I took out my scroll to look it over again, to see what time it was. I had planned on leaving later today, but I was kinda hesitant now.
I can play around with time-lines and such, but I have everything lined up perfectly right now, and that would mess up further timings, and the calculations I would need to do would be annoying, even with the help of my sword.
With a sigh, I slumped down in my chair.
I looked at my companion, hovering nearby still. "Hey there Squidward, I don't suppose you know where she went?"
It shifted slightly, another strange noise reverberating from it.
"I'm going to take that as a yes, lead me there?" I stood up and poke it. The squishy Grimm made another noise before it started moving towards the exit. It paused, as if waiting for me to follow, I obliged but it never seemed to want to be further than a few feet from me.
Outside of this thing being some kind of eldritch horror, it was kind of cute…
We strode through the castle, passing through a couple long hallways until it took me to a winding staircase, ascending it all the way to the top, which led out onto a balcony overlooking the Grimm lands.
I saw Salem standing there, hand on the railing overlooking her supposed domain.
"Are you lost?" She asked.
"I think it's impossible to get lost with this little guy not letting me move too far away." I pat the grimm on the head.
"Is that so." She didn't bother giving another responding, not even turning around.
I stepped forward until I could look over the railing, though keeping a few feet away from Salem. "It is a lovely view, all things considered." I decided to take my scroll out and snap a few pictures. "I'm surprised I have a signal all the way out here."
She glanced at the scroll in my hand briefly. "One of my subordinates is talented with such technology. He was able to set up one of those towers on a smaller scale."
"I guess you don't use it much?" I asked.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Ah, well." I scratched my cheek. "I may have become a little famous in the past few days. If you didn't recognize me, it wasn't a hard guess to make."
She tilt her head slightly. "I believe one of my subordinates mentioned that a popular competition was due soon, is that perhaps what you are referring to?"
"Sure, lets go with that." I chuckled, much to her bemusement, but she didn't press. I figured she would probably find out later. "But, the tournament is rather popular, do you not know about it?"
"I do not keep up with the trends of this era beyond what I need for my own purposes."
"What do you do in your spare time then?" Seems pretty lonely to stay here all by yourself...
"I read, or I practice my magic." She stated.
"Huh…..that's actually not too dissimilar to what I do, mostly." I admitted, I raised a finger in the air, giving her a little look. She returned an inquisitive glance as I began to draw a rune in the air. A simple Ansuz actualized, and I flicked up, allowing it to explode without harm further in the sky.
A small smile formed on her face. She raised her finger, a little flame condensed, and she shot it up in the air, as if a mini nova exploded out, it lit up the surrounding area, eclipsing my own little rune.
"Show off."
She actually let out a small giggle. "Shall I comfort you and tell you that it is not the size but how you use it?"
"Did you just….?" I looked at her in shock, a smirk adorned her face. "Well, this means war." I swept my hand, a dozen runes coalesced and integrated into a runic sentence. A massive storm appeared overhead and lightning began to rain down from the sky. It didn't really have any substance to it, but I was just kind of playing around.
Salem didn't look too impressed. She raised her hand and the storm was forcibly dispersed, turning into a fog that enveloped the entire area.
I snapped my fingers, overtaking the magical fog and turned it back into clouds, but made it start raining, taking my hat out and putting it on my head with a smile.
She looked unamused, holding her hand out as the rain flowed down into her palm, swirling until it shifted once again into a small tornado, that she let loose into the sky to clear up everything once again.
Salem continued to smirk as I had to hold my hat down, less it be swept up in the winds.
Elemental manipulation was not my forte, but I could more or less keep up with some clever use of Runes. A new runic sentence formed at my will, aiming at a river that flowed near the castle. I grabbed hold of the water, shaping it into a massive shark-like figure and forcing it to fly at the Tornado.
She raised an eyebrow, clearly not getting my joke, but it didn't matter, both magics couldn't be held together any longer and dissipated back into their elements and fell to the ground, a bit of water splashing on us again.
She put a hand on her hip, and I admired how her clothes clung to her when damp. "For some reason, I believe you did this on purpose."
I made no attempt to hide the way I enjoyed the view. "I have no idea what you're talking about" I smiled wistfully.
"I'm sure." She drawled, though she didn't seem particularly upset. She ran her fingers through her hair, removing the bindings that kept it in the shape of a spider. With a flick of her hand a warm air pushed down on her, letting her hair blow out and drying her body.
"Beautiful." I couldn't help but utter.
She let out a huff, giving me a sideways glance. "Don't spout nonsense." She quickly returned to normal "What was that spellcasting? It appeared as if you were writing letters with your magic."
"That's exactly what it is." I nodded. "A Runic language that holds magical power. Instead of casting a spell, each 'symbol' holds certain concepts imbued in them, which can be invoked through understanding."
