Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To make things fun, we’re starting this fic off with a songfic chapter! You can consider this the theme song for the fic itself, and feel free to theorize below on what everything means! With that being said, please enjoy.

~=~

“Miracle” begins playing.

As the song begins, we see an overhead shot of Beacon Academy, and see Ozpin and the professors looking down from Beacon Tower on a team consisting of Cinder, Neo, a human wearing the White Fang’s crest, and a pale girl with red eyes.

“Time and time again, it seems we’ve reached the point where all our dreams are crumbling all around us”

During this sequence, we descend to Vale, where a green-haired child runs through alleyways, and an orange-haired vagrant in a hat and cane leaves a shop with a bag full of lien.

“Every outcome unjust”

Roman Torchwick aims his cane at the camera and fires, and the picture fades to reveal the next scene.

“Every step it seems has led us further from our goal instead”

We see Team CNMN sparring against a team of silhouetted upperclassmen, their leader is a human with metallic wings.

“Our triumphs haven’t mattered”

Team CNMN is scorned as the upperclassmen walk past them.

“We’re drifting ever backward”

Amber is revealed to be one of the upperclassmen, and we pan back to see she’s reflected in Cinder’s eyes, a look of rage contorted across her face.

“And we’re running out of time!”

We see the Rose family being looked through one of Weiss’s seers, looked into by Scarlet, who is older and now has her hair tied back in a wolf tail. Yang is wearing the Signal uniform, and Ruby is learning how to fight.

“Nowhere near the finish line

And it’s growing ever clear”

We transition back to Beacon as Grimm Liquid flows through the campus.

“That a reckoning is near

And we’ll have to make a choice”

Cinder clutches a small form close, Neo clashes against Roman Torchwick with a grin on her face.

“Is this path right?”

The red-eyed girl is consumed by brambles and sinks into the Grimm fluid.

“Or is it made of lies?”

The White Fang human uses dust and semblance to pull the girl out, and hugs both Cinder and Neo.

“We’re looking in ourselves trusting in the light”

Team CNMN faces a tidal wave of Grimm Fluid, and they draw their weapons. The White Fang human has a pair of serrated fans, and the red-eyed girl has a torch of flaming dust.

“A Miracle is all we need

But there isn’t one in sight”

The wave covers the screen, and pans up to see the desert Kingdom of Vacuo.

“Each and every passing day

Our world’s in further disarray

Confidence descending

Where’s our happy ending?”

Amity Arena hovers over Shade Academy, revealing the Vytal Festival. Team CNMN stands before the Kingdom.

“On the path, but still, we strayed

Our aspirations quickly fade!”

The White Fang Human walks through Vacuo, and she sees three faunus on the horizon (a pheasant, a monkey, and a dog), and she reaches for them, but the Vytal Festival Crest appears on the ground, dividing them.

“Desperation’s risin’

On hopeless bleak horizons,”

Team CNMN stands in Amity Arena, but the four are as divided as the four sections.

“Every life is on the line!

Can’t wait here for a sign”

Ketos hovers overhead, casting a shadow over Cinder. From the darkness, Grimm arms reach out for her.

“And just like the blood that’s shed

Every cancer’s sure to spread”

We see a horde of insectoid, unknown Grimm crawling over Amity Arena, and an “M” symbol appears on the screens in a hexagon. We zoom in on the screen, and the image shifts.

“And the time to act is short

We know inside”

It reveals a news program about a dig site in Mountain Glenn, then shifts to Team CNMN back in Beacon, and the screen shifts to be there with them.

“We’re born to do what’s right”

Neo stains against an unseen adversary, pointing Silence forward threateningly.

“Desire to preserve life

Is powering the light!”

Cinder is beaten back by someone, and the red-eyed girl sends brambling vines toward her foe!

“We’re praying for a Miracle,”

Wisps of Grimm streak through the air, creating an aura of dark around Team CNMN, but they don’t look afraid.

“But for now, we’ll stand and fight”

Cinder lurches toward the screen, and we pan deep below ground, where a technological headquarters reveals Grimm in containment, containers of Grimm Liquid, and a map of the northwest continent. As the music grows ominous, we see four silhouettes: a Cobra Faunus with a Scarab Staff glowing red, a brown-haired human woman in a fur coat with a cigarette holder in one hand and a syringe in the other, an octopus faunus with a collection of spheres containing energy around her waist, and at the very back, we only see a man with a metallic arm and a glowing metallic red eye.

“Every plan falls apart, all of it pointless”

“Nothing gained,”

The Cobra man stabs his staff into Amber,

“All in vain,”

The fur-coat woman stands over a knocked out Neo and Roman,

“Going down.”

The squid lady has the White Fang Human imprisoned.

“Under siege,”

Mountain Glenn is overrun with insectoid Grimm approaching the main city,

“Sinking fast,

Crumbling quickly.”

The red-eyed girl watches from atop a wall and crumples up as the ground crumbles beneath her.

“Fear and shame,”

Cinder runs through the raining streets of Vale,

“Endless pain,”

Cinder’s eyes reflect the Relics of Knowledge and Creation respectively.

“Floundering!”

She blinks and reflects a silhouette of Salem looming over her.

As the music crescendoes, Cinder screams, releasing a torrent of fire from her mouth that reveals dozens of insectoid grimm with the “M” in a Hexagon looming over them.

“Vile

Abominations, all around us

Thriving

Destroying every hope of Justice”

It pans out to show Salem looking through a seer, smirking as she pulls the strings.

“Still we pray,”

Going back into the seer, we see a hooded human on the edge of a forest, with a blue amulet around their neck.

“Soon one day,

Our faith will be revived!”

Team CNMN stands at an overlook, looking at Vale thriving.

“We’ll wake to see the light!”

They walk back toward the school, and the camera pans through Vale, passing by characters during their lives on the way to its destination…

“And a Miracle,

Yeah, a Miracle,

Is waiting there,

I swear it showed up out of thin air

A Miracle

Right in front of our eyes!”

We see the Rose Family, the Rens and Nora, students past and future, and characters from across the world, all enjoying life as the song ends at a view on the Last King of Vale’s memorial.

Chapter Text

The glorious Beacon Academy is Vale’s Huntsman Academy, the place where the best of the best go to train, learn, and one day become Officially Licensed Huntsmen. On this, the start of a new school year, an airship touches down outside of Beacon’s main courtyard.

As the doors open, the colorful array of first-years step out, ready to begin their new lives as the defenders of this world. Among the first-years are two people who hold themselves with more confidence than even the most blindly confident among them.

Cinder Reaper is 17 years old (18 in a few months), and wears a fine red and black combat outfit with sleek leathers and dark colors that allow her to blend in. On her belt are several glass cylinders holding Dust that she can use as ammunition for her weapon, Daybreak, which is a pair of curved tempered glass swords she has sheathed across her back in an “X” pattern, but the hilts are pointing downward, allowing for a more smooth transition of attack when combined with Cinder’s hood. Cinder’s hood was made by her Mother, Scarlet Reaper, it’s a pure black cloak with a hood, and the inside is woven with beautiful and colorful designs that have dust inset into them, allowing Cinder to draw upon some of it using her semblance, Scorching Caress, and always having a backup plan or emergency dust reserves on her person. The clasp of her cloak has the design of a Nevermore Grimm Mask.

Her sister, Neopolitan, is also 17, but many months younger than Cinder. She wears a pair of brown pinstripe pants with cream lines, white shoes with black tips, several belts, white gloves, and a long-sleeved white shirt with a black corset, completing her look with a pink ascot and a dark brown, almost black, short-sleeve jacket with a pink interior and a popped collar with a back that trails down her back and splits off like a suit with tails. Her weapon, Silence, is a parasol that can act as a heavy club, and it has Wind Dust inset into the umbrella itself. Like Cinder, the mute girl has dust embedded into our outfit for her practical use: her gloves have burn dust embedded in them, and only light up while in use. Pinned to her belt is a pin of a Deathstalker Grimm Mask.

Cinder takes a deep breath as she approaches the tower. “Beacon Academy…” She smiles. “Ready for our first year away from home, Neo?” She asks, and Neo grins and walks forward. Cinder rolls her eyes and walks on as well.

Beacon Academy is as beautiful as it was described to them. The sisters were given basic instructions on where to go, too. Walking through the halls of Beacon, they make their way to the auditorium.

Professor Ozpin steps onto the stage to address the first-years. Cinder hardly listened, though. Her Family told her and Neo all they needed to know about Ozpin: an ever-reincarnating wizard whose power dwindled each generation. A parasite who melded with hosts of similar mind, and is always looking for new warriors in his war against Salem. Cinder and Neo need to keep their eyes out for the telltale signs that Ozpin is watching them…and avoid him at all costs.

“You’ll be escorted by your Upperclassmen on a short tour of the school grounds,” Glynda Goodwitch instructs, and several second-years step forward. “You’ll be assigned to groups and led along.”

“Hey there, guys!” a human steps forward, wearing sun-bleached clothing that reminds Cinder of Atlas. He has a pair of metallic wings on his back, currently folded across his back in a dormant state. It’s unclear if this is his weapon or not.

“My name’s Cirrus Gray, I’m the leader of Team CTAS (Citrus). Follow me, and I’ll show you around.” He grins and shows them around the campus grounds.

Throughout the day, Cinder and Neo give each other a look as they listen to this guy. He seems nice enough, but…

“And here’s the training hall!” Cirrus says. “Outside of class, you’re free to spar here. My team and I likes to train here pretty often, though, so more often than not you’ll probably just be coming here to enjoy the show.”

He says things like that at every location. Always circling everything he says back to himself and his team.

Eventually, they get to the locker room.

“Do we have to put our weapons away?” Cinder asks. “I’m more comfortable staying armed.”

“I mean, you can bring it up to a Professor, but you’re not gonna have any better luck than the experienced students who’ve asked.” Cirrus chuckles, and Cinder narrows her eyes.

Neo catches Cinder’s attention and puts her weapon away, gesturing to her gloves.

“Yeah, you’ll have your dust.” Cinder growls. “I have to wear a real uniform.” She says, and Neo winks mischievously.

Cinder sighs and takes off Daybreak and stores them in her locker, as well as enough dust to last until her next resupply, slamming the locker shut.

When they finally make it to the sleepover portion, Cinder is wearing a simple black nightgown, while Neo has changed into something brighter than day.

“Alright! That’s about it, everyone report to the mess hall first thing tomorrow for breakfast, and then pick up your weapons from your lockers for initiation.” Cirrus instructs. “Hope to see you all in class!” he says and walks out.

“Well, he was kinda weird, right?” Cinder and Neo hear a girl speaking to them. 

They look up and see a girl wearing combat clothing that actually looks vaguely Animan, with her hair tied back in a braid, and the symbol of the White Fang bared proudly on a pin on her chest.

“Can we help you?” Cinder asks.

“I’m sorry, I just think we’ve met before? I think I recognize you guys from Menagerie, like years back!” She explains.

Cinder vaguely recalls meeting a human girl in Menagerie, years ago.

“Oh…I think I remember,” Cinder nods. “It’s…Moe, right?”

“Momo,” the girl holds out her hand to shake Cinder’s. “Momo Blossom!” Cinder reaches out her hand and shakes Momo’s.

“Well, what brings you to Beacon?” Cinder asks.

“It’s part of the new High Leader’s initiative! The, uh, “Menagerie Scholarship.”” Momo explains.

“There’s a whole scholarship for Faunus?” another student asks. “How’d you get in?”

“Well, to answer your first question, it’s more like an inclusion initiative,” Momo explains. “Starting this year, a proctor goes to Menagerie from each Huntsman Academy. Those of age are given the opportunity to try the exam and get into one of them! The academies choose those out of the ones that succeeded that they want, and then those prospective students choose from between the academies that want them! This year, only me and three others made it.” Momo chuckles a bit. “So, uh…we each went to a different Academy, and that’s that,” she says wistfully.

“And as for your second question,” Momo smiles, “it’s actually a really funny story! You see, my parents are merchants…and…” Momo seems to realize no one is listening to them anymore, and they droop.

Then, they hear some snaps, noticing Neo snapping for their attention. She’s sitting patiently, and motions for them to continue. Momo smiles and sits next to Neo with a grin on her face.

“Right, so my parents are merchants! Fruit merchants. They picked up this big shipment from some seaside village that probably doesn’t exist anymore, and when they got back, they opened up a crate of peaches to find they were all eaten up by a little human baby!” Momo smiles. “The crates were all sealed properly, which meant that I had to have been tossed in on purpose. They couldn’t exactly take me back, so they named me “Momo,” which means Peach Flower, and they raised me as their own. It was a little weird growing up as the only human on Menagerie, but…I made it work.”

Neo gives a polite, quiet applause, which makes Momo smile.

Cinder sighs and lays back in her sleeping bag, looking up at the ceiling. She could hear all of these people talking around her…as if it wasn’t an extremely important day tomorrow. This is the start of a new chapter in Cinder’s life, with Neo by her side, and it doesn’t matter what teammates she winds up with, so long as she keeps her family close.

~=~

The following day, Cinder and Neo are gearing up for initiation, and as they step toward the exit, the both of them slip into a camera blindspot while their peers are chatting, and each slips a device into the other’s sleeve.

“Testing…” Cinder mutters, and each peek at their scrolls, and the tracking devices work. “Confirmed.”

The two continue walking, smoothly, as if nothing had transpired. All they need to do is find each other from the moment they land, and they’ll be set.

“Pardon me,” Glynda Goodwitch steps out and addresses the crowd. “Before initiation begins, I’d like to call a student aside for a preliminary meeting.”

Cinder narrows her eyes. Oh, good, it’s happening already-

“Nyx Vermillion?” Glynda says, and everyone parts to look at the girl.

She’s a pale human girl with gray-streaked black hair and red eyes. Her clothing is simple and breathable, mostly made of up of blacks and reds. She seems extremely nervous.

“Y…yes?” She asks timidly.

“Professor Ozpin would like a word.” Glynda says, and when childish “oohs” start to pick up, Glynda shoots a glare that shuts them all up. Nyx timidly follows the teacher.

Who could that girl be? Cinder didn’t even notice her last night, she was very unassuming. She shoots a look to Neo, who shrugs her shoulders, and Cinder supposes her sister has a point. If Ozpin already has his eye on someone, best not to get involved with them.

It’ll still be a little longer until initiation begins, but they get moving now. The sooner they move, the further away from Ozpin they can get into position.

~=~

“Hello, Nyx.” Ozpin sits peacefully in a room, and Nyx sits across from him.

“Hello, Professor.” Nyx says meekly.

“How are you holding up?” Ozpin asks. “You’re jumping into action rather quickly.”

“I’m fine, Professor.” Nyx responds softly.

“No pain, no worries…” Ozpin takes a sip of his coffee. “No Nightmares?”

“Nothing I can’t work through,” Nyx assures him.

“Briar, you’ve survived a harrowing ordeal.” Ozpin says.

“Nyx,” she corrects. “I’m Nyx now. Briar…doesn’t fit me anymore.”

“Of course,” Ozpin nods. “Nyx. You were possessed by a Chill and a Nightmare at the same time, and somehow survived an entire year in that state.”

“The Hunter that helped me told me that they were feeding off of each other, and my semblance helped protect me until I could be saved.” Nyx explains.

“Yes, Shion is good at what they do,” Ozpin admits, “but your survival is still nothing less than a miracle. I suppose I’m just wanting to make sure you truly want to be a Huntress. Can you truly handle the physical and psychological strain it will put on your body?”

“I passed the exam, didn’t I?” Nyx asks.

“Barely,” Ozpin corrects her. “But yes.” he sighs. “I cannot stop you from entering school, Nyx. I don’t have the grounds to dismiss you. I just want you to know that if it ever becomes too much for you, you can leave. There will be no judgment.”

“Thank you, Professor. I appreciate your concern.” Nyx bows her head, and stands up. “May I go?”

“You may. Get into position, I’ll be out for the other students in a moment.” Ozpin says, and Nyx leaves the room.

Nyx takes a deep breath, and then her eyes widen as she feels her aura dissipate. The emotions in the room behind her come in droves, and she can feel the emotions of her peers far away, as well.

Worry, doubt, grief, sadness, frustration, anger, paranoia, resentment, greed, mistrust, all a beacon of emotion telling her to feed

Feed

FEED

F E E D

Nyx holds herself tight, forcing all her power to reactivate her aura…and the urges fade. Taking deep breaths, Nyx moves toward initiation. The only way to keep those urges at bay is with a strong aura. If she wants a strong aura, she needs to become a Huntress.

Chapter Text

Author’s Note: So I realized Nyx actually fits for one additional story, as well as fitting for yet another story you guys pointed out for me. So Nyx fits with five stories. Whoops!

I won’t reveal them all, but I will say that you guys are right, Nyx is the Goddess of Night, but I didn’t think of that originally, Nyx was merely a name of allude to Night in General, regarding Nyx’s past and semblance (which you’ll see a little bit of this chapter!)

~=~

Cinder steps onto the cliffside, where the launchpads are prepared for everyone to stand on. Ozpin is giving instructions at the end of the line, but Cinder and Neo stand next to each other, ready to be launched without a thought. When time time comes, they’re both launched onward! Neo extends her parasol to daintily float with precision, while Cinder draws out Daybreak and loads up Burn Dust in one and Lightning Dust in the other. As she nears a tree, she combines the powers of the dusts usng her semblance to create the power of Gravity Dust and repel downward!

~=~

Neo lands on the ground and twirls Silence around, checking her scroll for Cinder’s location. She landed a little ways ahead, but it’s no problem. Neo shifts to camouflage, and begins to walk through the Emerald Forest with no regard for anyone else she may pass on the way to her Sister.

~=~

Nyx is soaring through the air, and she holds out her hand, focusing her aura. Bramble-covered vines emerge from a nearby tree and catch Nyx, repelling her to the ground. Nyx strains as the brambles touch her, quickly stepping away as she lands and refocusing her aura to cover her.

Okay, she’s on the ground safely, now all that’s left is do what she’s been instructed. By the end of the day, she’ll have a team and a place in Beacon…easy, right?

~=~

Momo repels down by grabbing onto a branch, swinging down, and then leaping from tree to tree until she perfectly lands on the ground. Dusting herself off, she looks around as she walks, drawing out her fans as she sees some Beowolves approach her.

“You guys don’t look so tough,” Momo grins, and as the Beowolves charge, she rushes them just as the earth tremors!

~=~

Cinder rushes through the Emerald Forest, slashing through Grimm after Grimm and plant after plant to carve a burning path, creating a trail of destruction Neo should be able to catch up to pretty quickly.

Cinder knocks down a tree, collapsing it onto an Ursa and crushing it beneath it, and Cinder grins as the burning dust around her allows her to strut through the fire she’s conjured. It’ll burn up too quickly to cause any real harm to a place like the Emerald Forest…but by the Brothers, does it make Cinder feel alive. As the smoke of slain grimm mixes among the ash created by her flames, Cinder sees a cave ahead of her with ominous markings around it.

With a cocky grin, Cinder reloads Burn Dust into both of her blades and enters the cave. If this place is where the relics are, she may be able to clear it out and secure a relic before Neo even finds her!

Stepping inside, Cinder lets her glowing blades show the way, and she soon finds herself in a large underground cavern…where the glowing tail of a Death Stalker illuminates it’s chittering terror, a tremor in the earth adding to the atmosphere.

“Oh, good.” Cinder rolls her eyes, then grins. “A challenge.”

~=~

Nyx is walking through the Emerald Forest, feeling more and more worried as she hears sounds of gunfire in the distance- signs that the other students have already found partners, and are fighting the Grimm. She can see a cliff nearby, overlooking more of the forest! She may be able to get a better view and find a partner with a better view. As Nyx approaches the cliff, she takes a deep breath and crouches down.

Nyx’s aura is…fragile. No, not in the literal way, she has a healthy amount of it, but distraction and stress can cause it to deactivate prematurely. Activating her aura never really became second nature to her. Focusing to keep it up is like trying to manually breathe. Luckily, her semblance always used to help her, and still does a little bit. Focusing her aura into the ground, a flower takes bloom, and Nyx picks a beautiful red poppy. She sniffs it, and all around the poppy, the world grows quieter. That’s what this Dream Bloom does- it quiets the world in a small area around it, remaining as a manifestation of her aura until it’s destroyed or she wills it away. It even quiets…certain urges she has when her aura falls, so she can actually sleep at night.

Picking it up, Nyx is ready to continue on to reach the cliff’s edge, but instead, she feels the ground start to shake. A tremor only grows worse as the ground erupts in fire and energy from the ground before her, and she steps back in terror as a Death Stalker and a girl emerge! The explosion has blown the Death Stalker out, and it lands on it’s back!

As the girl rises into the air, the momentum of the explosion raising her up, she brings her swords together and turns them to lock together! The curve of the swords together form a bow, and a string emerges from one sword tip and attaches to the other! She loads Ice Dust into the chambers, pulls the bowstring back, forming a dust glass arrow from the containers in the hilts, and fires!

The arrow pierces into the Death Stalker’s chest, creating ice that freezes it, unable to get back up! As the girl descends, she seperates her bow into swords again, and swaps the dust to Burn Dust! Bringing both swords down onto the Death Stalker, fire and ice burst through the Grimm, destroying it!

As the girl stands over the Death Stalker’s body, it slowly evaporates as she’s silhouetted by fire. The girl looks toward Nyx, her golden eyes meeting Nyx’s red, and…

“Oh, Brothers.” Cinder curses. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to forget you saw me?”

“Uhm…I…er…” Nyx stammers.

“Nevermind, they’re probably watching us.” Cinder sighs and steps forward, sheathing her swords. “Come on, then. We’d better get moving.”

“Y-you just…killed a Death Stalker.” Nyx says in disbelief.

“Yes?” Cinder tilts her head and squints.

“Death Stalkers are powerful, they’re dangerous, even- even Huntsmen have trouble with Death Stalkers, you just took one down alone!” Nyx exclaims.

“Yeah, and it was rough on my aura. Can we move on?” Cinder sighs. “I’d rather we got our objective before…”

Behind Cinder, the sound of sparkling and shifting reveals a camouflaged girl now wearing a far more telling outfit, looking at Cinder judgmentally.

“She’s right behind me, isn’t she?” Cinder frowns.

“I don’t, um…” Nyx mutters.

Cinder turns, and Neo crosses her arms.

“Yeah, I know we had a plan, it’s not my fault I ran into some random girl!” Cinder exclaims. Neo puts her hands on her hips. “No, I’m not just gonna stand still and wait for you! Who do you take me for?” Neo taps her foot impatiently. “I killed a Death Stalker, what have you done today?” Neo rolls her eyes and holds up her scroll. “Oh, you could have caught up if you weren’t so concerned about stealth…”

Nyx finds herself just watching the display of a girl somehow arguing with a mute girl.

~=~

Momo is leaping from tree to tree, panting heavily as they avoid Grimm from a distance. She could fight for a while, but she wanted to save her aura for any big fights ahead, and besides, she needed to find someone to back her up! She’s seen a handful of pairs already from up here, but there’s bound to be someone in need of a partner. They wouldn’t just accept an odd number of students to Beacon…would they?

Momo had better make sure.

Momo pulls up her left sleeve, revealing three tattoos, each inlaid with dust. They are, from top to bottom, a Meditating Monkey inlaid with Gravity Dust, a Wolf facing the viewer head-on inlaid with Hardlight Dust, and a Pheasant flying with wings outspread inset with Wind Dust. Focusing her semblance through the Pheasant tattoo, the dust is expended from the tattoo, and she creates a manifestation of her aura in the form of a spectral pheasant that flies up with glowing eyes!

Momo sees through her Pheasant’s enhanced vision, whereupon she notices smoke. Looking closer, there’s a clearing nearby where other students are chatting- three of them!

Returning her vision back to her own body, Momo smiles. Odd number means one of them still needs a partner! Momo figures her luck is coming around as she leaps through the trees in the midst of a tremor.

~=~

“Look, it’s no big deal! This is better!” Cinder tells Neo. “I’m serious! We’ll each grab the same relic, and then we’ll have our team figured out from the get-go instead of waiting for Ozpin to tell us. Just grab the next person you see!”

“I’d like to volunteer!” a voice says, and Momo drops down from the trees. “Hello, again!”

“Ah, good. See? It all works out.” Cinder smiles, and Neo rolls her eyes. Cinder sighs and walks over to Nyx, starting to drag her along.

“Shouldn’t we do some intros?” Momo asks.

“Walk and talk.” Cinder says and lifts Nyx over her shoulder, then leaps down into the hole she made back into the cave. It’ll be a quicker route back to the main area of the forest.

~=~

“Are you sure this is a good idea, sir?” Glynda asks Ozpin from the higher cliffs. “Team ROWSE didn’t only pass the bar, but they gave their daughters Academy-level training from a young age. The only reason the two of them qualified for Beacon and not true liscenses is because they never used their semblances in the exam.”

“I’m aware,” Ozpin says, “but this could be an Olive Branch. A sign that after all these years, they’re willing to work as an alliance.”

“It could also mean they wish to secure the Relic.” Glynda remarks.

“We both know that securing our Relic will be much more difficult than even they believe.” Ozpin says. “So we will treat these two like any other student…while we assume they are playing the long game.”

“Well, you may enjoy this.” Glynda says. “They’re the first to arrive.”

“Then let us watch.” Ozpin remarks.

~=~

In an ancient ruin, several relics are set out…and Cinder and Neo can see just how on-the-nose Ozpin has chosen to be. Wands, Lanterns, Daggers, and Bracelets…or rather, smaller versions of Staffs, Lamps, Swords, and Crowns.

“Some of them are identical…is it a puzzle?” Nyx asks.

“Not in the traditional sense.” Cinder walks forward with her sister, then turns to Neo. “Let me apologize to you, dear sister. You go first!”

Neo rolls her eyes with a smile and picks up the Wand.

“Why, I afraid I’m inclined to agree. It does have a certain charm, doesn’t it?” Cinder picks up the matching piece.

“We’re done here.” Cinder says. “Let’s get to the cliff, and we can start out new lives at Beacon.”

“Alright! Sounds good to me.” Momo smiles, but as the four begin to advance, the ground tremors…and the tremor, at long last, crescendoes.

Bursing through the treeline is an amalgamation of trees, bark and wood mangled together, and a single mask in the middle of it all, an Arbor Gigas looms over them all.

“What the hell?!” Momo exclaims.

Cinder draws her swords. “How did a Geist get here?!”

~=~

“How did a Geist get here?!” Glynda exclaims.

“Glynda, call the Professors.” Ozpin remarks. Usually, he would stick to his word on no interferences…but a Geist is too dangerous for first-year students.

As Glynda rushes off, he turns back to his screen, narrowing his eyes. As concerned as he was, he couldn’t help but wonder…

What will you do, children of ROWSE?

~=~

The four students keep their distances from the Arbor Gigas- as much distance as they can, anyway.

“What are you semblances?” Cinder looks at Momo and Nyx. “Now!”

“Uh, I can control plants! Kind of. It’s a little more complicated than that. I can’t, like, control the trees the Arbor Gigas absorbed, it’s more like I conjure plants…?” Nyx rambles.

“I can work with that.” Cinder says. “And you?”

“Too long to explain now. What’s important,” Momo reveals her tattoos, “Is that I’ve got two left for now. I can create a barrier or I can find a weakness.”

“I already know the weakness of a Geist, you have to aim for the face.” Cinder looks at the creature as it rampages. “It doesn’t seem to be very old…it’s not trying to protect the face at all, and it chose something as fragile as wood.” she smiles. “I have a plan. Follow my lead.”

“You really think we can take that thing down?!” Nyx exclaims, and it smacked on the back of the head by Neo as she walks forward.

“Not think. Know.” Cinder readies her weapons. “Now, listen close…”

~=~

As the Arbor Gigas lumbers forward, it’s side is hit with an arrow! Looking back, it sees Cinder, who has just fired at it from the ground with a smile! It lunges for her, and she starts running, seperating Daybreak into swords and cutting burn dust into the arboreal arms!

Meanwhile, it feels fire coming at it from another angle as Neo lurches fire at it’s main body! The creature panics, flailing wildly, and goes to stomp on Neo, crushing the Doll! More Dolls begin to appear and throw each other upward, as they act as decoys to lead it around! As this happens, the Arbor Gigas tries to walk, only to notice brambles crawling up from the ground to trap one foot! Fire and brambles dig into it, and the Gigas lunges aimlessly, trying to be free, and Neo hovers above it, and then closes her parasol and activates the dust, lunging downward parasol-first like a lance, smashing into the Arbor Gigas’s mask and destroying the giant, releasing the Geist!

The Geist, somewhat smaller than a normal Geist, soars through the air to escape and find a new host.

“Now!” Cinder shouts, and Momo creates a shield of aura using their Wolf tattoo, and Cinder hops onto it. The shield is then lifted up into the air!

“Gotta say, I’ve never thought to use this as a platform before!” Momo smiles.

Cinder draws back the arrow while in the air, and once she has it lined up just right…she fires. The Wind Dust she crafted the arrow into has the arrow move as fast as a bullet, stabbing into the Geist from behind, and destroying it immediately.

“Child’s play.” Cinder smirks.

~=~

“...call off the reinforcements.” Ozpin speaks into his scroll.

“What? But sir…” Glynda protests.

“The children,” Ozpin interrupts, “have it all under control.” he smiles. “It seems we were right. They were holding back in their exam.”

~=~

“...so you see, I call my Semblance “Teamwork.”” Momo explains during the ceremony, while Cinder and the others wait their turn. “These tattoos? They represent my three best friends. I can channel their semblances one time, and it recharges when I set new Dust into the tattoo! It takes a lot of aura when I’m doing it from this far away, though.” Momo sighs. “But, uh, I’m looking forward to getting new tattoos! From, you know, my teammates.”

Neo rolls her eyes.

“What, you think your semblance is too good for me?” Momo teases, and Neo teasingly turns her head away in mock shun, making Momo laugh.

“Jordy Stalk, Bella Turqoise, Aria Deep, Thaddeus Princeton,” Ozpin announces, “The four of you retrieved the Lanterns. From this point on, you shall be known as Team SABT (Sailboat). Led by, Jordy Stalk.”

The people applause, and Cinder lifts her head. With this few people, next would be…

“Cinder Reaper, Nyx Vermillion, Momo Blossom, Neopolitan.” Ozpin announces, and Cinder’s team takes the stage. “The four of you retrieved the Wands. From this point on, you shall be known as Team CNMN (Cinnamon). Led by, Cinder Reaper.”

Cinder gives no emotional indication other than a smile and a nod…as if she expected anything else to happen.

The group steps off the stage, and prepares to be escorted to their new dorm.

~=~

“Placing her in charge of the team, sir? Really?” Glynda asks.

“Nyx is not ready, Momo is too eager-to-please, and Neopolitan is…well,” Ozpin shrugs. “Regardless, this is the best way to keep an eye on them and truly put Team ROWSE’s training to the test in the face of real Huntsmen training. We’ll get to see firsthand what these girls have retained from their family.”

“But that’s…” Glynda sighs. “I suppose you’re right.”

“There’s a larger issue at hand, Glynda.” Ozpin says. “We have no idea where that Geist came from…or if there are more that have somehow gotten past Vale’s natural barriers. We have no idea what further dangers could be lurking near our campus, even now.”

~=~

In the Emerald forest, behind a tree is an overturned glass canister, once full of black liquid. Open wide, what remains seeps out and trails down a ridge into a river. The river leads onward toward the lake beneath Beacon Academy…and from a puddle near the river, the liquid solifies and something emerges from it, using the liquid up as a tiny Nevermore caws and takes to the sky.

Chapter Text

The classes at Beacon are rather simple in some ways, and complex in others. For one thing, the uniform code is interesting but restraining for the kind of clothes she and Neo have gotten used to wearing. Regardless, Cinder has found that she’s still able to wear her hood to class, and Neo just creates an illusion of her uniform over her actual outfit, and no one can tell the difference.

“Today, class,” Professor Peter Port says, “we’re going to go over the mysterious behaviors of the Grimm! Now, I’m sure you’re all aware of the Grimm we see typically in the Vale area. Beowolves, Ursa, Nevermores, and the terrifying Death Stalkers! However, those from beyond our borders would know that the most common Grimm in an area varies on where you live. You’re unlikely to see a Beowolf in Solitas or a Nevermore in Vacuo, after all! The origins of the Grimm may still be unknown, but there seem to be a strange instinct to them. Wherever they come from, they seem to have a strange instinct to them, like they know where they should be, where they can best blend in with local wildlife…”

Listening to this class reminds Cinder of a class Snow had given her and Neo once…

~=~

“We travel the world to do good,” Snow Witch said, “but our enemy lives in a place we shall not approach for a long time. This,” the woman points out a dragon-shaped continent on the map, “is what we have come to call “Domain.” It is where the Brother Gods first emerged and built their dominion over remnant, and where their divine sites remain, untouched by any hands but Salem’s to this day. We have only seen hints of Brother Dark’s domain- a wasteland of pools of the Grimm’s lifeblood.”

“Is that were Grimm come from?” Cinder had asked.

“Exactly how they get across the world is still unknown to us,” Snow said, “but yes. They emerge from the black pools. Grimm Liquid is…a rather ugly sight. Even we have only encountered it a few times. But Salem, we believe that she has made a home in Brother Dark’s dominion, using her unlimited access to the Grimm Liquid to create Grimm with more and more dangerous…modifications.”

A summoning glyph appears on the ground, and rising from it is a horrendous sight.

“Take the Cenitaur,” Snow said. “Once a simple Centinel, this Alpha version breathes out a corrosive green acid. It’s extremely dangerous.”

Snow steps behind the Cenitaur, and it turns toward the girls. “Do you believe you can find it’s weakness?”

“All Grimm have the same weakness,” Cinder frowns distastefully.

“Then perhaps you’ll find this one’s particular weakness.” Snow says, and the Cenitaur snarls and charges!

~=~

“There is no single weakness the Grimm have,” Port says, snapping Cinder out of her memory. Cinder almost speaks up, before stopping herself. Silver-Eyed Warriors are a legend to these people, a rumor at best. It’s best she stays quiet. “But each Grimm has it’s own strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited! Memorizing the right ones and utilizing what you know is paramount!” Port gestures to the diagrams behind him.

“A Death Stalker is a rather hearty Grimm, able to survive it’s limbs and even it’s stinger being severed…but a talented Huntsman can use that against the Grimm! Believe me, nothing is more satisfying than driving a Death Stalker’s own stinger into it’s head! Boarbatusks are deadly and can spin up before attacking, but get one on it’s back, and it’s impressive armor can’t help against a soft underbelly! Even something as simple as Beowolves have a glaring weakness.” Port explains. “Despite their mindless demeanor, Beowolves are cocky.” He chuckles. “You see, the more Beowolves there are in a pack, the more reckless the individual Beowolf becomes in a fight! This would allow just one talented Huntress to take on an entire pack with little difficulty, provided they know what they’re doing.”

