After The Fall - 2

After eating their fill, the group sat talking among each other with Qrow and Taiyang sitting along them.

" Mr. Qrow, I would like to ask you about something " Pyrrha suddenly called Qrow

" Qrow is enough, I'm not that old. Leave the 'Mr' for Taiyang hehe. Shoot " Qrow said chuckling slightly

Pyrrha nodded then said " It's about what Centos and Ozpin talk at the beginning. Centos insulted professor Ozpin and seemed to accuse him being evil. They also talked about a relic. Professor Ozpin seemed worked up upon mentioning it, he even said it was not something human should use. Do you know about it "

Qrow and Taiyang choked hearing the question which earned more attention from the group, it was obvious they knew about what Ozpin and Centos talked about.

Qrow looked at Pyrrha and thought about it, after everything she gone through she will probably tell the others about the maidens eventually. So he thought it is better to give them some information that letting them wonder around on their own.

Qrow coughed then said " First we need to talk about fairy tales before going into the relics "

Taiyang looked at Qrow but didn't say anything, he believed his old partner won't choose to harm the kids so he let him continue. On the other hand, Yang wondered the thought of the rest excluding Pyrrha " Fairy tales??"

Qrow nodded and said " Who of you here doesn't know the 4 seasons and 4 maidens story "

No one responded, the story was well known in remnant and was told to every child. Qrow continued " Well as a start, that story is not a fairytale but real story. Well the details a little different but still real "

" You are kidding us, aren't you? " Yang asked looking at her uncle as if he was an idiot

" I wish, but the maidens are real and their power as well. They can use magic and they are far stronger than any elite huntsmen. It requires team effort of elite huntsmen to counter one of them." Qrow replied

" He is telling the truth " Pyrrha added from the side earning the others attention

" And how do you know that? " Ren asked Pyrrha

Pyrrha didn't answer but Qrow did " She knows about it because Ozpin told her a day before the final round in the tournament "

" Okay, if that is true. Why no one know about it? Why keep it secret? " Ruby asked

" We can't make it public because many people will try to get their hands on the maidens. Some of these who knew about it, already target one of the maidens leaving her in dying state and that with my interference. If I wasn't there, she would have died on the spot " Qrow answered

Ruby became silent, she didn't know how to think about it. She didn't like lying and hiding secrets, but she had to admit her uncle made a point.

" If that is the case why did Ozpin tell Pyrrha? " Yang asked her uncle

" Because she was a candidate to be the next fall maiden. Ozpin wanted to transfer the dying maiden power to her " Qrow answered

" What ??! ! " Yang and the rest were equally surprised

Qrow continued " The maidens power transfer from one to another. After years, we came to conclusion that the power transfer only to young women. Also it transfers to the one that left most impression of the previous holder. The fall maiden was attack by a young woman and her powers were slipping a little by little. We couldn't afford to wait until she die and the power fall in the wrong hands. So Ozpin looked for a suitable candidate who is righteous at heart, strong, calm and skilled. Pyrrha was the most suited for this And in order for the transfer to be done, we intended to try using Atlas technology to do it. I don't know what happened there, but since Pyrrha here didn't become the maiden, so it failed or was too late "

Hearing Qrow, Pyrrha said " We didn't get the chance to try the machine. That woman, Cinder, came in and killed the maiden with an arrow. She was the one who attacked her originally and she got all the maiden power "

The group was surprised again by this, they knew Cinder, she seemed as a nice person to them. On the other hand, Qrow narrowed his eyes, this information was new to him. They expected someone else present there, but they didn't know the details. Qrow asked " What happened to her ?"

Pyrrha shook her head as she said " I don't know. After she got the maiden powers, Centos arrived. She spoke few words with Centos then attacked him using the maiden powers. She shot a horizontal pillar of flame towards centos. Centos easily counter it with his black flames. The black flames instantly devoured Cinder's attack then surrounded her. She was stuck there unable to make move. Even with the maiden power, she couldn't even put a fight against Centos. When I escaped, she was still imprisoned by the black flame "

Qrow nodded slightly, from Pyrrha's words it was clear that Centos is not working with Salem's pawn and maybe even had a bad relationship, adding the fact that the relic was stolen and the blood pool near the vault, it is safe to assume one of the two were heavily injured or even killed. Qrow believed the blood belonged to Salem's pawn.

