Chapter Text
Wooh, more Cyanide.
“She’s... dead?”
Salem sounded like she was barely understanding, her eyes going to him, as Jaune worried a bit for his father’s wellbeing. He pushed the door open to the bedroom of his great-grandmother, her body laid in the bed. It was almost sweet to see how she’d been laid; the petite ancient Turtle in bed, hair loose, hands carefully arranged in the usual style of prayer for the Redemptionists.
“She’s... she’s dead. Why... Why would she be dead?”
Salem seemed to be stunned, surprised, Jaune’s hand gently rubbing over Ashe’s, a quiet little whisper from her lips, before the first sob came.
“She can’t be dead. It’s not her time yet to die. He told me that she’d live a little longer... I wanted to have fun with them all again...”
Jaune turned to his sister, whose horns were currently the highest point, holding on the side, tears leaking from her eyes, as she held her hand.
“We can revive you, Zhe. We can make you live again! It’s just a little bit- just a little bit of sleep, you can’t be dead! Who’s going to tell me off and make me some nice warm soup if you’re dead?”
He spotted a book lying on the small table, drawing his attention. He took hold of it feeling its weight for a moment before he opened it, pure white pages glowing with a soft light.
The Bestiary of the Faunus, my most beloved of creations.
May you be kind and loving, as I have named the first after the one that I love the most.
Beloved brother, her name is Sun and she was forged in your image.
Hair spun from the golden threads of sunlight, eyes as blue as the sky that you created. Her traits to align with yours, as I cherished you above all others, my brother.
Let this be their testament, as they exist by My Will.
As I have granted them sentience, they shall live.
May they be kind and loving, as they are judged by our accord.
“Is that... is that the Bestiary of the Creator?”
He didn’t really know, but he had the sneaking suspicion that the Creator of the Faunus wasn’t the God of Light. The name just didn’t fit for the God of Darkness. It wasn’t a sun that he symbolized.
“Put that down!”
He couldn’t, as he turned another page, revealing the iconography for the Dragon Brother of Darkness visible there, and he touched it.
He found himself elsewhere, looking down at a little speck.
“Brother...”
A voice came from around him, in a space where there was nothing but the bright light, black scales that had laid upon his form now suddenly wreathed in light. He watched the light coalesce into the shape that he knew to be his other half, after their war had concluded. There was a little ball in front of them, a little sphere that he had seen before, created by his brother.
“Let us not fight. I am... Sun. What is your name?”
He answered. His name was known to his brother now.
“A good name, brother. This is a world I have created... I call it... Paradise. You and I will live upon it and I will create things.”
And so, the world was made. A little ball of mud and rock and dust, added to with the creatures of the wilds and the good and the bad. His gifts, adding the natural end of things, while his brother’s gift created boundless new things that lived.
His creations, a force for destruction, as he wreathed them from the shadows in the shape of the creatures that his brother had created, a desire to have something for himself... and to know that feeling of adoration, as they walked through the world together.
Where he walked, there were only ashes and rot, decay and wilt around him. Flowers lost their lustre as he walked through the gardens, as the domain of his brother withstood his effect, and he was alone.
Humanity was what they created themselves, from the precepts that his brother had held dearly to himself.
The knowledge to survive in this world.
The ability to make tools in order to survive, to destroy what had been created and repurpose it.
The ability to choose for themselves their fate, rather than to be subject to the laws of nature.
The ability to create whatever they wished, from that choice.
They worshipped his brother, more so than he. Their worship ran from songs to wishes, as he walked the lands of his brother, seeing the shrines to his brother’s presence, only a mere dark whisper in their eyes.
The temples they erected, to praise their creators, only to have his statue be lesser than his brother’s...
It hurt.
He felt alone inside this world of their creation, and it did nothing to soothe the pain in his heart.
His creation, the Grimm, were unleashed upon the world. His gift for their creation was the magic within their bodies, and Humanity kept the Grimm at bay, keeping their peaceful lands and letting him see them worship him...
Instead, they feared him. Their praise was never as it should have been.
Why did they not love the one who aided in their creation? Why did they not feel the love that he had felt for them?
He was alone.
Jaune stared at the book in his hands, aware of the wet spots on the pages, as he realized that he was crying for what he had seen. Salem’s hand was on his, bone-white, trying to pry the book out of his hands.
“That book is sacred to the Faunus, they-“
He turned to her and he couldn’t help but feel the emotions bubbling inside him again, that deep feeling of loneliness, as he looked into her eyes.
“He was so alone, Salem... He was alone. Nobody, nothing in this world, deserves to be alone.”
It was... it had felt so real. It had felt like he’d seen through the eyes of the God himself.
“Let go of the book, Jaune. Let go of that book, it should not be touched by human hands!”
Salem was trying to pry it out of his grip, but she was not strong enough, for some reason, as he turned the page.
He felt the book become even heavier, as he could not look away.
“Salem!”
A thunderous voice rumbled across the world, as the human was plucked from the pool that he had seen her fall into, her skin pale and with the bleaching of the power of destruction, anger and fury wreaking havoc on his mood, as the skies thundered, as he held between a claw this impudent wench that had dared to disturb his domain.
“You don’t know what it feels like to be alone! Let me die! Let me die, I am sick of this! All I want to do is to be reunited with the man I love!”
He cast her out. A barrier around the place where he had his own domain, where the black pools continued to spawn new Grimm, where there was nothingness.
Her duty was to walk the world alone, and he would not shirk his own duty, as he had spoken the words with his brother. He would not return here unless there was some other reason for him to be summoned forth.
An aeon later, he felt the stirring of his brother’s power, returning briefly to Remnant to find the world once more populated, to see that humanity had somehow returned to this world...
