Grimm B2C12

"Give it to me. I want the power of the Grimm, all the Grimm. No one would dare stand against me if I had but a fraction of your power. Is that within your ability, Queen of the Grimm?"

"It is…"

"Then that is my demand. Give it to me!"

Salem didn't respond. Her eyes narrowed at his poor choice of word once more, but she sighed and held one arm up in the air. "Your ritual binds me to comply," she said. The very ground beneath us began to shake.

It was slow at first, but it was Pyrrha's choked cough that made me notice the black mist which first crept across the floor, but then washed over it like a shallow stream. Some of it covered the others. They struggled to breathe when it did. I was saved, still on my knee with Crocea Mors held before me, but even I could feel the chilling touch of it through my greaves. It was the same black mist that appeared each time Grimm spawned – and it all came from the doorway and cracks in the walls around us. It looked to be from outside. The miasma coalesced in her open palm. It swirled there, grouping in and on top of itself, but never once changing in size. It was a like hungry ball of black ink that consumed all that touched it, somehow growing even darker. From start to finish, the process took less than a minute, and I heard the others gasp for breath.

"Is that it?" Merlot asked. "Is that…?"

"The power of all the Grimm on this mountain," Salem said. She looked down on the slowly spinning orb with an almost fond expression. "My power, in a sense, but mine is absolute and this is but a taste. It all returns to me in time."

"This will not. This power is mine!" Merlot approached it hungrily. Salem smiled.

"We shall see, little Mage." She held out her hand to him, palm faced upwards and the black ball floating an inch above it. "Normally, I would kill anyone who attempted as such, but your binding leaves me no choice in the matter. Take it. Make it yours."

Merlot shivered as he approached her. He held his hands out on either side of the ball, and then gasped in awe when the black orb suspended itself there, between his palms. He lifted it back and stared down into it. "It's incredible… this is… there's so much power. I… what is it doing!?" The orb twisted and buckled, tiny black spikes appearing on either side, before retracting back in once more. "It's moving. Why is it moving?"

"Power cannot exist within a vacuum, little Mage. You asked for power, but you must accept it first." Salem smiled as the orb speared into Merlot's hands, disappearing inside him entirely. He felt to his knees and held both hands to his throat.

"What's happening? I… I argh!" He pitched forward and pressed his forehead against the cold stone, body shaking. I couldn't help but watch with horror as his back seemed to buckle and twist. There was a loud, dry crack, and he reared up to scream silently towards the ceiling.

The monster ignored it all. She'd turned to look at us, and her eyes seemed to inspect each of us in turn. "A large group of little Heroes… how very strange. Have skill and strength given way to numbers now? All I see before me are children playing at a game best left for adults." Her eyes roved over me, and I flinched as it felt like two burning coals digging into my heart. They passed, however, and I heard the monster draw breath. "Oh, this one is different. I feel like I have seen those eyes before. Tell me, my dear, have you seen me?"

"I…I…" Ruby struggled to move, but was locked on hands and knees.

"No?" Salem asked. She chuckled and reached down one pale hand. "Perhaps it would be easier if you could see me a little closer. Let me get a good look at you."

Something snapped within me. The sight of her above Ruby's paralysed form sent anger like fire raging through my body. I lurched to my feet, stumbled forward and slammed Crocea Mors down in an overhead strike. The blade clinked against the stone floor, chipping some aside as Salem floated back. "Get away from her," I rasped. My arms shook from the strain, and it only got worse when she regarded me with curious eyes.

"Oh my, how interesting… I've yet to find a Hero able to stand in my presence."

"Get away from her," I repeated, voice haggard. I felt like I could barely stay upright, and that my legs might snap under the weight of my own body. Even so, I squared myself and lifted my sword with both hands. The tip swayed from right to left. It was obvious I'd not be able to swing it. Fortunately, I didn't have to.

"Why!?" Merlot cried. His voice was deeper, and his form slightly larger than before. He shook violently. Before my eyes, his back bulged outwards and rippled, as though his very skin had become water. "You tricked me," he gasped. "This isn't what I asked for. You can't do this to me!"

"Hmm?" Salem floated away from Ruby and I and towards the Mage. "Whatever do you mean, little Mage? "You asked for this. All I did was follow your wishes."

"This isn't…" he buckled and groaned. "This isn't what I meant!" He stared up at her, but Salem only smiled.

"I told you I could create and control the Grimm. You asked for the power of the Grimm. What is their power if not strength, speed and endurance? I've given that to you, and so much more. You will have all the power of the Grimm on this mountain." She chuckled. "I have followed your request to the best of my ability, little Mage. No... little Grimm."

"No, I-I-arghhhhh!" The Mage fell. His body twitched and shifted, the fabric of his robes tearing in two as his skin bulged back and out of him, turning a thick, oily black. His legs and arms remained, twitching violently as the black mass continued to grow from his spine. Two metres, three, it didn't stop and I watched with wide eyes as it expanded outwards as well, gaining height and width at a terrifying rate.

"People really should be careful of what they wish for," Salem said. She turned to face us. "I would love to stay and chat with you all a little more, but my presence here – and my obedience – is denoted by the little Mage's will. And that," she snarled, "is something that is broken. Pray that you do not see me again, children." Her eyes zeroed in on mine. "Pray that our paths do not cross, Deceiver." She flickered and vanished a moment later, in an explosion of air that threw my hair back and made me cover my eyes. When the dust and smoke cleared, it was to find that the overpowering presence had as well. My bones creaked as I stood a little straighter, the others clambering up as well.

"Is everyone okay?" Pyrrha asked. There were murmurs of assent around the room, but my eyes were locked on Merlot.

"Guys," I warned, "I think we have a problem here…"

Merlot, or what had once been him, continued to swell and grow, filling the room with its bulbous mass. It no longer resembled the man it once had, and looked more akin to an amorphous black blob of mutated sludge. The worst part was the face, however, locked into the rippling surface about three quarters of the way up. If one squinted, it looked like a human face locked in a perpetual scream.

"It's going to keep growing!" Ren said.

"We should get out," Pyrrha said. "Everyone, get to the entrance – as fast as you can!"

She didn't have to tell us twice. I gripped Ruby's arm and dragged her up onto her feet, then chased after the others with her in tow. Merlot, the thing, let out a deep, rumbling roar that shook the foundations of the temple. As I looked back behind me, it was to curse as he swept one side of him against the wall and caused rubble and dust to rain down from the ceiling.

He was going to bring the entire temple down.