Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aku frowned to himself as he stared through the windows he conjured up for himself, watching as the accursed Samurai continued to grow in strength, skill, and effectiveness.  Aku had encountered the Samurai several times, and in each encounter where Aku had engaged the Samurai directly, he had been nearly overwhelmed, only random circumstance or the actions or needs of others present enabling Aku to escape with his life.  He wanted to say it was simply because of the accursed Sword, made specifically to kill him...but he knew better. The sword is what enabled the Samurai to harm him, but it was the Samurai’s skill that made it so deadly in his hands. If Aku was to prove triumphant against the Samurai, something had to change.

One other thing the Samurai had that consistently proved both frustrating and perplexing to Aku: allies.  Wherever the Samurai went, he would render aid to others at whatever expense to himself, and somehow that would always come back to aid given to him.  Many a time Aku had almost had the Samurai beaten, only for someone he had ‘befriended’ to come to his rescue. This was something Aku could not conceive of.  Mortals were motivated first and foremost by fear, specifically the fear of death. This was incontrovertible fact. How could the Samurai make these mortals overcome this limitation?  It defied comprehension. Still, the Samurai’s ability to make the strength of others his own only compounded the threat…

“That’s it!” Aku declared excitedly, his reedy but powerful voice carrying tones of eager malevolence.  “He makes the strength of others his own? Then so too shall I! And I know just where to begin!” Turning from the view of the Samurai’s exploits, he called forth new windows.  These windows looked not upon the world of Aku, but other worlds, ones he had a connection to. “The Great One from whom I was born was not originally of this world. It is but one of many he sought to leave his mark on...and in each world, a piece of himself was left behind as a vessel of his power and will!  If I can find other pieces, I can make their power my own and grow far stronger…” He hesitated as he turned this plan over in his mind, considering the possible consequences. “...but not too much stronger,” he decided finally. “Strong enough that I no longer need fear the power of the Sword, but not so strong I draw the attention of the Gods that slew the Great One.  I shall have to be...choosy, which fragments I seek out. If they are too weak, I will need to take too much to achieve a proper difference. Too strong, and I may be the one overwhelmed. Hmm...this will take careful planning…”

He looked through the windows, observing the worlds the Great One had left shards of his being on.  First, he eliminated any worlds on which the Shards had not awakened on their own yet, as their power would still be dormant and of no use to him.  This drastically reduced the number of worlds to check. The next culling was of those worlds where the Shards had already been bested - or were in the process of being bested - by that world’s heroes, the equivalents of the Samurai.  This further reduced the available choices, bringing it down to a manageable number.

“Let me see now,” he murmured as he went through the worlds one by one, seeing which Shards were viable choices.  “No...no...too strong...too weak…” He blinked as he came across one particular world that was simply...odd. “Too strange...seriously, evil clothing?  What was the Great One thinking?” He thought about all the worlds he’d already culled from selection. “Then again, with how many Shards are out there, originality will have to go to some strange places eventually.  Still, it would have been nice of the Great One to leave me some of whatever stash he used to come up with that.” He flicked through a few more worlds...and paused on one that peaked his interest. “What is this? Beasts of shadow hunting the living?  Humanity barely surviving? This world intrigues me…” He delved deeper...and found the Shard. “Oh ho! A Queen of darkness and deception, a Shadow Witch commanding the hordes of Grim Beasts...using humans as puppets to bring about their own downfall? Now this is power I can use...and because it is spread in such a wide net, the difference will be enough to void the sword’s threat, but not so much as to draw the eyes of the Gods!  And then I can have two worlds to reign over as the Empire of Aku!” Grinning widely, he checked things over in his empire to ensure nothing too dangerous could happen while he was away, and opened a portal to that world at a point where he could encounter the Shard without tripping over that world’s heroes. After all, he’d seen that one of the heroes possessed a power within her similar to that of the Sword, so it would be best if he entered the world before she learned of that power.

Aku slowly took form as he arrived in the new world, gazing up at the broken moon that hung in the sky above him.  “Ah...she has already done such wondrous work.” He took a deep sniff of the air, tasting the world. “Shadows all but consume the light, and the beasts stalk everywhere.  But this far from the sources of my strength, I will need to sustain myself…”

A growl caught his attention.  Turning, he spotted a massive beast of living shadow approaching him, its shape somehow maintained by a white mask that it used as a face.

