Chapter Text
Ruby Rose had never really given much thought to romance. While others would gossip and swoon at the idea of meeting their soulmate and becoming Heterochromatic, Ruby was too busy training to become a Huntress. Socially awkward they called her. She just found she had more important things to focus on, like weapons and killing grimm. She had been forced to grow up with the ever present reminder that the grimm were a threat that everyone had to worry about, and that no one could be sure they were safe from.
So when Salem rose from the black mist pouring out of a grimm that she had never seen before, Ruby was laser focused. She didn’t notice the faint heat in her left eye, instead she focused on the echoing words spoken by the Queen of the Grimm.
“The brave huntsmen and huntresses bested Arthur Watts. Congratulations.” Salem’s tone was far from congratulatory.
It was time to be brave. “We stopped Tyrian too, and we’ll stop Cinder and anyone else you try to send here.” Ruby said with growing determination. Her eye was still hot as she stepped forward to confront Salem head on.
“Dear girl, their goal was never victory; it was merely to set the stage.” Salem said.
Salem was cool and composed, regal and imposing and strangely beautiful. Wait, beautiful? Ruby definitely didn’t think she was beautiful, where had that come from? Gotta be brave. Ruby tightened her focus on Salem again.
“For what?” General Ironwood asked. He looked scared, terrified even.
For a brief moment it looked like Salem’s right eye had twitched as she looked at Ironwood. Maybe she was more upset than she was letting on. Ruby’s eye was burning now but that wasn’t important.
“For me.” Salem answered, then turned and started to drift toward the general. “Time isn’t on your side James, it’s always been on mine. The people of Atlas have suffered enough. Surrender the staff and the lamp to me, and they needn’t suffer any further.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Ironwood said, determination seemed to be coming back to him, which was good for them.
Salem’s eye had definitely twitched that time. She was leaning over Ironwood now, like an adult trying to talk to a child who didn’t understand. Ruby was feeling more and more uncomfortable with the way Salem spoke and moved, it made her insides feel weird.
“Simply accept the futility of your situation” Salem smiled softly at the general, “and this can all be over.”
Ruby didn’t like the way she was smiling at Ironwood. It was time to be brave again. “We've seen what you're capable of. The lamp showed us.” Salem was moving now to take in Ruby again, which helped her continue on. “It showed us everything. We’ve seen that you can’t be killed. But we've also seen you fail.”
Salem's eye was twitching again, she looked unhappy and that made Ruby feel uncomfortable, but she was determined to get these words out before her eye watered up from this intense burning. There’s no place for crying in a heroic speech.
“We don’t have to kill you to stop you, and we will stop you.” Ruby said.
Salem’s full attention was on Ruby now, her gaze imperious as she spoke, “Your mother said those words to me.”
Ruby’s eye was on fire now and suddenly memories of her mother were overwhelming her. There was a buzzing in her head that made it hard to think, hard to process what Salem was saying.
“My… mother?” The buzzing was a screeching now, like nails on a chalkboard. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her left eye was throbbing in pain now, a pain like she had never known before.
“She was wrong too.” Salem’s voice was tight and it sounded like her teeth were clenched now.
The tears poured from her eyes. She tried to use her hands to wipe the tears away or clutch at her eye that was in agony. She felt the now familiar pressure of her silver eyes trying to burst forth and protect, but the pain in her left eye seemed to be at war with them, stopping the light from fully building. For a moment she thought the pressure was gone and then suddenly it was back in force, light bursting forth to fill the room for the briefest moment before the agony in her left eye hit an all time high and cut off the light.
Ruby’s vision doubled and her balance faltered as she clutched at her head. Falling to her knees she was swiftly caught up by Yang’s ever warm embrace, cradling her from behind. The pain in her eye was gone, but the pain from Salem’s words was worse than ever. She sobbed into her sister’s lap.
The Ace ops were arguing about something, but she could hardly process the words they were saying. Had Salem really known her mom? What happened on her last mission? Questions filled her thoughts, questions she probably wouldn’t get an answer to. She thought she heard Weiss ask a question, then she felt Yang shift under her and she forced herself to focus on what was being said.
“I’ve sent your sister to claim the power of the Winter Maiden.” Ironwood was saying.
“What?” Weiss sounded shocked.
“When I realized we'd been compromised, I knew we couldn't wait any longer. The Staff and the Lamp have to be locked away.”
Ruby pulled herself up to sit and wiped the tears from her eyes. It was still hard to get her eyes to focus. “I thought …you said we could keep it?”
“Well, that was before you lied to me about the Lamp. Before you lied to us about Robyn, before Salem was right on our doorstep.” The general had turned around, his eyes wild with anger. “Before Mantle was nearly destroyed, and myself and my army were left exhausted.
“Most importantly though, it was before your eye turned black and red.” Ironwood’s face showed open hatred, directed entirely at Ruby.
Ruby shot to her feet, her eyes widened in shock; one red with black sclera and the other her usual silver. Salem was her Soulmate.
“What?!” She cried out, her voice echoed by seven others.
Ruby turned to her team, panicking. To her team’s credit they mostly just stared at her new eye. The Ace Ops, however, had their hands on or ready to grab their weapons. Yang’s hands started to move forward to offer comfort, but stopped halfway, there was fear in her eyes. Blake was staring, eyes wide and ears flared out. Weiss though, Weiss looked hurt, like her heart was breaking.
“Y-yang? Blake? …Weiss?” Ruby’s voice squeaked out. How could Salem be her soulmate? She’s like a million years old and wants to destroy the world. Ruby doesn’t even like people in that way. Well, except maybe Weiss, and oh gods Weiss looks like she’s gonna cry. Ruby wanted to give her a hug but she was so scared and overwhelmed, herself.