Qrow decided to think about it later, he spoke " Now that you know about the maidens, let's talk about the relics. Honestly, I don't know much about them myself. All I know they are ancient items that possess amazing powers beyond the human understanding. I have never seen them and I don't know what their powers. All I know they are sealed away in the huntsmen schools in secure vaults that only the maidens can open. "

" Didn't Mesa speak about the relics before? " Nora asked from the side

" Now that you mention it. He said his brother got his hands on a very old and powerful relic that can answer anything " Yang added

" That is probably the relic of knowledge " Qrow said

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Far away in grim infested land, the sky was filled with purplish red clouds making the world seems sinister and evil. The grims were moving all over the place, on earth, in the water and flying between the clouds. In this land, where no human civilization could survive stood Salem's castle.

Inside the castle, Salem was sitting with her servents in front of her, all of them were present with the exception of Cinder.

" What is Cinder situation? " Salme asked with calm face

The question was directed to a tall middle aged man with brunette hair and thick mustache who was sitting to her right, the man was dr. Watts.

Watts looked at the few papers in his hands then looked back at Salem, he said " Her left arm was completely severed from the shoulder while the other was broken, in fact every bone from her fingers to her shoulder were broken, all the 64 bones. Both of her legs were broken in the same way as well. In addition, 70% of her skin was burned beyond hope of recovering. Even her vocal folds were damaged badly. I did all what I can to help her. Her bones will recover after few weeks while her arm was replaced with grim arm as you ordered. I added few mechanical part to her vocal folds so she could talk again, as for her skin. It is beyond me to recover it, I don't think anyone in remnant can fix that. "

Salem didn't seem affected by what she just heard, she said " I see, do you have anything else you want to add "

Watts paused a little thinking before saying " From cinder injuries, I can confirm her attacker is professional torturer with extensive medical knowledge not mention he is a sadist and vicious to the extreme "

" Why do you think he got extensive medical knowledge? He simply fucked the bitch hehehe " on the side a certain scorpion faunus spoke while smiling madly

Salem didn't mind his words as she said " I'm curious about that as well "

Watts replied " The injuries were meant to leave Cinder at the brink of death. Half of her bones broken, some of her internal organs damaged and the majority of her skin was destroyed. To cause such injuries without killing the target is impossible without medical knowledge and long experience. If Cinder received more injuries regardless of how small, she might have died. I can only say that Cinder received the perfect torture. So much pain and long last injuries without causing her to die "

Salem nodded slightly, if what Watts told her just now is true, then the one who attacked cinder is twisted psychopath like Tyrian or worse.

Salem directed her eyes toward Cinder's subordinates and said " So children, care to tell me who did this to Cinder? I highly doubt Ozpin or his people will do something like torture or even get close to that act "

Emerald and Mercury stood next to each other, Emerald's eyes were red and visibly tired while Mercury looked like his usual self.

Mercury answered " We are not sure, we were separated from Cinder when she went to get the maiden's power while we continued broadcasting the invasion. When we headed to Beacon to check on Cinder, we encountered Mesa who was leaving the basement. I'm willing to bet he was the one who attack Cinder"

Salem tapped on the table few times then asked " What about Ozpin? I don't think he will be watching from the side while all of this was happening "

Mercury replied " When we went down, we saw the previous maiden dead inside some kind of a machine. Cinder arrow pierced right through her heart. As for Ozpin, he is dead "

Salem breath halted as she narrowed her eyes making Mercury and Emerald shivering. Salem asked again " Are you sure Ozpin is dead? "

Mercury replied hastily " Yes!! We saw his corpse or what left of it, he is definitely dead "

Salem seemed irritated, she asked again " Explain more, what do you mean by left of his corpse??"

