Yang locked her targets in sight as she leaned over the edge of her tower, fingers ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. One hand was covered by Ember Cecilia; the other held only a simple pebble. This was it, the shot that would decide everything.

When the can of soda that she'd tossed hit the ground, she fired. The regular shot flew out exactly like a normal Dust round should, but she ignited the pebble with the fires of hell. Sickly yellow-green flames surrounded the stone as it flew forward, tearing the air into shreds in its wake.

The pebble hit the tree with the force of a freight train, partially uprooting it as the trunk snapped in half and rocketed away. Seconds later, green cracks appeared around the hole the pebble bored into it, growing quickly, and then exploding; just like everything else did when Yang used hellfire, all without making that symbol appear on her forehead.

Yang sighed, there went that excitement. She didn't really want to get caught by Hunters again, but camping in the woods got dull real fast.

All of the fighting and running for her life had awoken something new in her soul. Her fire burned even hotter, as did the weight of everything she did. Every step she took, every word she spoke, every fire she lit: they all felt stronger, heavier, like she was forcing the world to bend to her will just by existing. She should be doing something with that! Well, beyond remaking their camp.

Their base had been an old, abandoned cabin. That was boring so she took it apart and turned it into a short tower that menaced with spikes of blackened iron. It also glowed with an eerie green light from the Dust generator inside, but that was just for dramatic effect.

She could admit, it wasn't the most practical, or spacious, place to live, but they needed a base while they practiced. Also, she'd run out of cabin before she could finish it and there wasn't enough spare metal to make a fourth floor without ruining the aesthetic. Which, surprisingly enough, was very important to making the ambient energy feel like her own Aura.

It also felt right to have a dark tower. She was an evil demon and damn did that thing look like something that a super villain would build. Though, she still didn't really know why it worked. Tialeth's memories guided her hands for most of the work even if they were-

She stood atop the prow of her ship as the ocean of lesser Raksha fell before the might of her new Lightning Ballista. Bolt after bolt was fired by her artillerymen, shattering the waves every time they rose up to rock the ship. Breaths with Flames, the Twilight of her circle, needed the ship to remain steady as he forged raw lightning from the energies around them and froze it in stasis.

She spared a glance at the bolts collected so far. They had five of the fifteen full arcs that needed to be at least ten feet in length according to his design. Perhaps if the Wyld Prince appeared, rather than hiding like a coward, she would have something interesting to kill. But, as it stood, the battle was like watching children play wargames.

A lance of magma erupted from the back of the Prince's largest warbeast. It arched through the air, the first real threat in the battle.

She spread her anima wide, the golden Essence forming a wall that prevented a single drop from landing on the deck. With a single swing of her blade, she cut through the path that the attack came from and ignited every piece of the beast's being with Solar fire.

Tialeth sighed as a Raksha's bolt pierced through the throat of one of her men. They would be here for at least five more hours.

Yang blinked and a burning tree replaced the burning body. Even as strong as she was, even with her now proven ability to reshape the world in her own image, she couldn't hold a candle to the might of the monster in her head. If she had power like that, then she wouldn't just let people die. She'd kill the Grimm, all of them… and then…

Take them all as your own.

"Shut it." She didn't know what was gonna happen, but it wasn't going to be that and… She just spoke to the demon, again.

"Dammit me, focus." She rubbed her temples and tried to catch her train of thought. Even though the difference between today and the beginning of the semester was ridiculous, impossible; she still had a ton more to learn. She was an unstoppable monster and the worst part was, it felt so right. She was so far beyond her classmates, her dad, and even her Uncle Qrow; but, the memories showed that there was so much further that she could go. She'd never plateau.

That was what Uncle Qrow called it, the point where no matter what you did, you couldn't get any stronger. Veteran Hunters sometimes found a trick to go further, but he'd been there ever since she was little.

That was part of the reason why she'd shot the pebble again and again and again for just over an hour. She needed to know exactly where she was, how much power she had now. All of the academies had machines to measure someone's Aura, but it wasn't like they'd be able to use one of them, so she had to figure out her own tests, just like science class at Signal.

It took a long time for anyone's Aura to recharge if they weren't in a fight, something about how the soul felt the adrenaline coursing through the body and brought out more power; ever since she became Anathema, Yang's came back a lot faster than it had before.