The bell then rings.

“Ah, right on time! That’s lunch, then. I want you all to go over your textbooks and w
ite a page about the weaknesses of a Grimm of your choice, on my desk tomorrow!” the Professor calls as everyone filters out of the room.

Cinder heads to the Mess Hall alongside her teammates, and Momo walks beside her with a grin.

“So, Cinder,” Momo says, “these past few days we’ve done a lot of training and learning about each other’s combat, but we don’t actually know that much about each other personally!”

“Momo, you tell your life story to everyone you meet,” Cinder smirks a bit, “I think I know all I need to know.”

“Ouch, but true.” Momo smiles. “It’s just been an adjustment for me. In Menagerie, I just kinda…knew everyone. It’s been fun meeting a bunch of new people. What about you, Nyx?”

“I’m fine…” Nyx says quietly.

Cinder has noticed that Nyx kind of just follows the team around, does her work quietly, and does whatever Cinder tells her. Which, normally, would be just fine with Cinder, but Cinder’s Mother actually wants Cinder to make friends, so…she needs to try and form a connection with these people.

“I only ask ‘cause you’re the quiet one here,” Momo says.

“Wha- Neo’s mute!” Nyx exclaims.

“And yet, she’s louder than you.” Momo quips, and Neo winks with a smile.

“I’m not just going to spill my life story to you,” Cinder says, “but I wouldn’t be against going to Vale sometime in the future. We could make a day out of it.”

“Oh, heck yeah! Girl’s night!” Momo says with bright eyes.

“Sure. Girl’s night.” Cinder shrugs with a smile as her team makes it to the cafeteria.

The food Beacon serves its students is rather varied. The transition from Ketos to Beacon Academy has been rather simple, since the girls could pretty much always choose what they wanted. Cinder was taught how to use her semblance to cook from a young age…kind of. Oak never directly taught her anything…

Once in the cafeteria, the group sits down, and they’re all eating.

“So, where’d you guys grow up?” Momo asks.

“I lived in a village, I…don’t remember its name,” Nyx says guiltily. “Villages don’t last long outside the kingdoms.”

“...ah. Sorry I asked.” Momo frowns. “Um, what about you two?”

“I’m sure my life began in an Animan village somewhere,” Cinder says, realizing that she’ll have to tell Momo something. “My earliest memories are an orphanage in Mistral, and eventually I wounds up in Atlas.”

“Pretty big jump.” Momo notes.

“One day, my Mother came and took me in, and the rest was history. She’s the one who truly inspired me to become a Huntress.” Cinder says confidently, silently scorning the Huntsman whose name she can’t even recall at this point.

“What made you decide to come to Beacon?” Momo asks. “Sounds like Haven or Atlas would’ve been appropriate.”

“My Mother spoke very highly of Headmaster Ozin. I wanted to see his teachings for myself.” Cinder smiles cryptically.

“Alright! And what about you, Neo?” Momo asks, and sees Neo is looking away from them. “Neo?”

Neo points subtly forward, turning her team’s attention out the Mess Hall’s window. Outside the window, they see what looks like one of their peer teams- team SABT or something- is with a bunch of other first-years, and the team’s leader is holding a shoebox of some kind and heading behind the Mess Hall.

“Well, that’s weird,” Momo says, then smiles. “Wanna check it out?”

“Yes,” Cinder smiles and stands up, “I think I do. Well done, Neo, you’ve found us something interesting to do.”

Neo bows her head dramatically as she stands up and gestures for Cinder to walk onward. Cinder leads her team out of the Mess Hall and around it, down the path they saw the crowd take. Soon, they reach behind the Mess Hall, and it’s…honestly not what Cinder was expecting.

A bunch of first-years are crowding around what looks like a tiny, makeshift racing track carved into the dirt with sticks. Clearly, whatever they’re racing is being kept in the cardboard box, and Team SABT is leading their operations and managing bets.

Bella Turqoise is a Faunus with Butterfly wings, and she’s fluttering around to gather the bets. Aria Deep, a fish faunus, is gonna be some kind of MC for whatever they’re doing, and their human leader Jordy Stalk is standing beside a Frog Faunus, Thaddeus Princeton.

“Aright! Everything’s set…” Jordy says. “Now we just need you to get them.”

“What?” Thaddeus blinks. “I’m not getting them, you get them!”

“‘fraid that’s not possible, Tad, I gotta hold the box.” Jordy says with a shrug.

“I am not going to get-”

“What’s going on here?” Cinder asks, making herself known, and Tad shrieks and hops behind Jordy.

“OH GOD DON’T HURT ME!” He whimpers, and Cinder arches an eyebrow, unamused. She ignores Momo’s very amused snickering behind her.

“Ah, Team CNMN!” Jordy smiles. “Just the folks we were looking for?”

“Looking for us? Why?” Cinder asks.

“Well, um, looking for you.” Jordy chuckles.

“...I reiterate. Why?” Cinder’s gaze becomes hard.

“Oh god she’s staring into my soul…” Tad mutters.

“Chill, dude!” Jordy mutters back at him and smiles nervously at Cinder. “So, um, you see Cinder, Cindy, can I call you Cindy?”

“Call me Cindy and I will burn your hair off of your scalp.” Cinder growls.

“Cinder it is!” Jordy laughs nervously. “So, my pals and I, we’ve been hoping to keep morale up! It’s been a boring start to the school year, you know, so we’ve been organizing a little animal race! Especially since I found these little guys on campus the other day.”

Jordy cracks open the box, and Cinder’s eyes widen as she sees what’s inside. Pitch black flesh, beings neither fully toad nor frog, with whiplike tongues that stay lodged in throat sacs, and Grimm masks that make them resembled Horned Toads…

“Are those Bulwarts?!” Cinder exclaims.

“Whoa!” Momo’s eyes widen. “I’ve never seen a Bulwart outside of Menagerie! Granted, I’ve never been outside of Menagerie, but a lot of our Grimm wildlife isn’t really found anywhere else.”

“We had Grimm like this back in my village! Little frog things, we’d race ‘em all the time!” Jordy says and closes the box up. “Look, they’re too small to even cause a dent in aura, we’ll kill them when we’re done with them, we just figure it’ll be a little bit of harmless fun!”

“So why do you need Cinder?” Momo asks.

“Well, we need a way for all the Grimm to go in the same direction, and so…erm…” Jordy seems to not be able to put it into ords.

“Oh, I get it,” Nyx says. “You want Cinder because she’s an intoxicating beacon of negative emotion that any Grimm would follow.”

Everyone turns to look at Nyx, who just shies away behind Momo.

“I, um…don’t think I would have said it exactly like that, but yes. Basically.” Jordy agrees, and Cinder turns her gaze back on him. “Oh god please don’t kill me.”

Cinder sighs and rubs her temples. Great, just great. She already has a reputation forming. This is why she doesn’t like people.

…thoughts like that are probably why the reputation exists, Cinder realizes.

“And why would I-” Cinder begins, and Neo puts a finger to her mouth to shush her as she steps forward.

“Uh, Neo-something, right?” Jordy asks. “You’re Cinder’s bestie or something?”

“They’re sisters,” Momo supplies.

“Really?” Jordy squints. “I don’t see it.”

Neo responds to this by letting her semblance trail across her, turning her hair black and her eyes gold.

“...okay, now I see it.” Jordy nods, and Cinder scowls. She hates when Neo does that.

Neo points out the box full of lien that Bella is carrying.

“Oh, a cut? Naturally, you’ll get a cut! 50/50 split.” Jordy smiles, and Neo shakes her head. She pulls out her scroll and holds up a pie chart to him. “80/20 in your favor?! No way! We can do 55/45 in your favor, just a bit of extra.” Neo squints and acts distressed as she gestures to the frogs and mimes them attacking her dear sister, really hamming it up. “Look, they’re no big threat, they’re…” Jordy is interruted as Neo very obviously gestures to the lack of weapons in the area. “Okay, you got a point, we never got our weapons, but we didn’t wanna get caught! A teacher might see us carrying our weapons around and get suspicious!”

Neo squints and changes the pie chart, a determined look on her face, looking angry at the group as she presents it.

“70/30…ugh! Fine.” Jordy huffs, and Neo shales his hand…before turning and winking with a smile at her compatriots.

“Well, we’re about to get money for Girls Night.” Momo chuckles.

“Yeah, by whoring out my negativity.” Cinder mutters. “I’m not even that bad! I’m not hateful toward people necessarily, I’m not really sad, I’m not afraid of anything here…”

“Well, you’re- I mean you’re probably negative in other ways,” Nyx says quietly. “Not in a bad way, though! You wear it well. Use it will.” Nyx amends, the girl constantly misplacing words as she talks. Really, Cinder has no clue how she made it into Beacon in the first place sometimes, but her skills are decent and her semblance is useful, so Cinder’s not complaining.

Sitting down cross-legged at the end of the race track, Cinder watches as Jordy sets up the race and prepares to release the Bulwarts. She watches with grim amusement as he and Bella struggle to put a tiny sash on each Bulwart, each one a different color. The race begins with Team SABT all clapping in unison, and the four Bulwarts are off!

It’s…about as entertaining as you’d expect a frog race to be. The kids are all screaming as volumes that annoy Cinder, which unfortunately only seems to make her a better target for them. Cinder has every intention of smashing the first one that makes it to her under her boot.

However, something strange begins to happen as they’re released. They all begin to, one by one…vibrate. Soon, the undulating Grimm stop moving and keep shaking, and it’s only when their little sashes rip that everyone realizes that they’re growing. Quickly.

“Oh…oh god. What’s happening?!” Jordy exclaims, turning to Momo. “Y-you said you fought these things on Menagerie, right?!”

“Not like this!” Momo exclaims. “They don’t just grow out of nowhere!”

The Bulwarts grow to full, dangerous size, and the one closes to Cinder sends it’s serrated tongue out at her, carving through and shattering the Doll of Cinder Neo put in it’s place to bring Cinder next to her!

“Get our lockers,” Cinder tosses Nyx her scroll, “Neo and I will hold them off!”

“Hold them off?!” Jordy exclaims. “Are you crazy?! We gotta run! We don’t have our weapons!”

“Neo and I are never unarmed.” Cinder says matter-of-factly.

“Oh, you’re gonna wanna see this. It’s awesome.” Momo grins and inputs her code to her scroll.

As the Bulwarts lunge, Cinder activates the dust on the inside of her hood! She sends a gust of wind that forces them back, then uses her semblance to draw the dust out and solidify it into a Burn Dust glass sword in her right hand and a Lightning Dust glass sword in her left! Neo’s gloves light up, and she snaps her fingers, conjuring a handful of Dolls that immediately smash themselves against the stupid Bulwarts, a few of them even trying to eat the dolls, before the fire dust infused with them does some serious damage! One of the Bulwarts that eats the doll whole actually explodes immediately, leaving just three left!

Cinder then rushes forward, and she dodges out of the way of the tongues and cuts through them, leaving the Bulwarts screaming in agony as Cinder beats them back, cutting one of them into ribbons! One of them lunges at Cinder from behind, and her eyes widen as it’s about to land on her, but Momo’s barrier apparates, blocking the grimm!

“Cinder, our weapons are here!” Momo shouts as the lockers land, equipping herself with her fans.

“Good,” Cinder stabs both the glass swords into the side of the other Bulwart, and Neo smacks it away with Silence before it can take a bite at her. “Take care of the others, would you?”

“Gladly,” Momo entends her fans and splits the shield apart, lunging forward to cut the Bulwart down!

Meanwhile, Neo sends wind dust flying at the last Bulwart from one direction, and Nyx’s torch blasts it with Burn dust from another! The cyclone of energy around it kills the final Bulwart, and it falls to the ground, the last of them dissolving just as the Professors arrive on scene.

“What happened?!” Glynda exclaims.

As many students are disjointedly telling the story, Glynda soon gets the full picture, and growls as she fixes what little damage was done to the school with a wave of her crop.

“Detention! All of you.” Glynda growls.

“Now, hold on now!” Port steps forward. “Four fully-grown Bulwarts? Taken down by just four first-years?”

“We couldn’t have done it without Cinder and Neo!” Momo smiles. “They held them back long enough for the weapons to arrive.”

“Dust embedded into your clothing for emergency defense…” Port mutters.

“And in case we ever find ourselves disarmed.” Cinder steps forward. “Professor Port, my team and I simply saw the weakness in these Bulwarts immediately. The Bulwarts were disoriented and blindly driven, and cutting off their tongues made them erratic and easy to take down. I was considering having my team write our page due tomorrow about our experience here today…” she sees many students with their scrolls out, “and maybe video analysis as well.”

Port laughs loudly. “Oh, of course! Extra credit for Team CNMN, no doubt about it!” Port turns to the Headmaster’s assistant. “Now, Glynda, do we really need to give them all detention? Kids will be kids, and this fine team of Future Huntresses took down a threat the moment it came forward! Naturally a result of their stupendous lessons.” he chuckles.

Glynda releases a deep sigh. “I suppose,” Glynda turns to Team SABT, “that I could only punish those responsible for this foolish endeavor.” she glares, and Jordy and his team gulp nervously.

“Now, off to class, all of you!” Port calls out to the surrounding students. “Lunch period is almost over, and you don’t want to be late for your next class! Particularly those of you in my class!”

As Team CNMN walks away, Cinder is deep in thought.

“Something on your mind, Cinder?” Momo asks as she puts her fans back in her locker, joining her team in returning their weapons to their lockers.

“I’m trying to figure out where the Bulwarts came from,” Cinder says. “Grimm shouldn’t wander into areas they don’t typically go, at least not without a large negative aura.”

“Who knows?” Momo shrugs. “Maybe they came here in a peach crate!”

“Hmm…” Cinder looks at Neo, who shares her look of concern.

Where did the Bulwarts come from?

~=~

“I’m telling you, I just found them!” Jordy says. “On campus somewhere! I don’t know where. It’s not a big deal, right? It’s like those tiny Nevermores you see.”

“This could be a very big deal.” Glynda scowls, officially questioning the young man. “You didn’t notice anything odd about where you found them? Nothing at all?”

“I mean, I…wasn’t really looking…” Jordy rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

Glynda sighs and pushes her glasses up the ridge of her nose. “You are excused, Mister Stalk. You’ll be expected for detention after classes are done.”

“Yes, ma’am…” Jordy lurks out, and Glynda walks to see Ozpin in the next room over.

“Nothing?” Ozpin asks.

“Nothing,” Glynda confirms. “I don’t like this, Ozpin. Bulwarts always show up in swampy environments. Do you think it’s…?”

“Do I think She’s stooping so low at this point as to send invasive species Grimm to other locations? At this point, no. But we shall err on the side of caution.” Ozpin sips his coffee. “What truly concerns me is the rapid growth they went through. If the rapid evolution of a Grimm is now possible, then we may be at bigger risk than we originally thought. We must simply be alert an vigilant to what mysterious happenstance may occur next.”

~=~

Deep within Beacon Academy’s campus, among the buildings on-site, a small water pipe drops down the last drops from an unknown source, puddling a tiny puddle of black liquid…which then shifts and forms into a tiny Bulwart. It hops away, leaving no more liquid behind, and no evidence of where it came from.

Chapter Text

The Huntsmen Academies have three Semesters per year, and they tend to end as a certain season comes to pass- Cinder and Neo know that it’s the season associated with their respective Relic’s Maiden. Beacon Academy starts the school year in Winter and ends it just before Fall sets in. Of course, there are plenty of breaks based upon holidays…but the semesters are all quite important, and each end with small exams testing their abilities. This is also why the schedule for students arriving in Kingdoms for the Vytal Festival is all over the place.

Team CNMN has been very busy during their first semester, training and learning as much as they can about each other’s abilities, as well as improving their powers. Their first semester is ending with one particularly strange exam coming from Professor Port. They’re not going to the man’s classroom…instead, they’ve entered the sparring hall.

“Today’s exam is not a mere written exam. Today, I witness what you’ve learned in my classroom firsthand!” Port explains, and Professor Goodwitch steps in, using her semblance to hover in at least a dozen cages with Grimm in them.

“That’s a lot of Grimm…” Momo whistles.

“Each of you shall face a creature of Grimm, one on one! You shall be evaluated not just for slaying the creature, but how you slay it.” Port explains. “Naturally, I’ll have to have one of our highest marking students show you all how it’s done. Cinder, would you mind?”

“Not at all, Professor.” Cinder smiles and steps down to the main sparring arena. The locks are wheeled out, and Cinder takes Daybreak in her hands. “What will I be facing?” she asks as she gets into position.

“Your opponent is…” Port releases the first cage. “A Beowolf! Careful, though. This one’s a big one.”

The Beowolf that emerges has far more bones protruding from it, and it looms over Cindr as it roars! It’s an Alpha, it seems.

Cinder smiles as she sees this, and charges Burn Dust into Daybreak. She goes to attack, using her smaller size to dodge away and retaliate the attacks she’s able to block! It’s able to get a few hits in, but she continues to cut away at it!

“Using your smaller size to your advantage, that’s the ticket!” Port declares.

The Alpha snarls and as Cinder stabs again, it grabs Cinder and throws her away! As she lands on the ground, the Beowolf leaps, lunging for the girl! Cinder flourishes her cloak, using her semblance to send out an array of Ice Dust that manifests as instant stalagmites of ice that stab into the Grimm, keeping it in place as it roars and bites! Cinder smiles and picks up her swords, cockily reloads dust into them, and stabs them both into the Grimm’s neck before slashing in different directions, cutting the creature’s head off!

“Excellent work, Miss Reaper!” Port bellows as Cinder puts her weapons away. “Top marks, undoubtedly! Now, who’s next? Come now, don’t be shy!”

“Um, sir?” Jordy Stalk raises his hand nervously.

“Ah, Mister Stalk! Come on down, show us what you’ve got!” Port encourages.

“U-um, actually sir, I was wondering if I could take the exam a different day?” Jordy asks.

“A different day?” Port asks. “I must say, that’d be a bit anticlimactic. What’s brought this on? Stage fright?”

“Actually, sir, I um…lost my weapons.” Jordy mutters.

“...come again?” Port asks, as though he couldn’t possibly have heard Jordy right.

“My gun-sickles, the things I use to climb and fight both long distance and short-range, I…I lost them.” Jordy says sheepishly. “I think it was when I last went to visit my Mom outside Vale. I either left them at home, or lost them somewhere in the city…”

“Well, then, Mister Stalk, you’d better hope for two things. One, that you’ll be able to find your weapons, and two…” Port gets another cage in place. “That you’ve practiced your hand-to-hand combat effectively.”

“You mean…?” Jordy’s eyes widen in worry.

“There will be no revisions, no rescheduling, and no redos to this test!” Port sighs. “Students, do you know why I have so many Grimm in cages here today?”

Momo raises her hand. “Does it have to do with all the Grimm around the Emerald Forest lately?”

“Precisely,” Port nods. “The Emerald Forest is now teeming with Grimm. It’s not to out-of-control levels, but it is breaking a few records. We, your Professors, have the situation under control, but we need to make sure you students are prepared. So I ask that you students please start to take these things more seriously. That being said, Mister Stalk, today will provide a valuable lesson to you about the importance of knowing where your weapon is at all times!”

Jordy gulps. “Yes, sir…” he slowly steps down and gets into position.

“Your opponent is…” Port opens the cage. “A Boarbatusk!”

The boar Grimm charges out and snorts, screeching as it attacks Jordy! Jordy does his best, mostly playing defensive, but the Boarbatusk’s powerful armor and attacks prove too much fo the young man. As his aura lowers into the red and the boar charges again, Port hooks the Grimm’s tusk with his axe and throws it into the air, turning his weapon to it’s blunderbuss side and firing! Blasting directly through the Grimm’s stomach, the Boarbatusk is destroyed.

“...I failed, didn’t I?” Jordy asks.

“Mister Stalk, you are excused. Go find your weapons.” Port says curtly, and Jordy sheepishly leaves. “Now, who here can actually fight?”

~=~

“I think it’s safe to say we aced that exam.” Momo says confidently as Team CNMN walks through the halls.

“Professor Port had a point,” Cinder says, “there have been more Grimm around than normal.”

“We’re probably just having a bad year,” Momo says. “Besides, the Professors can handle it. And so can we! If things get too dangerous, we’ll be there to pick up the slack! Speaking of slack, we need a break.”

“Weren’t we gonna do a…”Girls Night” at some point?” Nyx asks.

“We got completely sidetracked from that.” Momo sighs. “But hey, it could help! I’ve been wanting to see what Vale is like, anyway. Cinder’s training regimen has kept us in Beacon all semester.”

Cinder gets red in the face. “I just want us to be ready. We’re going to be Huntresses one day, you know.”

“That’s fine and all, but we need breaks! Team-building exercises, and having fun together. We’re not coworkers, we’re teammates!” Momo says.

“My Aunt told us something similar once…” Cinder sighs. “I guess it’s hard to remember all of my family’s teachings.”

Neo reaches up to pat Cinder on the shoulder, then gets an idea and grins as she twirls around to stand in front of her three teammates, and uses her Burn dust to make a little sparkler effect on her fingertip.

“...oh, no.” Cinder sighs, and Neo gives her a grin as if to say “Oh, yes!”

“You wanna clue us in?” Momo asks.

“...it’s Neo’s birthday today.” Cinder mutters.

“What?!” Momo exclaims. “And we’re only hearing this now?!”

“We didn’t celebrate our birthdays very much…” Cinder says, and Neo gvies her a stinkeye. “I didn’t celebrate my birthday very much. It slipped my mind, I’ve never haved to worry about it before.”

“Wait, aren’t you older than Neo?” Nyx asks.

“My God, we missed your birthday too?!” Momo exclaims. “Alright, that’s it, we are going out tonight!”

Cinder groans. “...fine. Girls night out.”

“Girls night out!” Momo cheers.

~=~

Going out into Vale’s nightlife, Cinder is more than happy to let Neo lead the charge to do whatever she wants for her birthday night. Which, for now, seems to just be touring the food stalls.

“There’s more food here than on a festival night in Menagerie,” Momo happily chuckles as she stuff her face with fried dough.

“So…where to next, Neo?” Cinder asks, eating some pomegranate sorbet out of a cone.

As if on cue, they all hear an explosion and an alarm one street away. Neo gives them all a big grin.

“Oh, good.” Cinder sighs.

“Wait, we’re going toward that?” Nyx asks, terrified.

“Neo used to have a vigilante streak when she was a kid. Her favorite thing to do is continue that.” Cinder explains.

The team follows Neo as she twirls Silence around and skips along toward the chaos.

~=~

In the smoldering fires of a burn dust explosion, a redhead in a bowler hat loads as much lien as possible into his briefcase and prepares to head out of this, the third shop on his crime spree tonight! Twirling his Melodic Cudgel around, he walks back toward the door.

Roman Torchwick was once a simple thug in Mistral, part of Lil’ Miss Malachite’s Spider Gang, even acting as her right hand for a while…but he always liked to do his own thing. Things got bad for the Spider Gang a few years ago, when Lionheart was ousted from his seat at Headmaster. It took time and vetting for a new Headmaster to finally be landed on, but three years ago, the new Headmaster was chosen. She was hungry to rid Mistral is treachery and deceit, and in the years since, each Huntsman graduate of that academy shares that hunger. It led tot he nice, peaceful parts of Mistral reaching lower and lower, driving crime into the very fringes of the Kingdom. That included the Spider Gang.

Now, the 27-year-old gangman left Mistral- perhaps a tad earlier than he ever expected- to find a new start somewhere else. Of course, the glory-hungry Torchwick intends to be in Vale what Lil’ Miss was in Mistral. It wouldn’t be hard- Vale’s criminal underworld has had a power vacuum for years! Torchwick began his criminal reputation by robbing Vale’s Bank, humiliating both the police and two cocky Huntsmen in the process, and has since gone on quite the crime spree! Junior Xiong tried to threaten him, but Roman is determined. He changed his spider tattoo into something a bit more him, and has gone on to rob shop after shop, getting case after case full of Lien! The police, the huntsmen, the other gangs are all powerless to stop Roman Torchwick!

The people are all cowering, all eyes are on him, and he bursts out of the shop…only to see his getaway car has a petite girl sitting on top of it, legs crossed, parasol in hand.

“Clear it, shortstack!” Roman points Melodic Cudgel at her, and the crosshair raises up. “I’ve got places to be.”

The girl arches her eyebrows and winks. In an instant, Roman sees something in the corner of his eye, and he raises his cane to block an incoming attack from…this girl’s twin?! She shatters against him, and the real one leaps off the car and beats him back, slamming him into the wall as he drops his briefcase.

“Oh, good, she’s got a semblance…” Roman huffs and cracks his neck. “Look, girlie, I’ve tangled against actual Huntsmen before. You really think you’ve got a chance?” The girl points her parasol forward, as if to challenge him. “Alright. Let’s find out.”

Roman fires an explosive round at her, but the parasol expands, blocking the blast! The girl rushes forward and strikes and blocks Roman’s attacks! Roman has his own fighting style, able to block some of her strikes, but this girl is on a whole nother level, and her strange semblance means that he’s effectively surrounded by this one girl! Roman soon realizes he’s going about this all wrong…he shouldn’t be aiming for the girl herself at all. As the girl lunges again, Roman fires at the ground, creating a blast that destroys her copies and sends her back! This gives Roman an opening, and he rushes toward his car! However, he slams into something that suddenly appears, as though he’d run straight into a brick wall!

Stumbling back, Roman sees it’s some kind of barrier…glowing, like aura.

“As amusing as that was, I think it’s time we stepped in!” another voice says, and Roman looks over to see three more girls on the approach.

“Oh, good, more Huntress wannabes.” Roman huffs.

“Wannabes?” the barrier-maker huffs. “We’re Team CNMN, some of the best students at Beacon!” She turns to the hooded girl next to her with black hair and golden eyes. “What’s the plan, Cinder?”

This girl, Cinder, hardly seemed to be paying attention to the fight at hand. She has a smile on her face, looking toward Roman back from whatever side she wasn’t looking at- and Roman can’t really stand that. He’s the big shot here, the star of the show! His whole thing is being flashy and eye-catching, for all to know who he is and what he does!

“Neo, do you need any help?” Cinder asks, and the girl behind him, Neo apparantly, seems to mutely huff. “Momo, Nyx, keep him on his toes. But Neo deserves a night of fun. It is her birthday, after all.” She turns and starts to walk away.

“And where are you going?” Momo asks.

“To pick up my birthday present.” Cinder says ominously.

Roman takes his cane and fights back as Neo continues to fight him, this time staying high as she flips across him and the barrier! Roman quickly realizes that this girl is fast, and if things turn against her, those other two are gonna join in…as much as he hates to admit it, this isn’t a fight he can win.

“He’s trying to get away!” Momo draws her serrate fans and runs after him, and Nyx focuses her power, and Roman watches an beneath him thorny vines emerge and wrap around him!

“Gah!” Roman exclaims as the vines crawl across him.

“Alright, good job, Nyx!” Momo smiles. “Looks like he’ll be nice and wrapped up for the police.”

How could Roman have let this happen? Maybe if he holds Melodic Cudgel in just the right way, he can sever the vines…but these things, they’re so restricting! Digging into him, worse than any thing he’s felt before. Worse than rope, more cutting than knives…looking down, he sees how the thorns are digging into his body…how his aura is visible, and flowing into them, like they’re draining his aura itself.

“Uh, is that supposed to happen?” Momo asks, and Roman sees that Nyx, the girl doing this, her red eyes are now glowing this weird, noxious green hue.

“I…I don’t know…I’ve never used this against people, I…” Nyx grips her head, and her aura breaks. “I don’t like it, I don’t like it, I don’t like it!” she screams, and Roman takes the chance.

Firing downward, he creates an explosion! Seeing what he’s doing, Momo stands in front of Nyx and combines her outstretched serrated fans, creating a shield that protects Nyx from the blast! The vines break apart, and Roman takes off running!

This night was a total bust. Three girls brought an end to this, and now he needs more lien and a new car! Taking a shortcut through an alleyway, he can hear the sirens too far away to catch him. He’s getting away tonight…

And then, Roman falls down.

Looking back, he sees he’s been tripped to fall over…and walking confidently in front of him is the short one, Neo.

“Ugh, you.” Roman frowns, hit hat fallen from his head. “So, what’s the plan here, shortstack? Gonna turn me in?” As much as Roman hated it, if he couldn’t outrun this girl, he couldn’t beat her.

Neo looks down at him…and a cocky grin spreads across her face. She reaches down, picks up his hat from the ground, and pats him on the head before placing it on his head. She then turns and starts to walk away.

“Wait, what?” Roman asks, and she looks back and points her weapon at him…and then bows, then gestures for him to do the same.

“...you gotta be kidding.” Roman says in disbelief, standing up. Against all odds, he understands exactly what Neo wants.

She wants someone to play with. Someone to actually match wits with her, this heroic huntress girl wants a challenge…honestly, to an extent, Roman kinda wants that too. Getting rich by robbing Vale is fun, but without a real adversary, without any danger, it’s getting a little stale.

“Hey, girlie.” Roman calls after her, and twirls his cane. “The name’s Roman Torchwick. Remember it, and know that you won’t be so lucky next time.”

Neo, smirks and falls apart into shards, vanishing as mysteriously as she appeared.

A silent bargain is struck this night…one of rivalry and mutual foes, seeking an enemy and entertainment in the other. Maybe this night wasn’t a total bust, after all.

~=~

Young, twelve-year-old Emerald Sustrai rushes through an alleyway with pockets full of Lien and a pair of stolen weapons on her hip. She winds up in a dead-end, and pulls out the weapons. They’re a pair of guns, mostly wood with a green trim, but the interest she had in them was the blades on the bottom that flip out into sickles. The Huntsman student she stole them from used them to climb walls, and that’s how she makes her best getaways nowadays.

“How did you do that?” a voice asks, and Emerald whips around, aiming the guns shakily toward the alleyway’s entrance.

Standing at the entrance in a girl in a black hood, with eyes like the burning sun gazing back at her, and a smile on her face.

Chapter Text

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” Emerald claims, backing against the wall, guns pointing at the woman who somehow tailed her.

“I saw you,” the woman smiles. “You filled your pockets with lien that he didn’t grab, because he only had so much room in his case.” She approaches Emerald. “But no one ever saw you. Or maybe…it was just him that never saw you.”

“S-stay back!” Emerald cocks the guns, and the woman stops walking.

“Let me see if I’ve got this right,” the woman says, “you’re homeless, but you have semblance and skills, so you’ve been using them to survive. Ever since tall, dark, and loudly dressed over there has come to town, you’ve been tailing him. He catches so much attention that you only need to use your semblance, whatever it is, on him, since he’s the only one at real risk of seeing you considering how much attention he draws. You follow him, take what he doesn’t, and get away without anyone any the wiser…like a parasite.”

“Don’t call me that!” Emerald growls.

“Oh, don’t be mistaken. It’s a compliment. I’m impressed.” she explains. “What’s your name, girl?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Emerald says resolutely.

“Then maybe you can listen,” the woman smiles. “My name is Cinder. When I was your age, I had to sneak scraps, run from prying eyes, and be unseen and unheard.” She slowly steps forward, and Emerald’s hands are shaking. “Then my Mother found me. She was no older than I am now. But even so, she taught me how to fight, how to use my abilities, how to live. She gave me food and a home where I previously had nothing. I used the skills I earned to fight and scrap and survive…” Cinder raises her hands, and the inside of her cloak glistens like a rainbow as elemental power sparks from her. “Without her, I was nothing…and now because of her, I am everything.” Cinder places her hand on Emerald’s shoulder. “I can offer you food, training, and purpose. Now…what’s your name?”

Emerald’s arms go slack, and she drops her guns. “I’m Emerald.” she says, tranfixed on the woman.

“Emerald…” Cinder smiles. “What a beautiful name. Let’s get you home.” She cradles her head in one of her hands. “You will make a phenomenal daughter.”

~=~

“Cinder, we left you alone for like two minutes!” Momo exclaims, Team CNMN now safe back in their dorm room. “Where did you find a child?!”

“In an alleyway,” Cinder looks over Emerald’s stolen weapons and scoffs. “This is amateur work.”

“Hey, those are Jordy’s!” Momo says. “Did this girl steal them?!”

“We’ll return them to Jordy,” Cinder smiles and puts the weapons aside. “I’ll get you your own weapons, specially made for you.” Cinder tells Emerald as she types away on her scroll.

Emerald is quietly eating the plate of food Cinder gave her, watching everything quietly.

“This can’t possibly be normal.” Momo says. “Neo?”

Looking at Neo, the girl just shrugs.

“Our Mother was our age when she adopted us, and we were Emerald’s age when we were adopted.” Cinder explains.

“I have…no real context for what’s normal.” Nyx admits.

“Neither do I. I’m also adopted.” Momo admits. “I can’t prove this isn’t normal, but it’s gotta be breaking at least one school rule!”

“The Headmasters may have prepared for a lot, but I sincerely doubt they’ve ever considered coming up for a rule for what happens when a student tries to adopt someone.” Cinder boasts.

“Great, so there’ll be a new rule written because of us.” Momo sighs.

“Am I gonna be kicked out…?” Emerald asks, and Momo seems to look worried, but Cinder pats her head.

“Of course not, Emerald,” Cinder assures her. “Because no one is going to find out. You’ll be our little secret.”

“You really think we can keep a whole child a secret from the faculty?” Momo asks incredulously.

“Yes, I do.” Cinder smiles confidently.

“...are we doing this?” Nyx asks nervously. “This isn’t…I mean, who would ever consider that this would be the path we’re going down?”

Momo takes a deep breath as she sees Emerald, clinging to Cinder’s arm like it’s a lifeline.

“...I guess we are.” Momo says. “Cinder, you’re the leader, and you’ve been a pretty good one so far. I’ll trust you. But what are we gonna do if Emerald is found?”

“Then we’re going to convince the staff to let us keep her. Otherwise, they can pry her, from my cold, dead cluthes.” Cinder crushes an ice dust crystal in her hand, her semblance trailing the ice harmlessly across her fist to accentuate her point.

“...good to know.” Momo nods.

~=~

Emerald wasn’t quite sure what to think of everything happening to her lately. One night, she was leeching off of everything this loud and very public thief was doing…and now, all of a sudden, she’s been adopted, recruited, and trained by Cinder Reaper, a terrifying woman who makes the Xiongs look like fairy tale bad guys.

Now, Cinder isn’t bad (Emerald doesn’t think), but she is very confident and cryptic. They don’t get to train too often unless Cinder sneaks her out during the weekends, but honestly, this is a pretty nice gig. She’s given a scroll, food, and games, and she’s allowed to do whatever she wants so long as she stays hidden in the room.

