1 Prologue

"I died…" says a voice.

"You did…" says another voice.

'I'm strangely calm even though I died…' I thought.

"You are strangely calm, I agree." said the other voice.

I try to look around but I can't seem to feel my neck or my head. I also can't feel my eyes but I can clearly see that my surroundings are pitch black. I'm standing or floating, in the middle of the void with only my thoughts to accompany me.

"The child, is she okay?" I asked.

"I do not know. Your connection to your old world has been cut off, neither your future nor your past exists anymore." answers the other voice.

"Can't you look into it?" I asked again.

"I can, but I won't. Life is more fun that way…" said the voice.

I can only sigh sadly. I try to save a little kid that was chasing a ball into the streets from being hit, then it turns completely black. I don't remember anything hitting me but I am now in a dark void, so death is the only thing I can conclude from that event.

"I see, so who are you actually?" I asked.

"Me? I'm a mother, the universe's mother to be precise! You can call me Gaia or Mother Nature or anything…" said Gaia.

"You're joking, right?" I asked.

"No, I am not joking. In fact, I'm very serious!" said Gaia.

"Gaia is a void? Mother Nature is a dark void?!" I asked.

"No, silly. I'm a mother. Mother of everything but also nothing! Mother of worlds and every kind of creature in this universe!" said Gaia.

"So, you give birth to every universe out there? You are like a Goddess or some Primordial Deity? The Greek's and the Roman's Gaia?" I asked.

"You mortals and your meaningless titles. I'm not some deity you have to worship or some crazy entity. I'm a mother first and foremost." said Gaia.

"But you do have some crazy powers right?!" I asked.

"I do. I give birth to all the powers imaginable in this world after all." said Gaia nonchalantly.

"This is absurd! I'm dead and now I'm talking to a Goddess. This is both the greatest and the worst thing ever, all at the same time!" I said with a conflicted tone in my voice.

"Well, I don't quite agree with your sentiment. Why is it also the worst thing ever?" asked Gaia.

"I'm dead!" I said angrily.

"But you are about to be reincarnated, isn't that good?" asked Gaia.

"What?!" I asked.

"Yeah! You saved a child! That scored major points for my camp!" said Gaia happily.

"Really?!" I asked again.

"Yeah, I'm a mother! Literally everything in this universe is my children. You save my children, you score a point with me." said Gaia languidly.

"Really?! Save anything in the world and they could score a point in your book?!" I asked.

"Yeah!" Gaia agreed.

"..." Gaia's answer silenced me.

"..." Gaia also kept herself silent.

"You've mentioned that I totally saved the kid, right?! You could have just said that earlier!" I said angrily, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, isn't it fun to keep guessing?" asked Gaia.

"..." Gaia's question silenced me again.

'She's messing with me!' I thought.

"Let's continue, shall we?" asked Gaia.

"With my reincarnation?" I asked.

"Yes! Now, I know what you will wish for, but why 'that' world and why 'her' daughter?" Gaia asked.

"Is it impossible?" I asked.

"No, I just wanted to know the reason…" said Gaia with intrigue.

"Well, the reason is not anything special…" I said with hesitation.

"What is the reason?" Gaia asked again.

"Huh…" I sighed tiredly.

"I have always wished that if I could be reincarnated, I would be her daughter. I believe that she needs someone that she can trust and blood is the one thing that I personally trust." I said confidently.

"I see. Can you not go in as her lover, like everybody else?" asked Gaia.

"Really? Everybody else? How many people have wished for this?!" I asked with shock.

"To answer your question, countless times actually!" said Gaia.

"Ugh! I regret asking about it! I don't want to enter the world as her lover, I want to be her child!" I said with conviction.

"But being her child? Is that your fetish or something?" asked Gaia.

"No! Her lover betrayed her. I don't want her to remember a betrayal everytime she sees my face. I don't want to bring up any past trauma." I said as a matter of fact.

"Her children died…" said Gaia quietly.

"I just don't like her like that, okay?!" I said angrily.

"Oedipus complex?" asked Gaia.

"No, I'm a woman! Besides, I just want her to pamper me!" I said shyly.

"That is extremely kinky!" said Gaia jokingly.

"No, it's not! Please don't make it weird. She's going to be my Mom!" I said angrily.

"A sexy and villainous Mom?" Gaia asked.

"For the love of God! Please stop! If you keep talking, I will kill myself!" I said with clear anger in my tone.

"Fine! You're no fun! Any other requests?" asked Gaia, clearly upset with my outburst.

"Complete control over the Grimm and Immortality! I also want to keep the memories of my past life!" I said excitedly.

