salem sighed. "Probably not good news," she said, and she knew it was true. Tyrian was never good news, even when he succeeded in his mission.

"But hey, guys, cheer up!" exclaimed Yang. "Nothing happened to our Jaune, which means all we saw will never happen in our universe!"

Salem frowned at that, but everyone else seemed relieved. Even for Cinder and her pawns, it wasn't easy to see Grimm be so close to humans.

"Good insight, Yang Xiao Long." Everyone jumped and turned around at the sound of Lord Khor's voice. The man just stared at them blankly before sighing. "I hope you've learned something from all this…"

"Never to trust dreams?" Nora offered sadly. She liked her dreams…

"I was thinking something more along the lines of 'you know nothing of how the world works', but that is true too," Khor conceded with a nod. "Especially true is the fact that… if evil were to win, it would cease to be evil, and start being normal. So think… is this society really 'good'… or are you just told it is, and used to see it as such? Or is it just another conqueror who forced that idea in your mind…"

He smirked. "You'll have all the time you wish to think in the morning. For now… it's time to wake up."

And everything vanished.