RWBY Through Worlds

185: Second Life

Salem was still tracking the group's progress. 

She was well aware that there had been many Grimm attacking them, but aside from sending out the signal to get the Relics, she hadn't particularly controlled most of them except the Deimos.

And even that hadn't worked so well.

Though at least she'd divided the group--should be easy to pick off now.

She was really quite surprised, however, that none of the Mind Grimm had finished them off. She had seen many people fall to them over the years who even made it this far.

The whole thing was unsettling, and it had been centuries since Salem was unsettled by anything.

As it was, she'd have preferred to just capture Ozma and the Relics alone and save herself any annoyingly drawn out tests of strength.

And she didn't quite like her chances if the entire group made it to her castle... It was possible they could overpower her, take the other two Relics, and get out alive at the rate they were going.

She began to think that was Shine's real plan, the clever witch. [Yeah, sure, from you?]

She was sure that Cinder's Grimm appendage was finally restored--she could sense it--but, to her surprise, no sense that Cinder had made a move to attack the Maidens yet. What was she good for if not keeping those powers away from Ozpin?

Salem surveyed her territory with dissatisfaction. She'd been staring at this land for thousands of years, and it never got any less bland... though there was a sort of solace in it at this point, like she belonged here, not in the world of men. They only annoyed her.

It wasn't always so... though why she should think of that now she didn't know... Thinking of Ozma always brought up those painful memories.

But the Relics were so close... Soon she could finally get her revenge.

She thought more darkly of Likstar's offer to tell her about the gods. What did she know about it?

Granted, the book talked about many other deities... many more than Salem cared to hear about, actually. Two were more than enough to grate on her.

But the one who dominated the whole story didn't make any sense to her. Powerful and angry by turns and compassionate by others, all contained in one personality. It made no sense whatsoever.

By now she knew that it was from another world. She wasn't stupid. But what was it doing here? What were they doing here?

It was like some great interference was finally warranted... and while Salem was well used to this, she wondered what especially she had done to invoke this. Surely, in all this time, only getting two Relics was not enough of an accomplishment to make them afraid... particularly when, for all she could tell, they'd arrived before she even possessed either one.

And... how did she explain their actions? How did they sway so many people to their side? Were they magic?

No, Salem didn't like it at all. And she was beginning to think no Grimm in the land would be enough to stop them.

The thing was... for the first time, she really wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do if they did arrive. She was not as powerful as people thought she was, a fact that annoyed her constantly... And if they arrived, unscathed, it was a problem.

Only now did she see that agreeing to that deal might have been reckless. But how was she to expect a real challenge for the first time in millennia to be so... stupid sounding?