And while she was forced to give up her weapons, Cinder has promised her that there are better weapons getting made just for her. But in the meantime, Cinder teaches her the basics, and how to properly use her aura and semblance. With enough time, Emerald might be able to do incredible things with it…and Neo’s a good tutor! Emerald and Neo’s semblances both work in illusions, but Emerald’s hallucinations can be more complex than Neo’s Dolls…the only issue is that she can only do one person at a time.

“Your ability wouldn’t be very useful against Grimm…” Momo notes one day.

“But Grimm aren’t everything,” Cinder tells her. “Being an unseen adversary will make you a valuable warrior, should you fight other Huntsmen, or even bandits. It would allow you to move unseen, to make your foes think they’re losing their minds…” she smiles, “And if you can learn how to create auditory hallucinations, you might even be able to prevent your foes from planning amidst themselves. A distracted enemy is a fragile enemy.”

“Yes, Cinder.” Emerald nods. Emerald couldn’t believe how limiting she was treating her semblance- all she ever did was simple illusions, to move unnoticed, but with Cinder’s help, she could become better than ever.

Cinder saw in Emerald what she couldn’t even see in herself- potential. She aims to devote herself to Cinder, to never let her down.

~=~

At the end of the semester break, when the second semester is soon to begin, Emerald only really hears news of Neo’s fights against Roman Torchwick. He wins some, she wins others, but both always get away.

The night before classes resume, however, Cinder is leading Emerald through the Forever Fall Forest.

“Are we here to train?” Emerald asks.

“Not exactly. We’re here to pick up your weapons.” Cinder smiles.

“Here?” Emerald asks. “You’ve been talking about how my weapons have been getting made…who’s making them, that they live all the way out here.”

“They don’t live here,” Cinder smiles, “we’re just meeting them here. Come along.”

Emerald follows close, and she feels her anxiety spike. The Forever Fall Forest has Grimm in it, she knows because it’s one of the places where Beacon Academy does their training. But for some reason, the forest is just…completely devoid of Grimm. It’s eerily quiet, the only sound she can hear is the crunching of the leaves beneath their boots. Soon, though, Emerald sees something odd amid the fallen leaves…rose petals?

Looking around, she sees more petals, fluttering on the breeze. Cinder takes a deep breath and smiles.

“She’s here.” Cinder smiles wider than Emerald had ever seen her.

Forming from the rose petals, the first thing Emerald sees is a Grimm mask, a Beowolf. From there, black hair with red highlights with a sheen or orange and purple is tied back in a wolf tail. A red cloak covers the rest of her, and she seems to be hovering in the air. But coming from the cloak, a hand cradles Cinder’s face in it, not unlike what Cinder does to Emerald.

“My dear Cinder,” a woman’s voice comes from the creature.

“Mother,” Cinder bows her head and drops to one knee. Emerald nervously follows suit. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Cinder, what we said about the bowing?” Cinder’s Mother chides, though almost fondly, like it’s a quirk of a child.

“I’m sorry.” Cinder stands up, and Emerald quickly stands up as well.

“And this must be Emerald.” the apparition chuckles. “Hello, little one. I am Scarlet Reaper, your Grandmother.”

“Y-yes, Hello. You, um…” Emerald stammers. “Have very nice petals?”

“All the better to roam with, my dear.” Scarlet responds. “They are my semblance. Cinder has kept me up to date with her adoption of you. I must say, I’m very glad she found you.”

“Are you the one that made my new weapons?” Emerald asks.

“I made Cinder’s weapon, Neo’s weapon, all of my friends’ current weapons, even my own…so yes, I crafted your weapon. Allow me to give you,” Scarlet moves her hand outward, and rose petals flow outward, placing a pair of weapons directly into Emerald’s hands. “Diamond in the Rough.”

Emerald’s new weapons are a pair of pure green guns, with a kusarigama function and the ability to extend out into sickles. There’s wind dust inscripted on the kusarigama’s barrel and the sharp edges of the sickles are made of gravity dust.

“The Kusarigama will make you a fearsome foe. You will be an expert of long range and short range, no matter the situation, the wind dust can propel the chains directly into your enemies, and even lets you control their trajectory. The gravity dust on your blades will activate with the pull of this secondary trigger. When they activate, they’ll do one of two things.” Scarlet explains. “If they’re touching something with an aura, or a Grimm, it’ll create a blast that can keep your foes away from you, causing small bursts of disorientation in your favor. But if you’re touching something not quite alive, the sickles will stick to it like a magnet. You’ll be able to scale any surface, no matter what it’s made of.”

“T…thank you, Miss Scarlet.” Emerald says, amazed.

“I got enough of that in this one’s youth. You can call me “Grandma,” sweetie. Or Grandmother. Or Granny. Or Meemaw. Or…well, let the mood strike you.” Scarlet shrugs.

“Thank you for doing this, Mother.” Cinder says.

“Cinder, I’ll always be here for you. And if you ever need anything else…please don’t hesitate to ask.” Scarlet smiles.

“Does, um…the rest of the family know about Emerald yet?” Cinder asks.

“...no.” Scarlet admits. “I think it’d be best if you introduced her to all of them, once your first Summer vacation begins.”

Oh, good. Now Emerald has to make a good first impression on who knows how many more people.

“Is there anything else, Cinder?” Scarlet asks.

“No, Mother.” Cinder bows her head. “I think that’s all.”

“Have you…been enjoying Beacon?” Scarlet asks.

“Yes,” Cinder smiles. “I’ve made good friends. I think you’ll like them. I’m looking forward to showing the world what Neo and I are capable of at the Vytal Festival next year.”

“And you’ll show them what a fine young woman you are, Cinder. My little Phoenix.” Scarlet coos and pats Cinder on the head, almost seeming to grow taller to do so. Cinder doesn’t seem to react to it, however.

“I’ll see you soon, Cinder. I enjoy your messages.” Scarlet says and vanishes into rose petals.

“That…was your Mother?” Emerald asks. “I thought…when you said she was your age, I assumed you were serious.”

“I was,” Cinder sighs. “At least, that’s what she told me. My Mother’s semblance, it lets her alter her own biology at will. As the years went on, it’s become stronger. I once saw her regrow a leg crushed beneath the foot of a Megoliath. It used to stand to reason, in my mind, that perhaps she could change her age as well. It wasn’t so farfetched to me. A powerful huntress, using her semblance to become effectively immortal. Appearing like a harmless girl to many, however intimidating, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” She chuckles dryly. “I would even fantasize that she was my real Mother. She reacted in…such a potent way when she found me, one I mistook at one point in my life as recognition. I would dream that she was my real Mother, who came to me, found me, took me in and made me what I am to apologize for ever losing track of me. Her care for me was more than I ever used to imagine a Mother’s love could be.”

Emerald can certainly relate to that. Her Mother despised her…she never imagined someone could care for her or see as much in her as Cinder did.

“You said used to,” Emerald says. “What changed?”

“My Mother has a…trait.” Cinder says, measured. “More dominant than any dominant gene, it would appear in any children she had. Her own Mother had it, her Grandfather had it, and an entire line before them…not even her semblance can hide it. I never told anyone but Neo my fantasies, so when I learned about it, it was undeniable proof that they were just that…fantasy.”

Cinder looks into a puddle as they walk, glaring into her own golden eyes.

“For a while, I resented the proof that I was wrong. The piece of me that didn’t belong.” Cinder sighs. “But I know she would never want me to think that way.” she looks at Emerald. “After all, you and I don’t exactly look alike.” She smiles. “But in the short time I’ve been caring for you, Emerald, I can truly say that the resemblance of parent and child doesn’t matter.” she puts her hand on Emerald’s shoulder. “You are my daughter. No one in the world will change that. I will keep you by my side, in my life, for as long as I can help it, through Beacon and beyond.”

Emerald wipes tears of joy from her eyes and sniffs. “Thank you…thank you so much…” she takes a deep breath. “M-Mom.”

Chapter Text

Neo beats Roman back against a warehouse wall, his aura fading, and the man breathes heavily.

“Not bad, shortstack…” Roman coughs. “Looks like you got me again.”

Neo looks at Roman and rolls her eyes, walking to grab a bag she brought with her, and then tossing it into his hands.

“...what the hell’s this? You getting soft on me?” Roman chuckles, and then squints as he sees that the clothing in the bag is a very fine white and black outfit. It’s combat gear, by the looks of things.

Neo grins down at him, and Roman sighs as he looks down at his ripped clothes.

“Right. You want your nemesis to be in some decent clothing,” Roman surmises, and Neo taps her nose in pride.

“Look, Pink, I don’t need your charity.” Roman stands up, and Neo crosses her arms with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t! I still get away on occasion. Crimes I commit during your little school’s hours go off without a hitch.”

Neo tilts her head, as if to challenge Then why don’t you do it more often?

Roman stares her down, then huffs and starts to walk away. “Whatever. And I’m keeping this! Because I am a thief and free stuff is my whole thing!” Roman says and ignores how he just knows she’s doing that dainty little wave goodbye behind him.

Making his way back to his hideout in the city, Roman frowns as he looks at the clothes and sighs.

“She even got the measurements right…” he shakes his head, recalling some time ago how he had to leave a jacket behind one night when it got snagged in a door. “What a weird girl.”

~=~

Neo struts through the halls of Beacon, changing her appearance every few minutes to look nice and unassuming, going from hangout to hangout for one important thing: eavesdropping! Gathering and compiling the things she hears from across the campus keeps her in the loop of what the other students like to do…since, you know, no one really wants to have a conversation with the mute girl.

This is also how Neo learned that most of her peers only knew of her as “The Mute Girl.”

Not that Neo minds- she has an active extracurricular life, training how to fight Monsters by fighting with Torchwick. And it’s not like she’s doing it at others’ expense- Roman isn’t killing anyone, and she always lets him go. That way, she’s causing stress on Ozpin’s precious council all while making sure Roman doesn’t cause enough damage for massive spikes in negativity that Salem can capitalize on. Perfectly balanced!

But Neo wants to blow off some steam. And as luck would have it, she’s heard about something very interesting happening down in the Kingdom tonight, where lots of students will be sneaking off to. So, she slips into the dorm room with a smile on her face.

“Uh-oh,” Momo says, “that smile always leads to trouble.”

“Well, that depends on who’s getting into trouble.” Cinder smiles as she brains Emerald’s hair into its two long tails. “What does our little spy have for us tonight?”

Neo pulls out her scroll and presses play.

“-what, have you been studying under a rock? Team CTAS is having some kind of party and competition thing down in Vale, at that Mistralli Tea Shop! The Spotted Dog, or something.”

“The Laughing Dog,” Cinder smiles. “A party, hm? That could be interesting.”

“Why aren’t we ever invited to these things?” Momo asks.

“No one likes us,” Nyx frowns. “I have no social understanding, everyone sees you as a Faunus, Neo doesn’t talk so no one talks to her, and everyone is… afraid of Cinder.” Nyx bites on her knuckles.

“Don’t say things with that tone in front of Emerald.” Momo sighs. “Or, like, at all.”

“Sorry…” Nyx mutters.

Cinder, barely paying attention as she looks through her scroll and mapping a route, smiles.

“Emerald, will you be okay home alone for a few hours?” Cinder asks her daughter.

“Um…will you be coming home drunk?” Emerald asks nervously.

“Worry not, Emerald. We’re not old enough to be sold alcohol…and I find the taste unpleasant.” Cinder explains, and Neo sticks her tongue out at the thought of it.

“Okay. Um, I’ll be fine!” Emerald smiles, and Cinder pats her head.

“That’s my girl.” Cinder smiles. “Now, girls, shall we go have some fun?”

~=~

All Roman wanted to do was have a nice, quiet night. In his new outfit, he was as flashy and bright as ever, but still looked different enough that he wouldn’t get the cops called on him instantly…which meant that while scheming a future heist where he’d actually get away with what he stole, he could enjoy a nice late-night cup of coffee and the calming vibes of Vale at night.

At least, that was the plan! But now, the whole cafe’s full of brats! Beacon students, all over the place, just partying and making noise. Now, Roman likes a good party when the time is right. Explosions and noise are the cornerstones of a good party. It’s just not the best thing to be dealing with when he’s nursing a headache from a beatdown in the early hours of the day.

He hears a chair at his table scuff as someone sits down, and looking up, Roman feels like merely thinking about this girl too much has the power to summon her.

There, sitting across from him with a prim and neat smile on her face, is Neopolitan. His apparent nemesis.

“Shortstack!” Roman chuckles. “We really gotta stop meeting like this. When I’m least expecting it, I mean.”

“Aren’t you that criminal we stopped?” Momo, that girl with the White Fang symbol, asks as the rest of Neo’s little team walks up.

“I’m not being a criminal right now,” Roman shrugs. “That make you feel better?”

“Leave them be,” Cinder says, “Let Neo play with her toy,” she remarks with a condescending smirk.

“Come on, being too good to fight me wasn’t enough?” Roman challenges.

“Well, it’s natural for girls to play dress-up with their dolls.” Cinder looks Roman up and down, and he gets red in the face.

“I happen to look good in white, thank you.” Roman looks away, ignoring Neo’s smug expression.

“Anything for the lady?” A waiter comes over, and Neo takes the menu Roman had at his side and smiles, tapping something on it. “Very good, ma’am.”

“You’re really just gonna sit here the whole time?” Roman asks, and Neo smiles innocently.

“We’ll leave you two to it.” Cinder smiles and walks away, followed by Momo and Nyx.

Roman looks at Neo, and her smug little smile never leaves her face. Roman sighs and sips his coffee. Looks like this is his night.

~=~

“I can’t believe you’re playing wingwoman for Neo with a criminal,” Momo says to Cinder.

“What are you talking about?” Cinder asks. “I’m letting Neo taunt her adversary.”

Momo sighs. “You all need to learn social cues better.”

Nyx stays close behind her two teammates. She’s not sure if she wants to get something to eat or not, but she does know that she wants to stay close to her teammates.

“Alright, party people!” Cirrus Gray, the leader of Team CTAS, stands up on the main counter of the cafe. It’s pretty obvious that the staff here has been paid by him not to make a fuss of anything done tonight. “You’ve all survived a semester at Beacon, and that speaks volumes of what you all can do! So, it’s time for a little initiation tradition my team and I are aiming to start this year…the Semblance-Off!”

“The rules are simple!” Sage Hiro, another member of Team CTAS, says. She’s a human woman with short brown hair and extremely toned muscles, with a lion design on the clasp of her cape, and a Golden Mace hanging off her belt. “Each person gets one minute to show off their semblance, no more, no less! You can show off as much or as little as you want, but you won’t be permitted to use any Dust in your performance! Once your minute is up, you’ll be expected to step back and let someone else have a turn. Once everyone has had a turn, we’ll put it to a vote who has the best semblance!”

“And don’t vote for yourselves,” Tawny Percivalle, another member of the team, remarks. “That’s just boring.” Tawny has a white blindfold wrapped around her head, blonde hair that trails down her back, and her weapon seems to be a shield with dust cartridges fitting into the back, betraying some secondary function.

“Well, this sounds fun.” Cinder steps forward with a smile on her face, getting the room’s attention. “Where do I sign up?”

“Oh…you guys are here.” Cirrus says with a fake smile on his face. “Great”

Nyx bites her knuckles, and she just…can’t help herself. When no one is watching her, she takes a deep breath, and disables her aura.

She hates these emotions, these feelings, the want to FEED, but the way Cinder just emanates negativity, the way she causes fear in everyone around her, the way her eyes like volcanic calderas can cause the mightiest of foes to be clouded with doubt…it’s addicting. Cinder is loving, she’s empathic to her family, she is powerful…and she’s also domineering, sociopathic, and hate-filled. That negativity, it’s like a ~scent~ ~taste~ feeling that Nyx can’t get enough of, and she hates herself for it…

“We were in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop by,” Cinder’s voice snaps Nyx out of her spiral, and she focuses on Cinder like she’s an oasis in the desert, a virus that spreads in a matter of seconds, as worry fills the room. “I feel like my team could have some fun semblances to throw into the mix.”

“You know, it’s a shame, I don’t think you can compete, cause your semblance requires Dust, and, no dust allowed!” Cirrus chuckles.

“Why, Cirrus, whatever gave you that idea?” Cinder smirks. “My semblance is quite varied.”

“Well, mine isn’t.” Momo sits down. “Have fun, though, Cin!”

“I… guess that’s fine then.” Cirrus chuckles nervously.

Nyx can feel the emotions of Team CTAS. Cirrus, Tawny, and Sage all share a fear towards Team CNMN, a fear of potential, she thinks. That’s not all, Cirrus has his own little complex and pride that’s adding to it, a need to be the leader, a need to be the best, and his fear is that Cinder could jeopardize that.

Oh, but the rest of Team CTAS’ worries are dwarfed by that last girl. She’s sitting silently in a corner, with a hood up, her eyes constantly flickering between Cinder and Neo. She’s afraid of them, so afraid. It’s kind of like that odd worry that Professor Goodwitch has around them…

Nyx decides to sit next to Momo. “I need some food…” she mutters.

“Sure thing, Nyx,” Momo smiles. “You sure you don’t wanna play?”

“I’m fine,” Nyx says quickly.

“...does this have something to do with the fact that you still won’t let me tattoo your semblance onto me?” Momo pulls up her sleeves. On her left arm, she still has the three tattoos of her friends from Menagerie…but on her right arm, there are two newer tattoos. The first represents Cinder, inlaid with Burn Dust, and the second represents Neo, inlaid with Hardlight Dust.

“...no?” Nyx says after an uncomfortably long pause.

“Listen, Nyx, we’re a team!” Momo sighs. “I’m not saying you have to spill your life story or anything, but…talking can help, you know?”

“It’s not like Cinder talks about herself, either…” Nyx mutters.

“Yeah, I’m working on that, too.” Momo smiles as the two of them watch the Semblance-Off. “But you know Cinder…it’s all about power with her. We just need time to show her that there’s more to life than her mission to become a Huntress.”

Jordy Stalk takes his turn in the Semblance-Off, revealing his semblance “Fell Swoop.” It allows his melee strikes to gain in power based on how long he’s been swinging without break. Spinning works, but he says it works even better when he uses it to fall from a great height. It also only works with bladed weapons- his semblance does not affect his bare fists.

“Speaking of Cinder…” Momo says as some desserts and tea are served to the two of them. “What’s the deal there?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Nyx looks away with a light blush.

“Come on, Nyx. Cinder may be as oblivious to other feelings as a Grimm in a Candy Shop, but no one else is. You should ask her out! It might be good for both of you.” Momo encourages with a smile.

“That’s not…I don’t think that I’m capable of…” Nyx stammers, and takes a deep breath. “It’s not romance, it’s just… attraction.”

“Then get a Motel.” Momo jokes, and Nyx coughs on her tea.

“W-what?!” Nyx’s face becomes redder than her eyes.

“Chill! I’m kidding.” Momo chuckles, and Nyx knows that. She could feel that she wasn’t serious. It still caught her off guard. 

Cirrus enters the competition next. His semblance is called “Updraft,” and it gives him a small medium of control over the wind. It allows him to generate his own air current that he can combine with his bionic wings- an Atlesian creation that his Father made for him, as the man’s some kind of scientist for the Atlas Military. The wings themselves are wind-powered, and can be amplified with dust to perform various extra effects…but the wings themselves are not his weapon. Cirrus’s weapon is a spear that transforms into a sniper rifle. Though, today, he just likes showing off his wings, combining them with his semblance to give the illusion of flight, when in reality he’s just gliding and controlling the wind.

Momo puts down her teacup. “But honestly, Nyx, you seem a little confused about your feelings.”

“...I am,” Nyx admits quietly. “Cinder is just so…so Cinder, you know? She just has this vibe about her, she has this effect on other people, and it’s just so…so…”

“I believe you once used the word “intoxicating?”” Momo arches an eyebrow, and Nyx buries her head in her hands.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. I shouldn’t be thinking of anyone like this, much less my team leader!” Nyx whimpers.

“Are you kidding me?” Momo asks and chuckles. “A Huntsman Academy is where four strangers are molded into fine teammates. I hear it’s bizarre when “excursions,” romantic or otherwise, don’t happen.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better…” Nyx mutters.

“Well, it’s the truth.” Momo shrugs. “Look, it’s not like I have any real experience in the subject, either. But your team is here for you, Nyx. It’s only our first year, and we aren’t even through yet! We’re not gonna be a well-oiled machine until we’ve had some real battles under our belts. In the meantime…we can watch our team get stronger.”

Momo gestures out, and Nyx watches as Cinder takes her turn in the contest. She uses her semblance to take coffee grounds and form an array of complex glassy sculptures and weaponry before giving a bow, creating a display that’s more artistic than aggressive. The resulting applause makes it clear that Cinder may be in the lead here.

“Yeah…watching is fine for now.” Nyx takes a deep breath as the awe of Cinder’s display clears any negativity in the room…at least for a few moments.

~=~

“Ugh, a semblance competition? Really?” Roman mutters from his table. Neo looks at him with an arched eyebrow, and he chuckles. “Look, Neo, semblances are overrated. Look how far I am in life! Up-and-coming crime lord, got a kickass weapon, and I’ve gonna have this town in the palm of my hand. I never needed a semblance to do any of that, and I’ve run circles around dozens of people with semblances!”

Neo rests her head on her hands, blinking innocently, as if to say Until me?

“You’re different. You actually know what you’re doing.” Roman says. “You don’t rely on your semblance, like these idiots do. My point still stands- I’ve never needed a semblance, they’re overrated!”

Neo rolls her eyes. She rather likes how ridiculous her playmate is.

“Alright, time for the big finale!” Cirrus Gray says with a grin on his face. “You’ve all seen some great semblances, but let’s give a hand for Amber!”

“Well, at least it’s almost over,” Roman says, and looks over to see Neo typing away on her scroll. “Hang on…are you making notes of all these semblances?”

Neo looks up and gives him a smile and a wink.

“Ooh, little database, huh? You got a little scheme, shortstack?” Roman smirks. “I knew there was a dark side in you.”

Neo sticks her tongue out in retort.

The last girl who steps out raises her hands. Apparently, this “Amber” girl’s semblance is “Weather Girl.” It’s like a more extreme version of Cirrus’s semblance, allowing her to control the weather. She keeps her eyes closed and creates a little cloud as the wind wisps around her.

“You see? What good is this in a fight?” Roman asks, loud enough to be heard.

“Hey, keep it down in the peanut gallery!” Sage frowns.

“You kids are interrupting my night by doing your own thing off-campus, so I’ll say whatever I want!” Roman smirks. “It’s a pretty show and all, I’m sure farmers will enjoy the ability to bring a nice shower to their crops, but it’s not really Huntress material, huh? I mean, Neo here’s probably gonna outpace those kinda powers in a week.”

“What are you, her Sugar Daddy?” Cirrus taunts.

“Yeah, he wishes,” Momo smirks.

“Can it, tattoos!” Roman snaps.

“Come on, Amber, shut this guy up.” Tawny taunts. “Show him what your semblance can really do!”

“I-I don’t know if that’s…” Amber mutters.

“Yeah, show him what you’re made of!” Sage says. “What’s the use of hiding it, anyway? Powers like ours should be broadcasted, that’s what this competition is for!”

“B-But Professor Ozpin told me…” Amber mutters again.

“Come on, Amber, stop holding back!” Cirrus says, and it seems to be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Wind bursts from Amber as a cloud forms in the cafe, and Amber hovers a little above the ground, wind flowing around her, and her eyes open, revealing burning energy flowing from them.

“Yeah, now that’s a semblance!” Cirrus smirks, and the others are in awe…most of them, anyway.

Neo smiles and holds up her scroll, taking a picture of the Fall Maiden. She then texts it into her family’s group chat.

~=~

Nyx could feel the tension growing when Amber was getting peer pressured, the fear in her heart…but she let it overtake her, and used her semblance. It’s unlike anything Nyx had seen before, and it feels…feels weird. Different. Unlike anything she’s seen before. And whatever she’s feeling is immediately eclipsed by Neo and Cinder. A wave of mixed emotions Nyx couldn’t possibly identify.

“That’s not a semblance…” Cinder says, loud enough that it seems Amber heard it, who immediately loses her concentration and falls to the ground.

“Alright, I think the winner is pretty clear-” Cirrus chuckles, but they all suddenly hear screaming from the kitchen. The people in the back run out, and a horde of tiny Nevermores follow them!

“What the heck?!” Momo stands up. “How did those get in here!”

Cinder breaks off two parts of her glass sculture, immediately reshaping them into swords, but Cirrus extends his wings, knocking her back!

“Hey! You…” Cinder growls.

“Stay back, first years! Let us handle this.” Cirrus smirks, and Cinder growls, and her rage feels like it’s gonna boil over.

To stay safe, Nyx reactivates her aura.

~=~

“Well, as fun as this was, I feel like it’s time for me to depart.” Roman drops some lien on the counter and struts out of the cafe.

Cinder begins to march forward, but finds her hood hooked by Neo’s parasol, pulling her backward as Team CTAS fights the horde of tiny Nevermores.

“Neo!” Cinder growls through her teeth. “We found her, and these idiots are making us look like idiots! We can’t let them out of our sight…”

Neo then holds up her scroll, revealing camera feed…and Ozpin walking through the halls. He’s coming personally to investigate this disturbance.

“He’s coming here…” Cinder pales.

“Hang on, did you hack into the cameras on campus?” Momo asks, seeing this.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Cinder says, “we put our own hidden cameras on campus.”

“Oh, yeah, 'cause that’s nowhere near as ridiculous.” Momo says sarcastically.

“Look, I don’t want to get in trouble with Ozpin himself, do you?” Cinder asks. “We need to get out of here.”

“We’re gonna be found if we just run off!” Momo says, and Neo gives Cinder a look with a grin, and Cinder smiles as well.

“Not if we have a getaway car.” Cinder smirks.

~=~

Roman slides into his new car and gets ready to start it up…when he hears his passenger door open, and he looks to see Neo nonchalantly get in, and he quickly realizes her three little (well, they’re all taller than she is) friends get into the back.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” Roman exclaims.

“Getting a ride,” Cinder smiles.

“And why would I do that?” Roman asks.

“Well, because Ozpin himself is on his way to investigate this disturbance,” Cinder explains, and Neo shoves her scroll in his face, showing the camera feed (which, cameras on the most influential huntsman in Vale? That’s endearing) of Ozpin getting into a car.

“So,” Cinder continues, “you can stay here and get caught by the man who went live on air to call you out when your crime spree first began, or you can get us out of here like a good boy.”

“God dammit.” Roman starts the car. “For the record,” he points at Neo, “I like you better.”

Neo gives an innocent smile as Roman drives his car off into the night.

“What did you mean before, about saying it wasn’t a semblance?” Nyx asks.

“It’s…I mean…” Cinder stammers a bit. “She’s just-” Cinder is hit in the face as Neo tosses her weapon into the backseat. “...nothing.” she seethes. “Forget I said anything.”

~=~

Amber destroys the last of the tiny Nevermores, noticing that there are no open windows or burst-open vents in the room. Just a lot of chaos, pots and pans all over the place, and even a big soup pot fallen to the ground, spilling soup everywhere.

“Where did the Grimm come in…?” Amber mutters.

“Who cares? We won!” Cirrus laughs. “That’s what Team CTAS is all about! Take that, you stupid Grimm-”

“I’m glad you feel that way, Mister Gray.” a voice says coldly, and Team CTAS freezes, slowly turning to see Professor Ozpin in the doorway, hands on his cane. “Perhaps you’d like to write about this experience in detail for a report.”

“I…” Cirrus clears his throat. “Yes, sir.”

“And Amber,” Ozpin looks at her, and Amber freezes up in fear. “I’d like a word with you back on campus, if you’d please.”

Amber silently nods, and many students get in trouble tonight…all as no one notices a very small amount of dried, black liquid around one of the faucets in the kitchen.

~=~

Neo: [Image Attached] Look who we found! (^_^)

Oak: That’s her, alright

Beauty: Why is she using her powers?

Beauty: What happened?

Neo: Nothing

Neo: She was peer pressured, they all think it’s a semblance

Neo: No thanks to Cinder >_>

Cinder: I said I was sorry

Cinder: No one suspects anything

Scarlet: Good job, girls

Scarlet: Keep your eyes on her

Neo: (-_-)7

Chapter Text

In the late hours of the night, the sound of ticking surrounds Amber as she sits in Ozpin’s office at the top of Beacon Tower. It’s just her, him, and Professor Goodwitch in the room.

“Amber,” Ozpin breaks the silence, “do you remember what I told you when this school year began?”

“That I should avoid Cinder and Neopolitan, because they know about the Maiden powers…” Amber mutters guiltily.

“We gave you their pictures, placed them in a dorm far away from yours, and even made sure you never attended the same classes!” Glynda exclaims. “Not to mention that you’ve been told never to use your magic outside of Beacon’s walls unless it’s an emergency for a reason. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to scrub something from the CCTS? There were half a dozen videos of you using your abilities in five minutes.”

“I’m sorry!” Amber says. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Amber,” Ozpin speaks patiently, “Talk us through what happened.”

“I was trying to follow your instructions,” Amber insists. “I stay away from them as much as I can! I even make sure that when Cirrus throws parties like this that he doesn’t invite Team CNMN! I don’t know how they found out about it, much less got there…”

“Amber,” Ozpin sighs, “that is exactly the problem.”

“...I don’t follow,” Amber responds.

“The family that raised these girls into the young women they are today excelled in getting into places they didn’t belong,” Ozpin explains. “It’s how they obtained a Maiden’s powers and a Relic from right under General Ironwood’s nose all those years ago. But isolating your peers is not the answer. I wanted you to avoid these girls, not shun them.” The Professor sighs. “Amber, Team CTAS has become one of the most popular teams at this school, in no small part due to your victory in last year’s Vytal Festival. Now, you may not have personally been the victor, but the point remains that when you speak, the other students will follow, particularly the first years who see you as someone to look up to. When you directed your teammates to shun Team CNMN, that caused a ripple effect that led these fine Huntresses-in-training to becoming social outcasts. You don’t need to be a Grimm to notice how afraid everyone is of them.”

“I…I’m just one girl!” Amber says. “How could that happen?”

“It’s the burden of being looked up to,” Ozpin says glumly. “You say “Let’s avoid these girls,” and what everyone else hears is “Something’s wrong with those girls.” You need to pick your battles more delicately.”

“...so what do I do?” Amber asks.

“We’ve done all the damage control we could regarding your abilities,” Ozpin explains, “but the truth of the matter is that we can’t erase memories. Cinder and Neo know about you now, and in the morning, I’m going to talk with them. You are going to do damage control. You are going to tell people that you were impressed by Cinder’s abilities, and you will make an attempt to befriend her and the rest of her team. Whether this attempt is successful or not simply relies on you and Cinder as people. You will not be blamed if Cinder simply does not want to be friends with you at this point.”

“Do I have to?” Amber asks hesitantly. “She’s…creepy.”

“Remarks like that are the kind of thing you should keep to yourself from now on,” Ozpin orders.

“Yes, sir…” Amber bows her head guiltily.

“You may go,” Ozpin says, and Amber gets up to return to the elevator.

“And, Amber…” Ozpin calls after her. “None of the rest of Team CTAS know of your abilities either, yes?”

“That’s right, sir,” Amber says truthfully. “They all think it’s just an expansion of my semblance. I’ve never used anything outside of something like that in front of them. Though, due to my eyes, they’re starting to think it’s a sign that I’ll be able to control fire one day…”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Ozpin says. “Thank you, Amber.”

Amber steps into the elevator, and it heads on down.

~=~

Amber’s dorm room is a rather cramped space. It holds their four beds, two dressers full of clothes, and a shelf partially blocking the window full of trophies, including the Vytal Festival Tournament trophy. Cirrus was very proud of winning it in Atlas.

Amber wasn’t too sure about being on a team, at first. Most of her training from Mrs. Rose was about controlling her powers and how to blend it into her semblance. But, her teachers realized that eventually, she’d have to actually enroll in Beacon and join a team, and last year, she was placed on Team CTAS.

Amber was not the leader of the team, of course. She couldn’t afford to be in the spotlight, not with her powers. Cirrus was a pretty good leader, in Amber’s opinion. He wanted to raise their team to greater and greater heights. His leadership is what won them the Vytal Festival! Overall, Amber doesn’t think she had as much sway as Ozpin says she does. She mostly just stays quiet, helps people when it’s needed, and is a good teammate. Sage and Tawny have always been there for her, and the semblances and fighting styles of the whole team complement each other really well.

But even so, Amber knew she couldn’t tell them about her powers. It’s not that she didn’t trust them, it’s for their safety! Even if they’re all quite loud about their exploits and ideas, it’s not about that, it really isn’t! It’s not that she doesn’t think they can’t keep a secret to save their lives, it’s just for their own protection! And Amber needs to remember that better, too. She could have put them all into serious danger if Ozpin and Glynda hadn’t been able to delete those videos in time.

“Amber, you’re back!” Sage’s voice breaks Amber’s train of thought, and she walks over to squeeze Amber into a crushing bear hug!

“What did Professor Ozpin want?” Tawny asks. “We’re not in trouble, are we?”

“No! No.” Amber catches her breath as she’s let go. “Well, I might be…”

“Seriously? We all helped with that party…did you take the fall for us?” Cirrus asks.

“It’s not that,” Amber sighs, trying to figure out what she can or can’t say. “Ozpin…told me that my aversion to Team CNMN caused them to feel left out, and their appearance tonight probably was a sign that they want to be included more.”

“Your aversion’s pretty sound, though,” Tawny says. “I can’t even see them and I know they’re creepy.”

“That Neo girl never utters a word, Nyx is always fiddling with her aura like it’s a nervous tic, Cinder is… Cinder,” Sage says.

“That’s probably not helping…” Amber mutters under her breath.

“Plus, I heard that Momo girl was raised by Faunus. She’s practically one of them!” Cirrus scoffs.

Amber didn’t like how Cirrus talked about the Faunus, but she realized quickly that any attempts to change his mind on the subject fell on deaf ears, so she just…stopped trying.

“What kinda family do they come from that Ozpin’s making you befriend ‘em, anyway?” Cirrus asks. “He’s never been this upset about other party crashers.”

“I think their family is mostly Huntsmen.” Amber shrugs. “Team…ROWSE, or something like that.”

Cirrus seems to pale. “Wait…are you serious?”

“I mean, I think so.” Amber shrugs.

“What’s wrong, Cirrus?” Tawny asks.

“Team ROWSE is like…a bunch of wackjobs!” Cirrus exclaims. “They stole from the Atlesian Military a few years ago. And my Dad says it’s their fault that the best inventor quit, so he had to pick up the slack!” Cirrus clenches his fists. “My Dad had to work his ass off cause of what they did! He practically lives in his lab now, forced to pick up where the last guy left off!”

“I…didn’t know most of that,” Amber answers honestly.