"Okay, anything else?" says Gaia impatiently.

"Accelerated growth. I want my body to grow to the body of an 18 year old after 2 years, but I also want to stop my body's growth at that age." I say out loud.

"Immortality and youth? That's too much!" Gaia said angrily.

"How about accelerated regeneration and youth?" I asked.

"Okay, not so bad. I'll stop your body's growth but you will die when you are killed! Also, add something else to round it off." asked Gaia.

"I don't know what else to add, do you have some ideas?" I asked.

"I have some idea, but I'll leave it as a surprise for you!" says Gaia mischievously.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You'll find out soon enough!" Gaia said giddily.

"Um, hello? Don't ignore me?!" I said with annoyance.

"Just like your wish, you will reincarnate 2 years before the events of the web series! Goodluck!" said Gaia giddily.

"Wait… I… what…" I tried to speak but my mind started faltering and everything around me started turning black.

"I hope you bring your mother happiness. She's one of my favorites…" Gaia's voice starts fading in the background.

"Oo…" I managed to utter some unknown words before falling unconscious.

Remnant, 78 AGW.

A naked figure can be seen soaking inside a pool that is filled with black tar. Her skin was marble white and her long, lustrous white hair fell below her shoulder. Around her eyes, purple veins pulse slowly with energy.

'Creak!'

A large door opens and a figure walks out from between the two doors. Her heel clicks and against the black, smooth stone floor. She walked in a hurry and finally she reached the figure that was soaking in the pool.

"Master! I have news about Kuchinashi! We…" said the figure before a voice cut off her words.

"Cinder…" said the figure in the pool coldly.

"I have clearly warned you and the others as to not disturb me during my conjuring!" said the figure again with even more coldness in her voice.

"But Master Salem, we…" said Cinder, trying to justify her rudeness when suddenly she was pushed down to the ground.

"Argh!" Cinder screams loudly.

Cinder, now on the ground, tries to push herself upwards but it is a futile effort. Black tendrils roam her body and effectively tie her to the cold, stone floor. She turns her head sideways and she sees a massive Seer, pinning her to the ground.

"T-That…" Cinder stutters with fear.

The Seer is at least thrice the size of a normal Seer and Cinder can't help but shudder at the sight. Cinder also noticed some strange type of Grimm surrounding the area of the pond. Most of them are terrifying abominations that are unrecognizable to Cinder.

"Are you disobeying my order, Cinder?" Salem asks coldly.

"No, Master! I apologize for my misconduct! Please spare my life!" Cinder pleads for her life.

Salem didn't bother answering Cinder's plea for her life. She waves her hand coldly and the Seer's tendrils grab Cinder's limbs. The Seer carries her to the door and tosses Cinder like some insignificant doll, out of the room and slamming the door shut.

"All of you leave! I need to focus!" Salem coldly orders the Grimms around her.

The Grimms obediently follow her orders and soon, the whole room is empty. Salem sighs slowly as she runs her finger through the black tar. She has been trying to combine her soul and her magic with the black tar in order to create a more powerful Grimm.

Her attempts, however, have been unsuccessful. She can create a bigger and more ferocious Grimm with magic but none of them has a complex mind. None of them has the capacity to be more than just monsters.

Using the silver-eyed warriors as a base for her experiments has brought significant progress to her work. Salem, however, can't continue with that kind of experiment since the silver-eyed warriors are a scarce resource.

"This is foolishness…" Salem said with doubts as she moved towards the center of the pool.

Regular magic has its downsides but some type of magic costs even more. Salem, in her conquest, manages to snag a grimoire that is filled with Soul Magic techniques. A type of forbidden magic that has been lost to time.

One of the spells that she has been studying is the Soul Transmutation spell. A spell that allows her to split a part of her soul and mold it into anything. Salem plans to split her soul and combine it with the Grimm tar in order to create a superior Grimm.

The downsides to this spell is that the caster has to split their own soul, which is extremely dangerous. However, Salem isn't afraid to die, in fact, this spell may be the solution to all her problems. If it succeeds, she will have conjured a superior Grimm and if it fails, she dies.

"It is my victory eitherway…" Salem smiles menacingly.

Her body then starts glowing as magic flows through her veins. She discharged the magic power through her fingers and she started chanting in some unknown language. The Grimm tar starts converging around her and they enter her body, empowering her with darkness energy.

At first, nothing happened but soon a stinging pain started attacking Salem in her lower abdomen. She feels the movement of her magic and the Grimm tar coursing through her body. She feels her soul tremble as she continues to chant the forbidden Soul Magic spell.