Returned, by his Brother’s hand. They held no magic, only a mere fraction of the power that had been his once upon a time. They looked like the humans that the world had known before, recreated. His brother... had lied.
Sadness coarsely ground away at his love, as he felt the pain once again in the depths of his being.
‘Why would he create that which worships him, yet I have nothing?’
Jaune could not let go of the book, as he felt himself pulled along by some invisible force, Salem trying her best, tugging on his arms.
“Let go of it, Jaune, please. Please! It is not for humans to touch!”
“Why? WHY?!”
The wailing voice sounded over the hill, as the nails were hammered into the limbs. The woman had given up, her voice wailing like that of a siren, elegance and manners forgotten, as he observed the proceedings.
He had kept watch over the woman, more out of a lack of better things to do, really. He had been there with her in her darkest hour, when there had been a battle between the two people that his brother had blessed, and the one that had been consigned to death.
The deal had been broken.
“Please! Please! All I want to be is to be with my children! Please, oh Gods! I have suffered, I have felt death, but the loneliness that I feel is not a pain I can bear!”
The cross was raised and he watched, as she twisted, the sight of her former lover standing there, as the crowd jeered and called her a witch, a false Messiah.
“Please... Please... Please!”
Time stopped, as he appeared before her, her eyes pleading with him.
“Salem... You are blessed to walk this Remnant of our creation until it ceases to be. Your punishment was decided upon by my Brother.”
Strength in his voice that his brother would have admired, though he saw her hopelessness, as she twisted.
“Release me from this hell! I want to be with my children! My sweet little children, they... they must be lonely, wherever they are. I... I miss them. I miss them so much! My little Azalea, a princess that will never rule, and my little Helena and her sister Artemis, always so curious about things... Argent, who always liked to ask me questions on how the magic works... Please... Please have mercy. I just want to be with my children... Please, God... Please. Please, I beg of you.”
Tears of remorse were streaming from her eyes, and he knew that she had not learned the difference, as his brother had wished her to learn, of life and death’s burden.
“I cannot alter your path, Salem. My brother set a demand for your blessing, and I am not to deny him his right.”
Her head hung down, her hair framing her face as she cried out to him in pain.
“Do you know what we go through? Have you never loved? What God are you, if you cannot feel what we feel?!”
His response was bitter.
“The one who claims to believe in me, lied to me. None worship me in this world. Why would they? I am used to being alone.”
She spoke defeatedly to him, as he listened. The gnawing feeling of loneliness tore at him, as she sobbed and pleaded for him to look out for her children and ensure that they were well in the afterlife that was denied to her.
“I will grant your wish, Salem. As my Brother has put your lover upon this world, I release you from your shackles of immortality. I will give you one duty: unify this world and come before us in worship, and we will bless you. May your next life be one where you will wield the power to change fate, as I shall be watching you.”
Her spirit left her body and he raised the cross from the ground, taking it with him to the place where he had his domain. It was put within the pool, a memory of what the woman had been, as he took her soul and guarded it with his personal will against fading to his brother’s realm of those who had passed on.
“Brother!”
He met his brother, stare for stare. They stared for years, not asking the question, not speaking, as the seasons changed and the world turned older by the years.
“You granted that man another life, eternally changing, and I have granted her the death she sought, brother. We will discuss this in due time.”
They departed, after it was decided with those words.
Jaune stared at the book in his hands, before he turned his gaze to Salem, who had gone quiet.
“Is that... Is that true?”
She nodded, and he closed the book. It wasn’t... It wasn’t important anymore.
“I love you, even if you’re the Redeemer. You deserve to be loved too.”
Salem nodded, as she took the book from him, and he took a deep breath.
It was quiet silence that they felt.
Ashe was still dead.
She stared at her father, who clearly was three steps removed from being a mad beast.
“He is dead, Father! Our Creator killed himself!”
Her father was not listening to her, letting her know that there was nothing that could be done about the situation that they were currently experiencing, her eyes blazing as she looked at that big fat shell that was lecturing her.
“You are lying! He would not even care! Why would we be content with Kindness and love, when we can be the rulers of the world?!”
‘Rulers of the world, my left tailscale!’
They were the rulers of the world when Arya ascended the throne, that stupid little dumb brat thinking that he had the right to just go and do things without her to hold his hand. She wouldn’t settle down with that answer.
“He killed himself! We were his children!’
She screamed at her father, and the cold look in his eyes surprised her. She had not known that her father could look like that, ineffectual and lazy as he had been when she’d been young.
“We were created from his own flesh and blood! To be a Faunus is to be the closest thing to divinity, and our Heavens were held up by the Emperor! To be a Faunus is to be the inheritor of this world, and the humans are but a pest that needs to be culled!”
There was no regret in his tone, only a grim surety born of stubborn pride.
“The Hydra was right! You are a curse upon this world! Every Father’s Day, we appeased the God that we thought was our creator, but why would he not bless us? Why would we be enslaved and humbled before the Humans, who are far inferior to us?!”
‘I made sure to stamp out that rhetoric when I was the Turtle...’
Father had not visited since the time of the three days of darkness... and it seemed that there had been more at work than what she had thought was feasible. Not being in Menagerie or in the Weald had made her options a touch limited, though the Faunus were still allowed their freedom.
“Because he loved us, Turtle.”
The heat was burning her scales, as she realized that she was pretty much unclothed, feeling her breath choke in the warm heat that burned her, her eyes blazing in the glare of the sunlight.
“What God would love us, if he did not help us? We were slaves for hundreds of generations! They hunted us, outside the Weald. They did not care whether we were part of our own empire, as they forced the chains around our neck! We were created for better things, Zhe and you were not!”
She loved the God that had created her, wholeheartedly. She remembered the time when they had first met very well.
“He is our Creator! I am not here to argue! He is dead and I do not want to live here with him being the one absent from this place!”