“Hang on, I think I’ve heard of them…” Sage searches on her scroll. “Here they are! Yeah, there are whole forums about them. Mostly crackpot theories…some people think they’re a cult, cause they kidnapped a couple of kids a few years ago…an orphan from Atlas, and a girl from here in Vale. Apparently, after making contact with the girl from here, the girl nearly destroyed her own house.”

“So, that would be Cinder and Neo, then?” Tawny asks.

“Figures,” Cirrus scoffs, “Cinder seems like the type to burn her own house down. They’re probably as nuts as their parents! Ozpin’s just afraid of pissing them off.”

Well, he’s right there…about the pissing them off part. Amber doesn’t wanna consider if those two are as crazy as all these stories.

“Look, I can’t just disobey Ozpin.” Amber sighs. “I have to at least try being friends with them.”

“Hmm…what if they end up not wanting to be friends back?” Cirrus smiles.

“Then Ozpin won’t push the issue further, he said so himself.” Amber shrugs.

“In that case, I’ve got an idea!” Cirrus grins and looks through his scroll. “They wanna be involved with our parties? We’ll give them a party they’ll never forget.”

Chapter Text

Roman parks several streets down from Beacon’s entrance. “Alright, ladies, everyone out! I’m not about to walk into a den of Huntsmen.”

“We can walk from here.” Cinder smiles, and they all step out.

“I still can’t believe that worked.” Momo shakes her head with a smile.

“Yeah, don’t expect it to work again!” Roman scowls as Neo walks around to the driver’s side of the car. The window is unwound, and he’s resting an arm on the windowsill. “I’m not a taxi service, I’m the best goddamn criminal in Vale!”

“I’m choosing to consider you Neo’s business,” Momo remarks. “So I’m not going to think about how we’re just letting a criminal drive away.”

“You know, a getaway driver usually gets paid,” Roman says sourly.

“A getaway driver usually completes the drive,” Cinder retorts.

“Come on, work with me here, girls! You and your classmates ruined my night off.” Roman huffs, and Neo takes him by the scruff of his collar, pulling his head through the window. “Alright, alright, cool it!” he holds up his hands. “No need to give me the rough treatment, I get the pict-”

Roman is shut up when Neo kisses him on the cheek, and he just looks dumbfounded. She gives him a wink, as if to say, “That payment enough for ya?” and then lets him go, opening her parasol to twirl behind her as she goes to catch up with her team as they walk away.

“...tch. Damn shortstack…” Roman blushes deeply, muttering to himself as he prepares to get the car back home.

~=~

Within Team CNMN’s Dorm, Emerald has been sharing Cinder’s bed. They couldn’t exactly get Emerald a sleeping bag in case of a dorm inspection. Emerald can hide herself, but trying to hide everything she has might be a bit much.

As a new day began, Emerald was awakened to the sound of knocking on the dorm room door. Emerald hides beneath the covers and pokes Cinder.

“Mom…someone’s at the door.” Emerald whispers, and Cinder slowly wakes up as the knocking repeats, starting to wake up everyone.

Cinder sighs and climbs out of bed. Emerald stays hidden beneath her covers, and Cinder grabs one half of Daybreak.

“What?” Cinder opens the door, her sword in hand. Looking up, she sees that one Huntress, Glynda something. “Oh…good morning, Professor Goodwitch.”

“Hello, Cinder.” Goodwitch arches an eyebrow, her eyes on the sword Cinder brought with her. Emerald quickly uses her semblance to make sure she’s hidden to this woman’s gaze.

“Did you need something?” Cinder yawns. “This is early, even for me.”

“Professor Ozpin wishes to speak with you and your sister before classes begin,” Glynda explains, and Cinder sighs.

“Could you give us a moment to get dressed? And maybe get some coffee?” Cinder requests.

“Of course. I’ll wait here for you.” Glynda says, and Cinder closes the door.

“What does he wanna speak to you two for?” Momo asks with a yawn. “We were all there.”

“Ozpin’s…I mean, I think Ozpin might be worried about them. He always seems on edge when he’s in the same room as them, even just passing them in the hallway.” Nyx expresses. “Maybe he’s making Cinder take responsibility as the leader?”

“Okay, then why’s Neo going?” Momo asks.

“Who’s going and why doesn’t matter,” Cinder says curtly, and Momo narrows her eyes. “We’ll just have to get dressed and go…Neo, get out of bed.”

Neo turns away, and a Doll apparates in school uniform, looking chipper. Cinder snaps her fingers, burning through the doll with her semblance.

“I am not leading one of your Dolls by the hand to go see Ozpin,” Cinder growls.

Neo looks like she would groan if she properly could. She rolls out of bed, landing on the ground before dragging herself up slowly to get dressed.

“I’ll get some coffee started,” Momo sighs, taking the hint, and Neo gives a thumbs-up.

~=~

In Ozpin’s office, Cinder and Neo sit across from him, each nursing a cup of coffee.

“Couldn’t you have called us during lunch?” Cinder asks dryly.

“I wanted the opportunity to speak with you two about last night’s incident,” Ozpin says. “I want you to know that Amber will be reaching out to you soon, and I’d appreciate it if you could try to bridge the gap between your teams. It could be beneficial for you to be friends.”

“Why do you want us cozying up to her?” Cinder asks skeptically.

“I know that you know who she is,” Ozpin remarks, “thanks to last night’s events. Call it an Olive Branch. Your Family and my Faction share an enemy, so I want to ensure that we can all get along. I also know…” He looks at Neo. “That you’re presently recording this conversation.”

Neo gets a sour look on her face.

“It’s alright. Feel free to share this with your family. I have nothing to hide from them,” Ozpin explains.

“You mean you have nothing left to hide from them.” Cinder amends, and Ozpin clears his throat.

“Regardless, never let it be said that I do not learn from my mistakes-” Ozpin begins.

“I’ll probably say it anyway,” Cinder mutters offhandedly, but Ozpin continues nonetheless.

“I was overly cautious with your Family. It cost us a stable alliance, and I know my actions strained my relationship with the two of you as well.” Ozpin explains, and Neo scowls as she recalls the first time she met Ozpin. “But I also know that you don’t necessarily see me as an enemy.” He looks at Neo. “You came to me that night, years ago, with the information you had recorded so we could arrest Jimmy Vanille.”

Neo frowns and looks away.

“That was before she knew everything about you.” Cinder points out.

“I will readily admit, I keep more secrets from my followers than your Mother keeps from hers,” Ozpin laments, “but I have reasons for my methods, as she has reasons for hers, I’m certain.”

“We give no promises,” Cinder says simply. “We’re going to attend our classes and become Huntresses. However your star pupils interact with us, for better or worse, doesn’t concern us.”

“...very well then.” Ozpin nods. “You may go. I’ve said what I wished to say.”

Cinder and Neo leave the office to return to their dorm.

~=~

Beacon has four buildings for dorms, one for each year. However, a team keeps their dorm for all four years: when the fourth years graduate, that empty dorm becomes the dorm for the next first years, and that proceeds- no dorm is exclusively for one year or another. Amber walks through the halls of the first-year dorms, making her way toward the dorm that belongs to Team CNMN. Amber has come as early as she could manage, hoping that she could extend this invitation while Cinder and Neo are meeting Professor Ozpin.

Amber knocks on the dorm door, and she hears footsteps, and Momo opens the door.

“Cinder, you’ve gotta tell me how you manage to keep Em- AH!” Momo flinches as she sees Amber. “Ah! You are not Cinder and Neo!” she says oddly loudly.

“Uhm, no…I’m Amber. From last night.” Amber says meekly. “I’ve come on behalf of my team to invite your team to a little get-together at the end of the semester.”

“Just us?” Momo asks with an arched eyebrow.

“We, uh, know that it seems like we’ve been a bit rude to you guys lately, so we wanna apologize for that!” Amber insists. “We’ll be throwing this party over at this big, abandoned house in Vale.”

“Well…alright.” Momo shrugs. “I’ll have to ask Cinder, but this sounds like a good way to get rid of any bad blood between us. I’ll admit, Cinder and Neo have been a bit sour about other people this whole time, but I think this’ll be good for them.” She smiles.

“Right.” Amber nods. “Well, uh…I’ll be going now!” Amber speedwalks away, and Momo frowns.

“Weird…” she mutters and closes the door.

~=~

When Cinder and Neo return, Cinder braids Emerald’s hair before classes start.

“A party?” Cinder questions.

“Yeah, it was weird.” Momo frowns. “Are you gonna tell us what Ozpin wanted?”

“Maybe one day.” Cinder smiles, content in her secrecy, and Momo rolls her eyes. “So, we’ll be having a little celebration at the end of the semester…that’ll be fun.” She chuckles. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Neo?” she asks, and Neo smirks.

“She’s scheming again…” Nyx mutters in awe and stares at Cinder.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if you’re all a bunch of Grimm in disguise.” Momo facepalms at the ominous tendencies of her teammates.

Chapter Text

Amber felt a strange mixture of relief and worry when the end of the semester finally came. Now, all she had to worry about was the exams at the end of the year and what was going to happen tonight.

There’s this big, burned, abandoned house in the nice part of Vale. It’s been this way for a few years, and while no one their age exactly knows what happened to it, plenty of creepy rumors and speculation surround the building…stories that Cirrus was planning to weaponize.

“We’re gonna scare the hell out of those four!” Cirrus chuckles. Team CTAS is standing out in front of the abandoned house.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Cirrus?” Amber asks. “This isn’t really what Professor Ozpin asked of us.”

“That’s just ‘cause Ozpin’s afraid of them!” Cirrus waves her off. “Listen, all we’ve gotta do is spook ‘em enough to make sure they know not to mess with us. Everyone’s afraid of them, and that’s not our fault! They just need to see the other side of it.”

“I guess that makes sense…” Amber mumbles.

“Besides, it’s nearly Fall! It’s the perfect time to be a little scary.” Cirrus chuckles. “Hey, Sage, everything ready?”

“Everything’s in place!” Sage announces with a thumbs-up. “We may wanna be careful, though, some parts of the house seem really unstable.”

“Oh, we’ll be fine,” Tawny smiles. “Everything’s set. Time to teach these girls a lesson.”

“Hehe…right…” Amber smiles nervously.

~=~

“You seem distracted, Amber.” a voice cuts Amber out of her own worries in the middle of her private lessons.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am…” Amber says nervously.

“I’m not scolding you, Amber,” Summer Rose looks down at her kindly, “just concerned. I heard about what happened with Team CNMN.”

“Why is everyone making a big deal out of it…?” Amber mutters.

“I don’t want to make your uncomfortable,” Summer says, “but talking can help if you want to.”

“Shouldn’t we focus on my maiden training?” Amber asks.

“Well, part of teaching you how to use these powers is also about how to handle your emotions,” Summer instructs. “Fear specifically can be a powerful thing, Amber. It is the tool of our enemy, and it’s something we all need to learn how to defend against.”

It’s also the tool of Cinder, Amber doesn’t say aloud. Cinder is intimidating and thrives in the fear she brings out in others, as though she were a creature of Grimm herself.

“Fear can be disabling, but in the right situations, it can also be the push you need to do the right thing, or to save the day.” Summer explains. “Negative emotions like fear are also easier to deal with if you have people close to you to help you work through it. On that note, I’m curious, how has your Team been?”

“Cirrus, Sage, and Tawny are good.” Amber shrugs. “They’re nice to me.”

“Do they know about the real source of your powers yet?” Summer asks.

“No.” Amber answers quickly. “I wouldn’t! I’m not supposed to.”

“Right.” Summer nods. “But do you want them to know?”

“I…what?” Amber blinks.

“Do you want your team to be in this with you? To know about what you’re going through?” Summer questions.

“I…I don’t know.” Amber says. “It’s not up to me.”

“Everyone has a choice, Amber.” Summer frowns.

“I shouldn’t get them involved. It’ll only make things more complicated.” Amber says dismissively, and Summer furrows her brows.

“How so?” Summer asks, and Amber shrugs. “Amber…are you sure that your teammates are your fr-” Summer begins, but Amber’s phone alarm interrupts them.

“Oh, my gosh! I’m late to…to…to a thing with the team.” Amber quickly turns off the alarm. “Sorry, I have to go…um, what were you saying?”

“Nothing, Amber.” Summer plasters a smile on her face. “Go have fun, it’s the weekend. I have my own girls to get back to, anyway.”

“Okay! Thank you, Mrs. Rose!” Amber takes her bag and rushes out of the room, not noticing that Summer’s smile drops from her face the moment she leaves.

~=~

“Welcome, Team CNMN!” Cirrus glides down from above to the courtyard of the creepy house, where Team CNMN has been brought by the rest of his team.

“Did you really not come to lead us just to make a dramatic entrance?” Cinder asks, and Momo elbows her.

“Cinder, be nice.” Momo mutters.

Cinder rolls her eyes and says, “Thank you, for inviting us to this whatever-it-is” unenthusiastically.

“Um…why are we here?” Nyx asks meekly. “At a random abandoned house at sunset?”

“Well, this place is abandoned, and it seems like no one’s buying the property anytime soon,” Cirrus says, “so we’ve been thinking of making it into a clubhouse of sorts! A place for us and our peers to hang out after classes. And we figured, hey, maybe Team CNMN wants in on this! You’re not exactly the most popular girls around, so this could help get your collective foot in the door.”

“Right.” Cinder says, unamused.

“That’s all?” Momo asks.

“Yep! So, come on! Let’s take a look inside.” Cirrus leads them all inside, and Amber narrows her eyes when she sees how Cinder gives Momo a look, and the latter rolls her eyes.

What’s with them…?

As sunset gave was to night, the two teams look around at the charred and abandoned home. Portraits on the walls have fallen to the ground, and all portrayals are burned, leaving only vague impressions of the family that once lived here. Amber carefully steps over the portraits, but Team CNMN has no such care, and Neo’s skipping was almost like she was stomping on the grave of the family’s memory.

“So, Cirrus,” Cinder breaks the quiet first, “what made you choose such a dismal place as a clubhouse?”

“Well, there’s a whole lot of rumors about the place!” Cirrus says. “Despite all the creepy things people say about it, we figured it’s a big, nice place to have some fun in.”

There’s a beat of silence, and Momo sighs.

“Fuck it, if you’re gonna make me bite, fine,” Momo mutters, “What kind of creepy things have you heard?” Momo asks in faux enthusiasm, though the faux seems to go over Cirrus’s head.

“They say the folks who lived here died in this very house,” Cirrus says ominously, “and their bodies were never found. Once a loving family, a Chill Grimm possessed the little girl that was their daughter, and she would lock all the doors before burning the entire house down with all of them inside! To this day, some people think the Chill remains, having changed the girl into an undead spirit of grimm proportions…”

“That is the stupidest-” Neo steps on Cinder’s foot, “-most tragic tale I’ve ever heard, what a lovely story.”

Nyx looks like she’s torn between getting away from Cinder or getting closer (Amber still doesn’t know what her deal is).

“We’ve even heard rumors that when the moon hangs high in the sky, it shines upon the house as shattered as it is, and the Changed Chill comes out to hunt…” Sage declares.

When they turn a corner, Cirrus is slightly ahead and uses his semblance to send some wind through the house that howls ominously and makes the foundations creak. Momo looks around with an arched eyebrow, but the other three seem unaffected by the creepiness. If anything, this lack of reaction puts off Team CTAS…regardless, they continue onward. Not too far ahead of them, there’s another corner, and they’re just far enough ahead of Team CNMN that when Cirrus pulls a makeshift lever for a pulley system they had set up just out of Team CNMN’s sight, it’ll cause a fake collapse that’ll put Team CNMN in a basement full of creepy stuff to scare them on their way back up.

Of course, perhaps they should have checked the exact integrity of the false ground. When they walk across the sweet spot, they all hear a THUNK, and the floor gives way beneath them, causing the four of them to cry out in surprise! Cirrus is the first to land, and when everyone lands on top of him, they all hear a CRACK from his wings.

“Oh, damn the brothers…” Cirrus pushes them off and tries to spread the wings, but they glitch and either spread wide or lock together, no in-between. “Dammit!”

“Are you all okay down there?” Momo calls down to them.

“Oh, what do you think?!” Cirrus snaps.

“Well, this place is clearly more unstable than you thought it was,” Cinder remarks, amused, “but don’t worry, I’m sure there’s a way back up here somewhere.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Cirrus walks with his friends away from Team CNMN, but Amber frowns.

That’s almost word-for-word what Cirrus was planning to say to Team CNMN when they fell…

Team CTAS wanders through the basement. It was once a wine cellar, but they had gone ahead and fitted it with extra walls to turn it into a maze. Sage starts breaking down the walls, and when the cheaply made jumpscares they created from old Shadow’s Eve decorations comes down on strings, the team is unmoved.

“You know, it might be because we set ‘em up, these are a lot less scary in the dark than we thought they’d be.” Sage mutters.

“Oh, whatever, it was short notice.” Cirrus scoffs.

As they walk, Amber stops walking and looks around. She swore she heard something, like glass crunching underfoot, coming from behind them.

“Hello?” she calls out, to no response.

“Amber, what’re you doing?” Cirrus asks incredulously.

“I thought I heard something…” Amber mutters.

“Don’t let this place get to you, Amber.” Tawny critiques. “Trust me, I would have heard if one of those girls jumped down here.”

“Yeah…okay.” Amber says, unconvinced, and follows her friends. Occasionally, they hear the crunching sound again…

“Okay, now I hear it.” Sage frowns. “What the hell is that…?”

Cirrus looks around and calls into the darkness, “Hey! Who’s down here?” he walks forward, pulling out his weapon. “I swear, if it’s one of you…”

The crackling grows louder, and a light emerges from the dark. Rather than crinkling of glass, is now sounds like crackling fire- and it looks like it, too! Fire comes out of nowhere and starts to crawl toward them and up the walls at high speed!

“What the fuck?!” Cirrus exclaims.

“Move!” Amber declares.

Team CTAS rushes for the stairs going up, and Cirrus and Amber each let loose a burst of wind to try and put the fire out…instead, it seems to only feed the fire as it approaches faster! The group runs up the stairs and slam the door behind them as they leave the basement! Just before they shut the door, Amber swears that she sees a silhouette in the smoke…

“Those psychos!” Cirrus growls. “They set a fire to try and kill us!”

“Do you really think that?” Amber asks. “I don’t think even Cinder is that twisted.”

“Who cares?! Let’s get the hell out of here!” Sage says. “Before the fire gets through the door!”

“Hang on…why isn’t it getting through the door?” Tawny asks.

The team looks at the door, and they don’t hear crackling anymore. Amber slowly walks forward, nervously opens the door, and…nothing. The basement is perfectly intact and dark, devoid of fire, devoid of burns.

“Alright, this is starting to freak me out.” Sage says. “I’m serious, we should get out of here!”

“I’m the one calling the shots here!” Cirrus scolds. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’ll bet Team CNMN has something to do with it!” he leads them around back to where they would have fallen down. “Come on!”

The girls follow Cirrus, but their unease only increases when they find the hallway not only empty…but the floor intact.

“Thi- this is some kind of trick!” Cirrus says and kicks a portrait on the ground onto where the pit should be…where it stays on the solid ground. “What the hell…”

“Alright, nope! Screw this! I’m outta here!” Sage turns around to storm out.

“Hang on, where is Team CNMN?” Amber asks.

“Probably got out the moment things got weird, like we should be doing!” Sage scowls.

“Oh, gods, what if the Chill got them…?” Tawny mutters.

“There is no Chill! We made that up!” Cirrus says, exasperated. “They’re probably somewhere around here, waiting to jump out and laugh for scaring us!” Cirrus starts to go upstairs. “There’s a vantage point from the second floor. Come on!”

“No way, I’m getting out of here.” Sage frowns.

“Are you insane? You never split up in a horror movie!” Tawny scolds.

“We’re goddamned huntresses! We can handle a little splitting up!” Sage bites back.

“Everyone, quiet!” Amber shouts, her eyes flaring for a second. “What’s that noise?”

They all go dead quiet, and this time, they hear the crinkling of glass again, coming from the hallway in front of Sage. She looks down it, and her eyes widen.

“What the actual fuck.” Sage declares, and when her teammates go to see what she’s staring at, they see…nothing.

This hallway has no windows, no doors, nothing. It’s an empty hallway, devoid of everything.

“W-what the…?” Amber stammers.

“You guys need to start telling me what you’re seeing, because I fucking can’t, need I remind you.” Tawny frowns.

“There’s no way out!” Sage screams. “We’re screwed!”

“Everyone shut up!” Cirrus frowns. “Upstairs! There’s this big hole in the roof, not even…whatever-this-is can change that!”

“Whatever, let’s just go!” Sage, Tawny, and Cirrus crawl over each other to try and get upstairs. On the way up, Amber stands behind them and looks back down, and she swears she sees a little, red-eyed silhouette in the shadows, but in a blink, it’s gone.

Whatever that was, it’s too small to be Nyx…

Upstairs, sure enough, the massive hole in the roof is still there, showing the night sky and their only way down.

“I don’t suppose your wings are working again?” Amber asks as Cirrus locks them into the extended formation.

“I’m working on it.” Cirrus growls.

“You’re just opening and closing them, hoping they’ll start working again!” Sage frowns.

“Do you even know how they work?” Tawny questions.

“Shut it, both of you!” Cirrus scolds.

Amber clenches her fists and holds her tongue. In a fight, Cirrus’s demands are helpful, he strategizes where they should strike while he glides above the fight. But in a stressful situation like this, his yelling is only making things worse…

The sound of crackling glass turns into crackling fire again, and the team gasps as they see the fire starting to creep in from all sides, out of nowhere!

“Not again!” Sage gasps.

They hear childish giggling, and a silhouette arrives on the edge of their vision. It doesn’t look like the silhouette Amber saw before: this one is just a shape, a little girl with pigtails.

“It’s the Chill!” Sage gasps.

“There is no-” Cirrus begins, but more crackling is heard as the child steps forward and starts to grow.

She extends to unusual proportions, and her head turns completely upside-down, and then her ponytails snap like mandibles as it screeches out in rage! Team CTAS screams in terror, and Cirrus uses his semblance to blast off, even with his wings locked outward! Sage grabs his leg before he can abandon them, and Amber grabs her arm and Tawny’s so they aren’t left behind in kind! With too much weight, the four of them fall mere seconds after leaving the hole and crash down on the abandoned house’s overgrown lawn. It’s then that they hear it.

Laughter.

Amber can tell it’s Cinder’s laughter even before she sees her. It’s exactly what she expected: boisterous, evil laughter that echoes like an evil witch’s laughter from a fairy tale. Amber looks up from the ground to see Cinder’s head reeled back and her hand on her forehead as she unleashes her bellowing laughter. Momo looked like she was amused, but she’s now staring at Cinder, as if to say “That’s what your laugh sounds like?”, Neo is silently giggling and unpurturbed by Cinder’s laugh, and Nyx is staring directly at Cinder with an expression Amber hopes she’s reading wrong.

“What the fuck was all that?!” Cirrus exclaims.

“Oh, hold on…gi-give me a moment.” Cinder giggles maliciously. When she finally calms down, she takes a deep breath. “First of all, you’re all terrible at keeping secrets.”

“You’re the most popular kids at school, people noticed you flying to and from this place with boxes of stuff!” Momo remarks. “Half the school thinks you’re throwing a Shadow’s Eve party.”

“You flew the supplies here?!” Tawny scowls.

“It was faster than walking!” Cirrus retorts.

“Your attempts at torment were adorable,” Cinder smiles. “Really, I have to give you credit. Sure, your attempted scares were sub-par, but having it all be here? Truly malicious. It’d induce trauma if Neo was a lesser person. I’d tip my hat if I wore one.”

“What’s so special about this place?” Sage asks with a frown.

“Wait, do you…not know?” Cinder ponders, and when they all return blank expressions, Cinder starts laughing again. “Oh! Oh, you’re just idiots. Got it.”

“Hey, geniuses!” Momo can’t help but smile. “This is Neo’s old house.”

“Wha-” Amber blinks.

“Wait, Neo’s the one between you who burned a house down?” Sage asks in shock. “And it was this one?”

“You knew she burned a house down but didn’t check what house was burned down?” Nyx tilts her head, confused.

“B-but what about…all the creepy shit that wasn’t us?! The fire, and the little girl, and the house changing?” Cirrus asks.

Neo gives a curtsie, and Cinder chuckles.

“Neo’s semblance, obviously. Or did you not know that, either?” Cinder grins.

“A few well-placed illusions did the trick. Really, it was a good team-building exercise, getting to turn your own haunted house against you.” Momo admits. “I’m personally proud of covering up the hole in the floor. It was my first attempt using Neo’s powers, and I think I did pretty alright.”

“Yes, it was all a wonderful team effort.” Cinder smiles. “And it was very cathartic and therapeutic alike for Neo to torment people inside the site of her darkest memories. Really, we should be thanking you for all of this.” She grins condescendingly. “Such wonderful friends you’ve turned out to be.” she mocks.

“Rrrgh…just shut up!” Sage rushes at them, aiming to sock Cinder square in the jaw, but Neo’s dolls shatter on impact.

“This has been fun, but if you want a fight, we’ll do it on more legal terms…” Cinder’s laughter echoes, and from the shattered remains, the pieces start to gather smoke and rise.

“But be warned, if you try to do anything like this to me or my team again…” a voice that sounds like Cinder’s echoes in the Team’s minds, “I will show you that I am my Mother’s Daughter.”

The smoke forms into a billowing cloak of dark feathers, and a Nevermore mask is illuminated by a pair of burning coals for eyes. The monster screeches like a Grimm and charges through the four of them before vanishing from sight, leaving them all dumbfounded and terrified.

~=~

Back in the dorm room, Cinder combs Emerald’s hair with her fingers.

“Did I do well, Mom?” Emerald asks excitedly.

“You did very well, Emerald.” Cinder smiles. “Your contributions were invaluable.”

“You know, I’ll admit, I was hoping to find more friends at Beacon…” Momo comes into the room with a tray of hot cocoa with everyone. “I was put off by how everyone was afraid of us. But, do you know what? Tonight was fun.” she puts the tray down, and everyone takes a mug. “Team CTAS may be the popular kids, and everyone else may follow them like lost ducks, but all we need is each other!”

“Cheers to Team CNMN,” Cinder holds up her mug, “The only sane people in Beacon.” With a chuckle, the five of them clink their mugs together before drinking.

Chapter Text

At the end of a school year, Beacon holds a special festival called, aptly, the “Graduate Festivities.” The Year 4 students about to graduate work together to organize the festivities that every year of students will partake in. Today, Professor Ozpin makes his speech in the auditorium near the end of the school year, and proceeds to the announcement everyone is waiting for…

“And our Valedictorian Team, Team NXYS (Nexus), has decided that this year’s festivities will be a talent show!” Ozpin smiles. “Each team of each year will display their skills and teamwork in the courtyard, to show their friends and family how far they’ve come and their teamwork. You will have two weeks to organize your performance, and in honor of this event, your loved ones will be invited to spend some time at Beacon in anticipation and support.”

There is a mixed reception. On the one hand, many teams are excited to show off their skills! Many more are nervous at the idea of their family coming and possibly embarrassing them.

“In fact, some of them will be arriving later today,” Ozpin says as though he can uncaringly feel the tension, “good luck to all of you with your preparations.”

“Well, this is exciting!” Momo says in the audience. “I hope my parents can make it. It’s a long trip from Menagerie, though…what about you guys? You think your families will be coming?”

“Um…no, I don’t think so.” Nyx shakes her head.

“I’d be surprised if our family didn’t.” Cinder smirks.

“Ah, are we finally gonna meet your mysterious “Mother?”” Momo teases.

“With any luck,” Cinder smiles. “Our Aunt and her Wife don’t live at home anymore, but they tend to keep in touch. We have an Uncle that still lives at home, and our Mother’s…” Cinder trails off, and Neo makes a heart with her hands. “Right. That.”

“Spouse?” Momo asks.

“Not in so many words.” Cinder shrugs.

“I feel like the more I learn about your family, the less I know.” Momo shakes her head with a smile. “Anyway, we should probably also discuss what we’re doing for the talent show.”

“I’ve actually already got an idea for that.” Cinder smiles.

“We need to work on your cadence, literally everything you say is ominous.” Momo points out.

“I get my sense of drama from my Mother,” Cinder smiles, and the team steps outside. “Speaking of which…” she grins as a shadow falls over Beacon Academy.

~=~

Amber talks with her team about their plans for the talent show. She’s relieved that ever since the haunted house fiasco, her team has been glad to leave Team CNMN alone. Cirrus claims it’s because Team CNMN “couldn’t take a joke and doesn’t deserve their friendship,” but Amber’s pretty sure he was shaken by the terrifying ordeal they had gone through.

It also didn’t help that Team CTAS tried uncovering more information about Team ROWSE after the fact to find out exactly who they were dealing with. Everything they found only added more confusion to the group’s unknowable goals, and their frequent appearances in seemingly random places over the years didn’t help. They were a ghost story, cryptids in the back of everyone’s mind, especially their mysterious leader, who seemed to become less public and more legend with every passing year. Scarlet Reaper, a scythe-wielding huntress with an unknown semblance that nonetheless seemed to have no limits to what it could do. In recent years, she was most recently seen fighting beside Snow Witch (with a semblance of Dust Manipulation and, while the public story was that her more outrageous abilities were the result of dust-lined clothing, Amber knows that she’s the Winter Maiden) and Oak Knight (with a semblance of Aura Manipulation). The best way Amber had heard Scarlet’s semblance described is “Biology Manipulation,” even though that doesn’t seem to be the whole story. With the three of them combined, and the way their semblances rapidly evolved over the years, it made perfect sense how Cinder and Neo had turned out the way they did. This wasn’t even mentioning the final two members of the team, who Amber personally hoped they wouldn’t meet anytime soon, or else Cirrus would piss them off.

The group appeared seemingly randomly, wiped out any Grimm in the area, and left as mysteriously as they appeared. They left no trace except what people had seen, accepted only the rewards offered to them, and left as mysterious as they arrived.

When Amber looks out the window of their dorm room, her eyes widen as she realizes how true these abrupt stories are when she sees the shadow that falls over the academy.

~=~

Ozpin steps outside alongside Glynda, looking up at the shadow cast over his school. The familiar form of the massive skyship, Ketos. It hadn’t changed a bit from the outside, but that didn’t mean the inside may not have changed. Several Vale Airships were landing, but Ketos never landed. It is, after all, powered by the Staff of Creation, a limitless power source. Ozpin can’t help but muse to himself that Atlas had managed to make a proper magic-less propulsion system just last year, and utilized the Gravity Dust pockets that Team ROWSE created to be able to power it for several generations.

However, the first thing that truly caught Ozpin’s eye was the airship that landed on the landing strip bearing the crest of the White Fang: people from Menagerie. Ozpin steps forward, and he and Glynda greet the families and friends coming to see the students. This included many Faunus of Menagerie going to find their family members, but a pair of people step off the airship looking proper and ready.

“Greetings, High Leader Belladonna,” Ozpin bows his head. “I see you’ve brought your wife. Here for a family reunion?”

“You could say that,” the High Leader says, “but you don’t need to call me that. Being adopted by Ghira and Khali was reward enough, you needn’t force yourself to call me by their name.” Beauty Erudite declares, wearing the proper attire befitting her position as High Leader of the White Fang.

“Well, the resemblance is uncanny,” Ozpin narrows her eyes. Beauty no longer wore her mask, showing a truly strange resemblance to the Belladonna family that not even Ozpin could explain.

“Don’t think too hard, Ozpin, you’ll probably pull something,” Ursis teases with a grin. Rather than the biker-esque outfit Ursis wore before, her sleeved gauntlets are now incorporated into a metallic chestplate of the same material that leads to pants that look like leather, yet are perfectly flexible for a fight, and steel-toed leather boots. Her long hair flows down her back, but seems to never get in the way, and she wears an orange scarf with a golden White Fang pin on it. She still wears her class Ursa mask covering her face's top half.

“Well, if you’re going to meet your family, do tell Scarlet I’d like to speak with her. To “touch base,” as it were.” Ozpin requests.

“We’ll certainly pass the message along,” Ursis says, and the two of them walk onward.

“Having them all here is just inviting trouble,” Glynda warns.

“I’d like to think I know what I’m doing by now, Glynda,” Ozpin critiques.

“I’d like to think so, too,” Glynda says, “but the fact is that they don’t. That makes them dangerous in what they may do to fuel that thought process.”

“They’ve been peaceful enough these past few years,” Ozpin says.

“But now they know about Amber.” Glynda frowns.

“Trust me, Glynda, I’m well aware of the gravity of the situation. I already have a plan to keep Amber safe and away from their and Her clutches.” Ozpin says. “I can only hope that it goes over well.”

~=~

“I’m sorry, that’s where you live?!” Momo exclaims and stares up at the massive skyship. “How?!”

“Well, I could explain every little commodity of our beautiful home, or I could show you.” Cinder smiles knowingly.

They had gone to pick up Emerald- with so many people here, younger siblings and cousins abound, no one would notice the little girl clinging to Cinder.

“Am I gonna meet everyone…?” Emerald asks nervously.

“That’s right, Emerald.” Cinder smiles down at her and puts a hand on her head. “It’s time to meet your whole family.” She looks up and her smile widens. “Speaking of which…”

“Cinder! Neo!” Ursis approaches. “How are my favorite nieces doing?”

Neo gives a peace sign, and Cinder smiles. Momo is dumbfounded.

“H-High Leader Beauty…I, uh, for some reason forgot that you’re a part of Team ROWSE.” Momo says sheepishly.

“It’s not as well-known as I’d like it to be after casting aside my mask,” Beauty smiles. “A feat I hope we all get to achieve one day. But for now, it’s good to see you again, Momokase.”

“Wait…your full name is Momokase?” Nyx asks.

“It’s a bit of a mouthful, so I prefer Momo,” the girl confirms.

“We were about to head up to Ketos. Care to join us?” Ursis gestures to the airship across the airfield.

“Of course.” Cinder smiles. “But first, I should introduce you…” Cinder puts her hand back on Emerald’s head, unknowingly dispelling the illusion the nervous child weaved in the eyes of the adults.

“Oh, yeah? Who-” Ursis looks down, and Beauty blinks in surprise and her ears fold back. “Huh.”

“Aunts, this is Emerald, my daughter.” Cinder smiles. “I adopted her some time ago.”

“Ah. Yes. And you did this because us adopting you at our age made you think that was a normal thing to do.” Ursis sighs. “We have ourselves to blame.”

“I’m keeping her.” Cinder declares like it’s an order.

“No one’s saying you can’t, Cinder.” Beauty smiles. “But maybe let the others look after her on Ketos during the school year.”

Cinder hums noncommittally.

“Good enough!” Ursis turns to lead them to their airship. “Come on, girls! We can do the rest of the introductions on the way up.”