Mercury's back was sweating as he answered " We saw Ozpin's corpse sticking to a the wall with huge handprint all around him. I think he was smashed to death with a huge hand "

" HAHAHAHAHA…. Giant hand?? Really? That one is new? Seriously if you want to die, you can ask me directly. You don't to make such a funny lie hehehehehe " Tyrian said as he was preparing to attack Mercury.

" SILENCE " Salem yelled at Tyrian

" I'm sorry my queen " Tyrian immediately said as he sat in his chair silently shaking.

" My children told me about a giant monster who appeared in Beacon. The hand print probably belonged to him " Salem said

Salem received a reply for her words in the form of clapping. Salem and her servants all looked toward the main door where the sound came from. A young handsome man stood there with graceful smile.

" Not bad, you figured the answer of the most obvious fact. Congratulations you just proved yourself to be not a stupid fool like the filthy insect on your left " The young man spoke in a voice filled with sincerity which made Salem narrow her eyes dangerously at him.

Emerald and Mercury upon seeing and hearing the young man immediately took few steps back and pulled their weapons out.

" MESA !! You fucking bastard " Emerald screamed at Mesa as she pointed her guns at him.

" Hello Emerald, I missed you too, When did I last see you, 2 weeks ago? " Mesa said to the angry Emerald.

Emerald pulled the trigger releasing tens of bulles toward Mesa who stood there without moving. All the bullets passed through him as if he was a ghost.

Mesa simply shook his head and said " Please, put that down before you get hurt "

" Screw yourself " Emerald replied as she started reloading her guns.

Mesa laughed as he disappeared, before anyone could register his movement, Emerald was sent flying toward the huge pillar at the side. Emerald lost her consciousness upon colliding with the pillar.

In her original place stood Mesa with his hand stopping in what it seemed a slapping motion. Mesa laughed " Maybe I slapped her a little too hard. Well I told her she will get heart, right? "

His last word was directed toward Mercury who was standing 1 meter away from him. Mercury didn't respond as he kept staring at Mesa with his battle stance not sure what to do next.

" Do you feel like being slapped? If no then scram to the side " Mesa said coldly, Mercury raised his hands in a surrender motion as her retreated to the side of the room.

Mesa looked at Salem who was still sitting her chair. Mesa blinked then said " I have to admit, you are uglier than I originally thought "

Upon hearing his words, Salem and Tyrian narrowed their eyes in anger while the other two sitting widened their eyes at the boldness of Mesa.

" You dare to bad mouth our queen !!!! Our goddess !!! I will shred you to pieces, DIE !!!! " Tyrian said as he jumped toward Mesa.

Mesa's hands clenched into a fist as he swang it toward the approaching Tyrian. Despite Mesa's move being very simple, he was too fast that Tyrian couldn't dodge it.

Mesa's seemingly random swing, hit Tyrian in the face and sent flying out of the window. Mesa without looking away from Salem continued " Apologies!!! It seems I was wrong, you are not ugly. You are simply got uglified by the idiots around you. You should be glad only you looks affected and not your brain "

" I'm not sure if I should be amazed by your bravery or laugh at your foolishness. Regardless of that, you saved me the time looking for your after what you have done " Salem said as she calmed herself a little

Mesa rolled his eyes hearing Salem words, he replied " I know!! I know!! Before beating a dog you have to check how mad is the pack leader. It was Centos who attacked Cinder, the damage described by the old doctor matches Centos sadistic nature "

Salem heard the blatant insult in the first sentence, but when she was about to show her fury, his next words grabbed her attention. Salem didn't flare up as her curiosity beated her fury.

Salem wanted to speak but Mesa didn't allow her "Anyway, I'm not here to talk about Centos. I came to meet the self proclaimed queen of grims. From an imprisoned princess in the ages of the gods to an evil tyrant leading forces of destruction. I have to say, your life so far is quite epic, miserable and worthless "

Salem stood up, she was breathing faster than usual as she stared at the bastard before her eyes. It has been millinias since anyone could get this reaction from her aside from Ozpin himself. She was so angry that her body started releasing magic.