Her father’s head raised to the heavens, his nose starting to twist.
“The Faunus were created from the Grimm... Divine creatures that stalk the world! We are the superior race, and we do not need our Creator’s blessing! We had a good Emperor, but then you had to be born, Zhe!”
‘What the-‘
She had been born, sure, but that was out of duty, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at her father with anger, as she did not like to hear that!
‘I have all the right to be born! Who said that I didn’t want to be born, huh?!’
Darkness fell and she could see nothingness for a moment, as the sky tore open and Grimm appeared, growing from the ground, the howls of the Faunus silenced as their screams of fear came, Ashe not even concerned, knowing that they were her Father’s creation.
Her father’s face returned, as the darkness faded and the bright sun shone down on her again.
“We would have been able to wipe them out, to be the dominant lifeform on this world again. Within our realm, they do not attack. Within our empire, they are benign, while outside, they are like ravenous beasts, Zhe! Why would humanity, people who do not have the trace element of divinity that our creator installed within us, be the superior ones?”
‘You’re mad! Father said that he created us because he wanted to cherish something.’
She loved her Creator, even if he had died. The others could not know about it, and now that she was dead, she definitely didn’t like what she was hearing now.
“That’s madness! Why would you even go that far, just to prove a point? I mated with a human and he was nicer to me than all of you!”
Her father scoffed and Ashe’s expression darkened severely, her hand clenching with anger showing on her face, her expression as fierce as it had been when she’d given her declaration to the two gods.
“And you have shamed your line! If it had not been for that silly Empress, it would have been our hegemony! With the Four working together under the Dragon’s command, we would have wiped the world clean. So, the decision was reached to exclude you all, by the Hydra.”
She loathed that branch of the Faunus Bestiary, vile serpents that didn’t do anything good and wanted to chip into her Authority.
“We did alright! We had our freedom, as Lilith negotiated! Tian died, but we had our freedom and land!”
Her father’s mocking laughter came from the big fat man, as he laughed.
“Daughter, you don’t even know the truth.”
She was getting sick of the word games! She was the Truth and her granddaughter was going to be the Truth, though she was still in need of training! Those silly girls and that stupid boy needed to be together, even if Cream was mumbling about Missy Azzy in her sleep!
“I know the truth! I was preparing to show them all that my family will be upon the throne of the world, and-“
Her father started to laugh.
“Spoken like a true Turtle, Zhe! My family will be upon the throne of the world... You never thought to think about why, did you? You only assumed, because you never questioned the truths you were told. Yu Tian was an unworthy Empress, and her son was taught to be one that would be worthy. Why would we need our Creator’s blessing, Zhe, to be kind to others?”
‘I hate this!’
The stupid word games, her father’s face turning a little scalier, as if he seemed to be caught in the throe of some malignant mutation, his hand clenching as he looked at her.
“Because he loves us! Have you never looked in his eyes and seen what love he has for us?!”
Her voice was reaching the higher, screeching octaves, as her father scoffed.
“What do you know, Zhe ?”
She knew plenty! The wind blasted her, as the sands rumbled, the sun still making her skin chafe, sweat dripping down her body, her father’s eyes cold, dark like the night sky.
“Why would we be loving a God that does not have blessings for us?! We lived in a land of eternal night, where farming was barely done! Why would we not be wishing for a better fate, Zhe ? If he wished to bless us, he would have eradicated the humans when we beseeched him!”
‘What kind of malarkey are you talking about, Father?!’
Ashe shook her fist, not coming to blows with her father, only restraining herself when she came to realize that it was the afterlife for them, and it would not do a thing.
“A weak Emperor that cannot sustain our people is no Emperor we should follow! We respect strength, not ‘negotiations’, ‘treaties’ and ‘promises’!”
She didn’t respect them very much either, but she knew how to make them... Lilith was better than her but still...
“They are still the Emperor! Even you respected the Empress Yu Tian when she was a child, Father!”
The man scoffed, as his eyes regarded her.
“She would have made us be friends with humans, Zhe. She was the foolish one who thought that kindness is the saving grace of our people... You were born as an ill omen, and you have weakened the Four by being the one cursed by that fell star’s boon upon our people. If you had not been my only child for years, I would have smothered you myself!”
The accusation was something that she was familiar with. Her bone-white features and crimson eyes often held the spite of people’s eyes due to being one that was ‘cursed’ by their Father, though Father never called it a curse.
“She was a great Empress! Do not speak ill of her! If she had lived a little longer, we would have brought the world to understand our-“
Her father snarled.
“We are born from the Grimm! We are the strongest creatures that walk this earth, beside them! Yu Tian was weak!”
His voice was accusing, and Ashe actually growled at her father, as she accusingly pointed at him.
“She was my Empress! She was the closest thing I had to a daughter!”
Clearly, she would never admit this to anyone else if she’d been alive, but it had been a little like trying to let the girl be the daughter that she never could have. It was the need to make her realize that she was the Empress and that she would be the best Empress she would ever be!
‘Spoil the dragon, destroy the Empire... I should have been harder on her!’
She blamed herself a little for not being fast enough. Yu Tian had died while she had been with her, and the others had not taken it well.
“Her reign was short, and a Dragon was put upon the Throne that would give us our due!”
Ashe hissed. Long had not been a bad child, but he was a little lazy, barely competent lizard boy, compared to his mother.
“He was not ready! If she had a decade more, or even two, she could have taught him!”
The Turtle of yesteryear laughed.
“She would have bred weakness into the line! We don’t need kindness! We are the children of a God, Zhe! Though we need not his favor, we could dominate the world on our own! The glory of a world of our own, as he intended!”
Ashe did not agree, wagging her finger at her father as if she were lecturing an impudent child, the Turtle’s expression hostile, as she did that, her voice louder than it had been.