~=~

Nyx’s aura lowered the moment they were far enough off the ground that she wouldn’t be bombarded by the emotions of everyone around them. Getting closer to Ketos was…well, certainly something. There’s a mixture of emotions there, and only three sources.

The first source was one of silent contemplation, but hopeful.

The second source is brooding and calculative, but still positive as well. It reminded her of Professor Ozpin’s emotional state.

The final source is…strange. It’s a beacon of negativity among the positivity, yet there’s still positive emotions mixed in. It’s a strange mixture of emotions, and it feels…hears…tastes…whatever she feels when it comes to emotions, it’s weird. Unlike Cinder’s addicting personality that was like a drug, this was like an alcohol so strong that she was worried coughing wrong might ignite it in a way that would destroy her.

When the airship lands, the women called Beauty and Ursis lead them through the halls of Ketos. None of the halls are labeled, but it’s as though the two of them (as well as Cinder and Neo) have lived here long enough that navigating it is no problem, despite the size.

“We’re going to see Mother first, yes?” Cinder smiles.

“Yeah, you can take it from here.” Ursis says. “Beauty and I will get the others.”

“Of course, Aunt,” Cinder nods and leads her friends through the halls. Soon, they come across a hallway that leads to an ominous-looking door. “My Mother’s Orrery.”

“Orrery…?” Momo narrows her eyes. “Isn’t that a space thing? Is your Mom into stars?”

“Something like that,” Cinder smiles, and Neo giggles silently.

When they enter the room, Nyx wasn’t sure what they were expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. Momo and Nyx are rendered speechless by what they see before them. This atrium has a glass dome ceiling looking across the sky above them, and there are metallic contraptions, weapons of every type, maps of Remnant, displays of the solar system, and even a large bed-like mattress embedded into the center of the room. Hovering high above it all is a whirling mass of red and black. It is cloth, petals, and possible flesh, and the only secure thing about it is the Grimm Mask hovering in the center, attached to something that might be a head. Whatever this thing is, Nyx is pretty sure it’s meditating. Circling around the whirling entity clockwise are four celestial spheres, one pure light, one pure dark, one like the burning sun, and one a green vortex. Circling around them counterclockwise is six more spheres, each one a color of the rainbow and leaving a comet-like streak behind them that connects to the next rainbow sphere.

“What is this…?” Momo wonders aloud.

“This…” Cinder smiles. “Is our Mother.”

“That voice…” the mask cricks as it turns to them. “My Daughters have returned!” the voice is joyous, and the strange spheres flow into the body.

(Nyx can’t feel aura coming from those things it’s not aura it’s not a semblance what is she-)

“Welcome, all of you,” the creature lowers to the ground and begins to very viscerally transform, “to our humble home.”

~=~

Scarlet Reaper’s continued descent into inhumamity began just a year after Team CROWSEN acquired the Lamp of Knowledge. They were in the training hall, and Snow was still getting the hang of her Maiden Powers.

“Come on, these powers are so cool! You gotta do more than augment your semblance with them,” Scarlet encouraged Snow while everyone watched.

“We don’t know the full extent of these powers!” Snow frowned. “What do you expect me to do?!”

“I don’t know!” Scarlet threw up her arms. “I just figure you could point your arm at a Grimm and go “eh, ice blast,” and-”

Scarlet raised her arm in demonstration, pointing it at a training dummy, and as if on command, pure frost energy blasted from her fingertips out of nowhere and froze the dummy in a block of ice.

Everyone stared.

Scarlet stared down at her own hand.

Everyone proceeded to scream.

After several of hours of research, Oak came to an unfortunate conclusion.

“So…we can all agree that the Cat was wrong about humans being incomplete, but uh, as well all know from Jinn, we are as a species incomplete when the Gods took magic back…” He began to explain.

“Oh, Brothers, where are you going with this?” Scarlet asked. “Please don’t tell me-”

“When the tree remade you, it used the original blueprint.” Snow said. “You’ve just never tried using magic before.”

“Brothers DAMMIT!” Scarlet scowled, now burned with yet another aspect that tore her away from Ruby Rose.

~=~

In the modern day, Scarlet had finally gotten used to her magic. It allowed her to augment her semblance and abilities well, and she’s been subtle enough about it that Ozpin and Salem are both completely unaware that she’s like them now.

And no, Scarlet’s not having a crisis about literally becoming an equal third player in their eternal game! Why would she have a crisis about that? You’re crazy.

Regardless, it always sucks to force herself into a human form. Being pure petals was so freeing…not even in the suicidal way! Not anymore, anyway. More like in the freeing way Neo always saw it as. A way to explore herself, and figure out just who and what she was…but alas, Team CNMN is here, and she has to make a good impression, so she should at least pretend to be human, for their sake.

“Hello, my Daughters, their friends…” Scarlet smiles as her human form completes. “And my darling granddaughter.”

“H-hello, Grandmother…” Emerald says from behind Cinder nervously.

“You look well, Mother.” Cinder smiles. “I take it this form suits you?”

“As well as it can!” Scarlet smiles. Her current human guise has her hair have cinder-like bangs down one side of her face and a wolf tail tied in the back. She has her cloak, of course, and a black top with white sleeves. The center of the top bears a metal insignia of a rose, and it connects to the metal linings of her reinforced outfit like roots. She has a red corset on her waist made of metal that nonetheless does nothing to truly hinder her movement, and red and black pants that truly blend in with her mystical self. It’s all completed by her mask, which now resembles the Hound’s mask more than a Beowolf’s.

“I truly don’t know what to do with the implications of this exchange.” Momo mutters.

“Scarlet!” Ursis calls in. “Are you being eldritch in there again?!”

“...no?” Scarlet flushes.

“I know you’re lying!” Ursis retorts.

“Well, I can’t help it, can I?!” Scarlet frowns.

“Just come on out! Big family dinner time!” Ursis says.

“Oh, Brothers, when’s the last time I ate…?” Scarlet mutters.

“Beauty heard that!” Ursis calls, and Scarlet winces. “Get out here so we can feed you!”

Scarlet smiles sheepishly. “Well…shall we?”

Chapter Text

WARNING: The following chapter has a very allegorical description of suicide. We’re going to see what happened to this AU’s original Neo.

===

When the original Neopolitan stepped off of the tree to float down into the abyss, it took her about 20 minutes of hovering through an endless expanse of stars and night to realize that she probably wasn’t going to be landing anytime soon.

“Well, this is new.” an ethereal voice spoke that echoed across the expanse. “What a curious new way to experience ascension. Such creative creatures.”

Neo watched as many display cases containing clothing rose up from the depths to surround her during her descent. She saw prim and proper suits, clothing of muted browns and clothing of bright pink and white, clothing that reminded her of her parents, of the Xiongs, of the Spider Gang…of Roman. Of Cinder. Of Ruby.

Neo’s entire life had been a game of dress-up. Being Trivia Vanille hurt, but she couldn’t deny that there were days she hadn’t let her intrusive other self take over. Days that Neopolitan wasn’t so engrossed as she was…but Neopolitan was the only girl Roman ever knew. He never knew Trivia, not really. And was Neo even a split personality at all, or someone with an intrusive subconscious, someone that cast her conscience aside to have some fun? Even now, she didn’t know who she was.

“Perhaps you’d like to find out.” the voice suggested. The display cases that glowed were two contrasting outfits: Trivia’s everyday attire and Neo’s original “adventuring outfit.”

Neo frowned and kept floating. Trivia and Neo were both too much trouble to go back to, it’s too late to be either of them. Trivia was a pushover, someone who was rebellious in all the right ways but planned in all the wrong ways…and Neo? Neo was powerful, unstoppable, a girl that might even be able to give Salem a run for her money…if she were brave enough to try something against her. That’s her biggest weakness. She’s afraid and naive- she kept trusting the wrong people.

Leaving the outfits behind, Neo’s semblance shifted to change her visage into a faceless doll wearing Neo’s clothes and Roman’s hat.

“You’re not like the last human guest I had. It’s fascinating, to know just how different every human’s experience is. What a phenomenal gift, the ability to choose.”

To choose, hm? That’s supposed to be Cinder’s power. Choice.

Cinder’s original red dress glows in the display case.

…but Cinder’s hardly a good choice, either. It’s ironic, isn’t it? To embody choice, and yet be so enslaved and bound to “fate” as Cinder is. Neo certainly planned to find a way back to her after taking out Ruby, but now? Now, the girl that remains is tired. She’s too powerful, she’s made too many mistakes. Neopolitan can’t be stopped, that’s the root of the problem. Taking on Cinder would do nothing but burn the world, and while Neo may come out on top, gaining the powers of the Maiden would only make her more powerful.

No, it’s too late for that now…

“You have made many enemies, haven’t you?” the voice asks, and the girl who remains tilts her head to nervously observe Ruby Rose’s cloak.

Ruby Rose was terrifyingly similar to Trivia Vanille. Perhaps if the girl had lived in Vale itself, instead of Patch, things could have been different. They could have met, been friends, even with the difference in age between them. Ruby was adventurous, rebellious, and thrived in the idea of a fairy tale. However, she was also alike Neopolitan. She was powerful, ambitious, strategic, and thanks to her steadily evolving semblance, she was becoming just as unstoppable. Ruby Rose is the kind of person the girl who remains wishes she was…

The girl who remains nervously reaches for Ruby’s cloak…before clenching her fist and waving her hand, using her semblance to cast off everything but the hat, hovering down on the umbrella. She’s a blank canvas, an empty mannequin, having only Hush and his hat.

She can’t be Ruby Rose. Ruby Rose has a family who loves her. A nation looking up to her. People following her. Neo only ever had one friend, but Ruby had a dozen friends who would burn the world to save her life.

“You have long considered the lives of others…what of someone closer to you?”

The next case that lights up is Roman’s. The outfit that she had gotten for him. Roman and Neo were undoubtedly the best thing to happen in each other’s lives, but becoming Roman wasn’t the answer. Maybe if whatever she became could be like both Roman and Neo…then at least they’d have a legacy, at that point.

A legacy isn’t a bad idea…

But alas, Roman is gone. He’s not coming back, and clinging onto the past isn’t helping anyone. The girl who remains takes off the hat and lets it drift into the abyss along with Roman’s display case.

“You’ve witnessed heroes and villains, friends and adversaries, and now all that’s left are strangers and ideas that you have no interest in,” the voice says, “how exciting.”

The girl who remains kept hovering down, realizing she was coming close to the ground.

“If nothing you have seen satisfies you…”

The girl who remains touches down on the ground and sees the Blacksmith’s forge before her.

“Then let us work together to create something new,” the Blacksmith gestures to her work table.

The girl who remains put Hush on top of the table and went on to craft with the Blacksmith. It took…quite a bit of time, honestly. Does time move the same inside the tree? Does it move at all in the Ever After? Regardless, the wooden statue was soon being fired in the forge like clay.

“It’s nearly time,” the Blacksmith smiles down at the girl who remains. “There’s just one thing left to do.” The girl who remains tilts her head, and the Blacksmith picks up Hush. “Humans are given a gift. The ability to embed their deepest wish within an object of theirs, whether they know it or not, to be unleashed in the moment it is needed.” She offers Hush forward. “If the time has come, then perhaps it’s time to make your wish.”

The light of the fire bites at the girl who remains behind her, and when she takes Hush, she holds it close and thinks her deepest, truest wish. She cannot speak it, yet her mind holds true, and she can hear her wish resonate around her in Ruby Rose’s voice.

“I wish to give Trivia Vanille the life she deserves…a life where she doesn’t become me. If that’s even possible…”

“Anything is possible, child.” the Blacksmith smiles and takes the umbrella back. “Are you ready?”

The girl who remains turns and steps forward, stepping up onto the forge and letting herself fall into the flames. Her pink mannequin visage sparkles, and the fire chars it into a deep chocolate brown before the statue she had crafted with the Blacksmith rises above her. She is not dying, not truly. Her soul is being refitted into a new case, one without her memory, yet just enough personality to survive.

She is ascending.

~=~

When the Hatter opens her eyes of different hues and sits up, she begins by wondering who she is. She’s in the tree, that’s for sure: she’s an Ever-Afteran…isn’t she? No, that’s not quite right, she’s something else. She looks down at the odd umbrella in her hand. Looking down at Hush, she begins to see things- a life of a young girl, the young girl that ascended to become Hatter.

It’s not memories, that’s not the right word…it’s like Hatter is reading a book of moving pictures. She can see and know just what’s happening, but it’s not her, even if at one point, it was her. What a strange conundrum. Perhaps this is how the Blacksmith felt when she ascended.

Hatter hops up and turns to look at the doors to Remnant, wide open and glowing. Hatter nervously walks forward and reaches through, and the energy flows around her hand, and she quickly pulls it out!

Hatter has a purpose. She grips the umbrella tighter. Somewhere, on the other side of this door, is a little girl that needs help. That’s who Hatter is. She is the one who will fulfill the last wish, and then make sure that wish stays fulfilled. She is the Hatter, the one who ensures the little one never needs to wear a hat of her own.

Hatter steps through the door, and her story begins.

~=~

Hatter had apparated directly in front of the exhausted young girl, whose life was already so different. Hatter holds out Husk to her, and it dissolves into stardust and empowers her. Hatter goes to hide, leaving Little Neo with her power boost to take her life back. This was the first step of her happiness, she was sure of it. Yes, the boost would only last until sunrise…but the wish had other effects. The capability of Neo’s semblance evolving was closer to the surface, much closer than before. This time, it would simply take training and the right catalyst, and Little Neo would be as powerful as the self that made Hatter, all without the trauma.

Hatter soon witnessed the other Ascended Girl from the shadows. She leaves her be, and leaves Little Neo with her. Hatter keeps to herself and explores the shadows, only occasionally checking in on Little Neo in secret to make sure the wish is going well. Each and every time, she sees Little Neo look happy, with a family so big and loving that it defies Trivia Vanille’s wildest dreams.

Today is no different. They’re having a grandiose feast together on that ship, Ketos. Little Neo has new friends, too. It’s nice to see. Hatter has grown rather attached to this little self of hers, a paradoxical relationship. Hatter sometimes wonders if she would have gotten along with the girl that remained…

Hatter doesn’t dwell on these thoughts.

~=~

“You both seem like wonderful friends for my daughters,” Scarlet says with a smile. “Sooo what kind of weapons do you use?”

“Here we go,” Ursis smirks.

“What? What “here we go?”” Scarlet pouts.

“You’re gonna look at their weapons, realize you can do better, and give them upgrades that make Atlas tech look like a starter kit.” Ursis accuses.

“Wha- no!” Scarlet claims. “I can control myself around weapons!”

“You objectively can’t.” Snow Witch frowns. Nowadays, Snow Witch wears a longer dress with long leggings underneath. Thanks to her powers, she’s able to dissolve the longer part of a dress in a fight so that she can fight properly, though in most case she doesn’t bother since she’s grown increasingly talented as fighting while hovering. She wears her hair in a ponytail and wears a crown-like hairpin shaped like a snowflake, reminiscent of the Schnee crest but subtle enough that anyone who doesn’t know wouldn’t notice, and the tip of the snowflake’s spokes each have a ruby in them.

“I can control myself!” Scarlet says. “Cinder, tell them!”

“I’d rather not lie, Mother,” Cinder says with a sneaky smile, and Scarlet groans.

“Betrayed by my own daughter. Somehow, I knew this day would come.” Scarlet laments playfully. “Now show me the weapons!”

“Uh…” Momo’s not sure whether to laugh or not at the odd exchange and pulls out her fans, and Nyx pulls out her whip. “Mine’s a pair of fans that can become a shield, and Nyx’s whip can turn into a slingshot.”

Scarlet stares at the weapons. The mask makes it hard to tell, but she’s probably not blinking under there.

“Don’t-” Ursis begins.

“Okay, just one little thing!” Scarlet rushes forward, turning into rose petals and abducting the weapons before their eyes. Momo blinks, dumbfounded.

“What just happened?” Momo asks.

“She likes you.” Cinder teases with a smirk, and Neo silently giggles.

~=~

Hatter can’t help but share Little Neo’s sentiment of amusement. Ruby Rose had chosen herself, and while sometimes it was hard to tell if she herself even remembered doing that, it was times like this that the Ruby Rose in the memories Hatter studied was the same Ruby Rose here now…simply a more powerful version.

Hatter steps off of the airship and hovers to the ground before separating into pixellated sparkles, going to return to her lair.

The tunnels beneath Mountain Glen would one day be home to a vast, illegal operation…but right now, it’s home to vast, brightly-lit palace of wonders that Hatter used for her own amusement! And she was always busy, considering the strange… connection she has with the other ascended one here in Remnant.

To Ever Afterans, death is a foreign concept, known only via the threat of the Jabberwalker, which no longer exists.

(Neo was so unstoppable that both creatures made personally by the Gods of Light and Dark were murdered by her own hands)

Hatter shakes the strange thought away and proceeds into her palace, where her handful of creations roosted in hidden isolation. Because this is where they come…the ones that Scarlet kills.

A jittery rabbit-man drinks tea. He looks truly ever-afteran, but wears a coat too large for him, easy to hide in, and has the wide eyes of a prey animal. He has large tufts of hair around his neck that seem like they’re part of the coat, yet they’re not.

He has no memory of the man he used to be, only that he is Hatter’s playmate in teatime. Hatter pats the fearful little rabbit on the head and pours some tea for herself and the handful of people at the table born from the fools that have stepped before Scarlet Reaper in hostility, to be made into something positive.

Such is balance.

~=~

“Here you go!” Scarlet returns the weapons to Momo and Nyx, currently a cloud of rose petals with a face.

“Scarlet…” Ursis crosses her arms.

“Right, right!” Scarlet returns to human form. “Anyway, you should try them out!”

Momo extends her fans…instead of the bladed tips she knows, the tips of the fanblades are completely flat, and don’t even reach the tip of the fan’s edges like they should. There’s a dust cartridge slot in the bottom of each fan, and a trigger at the bottom of each fan.

“Uh…how does it work, exactly?” Momo asks. Scarlet hands her a Burn Dust cartridge, and when she puts it in and unfolds the fan, it has blades made of burning energy!

“I lined the inner workings with hardlight dust!” Scarlet says excitedly. “It’ll direct the energy of the dust cartridge into fine blades until you’re ready to fire.”

“Fire?” Momo’s eyes widen.

“Try it, try it!” Scarlet urges excitedly.

Momo looks at a wall, points the fan, and pulls the trigger, and the burn dust blasts outward in a powerful burst of energy that scorches the wall! Scarlet cackles excitedly, threatening to hover into a petal cloud again.

“And when you put them together, you can combine the dust effects!” Scarlet explains. “Mostly for defensive measures, but the triggers turn into a shield handle when combined, so you can actually hold it properly.”

“This is…” Momo grins. “Insanely awesome. Thank you! Seriously.”

“Aw, it’s no problem! I just like making sure huntsmen and huntresses are properly equipped.” Scarlet smiles. “I created all the weapons my family uses nowadays.”

“Um…what does mine do?” Nyx asks nervously. Right now, it just looks like a handle.

“Oh, click the button there!” Scarlet smiles, and when she does so, the whip flies out! “I made it a compact version so you could properly carry it around! It’s a little inspired by the design of Ozpin’s cane. The handle also a dust chamber that can channel a dust’s energy into the whip itself, and when you crack the whip, it can send bursts of that dust’s energy at a distance! You don’t need a slingshot at all if you’re creative with the whip.”

“Wow, this is…wow,” Nyx says, staring down at it. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything!” Scarlet smiles. “Just give it your all out there! There are all kinds of dangers beyond the Kingdom’s walls, and so long as kids like you are training to help us defend the people, we’ll all have a brighter tomorrow to look forward to.”

“Yeah…yeah.” Nyx looks away and retracts the whip, holding it tightly with both of her hands.

I don’t deserve this…

Chapter Text

Oak Knight has had the starkest change in appearance out of his allies, because he is presently in a limbo between always wearing the mask and not wearing it at all. He tends to wear it as much as possible when outside of Ketos, and instead of a mask, it’s now a full helmet of pure white material that resembles the Rusted Knight’s helm. He has new white armor that also reflects his time as the Rusted Knight, but the pristine armor is far more streamlined and has less metal in it, allowing for the flexibility for Oak’s speed in a fight. He’s been grooming himself well, cleanly shaving his face, but he’s decided to grow out his hair into a long ponytail. When he isn’t with Snow and Scarlet, he’s exploring Remnant on his own, helping people, earning money, and writing.

Oak has always valued his friends and family above all else, and his strange experience in the world has allowed him to learn so much about himself and about the world he lives in. Jaune Arc and the Rusted Knight both had their highs and their lows, but he’s found comfort in his new life as Oak Knight. Yes, at the end of the day, he’ll still be Jaune Arc deep down…but it’s not like he even has to hide what he looks like. Blondes are very common in Remnant, and blue eyes adjoining it are nearly just as common. The older he gets, the less careful he has to be about wearing his helmet, the more he can explore just what it means to be Oak Knight, to see the man he truly is.

Today, though, is a day of family. This will be a completely new experience for him: observing a Huntsman Academy end-of-year festival. He silently wonders what their festival would have been, had Beacon not fallen. Jaune doesn’t recall any outstanding fourth-year students so perhaps those third years they were friends with would be able to help. Jaune recalls that they were called Team Coffee, but he can’t remember the exact combination of letters to make the word…he thinks one of them was a V? (Give him a break, it’s been literally two lifetimes since he saw them last)

Regardless, this also meant seeing Cinder and Neo again and seeing how well they’ve been doing in school. Oak wasn’t on Ketos when the two were sent away, and witnessing their new attire and friends was certainly…something. Not to mention that Cinder had apparently found and adopted Emerald while they weren’t looking.

Oak silently hopes the food is good. He’s been learning how to cook properly for years, and while it seems like they all enjoy it, he is far less concerned with Scarlet’s eldritch tendencies than the others are. The entire team rushes out to see what’s happening…except for Cinder, who stares down Oak. Oak tries to avert eye contact, content on continuing to avoid how he feels about her…

“I’m sorry.” Cinder says, and Oak freezes in his tracks.

“What…?” Oak asks nervously.

“Whatever I did, I’m sorry,” Cinder says, and Oak feels himself release a held breath of relief. “I know that doesn’t help, me not knowing what I did, but I need you to tell me what I did wrong.”

“Cinder, you didn’t do anything wrong…” Oak still won’t look her in the eye.

“Then why?!” Cinder exclaims. “Why do you forsake me like this?! Even after all these years, you can’t look me in the eye…yet you don’t afford the same hesitance to Neo or Emerald.”

Oak realizes his error in that instant. He didn’t even doubt Emerald’s innocence for a second, he treated her like he would any child, because he knows she has good in her. This Cinder is good, he knows that, but…

“I don’t have an answer for you.” Oak keeps his back to Cinder.

“...fine.” Cinder storms out, choking something back and saying nothing else.

~=~

“So, tell us about your time at Beacon,” Snow Witch says. After Scarlet upgraded the weapons, they all moved into the lounge, home to a large screen playing the news and plenty of refreshments and snacks. “The parts we don’t already know, of course.”

“We’ve achieved top marks in our classes,” Cinder says proudly.

“Just like someone else we know.” Oak smiles.

“We’re social outcasts.” Momo points out.

“Not like someone else we know.” Oak frowns.

“What happened?” Snow asks.

“Nothing happened.” Cinder bites. “Our peers are terrified of us, and that suits me just fine.”

“Oh, Cinder…” Scarlet sighs. “I told you to make friends.”

“I made two teammates and got a daughter! That’s better than mere friendship.” Cinder huffs.

“Okay, slightly hurtful.” Momo frowns.

“I am quite curious about Emerald,” Beauty says. “How did you come across her? I’m wondering if you’ve come across any strange boys as well as girls?”

Team ROWSE knows why she’s asking: Mercury and Emerald were both enigmas to them. They seemed to make an effective team under Cinder’s leadership in the original timeline, but any connection they had before Cinder would be speculation at best.

“She was homeless and taking advantage of a flashy man to steal,” Cinder smiles. “It was very clever.”

“Flashy man…?” Ursis mutters.

“He probably counts as a weird boy, right? Even though he and Neo have this weird… thing.” Momo says, and Neo pouts. “I will absolutely judge you!” Momo says, and then groans. “Good Animus, I’m starting to understand what her looks mean…”

“What man?” Scarlet asks, and everyone can swear there’s some kind of chittering to her words.

“Uh…” Momo seems suddenly less willing to talk about Neo’s personal life.

“Her nemesis,” Cinder says. “She enjoys toying with him. It’s all fun and games, Mother, you don’t need to concern yourself with-”

“What. Man.” Scarlet orders, a rarity in the household, and her voice distorts into an echoing vigor. Cinder and Neo’s eyes widen and they freeze. The ordering wrath of their Mother was rarely seen, and never pointed at them.

“His name is Roman Torchwick.” Cinder bows her head in reverence.

“I didn’t think you knew his name…” Momo mutters.

“I looked into him. I made sure he wasn’t a threat to my sister.” Cinder looks up at her Mother. “Mother, he’s a petty crook from Mistral without a semblance!”

“He could be very dangerous…” Scarlet mutters.

“Why don’t you kids give us the room?” Oak requests. “We need to talk this over.”

The five girls wordlessly obey and leave the room. Once the door is shut, Scarlet keels over and starts to fall apart into a cloud of rose petals, muttering a disastrous spiral to herself.

“Hey. Hey!” Ursis exclaims, and the whole team moves to try and give the shifting mass a group hug.

“Cinder isn’t wrong,” Beauty says. “Roman is just a former criminal and a runaway from the Spider Gang until he’s recruited to Salem’s side, by Cinder need I remind you.”

“He could still be dangerous…” Scarlet mutters. “What if he corrupts Neo…?”

“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Ursis says. “Sis, she’s been learning quickly and was raised by us. Same with Cinder. Yeah, it’s worrying how similar they are to how we first knew them, but they’re also different. Their unending loyalty is with us. Neo’s not gonna turn on us for Roman. The freedom he gave her was given by us instead, remember?”

“...I still don’t like how Momo implied they had some kind of thing.” Scarlet chitters, returning to human form and sitting down on a chair, crossing her arms childishly.

“Okay, to be fair,” Ursis stands up, “she gets that from you.”

“What?!” Scarlet exclaims.

“That thing you had with Oscar.” Ursis crosses her arms accusingly.

“T-there was no thing with Oscar!” Scarlet blushes. “He had Ozpin in his head! That would’ve been weird!”

“My point exactly.” Ursis nods.

“Hmm, I don’t think she had a thing with Oscar…” Snow says.

“Thank you!” Scarlet says.

“She seemed to have more of a situation with Penny.” Snow adds.

“What?!” Scarlet’s petals thrum.

“I always thought Scarlet would wind up with someone more…her opposite.” Beauty smiles and shoots a look at Snow, who blushes.

“Enough about my love life!” Scarlet shouts. “My nonexistent love life, at that! Wha- what about Cinder, huh? That Nyx girl looks like she has a crush on her!”

“Oh, so you are capable of noticing one-sided attraction,” Ursis notes.

“What do you mean?” Scarlet asks.

“Nevermind.” Ursis sighs.

“I think there might be something wrong with Nyx,” Oak interjects. “She seems to have trouble keeping her aura active. I’m thinking that I could give her some lessons in Aura Control.”

“Good idea,” Scarlet nods, “but what do we do about Torchwick? We can’t just leave him be, can we?”

“I think we can give Neo a chance.” Beauty says. “Let her handle it until she can’t.”

“...I guess that’s okay.” Scarlet sighs. “Alright, let’s call them back in.”

When the girls return, Cinder now has a folder full of papers.

“This is everything I have on him,” Cinder says, “I let her do this because I did the research,” she lays it on the table, “I know his weaknesses, I know where they fight, I know his targets. This was all my doing to make sure Neo was safe but happy, but I will take him down if you so wish, I swear-” Cinder explains desperately, and Scarlet hugs her and Neo.

“I’m sorry…” Scarlet says. “I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just worried about you two consorting with criminals…” She backs away to look at her girls. “But I trust you both. If you say you’ve got a handle on this guy, then you’ve got a handle on him. Just promise to ask for help if you get in over your heads.”

“I…yes, Mother.” Cinder nods, and Neo nods with her.

“Now, tell me everything.” Scarlet smiles. “I wanna hear all about your adventures!”

~=~

After hearing all about Team CNMN’s adventures in Beacon, Scarlet and her team are alone in the hangar while the kids show their friends and Emerald around.

“Ozpin wants to meet me again?” Scarlet asks.

“Seems like it.” Beauty nods. Scarlet hums, annoyed, and half-turns into petals.

“This could be a good opportunity to find out how much he knows about our activities and what changes have been made to his plans.” Snow suggests.

“Hmm, yes, good point…” Scarlet nods. “Have you considered that I don’t wanna?”

“Scarlet…” Ursis crosses her arms.

“Is it a crime to not like Ozpin, suddenly?!” Scarlet exclaims. “A crime to be worried you’re starting to understand him? A crime to be terrified that he’ll outright call me another player in this game of us?”

“Scarlet-” Oak tries to interject.

“A crime to be concerned that he hasn’t made a move on us since the Lamp? A crime to want to avoid Summer Rose like the plague? A crime to fear that he has plans for our kids? A crime to-”

“SCARLET!” her entire team snaps her out of it, and she flinches.

“You don’t have to do this alone.” Beauty says.

“We can’t all go…” Scarlet mutters. “He might take it as hostile action.”

“Then just bring me,” Snow steps forward. “I’m the Winter Maiden, he’ll want to talk to me, too.”

“Ugh, but I don’t wanna go…” Scarlet flutters into the air and releases unnatural noises.

“Don’t you growl at us!” Ursis crosses her arms. “Look, you don’t have to go see Ozpin if you don’t want to, but you should open some kind of communication with him at some point.”

“One day, sure.” Scarlet mutters absentmindedly.

Ursis sighs. “We’re not gonna force you to do anything, sis.”

“...thanks.” Scarlet says and returns to human form, albeit sitting cross-legged on the ground.

“Maybe Ursis and Beauty can go,” Oak suggests. “No one will find it odd if the White Fang’s High Leader wants to meet with Ozpin.”

“I do want a general update of my inclusion program…” Beauty hums.

“Then it’s decided,” Ursis nods. “You guys keep entertaining the kids, we’ll go meet Ozpin.”

~=~

“I’m still worried about her,” Ursis says on the airship heading down to the ground. “I’m still concerned about how well she took us moving out together.”

“She still has Oak, Snow, and the kids…” Beauty sighs, “but you’re right. She’s been throwing herself into the future while violently avoiding anything related to the past.”

“Which is really rough when some of that past is still yet to come.” Ursis shakes her head. “She’s gonna need our help through all of this.”

“We’re more than ready for whatever comes our way,” Beauty assures her. “On top of Belladonna funds, our SDC stock is doing well, and Snow’s powers give us a limitless supply of dust, even if it doesn’t last very long.”

“Do you ever worry that we’re becoming a conspiracy theory?” Ursis asks, and Beauty stares at her blankly. “Okay, yes, I know we’re already a conspiracy, but I mean beyond that!” Ursis chuckles. “Think of it: you’ve been fully adopted into this timeline’s Belladonna family and become the High Leader. Snow was basically given a majority shareholder’s position in the SDC before Nicholas died. Our kids are practically destined to be two of the most dangerously powerful huntresses in Remnant history- and that’s just what’s public!” She expresses. “Robyn Hill is our eyes and ears in Mantle, her Happy Huntresses are essentially a faction that works as a human branch of the White Fang, we have two relics, a Maiden, and knowledge of future events that Ozpin and Salem can’t account for.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Beauty chuckles. “Maybe that’s why Scarlet wants to ignore it all.”

“Speaking of ignoring things…” Ursis says.

“We are not discussing that.” Beauty warns.

“Fine! Fine.” Ursis holds up her hands defensively. “Just so you know, if I’m right and he pulls something, I will cave his face in.”

“I’m well aware, Yang.” Beauty hesitates. “Ursis. Sorry.”

“S’alright.” Ursis shrugs. “You know I don’t mind when we’re in private.”

The ship lands, and the two step out to see Ozpin and Glynda.

“It’s just us, today.” Ursis remarks. “Public appearances and all that.”

“Of course,” Ozpin nods. “Shall we?”

~=~

Ozpin’s office hasn’t changed a bit since the last time they were here. When they step in with Ozpin and Glynda, Ursis freezes when she sees just who else is here. Qrow and Summer both stand in wait.

“Just the lovebirds, huh?” Qrow asks.

“We all have appearances to keep up,” Ozpin sits behind his desk. “So, why don’t we begin with what everyone thinks you’re here for?”

“I’ve made correspondents to the other academies,” Beauty says. “The other three students are all doing very well in their studies. Their teams are powerful, they work well with their classmates, and their grades are good. I was very pleased to learn that my nieces are on the same team as Momo, but I’d like to know how they’re performing in class together.”

“Team CNMN is performing admirably,” Ozpin displays their individual and team grades onscreen. “Cinder is a vicious and effective leader. She’s leagues above even Neo when it comes to her academics, though Neo and her are more or less tied for the application of their weapons and semblances. Momo, on the other hand, is a natural teammate. Qualities one might mistake for leadership qualities are actually best suited at making friends and keeping a team together. She follows direction well, and the team is at the top of their grade.”

“I sense a “but” coming.” Ursis frowns.

“But everyone’s afraid of ‘em.” Qrow states.

“Not without deserving it,” Beauty bites. “We heard about the incident with the Fall Maiden.”

“Of course you know about that…” Qrow mutters.

“Children will be children,” Summer says, “I’d like to apologize on Amber’s behalf. She’s my responsibility during the school year.”

“We will apologize for Cinder’s shrewd attitude,” Beauty says gently, “but understand that we will not apologize for the children defending themselves from the cruelty of peers that don’t care to be kind to them.”

“Nor would we ask you to,” Ozpin assures them. “I simply don’t wish for a fight.”

“We’ll speak with the children to retaliate, not instigate.” Beauty says coldly. “That is all you will get on our part.”

“Very well,” Ozpin nods. “Now…shall we move onto more pressing business?”

“Indeed.” Beauty nods.

“Seems you found the Fall Maiden, good for you. How are her powers developing?” Ursis asks.

“She’s focusing on controlling the natural forces of nature, for now. She’s becoming increasingly talented at commanding weather.” Summer explains. “And Snow?”

“Growing by the day. She’s mastered commanding the forces of nature, and she’s moving onto the more esoteric stories surrounding magic to practice her limits.” Beauty says.

“Have you put any thought into the idea of joining us, at long last?” Ozpin asks.

“Not particularly,” Ursis scoffs. “Just be glad the girls will be getting their licenses your way.”

“And for that, I am grateful,” Ozpin tells her. “I am simply concerned. Strange things have been happening at Beacon ever since they arrived…”

Ursis clenches a fist.