“That will do,” Aku observed calmly as the beast roared and lunged.  Changing shape, he lashed forward and caught the beast, lifting it into the air.  “Beast of shadow, you shall be my sustenance. Feel honored that you are the first of this world’s darkness to become part of the Great Aku.”  With that, he opened his jaw wide and bit the beast in half, chewing the half with the mask until the entire thing dissolved into shadows he absorbed.  “That was...satisfying,” he purred pleasantly before snaking off into the shadows. He would find the Shard easily. Darkness knew its own…

It wasn’t long before Aku found the Shard’s stronghold, a dark castle hidden deep in the untamed wastes and wilderness of the world’s shadows.  Snaking in, he found his path barred by two figures. The first seemed to be a human with a scorpion tail, while the second seemed to be half-giant at least.  Aku did not consider their appearance important beyond that. Since they were plainly waiting for him, he took shape at human height before them. “And who might you be?” he demanded cruelly.  “Pawns and puppets of darkness? Or wandering heroes who will meet their end?”

“Why don’t you take a guess and find out?” the scorpion-man taunted as he licked one of his wrist-blades, plainly eager for combat.

“It matters not to me,” Aku countered cruelly.  “I have business with the master of this domicile.  You will stand aside or be destroyed.”

The giant braced himself in a combat stance, pulling odd crystals out of his pockets.  “Lady Salem said she felt something eat one of her Grimm,” he said calmly.  “She called us back in case whoever it was came for her as well.  Was that you?”

“Indeed it was,” Aku confirmed.  “I had need of sustenance, and it was but the first of the dark of this world I shall consume.”

The man lifted the crystals.  “I don’t think you’ll be going-”

Before anyone could say anymore, tendrils of shadow leapt up out of the ground and smacked the two defenders aside, slamming them into walls and binding them in wreathing shadows.  “I grow tired of this discussion,” Aku growled irritably before snaking his way forward. Slipping into the next room, he raised himself to tower over the figure there.

The Shard was as he’d seen her.  Moon pale skin with crimson cracks in her flesh, revealing the shadows beneath.  White hair tied in black ribbons framing her head like a crown. Crimson eyes around black pupils.  A black and red dress that framed her figure flawlessly, seeming to indicate a promise of sensual delights in an embrace of death.  As she stared up at him, he raised his voice. “Queen of this world’s shadows, know that your time of power is at an end, for now your power shall belong to me-”

The woman’s expression changed from cruel, playful dominance to an almost girlish glee.  “Aku-sempai!” she screamed out excitedly before hurling herself forward, snaking across the ground to glomp onto him.

Aku stared down at the woman clinging to him and squealing girlishly, uncertain what to do now or how to react.  He had expected her fighting him to prevent his taking her power, or perhaps subservient surrender with the knowledge she stood no chance, not... this .  “Uh…” he began, uncertain what to do now.

The scorpion-man laughing like a hyena while the giant repeatedly banged the back of his head against the wall did not help.

Chapter Text

Aku stared down at the being of darkness that was clinging to him while squealing girlishly like a child who - against all evidence and socioeconomic disparity - got the present they truly wanted for Aku’s-Day before it was claimed as tax by the Socioeconomic Disparity Enforcement Bureau to be given to a wealthy child who had no need of it.  He had never experienced anything like this before. Even those few beings in his world that worshipped him and would be overjoyed at his mere presence had always been properly respectful, genuflecting and chanting his praises until he grew bored with it and told them to cease while he got about his business. Not only that, being held so tightly by a rather shapely female gave him odd stirring that he had never experienced before and did not know how to deal with.  He knew what they were, of course, having used such a tactic against the Samurai before, but he had never experienced such things himself.

Finally, he decided bravado was the only way to go.  Bluff his way through the situation, get a handle on things, and take back control...and get this female off of him as soon as possible!  “So...it seems my reputation precedes me,” he offered, doing his best to keep his nervousness from his voice.

“Oh, yes!” Salem purred eagerly.  “You are the ultimate expression of evil and darkness, beyond the understanding or power of any mortal!  Unstoppable, relentless, merciless, and your magic makes the workings of lesser creatures seem a pale shadow of your mastery of shadows!”  She then, despite the physical limitations and physics that should have prevented her from doing so, blushed prettily as she nuzzled him. “When I awoke and shaped my physical powers, I based them off yours as much as I could, knowing that you were all Darkness could and should be short of the Great One himself who birthed us all.”