Mesa kept his smile as he continued " At the beginning of your life, the earlier few hundred years, your actions were worth my respect. However, when the gods revived Ozma, you changed and a little by little you became the trash you are today. It is actually quite sad, to think you would turn your life into nothing but worthless filth living in your past and desire the very thing you hated. I'm disappointed in you, truly I am"

With each word he said, Salem rage climb to higher levels. Toward the end, the whole castle was shaking.

"SILENCE, I WILL MAKE YOU INTO FOOD FOR THE GRIM YOUR INSOLENT CHILD !!!!! " Salem yelled in rage, the windows all and glasses in the castle shattered by her yell. Her servants were terrified and stepped back from her. On the other hand, Mesa was still smiling.

Mesa shook his head slightly as he said " That was my honest opinion and my least important part for my visit was to share with you. Now for the most important part "

Mesa's smile disappeared as his killing intent was released unrestrainedly flooding the whole castle. With the exception of Salem, everyone paled, they could smell blood and death radiating from Mesa.

Salem was slightly surprised but wasn't affected. She lived thousands of years as an immortal, death doesn't scare nor faze her. She flared her magic even further in response of Mesa.

The poor people at the side moved back as they knew they would die if they got in the way of these two monsters. On one side a young man that felt like death incarnation while on the other side an ancient embodiment of darkness. Each one of them is a bad news. But combined they are like a natural disaster of evil.

Mesa walked toward Salem slowly until only the table was separating them from each other. Mesa extended his hand toward the table edge then with a simple flip, the table sent flying toward the side as if it weighs nothing.

Salem was amazed by the sheer physical strength Mesa displayed, she could tell that he didn't use his semblance to flip the table, it was a casual move from his hand, but that didn't bother her much. As if flipping a mere table could scare. She raised her hand and with it a group of black tentacles rose from under Mesa binding him.

" You ignorant fool, you came her on your own and disrespected me, do you really think you do what you like? I shall make you suffer for your insolence " Salem said as the tentacles strength was increasing.

Mesa gave her a smile in response, but this one was filled with malice and madness. Suddenly the tentacles passed through his body causing Salem to narrow her eyes.

" Hehehe, you are the ignorant. You and your little grims pose no threat to me " Mesa said as he resumed his walking toward her.

Salem pointed her palm toward the approaching Mesa then blast it a red beam of magic toward him, which passed through him as well. Seeing this, Salem attempted to use fire magic which ended in the same result. She finally realised why he was so arrogant. Nothing can touch him even magic !!!!

Mesa steps finally came to halt when he was standing in front of Salem a foot length away from her.

" I see why you are arrogant. A semblance which makes you untouchable is truly amazing. Even in the ages of gods your semblance would be considered first class power " Salem said calmly

Mesa was still smiling evilly at her said " Oh ! Are you perhaps afraid? "

Salem laughed at his question then said disdainfully " fool, you actually I will fear something like this . I might be unable to hurt but you are the same, I'm immortal I can't be killed "

Mesa seemed amused by Salem's words, he said " You should be… Your very immortality is the reason you should be terrified of me "

Salem was confused by his reply. Fear him because she was immortal, she couldn't see the logic in his words, she even thought he might be actually a crazy fool with too much power.

Mesa could guess her thoughts. He took a relatively large syringe from his pocket which contained a yellow liquid and showed it to her.

" do you know what is this? " Mesa asked

Salem stared at him but didn't answer, a very old and familiar feeling rose inside her heart. To the first time in countless years, Salem had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

With a lighting speed movement, Mesa stabbed Salem neck with the syringe injecting all the content inside her body. Salem widened her eyes as she felt a burning feeling spreading from her neck to the rest of her body.

Salem staggered backward as she felt boundless pain spreading inside her body, she looked at Mesa and asked in pained voice " What did you inject me ?"

Mesa gave her playful smile " Don't worry, it's not deadly for you. I just injected you with an acidic chemical compound used in the heavy industry. It is very deadly to anything not immortal including the grims. I believe it will cause you to feel as if your body burning from the inside. The pain you will feel depends on your immortality, the stronger it is and the faster your recovery speed is the longer the pain will last "

When Mesa finished, Salem was on the floor screaming out of pain. Her servants on the side were terrified. Their immortal mistress who terrified them just by her presence was reduced to this.