"Argh!" Salem suddenly screams loudly.

Both the magic and tar started combining in her womb and it caused her intense pain. Her womb just keeps sucking in more of her magic power and more Grimm tar. Her stomach also starts inflating rapidly.

"This is wrong!" Salem's blood curdling screams send waves throughout the entirety of Remnant.

Grimms starts going berserk all throughout Remnant and all the continent in Remnant's shakes as though they feel Salem's pain. The Maidens, the Hunters, the Huntresses and even a certain Wizard can feel some kind of disturbance in the energy of the world.

"Argh!" Salem continues to scream.

Salem didn't feel her soul splitting apart, instead, she felt her soul molding the magic and Grimm tar into an unknown form. She also felt a different soul forming inside her womb and the new soul calls to her sweetly.

'Mama!' the soul calls to her endearingly.

Salem's heart stopped beating for a second and she couldn't help but feel a bitter pain in her heart. Her children are the only ones who have ever called her 'Mama' and they betrayed her. She gave them life and they stabbed her through her heart.

'I can't go through that ever again!' Salem thought with anguish.

'Mama!' the tiny soul called desperately to her.

'I can't! I'm sorry but I can't!' Salem thought inwardly as black tears flowed down her face.

The magic power around Salem starts going amok and the Grimm tar starts boiling. Salem tries to reject the spell and she feels the presence of the tiny soul slowly dissipates. She felt a familiar pain in heart as she dispelled the spell.

'Mama…' the tiny soul no longer pleads with her, as if knowing about its fate.

Salem's heart again stopped beating. She felt even more pain than before and she can't help but second guess her decision. She had refused to accept the warmth of a family, ever since her family betrayed her.

The entire world will always be her enemy and she can never trust anyone. She closed off her heart, in order to protect herself. She wallows in misery and curses the very fate that had set her on her doomed path.

'But maybe this is my chance. Did fate give me another chance?' Salem thought inwardly.

Salem is still quite anxious about opening up her heart. She can never allow herself to fall for a trick of those pathetic Brothers but she also longs for a connection. She perhaps has been craving that connection, hence her experimentations.

She can never trust a human, but she can trust the Darkness. The Darkness that is now trying to form a soul in her womb. Maybe she can trust this bundle of Grimm tar, Magic and a piece of an infant soul.

The walls around her heart start cracking, and magic starts leaking from her fingertips again. Salem has made her decision. She decided that she will try to trust this monstrosity that is forming in her womb.

'I will make sure it never betrays me! If it happens, I can always kill it like my traitorous daughters!' Salem thought inwardly.

"I will accept you! Come, child!" Salem said with conviction.

Magic power and Grimm tar starts converging in her womb again. Salem screams as she continues to chant her spell. The tiny soul that has dimmed considerably is now invigorated with energy as it flows into Salem's wombs freely.

'Mama! Mama!' it starts bumping around in her womb and each time it collides with her womb walls, Salem screams in pain.

"Child, please! Your mother is trying really hard, stay still!" says Salem angrily.

The tiny soul suddenly stops bouncing around and Salem can't help but chuckle. This tiny soul understands her anguish and it follows her orders. Salem can't help but feel a tiny amount of love for this tiny piece of soul.

"This is the end! Come!" Salem screams as she continues to accumulate more and more Grimm tar and Magic.

Salem's stomach starts inflating and it keeps inflating until Salem finally looks like a lady that is in her last month of pregnancy. Magic and Grimm tar then starts seeping into her inflated belly And it shines with pure darkness.

The pure darkness continues to shine and Salem feels the tiny piece of soul being engulfed by the darkness. Salem starts to worry but then she feels something burrowing itself on the wall of her womb and a tiny body forming inside her womb.

"At this rate, I will probably give birth tomorrow. This child just keeps surprising me…" said Salem with exhaustion.

The shine fades slowly and Salem's body immediately enters its relaxed state. All the stress that has been piling up on her body starts affecting and she slowly falls backwards and floats herself on top of the Grimm tar pool.

'I should dress myself…' Salem thought inwardly.

Salem slowly floats toward the edge of the Grimm tar pool and slowly pulls herself up from the pool. She walks slowly to the corner of the room and dresses herself up in her robes, which are luckily big enough to hide her inflated belly.

"Sage! Your name will be Sage…" said Salem with a tone that one can only assume as happiness.

She rubs her stomach slowly and she walks towards her room. She can't help but feel a smidge of happiness in a tiny corner of her heart. As she slowly walks to her room, Salem can't help but dream for the future of her child.

"We will do great things together, my little Sage." Salem said with a menacing smile on her face.