“I am not accusing Cinder and Neo of being involved,” Ozpin holds up his hand, “only warning that they have already gotten caught up in things and may continue to do so.”

“What kinds of things are happening?” Beauty asks.

“Mysterious Grimm not native to Vale have been appearing around Beacon Academy and, more rarely, in Vale itself,” Glynda explains and shows several things onscreen: not just the Arbor Gigas, Bulwarts and Fledgeling Nevermores that have been faced, but also Beringels, Centinels, and Sulfur Fish.

“What the hell…?” Ursis mutters.

“Even more concerning,” Ozpin continues for Glynda, “these Grimm age quickly. Juvenile Bulwarts mutated into Alphas within a few hours of them first being discovered.”

“Have you determined the cause?” Beauty asks.

“I’ve had Huntsmen combing the Emerald Forest for months, as it was the starting point for this mystery. Thus far, we’ve found nothing,” Ozpin admits, “but I worry these “Fast-Aging Grimm” are a new string of experiments from Her.”

“She has been pretty silent.” Beauty mutters. “We thought she was biding her time, but this could be a play she’s making now that we’re in the picture…”

“Which is why I believe it’s important that we join forces,” Ozpin says. “Division between us is what she wants.”

“Ozpin, you have and always will have our aid in matters directly dealing with Her…” Ursis stands up. “But that’s it. We don’t work for you.”

Ozpin hesitates. “I apologize. It is simply hard to conclude who I can and cannot trust in situations like this. Finding Lionheart’s replacement was enough of a hassle…honestly, I was surprised you approved as much as you did.”

“You chose well. I’m glad she’s found her place in Haven Academy.” Beauty says calmly.

“We’ll bring this info to Scarlet.” Ursis stands up. “We’ll keep in touch.”

Ozpin nods, and the girls leave the office.

“Are we sure they’re not related to this?” Qrow asks. “When the Madame came out of her stupor years ago, she claimed that Snow could control a Grimm.”

“I don’t think it’s as simple as that.” Summer says, and Qrow frowns. For a few years now, Summer has done a complete 180 about Team ROWSE. She wants to leave them alone and let them proceed as they wish, keeping a shaky truce rather than a secured alliance.

“As usual, I will compromise between those two opinions,” Ozpin remarks. “I will make sure eyes are kept on them while they are on academy grounds.”

Chapter Text

The weeks went by in an instant, and a makeshift stage and bleachers were set up around the main square in front of Beacon. Friends and families of all kinds are swarming into attendance, and a large backstage area hosts the teams. Momo told Cinder that while her parents couldn’t make it this year, they’re going to try to make it to the Vytal Festival next year. The teams are all preparing their various displays and performances, and Team CNMN is no different.

“Alright people, listen up!” Kieran Nocturne, the white-haired leader of Team NXYS, declares. “We’ve got one hour before showtime! We’re gonna start with the first years and work our way up! The first one we’ll be seeing is Team RHED, so be on standby!”

Team NXYS is the valedictorian team, the finest team of students in all of Beacon, and a group who are expected to become great huntsmen, even if they may not stick together. Unlike what many people believe, just like in normal schools, it’s woefully common for teammates to become distant as the years go on and the teams split apart. Kieran himself is infamous for his skills and his semblance, and the final hurrah of letting everyone show off their skills is a good way to build morale. He’s seen many fights during his years at Beacon, and he’s covered in scars and part of his face has suffered a grievous injury that has forced him to wear a theater mask over half of his face. Due to his skills, fashion sense, and overall appearance, his peers have taken to nicknaming him “The Man of the Moon,” mostly in reference to his horrendous scar.

He’s a better person than Cinder, though. Such a nickname would incur her wrath, but he just takes it in stride. Perhaps one day Cinder might also learn to let go anger like that…but today is not that day.

“Team CNMN, standby!” Kieran said before long.

“Oh, we’re not ready…” Nyx mutters nervously.

“We are ready.” Momo chuckles. “We’ve practiced this to death!”

“You just have to remember how we practiced your semblance.” Cinder smiles. “It’s powerful. Do you think you can keep your aura up long enough for the demonstration to have the desired effect?”

“Yes.” Nyx nods, eager not to let Cinder down.

“Good.” Cinder smiles. “Places, girls. We have a show to put on.”

~=~

The entirety of Team ROWSE had descended for the sake of the competition. Emerald hid amid the crowds, and the team sat in a higher bleacher to watch. Scarlet sent small petals around the field so she could watch from every angle, ready to truly enjoy the show her daughters were going to put on.

Team CNMN steps out, and Neo steps out further while Cinder speaks.

“Huntsmen and Huntresses must be ready to face all threats. The Grimm are a cancer upon our kingdoms, but just as bad is the darkness we all have in our own hearts. The true monsters of our world are those who want to exploit people’s fears worse than any Grimm. A true Huntress trains to fight them as well as any monster.” Cinder announces and nods to Neo.

Neo places her hands on the ground and focuses her semblance. Sparkling energy covers the ground, and a dozen copies of Neo rise up. This is more than Scarlet had ever seen her conjure before, but they weren’t quite as truly unique or autonomous as the original Neopolitan could do in the Ever After. She’s close, though: her Little Neo was learning how to use her abilities faster than the original.

Neo Prime keeps her eyes on the fight and focuses, unable to move while controlling so many Dolls. Cinder, Momo, and Nyx draw their weapons.

“Allow us to show you what we’ve learned.” Cinder grins, and the fight begins!

It’s a dazzling dance of shattering glass and grandiose power. Momo uses her own limited experience with Neo’s semblance to create her own copy to face off against the Dolls, Cinder’s control over heat and dust had gotten even better, and Nyx’s semblance seemed to let her conjure thorny vines that could tear through the dolls with ease when they manage to hit! The entire thing is a beautifully choreographed fight, and auras between the group were broken for dramatic effect. By the end, Cinder, Nyx, and Momo were without their auras (Nyx and Momo for dramatic effect, Cinder to deliver a dramatic finishing blow using an explosion of dust crystals). Neo’s semblance had drained her, and her aura flickers, but does’t break. She’s getting stronger.

The crowd cheers for the impressive fight they witnessed, Team CNMN bows, and they head back behind the stage. Scarlet and Ursis eagerly cheer above any other, and Cinder waves to her Mother before disappearing backstage.

“That was great!” Ursis chuckles. “They’re getting really good.”

~=~

“Team SABT, you’re up!” Kieran shouts backstage.

“Fuck!” Jordy cringes. “We have to follow up that?! We’ve got a damn puppet show!”

“Okay, that’s unnecessary,” Bella crosses her arms. “I spent a week on those fake Grimm!”

“I…I know. They’re great! They look amazing.” Jordy sighs. “I’m just worried, my Mom’s out there, I don’t wanna dissapoint her…”

“Hey, at least your families showed up.” Tad sighs. “Come on, let’s wheel these things out.”

“Right!” Jordy nods. “Aria, get the smoke machines ready!”

“Yeah, I’ve got it!” Aria nods, and the boys go to wheel their fake Grimm out from deep backstage, where there are some rusty pipes and old equipment.

“Did we have to store them back here?” Tad frowns. “It’s so gross…”

“We didn’t want anyone to see them!” Jordy starts to walk, and frowns. “Aw man, that looks nasty…”

A rusty pipe on the ceiling is dripping some kind of black tar that’s been dripping and seeping into the Fake Manticore. A blackish-red color stains the phony Grimm.

“What is that stuff…?” Tad mutters.

“No clue…well, at least it blends in well enough. No one will be able to tell from a distance. Help me wheel it out!” Jordy and Tad wheel the thing out, and the pipe keeps dripping onto bare ground…

~=~

Cinder watches from backstage as Team SABT starts up their performance. It’s an impressive display, she had to admit. They used a smoke machine to cover them setting up the stage, leading to an ominous and rehearsed monologue that led into a very practiced choreographical fight using life-sized puppets of Grimm from across Remnant. They’re impressive works, to be sure. If it weren’t so impossible, Cinder might have thought they were taxidermy.

It’s far more ramshackle than Team CNMN’s bout, though. Jordy and Aria were the only ones fighting, and Thaddeus and Bella were controlling the puppets. Bella’s puppet is a Manticore, but something seems off about it…the longer this mock fight goes on, the harder time she has controlling it, like the joints are stiffening up…

The Manticore bucks, showing the unexpecting Bella away!

“AGH!” Bella cries out. “What the…?”

The Manticore Puppet, now moving on it’s own, turns and grows a glowing yellow eye on it’s forehead: a real one.

Cinder’s eyes widen as she realizes the Manticore Puppet has been possessed by a Geist.

~=~

At first, the audience wasn’t certain how much was a show, since it certainly seemed like Team SABT was suddenly fighting for their lives…and all doubt was thrown aside from Aria’s aura broke, and the monster bit down on her legs, causing her to cry out in pain as blood poured from her!

Scarlet stands up with her teammates, ready to enter the fray…but they were beaten to it.

Team CNMN rushes forward, focusing their strikes on the Manticore to force is back! The monster rears up and charges directly through one final illusion of Dolls that allow Team SABT to escape and get Aria to safety!

“Play it smart!” Cinder orders. “We’re all out of aura. Nyx, disable it! Momo, cover me!”

Cinder rushes forward with her blades, and Momo and Nyx each load some dust into their weapons and activate them! The Manticore Charges, and Momo draws it’s attention by shotting Burn rounds at it! Nyx wraps it with her whip and uses the Lightning Dust to stun it long enough for Cinder to start cutting into the creature! She cuts the strings she can to try and disable it, but Grimm arms emerge from the limbs to try and grip itself together!

The Manticore turns its head violently to go for Cinder, and Momo places her fans together to activate the shield function with two more loaded dust cartridges! By combining the effects of Wind Dust in one fan and Gravity Dust in the other, she creates a vacuum that forces the Manticore’s face against the shield, impacting the mask!

“Pull it apart!” Cinder orders and Neo nods.

Neo activates the wind dust in her parasol to pull the Manticore the other way! This sheer combined force brings with it the sound of tearing, and the puppet is pulled apart! The Geist emerges and shrieks, charging for Cinder!

“So, you’re a fighter?” Cinder swings her blades. “Fine, then-!”

Cinder swings her blades, but the Geist manages to dodge her flurry, and reaches for her eye…

“Cinder!” Scarlet calls, her eyes on the verge of flashing…before dark vines emerge and impale the geist, destroying it in seconds.

Nyx’s eyes flash noxious green for a moment, and she blinks. “Cinder!” she rushes over. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Please don’t be hurt.”

“I’m alright,” Cinder sheathes her blades and smiles. “You did well, Nyx. Good work.” She then frowns. “But I thought you were out of aura…?”

“Um.” Nyx stammers. “Yeah, I don’t get it, either! I think it just broke early, again. Sorry.” She explains, and before Cinder can question her further, Nyx suddenly clutches her head in pain. “Agh…everyone’s scared…”

Cinder looks around and narrows her eyes. Ozpin steps forward.

“Everyone, please calm down, and let’s give a round of applause to Team CNMN. Clearly, their active response time prevented a much larger tragedy from occurring.” Ozpin smiles.

“Hey!” Not far away, Momo grabs Jordy. “What happened?!”

“I-I don’t know!” Jordy says.

“Don’t give me that shit.” Momo growls. “First the Bulwarts, now this? What are you pulling here, Stalk?”

“Nothing, I swear! I don’t know what’s going on!” Jordy insists.

“He’s not lying,” Cinder says and walks to the puppet as the last of the dark liquid is dissolving. “Jordy, where did you keep this one?”

“With all the others, in the deeper storage,” Jordy explains. “Y-you think this has to do with that strange liquid dripping onto it…?”

“Liquid?” Ozpin questions. “What liquid?”

“Grimm Liquid.” Scarlet, suddenly here, stares down at the remains of the Manticore. “I’d know that horrible sight anywhere…”

Whispers and murmurs surround the people, most showing some degree of “What’s Grimm Liquid?” Regardless, the ceremony had one last interruption.

“Professor Ozpin!” Professor Oobleck announces his arrival alongside Professor Port. “We’ve found something in the Emerald Forest.”

“The ceremony is over!” Ozpin declares. “Graduations are postponed until further notice. All of you, evacuate to Vale until the situation is handled.” He explains, and while many students protest needs to help, their families drag them away.

Ozpin takes a deep breath and looks toward Team ROWSE, to specifically Scarlet, while Oak Knight heals the auras of those who need it.

“I’m sorry, Aria…the Manticore seems to have damaged your spine. Your aura won’t be able to heal it.” Oak explains, and Aria sobs with her teammates.

Scarlet sighs and looks back at Ozpin from the carnage.

“It seems, Ozpin, that it’s time for our meeting.”

Chapter Text

Dead silence hangs over Ozpin’s office. The steady ticking of the clock tower reigns, and Team ROWSE stand with Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, Summer, Port, Oobleck, and Team CNMN. Emerald is clutching Cinder’s cloak, hiding behind her.

“Who is this?” Glynda arches her eyebrow and looks at Emerald.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cinder says dismissively, and Glynda narrows her eyes.

“Maybe we can stay on topic,” Momo says. “What the heck is Grimm Liquid?”

The Professors look at each other. Oobleck and Port may not be part of Ozpin’s inner circle, but they’re not fools. They likely know there’s some conspiracy brewing that they’re supporting, even if they don’t know the specifics.

“A myth,” Port declares. “They say the Creatures of Grimm were created using a dark liquid that was given many names. “Grimm Liquid” was among the tamer monikers.”

“Pools of Annihilation, the Spawning Dark, the Brothers Grimm…” Scarlet lists. “I’ve never seen it in person until now.”

“The Legends say that Grimm Liquid pools only in Brother Dark’s domain,” Oobleck says quickly. “But after locating the source of the outbreak here at Beacon, we’ve found traces in the lake below the school. The lake’s water flows through the City and the School, corrupting everything. The Bulwarts were found near runoff pipes, the Geist was unleashed from perhaps the lake itself, the Fledgling Nevermores in Vale manifested inside a pot that had Grimm Liquid poured into it via the faucet.”

“So it’s what the Grimm come from…?” Momo ponders.

“Precisely.” Oobleck nods and pushes up his glasses.

“You said you found the source,” Cinder says, “what is it?”

Oobleck and Port show their discovery: a metal and glass canister.

“This canister had a concentration of Grimm around it, like they had come from it. It was on a hill that led to a river that led directly to Beacon Lake!” Port explains dramatically. “This was no mere chance. This was an attack!”

“The only question is: who could get their hands on enough of this mythical substance to weaponize it?” Oobleck questions, and silence reigns over the hall. Scarlet’s cloak is wrapped around herself, and Cinder can tell that her Mother is discorporating below it and swirling like a contained storm. The mere thought of Salem is enough to throw her family into a rage.

“Regardless, this is not the only problem,” Oobleck continues when no one answers, “With how Grimm Liquid seems to work, the Grimm we have faced and have infested our waters have been in higher concentration than the liquid this canister could contain. Which can only mean one thing!”

“There’s more.” Summer frowns. “Somehow, there’s more Grimm Liquid getting into Beacon.”

“The likeliest source is somewhere in the Emerald Forest.” Ozpin hums. “Perhaps our intruder remains…”

“Then we’ll have to work fast,” Scarlet says.

“Oh, there’s a we now?” Qrow frowns.

“When it comes to something like this? Yeah, there is.” Oak remarks.

“No arguing!” Summer says. “We’ll need to split up to scour the forest.”

“Does that include us?” Momo asks. “Please say it includes us. You can’t just share this fairy tale come to life with us and not let us help!”

“Don’t worry Momo,” Cinder smiles, “we’ll scour the Emerald Forest either way.”

“Promise not to burn the forest down, and you can do as you wish.” Ozpin remarks, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Very well,” Cinder shrugs.

“Oz, are you sure”? Qrow asks. “They’re still kids…”

“Capable kids,” Scarlet interjects. “They can handle it.”

“So, what exactly are we looking for?” Momo asks.

“I’m sure we’ll know it when we see it.” Cinder smiles.

“Great,” Momo rolls her eyes and stays quiet.

“It’d be best to split off into teams,” Summer Rose states. “We could even mix things up a little to help in case a fight happens.” she turns toward Team ROWSE. “I could go with-”

“Me.” Snow Witch steps between Summer and Scarlet. “It would give us a good chance to touch base with our abilities.”

“...right.” Summer nods.

While teams are getting organized, Momo pulls Cinder aside.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” Momo asks. Cinder wordlessly raises an eyebrow, so she continues. “I’ve only known your family for two weeks, of which I’ve probably interacted with them a grand total of ten hours. Already, we’re taking on mysterious myths and Grimm no one should have to face before graduation!”

“We’ve handled ourselves well, Momo,” Cinder says and smiles. “This is our reward. Real action.”

“This isn’t action, this is more. More than most Huntsmen ever dream of getting involved with.” Momo frowns. “I know you by now, Cinder. I know that look in your eye. There’s something they’re not telling us, something you’re not telling us!”

“It’s nothing to concern yourself with,” Cinder answers confidently.

“That’s not good enough.” Momo frowns. “Your whole family is like something out of a Fairy Tale, Ozpin’s been treating you weird all year, and don’t think I haven’t noticed Neo texting someone whenever Amber is nearby. Tell me what’s going on.”

“You’re very clever, Momo.” Cinder says honestly. “That’ll serve the team well. But don’t worry. Everything will be taken care of.”

“So you’re just not gonna tell me?” Momo scowls.

“You will know what you need when you need to know it,” Cinder starts to turn away, “in the meantime, take solace that those in command will use our knowledge to direct and protect-”

“Screw you!” Momo snaps, and Cinder imperceptibly flinches at the uncharacteristic outburst of her loyal teammate. “I’ve been defending you all year. Through all the ominous words, the creepy attitude, and the cruel gestures. All because, at the end of the day, you seemed to actually care about us.”

“I do care-” Cinder begins to defend herself, turning back to Momo.

“No, you don’t!” Momo huffs and heads for the elevator. “All this time, I thought you’d afford your own team the kindness you wouldn’t afford others…but that only applies to your family, doesn’t it? Nyx and I are just weapons to you, extra assets for the hassle of training at Beacon. I thought you took being on a team more seriously than that…”

Momo steps onto the elevator. “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready to head out. But if you don’t want Nyx and I involved, then leave us out of this.”

The elevator doors close, and Cinder clenches her fists, her mind spiraling back and forth between what to do.

“Then the teams are decided!” Professor Port declares boisterously. “Now we set off, and the hunt begins!”

“When the liquid is found, signal the others with your scrolls.” Summer instructs. “We’ll dispose of it together.”

As the teams prepare to disperse, Scarlet walks (well, hovers) over to Cinder just as the elevator closes, leaving the two of them isolated in the elevator.

“Well, that could have gone better, huh?” Scarlet asks.

“You heard that…?” Cinder asks nervously.

“I’m not upset, Cinder,” Scarlet says, and Cinder feels an immense weight lift off of her…and yet…

“I’ve failed,” Cinder frowns. “Momo’s right. I’ve been using her and Nyx as weapons in my plan, not as teammates. I’ve given them respect, but…I thought that this was what I had to do. I thought to keep them in the dark until the time was right, if it ever came at all.” Cinder looks up at her. “Where did I go wrong?”

“A Team Leader is in many ways the strategist,” Scarlet says. “You’re looked to for guidance, to make the plans, and to lead the charge to ensure these plans come true. You are an example for your team, and the symbol for it. When others look at your team from outside, you are who they associate with the team itself. This is why some teams are named after their Team Leaders.”

“But, I did all of that!” Cinder protests.

“A Team Leader is the strategist and the one who leads the charge,” Scarlet expresses, “but they are not the Mastermind. You may be the Team Leader, but you’re still part of the team. They are all your confidants, their opinions matter, and in complex situations, you may disagree, but that it when you know how to divide and conquer. You are a Team Leader, not a Queen.”

“I…” Cinder hangs her head in shame. “I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand. Are you telling me that I should tell them everything?”

“That’s not for me to decide, Cinder,” Scarlet gently tilts her head up to meet her masked gaze. “I may be your Mother, but when it comes to being a Huntress, I’m not in charge of you anymore. When it comes to our true enemy, we are peers, and your team is your responsibility. What you tell them or how much you tell them is entirely up to you.”

“And I’ll have to be ready to take responsibility…” Cinder sighs. “I understand. I’ve gotten so… comfortable with treating those who haven’t earned my respect accordingly, that I haven’t been showing my team respect, either.”

“What will you do now, Cinder?” Scarlet questions her.

“I don’t know,” Cinder says honestly, “but I’m going to do it with my team.”

Scarlet smiles approvingly, and when the elevator doors open, Scarlet vanishes into a burst of petals. Cinder steps out to look at Momo, Nyx, and Neo. Momo and Neo are glaring at each other with crossed arms, and Nyx is looking between them both nervously, and then she spots Cinder.

“Cinder!” Nyx smiles a little, and Momo looks at her.

“Momo and Nyx,” Cinder steps forward. “I apologize for treating you like I have. You’re both important to me. You’re my teammates, and I promise to treat you as such.”

Momo thinks for a moment. “You’re a woman of your word, Cinder, for better or worse,” Momo remarks, “but I’ll believe it when I see it. So are you going to tell us what’s going on here?”

“I don’t know yet,” Cinder says honestly, and Momo narrows her eyes. “This information…it’s dangerous, Momo.”

“Then we should face it together! As a team!” Momo demands.

“Give me one day,” Cinder requests. “Just until this threat is dealt with. I want time to think.”

“I…” Momo sighs. “Fine. I can accept that.” She rubs the back of her head. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, either. I feel like I’ve been shaken by all of this. Grimm are just so prevalent, I’ve just never considered where they come from, so this is all a lot right now.”

“I understand,” Cinder smiles. “So, how about we all take a breather and regain some of our aura before we set off?”

“You may not have the time for that,” Oak steps forward.

“Oak…” Cinder trails off and doesn’t meet the gaze of the man.

“I can heal your auras using mine.” Oak explains.

“You can?” Momo blinks. “But won’t that strain you?”

“I’ll be standing by on Ketos in the case of an emergency anyway,” Oak says. “I’ll be fine.”

One by one, Oak touches the shoulder of Team CNMN in reverse order to regenerate their auras. When he gets to Cinder, he hesitates, and takes her smaller hand into his own and flows it that way.

“Cinder,” Oak says, “I haven’t been fair to you these years. Secrets are a terrible thing to have…” he takes a deep breath. “I promise, one day I’ll show you everything.”

“Thank you, Oak,” Cinder says after a long silence, and her aura regenerates.

“I hope you’re all aware,” Oak turns to the whole team, “that things are only going to get harder from here. A door has been opened for you, a door into an uncaring world that most people would be more than happy to ignore. Your first year at Beacon has had a safety net that you’ll be cutting away the moment you see something that defies everything you ever knew.”

As he warns them, Nyx and Momo look increasingly nervous.

“No one would judge you from walking away. But if you don’t…” Oak walks past them all. “Then I can only wish you luck.”

“So,” Cinder turns to her nervous-looking team, “shall we?”

===

Momo has no idea what they’ve stumbled into. The very idea that there are things beneath the surface, things she’s actively being warned about pursing, even though she’s a Huntress in training, fills her with a sense of dread she can’t completely place.

Momo’s also ashamed she snapped at Cinder like that, even if she kinda deserved it. Momo has long been trying to consider Team CNMN like her group of friends back home, but the truth is that they’re not. Momo’s friends shared everything, and often bickered, and Momo was the glue that held them together. But Momo isn’t Team CNMN’s team leader, she’s not the holder of everyone fragile emotional state, she’s not the one thing linking them with her semblance.

Momo traces her tattoos with her finger, starting on her arm with her old friends, and trailing to the arm with her new friends. She still doesn’t have a tattoo for Nyx yet (Momo suspects that Nyx is worried; what if whatever’s afflicting Nyx’s aura is shared the moment they’re linked?), but she has one for Emerald.

“We’re at the place where the canister was,” Nyx says, pointing out some displaced grass and pools of Grimm Liquid too small to form anything. “We should alert the others, right?”

“We need to find where the larger pools are coming from, first.” Cinder says. “Momo, you’re up.”

Cinder has fallen back into the cold, calculative commander…which honestly, Momo doesn’t mind too much. On a mission, Cinder’s commands are very useful. It’s just in a more domestic setting that she could learn to dial it back.

Momo activates Kiji’s Semblance, Eagle Sight, and sends a spectral bird into the sky to see through the eyes of. The useful thing about sharing semblances, even over distances, is that Momo also gets the benefits when her friends evolve their semblances. Kiji’s time in Atlas seems to have served him well in tracking people and grimm alike in the snow.

“They look like Deathstalker Tracks,” Momo looks down as her eyes glow at the footprints that glow to her eyes. “They look a little bigger than normal.”

“Maybe we should leave this to the Huntsmen!” Nyx requests.

“Don’t be so worried,” Cinder draws her blades. “It might lead us to where the Grimm Liquid is. Lead the way, Momo.”

“On it,” Momo nods, and as they walk, Momo notices how nervous Nyx seems.

“You okay, Nyx?” Momo asks.

“I’m fine, just…this is a lot more real than we’ve done before,” Nyx says nervously.

“Don’t worry, Nyx, we’ll call for backup as soon as we need it,” Momo says, and Neo nods wordlessly. “Now, let’s see where…we…are?”

Momo blinks as they come to a large clearing. The land is dying, trampled by who knows how many Grimm, and there are bits that it seems like must be meant to hold Grimm Liquid, dug out by claws.

“This creature has intelligence…” Cinder surmises. “But where is it getting the liquid?”

Suddenly, they all hear a screech, and an enormous shape bursts through the treeline! It’s a Grimm unlike anything they had seen before. It’s a massive Deathstalker to be sure, but it is much more armored than a normal one, covered in many more Grimm markings and spikes, and all of these markings grow a noxious green instead of red. Grimm Liquid seems to generate and drip off of the Deathstalker’s tail, creating a pool that from which emerges a Bulwart as it skitters closer to them, unlike any Grimm Momo had ever even considered before.

“What in the same of Animus is that thing?!” Momo exclaims.

“I…” Cinder trails off, and when Momo looks at Cinder, she feels herself become more afraid than ever at the expression on Cinder’s face.

“I don’t know,” Cinder says, and for the first time, Momo sees fear in her leader’s eyes.

Chapter Text

Team CNMN leaps away from the enormous stinger coming down upon them!

“Defensive measures, now!” Cinder declares.

Neo creates a handful of dolls to shroud the team, and Momo creates a barrier as big as she can to shield them from the Creep Grimm that emerge from the Mutant Deathstalker’s summoned pools! These creeps are bigger than normal ones, have green energy instead of red like the Deathstalker, and are covered in more of those spikes. They bash against the barrier, and Momo grunts as she uses as much aura as possible to wrap the barrier around them, creating a dome!

“Agh…” Momo drops to a knee, and her aura strains already. “Okay. I just did something I don’t even think Inu figured out how to do yet. So, there’s a new weakness, getting creative is apparently a bad thing…”

“What are these things…?” Cinder ponders and pulls out her scroll. “We need backup.”

“Seriously?” Momo asks. “No offense, Cinder, but I thought this would be another case of you wanting to deal with this alone.”

“Oh, we’ll probably be forced to try.” Cinder says, “but I’m not taking chances against something as powerful and unfamiliar as this.”

“Can’t we just stay in here?” Nyx asks as the Grimm continues to beat on the barrier.

“No offense, Nyx, but I don’t know how long I can keep this thing up!” Momo says while Neo puppeteers her dolls to give the Grimm a run for their money, taking down a few of the Creeps, but when they die, they explode into energy that takes out the dolls nearby!

“Come on, come on…” Cinder mutters as she focuses on her scroll and calling her family.

===

There were several teams formed to stalk the Emerald Forest and hunt down the location of the Grimm Liquid. While Oak and Ozpin stayed in their respective teams’ headquarters, the rest of the inner circles were on the move, united for the time being.

Right now, Snow Witch and Summer Rose are soaring through the forest.

“I see why you only wanted the inner circles on the hunt,” Summer says. “This is much faster…I’ll be honest, I’m not used to flying. I mostly just take advantage of Sundered Rose and some gravity dust.”

“It’s freeing, isn’t it?” Snow ponders. “It’s an exhilaration I’ve never felt before. I enjoy going flying with Scarlet, it’s a good way to practice our skills. It allows us to take on flying Grimm with relative ease.”

As if on cue, a Nevermore (bigger than a juvenile, but not quite as big as an adult) comes soaring toward them, and the two Maidens unleash a flurry of elemental power that tear it asunder in an instant.

“It’s scary, isn’t it?” Summer asks. “With power like ours, the Grimm are just… torn asunder. They’re the embodiments of Destruction itself, and yet, magic can wipe them out without threat.”

“I imagine that was the intention,” Snow says. “Masterpiece, indeed…” she mutters and keeps flying. Summer frowns and follows after her.

“I didn’t tell Ozpin about our last encounter,” Summer tells her.

“We assumed as much,” Snow responds. “Does he still believe the Lamp it safe?”

“He does,” Summer nods. “Any chance I could ask for it back?”

“Would you allow us free access if we needed it again?” Snow retorts.

“Fair point.” Summer sighs. “I’m worried about all of this. Why would Salem ship Grimm Liquid like this to us…?”

“I truly don’t know,” Snow says. “It’s not how she does things…from what we’ve seen, anyway.”

“You’re right,” Summer says. “Salem is scheming and secretive. This is too obvious. The canisters are dramatic, it’s like she’s saying “Here I am, look at me,” and I can’t imagine why she’d want the attention or leave something in a place where just anyone could find it.”

“Salem is probably capable of shifting tactics in an emergency,” Snow says, “but you’re right. This is too extreme a shift without a real catalyst.”

“Speaking of extremes…” Summer frowns. “You told your kids about Salem.”

It’s not a question. It’s a carefully observed fact, a statement seeking only confirmation.

“They’re Scarlet’s kids.” is the only answer Snow gives her.

“Aren’t you worried?” Summer asks. “This is opening them up to a life of endless danger.”

“That’s what being a Huntress is all about,” Snow responds calmly. “We’ve had enough secrets in our lives. That’s a rule on Ketos: no secrets. Keeping secrets from each other only stand to hurt each other.”

“Some secrets have their place…” Summer stops flying, and Snow slows down and turns around to look at her. “There are things…things I don’t intend to tell my daughters. To keep them safe.”

“We’ve heard legend of the Silver Eyed Warriors,” Snow says, “and we understand that this Shadow War is a wearying fight.”

“Not that.” Summer says. “I’m undecided how much I’ll tell my daughters about this conflict, and I fully intend to train Ruby myself when she’s old enough.” Summer explains. “It’s…” she sighs. “My oldest, Yang, she’s not mine, biologically. After my teammate Raven had her, she abandoned all of us. I raised her since she was a baby, and…I don’t think I’m ever going to tell her about Raven.”

Snow’s lips purse. Summer narrows her eyes, cursing how hard it is to read someone’s expression while they’re wearing a mask…though to her, Snow almost seems nervous at the prospect of Yang not learning about Raven.

“Why did you want to speak to Scarlet?” Snow asks.

“Can’t a pair of team leaders strategize together?” Summer asks back.

The two of them stare at each other, but before either of them can make a move or speak, Snow’s scroll pings.

“Cinder…?” Snow answers the group call.

===

Beauty and Ursis are traveling through the Emerald Forest, joined by Glynda.

“So, why the change of heart regarding the mask?” Glynda asks, looking at Beauty.

“I didn’t fit the theme,” Beauty answers dryly, and Ursis snickers while Glynda rolls her eyes.

“Are you incapable of giving a straight answer?” Glynda asks.

“Eh, being straight was never our strong point.” Ursis snickers, and Glynda facepalms.

“Why was I paired up with you two?” Glynda wonders aloud.

“I imagine because our combined efficiency would make us an effective team in a fight, tracking, and keeping whatever we find at bay while we await proper reinforcements.” Beauty explains.

“Yeah, we’re here to take on this threat, not to chat,” Ursis points out. “We’re not your enemies, but that doesn’t mean we want to be your friends, either. We’re content in our secrecy.”

“It’s simply hard to trust people who claim to be Agents of Darkness.” Glynda frowns.

“Brother Dark made humans, too,” Ursis shrugs. “And, y’know, probably Faunus.”

“I have wondered on occasion which brother was responsible for my people,” Beauty nods. 

“If a brother at all,” Ursis adds.

“I wouldn’t put it past Brother Dark. Despite how things ended, I always got the idea that he liked his creations more than Brother Light.” Beauty explains.

“What gives you that idea?” Glynda asks.

The girls stop walking, look at each other, and look back at Glynda.

“Ask Ozpin.” the couple says in unison, and Glynda gets a sour look on her face, because she knows she’ll barely get any answers from him, either.

Before anything else can be said, Ursis and Beauty’s scrolls ring, and they both answer when they see it’s Cinder.

===

Qrow is traveling alongside Scarlet and that kid, Emerald. Emerald is swinging from branch to branch like a monkey using her special weapons, and Scarlet hovers with her semblance with her. Qrow manages to keep up with them, arching his eyebrow as he observes them.

“Cinder taught you well, Emerald.” Scarlet compliments. “You’re a fast learner.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Emerald says while catching her breath on a treebranch.

“So, tell me,” Qrow remarks, “how exactly has Cinder managed to follow in your footsteps while staying on Beacon Campus without anyone finding out?”

“I can hardly speak of the inner workings of my daughter’s mind,” Scarlet responds.

“And you really think it’s a good idea to bring this kid along?” Qrow frowns. “She looks like she’s the same age as one of my nieces.”

“The training to be a Huntress begins when one has the aura and the ability,” Scarlet explains. “Emerald has both. If we face true danger, trust that I’m able to protect her.” She looks down at Qrow. “I’m sure your family would be glad to protect your nieces, too, no matter how much older they get, assuming they follow in your footsteps.”

Qrow hums, not wanting to agree or disagree with the statement.

“So, will those children be following in your footsteps?” Scarlet asks. “I’m not sure if we’ll send Emerald to Beacon or a different academy yet, but it may be interesting to know she’ll have some peers connected to the infamous Team STRQ.”

“It looks like they probably will be,” Qrow narrows her eyes, “but they’ll be well protected, so don’t you try anything.”

“We take children in bad situations, Qrow,” Scarlet sighs. “I swear, you’re as paranoid as Ironwood.”

“I’ve seen enough to have my doubts,” Qrow points out.

“I’m sure you have,” Scarlet says, “but we’re content in letting the Rose family be. We’re not even going to Patch anytime soon.”

Qrow narrows his eyes, trying to recall if they ever mentioned living in Patch before…Summer might have mentioned it at the dinner party years ago, but even so, to have that information at the forefront of your mind like that…

His train of thought is interrupted when Scarlet apparates his scroll, which seems to have been ringing in her petals. She answers it.