Something was making that aspect of her Aura even stronger beyond the energy flowing around her tower. That helped too, it was almost impossible to not notice how good being here felt.

She could feel little scraps of power, that weren't flavored like her own, constantly whirling around, slowly sinking into her soul. None of them mattered all by itself, but combined, they made it so that she could fire seven pebbles before the mark appeared on her forehead, instead of six. It took forever, but she and Blake had nothing but time while they got closer to the South-Eastern coast.

"Blake…" Yang sighed and looked to the north. Blake had been gone for almost a week already and now Yang was so deep into her own head that she was almost hoping the demon would talk so she had something to distract her.

She waited for a moment; it didn't take the bait.

"Great, just great." Yang sighed and plopped down on a bench she'd acquired from an abandoned park. She brushed the bags of chips free and laid down, staring at the clouds. Without someone to nag her, their camp had become a mess.

She picked a strip of bark from her special food bag and bit down. It had a weird flavor, sort of like bubblegum. Nothing as good as the sweet berries from Western Vale that she'd kept around as long as she could, but it was still alright. She hadn't eaten real food in… Weeks? Months? Chips didn't count. Even after Blake figured out a way to get into cities, they needed to travel as light as possible, so Yang kept up with the weird stuff.

What would Ruby think if she saw this? What would she-

Yang snapped her head up and held herself as still as she could.

A new Aura had entered her domain along with another presence, both slowly approaching her. The first was weak, about as potent as a skilled Hunter, but there was something off about it. It felt more right than a normal person's and more wrong at the same time. The second was… a Grimm.

Yang held her pebble ready as they stepped around the bend in the road.

The Aura belonged to a very small woman. Black hair, brown eyes: Yang guessed Vacuan from her dark skin. She was either a pure martial artist or not a Huntress because she didn't have any weapons on her, except for the towering Alpha Beowolf that was meekly following at her side.

"Good afternoon, my Lady." The woman bowed her head slightly; so did the Beowolf. "Your territory is quite marvelous."

"What?" Yang stared at her. The pupils of the woman's eyes writhed with a shadowy energy. Then she glanced back at the tower. "Umm, thank you? But, I'm not a 'Lady' of any sort."

"My apologies. Is there another title that you hold?"

"I- No! What're you talking about?"

"You are one of the great ones. It is only proper to pay respect where it is owed." She smiled with one of those soft, 'don't worry I'm harmless' smiles that always signaled that knives were about to come out.

"I'm not that great."

"Ahh, but you are." The woman shook her head. "You and your companion hold the potential to reshape a world that has sorely mistreated you. You have been merciful in your dealing with humanity so far, though they do not deserve such favors."

Yang tensed. This woman was just asking for a pebbling. "What are you talking about? I'm a monster that could destroy anything I wanted to. They've done exactly what they should've."

"Should those who would harm you not be destroyed? They sit safe in their cities, afraid of any power that they cannot control. That is why they fear your kind, that is why you are hunted, because they know that you are better." She scratched the Beowolf's head. "Please, do not denigrate yourself so. If you were to leave that hatred behind, then you would truly be free to pursue that which you desire."

Yang searched the woman's dress for any sign of animal parts. She was practically quoting Blake's warnings about the Silver Cult, a group of the White Fang that worshiped the Anathema. But… "You're not White Fang, are you?"

"No, I am not, though I do consider their cause admirable and their actions worthy of praise. They have done more to further the works of the Dark Mistress than any other in recent memory." She continued scritching the Grimm. "Tell me, have you heard of the Walkers in Darkness?"

Yang shook her head, trying not to cringe at the sight of a Beowolf acting like a puppy.

"We are purveyors of the old ways, the methods and techniques that were granted upon Mistral by the Dark Mistress before the Great War. We provided the backbone of Mistral's protection in that day, using our magic to control man's greatest foe and turn them to our own advantage." With a wave of her hand, the Beowolf rolled over like it was waiting for belly scratches. "And do you know what our loyalty was rewarded with?"

Yang shook her head again, though she had a good idea what it might have been.

The woman leaned closer, hissing, "Betrayal. When the last king of Vale triumphed, he dissolved our order and declared our techniques heretical to the good of humanity, just like the Anathema. We sacrificed our lifeblood to protect them and were driven to the ends of Remnant as thanks."