"Fascinating." She seemed to mull over my words. "Much was lost when Humanity was wiped out….." She muttered, looking deep in thought.
Well, that answers a few questions I had. "Does it interest you?"
"It is a magic I have never seen before." She admitted, not elaborating further.
"Well….." I searched through my ring, taking out a certain book. "Would you accept this gift from me then?"
It was a book on basic Runecraft, not worth much back home. But she looked at it in shock, taking a hesitant step forward, fingers caressing the cover before pulling back and eyes meeting mine. "What boon do you wish in return?"
I didn't really expect anything in return, but I guess this is a good opportunity. "Would you be angry if I asked you to stop using the Grimm to attack humanity?" Worth a shot if nothing else.
She paused, eyes staring deep into mine. "Fine, I will make no move with them for the foreseeable future."
"Really?" I asked in shock. Though her words were ambiguous, I didn't think she would use any 'loopholes', from what I understood she took pride in her own word.
"What? Do you think I make a conscious effort to have them attack any humans they come across?" She snorted. "I can control the Grimm, those in my immediate vicinity require no effort on my part to command, but to control them over a vast distance I must focus intently upon them, especially so if they are of the older variety."
"I see, most Grimm are just acting on their basic instincts." That made a lot of sense now that I thought about it. How much effort would it actually require to constantly give directions and orders to every grimm on the planet?
And it wasn't like she 'created' them initially, they were operating under the original directives of that god when she didn't usurp them for her own intents.
"Indeed." She replied. "Do you regret your choice? You could have asked for something…..more, instead you asked me to spare those lesser things."
I could understand her sentiments. Piecing together what she had been through, what she considered humanity was basically gone, these current things were imitations, a mockery of what she was, in her eyes. That's probably why she wasn't being so dismissive of me, she viewed me as a 'peer'.
"Something more, huh?" I raised an eyebrow. "Would you dismiss me if I asked for another boon?"
"It would depend on what you ask for from this Queen." She turned away. "If a perversion crosses your lips, I shall fling you from the top of my castle." She added quietly, the book being held tight in her arms, having grabbed it almost immediately.
"I do have to leave soon."
"Oh. I see." There was a sudden shift in her tone. "You ask for my permission to leave, is it?"
"No." I said honestly. "If I wanted to leave, not many things can stop me." I gave her a cheeky smile, even as a frown formed on her face. "What I ask, is your permission to return." I didn't want to just drop in without announcing myself unless I had an open invitation.
That would just be rude.
"You wish….to come back?" She looked at me incredulously.
"Why wouldn't I?"
She seemed at a loss for words. "Do what you wish." She said in blunt dismissal, but for the briefest moment, I think I saw her smile.
***
Stepping out of the gates of her castle, I looked up to see Salem watching me.
I began walking until the Castle was no longer in view. No Grimm dared to approach me, I didn't even sense any within my vicinity.
{What did you think of the Grimm Queen?} Jinn asked.
"Strange." I admitted. "And not what I expected."
{Hmm, what did you expect?}
"Evil, I suppose. Frankly, she seemed more apathetic than anything. I don't know her exact goals, but she didn't really seem to have a hate on for humanity, more that they were just not worth her time. Seemingly nothing more than ants in her eyes." Her smile was also very pretty, but I kept that to myself. "She was really thrown off by my presence, based on what she said, I can guess that magic-wielding humans are practically nonexistent here."
{I would do my usual spiel if you wanted to ask a question, but thankfully, I am not forced to utter those words once my questions are used up for the century.} Her happy tone filled my head, basically telling me she wouldn't answer one way or the other.
"Well, I'll be seeing her again." I muttered. "I won't deny that I'm a bit…..taken with her."
[No, really?]
"Maybe I can bribe her into completely giving up her usage of Grimm, and to stop their production for good?"
{She did look like she was having fun when you both were playing around with Magic.} Jinn pointed out.
"Yeah, I doubt she had anyone to do something like that with in a long time." It made me question how old she was. From the information Jinn gave me originally, Salem had some type of immortality. "Well, I'll just shelf all this for now. I'll come back here in a few months when the heat dies down, and visit Salem again. For now, though, I believe it's time to take you on a little adventure."
{I am excited.} Jinn's words were simple, but the tone in which she said them, was very telling.
I just chuckled, taking out mirage and opening a Portal back home.
I missed Artoria, and I was going to see Meridia soon as well.
I didn't say it, but I was also very excited.
***
So, I never planned on plopping Salem right in his Harem as soon as he flashed a smile her way. This was more so to develop a sort of dynamic between them for when he comes back, merely introducing the Grimm Queen to him. And i'm not going to whitewash her history, the things she's done.
Anyways, this was the last chapter for RWBY round 1, latest chapter had Meridia make a brief appearance again.
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