Aku grinned widely and laughed a trifle nervously.  As much as he adored such praise and would eagerly lap it up normally, Salem’s tight grip made it feel awkward somehow.  “I was under the impression that the portal spell through space-time to reach so far was my unique creation,” he pointed out carefully, leaning back as he tried to get space between himself and the female clinging tightly enough to him that - somehow - he wasn’t able to shapeshift out of the embrace.

“Oh, it is!” Salem declared excitedly, releasing him - much to Aku’s relief - to sweep across the chamber and pull aside a curtain.  His relief faded as he saw what was behind the curtain...a shrine dedicated to him containing images of all his greatest exploits lovingly rendered in paint and parchment, arranged to form a collage of him towering over his world and holding it between his claws while laughing maniacally.  “However, as the first Shard deliberately shed by the Great One, I had a connection to all other Shards before I awoke...and in relative space-time, I awoke after you forged your Empire, even though the Great One was cruelly and unfairly slain long before. I know all your exploits and that of the Shards who awoke relativistically before I did...and you are truly the greatest of us!”  She turned back towards him, her eyes shining in delight and worship as she slunk towards him as though crawling despite her moving from a pool of shadow.

Despite the unsettling shrine, Aku felt his control of the situation returning as she took what to his eyes was her proper place in response to him.  “Yes!” he declared proudly as he swelled to his full impressive height. “I am the great Lord Aku, Emperor of Shadows, and I have come for you!”

“Oh yes, Aku-Sempai!” Salem purred eagerly.  “Command me and I am yours!”

“I shall take your power for my own,” he continued dramatically, trying to ignore the way Salem wriggled as he spoke, “and thus be strong enough that the sword forged to kill me will have no power over me, making me truly invincible!”

“My power is yours, Dread Lord!” Salem squealed excitedly.

“And to do so, I shall consume you!” Aku proclaimed as he spread his arms wide, even as his eyes betrayed a bit of uncertainty at Salem’s reaction.  “You shall be absorbed into my being, your persona fused to my own as your own personal hopes, dreams, and ambitions are erased, your Empire becoming mine as you are slowly broken down within my being until you are no more!”

“Yes!” Salem screamed orgasmically.  “Devour me, My Master!”

“Okay, seriously, cut that out,” Aku ordered flatly as he shrank back down to his normal size.  “You’re making this weird with how much you’re enjoying this. I’m describing how you’re going to be painfully and tortuously erased from existence to feed my ambition, and you’re acting like I brought you flowers and chocolates or something-”

“You brought me flowers and chocolates, too?” Salem squealed excitedly.  “Oh, you are truly a gentleman evil and everything I dreamed of! Take me, My Lord!”  With that, she snaked towards Aku.

At this point, Aku had taken all of this he could stand, and proceeded to flee.  “Keep away from me you crazy witch!” he screamed back as he raced off.

“Yes!” Salem screamed back.  “Insult me, degrade me, treat me like the filth I am beneath your shadowy heel!  Break my spirit so I truly see how I am nothing but food for you!”

“What is wrong with you?!” Aku screamed back as he increased his speed, only for Salem to keep pace.

As unnerving as the situation was for Aku, it took on an additional degree of sureality when he heard the sound of a saxophone.  Glancing down, he saw a tri-color corgi racing along on its hind legs wearing a beret while playing a tiny sax, somehow keeping pace with the racing pair of shadow beings.  Had the song ever been composed on Aku’s world, he might have recognized it as being called ‘Yakety Sax’, not that it would have meant anything to him.

“I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends,” Ozpin said calmly to Ironwood.  “However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned.”

“Well, concern is what brought me here,” Ironwood responded gently.

“I understand travel between kingdom’s has become increasingly difficult,” Ozpin admitted.

“Oz,” Ironwood interrupted, “you and I both know why I brought those men.”

Ozpin took a sip of his drink, then sighed.  “We are in a time of peace,” he pointed out dryly.  “Shows of power like this are just going to give the wrong impression-”

“EAT ME, AKU-SEMPAI!” a frighteningly high-pitched voice screamed out, interrupting the conversation.

