"Pretty..." I said in awe. "Ooh. I wonder what she tastes like." Ash said, in which I quickly hushed him. 

"I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge," Jinn introduced. "I've been graced with the ability to answer three question every 100 years. You're in luck as I'm able to answer-"

"That's enough!" Ozpin shouted. "...Two questions in this era," Jinn finished. "Ha... It's a pleasure to see you again, old man."

"Ruby, please... Don't." Ozpin begged. "Hey..." Qrow said, but everyone quickly got on guard in case he was going to stop Ruby. "Do whatever you think is right, kiddo."

Ruby looked at me, and I gave a nod, telling her that she should do it.

"Jinn..." Ruby said, facing the blue-skinned woman. "What is Ozpin hiding from us?"

"NOOO!"

Ozpin suddenly charged towards Ruby and everything went white. Everyone had disappeared, including Ash. "Ruby? Yang? Ash?" I called.

"Once upon a time..."

I turned around as a castle appeared from blue smoke. "There stood a lonely tower... That sheltered a lonely girl..."

The blue smoke appeared again, but this time, it showed a woman with blonde hair, sitting in front of a mirror.

Hesitantly, I walked towards her, and she turned around in her chair.

"Named... Salem."

*****

"Locked away by her cruel father, Salem was a girl who desired one thing; freedom," Jinn explained.

"She lived in a time when kings and their kingdoms were plentiful, when men and women were capable of greatness, and magic was a gift from the gods that all could wield,"

"Whoa..." I said in awe when Salem performed magic. But she looked sad, lonely, and miserable.

"And yet, there she sat within her tower... until one day, a legendary hero came to brave challenges within the tower's wall..."

The blue smoke made Salem disappear and showed the outside of the tower as a man stood in front of it from a distance. I walked in front of him to get a good look at him.

"The people of the lands knew him as Ozma. Unlike those who had come before, this warrior was not driven by the prize of the young maiden's hand. He fought only for righteousness, and his pure heart and courageous soul prevailed..."

Ozma found Salem, and the two of them escaped the tower. "So, where should we go now?" Salem asked him. "Wherever you like." He replied.

"The two fell deeply in love, planned adventures around the world, and lived happily ever after. Or at least, that's what should've been..." Jinn continued.

"Ozma, the infallible legend fell ill. And where all of the beasts and blades of the world had fallen short, a single sickness prevailed."

Salem sobbed as she gripped Ozma's weapon in her hands. "How could the gods let this happen?" She said with tears trailing down her cheeks.

"The gods... Brothers of light and darkness, creation and destruction..." Jinn said.

"Salem prayed that they would see the injustice that had befallen her love and make things right. The Domain of Light was a sacred place. It was here the elder brother dwelled beside his fountain of life and creation. It was here where mankind would fall to ruin..."

The God of Light revealed himself and walked along the water, approaching Salem. "Please..." Salem begged while falling to her knees. "Please, bring him back to me."

"I understand your pain, but you demand of me that which I cannot make so. Life and death are part of a delicate balance." The God of Light explained.

"So... you won't do it then?" Salem asked in disbelief.

"To disrupt the cycle of-"

"But that's not fair. THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!" Salem yelled, angrily as her voice echoed throughout the domain.

"Let. Him. Rest." The God of Light said before taking Salem to the bottom of the stone stairs. "No." Salem replied, frowning.

Salem walked away, heading to the dark land I was at when she was training me. "This is..." I trailed off in realization. "The God of Darkness..." Jinn spoke.

"None dared to enter his home as men knew what monstrosity emerged from his blackened pools of annihilation. And so, you must understand the dark lord's surprise when we found a lone woman kneeling before him. Salem understood it well."

My eyes widened when the God of Darkness emerged from the black pool and began cracking his joints while walking towards Salem in a weird way.

"She told him of her loss, and her fessed that she knew that only he could answer her payers, all well careful to make no mention of his elder."

"Rise, child... and let your faith in me be rewarded." The God of Darkness spoke. Salem obeyed, rose to her feet, and the God of Darkness granted her wish as he brought back Ozma.

Ozma began to freak out while Salem assured him that everything was going to be okay until the God of Light appeared.

"What have you done?" He asked his brother. "I've done what I please, Brother. You may have basked in the powers of creation, but you do not own them." The God of Darkness stated.

"This is not creation."

"Do not lecture me!"

Creatures of Grimm began to surround them as they growled and snarled. "I will do what I must to maintain order." The God of Light said, and made Ozma disappear.