It was Yang who spoke first, “Meeting your soulmate doesn’t change who you are.” she said, stepping forward and giving Ruby a hug. She smiled at Ruby as she pulled away and levelled her gaze on Ironwood. “I trust my sister and her judgement. She’s always known the right thing to do, for herself and for our team.”
Ruby smiled weakly at Yang. She wished she shared the confidence her sister seemed to have in her. This was so much more than she ever expected though. Things were suddenly much less black and white. She needed answers, from Salem of all people.
“What are our orders, sir?” Harriet’s question interrupted her thoughts.
“The timeline has changed, and so we must change accordingly.” Ironwood answered. The hatred and hostility had vanished, only determination remained in the man. “We are going to take our plan for Amity Tower …and apply it to the city of Atlas.”
“What?!” Ruby gaped at Ironwood. That would mean leaving the people of Mantle to the Grimm and Salem herself. Ruby didn’t think she was going to be getting those answers she wanted anytime soon. This was going to be a long night.
Salem, Queen of the Grimm, Self Made Goddess, She Who Predates History, Mother of Darkness, Mistress of Death --was having a rough day. This was supposed to be the day she crushed Atlas and claimed the Staff of Creation for herself. This was supposed to be the day the world was reminded who their Goddess was. However, it would seem that some higher power had decided today must be more …complicated.
Certainly not the gods, they were long gone and would stay that way, if Salem had anything to say about it. Beyond that this soulmate business was a new thing, unique to the Humans and Faunus born without the gifts of the brother gods. Or so she had thought. She’d certainly never seen or heard of this phenomenon during her ‘first life’, as she thought of it. This switching an eye with someone and then falling madly in love with them was simply unheard of. Perhaps it was Fate.
When she had first learned of these ‘soulmates’, as the Humans and Faunus called them, she assumed it had nothing to do with her. After all, she had loved before, deeply and truly as anyone could, perhaps more than any other had. So the idea that she could have a soulmate was foolish. Her assumption had seemed correct as well, until now. She thought that after living for thousands of years, if there was a soulmate for her, surely she would have met them earlier.
Yet here she was, soulmate found in the form of one Ruby Rose. A child in comparison to her, and an idealist at that. Fate seemed to be mocking her. How on Remnant was she going to deal with this upheaval? One thing was certain, her plans must be changed.
Salem walked along the back of her Grimm Whale, or Monstro as she affectionately referred to it in her thoughts. As she walked she would idly caress any of her Grimm that walked or flew by her, it was soothing for her and helped her think. They were like pets, though far more loyal and useful than any mere dog or cat. Her thoughts were focused on this singular problem: Ruby Rose.
So Fate claimed she was to fall in love with this girl. Salem had her doubts. Still, the girl would have to be kept alive. There was a great deal of pain involved when one’s soulmate died, or so it was said. Normally pain was nothing to Salem. After hundreds of years trying to find a way to die, pain was something her mind simply pushed aside, a minor irritant that served her no purpose. The pain she had felt when she had laid eyes on Ruby Rose, however, was something she had never experienced before. It had felt like fire burning from her eye and into her very soul, it had taxed Salem’s considerable control near to the breaking point to keep her face schooled. It was said the pain of losing your soulmate was so far beyond that of the initial transfer that it could not adequately be described, there was simply nothing like it. So the girl would live.
She had made her way into the corridors magically hewn from the rock base which was holding the massive Gravity Dust crystals that allowed Monstro to fly. This was to be her stronghold and throne room for the siege of Atlas, and it was where she would find her devoted followers.
“Hazel” She spoke, grabbing the attention of the mountain of a man and Cinder’s young disciples as well.
Emerald’s face had turned to open shock upon taking in her now Heterochromatic eyes, “Y-your eyes.” she gasped.
Salem narrowed her eyes at Emerald, her displeasure obvious. To her credit, the girl was able to control her emotions and dipped her head in subservience. Good, she was learning. She turned back to Hazel, who had remained stoic as ever.
“Your primary objective has changed. You are to find the Rose girl and bring her to me.”
“Ma’am” he acknowledged her order with a dip of his head. He had been suitably cowed after his disobedience in reporting the failure at Haven.
“And Hazel” she paused for him to look her in the eyes, “No permanent injuries, physical or mental.”
Hazel nodded slowly and walked out of her throne room, taking Cinder’s disciples with him.
BONUS SCENE
Salem paced along Monstro’s back, deep in thought. This soulmate business had her on edge in a way that she hadn’t experienced in centuries, so she had opted to try and calm down by spending time with her pets. A winged Beringel alighted on to Monstro’s back next to her and her frown lessened just the slightest bit. She caressed the face of the beast, enjoying the feel of it’s fine black hair. She remembered creating this one, it would do well in this siege and slay many of her enemies, she was sure of it.
From nowhere a pressure built behind her left eye and then her vision was pure white for a few brief moments. She felt her skin burning, though the pain itself was middling at best, not nearly enough to break her composure. Blinking spots from her eyes she grit her teeth at the sight before her.
The light had turned her Beringel to stone, and where there had been flocks of lesser grimm in the sky she now saw only the roiling darkness of the storm clouds that travelled with Monstro. It seemed Ruby had used the power of her eyes and it had emanated from Salem’s lone silver eye as well.
She sighed and took a step, only to trip and fall, flailing her arms comically in the least dignified moment of the last five centuries. She landed hard with a huff. Looking down at her feet she saw that where her feet met Monstro’s back there was crumbling stone, the remnants of where her feet had been petrified to Monstro.
She got to her feet and snarled, “Fates damn this girl.”