“DON’T COME ANY CLOSER YOU PSYCHOTIC SORCERESS!” a much deeper voice screamed back.

Ozpin and Ironwood quickly went to the window, where they saw one being of shadow they knew all too well chasing another being of shadow - one that, if anything, looked stronger than her - across the school grounds.  Luckily, Zwei was racing along beside them playing comedic chase music, so the students were unlikely to take the scene seriously unless they knew who that familiar figure was.

As they passed, Ironwood spoke up diffidently, despite his shaking voice.  “You were saying?”

“No one likes a smartass, Ironwood,” Ozpin replied tartly, his voice steady as he showed his control...although he set his drink down so he could clasp both hands on his cane.  “Still, your point is well taken. Perhaps we should...accelerate some of our other plans…”

Aku continued to flee from Salem, hoping to get enough distance to open a portal back to his own world without her being able to follow him through it.  However, it wasn’t looking good-

“My lady?” a diffident voice spoke up.

Salem froze, causing Aku to pause as well.  “A moment, Dread Lord,” she whispered throatily before turning to the young human woman who had approached them, her entire attitude shifting as she faced her.  “Did you need something, Cinder?” she purred...a very different purr than she had used with Aku, this one carrying overtones of menace and...cruel compassion?

“Nothing really, my lady,” the woman - Cinder, apparently - responded diffidently, though not with as much fear as Aku expected.  In fact, if he hadn’t known better, he could have sworn he heard...gentle adoration in her voice. “It is just...I fear there may be a problem with my mission.”

“That is to be expected,” Cinder replied dismissively.  “Such a delicate - and above all, subtle - mission, there are bound to be unexpected complications.  That’s why I sent you and your apprentices. If it were a simple mission, I would have sent Tyrian. But I have every confidence in your abilities here, my dear.”

“It’s just...you just chased this one through the middle of Beacon,” Cinder pointed out.  “I’m...uncertain what effects that might have-”

“Shhh…” Salem whispered softly, putting a finger to Cinder’s lips.  “You aren’t the sort to complain about unexpected complications. That’s part of what makes you so useful to me.  I am certain you will find a way to...adapt. I wouldn’t have sent you if you couldn’t...or are you saying I made the wrong choice?”  The words shifted from comforting to menacing at the last pause.

“O-of course not!” Cinder reassured her urgently.

“Good girl,” Salem purred, gently patting the young woman’s cheek.  “Now run along. You have your business to tend to, and I have mine.”

Nodding, Cinder turned to race away, back to whatever business Salem had assigned her.

As Salem turned back to Aku, she saw he had a thoughtful look upon his face.  “How curious,” he mused. “She is most definitely loyal to you, and properly fearful of your power...and yet fear is not the primary motivator of her loyalty.  She is...devoted. Most unexpected.”

Salem simpered softly.  “I have carefully groomed her for her role, as I have all my servants.  When one’s opponent has as much life experience as you do, backstories for your servants are useful for covert operations.”

“A strategy I would not have considered, having never faced a foe with experience as great as mine,” Aku admitted thoughtfully.  “Your usefulness to me extends beyond your powers. Perhaps a less immediate solution is required.”

Salem looked up at him, somehow managing to make her eyes take on a pleading, puppy-dog expression.  “You mean...you aren’t going to devour me?” she pleaded.

“Not this day,” Aku confirmed, wanting to quickly move away from that particular obsession of Salem’s.  “An alliance seems to be more profitable to me, as I learn the unique skills you have developed, that your power and experience serve me as well.”

“Oh yes, Dread Lord!” Salem gasped out excitedly.  “I am at your eternal service!”

“Yes!” Aku proclaimed dramatically.  “You shall serve me in all things, and my greatness shall grow to untold heights!”

“All that I am is yours, Aku-sempai!” she screamed out excitedly.  Her hands went to her dress. “Shall I tear my clothes off now, or would you prefer to do it as you claimed me?”

“By the Great One, woman, cease!” Aku snapped out irritably.  “Have you no shame nor feminine modesty?”

“I can fake it if it would please you!” Salem promised urgently.

Aku sighed ruefully, his mind going to the Shard of one world he’d decided not to investigate as it had bonded to one whose place on the morality scale was still questionable.   I wonder if this is how Ainz feels...