"No! No, what did you do?" She screamed. "Bring him back!"

"You dare enter my domain and show such disrespect?!" The God of Darkness shouted to his brother and brought Ozma back. "Ozma!" Salem said, holding him.

"I am abiding by the rules WE agreed upon!" The elder brother argued.

"Rules that I now see that were ever in your favor. And yet, the day a mortal comes to pray at my feet before your own, show you your right to lay your judgement upon me!"

The God of Darkness transformed into a dragon and let out a roar. The Creatures of Grimm pounced at the God of Light emerged from his body.

I shielded myself, then looked just in time to see the Grimm had turn into black smoke, and the God of Light had transformed into a dragon himself.

"I know we have our differences, but I have not come here with the mean to control you," He said to his brother. "The same, however, cannot be said for her. This woman came to you only after I denied her pleas, pleas that would've destructed the balance that you and I created together."

"Then, it seems I owe you an apology," The God of Darkness said. "Allow me to correct my mistake."

"No!" Salem shielded Ozma as the God of Darkness breathed purple fire towards them, killing Ozma once more.

"You... You monsters! Give him back to me! Give him back!" Salem ordered. Before she could use her powers against them, the God of Light swallowed her up and transported her to his domain.

"When you first came to me, I did pity you," The God of Light said as he and his brother stood before her. "But it is clear now that your selfishness and arrogance have led you astray."

"What did you do to me?!" Salem asked, looking down at her hands. "I have made you immortal." He explained. "Immortal?" She repeated.

"You cannot die. You cannot be with your beloved." The younger brother said.

"So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face." The two brothers said in sync.

"You must learn the importance of life and death," The God of Light told her. "Only then may you rest."

"Salem was a prisoner once again," Jinn said.

"Her fruitless attempts to reunite with Ozma eventually became nothing more than acts of spite and defiance against the gods. But perhaps the gods were not as powerful as they seemed. She had lied to them, turned them against one another. They... were fallible. If she were to turn humanity against light and darkness, she could rid herself of their curse. Or to the very least, she could make them suffer,"

Salem threw her sword in my direction, causing me to yelp in surprise. But I forgot this was only a vision and the weapon went through me.

"Salem traveled from one kingdom to another, telling tales of how she stole immortality from the gods, welcomed any swordsman to cut her down, and demonstrated her powers. With the kings and queens in all, she pulled them deeper into her scheme. She painted them pictures of a time when they would no longer have to watch their loved ones wither and die when they could claim the powers of their creators for themselves. And in turn, perfect their own desires. All they needed to do was destroy their old masters. The gods had hoped that Salem would learn from her eternal curse, and she did. She learned that the ears of men are easily swept."

When Salem returned to the Brother Gods, she had an army of all the kingdoms. They tried using their powers against them, and the God of Darkness retaliated by using those same powers to wipe out humanity.

"Once again, Salem was alone. She cursed the gods, she cursed the universe, she cursed everything. Everything but herself. She wandered the face of the planet, awaiting the death that would never come... until fate led her back to the Land of Darkness..."

Salem stood near a cliff, standing above a pool blackness. Did she plan on jumping into it?

"This was it. This had to be it. The brother's Grimm. The pools of black that continued to give rise to horrific nightmares. If the fountain of life granted her immortality, then surely the pools of Grimm would finally take it away. She was wrong."

"Wrong?" I repeated in confusion. "The force of pure destruction could not destroy a being of infinite life. Instead, it created a being of infinite life with a desire for pure destruction. And in time, she would find her adversary."

Ozma appeared again, but everything was white. "Ozma..." The God of Light said as he appeared before him.

"Where... am I?" He asked. "We are between realms. I'm afraid a... tragedy has befallen your home at the hands of my brother," The God of Light explained. "We have chosen to depart this world. But in our absence, I would like to offer you the chance to return to it."

"I... don't understand." Ozma replied. "Mankind is no more. Yet, your world remains, and in time, your kind will grow to walk its face once again. However, without our presence, they will be but a fraction of what they once were," The God explained.

"Creation. Destruction. Choice, and knowledge were the ideals upon which humanity was made. Now, I leave them behind with the hope that you may learn to remake yourselves. If brought together, these four relics will summon my brother and I back to your world, and humanity will be judged. If your kind has learned to live in harmony with one another, and set aside their differences, then we shall once again live among you, and humanity will be made whole again. But if your kind is unchanged, if you demand our blessings while still fighting amongst yourselves, then man will be found irredeemable, and your world will be wiped from existence. Until your task is complete, you will reincarnate, but in a manner that assures you that you are never alone."