Mesa on the other hand was laughing at her, he crouched down and extended his hand toward her neck, he grabbed her neck and pressed it so she couldn't scream anymore. Salem looked at him with eyes filled with pain. Mesa told her while looking into her eyes " Do you understand now? I don't need to kill you, I can easily turn your life into a hell and you won't be able to do anything. I can imprison you, torture you or even make animals fuck you if I want to and you are helpless to stop me. If you want to know why I'm doing this, then the answer is pretty simple. You are the only immortal in this world I can torture to my heart content hehehehehe. I might come back later when I'm bored to play again with you. Now enjoy your pain "

Mesa let go of Salem, she looked at him with hatred as she was groaning. The pain was simply unbearable. Even in her endless life, she didn't feel this kind of pain before. She hated Mesa to his core now.

Mesa then looked at the 3 left standing people aside from himself. All of them were scared of him. Mesa focused his attention on the giant guy among them. He said " You are Hazel right? The one who wanted revenge against Ozpin for his little sister death"

Hazel tensed up hearing Mesa but he still nodded.

Mesa continued " I agree that Ozpin is a bastard and killing him is the right thing to do. But you shouldn't seek revenge on him because of your sister death. She went on the mission knowing the danger. Your actions are simply disrespecting the wishes of the dead. "

Hazel became angry hearing Mesa, he screamed at Mesa in his anger " He sent her to die. Do you think I will just let my sister die in vain like this ?? "

Mesa shook his head and answered " If you take the revenge for this reason then her death is truly in vain. Don't take revenge for her actions, take revenge for what he hid from her, for what she was tricked into. Take revenge for Ozpin's desire for self satisfaction "

Hazel calmed down when he heard Mesa, he wasn't stupid, he understood Mesa meaning. Taking revenge because what his sister chose is insulting her and her ideals. But taking revenge on Ozpin's hidden agenda and false looks is perfectly right. At the end it was still a revenge on Ozpin but with no insults to his sister.

Hazel looked at Mesa with different eyes now, he bowed his slightly and said " Thank you "

Mesa didn't respond. He directly teleported away. Leaving the tortured Salem and her servants.

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In one of The White Fang hidden passes, Adam was sitting on his throne with endless range. His head was bandaged like a mummy. His face was completely ruined and many of his best soldiers were killed by that damn humans.

" DAMN HUMAN I SWEAR I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU" Adam screamed. The other members around him look at him with pity. Their leader suffered a lot because of that despicable humans.

" Do you want to have revenge? " a voice spoke as a cloaked man appeared out of thin air inside the room.

The White Fang members pointed their guns at him as Adam looked at him and said " Who are you? "

"It is of no important. I'm here to give you a suggestion to help you in your revenge " The cloaked man said

"And what is this advice of yours? And what you gain from this? " Adam said

" Continue working with Salem and help her in taking down the other huntsmen academies " the cloaked man said

" You want me to work with them again!! After this!! " Adam yelled in rage

" Yes... on your own you stand no chance against him. But Salem with her magic does. It up to you decide. I just gave you my advice " The cloaked man said

" What do you gain from this and are you working for her ? " Adam asked with angry tone

" I don't work with nor for her. And let's just say, you joining her in hunting him down is the perfect thing to occur for my plan. You seek your revenge and kill human, after that you can leave Salem or even betray her for all i car. And to be honest with you, I will be the greatest winner regardless of your actions. I just want to do it the fastest possible way. That's, have a good day" The cloaked man said then disappeared

Adam calmed down as he thought about the cloaked man words

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Inside kamui dimension, The cloaked man appeared. He took his cloak of showing his face. He had the same face as Mesa. In front of him another one with the same looks.

The other one said " How did it go? "

The previously cloaked one " As the boss ordered, everything is going according to the plan. I truly want to see their faces once they see everything. It is going to be really funny hehehehe "

Both of them laughed thinking about the future.