“He would never allow for that! He is our Father and he cherishes our achievements and our struggle! Tian was a great Empress, it was unfortunate that she died by an assassin’s blade! The silver-eyed demons will not be forgiven for this!”
The expression on her father’s face was distant.
“Why would a God that barely tells us to make him proud, preach for the kindness to be spread? Tian died and her Four died after her. You are an aberration because of your long life!”
Ashe’s hackles rose, as she gave a dark growl at her father, who clearly wasn’t thinking right if the insinuation that their Father should give them the order to march and destroy. They were better than this. There was a deep love that he held for them, it spoke with every breath of his lungs, with every syllable of his words.
“Tian should have lived a hundred years! I would have gladly served her!”
Turtles lived for a long time, but getting many children was not a part of that deal. They were wise, and they held the authority of the Truth within them.
“She was a fool, thinking that the people would want peace! We remember the slight against our people and we recall what it was like to be slaves! Humanity is a pest that must be eradicated, Zhe, but you spread your legs for one, apparently!”
Zhe’s vision clouded as a red mist began to obstruct it.
“He was a better man than you! Tian’s reign was short, but we did so much good for the people! Why anyone would think-“
They stopped talking, as she saw her brother. That fat shell was still wandering around with his big belly, a woman at his side that obviously was the Phoenix, due to the way that her trait manifested, and a... child?
‘Oh, it’s a little baby...’
Pale skin and red eyes, as the two wandered past them, her father’s expression showing anger, as the Phoenix and her younger brother seemed to walk past them without ever seeing them, as if they were but a mirage.
“They should have never been introduced, birthing another aberration, moon-blessed and cut short- I curse him. We should have just instructed them to do it at the start of her reign, so I could have taught properly, but the situation wasn’t right for it.”
‘Wait, wait, what? You are not implying...’
Her lips moved, though.
“What are you implying, Father? Insurrection? Rebellion! Tian would have listened to your words if you had asked for an audience, before your death! That girl was kind and gentle, and-”
Mocking laughter.
“Why do you think we let her die, Zhe? An unworthy, weak Dragon cannot shoulder the burden of war. It is better to put someone more pliable, mouldable to the will of the people on the throne, one that does not venerate an outdated God and who can be convinced to declare war on the humans!”
‘Father... No, someone else. Someone else let them in, told them where to find them and- And they killed the Empress. It wasn’t about me- but it was about the Empress, to shove that little worm onto the Throne...’
He had married the Hydra’s granddaughter, a whore if he’d ever seen one and-
“The Hydra! Father! They tried to take from me my authority and-“
A laugh tapered off, as her father’s eyes watched her.
“Why do you think his family was merely demoted, Zhe? An unworthy Empress, leading our empire? It is best to create strength, as anyone would! The others would have taught the children of yours to be perfect for war. What are we if not God’s children, Zhe? You were a mistake, something that lived for too great a time... It is best to accept it. We do not need a God! The light which sears our eyes, it will burn only until the followers of the burning god are eliminated! We will be the dominant species soon!”
This was madness!
Jaune felt the book in his hands shift a little, as if it were alive, looking at Ashe’s dead body and feeling a deep sense of melancholy settle in his heart, his eyes closing for a moment before he took a deep breath, trying to make sense of it all. Salem wasn’t watching him, only morosely staring at the body, her friend... no matter whether she was the reincarnation of a goddess or just someone who had been a mother to the previous lives of his sisters.
‘Just a little...’
The book opened as if it had been waiting for him to resume his search for understanding, as he watched how the pages flickered and he was drawn into what was the recollection of a God.
His roar shook the world, as the rage flowed through him, as he found one of his creations, and he clad it within mortal flesh. With flesh, he clothed her, as her hair was like the sun and her gaze like the sky, her body but that of a child, as he felt joy at creating something from something else.
A simple Grimm, soulless and with only destruction as its sole animating thought, shaped within the flesh of human, shaped like his Brother yet with the features of a human. A soul, created from that little bud, to fill its shape and to let her know that there was a creator for her who loved her.
“BROTHER!”
His brother arrived, as expected, and he lashed out.
They clashed, the world shaking with their struggle. The skies darkened and turned bright once more, as they warred. Claws scored scales and ichors flowed, as they rose once more, to slam into the world once more, molten rock forming mountains, as the child screamed for her father, and they both broke one part of them.
A talon from him, a fang from his brother, in the ground as a marker of their struggle.
“Yang? This... this is my brother, after who I have named you. I, your Father, wish for you to meet him. All is well... it was a mere exchange of words.”
The child moved hesitantly, looking at his brother, still clad within the draconic shape that they wore when they were together, her eyes staring at the massive serpentine form of his brother.
“I’m scared. He’s scary.”
His laughter was amused, aware of how it looked to the girl, who had been newly created.
“Hello, my child. I am All Universes Burn, in your tongue. I am here to see what my brother has created.”
The girl warmed to his brother, after much coaxing. The love that she showed him was something that filled the heart of a God once more, as he created more. A whole Bestiary of creatures, made from his flesh and his blood, to guide them.
Four aspects of his power to govern them, to let them know that he supported them, and the creature that he had created, a Dragon, as he could call her as such, to govern their ranks within the Bestiary that he created.
“Faunus... Their name shall be Faunus.”
His voice resonated, the dragon laid on his head, as he tried to think not about what it could mean for him.
“A fine name, Brother. They are your creations. They will wither and they will falter, under my power. I am creation, and you are destruction. Let them not mingle, knowing that our duties differed, once upon a time.”
A bovine Grimm, warped towards the form of his Brother’s creation, the aspect of his edict within their body. Created to declare what was to be the guiding law for all within this world, to speak once and to command all the living creatures that walked this world, save for those infused with the absolute truth of this world.