"I'm sorry, but... that world just isn't as dear to me without her. If I may, I'd rather return to the afterlife to see Salem." Ozma said, politely. "You will not find her there." The God of Light replied.

"You mean... she isn't gone?" Ozma asked. "Salem lives, but the woman you hold dear in your memories is gone. Heed this warning. Where you seek comfort, you will only find pain. So, will you-"

"I'll do it!" Ozma interrupted the God of Light. "Very well. Our creation rests within your hands." He said. "And so... Ozma was reborn," I heard Jinn say.

As Ozma returned, he aided a man before he could be killed by a Beowolf.

"Ozma had found himself in a world completely unfamiliar to him. Cities looked different, creatures known as the Faunus bore fangs and claws, and were locked away in cages. And without the blessing of the gods, no one could perform magic like mankind was once capable of. No one but himself and a woman known as... The Witch. During his years of travel, he heard the same, frightened whispers that spoke of a terrifying sorceress who commanded dark powers in the wilds among the beasts and monsters. Ozma was convinced that this "witch" was Salem, and decided that he needed to see what she had become..."

As Ozma approached a rundown house, Salem angrily emerged from it. But her frown soon faded as she stared at Ozma, as if recognizing him.

"Call it magic, or call it something stronger, but in that moment, the two knew exactly who is was that stood before them."

"What do we do now?" Ozma asked. "Whatever we like." Salem replied with a smile.

"As Salem and Ozma recounted the events which had brought them back together, each withheld parts of their story. Salem, fearing Ozma would reject her, blamed the end of the world on the gods. Ozma, still unsure of where they truth lay, kept his task and the relics a secret," Jinn explained.

"Though time passed, and all seemed well, Ozma's conversation with the God of Light still lingered in his mind. He had found happiness, but humanity seemed more divided than ever before."

"Are you surprised?" Salem asked Ozma. "This world is quite literally godless. These humans have no one to guide them. Perhaps that's all they need."

"What are you saying?" Ozma asked. "We could become the gods of this world. Our powers surpass all others. Our souls transcend death. We can mold these lands into whatever we want, what you want. Create the paradise that old gods could not." Salem explained to them.

"The hearts of men... are easily swayed," Jinn mentioned. "The two amassed a following. That following grew into a prosperous kingdom, and at the head of that kingdom blossomed a family."

"Are we sure this is right?" Ozma asked while looking into an orb, watching people fight each other.

"You said we needed to bring humanity together. In order to do that, we had to spread our word and destroy those who will deny it." Salem stated.

"This isn't what he asked of me." Ozma mumbled. "What did you say?" Salem asked, and one of their daughters burst into the room.

"Mother, Father! Look!" She said, performing magic. "It was a miracle. Their children could perform magic," Jinn said.

"But what should have been a joyous occasion, was short lived. Ozma told Salem everything. The true reason the God of Light had brought him back. The relics that they had scattered around the world, and the day of judgement he had been told to prepare for..."

"Don't you see? None of that matters anymore. Why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans when we can replace them with what they could never be?" Salem mentioned.

Later that night, Ozma attempted to sneak out of the castle with his children, but Salem spotted them.

Angered, she attacked Ozma and they engaged in battle. In the event of all this, they didn't realize they had killed their children.

Ozma, who was wounded, tried crawling away. But Salem managed to pin him down with her foot. "We finally had freedom." Salem said to him.

Ozma wasn't able to respond to her as she shot fire at him, burning him alive. "Thus, began a long and painful cycle of death and rebirth for Ozma," Jinn spoke again.

"Some lives were spent in mourning, many were spent attempting to forget it all. But no matter what, his mind would eventually turn back to the task he had been burdened with. And as the centuries went on, Ozma began to learn the importance of living with the souls of with which he had been paired. But no matter where or how he lived, her presence was always felt. If humanity were to ever stand a chance of being united, one thing was clear..."

"He had to destroy Salem." I murmured, sadly. "Knowing he could never rid the world of her through any mortal means, Ozma sought out the power of the relics. Armed with my knowledge, he believed he could fulfill his promise to the God of Light." Jinn replied.

"Where are the other relics?" Ozma asked the Jinn from the past.

"He asked me his questions."

"What powers do they possess?"

"And though I gave him my answers, not all of them were to his liking..."

Jinn's response to Ozma's last question had me dumbfounded as I felt my stomach drop with dread.

"How do I destroy Salem?"

"You can't."