Over the next few months you were able to repair your relationship with your old friends. Tai was the first to come around. Even after all these years he was still your best friend, and a few months later, he was your best man. Qrow took a bit longer to convince, but Tai managed to help. He tricked Qrow into meeting with you by inviting him out for drinks, coincidentally forgetting to mention you'd be there. Under influence of alcohol, the two of you managed to forget the past and look to the future. Raven was the hardest to win over. She was livid that you tried to kill her family, especially Yang. Summer, Tai, and Qrow all tried to fight for your cause, but no amount of vouching had any impact. She was furious with you and Summer when she discovered Summer was pregnant with your child, and even angrier upon discovering you and Summer were to be wed. It wasn't until you saved a nine-month-old Yang from a particularly fierce pack of Beowolves did Raven finally begin to change her mind. It was a slow process, and things were still far from fine, but your relationship was repaired enough to the point where she agreed to be Summer's maid of honor.

Summer was three months pregnant when the two of you got married, the bump just starting to show. It was a small event; only close friends were present. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding, held in the middle of April. A fifteen-month-old Yang acted as your flower girl, though she became distracted by a butterfly and began chasing it instead until her mother helped her down the rest of the aisle. Professor Ozpin acted as the officiator, and a handful of other Beacon professors were present as well, including your old classmate, Glynda Goodwitch.

The next six months were absolute bliss. You had never been happier in your life. You had worked hard repaying for all your past sins; rebuilding villages you had destroyed and providing them with protection. You had your friends back by your side and even made a few new ones. Best of all was your wife, Summer Rose, and your soon to be daughter. Summer was due to deliver in the next few weeks and you couldn't be more excited. The two of you had yet to choose a name for your soon to be baby girl. You were particularly fond of the name Autumn, but Summer thought having two seasons in one family was a bit much, and instead wanted to name her Ruby. You thought that name was even more corny, but deep down you new that if Summer wanted to name your daughter Ruby, that your daughter would be named Ruby.

Despite the pure joy of the past year, there was still one problem. One extremely significant problem. Salem. Her presence lingered in the back of your mind for the past nine months like some distant storm cloud looming on the horizon. You knew she was coming for you. You didn't know when, but you knew it would happen. And now with a child on the way, you had never had more to lose. As a husband and a father, it was your duty to ensure your family was safe, and so long as Salem was alive, they would always be in danger. This had to change. If you allowed your daughter to be born into a world where evil such as Salem was allowed to live, you had already failed as a father.

You awoke early one Saturday morning. Removing Summer's arm from around your shoulders, you slowly got out of bed. Summer's hand searched for you in her sleep. Moving to the closet you donned your best white suit. Kissing Summer on the forehead and stomach, you exited the bedroom. Grabbing your white trench coat from the coat rack that also housed Summer's white cloak, you left your house, closing the door softly behind you.

With one final look at your home, you disappeared in a swirl of white fabric as you turned on the spot and sped towards Salem's fortress at light speed. Slowing down as you approach the castle, flying with your stomach low to the ground, the doors open for you as you get close. The way to Salem's throne room is still ingrained in your memory, something you're both disgusted and ashamed by. The doors to the throne room open, Watts and Tyrian standing on either side of the entrance, Hazel sitting in his chair. Salem stands looking out the window, hands folded behind her back.

"I've been expecting you." Salem says, almost uninterestedly. "Tell me, what exactly is your plan here?"

"I would have thought that'd be obvious to you." You say back.

"So, you're here to kill me?" She laughs. "I've lived for over one thousand years. You are not the first person to make an attempt on my life, nor will you be the last."

"We'll see." You smirk.

"This is beneath me." Salem says, walking away from you and sitting in her throne. "Hazel, Tyrian, Watts, take him."

Tyrian laughs maniacally as he and Watts move from beside the door and over to you. Tyrian jumps over your hand and lands behind you while Watts produces a sci-fi looking weapon from within his jacket. Eyes shifting from Watts to Tyrian, you clench your fists in preparation for a fight. You hear a chair move from behind you and turn in time to see Hazel flipping the large table and throwing it in your direction. At the same time, Tyrian lunges at you as Watts fires a blast from his gun. Closing your eyes, your body becomes intangible. The table passes through you and crashes into Watts, causing him to misfire and hit Tyrian instead. Tyrian releases a shriek of agony as his body begins to turn to ash.

Turning your attention from the now smoldering pile of ash and Watts' crushed body, you watch as Hazel grabs handfuls of dust and inject them into his arms. You back up as the dust flows through his veins, your back hitting one of the many windows. Growling, Hazel charges at you, his arms spread wide. Bearing down upon your cornered figure, he swipes his arms, but they simply pass through you as you wisp away into smoke. An illusion. As he looks around in confusion, you send a powerful blast on energy from your hands, sending him crashing through the window and falling several hundred feet to the land below.

"Imbeciles." Salem rolls her eyes.

"I know how much you hate to get your hands dirty Salem." You jab.

"Sometimes even a god must stoop in order to conquer." She says, rising from her chair.

You stare each other in the eyes as you gather your power. Dark shadows seem to flow from the air into Salem's very being, her aura growing darker with every passing second. You take several deep breaths, the light around you flaring with each inhale. And still you continue to just stare at one another, eyes narrowing, resolve hardening.