“We found the source!” Cinder shouts through the scroll.

“Mom…?” Emerald’s eyes widen.

“Cinder, where are you?” Scarlet asks.

“Follow my signal!” Cinder shouts, and the sound of conflict gets louder. “There’s this grimm, unlike anything I’ve seen before! It’s dripping Grimm Liquid, it’s all… green!”

Scarlet’s cloak flutters, and Qrow can swear he can hear something like branches snapping as she snaps her head closer to the scroll.

“Did you say green?!” Team RWSE asks in unison across the forest.

===

“Scatter Burst!” Cinder shouts, and as the barrier breaks, Cinder unleashes all of the dust in her cloak into a massive destructive burst! At the same time, Neo plants her hand on the ground and focuses on her semblance, and with something this big, Momo places her own hand to channel her tattoo of Neo’s semblance to help.

As the explosion rings out, the Deathstalker is forced back, and the Creeps are all destroyed! This sets into motion a chain reaction of explosions that blows the Deathstalker into the air and onto its back, and the two sources of Neo’s semblance combine to shatter Team CNMN and get them safely away without taking too much damage.

“Nyx, hold it down!” Cinder orders.

“Um…right, right!” Nyx holds out her hands and summons the dark brambles that tie the Deathstalker down! Its spikes and claws begin to saw through the vines, and the mandible jaws aren’t helping!

“We need to hurry this up,” Cinder leaps up to a tree, turns Daybreak to bow form, and draws back the string, creating a Lightning Arrow. “Ready!”

Momo hops up to another tree, getting her fans ready with Frost Dust and aiming. “Aim!”

Neo leaps up to another tree, and the three girls form a triange aiming right at the Deathstalker’s underbelly. She holds out her gloves and mimes Fire, activating the burn dust in her gloves!

The three attacks all shoot out toward it, creating yet another explosion that pierces into the creature! It kicks dust into the air…yet as the dust clears, it’s claws come and immediately cleave through the trees Cinder and Momo are in, and Neo gets out to catch her sister, and Momo tucks and rolls!

“This thing is insane!” Momo frowns. She had used her third friend Saru’s semblance, Big Picture, while in the barrier to help Cinder formulate this plan with their “Scatter Burst” formation, but the idea that it didn’t even work terrifies her. Even the tail is still perfectly intact!

Cinder looks at the dust canisters she has left. She’s running low on canisters and aura…but as if on cue, she hears a shotgun behind her. Cinder smiles as she sees the golden blur of Ursis blasting onto the scene and socking the Deathstalker right in the face, forcing it back and launching it backward! Beauty swings in and locks arms with Ursis, swinging her forward to keep the Deathstalker on its toes and weakened by her continuous bursts! The Deathstalker swings its claws and stinger toward her, but Ursis leaps up, blocking the claws with her boots and grabbing the stinger with her claws! Beauty swings around and ties her ribbon, forcing the claws shut like you would to a lobster! Ursis yanks the stinger and activates the shotguns in her elbows (a recent addition) to fire backward and force it directly into the Deathstalker’s head!

Suddenly, the treeline bursts from two opposite sides! Snow soars forward with her rapier, and dust rapiers of every type of dust hover around her! Scarlet emerges from the other side, wielding her scythe in glaive form and spins around, using gunfire and semblance alike for propulsion! The Deathstalker tail is severed, and many dust blades stab through the monster’s legs to keep it pinned, and then Scarlet charges downward, stabbing Shattered Moon directly through the stinger and into the monster’s head, and at the same time, Ursis sends out grenades that detonate the dust blades, creating an explosion that completely wipes out the Deathstalker, reducing it to nothing.

“That method of scythe wielding…” Summer mutters.

They all stand silently in the middle of the clearing…and then Scarlet screams, releasing a burst of multicolored rose petals and swings her scythe once, and every tree on the edge of the clearing falls over as though it had been cut.

“How could we be so stupid?!” Scarlet snarls to herself.

“Easy, Scar,” Ursis puts her hand on Scarlet’s shoulder, who shudders and leans into a hug from her sister. “We couldn’t have known…”

“Wait, what’s happening here?” Qrow asks.

“We’ll explain soon,” Snow says. “We need to get back to Ozpin’s Office.”

===

In the office, Snow is cleaning the canister, searching it over. Everyone has returned by now.

“You’re sure?” Oak asks Scarlet while he heals the aura of the girls.

“Positive.” Scarlet nods.

“Damn…” Oak sighs. “So soon?”

“Any of you wanna clue us in on what’s going on here?” Qrow asks.

“We haven’t faced this threat outselves,” Beauty explains, “but we’re familiar with it.”

“This should explain everything.” Snow reveals that the underside of the canister, formerly marred by dried Grimm Liquid and dirt, shows an emblem: a hexagon within which is an “M”. A symbol recognizable to Team STRQ.

“Merlot…?” Summer’s eyes widen.

“That’s not possible,” Glynda says. “Merlot died when Mountain Glenn fell!”

“Evidently, not.” Ozpin frowns. “This is troubling indeed.”

“Who’s Merlot?” Momo asks.

“That…” Summer sighs. “Is a long, sad story.”

Chapter Text

WARNING: There is a single implication of suicide this chapter.

Many years ago, Team STRQ was graduating from Beacon. The graduation ceremony was grandiose and their families, friends, and peers cheered from the stands!

“Team STRQ,” Professor Ozpin announces, and the Team steps up to the stage, “You are among the mightiest graduates Beacon has ever seen. You are Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen,” Ozpin speaks, reflecting the induction ceremony where they first became a team after orientation. “It is with honor that I reward you all with your official certification as graduates of Beacon and Licensed Huntsmen.”

Back then, the license wasn’t linked to the scroll, and each member of Team STRQ graciously accepted the identification cards.

“Thank you, Professor Ozpin.” Summer smiles.

“This is only the beginning, Summer,” Ozpin says with a smile. “I cannot wait to see the heroes your team will become.”

“We won’t let you down.” Summer nods.

Team STRQ moves off of the stage, letting the next team be called.

“We did it. We finally did it!” Summer cheers. “We’ve got our licenses! We’re official!”

“Look out, Vale, Team STRQ is official and ready for anything!” Tai cheers, and Qrow laughs with them. Raven looks…pensive.

“Right…” Raven mutters. “Qrow, we need to talk…”

“Later, Ray,” Qrow says, and Raven gets a sour look at the dismissal and the nickname.

“Team PEPR,” Ozpin’s voice speaks again, and a hush falls over the crowd. A morose silence as the four images of the members of Team PEPR appear on the screen above.

The first image is the team leader, Prussia Bludon. Prussia was a talented student who led her team with honor and wielded a revolver. When her team dwindled, Prussia’s Father in Atlas sought to take her out and prevent her from being a Huntress forever. Rather than let herself wallow in misery regarding a fallen team and a lost career, Prussia took her own life.

The second image is Ebon Juniper. He fought with a whip, and was always a valuable teammate. He was impaled by a Deathstalker tail one Summer, and he couldn’t be saved.

The fourth image is Gretchen Rainart, a heartful young woman who used a pair of powerful metallic claws. Gretchen was devoured by a Nevermore during a training mission.

The only member of the team to survive their four years, the only member to step onto the stage, is the one who belongs to the third image: the rat faunus, a rare variety of faunus born with two animal traits instead of just one: Piper, no surname.

Piper lost her team leader two weeks ago. Now she’s alone, disheveled, and her clothes look worn and unwashed. The only thing pristine about her is the dog whistle hanging around her neck that she uses to amplify her semblance, and that she can use as a kind of blowgun.

“Piper, you didn’t have to do this. I could have given it to you privately…” Ozpin says softly.

“Just give me the damn thing.” Piper orders bitterly, her eyes puffy and out of tears.

“Piper,” Ozpin declares louder, “you have shown the true resolve of a Huntress. You have survived all adversity, and have faced more tragedy than many have the displeasure of facing. You have more than earned this,”

Ozpin is cut off when Piper snatches the license and marches off stage unceremoniously.

“Poor Piper…” Summer frowns. “I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

“She’ll be alright,” Tai puts his hand on Summer’s shoulder and smiles. “She’s always been pretty resourceful.”

“She’s also hated us for years.” Raven frowns.

“She doesn’t hate us, she just…” Summer sighs. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, let’s not let this dampen our spirits!” Qrow says. “We’re huntsmen now, people! Let’s celebrate.”

“Great idea, Qrow.” Summer smiles. “Come on! Dinner’s on me.”

===

Things were great for the year after that. Missions across the Kingdom masked the true objectives Ozpin would send them on. Team STRQ remained the most efficient Huntsman Team in Vale for a reason: portals to each other, throwing Qrow into the middle of the fray to turn his misfortune on their enemies, not to mention Summer’s resourceful semblance and Silver Eyes combined well with Tai’s speed. They were able to take on anything life threw at them!

And then, Mountain Glenn happened.

It was a great idea, at first! A way to expand Vale, to prove to the world that they didn’t have to be afraid of the Grimm forever. It was working. Summer even considered moving there one day. It was a nice place, filled with hope, it had the industrious nature of the city, the quaint joy of the villages beyond the kingdom, and it would keep her close to the real fight. It seemed like a nice place to settle down, maybe have a family someday…

Unfortunately, that would never come to fruition. Qrow and Raven had been arguing on and off ever since they graduated. Today, Qrow told her why while they were drinking in a Mountain Glenn bar.

“Raven wants to go home,” Qrow told her with a slur to his speech, “to the tribe.”

“...what?” Summer asks, horrified.

Qrow and Raven had confessed to them about the tribe after they won their first Vytal Festival. That they were here to learn how to kill huntsmen, not become them. They were supposed to go home after testing their skills in the tournament. They chose not to. Summer was so, so proud of the twins for turning their backs on that horrible past, on the history that wanted to mold them into killers and thieves. But now, Raven wants to go back?

“She wants you two to come with us,” Qrow says. “She wants to let Ozpin fight this war himself. She says it’s not our problem, that we could rule the wilds together.”

“And what do you think?” Summer asks.

“I think…” Qrow puts his glass down, “That my sister is crazy. She should know you two aren’t gonna wanna go to the tribe. You’re too sweet, and Tai…eh, he wouldn’t survive long without the amenities.” he chuckles and leans his head back with a sigh. “And I…I don’t want to go at all. My whole life, my people told me I was cursed. Then I was put on a team with you, I was seen by Ozpin. You two showed me that my semblance could be weaponized if I distance myself in a fight. You gave me hope for a new tomorrow.”

“I’ll talk to Raven,” Summer promises. “I can calm her down, get her to see reason. We’re too strong to let us divide us.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Qrow chuckles. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Suddenly, alarms sound throughout Mountain Glenn.

“Oh, look, your semblance evolved!” Summer teases. “Now it’s voice activated.”

Qrow slams his head onto the bar counter with a groan.

On display screens all over the city, the symbol for Merlot Industries appears. Merlot Industries is one of Mountain Glenn’s greatest investors, and the biggest company in it, run by Doctor Merlot, a man who has interacted with the Vale Council on occasion. Summer never trusted him.

The man has a white mane of hair, a large beard, and red eyes. He grins manically and speaks to the people.

“Be not alarmed, Mountain Glenn!” Merlot speaks through the image. “I am merely testing something out that is drawing in the Grimm. I am sure your Huntsmen are more than capable enough to protect you.”

“What the hell is he doing?” Qrow asks.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the Grimm, you see.” Merlot chuckles. “Mountain Glenn is the symbol of our diminishing fear of them, and I will take full advantage of that to advance my experiments and bend the Grimm to the will of humanity.”

Merlot moves aside, revealing a device that has a familiar faunus captured and bound, upright and with her arms and legs spread in an “X” formation. The faunus has had white machinery and technology, resembling a neck brace, embedded into her neck.

“Piper…?” Summer’s eyes widen. “What has he done?”

“This subject seems to be the answer to my conundrum. A semblance that affects the Grimm themselves…” Merlot presses a button, electrocuting Piper, and when she screams, a horrible whistle calls out. “The will behind her whistles matter, and it seems that somehow, her intent to need help is calling the Grimm closer, even if they’re not strictly under her control! I’ll only be doing this testing to attain more Grimm test subjects, so do be sure to protect the people, Huntsmen.” Merlot smiles heartlessly and turns off the broadcast, as though his horrible declaration isn’t going to incite mass panic.

“Call Tai and Raven! Get them here now, take on those Grimm and order evacuation!” Summer orders and charges out of the bar.

“What are you gonna do?!” Qrow asks as he stumbles out of the bar.

“Stop him.” Summer draws out Sundered Rose and fires downward, propelling herself into the sky, ready to tear apart any Grimm she finds on the way! Already, her eyes glisten with the need to protect.

===

Piper had a hard time staying conscious, but her aura kept her unfortunately well enough to scream whenever this monster electrocuted her.

“You’ll…pay…” Piper rasps, her voice sore from hours of screaming that are drawing the Grimm ever closer.

“You’ll make a wonderful way for me to obtain more Grimm for my research,” Merlot smiles, either not hearing her or not caring. “After all, it’s the only good you have left to anyone.” he mocks, seeing the weapons of Team PEPR on the table near him. “You’ve been carrying all of these? Such pathetic keepsakes.”

Piper growls as she sees the Grimm soaring and crowding outside. They’re on the top floor of a massive building. Merlot is monologing, but Piper isn’t listening. She’s breathing, and her aura flares as she locks eyes with a Nevermore that’s soaring past.

“Crash.” Piper sends the command through her semblance, and the Nevermore veers off course and comes slamming into the building!

“What?!” Merlot exclaims just as it crashes through, damaging itself and starting to knock the building over! The entire thing creaks, and the devastation and negativity will undoubtedly draw more Grimm, but Piper can’t find herself to care.

With the crash damaging her bindings, Piper frees herself just as the building falls, and she grabs her weapons and throws Ebon’s whip out a window to grab onto another Nevermore while she fires Prussia’s gun to propel herself, but Merlot grabs her!

“You’re not going anywhere!” Merlot snarls as he hangs onto her tail, weighting her down and making the Nevermore they’re hanging onto crash not too far away! They both tumble on the ground, their auras breaking and Merlot snarling as he sees his headquarters collapse.

“My research…” Merlot growls, then takes a deep breath. “The underground facility. It’ll have backups, it’s not all gone…”

Piper scremas out in rage, and as Merlot turns his head to her, Piper uses Gretchen’s Claw to tear into the side of his face and tear his eye apart! Merlot stumbles back, but at that moment, an Alpha Ursa approaches and roars! Merlot punches her, sending her back, and she growls. Piper sees the Grimm approaching, overwhelming the city as the negativity spreads, and she leaves Merlot behind.

There’s no way he’ll survive this…but I will. I’ll survive it all.

Piper scurries like a rat, letting the city draw the Grimm’s attention, using it as a distraction to escape beyond the walls. It’s time to bid Vale goodbye.

===

Summer walks through statues of Grimm that she’s made, looking at the ruins of Merlot’s tower. She checks the area and the streets around, looking for any sign of survival.

“Most of the city ran into the caves below,” Qrow reports over the earpiece. “They sealed it up behind them. We don’t have contact, we’ll have to use the subway.”

Summer places her hand on her earpiece. “Merlot’s building fell. I think he and Piper are both dead.”

“You sure?” Tai asks.

Summer looks down and sees the severed arm amid the destruction she’s found, which she would later learn has the DNA to prove what she suspected: that it’s Doctor Merlot’s.

“Pretty sure.” Summer nods. “I think the Grimm devoured them. All I’ve found is an arm.”

===

Merlot limped, without his left eye or right arm, into the deeper sanctums of his secretive and true headquarters.

“You all may think this is the end…” Merlot chuckles. “But I’ve only just begun.”

Merlot’s malicious laughter echo through the empty halls, with dozens of cells empty and ready to be filled with the Grimm he shall recover from Mountain Glenn for his next string of experiments, which would one day enact a plan years in the making.

Chapter Text

“So, Merlot lives…” Ozpin says in the present day. “And he has access to Grimm Liquid for his experiments.”

It’s not lost on Ozpin that Team ROWSE seems especially troubled by this information. This is where Ozpin’s semblance tends to come in handy…in most situations, that is. The being once known as Ozma has had a different semblance each life, it’s a major drawback to his method of reincarnation, which is why harnessing magic and semblance alike is vital for a particular incarnation’s survival. He calls Ozpin’s semblance “Curtain.” It does two things: first, it allows him to “keep his cool,” as it were. Unless something affects Oz more than Ozpin, he can remain calm and collected, making it difficult for Grimm to see him and even harder for an opponent to knock him off balance. However, the secondary ability is passive, much like Qrow’s semblance, and it’s why he doesn’t go into public unless he can properly suppress it. He can “peel back the curtain” of a person’s words and get a glimpse beyond them. Ozpin can, in a sense, read minds. It’s not perfect, as he can only read what bubbles on the surface of one’s mind- talented liars and determined people are good at hiding their true intentions, even from him. It also, unfortunately, doesn’t work over phone lines or video calls, and he silently laments that if he had ever gone to visit Leo rather than stay cooped up in his clock tower, the man might not have had to die.

Then, there’s Team ROWSE. The children are simple enough: Cinder and Neo’s minds are strange, but not unreadable. Cinder is cocky, though she keeps the biggest secrets close enough to the chest that Ozpin knows ROWSE knows even more than they’re letting on (which is concerning in and of itself). Neo’s the far more difficult one to read, she’s a peculiar young lady. Looking into Neo’s mind is almost like looking into a mirror: she struggled with multiple personalities at some point, he can tell, but something happened that… merged them. Neither Trivia Vanille nor her first alternate personality exists anymore, all that remains is the Daughter of ROWSE.

Snow, Beauty, and Ursis are simple enough to read. They’re all practiced and secretive, but the unsaid in their minds reveals a lot: the names they show are not their true names (no surprise there), and there’s more about each of them that interests him. Snow is hiding something about her semblance, Beauty has fallen into considering the Belladonnas her family far quicker than anyone should expect, and Ursis has immense anxiety whenever members of Team STRQ are nearby. She also seems to dislike him more than the others, and her protectiveness of Scarlet outweighs almost everything else. The other two are also protective, but the nature of it seems to suggest that the idea of Ursis and Scarlet being sisters is sound.

Scarlet herself, she’s an enigma. Pulling her curtain is like looking into a vast expanse of broken glass, as though she’s trying to put herself together and also scattering the pieces in the process on purpose. He can’t read her mind at all, and he’s not certain if it’s intentional or not. He doesn’t try to dwell on her for long, because there’s something about her that makes him concerned that staring too deep into her mind will cause it to stare back.

Oak Knight concerns Ozpin the most. If Neo is a mirror, Oak is an entire hall of reflective surfaces. The man has completely erased all signs of who he used to be in his mind, and it seems poised to do so again. For a moment, Ozpin was concerned that Oak was somehow able to make him look back into his own mind, but no…it’s simply a state of mind they seem to share. His opinions of his teammates are clear enough, however, particularly how concerned he is for Scarlet, his sister-in-arms.

“What do we do?” Summer asks, breaking the silent tension.

“The hunt for Merlot begins. I’d like you to focus on that, STRQ.” Ozpin orders. “As for the rest of you…Team ROWSE, I won’t pretend to have some command over you. You’ll do as you please.”

“What about us?” Cinder asks. “Team CNMN is technically under your command, Professor.”

“The school year is over,” Ozpin says. “Closing ceremonies will be done privately to assuage the panic, and you will all be welcome to return to your respective homes or stay on campus during the Summer for extra credit.”

“Home,” CNMN answers unanimously.

“Solid choice.” Qrow remarks, and Summer elbows him.

“We can give you a ride to your homes if you’d like, Momo and Nyx. Ketos is reliable.” Scarlet offers.

“No, thanks! I wanna get to Menagerie the old-fashioned way.” Momo smiles.

“Uhm, same. For my home. Old fashioned way.” Nyx says quickly.

“Are we done here, Ozpin?” Ursis asks.

“Yes,” Ozpin nods. “Have a good Summer, students.”

~=~

In the courtyard, Team CNMN is having one last meal together before they split up for the summer.

“Promise to keep in contact, right?” Momo asks.

“Of course.” Cinder nods, and Neo salutes.

“And, uh…you gonna tell us anything?” Momo asks with a frown, and Cinder hesitates.

“I…” Cinder sighs. “Will tell you the basics.”

Momo arches an eyebrow, and Cinder faces her two teammates not in the know.

“My family and Professor Ozpin each have a trusted circle in the shadows of the Kingdoms that are doing battle against a woman named Salem. She’s the leader of a Doomsday Cult that wants to use Grimm to end the world.” Cinder explains.

Momo and Nyx’s eyes widen.

“There’s a cult-like that…?” Nyx asks, horrified.

“It’s not public knowledge because the Headmasters don’t want mass panic. Even the Kingdom Councils don’t know about it.” Cinder explains. “Salem is vicious and vindictive, and uses subterfuge and manipulation to get what she wants. Her goal is to divide the Kingdoms and then conquer them all to wipe out all hope humanity has of surviving the Grimm. To combat this, Ozpin altered the Huntsmen Academies so the Headmasters and a select few more would be his inner circle in the fight against Salem, keeping his eye out for more to trust with the knowledge. Furthermore, my family has made allies in almost every Kingdom over the years, seeking to build their own ways to fight her.”

“And you think Merlot is part of this cult?” Momo asks.

“Hard to say,” Cinder admits. “According to Ozpin’s story, that psychopath still seems convinced that his research will help humanity. Hard to tell if something’s changed over the years, but my family says that Salem may even lie about her end goal to her own cultists for their obedience.”

“So, where does the Grimm Liquid come in?” Momo asks.

“My family believes they’ve located where the Grimm Liquid comes from. Where the Grimm come from…they believe Salem lives there.” Cinder explains.

“How could one woman possibly survive around the source of Grimm itself?” Nyx questions.

“I…” Cinder holds her tongue. “Don’t know.” she lies. She can’t tell them the truth, that Salem survived the pools and became Grimm herself! That’d be too much, for now.

“This explains a lot…” Momo crosses her arms. “It’s a lot to take in, but it really explains a lot.”

“It does?” Cinder asks.

“This whole time, it’s been like you’ve been training not just to be a Huntress, but for a particular fight. I thought you were just headstrong, or maybe paranoid. Turns out, you’ve got a cult to face against.” Momo frowns.

“We don’t have to speak of it ever again,” Cinder says. “Neo and I can continue at Beacon, train, and when we graduate you’ll never hear from us again.”

“Yeah, fat chance of that.” Momo smiles. “I just wanted you to be honest about this whole thing, Cinder. Now that I know what’s up, I’m all in. I’ll even get my three best friends in to help! Trust me, we can trust them to help when it gets serious.”

“I… will trust you.” Cinder smiles. “And what of you, Nyx?...Nyx?”

Looking around, Cinder, Neo, and Momo realize Nyx must have slipped away.

“Well, that’s disheartening.” Cinder frowns.

“You know Nyx. She’ll come around.” Momo says encouragingly. “And hey, next year, we should go out more! It’s the Vytal Festival, after all.”

“How about I just put you and Neo in charge of all our social obligations, and I’ll handle the rest?” Cinder smiles.

“Words for me!” Momo grins and Neo playfully salutes. “Have a good summer, girls.”

“Have a good summer, Momo.” Cinder bids farewell.

~=~

As Ketos soars away, Summer looks at it from Ozpin’s office and purses her lips. She wasn’t able to get Scarlet alone to talk to her, and what’s worse, a new threat has reared itself, ready to fight. Summer turns and heads to the elevator, ready to get home to her girls.

Chapter Text

In a dark Atlas laboratory, three figures lurk from shadow to shadow while hiding from the patrolling guards. Cinder, Neo, and Emerald wear all black, and have their weapons at the ready. Neo’s parasol and Emerald’s sickles are both darker shades than normal, allowing them to blend in. Emerald waits for the right moment to afflict one guard at a time with her semblance, and they all keep moving. Soon, they make their way to a locked door, and Emerald pulls out a keycard she pickpocketed from a guard they passed earlier. The door opens, revealing their goal: a green data chip sealed in a glass canister, protected by a keypad and several armed guards.

“Hey, who-?” the guards question as the girls enter.

In an instant, Cinder pulls out Daybreak and fires three arrows at once, a skill she’s finally mastered, freezing three of the guards in ice! Neo and Emerald rush forward to disarm and beat back the guards while Cinder draws another volley to freeze the rest of them, and Neo snaps her fingers to use her semblance and gag the guards who have their heads exposed.

Cinder stows Daybreak and walks up to the canister, which is affixed to the ground, so all they have to do is use the keypad. She pulls out an Ice Dust Crystal from her pocket…but hesitates when she realizes the keypad is holographic. She was going to use her semblance to create a mist and realize what numbers were most used, but that won’t word on a hardlight keypad! Cinder grits her teeth.

Okay, this is fine, we can improvise…

Cinder crushes the dust in her hand and uses her semblance to send it outward along the base of the canister. Getting it to an absolute freezing point like liquid nitrogen, she kicks the canister to snap it off of its base! It’s still sealed up tight, but she’s lifting it up.

“We’re taking the whole thing!” Cinder says. Emerald looks nervous, Neo gives an Are you kidding me? Look.

“Do you have a better idea?!” Cinder snaps at Neo, who ponders this and shrugs.

The three begin moving, much slower than before, and it’s not long until they’re discovered. They start fighting wildly to try and get out, leading to annihilated opposition and dwindling auras before a final door opens.

“Ace Ops…” the voice of James Ironwood comes from a silhouette in the doorway. “Capture the intruders.”

The entire room turns red, and then fades away. The hardlight holograms all fade, and Cinder sighs as they all find themselves in Ketos’s training deck. Snow is at the controls, fueling it with her magic and semblance. Oak stands to her left, and Scarlet hovers to her right.

“You can’t just resort to fighting your way out of things!” Oak critiques.

“She panicked,” Scarlet defends. “You’re talented, Cinder, we just need to work on your improvisation.”

“In a situation like that,” Snow speaks up, “you can have Emerald use her semblance to shroud your voice and face so you can interrogate one of the guards you captured.”

“Understood.” Cinder nods.

“Regardless, the rest was…impressive,” Oak admits. “You’ve gotten even better at fighting and your semblance. Your focus on it is already on the verge of evolution, should you continue to focus on the wider elemental ability of it rather than focus on fire.”

“Why would I focus solely on fire?” Cinder asks.

Scarlet, Oak, and Snow all look at each other.

“...no reason.” Oak dodges.

“Regardless,” Scarlet says, “these training scenarios won’t come in handy for what’s to come.”

Scarlet inputs a command on the console and begins to shift the scenery.

“Oak, heal their auras. Girls, your next lesson will be navigating the various environments of Amity Arena, and how to use it to your advantage.” Scarlet instructs.

“Got it,” Cinder nods as Oak heals their auras. The girls get their weapons ready as the first environment rises around them.

~=~

When Momo returned to Menagerie, she expected the wonderful reception from her parents, though it was taking longer than she expected to find her friends.

“Hey, Ma, Pa,” Momo says to her aging parents, “do you know where Kiji, Saru, and Inu are hanging around?”

“Oh…they never came home,” Ma says.

“What?” Momo blinks, confused.

“Their families all got word for different reasons,” Pa explains. “We weren’t sure how to tell you…”

“What happened? Are they okay?” Momo asks, concerned.

“Oh, they’re fine! Well, Kiji might be a bit unhappy…” Ma admits. “His team’s leader is forcing them to do team-building exercises all summer in Atlas. Apparently, they also want him to get used to flying in cold weather.”

“Oh, poor Kiji…” Momo grimaces. “What about Saru and Inu?”

“Well, Saru got onto a pretty good team in Haven!” Pa says. “The Headmistress has an extracurricular summer project where they can shadow a Haven Huntsman for the summer, and that’s what his team’s up to.”

“And Inu…well, he’s never had a family of his own, you know. Vacuo’s been good to him, so he’s sticking around.” Ma says.

“So I’m the only one that came back to Menagerie?” Momo’s shoulders slump. “We had a whole plan to catch up and everything…”

“Sometimes life can be tough on friendship,” Pa says sagely, “but you should still hold onto those friendships! And hey, you’ll all be seeing each other at the Vytal Festival, right?”

“Yeah.” Momo smiles. “Yeah, we will!”

“Now, tell us about your team!” Ma encourages. “I heard you’ve made quite a splash!”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Momo sits down. “It’s so much better than I could have ever dreamed. I already feel like a Huntress! So, let me tell you a bit about Team CNMN…”

~=~

In a dark, metallic room, a long table seats five individuals. At the head of it is a man with a metallic arm and a bionic eye glowing red.

“I believe Ozpin’s gotten my message,” Doctor Merlot grins, “the fool has no idea what’s coming. My source of the Grimm Genesis will bring me greater power than ever before! My experiments go well, and soon, my masterpieces will be complete.”

“The pieces are in play,” one of the other figures says with a grin. She’s an octopus faunus with several tentacles hidden beneath her dress. “One of your monsters injured a girl so much that she was led right to my clutches. The puppets I have in Vale grow by the day.”

“Vale is not our first goal,” a Cobra faunus hisses across the table. He wields a staff with a glowing red scarab at the head of it, glowing with unnatural power. “Vacuo will be first. The Vytal festival is a good place to test Merlot’s Masterpieces, and a fine source of aura.”

“Would you animals control yourselves?” a human woman scoffs, smoking from a cigarette holder. “Don’t forget those little cretins that put an end to the operation. I want that White Fang Girl and the team leader dead.”

“It’ll be easy,” the last figure scoffs. This human has white hair and a red shirt. “Just let me have those powers of theirs before they’re gone.”

“I don’t care what you do with those others, so long as you take her semblance, too.” the smoker sneers.

“Everyone, everyone!” Merlot grins. “We will all get what we want! Vacuo will fall and become the starting point for our kingdom. A land where the Grimm obey mortality, and we will start a war where the Lusas Naturae themselves will annihilate our foes better than any human army!”

The doors to the meeting hall open, and a sixth figure enters.

“Ah, wonderful.” Merlot sits back. “You’ve returned.”

Memories flash of a figure taking out a canister from her bag and placing it in the Emerald Forest after unsealing it, and then sprinting away, desperate to calm herself down before being thrown into an unexpected teamup…

“Tell me, my greatest creation, what have you learned during your time spying within that husk of yours?” Merlot asks.

Nyx looks up, and her red eyes flash noxious green for a moment.

“I’ve learned a lot…Father.” Nyx reports monotonously.

Chapter Text

“So…Merlot’s returned already,” Snow says. Emerald is off training, Cinder and Neo have left for their second year at Beacon, and Team ROWSE is meeting privately to discuss the situation now that they have the time and privacy to do so.

“He shouldn’t be back for another few years,” Ursis frowns. “What could have happened?”

“The only variable is us,” Oak sighs. “We must have done something.”

“The changes have never been this drastic, though!” Beauty protests. “The people, their plans, even Salem, they either change slightly, or…” She clenches her fist and sighs sharply. “Or not at all.”

“Salem isn’t involved with Merlot.” Scarlet’s voice draws the attention of her family. “Not even back then. He called himself “God of the Grimm,” and even went on to escape…but none of Salem’s experiments even resembled his. Not even now.”

“Well, he didn’t have Grimm Liquid before.” Beauty frowns. “Could Salem be giving it to him anonymously?”

“Or maybe Salem’s involved now,” Oak suggests. “She’s looking for more allies now that she can’t secure Cinder.”

“She’d be looking into other children for that,” Snow responds. “That’s why we’re monitoring just about every source of orphans in Remnant. From the orphanages to the villages beyond the Kingdoms. If a child so much as gets lost, we’ll know.”

“Well, he’s getting the Grimm Liquid from somewhere,” Beauty frowns.

“We don’t have enough info.” Ursis sighs. “Should we ask Jinn…?”

“Merlot isn’t a big enough threat for Jinn,” Scarlet decrees. “Not yet.” She looks up in thought. “I say we have faith that this matter will be handled.”

“By Ozpin?” Ursis questions.

“By Team CNMN,” Scarlet answers. “We did amazing things at Beacon, and those four girls will go on to become very powerful. We’ve taught them much, and now they can use those skills to take on this new threat.”

“You’re right,” Snow nods. “And this year is the Vytal Festival! Merlot wants to attack Vale, but he’s cocky and grandiose. He’ll only do it in a way that draws attention, and if he does it while everyone’s in Vacuo, he thinks he’ll be overshadowed.”

“He certainly would have been overshadowed if he tried it back when we met him,” Ursis chuckles. “Salem’s attack would have demolished his.”

“On that note,” Oak interjects, “I have a question I’d like addressed.”

“Yes?” Scarlet asks.

“We have allies in all four Kingdoms. They know the “Cult of Grimm” story, and it’s all they’ve known for years…don’t you think it’s time we lifted the veil?” Oak asks. “I know we’re nervous, but they’ve more than proven themselves, and some of them have even faced off against Salem’s agents. All forces are growing, and it’s time they know what we’re up against.”

“You’re right, Oak.” Scarlet nods. “We’ve… I’ve been putting it off for too long. Secrets shouldn’t be our way. Let’s organize something to reveal the truth to them.”

“And the girls?” Ursis asks, and Scarlet bristles.

“They know all they need to know…” Scarlet says. “They know everything about Salem and the Relics.”

“But not about us,” Snow says sadly. “Will we ever tell them?”

It’s not a question directed at anyone in particular…the meeting ends with no one answering it.

~=~

Cinder and Neo return to Beacon with smiles on their faces. They see faces, familiar and new, and their lurking through the halls draws the eye of meek first years. They’re not wearing anything particularly new, but the Nevermore Mask that clasps Cinder’s cloak has Burn Dust hidden inside of it as a final emergency reserve, and Neo similarly has pockets of dust hidden in the designs across her outfit. The two of them carry plenty of ammunition for their weapons, too! Over these past few months of training with family, their auras and fighting abilities have become even stronger.

“Girls!” the familiar voice of Momo calls from ahead of them. She similarly doesn’t look too different, but her outfit is now entirely sleeveless to display her semblance tattoos…and she has more! Beyond the three on each of her arms, she has two new ones on her shoulders, each a gift for her time in the White Fang.

“Momo, good to see you again-!” Cinder feels herself cut off when the woman hugs herself and Neo. Cinder stiffens up while Neo hugs her back, and Momo takes a step back from them.

“Good to see you girls!” Momo smiles.

“Have you seen Nyx around?” Cinder asks.

“Right here…” Nyx says meekly, coming out of a darker hallway.

“Nyx, good to see you again!” Momo smiles.

“Nyx,” Cinder says, “you haven’t responded to our scroll messages all Summer…I was beginning to think something happened to you.”

Cinder’s tone is critiquing, but contains a hint of concern.