A feline Sabyr Grimm, wrought in the shape that it would be considered human, within their chest the strength to lift mountains, to bestow upon others that infinite strength of destruction, which already slumbered within every Grimm.
A short Turtle Grimm, wrought in the shape which was pleasing to the eye, to forever know the truths of this world, to demand the absolute truth from anyone, with His will backing that truth.
A flying Nevermore, wrought with effort into a human shape with the ability to mend that which was once broken, with the power to bring back those who had been consigned to death through His will, in order to right that which had been broken once.
They were the ones that he had designed after the Relics that his brother had left upon this world, a gift for his chosen creations.
The ones that he had infused his power into, a fraction of what once was, some semblance of the might of a God, like his brother’s Relics.
They were what he had given the authority of rule to.
He saw that it was good, as they supplicated before him.
“I am your creator. I grant you the freedom to be what you wish to be.”
They nervously approached, and he felt less alone when their arms wrapped around him, to hold him in the loving embrace of a child, his body greater than any of them, yet their knowledge of him being their God was strong.
Jaune could not let go of the book, the pages turning, trying to pull away, as he fought against the urge, knowing that he was touching upon the memory of a God, something that was greater than a simple person like him. Salem did not struggle, nor did she resist, as he was drawn into the memories.
The Faunus growing as a people. Their numbers grew, as he stayed with them for a century, before he went with his brother once more, the bond with the Faunus strong.
The song that they sang for their God was beautiful to behold, Jaune had to admit, as it spoke of their love for their God.
‘I would want to be loved like that.’
The first Empress passed away and they created a massive mausoleum, to house them. Artisans created members of the Faunus into pottery to accompany their Dragon in the afterlife.
The blur of memories snapped into clarity once again.
He was called forth once more, arriving within the domain that he had long since abandoned. His Brother was off in another part of the realm that they had dubbed ‘the Galaxy’, working his works, spotting before him a man and his child.
It was a little whelp, red eyes looking at him with the inquiry of youth, the fear of something more massive than she was, as he wondered about the young girl. It had been Emperors and Empresses that had called him forth, the Four being the guiding beacon that would call him upon this day.
“Father! I bring here before you my daughter, Blue This.”
Speaking every language imaginable often gave awkward translations for terms that he had given to things, as languages shifted, yet he remained eternal. He saw the child look at him with fearful reverence, as he froze time around them, aside from the girl.
“Hello there, little one.”
She approached, hesitantly. She was a shy child, he could tell, as her father was frozen, his claw reaching out to lightly touch her forehead.
Ao Zhe, Age 5.
Her name, in the current dialect, was a curious one, which nonetheless seemed to fit her, as she quivered in ignorant fear.
She would not remember their conversation, for Their ability to reverse time was absolute.
“Are you going to eat me? Father said that you need a sacrifice.”
The child-like innocence of the question was enough to make him laugh, knowing that this girl was someone who had been blessed by him upon birth.
He had built into their being the spark of divine power, for those who would shape their people to become what they should be. Those who were born with the moon’s pale skin and the red eyes of the blood which bound them would be those who would create something that would overturn the natural order, blessed by him with his authority.
It had been a moment where the child had stared at him in fright, as he turned to his smaller form.
“Why would I eat such a special girl? Now... What would you wish for? If you could make any wish.”
She looked thoughtful, like the world was giving her a choice, his gaze directed to her as he weighed the response that he got. A childish wish, it would be, as he expected it, but those who bore the paleness of the moon that he had shattered and the eyes that stared out with the blood of the covenant that he had forged, would get one wish.
“I’d... I’d like to have a mate. My father said that I would never be able to, so... so he’s trying to make me a little brother or sister, who can take my place. Are you sure that you’re not going to eat me? I don’t taste good, I know I don’t taste good, yuck.”
He laughed, as the child looked at him with fear.
“I can certainly do that, little Zhe. Not the eating part, though. I don’t need food to live.”
She pouted at him, adorably so.
“You can eat the humans! They’re not too nice, they do a lot of bad things. They’re scary!”
The argument had been made to him before, while he had visited his children. Slavery was still a threat for them, yet he could not interfere. He was not the God of Humanity, certainly not this iteration of them, a pale shadow that held only a fragment of the promise of their people.
“It is not my time to judge them, little Zhe. I will grant your wish...”
Time reverted, as the child stood at her father’s side again.
“Welcome.”
His voice rumbled like the mountains, as the father spoke for the daughter.
He would grant that wish. It would just take a little time.
He had a universe to shape, after all.
Jaune panted, as he could feel the memories tickle at his mind, as he couldn’t let go of the book, his eyes looking at the pages, as they continued to turn.
‘That was Ashe...’
She had looked adorable while she was young.
‘Why can’t they get along? They... they all have their God.’
He did not think about it, as another memory crashed over his mind like the roaring ocean tide.
“Prove to me that you are worthy.”
His brother, in the shape of man, a body that had been possessed for a time, as he looked at the challenger, the Empress with her mane of gold, standing before him, and speaking passionately about her people, leaving him in awe with her rhetoric, to prove to his brother that she was worthy.
The pale blue eyes and the faint silver that lurked within their core stared at the Dragon, as she finished her speech, her eyes looking with defiance, as the other members of the Court of the Dragon did not move an inch, as her authority was supreme here.
“Remember this, Dragon of the Faunus. I loathe your existence. You will perish by my will, as I do not condone your existence. It is only by my Brother’s will that you are still living, and I will return, to cast judgment.”
The body turned to dust, after the spirit that had animated it failed, leaving the dust to be swept out of the palace by an unseen wind, as his brother left, and he watched the Empress sit down on the throne.
“Call for Mu Shu!”
The prince ran to his mother, as he watched from above, the Empress hugging her son and then pronouncing that tomorrow it would be a feast day, as some trial had been averted.
