She was ready. Or as ready as she thought she could be.

Akelarre had taken a few days to prepare her first excursion out of the Grimmlands and towards civilisation. She had underestimated how much work it would be, but not too badly.

The time was spent talking to Salem, who seemed more open about the dangers of the world beyond her immediate domain, or training with Hazel, who mostly allowed her to use him as a very large punching bag to practice on while giving her some pointers.

He was a surprisingly gentle coach for someone so intimidatingly large.

Then Salem had taken her aside to find her something appropriate to wear when near civilisation. She did not enjoy being used as a living doll for Salem, who forced her to try on hundreds of dresses and uniforms and gowns, some of which looked to be hundreds of years old.

She endured it though, because for a moment Salem’s face relaxed and there was even a small smile at the corners of the queen’s lips as she pushed Akelarre into another outfit.

She did come across the idea of making her own costume out of Grimm spider silk, but the project was moving too slowly for her tastes. She left some Grimm spiders spooling silk and picked a more practical outfit, much to Salem’s disapproval.

Simple black pants, a crisp blouse that flared out at the cuffs and hem, and a cloak with a hood deep enough to cover her features. It would do.

Salem insisted that she also bring a long black scarf and some leather gloves to further conceal her identity and to keep warm if the temperature dropped.

Other than that, her time had been spent a little more productively than before as she created more Grimm arthropods, focusing on those that could keep up with her Alpha Lancer mount.

All that preparation was for the moment when she stepped out of the front gate of the Spire and found herself pulling down her scarf to breath in the morning air of the outside world for the first time in her living memory.

“Akelarre,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

She paused and turned around. The queen stood tall and proud by the gates of her castle, though for all that her features were stern and regal, there was an edge of worry in her gaze.

“Did you come to say goodbye?” she asked.

“I came to make sure you would return,” Salem said.

Akelarre nodded. It was an easy promise to make. “I will.”

Salem approached her, and for a moment she thought the woman might hug her, but Salem just brought a hand up and placed it upon Akelarre’s head. “You recall what I told you about the Auras hunters use to combat my Grimm?” she asked.

“I do.”

Salem’s hands moved, one going to her shoulders to hold her in place, the other flat on her chest right above her beating heart. Every Grimm across the broken plains stilled and grew quiet. The wind stopped. The world hushed.

Salem nodded, then, with a deep breath, she intoned, “Through defeat, immortality; through persistence, victory. And through victory the chains of gods shall break. We are the will of the world. Infinite in potential and unbound by fleeting humanity, I liberate your soul, and by my hand free thee.”

Warmth, not painful or fleeting, but a constant heartbeat-thrum of gentle warmth, coursed through her body and filled her mind with a gentle caress. She felt lighter, stronger. She felt as though anything were possible even as the words Salem had spoken resonated within her.

She looked down at her one true hand, felt the aura of strength still and passive but present just under the surface, and looked up once more. “Thank you,” she said.

Salem looked away. “I merely wish for you to be safe. It would be unfair of me to request a promise of you and not make it so that you can accomplish it. I wish you well on your travels, Akalerre.”

Akelarre took a step forward, cutting the distance between them to nothing until she was pressed up against Salem, then she wrapped her arms around the queen of the Grimm and held her tight. “Thank you.” Salem was a little wide-eyed when she let go and pulled back. “Taylor,” she said.

“Pardon?”

“My name. I remember it, I think. It’s Taylor.”

Salem’s gaze softened from obsidian to marble. “No. You will always be Akelarre here.”

She smiled at the queen, took a few steps back, then called upon one of her bigger Grimm insects to land near her. It was only the work of a moment to hop onto her Alpha Lancer’s back and hang onto its simplistic saddle. “I’ll see you soon,” she said as the massive insect kicked off.

She almost didn’t hear Salem’s goodbye.

***

She watched Akelarre, Taylor, fly away until all that was left was a few specks of the girl-child’s massive swarm buzzing towards the horizon.

And even when she finally lost sight of her, the warmth of the younger girl’s body pressed against hers was still like a searing needle pressed against her soul.

“Come back,” she ordered the morning sky. “Come back alive.”

***

Seeing the Grimmlands from high above had been interesting for a few moments. The ground around Salem’s Spire was mostly flat but farther out the ground turned craggy and massive pillars of stone that stretched across the landscape like the ribs of a gigantic beast.

If she thought the travelling would be amusing then she was quickly robbed of the idea. Yes, seeing new sights was entertaining, but no more so than looking at the images in one of Salem’s books.

Her imagination, the frigid air and the constant thumm of her Lancer’s wings were the only things keeping her company.

It took less than an hour for her to begin reconsidering the voyage.

She could have turned around, returned to Salem’s side and continued with her days filled with quiet meditation, long hours of experimentation with her Grimm and deep conversations with Salem, but that felt like giving up.

Her memories were still fuzzy, still a garbled mess, but for all that she knew that she was not the sort of woman to give up so easily.

The divide between the Land of Darkness and the ocean was as sudden as a drop off the edge of a cliff.

The rocky soil below was traded for churning waters, then, when she flew deeper away towards the horizon even that was replaced by soothing blue as far as her eyes could see.

Sometimes the form of a Leviathan or other aquatic Grimm would move under the waves, or she would see some of the more natural creatures native to Remnant moving in great schools near the surface.

She leaned into her Alpha Lancer’s back and closed her eyes. It was warm.

She still had a ways to go.