“I’m sorry,” Nyx says. “I just got caught up in things. There’s not much scroll signal where I live.”

“I see…” Cinder frowns. “After how last year ended, I would have liked to keep in touch.”

“We’ll get better at it. We’ve got a goal! Stop the evil scientist, save the world.” Momo grins.

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Cinder smiles, “but I admire your confidence. Our primary goal for now will be to train and then test our strength in the Vytal Tournament. If we do that, we’ll be able to prove to our families, Ozpin, and ourselves that we’re ready.”

“Right…” Nyx mutters and follows them. “I suppose I’m just nervous.”

“I presume your control over your aura is still shaky?” Cinder asks.

“Yeah…” Nyx nods.

“Not to worry, Nyx.” Cinder smiles as they walk to the auditorium. “I think I’ve figured out a way to weaponize it.”

Nyx’s eyes widen. “W-what…?”

Before Nyx can question further, Cinder and the rest of the second years look down upon the first years on the level below while Ozpin makes his speech. Team SABT is in charge of showing the students around for orientation, and…huh…

Cinder’s eyes narrow.

“Aria has legs,” Cinder says simply, and the others look down.

“Oh, she recovered! Good for her.” Momo smiles.

“Oak said she wouldn’t be able to,” Cinder answers.

“I mean…I guess he was just wrong?” Momo shrugs.

Oak was a lot of things, many of which Cinder herself didn’t know. One thing he wasn’t, however, was one to jump to conclusions or deliver bad news until he was absolutely sure. If Aria Deep shouldn’t have legs, she shouldn’t have legs.

“Make a note, Neo.” Cinder orders, and Neo obeys.

“Cinder, the training?” Momo reminds her.

“Right,” Cinder nods. “I plan on creating a training regimen around our schedules and leaving enough openings for you to organize regular outings for us with Neo.”

“How regular?” Momo arches an eyebrow.

“I’m leaving Friday Nights and Saturdays up to your discretion. Sundays will be spent training our way.” Cinder proclaims.

“Well, it’s the best I’ll get.” Momo sighs and smiles.

“Well, if it isn’t Team CNMN!” the gruff voice of Professor Port comes up behind them.

“Professor Port,” Cinder bows her head respectfully, “good to see you again.”

“Naturally, child!” Port chuckles. “I actually had a favor to ask of you! We’re asking some of the finer students to help us with something, and I figured your team was the best to ask about it.”

“Oh?” Cinder arches an eyebrow, intrigued.

“As you know, the new students will be launched into the Emerald Forest in a manner of hours. We’re concerned about any leftover Grimm from last year getting in the wrong child’s way,” Port sighs. “We can’t interfere, for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being that the students want to be alone in the woods to prove themselves. But if students like you were out there…”

“We’d blend in with the rest of them,” Cinder nods. “I understand, Professor.”

“So, will you take the job?” Port asks.

Cinder looks at her team. Neo grins, Momo cracks her knuckles, and Nyx appears resolved.

“We’ll do it,” Cinder smiles. “This will be a fine warmup for the school year.”

Chapter Text

While the first years go through the Emerald Forest to obtain the idols needed to place teams, Team CNMN rushes through the treetops to hunt down Grimm. A group of Centinels are barraged by Burn Dust arrows, a pair of dust-bladed fans tear a few Sulfur Fish asunder, immense brambles grab Razorwings out of the air to slam them into the ground, and Neo’s team of dolls beat an Alpha Sabyr into the ground!

“So…” Momo smiles as Team CNMN walks through the forest. “What have you guys been up to over the Summer?”

“Training,” Cinder answers simply. “We’ve been shadowing our family, for the most part, and helping train Emerald.”

“How is the kid?” Momo asks.

“Adjusting well,” Cinder smiles. “She’s picked up her weapons easily, and she’s getting better at training her aura and using her semblance.”

“That’s great!” Momo smiles. “Has Neo been continuing her vigilante stuff?”

Neo nods with a smile, and one of her dolls transforms into Roman Torchwick.

“I like to insist that I’ll get the leg up on her one day, but without any new strategies, I’ll always be second fiddle to the great Neopolitan!” the doll says in Roman’s voice.

“What the…” Momo’s eyes widen. “Her dolls can talk now?”

“Yeah, that started happening recently.” Cinder rolls her eyes. “Neo insists her dolls could always talk, but we’re pretty sure it was all in her head until recently. She could do a few words sparingly, but it’s just been getting stronger.”

“Is there anything Neo’s semblance can’t do?” Momo asks.

“We’re not sure yet,” Cinder smiles. “My family calls it “the most rapidly-evolving semblance” they’d ever seen.”

Neo gives a proud bow and then flourishes, taking down a Beowolf that tried to get the jump on them.

“What have you been up to?” Cinder asks Momo.

“Oh, pretty much the same.” Momo shrugs. “None of my friends were in Menagerie, they all had their own stuff going on, so I kept to myself. Made some friends. There’s some worry around the White Fang right now, though…”

“Really?” Cinder arches an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, I’m sure everything’s fine,” Momo says. “That’s what your…Aunt? Miss Beauty says.”

“Aunt fits,” Cinder assures her, but furrows her brow. She hadn’t been told of any situation with the White Fang. Then again, Aunts Beauty and Ursis keep their own distance when it comes to White Fang stuff…

“I’ve been training in Menagerie’s desert, though.” Momo continues. “Menagerie’s Grimm and wildlife are more dangerous than most places, so I decided to take a page out of you girls’ books and test myself. I think my aura’s gotten better, and I’m getting better at switching between the powers!”

“Very good,” Cinder smiles. “It seems we’ve all gotten stronger. I’ve seen how skilled you’re getting with your vines, Nyx.”

“Uh…thank you!” Nyx smiles a little.

“What have you been up to over the Summer, Nyx?” Momo asks.

“Me?” Nyx’s smile falls. “Uh…”

~=~

“They think I’m what?!” Merlot exclaimed months ago, when Nyx first delivered news to him of what she’d learned.

“Part of a cult?” Nyx says softly. “I-I know you’re not. None of you are.”

“I’d always suspected something like this was going on,” the octopus faunus chortles. “Sometimes, Grimm travel across the sea in unnatural ways, like they’re being directed. Must be one hell of a semblance this leader of theirs has.”

“Who cares?!” Merlot exclaims. “Whoever this woman is, they think I’m working for her! That she’s providing for us!”

“Aw, is someone disappointed that they’re not as hot shit as they thought?” the white-haired human mocks with a smirk.

“We should be keeping a low profile, don’t complain that we can do so with Ozpin’s misconception.” the smoking human huffs.

“This is ridiculous!” Merlot snaps, not bothering to listen to his underlings. “It was that thing that drove me out of Mountain Glenn, not some Grimm Cult! I traveled the Valean expanse until I found a source of Grimm Liquid to revolutionize my experiments and move my research ahead by years! From this new fortress, we’ve created a collective ready to take Ozpin’s precious Kingdoms down…and we’re not the first ones to do it?! I oughta let loose all I have on Vale now to show them all!”

“Let’s not be hasty. I agree with the harlot,” the cobra faunus says, and the smoking woman scowls at him. “We should take advantage of the misunderstanding. Let them fight amongst each other, and pull the rug out from under them at the Vytal Festival.”

“Rrgh…” Merlot straightens himself out. “We have our plan. Marcus, Jasper,” Merlot looks at the white-haired human and the cobra faunus. “You two will go to Vacuo. Catch a legal channel when the time comes so no one will suspect anything.”

“Naturally,” Marcus Black smirks. “Any chance I could get a forward on my next payment?” He looks at the octopus faunus.

“Don’t worry, Mister Black,” the woman grins in the dark. “I’ll make sure you have plenty of semblances to choose from.”

“These wretched fools…” Merlot walks around the table. “By the end of this, they’ll all see there is only one God of the Grimm! Me!” he slams a metallic fist down at the end of the table where Nyx is, who flinches. “After all…” he looks at Nyx, who is reflected in his bionic eye. “I’ve made something they can’t even fathom.”

Nyx struggles to keep her aura up while here. She doesn’t want to feel these people’s emotions. She’s been spoiled by the calm outside of this place, she’s been hooked on Cinder’s righteous rage that somehow eclipses all the anger in this room whilst also being healthier. Not that it’s particularly healthy, but it’s healthi er than the five other people in this room. Nyx takes a deep breath.

“What do you need me to do?” Nyx asks.

“Fight in Vytal,” Merlot orders. “You’ll rendezvous with Marcus and Jasper in Vacuo. We’ll go from there.”

“Yes, sir.” Nyx hangs her head obediently.

~=~

“...nothing much,” Nyx says dismissively. “A lot of nothing, really. I’m just glad to be back on the team.”

“I am, too.” Cinder smiles. “Things had a shaky ending last year, and I’ll be glad to take things more seriously this time around.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Momo smiles, and suddenly, they all hear the ringing of a bell in the distance. “I think that means the last team got back!”

“Our job here is done,” Cinder smiles. “Let’s head back, team.”

~=~

Team CNMN watches the first-years get sworn in. Many of them look shaken, but some look to have some potential.

“This is going to be an interesting year,” Cinder smiles, then notices Neo taking a picture of Team SABT in the distance, also overlooking everything.

“Can I rely on you to look into this?” Cinder mutters to Neo, who nods. “Good.”

The sisters look on, and the group turns to get settled back into their dorm room before classes start tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Neo happily goes day-to-day, settling back into the rhythm of learning at Beacon. She starts her day by re-dying her hair if necessary and going to breakfast with her team, and then she attends classes throughout the day.

“History remains at the forefront of the movement of cultures,” Doctor Oobleck proclaims during class. “We must remember that things are constantly shifting and changing as time goes on. Why, even the term “Hunstsman” is quite young, almost 80 years old, despite being so ingrained in Remnant’s various cultures! Who here can tell me how this all started?”

“The end of the Great War,” Cinder declares with a smile.

“That’s right!” Oobleck smiles. “Can you tell me why, Miss Reaper?”

“When the war ended, the Last King of Vale wanted to ensure the people would be protected. It was an era of peace, but he knew well that peace was fragile, and simply commanding all of the Kingdoms wouldn’t work. He created the Huntsmen Academies so an entirely new breed of warriors could be formed, those who existed to defeat Grimm, protect humanity, and to top it off, they’d be trained with such righteousness that they’d keep the World Councils honest.” Cinder explains.

“Your latter point is a popular theory, rather than fact,” Oobleck points out, “but the rest is quite correct. It worked miraculously, as well! In the decades since that decision, the Huntsmen Academies have been some of the highest-standard institutions in the world, even as the cultures of the different Kingdoms shape how they’re treated. You’re likely all aware that Atlas combines it’s academy and it’s army, but you’re probably not aware that Atlas Academy has combined with it’s Primary Combat School! With both Primary Combat School and Huntsman Academy combined, this makes Atlas Academy an eight-year program to those who start their journey to being a Huntsman in Atlas. And that’s not the only unique way of running an academy in Remnant! Here in Vale, being a Huntsman is like a sporting event for the people, a passtime to work for and for people to watch. In Vacuo, it’s a great honor to make it into Shade, because it’s the greatest honor in the region, and the closest you can get to law enforcement. Even in Mistral, Haven Academy has gone through a dramatic shift recently! At one point, Huntsmen of Haven were flashy. Powerful, of course, but more suited to earn the money to make their way up the city’s social ladder. However, ever since the current Headmistress took command, Haven has become a semi-militaristic school where the students are pushed to their limits so that they can become the strongest they can be. Rather than work their way up the social ladder, graduates since then have been working to expand the finer parts of Mistral lower and lower the mountain, driving the various hidden gangs to the fringes of their civilization.” Oobleck dashes around the room as he speaks and takes a sip of his coffee. “Nonetheless! The thing all who attend the academies have in common is this: a want to become a Huntsman. Or Huntress. Or Hunter. To protect the people of Remnant, to defend your family and neighbors from the creatures of Grimm. No matter how many years go by, how much history is written, that is the one constant in this world: the Grimm, the ultimate enemy of civilization. Our Kingdoms are defensible, but they are not invincible. That is why you are all here: to learn, to fight, and to keep this world safe from the threat beyond all borders.”

Neo finds it joyously ironic that Oobleck doesn’t know just how true his words are. Throughout the day, Neo spends her freetime training her aura, and when classes let out for the day, she hitches a ride on an airship going to Beacon for her “hobby.”

In the dark of the night, while the broken moon shines down on downtown Vale, Neo and Roman clash in the streets. Silence and Melodic Cudgel clash against each other, and Neo expertly blocks the burning blasts that Roman sends from it before they clash against each other again in a violent dance that ends with Roman’s aura broken against the ground. Neo daintily stands on top of his torso, smiling down at him as she aims silence down at him threateningly.

“Got me again, shortstack!” Roman coughs. “Seriously, you’re getting real good at this…you really can’t just let me have a few victories?”

Neo hops off his chest and sticks her tongue out as him as he stands up.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m giving up this round,” Roman dusts himself off, and the two step outside the warehouse Neo had just thwarted his robbery of. “You ever get tired of thwarting Vale’s most eligible Kingpin?”

Neo taps her chin in thought before sending a cocky smile to Roman that practically says “Nope.”

“Right. Of course not.” Roman rolls his eyes. “Alright, let’s recap: you figured out my plan, foiled it, and beat the crap out of me, all just a few hours sunset, so I’m thinking…dinner?” He asks, and her smile this time is one of affirmation. “Right, but you’re buying this time! I can’t keep paying for these little hangouts of ours if you keep stopping me from getting lien.”

Neo rolls her eyes and waves her hand in a “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” way. As they walk, Neo shifts her transformation into that of a black-haired girl with green eyes.

It’s hard to tell when exactly Neo and Roman started hanging out after their escapades. It started with the both of them being especially tired and deciding to grab coffee. Then, Roman actually got one up on Neo one night, and decided to make her feel better by treating her to a night on the town with his freshly stolen loot. Ever since then, they just started… hanging out when they’re not beating the aura out of each other.

Neo also thinks it’s really funny to look like a different girl every time.

“I’m still stealing enough during your precious school hours to make a name for myself,” Roman boasts at their table, “but it is entirely your fault that now I’m getting a reputation as some kind of womanizer! If you don’t wanna be “Neo” when we do this, can’t you just pick one face?”

Neo blinks her eyes innocent with another “Nope!” and Roman sighs.

“Right. Course not. Even when you’re not beating me, you gotta get one up on me, right?” Roman groans, and Neo giggles soundlessly with a hand over her mouth.

“We’re on the Vytal Countdown, people!” a voice on the tv above the bar shouts out. “Just three weeks until the airships leave for Vacuo, and then just a few weeks later, the Vytal Tournament begins! It’s gonna be interesting, people, because Vacuo’s weather brings with it an entirely new host of challenges for the tournament participants!”

“Things are gonna be pretty boring when you’re gone…” Roman mutters, then flashes a grin at Neo. “I’m gonna have to choice but to tune in, huh? Just to make sure you don’t do anymore damage to my street cred by losing. Gonna be boring, though!”

Neo arches an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah, of course I’m gonna get a better hold of this city while you’re gone!” Roman laughs. “It’s gonna be easy, ya know? Gonna be easy. Too easy.” He frowns a little bit.

Neo puts a hand on his and smiles.

“What?” Roman frowns, and Neo tilts her head and gives him a look. “...no. No, I can’t just come with you!”

Neo looks at the screen talking about the airships and the many people heading to Vacuo already for hotel reservations set in advance so they skip the hassle.

“I don’t care that a lot of people do it! I’m not a lot of people!” Roman pulls his hand from her grasp and looks away. “I’ve spent time building this up, Neo! I can’t just abandon it for a few weeks to hang out with you.”

Neo sighs and stands up from her chair. She tosses some lien cards on the table- more than enough for the food. Roman’ll keep the rest for himself, she knows, that’s the whole point. Because gods dammit, she actually cares about him, and makes sure that even when she foils him, he has enough to get by. Neo stalks out of the bar without Roman speaking another word, and Roman looks down at the money and up after her with a troubled frown on his face…

~=~

Roman has been trying for a while now to figure out what Neo’s deal is. At first sight, she’s a candy-colored gal with the mute charisma to get and do whatever she wants. Look closer, and you’d realize all those pretty little studs and designs on her outfit and umbrella are made of Dust, showing that she’s ready for absolutely anything. Roman gets a pretty regular look at the real Neo, though, the badass bitch who is well on her way to becoming one of the best Huntresses in Vale.

But then things get weird. She doesn’t fight to the bitter end against him. She lets him go if he wins, lets him keep going without jail if he loses, she lets him treat her to things bought with stolen lien. Despite this screwed morality, she knows the bigger fish when she sees them. She takes out the Xiongs, demolishes the underworld’s killers and bigots, and leaves a crater in Vale’s scummy underbelly that daintily leaves Roman untouched. That sister of hers, Cinder, often calls Roman “Neo’s Toy.” Sometimes, he feels like that’s just it: he’s a punching bag, a semblanceless training dummy Neo can use to train because he rides a fine line amid his crime that she seems to like. Roman will fuck people over for his crime, for sure, but he prefers fucking over those who fuck with him. Not to mention, his crimes are victimless in the long run. Roman gets comfortable thinking this whole thing is purely contractual betwee him and Neo, an unspoken bargain…

But then she pulls shit like tonight! She takes his hand or kisses his cheek and makes it seem like she wants to get closer. She wants to see him when it’s daylight, see him when they haven’t spent the start of their meeting at each other’s throats. Cinder’s right, this whole thing is just a game for the two of them…then again, Roman doubts that Cinder is capable of lo-

Of nothing.

Cinder doesn’t have to be capable of anything, because there’s nothing going on between him and Neo.

Roman sighs. He really needs to take a day off one of these days. Maybe this weekend, he can actually relax a little bit.

~=~

And relax, he does! For the most part. He’s wearing more casual clothes and wears his hair in a wolf tail. Wandering out Vale on a regular ‘ol day, he plans to enjoy a quiet weekend…or at least, he was, until he hears a sound he wishes he wasn’t so acquainted with living in Vale: the screeching, piercing sound of Beacon students having a party in the city. Out in the park, while Roman was enjoying some nice coffee, he sees that team of annoying students- Team Fruitcake or something- hosting yet another of their parties.

“Today’s contest is simple!” Cirrus announces to the students. “Today is a dust competition! Whoever can use the dust they brought with them in the coolest way wins!”

These competitions are so stupid. It looks like the only prize is “bragging rights.” And, while Roman can appreciate some good bragging rights, they’re all forgotten by the time they start the next contest a few weeks down the line.

Another thing that’s ridiculous is that Neo and her team aren’t here…not that he wanted to see her today, or anything! It’s just that Neo and Cinder seem to be experts on Dust, with how they were able to use it in literally any form. Roman half-expects Neo to get a dust tattoo one of these days for even more versatility.

But the more Roman considers the missing girls, the more he realizes this could be an opportunity. This is their peers! Sure, Roman might not know enough to think about what their deal is, but the other students at Beacon are sure to know! He’ll just strut right up and start asking. This will be a simple, easy, absolute piece of- 

~=~

-shit fucking waste of time. These kids don’t know anything! Team CNMN is more elusive to these kids than they are to Roman! Everyone says something different, yet identically unhelpful. His personal favorites include:

• “We don’t really talk about them…”
• “Don’t mention them too much, they might show up!”
• “I’m pretty sure they’re a cult.”
• “I heard a flower goddess created Neo and Cinder to be two halves of the same psycho!”
• “Team CNMN is real? I thought they were a rumor to freak out us first years!”

Absolute, asinine nonsense. Roman’s got half a mind to think they’re like this on purpose. However, as Roman gruffly stalks along the edge of the party while the students all have their fun, he stops in his tracks when he sees one of them. She’s standing close to a few people where everyone may think she’s with one of the others nearby, but she’s isolated enough that it’s clear to an observant eye that she’s not with anyone. She’s taking pictures on her scroll, and to the layman, it may seem like typical party pictures…but as Roman stalks behind her, he sees that all her pictures seem to be keeping track of one girl. This fish faunus from one of the other teams, team Boat or something. SABT, that’s it.

The girl is watching with a curious gaze, oh-so quietly, with a smirk that is so very Neo. It’s a miracle no one’s caught her. He looms over her with a smirk.

“Having fun, shortstack?” he asks, and she gasps a little and looks up at him. “You know, it’s funny, I thought voyerism was above you.”

The girl looks blankly up at him, and for a split second Roman’s worried he mistook a normal girl for Neo…before she gives a very Neo smirk and blinks, revealing her real eyes, those beacons of chocolate and strawberry that make the idea of a mismatched set alluring.

“There she is.” Roman smiles.

Neo puts her hand on her hips and looks Roman over judgmentally.

“What am I wearing? What are you wearing? Is this really what passes for a uniform at Beacon? Plaid?” Roman critiques as he walks around Neo. The two of them walk a little further away from the party while Neo rolls her eyes. “So, come on Neo, gimme the scoop. What’re you doing spying on a random girl on a random team? She owe ya money or something?”

Neo rolls her eyes and pulls up a newspaper article about the end of last school year. “GRIMM LOOSE AT GRADUATION”

“Yeah, I heard about that…” Roman mutters, expressly not thinking about how worried he was about Neo when he read that particular headline. Roman looks closer and realizes that the paper mentions an “Aria Deep” losing both of her legs.

Neo continues to scroll through papers about a “Miraculous Recovery” mere months later, and Roman furrows his brow. Now, he’s no expert on aura, but he’s well aware that if some part of your body gets fucked, it’s gonna take more than a miracle to get it back up and running. Neo shows off on her scroll other things she’s found. She’s been tailing Aria, getting data, trying to find out more. She’s even found other articles of similar mysterious situations…and when Roman reads them, his eyes widen, and he snatches the scroll from Neo’s hands!

“Nope,” Roman says quickly, “you are not getting involved in that!”

Neo gawks at him and glares.

“Look, Neo, you’re a badass, I get it!” Roman remarks. “But there are some people out there…Kingpins and Crime Lords like me, way more dangerous than the guys you’ve faced here in Vale. Trust me, things like this are above your paygrade.”

Neo rolls her eyes in a “I sincerely doubt that” kinda way.

“Look, shortstack,” Roman says gently and gives her back her scroll, “if this is happening, it’s criminal stuff. I’ll defend my turf, but I’m not getting you involved.”

Neo glares at him as she takes her scroll.

“I’ll know when you’re near!” Roman warns her. “I’m not telling you anything, and if you try to tail me, it’ll never get resolved, then!”

Neo rolls her eyes and huffs.

“It’s something to do when you head to Vacuo…” Roman walks past her and away. “Trust me, Neo. You don’t want anything to do with this one.”

Roman walks away, and Neo stomps off in the opposite direction in anger. Roman ignores the way his chest hurts that they’re leaving on this, with no certainty whether they’d actually see each other again before Vytal.

It doesn’t matter. If Olga Inque is on his turf, he’ll need some backup to get her the fuck out. Time to get some gear and pay the Xiongs a visit…

Chapter Text

Engulfed in darkness, Team SABT tries to play defensive and run from the shapes in the dark! Jordy Stalk, Aria Deep, Bella Turquoise, and Tad Princeton all stand back-to-back-to-back-to-back against each other. In the darkness, brambles and vines trap them in a terrifying maze. Shadows lurk on the walls, and the shaking team holds their weapons tight.

Jordy’s has his sickle-pistols, but trying to cut through the brambles has been ineffective, and his semblance has been ineffective against them, and even less effective against their pursuers…because yes, practically an army is stalking after them, striking, and vanishing as quickly as they appear! Aria isn’t faring much better…her semblance, Siren, is usually great for a melody to keep the team calm or to send a sonic blast at their foes, but it’s been acting up ever since Team SABT met back up after summer. It’s like she’s been getting stage fright, she’s been quieter than normal, too…not that he has time to worry about that. Aria’s four-pronged trident is knocked out of her hands by one of their assailants, and Jordy shoots a barrage at them, and they shatter to pieces. Jordy’s guns click uselessly after this- he’s out of ammo.

That just leaves Bella and Tad! Bella usually has great mobility, but the brambles have been swinging at her to prevent her from using her wings. Her weapon is a long, needle-like sword that is easy for her to wield while flying without wind resistance. Tad’s weapon is a special pair of leg bracers that allow him to kick powerfully and leap far, complete with frog-like feet for powerful kicks. His semblance allows him to change between his normal size and a much smaller size to keep mobility going and stay out of reach of threats…unfortunately, as Bella tries to get a higher vantage point. Tad shrinks down to leap to the side, a barrage of burn dust arrows blasts Bella out of the sky, and Tad is punted away with an umbrella handle like a golf ball!

As Tad is knocked back to his team, his aura runs out, returning him to normal size and barreling them down to bring all their auras to dangerous levels, too! As their auras run red, they can see the four shadows in the dark looming over them. They never stood a chance…

“And that’s the match,” Professor Goodwytch says as the lights come back on in the training hall. “Team CNMN wins.”

Nyx’s brambles dissolve, and the team stands together while Neo dismisses the gang of dolls she used to beat down on Team SABT. She crosses her arms, and Cinder smiles.

“Professor Goodwytch, our auras haven’t suffered much of a beating. May we have another training match?” Cinder requests.

“A fine idea, Cinder.” Professor Goodwytch adjusts her glasses. “This would be a good chance for any of you!” she calls to the stands. “Team CNMN will likely be among your biggest obstacles in the Vytal Tournament, those of you who are entering…” The Professor sneers when she sees no one volunteering to face off against Team CNMN.

Cinder, however, relishes in it. Their power is unquestionable. Not only that, but when they get to Vacuo, they’ll have a massive advantage! The biggest issue is a sandstorm leaking into Amity Colosseum, but if it does, Cinder can weaponize the sand in the air against her opponents. Cinder plans to lead her team to the top! They’ll get past the qualifiers, work with Neo in the pairs section, and then take on the rest of her opponents alone to show the world that the power of her family is unquestionable, unstoppable, inevitable.

“We’ll take them on,” a voice says from the doorway into the classroom, and a team of four marches in.

“Mister Gray?” Glynda arches an eyebrow when she sees Cirrus Gray and the rest of Team CTAS approach. “This isn’t your class.”

“Maybe not,” Cirrus shrugs, “but our class ended early, and we wanted to help where we could. Maybe Team CNMN could take us on, and we could give them a few pointers as the winners of the last Vytal Tournament.”

“Hmm…” Glynda narrows her eyes. “I’m not sure-”

“We accept!” Momo shouts, and Glynda looks back to realize Team CNMN had been deliberating amongst themselves.

“We’ve been hoping to take on Team CTAS for a while now.” Cinder smirks.

Glynda narrows her eyes. The faculty is far from unaware that Team CNMN and Team CTAS have been building up an unfortunate rivalry between themselves. It’s prone to end poorly, but she can’t do anything to stop it without drawing more suspicion…she already suspects that Cirrus thinks they’re showing “favoritism” to Team CNMN, when really they’re just trying to keep the peace.

“Very well,” Glynda fixes her glasses and keeps an eye on the auras. The millisecond someone enters the red, she’s pulling them out. Team CNMN hits hard and fast, after all.

The two teams get into position, and Glynda narrows her eyes at the status of the teams while they glare at each other.

“Wait!” Glynda remarks. “Nyx, what’s wrong with your aura? It’s flickering.”

Nyx’s eyes widen. “I-I’m getting better at controlling it! I just need to get into it…”

“You’ve been doing better at keeping it up, yes,” Glynda nods, “But you shouldn’t strain yourself if committing to more than one fight will cause your aura to suffer.”

“But-”

“Stand down, Nyx,” Cinder orders. “You can meditate on your aura while you wait.”

“...yes, Cinder…” Nyx stalks out of the arena.

Glynda ponders something as Nyx stares at Cinder from the sidelines. Sometimes, it seems like Nyx’s aura flickers whenever there’s something especially strenuous around, or when Cinder gets particularly intense, like Cinder’s seething aura (not her aura, mind you) causes Nyx’s aura to fall apart while Nyx stares at her. Cinder’s semblance should have no effect on Nyx’s aura, though…

“You really think you can beat us four on three?” Tawny taunts Team CNMN.

“What’s the matter?” Cinder smiles cockily. “Giving up already?”

Team CTAS draws out their weapons.

“Let’s do this,” Cirrus grins, and his metallic wings extend while he twirls his spear around. Amber wields her staff, Tawny has her shield with dust cartridges fitted on it, and Sage has her mace.

The battle begins, and Neo starts it as normal: summoning a multitude of Dolls of herself, Cinder, and Momo to confuse their foes. Cirrus rises off the ground using his semblance and uses his spear, pointing it downward to blast beams of dust-made energy toward the group in a barrage! Team CNMN and the Dolls serpentine and block to advance of Team CTAS, but Glynda furrows her brow as the battle breaks out. Neo is usually so precise in her movements, but both the previous battle and this one, the dolls have been more focused on dishing out damage, like they just want to get this over with, that she’s leaving herself open to attacks she’d usually be too focused to allow…she’s distracted.

Glynda scrolls through Team CTAS’s profiles to remind herself of their own abilities, as well. Cirrus’s wind control is small controlled to Amber’s Weather Manipulation, especially considering her Maiden Powers, but Tawny and Sage have unique semblances in their own right. Sage’s power is simply her incredible strength, but she gets weaker the lower her aura is. It’s like a reverse of Young Miss Xiao Long’s semblance, if the stories Tai and Summer tell are any indication.

And then there’s Tawny…her hearing is good, but her semblance goes beyond that. While Amber and Sage beat down the dolls and fight the real Neo and Momo off, the real Cinder stands back and turns Daybreak into a bow. She draws back three Burn Arrows, and fires them directly at the triad of CTAS on the ground! Tawny steps in front and activates her semblance by holding her shield out, creating a glass-like barrier in front of her that draws in the arrows harmlessly, and then fires them back out as an explosive force of the burn dust the arrows are made from, destroying the dolls that remain and throwing Neo and Momo back!

“Alright! We’ve got this, now…” Cirrus grins, but all of a sudden, Momo snaps her fingers. One of Momo’s tattoos glows, a very pink one, and the trio fall into glass. “Wha-”

Using Neo’s semblance, Momo gets her team behind Team CTAS’s ground forces!

“Take them down!” Cinder separates her bow into swords and charges!

Momo raises her hand and uses the barrier semblance on another tattoo, contorting it to seal Cirrus in a floating barrier, and Cinder and Neo fight the ground forces back! Neo sends a force of wind out from the wind dust on her parasol, and Tawny raises her semblance again to try and force it back, locking the two in a stalemate!

Meanwhile, Cinder flourishes her swords using wind dust in one and burn dust in another, creating a Combustion Dust combination and speeding up her strikes to keep up with going against Sage and Amber! Sage’s mace glows with gravity dust inside of it, increasing it’s weight to slam down on Cinder, and Amber activates the burn dust on the end of her staff to try and send a similar force at Cinder, the two going to pincer her! Cinder grins and her eyes glow as she throws her swords in the air, and then grabs the heads of the staff and mace at the moment of impact, activating her semblance! She throws the gravity dust back at Sage and the burn dust back at Amber! Amber is thrown back, and her aura is getting lower…meanwhile, the pure concussive force of Sage’s gravity dust throws her out of the arena!

“Ring out!” Glynda proclaims. “Miss Hiro is out.”

Above, Cirrus growls and keeps beating on the barrier. Amber looks up and scans the arena. Cinder catches the swords as they fall back into her hands, and she slowly approaches Amber with a smile, dragging her blades against the ground.

“Did you really think you stood a chance?” Cinder taunts with an ominous smile, and her eyes flare just a little bit from her aura’s power.

Amber grabs her staff and points the opposite end forward, unleashing the power of the wind dust on the opposite tip! Cinder drives her swords into the ground to keep herself stable, but Amber’s true target finds purchase! Neo was content in the stalemate and seemed to be deep in thought, but the wind caught her completely off-guard! Neo was thrown back and throws against Momo, and the both of them knocked out of the arena!

“That’s a double…ring…out?” Glynda blinks as she sees Momo’s form disappear into shadow.

“Wait…where did she…?” Amber ponders, then Tawny cries out as a fist impacts her back, and she’s knocked down, her aura brought to the red by the sheer force of the strike, already running down due to using her semblance so much.

“T-that’s red for Miss Percivalle! She’s out.” Glynda blinks.

Momo activated another semblance, and then another after that. The barrier falls and Cirrus is freed, but he also stares down at Momo in surprise. Her black hair glows bright, like black fire.

“Everyone back home’s real proud of what I’ve been able to do,” Momo pulls out her fans again and flourishes them, and the two tattoos on her shoulers glow black and yellow, respectively. “So proud, in fact, that the big bosses of the White Fang decided to give me some help.”

She has Beauty and Ursis’s semblances?! Glynda thinks to herself with wide eyes.

Cinder stands tall and smiles next to her teammate. The two of them are suffering more in terms of aura than their opponents, but Glynda can’t deny the sheer power they have on their side. They actually have a chance like this.

Cirrus growls and divebombs them spear-first, and Amber twirls her staff around to draw forth more wind to move a little more swiftly, and it blocks Momo’s fans! Cinder dodges Cirrus as he advances, and then begins to strike against him while Momo starts beating Amber back with her sheer strength! Cirrus’s mobility and “flight” gives him quite the benefit, Cinder’s speed from her Combustion Dust keeps her on Cirrus’s level.

“Just hold still!” Cirrus growls.

As Amber and Momo fight, Momo’s aura is lowering, but they’re so close to the edge that it may not matter. If Momo can ring out Amber and help Cinder, the two of them will have this fight secured. However,as Amber twirls her staff and locks it again, the burn dust at the staff’s primary head glows…wait…the burn dust?

Momo’s eyes are also drawn to the crystal.

“Wait, didn’t Cinder…?” Momo questions, and Amber’s eyes widen in fear as she also notices the crystal.

Did she create a new one without realizing it?! Glynda worries.

Before anything more can be questioned, Amber pushes Momo back, taking advantage of the distraction, and strikes Momo in the chest before using the burn dust to blast her into the air! Then, she uses the wind dust and her semblance to throw Momo out of the arena, and she slams against the ground, her aura dropping from yellow to red to broken due to the impact alone.

“That’s aura out and ring-out for Miss Blossom,” Glynda says with a frown. She hopes no one else noticed what Amber did…

More wind comes for Cinder, and she is beaten back! Cirrus and Amber advance on her, wielding their weapons.

“End of the road, Cinder!” Cirrus grins. “You never stood a chance.”

Cinder growls, and the inside of her cloak begins to glow with the hidden dust sewn into it…and then the glow spreads further, and Glynda’s eyes widen as she realizes that Cinder’s entire cloak, inside and out, has been sewn in with Dust since the break! So many different types, if Cinder releases it all…it won’t just eradicate their auras, it may do even more damage to Cirrus and Amber, or worse.