He left them, unaware that they never had referred to him as their father.
He couldn’t stop the book from sending his mind images. Years upon years, as the Dragon God of the Faunus came to visit, there were fewer people, the Dragon Emperor changing, as the book skipped between the ancient past and the more recent past.
“We have come!”
There was darkness around them, as the sun was blotted out by their presence, as they stared down at the diminutive figure that stood there like a stern gargoyle, diminutive yet fearless. He recalled the child that had met him briefly once, as she stared at the others several moments before she spoke.
“You worthless maggots, you long-necked worms! The Empress is dead! Do something about it!”
She was different from the meek girl that he’d met before, the girl which had been a frequent presence during his visits, now fully possessed with a fire inside her soul which made him nod his head, her expression burning bright.
“You insult us, Child of the Faunus, I am-“
He stalled his brother, and the tirade continued. Ao Zhe, as her name was, continued to shout at them, her voice raw and hoarse by the third day. His brother had remained silent, as had he.
“vile serpents, do something about it- koff, koff- because you are the Gods and you can do anything-koff-.”
His brother had intended to wipe the planet clean of his creations many times, as they bore the torrent of abuse that she hurled at them, but he had been there to counter his brother many times.
“We will not resurrect your Empress, Ao Zhe. It is not permitted.”
The words were a decree, as he looked at the woman who stood there, her expression darkening, clearly upset with his words, but he was not to let it distract her.
“We will go. Bring forth your Emperor and I shall grant him time to reign. That is my decree.”
The argument between him and his brother which followed, after the next emperor had been granted permission to sit upon the throne, was enough to wipe out a cluster of the galaxy, as they quarreled about the rights, but he was adamant.
They were his Creations, his children. They were upset that their Empress had died, yet he was sure that they would be loving and kind. Ao Zhe was the kindest that he had seen yet.
The seed had been planted, years before this day, after all.
A home within a city which translated to ‘valley’, a mother that could not conceive, within a place that held the remnants of nobility. A father that paced in front of the study, as the deity joined them. The womb was barren, due to consumption of the poison root in vain pursuit of ‘youth’, as some of the mendicants prescribed, in a reading of the woman’s memories, and he placed a claw upon her body.
He did not alter more than what had been already present, giving her the spark of life within her womb. Her dark hair was like spun shadow, as her eyes were a deep brown color, as her belly glowed with the life he created.
“Jonas! Jonas!”
She called out, and the God advanced the progress of that feeble spark, just a little bit. It would grow stronger inside her, as the husband, his hair a dark brown color, his eyes the shade of deep green pools.
“I... I think I am with child, Jonas.”
The family’s crest was a massive tree, but he would be watching over the little child.
Six months later, he was there at the birth, the mother screaming in her labor as she pushed the child out. Blonde hair and bright blue eyes looked up at his parents, but they were overjoyed to have a son.
“What... What should we name him?”
The Mother asked of her husband, and she looked at him expectantly.
“His name shall be Jaune Dark.”
The voice that commanded all spoke, as the father mimicked the words.
“His name shall be Jaune Dark.”
There was a pause, as the father looked at the child, as the deity looked at the little life that he had created all those months before, for one special little girl.
“And may you be with the mate that you were created for, little one. For I am your Father, and I wish for you to be with my daughter.”
The little Turtle wasn’t his daughter by blood, but she had been marked by him, and for that, her wish would be granted.
He was proud of his people. This would be the catalyst to bring unity to the people.
The young man was currently approaching the place where Zhe was, bathing in the stream, as he watched over them both. Several people had already attempted to interfere with His plan for the young man, as he focused on the strange vehicle. It had two wheels and something that looked like some sort of box at the back, which was glowing with the fuel, a shard of magic burning within the depths.
The Grimm that tore out from the shadows, slamming into the vehicle made it explode, as the young man bounced across the landscape, before getting up.
“AWW MAN, MY BIKE! I’m days away from the next settlement!”
The Grimm was killed by the young man with a swift strike. It had not been something that had been created to be strong, but the God watched how the young man rubbed his head, trying to shake the dirt and muck off his body.
“I better get clean. The map said that there was a stream to the east of here, so... Get clean, make sure that I get my bearings, then make shelter.”
They would meet.
“Heey, you there, I’m-“
Ao Zhe swung at him with her blade. The god didn’t really understand, there was nothing wrong with the two of them, as Jaune Dark parried the blade, and then slipped, the two of them landing in the stream, the man getting up again, and looking surprised.
“Oh shit!”
Ao Zhe had lost consciousness due to hitting her head on a boulder, the young man pulling her out of the water, the young man dragging her to shore and then looking her over.
“Shit, she’s not breathing! Okay, eh... whatever, I need to get her airway clear, that’s what the Medic said I should do... Okay, breathe, lady! Breathe!”
The awkward way that he pressed on her chest was something that he did not really understand, but the scream from her was loud.
“Woah, lady! I just saved your life and- you’re not from around here, are you?”
The screaming of ‘You dare to defile me!? DIE!’ from Ao Zhe was loud, as they struggled, and he decided to aid the young man a little, because Zhe was going to be overpowering him in some swift time, as he held her pinned down.
“Let me go! Human, let go of me, you stupid pig-faced bastard!”
“I don’t know what your problem is, lady! I just- Oh, you’ve got a tail. You’re a Faunus, aren’t you?”
There was an awkward silence between the two of them, nearly an hour later, as they made some tentative peace, after he’d gone and retrieved her blade. The God had put it against one of the rocks at the spot that she’d dropped it, below the water, after the current of the river had swept it downstream.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but once our clothes dry, let’s travel together. I’m not going to judge a Faunus for what she’s like... I did scare you, after all.”