You're the first to make a move. Raising your right hand, you emit a powerful blast of light from your palm. Salem lazily raises her hand and flicks her wrist, dissipating the beam. Lowering her arm, her red eyes burning, the darkness begins to spread from the air surrounding her and it creeps across the room, swallowing it in shadows. As they get closer to you, you can feel an impending sense of dread, causing you to shiver. Taking a deep breath, you fight back with your surrounding aura, driving the darkness away, replacing the coldness with warmth.

"I see you've finally found your conviction." Salem observes. "Only a true soldier of light could match my power."

She then straightens her arm and points her fingers in your direction. A crack forms in the ground, extending from Salem and quickly reaching you. Black steam rises from the fissure, like that of a geyser. As it gets closer to you, you clap your hands together and push your palms forwards. The black smoke surrounding you vanishes, replaced by sparkles of light, like water droplets hanging in the air, forming a cloud of mist. You know Salem's only using a fraction of her power, simply gauging a sense of your own power levels. She seems satisfied.

Salem suddenly moves faster than you would have thought possible. Waving one arm in large circle, as she finishes drawing the arc, her other arm repeats the motion in the opposite direction. The air rushes around her and a large swirling black cloud of smoke gets sent flying in your direction. Eyes widening, you quickly grab one end of your trench coat, swinging out in front of you. The smoke seems to be swallowed by the insides of your jacket. While you're distracted by her first attack, Salem disappears in a swirl of her robes, reforming behind you. She sends sharp shadows hurling in your direction, similar to those you use to command, only on a much higher caliber of power. Levitating, you swerve around them. Flying by your head and stabbing into the ground, one of them finally manages to catch you. As it flies at your face, you clap your hands over either end of it, like catching a sword. The force of the attack still sends you flying backwards and crashing into the wall.

Getting to your feet, you quickly dive roll out of the way of another shadow. Making finger guns, you mimic shooting at her. Small burst of light shoot from your aura with each flick of your wrist. Salem raises her hand in front of her, moving it ever so slightly as she redirects where she forms her barrier that blocks your shots.

"Child." She spits. One of your shots manages to slip past her and graze her across the cheek. She turns her head in surprise, and when she looks back at you, she's scowling. Her red eyes burning with anger as she bleeds black from a small cut across her cheek. Growling, she plants both her hands on the ground. Two large black hands rise from the floor underneath you, lifting you into the air before crashing together, like a child trying to squash a fly. Light flashes from within the clasped palms and the hands release you, almost like they were burned.

You fly at Salem, leaving a streak of white light in your wake. Just as you're about to reach her, another hand rises from the ground, this one pinning you to the ceiling, one of the sharp fingers piercing you through the shoulder. Yelling in pain, you wriggle one hand free and place it on the ceiling of the palace. A circle of light appears on the ceiling and from it, a swarm of small cherubs erupts, all flying at Salem. Upon closer inspection one might notice they closely resemble a Summer with wings, each carrying a small scythe instead of a harp. As they collide with Salem, they burst and disappear in a firework like explosion.

"Enough!" Salem shouts. A powerful darkness erupts from around her, causing the rest of the Summers to vanish. "This is over. You are nothing more than an insect. A minor annoyance that can no longer be tolerated."

The room slowly begins to be thrust into blackness, the shadows creeping along the walls and floors as you slowly back away from them. One of the shadows suddenly lunges at you, but you blast it apart with a powerful beam of light. Backed against the wall, your breathing starting to quicken, you summon a bubble of light to surround you. The darkness outside your dome claws and scratches at the shield as it tries to get to you. As Salem gets closer and closer, your dome starts to shrink. With a chop of her hand, the darkness tears through your protection and wraps around your body, leaving only your head free.

"Any last words?" She snarls.

You look into her red eyes and smirk. "Gotcha."

The shadows collapse on themselves as you disappear. Another illusion. Reappearing behind Salem, she can't react in time to stop you from grabbing her face. Your battle turns into one of wills, pitting Salem's inner darkness against the love you hold for Summer and your unborn daughter. Slowly, the darkness starts to spread up your arms. You scream in pain, the amount of energy it takes to hold her back is tremendous, and it only grows with each inch she gains.

"I told you (F/N)," she says, "there's a reason why soldiers of darkness are more common." She takes her hands a digs her fingers into you head. "It's because we have so much more power."

"No!" You gasp as you struggle to fight back. "You're wrong."

With tremendous effort, you slowly drive the shadows back. You don't stop, instead beginning to spread light into Salem's figure. Her eyes start to flicker as she begins to panic.

"I don't believe that. I think soldiers of darkness are more common because it's easier." The light has reached Salem's neck, completely surrounding her lower body. "It's difficult, to always do what's right. But it's easy to hate. It's easy to lie, and cheat, and steal. It's the easy way to get power. But in reality, it just makes you weak."

"Wait." Salem panics as the light creeps up her neck. "Stop! You can't! You don't know what you're doing. You can't kill me. Wherever there's light there must be shadows. The world needs to have darkness otherwise it will be destroyed!"

"I won't let you hurt my family!" You shout. "If there has to be darkness in this world, then I'll bear it myself!"

"But you're a soldier of light." She whimpers, the light now closing in the last speck of darkness. "If you take my darkness you won't be that anymore. You won't have that power."

"I don't need power." You say as the light finally swallows Salem. Cracks start to form all along her body, like a fractured ice sculpture. As the cracks meet at the center of her head, she shatters into dust. "I just need my family to be safe."

The energy it took to defeat Salem hascompletely drained you. Collapsing to your knees, you pass out.