The retort from Zhe was quieter.
“I will not forget your insult, human. I owe you my life... I will repay you, with that which is most sacred to me. Humph! I don’t want to have to owe you! You’re human!”
Later that night, when the fire had been dimmed to flames, he watched the woman get up and then do some weird dance. Since he didn’t really understand what it was like, it was almost queer to see how the young man woke up and screamed ‘why are you on top of me!’ and Zhe responded by claiming his body with hers, pushing down upon it.
Things picked up a little faster, and they were doing things that he had seen wild animals do. He had never really been interested in that kind of thing, knowing merely that there was a way for animals to procreate.
One of the Grimm came up to them, during the moment where he had pinned her to the bedding, and he fought it off, only for the turtle to grab his head and kiss him.
The God watched it and saw them depart in the morning, Zhe and Jaune Dark communicating through their hand gestures.
Jaune felt tired, as he kept the book in his hands. Seeing that Ashe had been given his grandfather as the granted wish that she’d uttered once, a long time ago, was a little shocking, but he supposed it had all ended well. There had been children, after all. Grandfather had been serious, but he had loved the family.
“Let... let it go, Jaune. I’m- I can’t hold on. His memory is too powerful.”
Salem was trying to make him let go of this book, as he felt a deep sense of sorrow inside his heart, knowing that there was more in this book that held the recollection of the God of the Faunus.
‘I want to know...’
Bedlam.
Death.
He appeared in the air, on his day of visitation. Time was meaningless, but he could see them there, upon the grounds around a fortress of sorts, the sight of humanity and the Faunus opposite of each other.
Bodies were flying through the air, the Faunus twisted in rage and hate, making him feel pained.
They had been created out of love, and they should be loving. Ever since the time he had invested the Emperor with his authority, he had not been called.
He had only gone down on the day itself to find his creations, to see whether they were doing alright.
Malformed, with shortened lives that had been altered to fit for something, his gifts perverted and twisted in ways that they should not have been.
He shrank down to a humanoid size, as he watched the humans and the Faunus clash, his gaze drawn to the sight of crosses raised, with people nailed to them. The brutality of it made his heart clench, as he froze time, looking at the agonized face of the man that was nailed to the cross, the grandchild of His favored Zhe.
Pain, more than that, as he touched the young man’s forehead with a finger, recalling what things had happened from the memory of the man, as he breathed in deeply, letting out a quiet whisper, as he understood.
This war was senseless. They would have enough similarity to be at peace, but they had not been at peace.
He appeared before a lowly Faunus, a member of those who had been reared too quickly, malformed and swiftly grown through the power that he had bestowed upon the Phoenix. The traits blended together, ill-formed and ill-shaped.
The child would not live to see thirty when the heart failed.
“Greetings, child.”
The words echoed in the silence, as the Faunus screamed, and he wished to comfort it, to inquire why there was such rage against his brother’s creations.
“Why do you fight?”
The words that were uttered from the mouth of the Faunus were frenzied, full of conviction.
“Annihilator, do not blight us with your presence! We believe in the Creator, the one who has blessed us with the light of day, so that we may not suffer the human presence much longer!”
He felt melancholic at the thought of it, as he let his mind process that.
He transported himself to the Four, who were to execute the will of the dragon. They would be able to tell him that the lowly Faunus had lied to him, certainly.
An immortal will was shaken, as he appeared before the Four, the members of the upper court of the Dragon currently in a large tent, standing there before them in silence.
“Greetings, blessed ones.”
The formal title for those that had received the blessing of becoming his relics, living and breathing and experiencing the world. Where there was creation, there was also choice. He had given them the freedom and the choice, without direction.
“We do not need to see you, Annihilator! We have our God, who burns like the sun! Our prince, Taiyang, shall turn you from our lands, if you appear. We are doing what is demanded of us, to ensure that no human will ever blight this world again!”
The words brought a deep melancholy in his heart, as he accepted the words. He could not bear to destroy them for their words, for he loved them, yet his heart was broken with every admission, as he walked through the silence of frozen time, speaking with the members of his people who were present, telling him the same thing, over and over again.
And so, the God turned His attention from his people.
“That’s... that’s so sad... So sad.”
The rejected God, brought low by the emotions that he felt when he had heard from his people that they knew him not, was something that brought him grief and sadness, as he could hear Salem gasp. Tears were dripping onto the pages, as he felt his heart burst with the heavy emotions that surged.
‘She’s here too.’
Another page was turned, and he could feel loneliness and despair overturn him, as he was drawn into the memory, years before.
“It is time, Brother. Our duty comes.”
He was sullen and morose, aware that they no longer sang to him, the heavy feeling leaving him caught in that heart-breaking pain, as he felt nothing but the agony and the pain.
“As you wish, Brother. Let us... let us find a vessel, so that you may judge my people.”
He had not told his brother, as it was private to him. His people, rejecting him in favor of the bright one that would harm them.
“Please... Please, make her live. Oh God of my forebears, make her live! I will do anything.”
A girl’s voice, small and tiny, yet calling out for the God that had once watched the people, as he tore open a rift towards the space that she inhabited, as they emerged upon the Remnant of the world of Paradise.
A girl, holding a small body, her eyes looking at them with fear, as his brother gazed at her.
“What are you willing to sacrifice, girl?”
His brother spoke, before he had time to.
“Brother, I will invest you within the body. May they have their test, as they are judged by your eyes.”
His brother gave a confused glance, as silver eyes met with his own golden ones.
“There is a vessel. I will invest you, with the one known as Salem. Let it be the trial that she completes, as your emissary continues to.”
The girl was frozen, as his brother turned into motes of light, coalescing around his claw, which reached out to touch the forehead of the babe, before he pushed it in.
“Camellia Cassandra Dark, I see you. As you have requested, your sister lives. Remember... We are watching.”
He was alone.
He disappeared, before the father of the girl would come to the room to find the child alive once more.
He appeared in his domain, the ruins of what had once been his people visible, the cross still standing there, as he regarded the craggy rocks. A Beowolf pressed against his scaled thigh, demanding his attention in a subtle manner, as he mourned what had been.
His Faunus, creatures that he had given authority and love, had turned against him. His brother did not know, nor did he understand.
He rose into the air, his wings beating once, to carry him aloft. The world that they had once called Paradise, was now only a Remnant. He flew through the world’s skies, spotting the signs of humanity’s dominance. His Faunus were enslaved, only a husk of what they had been.
A husk that was barely worth saving.
He flew up high, above his domain, before he willed himself to be as they had been.
The descent seared him, as he crashed down upon the craggy rock, his gaze to the place where Salem had been crucified, in the line of vision of the place where his people, the ones that he had created in the image of his Brother, had lived once upon a time.
Death was preferable to escape the loneliness.
“Receive your judgement, my children. May you be kind, as I am not your arbiter anymore! All Universe Burn, judge them! Remember the words that are etched within my talon and heed them, lest you be wiped from this world!”
It took years to bleed out after that mournful cry, unheard by the creatures that had been created with his love.
Jaune dropped the book, staring at it. Salem had gone bone-white, her eyes wide.
“A... a- ah.... ahhh?”
Her eyes were wild, as she seemed to twitch, the knowledge that a creator of this world had passed away. Salem’s eyes rolled back into her head and she dropped like a sack of potatoes.
It wasn’t fair.
It wasn’t fair to the Faunus, but they had driven their own creator to kill Himself. It was not fair that Ashe should be dead, and that their own God had died from a broken heart.
‘This isn’t right...’
The book he picked up again, walking with it to the bed, where Ashe laid, opening it up again. There was a different picture upon the page that he had opened the book on, a large sandy desert, with Faunus depicted trudging through the desert.
‘I don’t...’
He remembered what he had seen. The Faunus had been crying out for their Father, screaming and pleading for their Creator, who was no longer with them.
Tears fell onto the page, as he felt melancholy fill him.
“This isn’t right...”
He recalled Yang’s face, sleeping and at ease, her expression unworried about anything in the world, trusting him with her faith.
“He loved you enough to bring you a mate, Ashe.”
His hand reached out and touched the old woman’s body, before he gazed down at the book.
The sands looked real, as two figures stood there, and he realized that the same place had been what he had visited.
‘Did he... did he put their afterlife within this book?’
It was... it was fantastic.
“That’s madness! You killed the Empress, because of your belief? Is your brain broken?!”
Her father had just admitted that there had been a conspiracy to kill the Dragon, one which had succeeded. Her father’s face was gloating, showing that negative emotion, as his facial features seemed to blacken, the skin turning almost to hide, as if there was some monster inside of him trying to escape from the depths of the man.
“We are the children of a God! We were created to be above them! We do not need our god! What are we, if not chosen? You were a mistake, Zhe! The sooner that you realize this, you will understand!”
The shape of the man was twisting, as Ashe took a few steps back, her father’s features turning more Grimm-like, and a cool side of her remarked that it was remarkable to see that her father was returned to a beast, wearing the mask of a Faunus.
‘He loved us! I will keep on believing in him. He may be dead, but he loved us!’
She would never accept this.
“He loved us! Even if we were to disappoint him, he would never abandon us! We are his beloved Children!”
She would defend the God until her dying breath, allowing herself that little bit of leeway to speak her peace, as her father’s form was twisting, the man’s shape like that of a Grimm now, a large Turtle Grimm, like which lurked in the shallows.
“We are superior, Zhe! We are the divine creatures, brought here to be overlords to this world! We do not need gods! We are superior by nature!”
She felt her hatred for her father rise, as she remembered her late husband, Jaune. He had been a clumsy fool, never quite letting her manage everything about the world, but there was some love! More than that, she would even admit to wanting to care for him and his family, which she had done! Loyalty was worth more to her than mere duty.
“Your grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren are humans, father. You do not speak the truth. You are a hypocrite!”
She was one too, she knew. Whenever things got tough, she lied. The Truth would prevent you from lying if it were applied, but she, as guardian of the Truth, knew that there were ways to lie without lying outright. It all depended on perspective.
“Father! I love my husband, my child and my grandchildren! My great-grandchildren are strong and healthy, blessed by your great presence! May the eternal empire rise once more as we pay homage to you, our Father, who art with us, in good times and in the bad!”
She remembered some of the soothsayings, which had once appeared hogwash and nonsense, but which now seemed to fit. Her father’s form twisted and cracked, shaping into the Grimm, a face that was familiar to her as its mask.
“You are no daughter of mine. You reject our Divinity! May you wander without the release of joy.”
Her father departed, a Grimm trudging through the sand, Faunus screaming and scattering, and in a single turn of darkness, her father was gone.
Ashe gritted her teeth.
‘I’ll find out who I can cuss out and I’ll kick their ass! Father, dead? These heretical stupid egg bastards will know that Ao Zhe has a bone to pick with them! Betraying Father’s love and deciding that there would be the death of an Empress on my watch?! I will find them all and show them that Ao Zhe does not know the meaning of the word mercy!’
She set her face in a leer, as she started to march up the sand dune, the sweat dripping down her body, as she tried to find one of the soulless bastards that had made the decision to go and kill her Empress!
She had a plethora of axes to grind, and an eternity in which to do it, being dead and all!
Insert Book of Revelation joke here.
Well, this took a while to publish, and it will undoubtedly create some happy people who see this update...
And some people who go 'Whyyyy! We want more!' Well, I'll try to deliver!
Leave a comment if you'd like to!