"That… uhh… sucks." Yang wasn't sure what else she could tell the crazy lady who might spill the beans on something important if Yang let her keep talking. From everything she'd done so far, her order deserved everything that happened to them.

"We should have perished. Self-righteous men like that claim to be a Beacon of light for the world, a fitting name for his tyrannical palace. Yet they never realize that they are the ones who cast the largest shadows." She spat more venomously than anything else Yang had ever heard.

Blake and Yang's fights had nothing on that anger.

"We were saved by the mistress' disciples once more. They brought us from the brink of destruction and reforged our order into a blade that serves the true goddess of Remnant." She clasped a hand to her heart and bowed her head. "It is by her will that we were saved and we would love for you to join our family."

"Uh huh." Yang gulped, this was getting weirder by the minute. "And just who is this mistress of yours?"

"The Lady Garbed in a Shroud of Darkness. The Nightmare Queen of a Fallen Land. The Custodian of the Desolate." The woman let her head fall down as she smiled. "She who commands man's nightmares and allows us to control them in turn. She who has provided a refuge for those rejected from proper society. She who will bring vengeance upon those who have denied us our free lives."

"Does this goddess of yours have a name?"

"It is not for me to say. For a lowly member such as myself to speak it is blasphemy."

If she was trying to make this sound good, then she was failing so badly that it was almost funny. Though actually, if Yang didn't know that she was evil and that the Anathema completely deserved to be Hunted down, then the thought of joining up with someone like that would make sense. Under that assumption, cultist lady would have a point.

The woman waved her fingers to a beat and the Beowolf got up. Yang aimed at it, but lowered her arm when it started moving.

Yang rubbed her eyes, just to confirm that what she thought was happening was actually happening... It was.

The Beowolf was dancing a jig.

That was so wrong.

"Okay, so… You can control the Grimm…" Being able to do that would solve so many problems, but...

"One of the many blessings that she has bestowed upon us. That and a place of safety to live, beyond the reach of the Kingdoms. Those places would also welcome one such as yourself with open arms."

That screamed trap louder than anything else Yang'd heard of in a long time, but if they found out what this secret 'blessing' was, then they'd be that much closer to saving everyone. Mistral had controlled Grimm in her favorite war board game and whatever let them do it couldn't be too hard to learn for her and Blake.

'No!'

And the demon was against it, which automatically made her want to do it more, even if that would make the headaches worse.

"Alright… New home and all that… So, where exactly would this place be?"

The woman smiled. "Before you are shown the way, my master would speak with you."

"Uh huh…" If her master was also Anathema, then this could be dangerous. Yang's heart started beating faster with that thought. She and Blake never spared all out anymore because it would risk giving them away. "So where does she want to meet?"

"He." She corrected. "We will wait for you on a cliff overlooking Xūhuàn. The camp should be trivial for one such as yourself to find."

"Gotcha. See you soon." This would've been so much easier to figure out if she had Blake around. Or Weiss… Or Ruby...


Blake dropped her backpack to the ground when she caught sight of their 'base'. Yang was sitting at a campfire, which was burning with green flames, roasting some small animal.

"You're back!" Her partner shouted, jumping up from her seat.

"You did it again," Blake said in disbelief.

"Did what?"

"That!" She pointed at the tower of doom which had replaced the nice, comfortable cabin they'd found.

"Oh, yeah." Yang shrugged. "I got bored and it was either this or talk to the demon."

"You know, there are other options, right?"

"Like what?"

"Literally anything else!" Blake threw her hands in the air. "Build a bike, go swimming, punch out a Beowolf: anything besides making another easy to spot tower!"

"This one can't be seen above the trees." Yang paused. "I checked."

"And is it also going to explode?"

"Nope." Yang lied.

Blake crossed her arms.

Yang rubbed the back of her neck and told the truth. "Well… it shouldn't, but I'm really not sure… I'm pretty sure that if it does it'll be smaller."

Blake frowned and shook her head.

"The explosion was delicious?"

"You're not helping your case." Blake pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wait, how can an explosion be delicious?"

"My soul liked absorbing it."

"That doesn't… Whatever."

"Well… How about this then? I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Good."

"I figured it out."

Blake's ears perked up and some of her annoyance flowed away. "You did?"

"Yep." Yang posed with her fists on her hips, smiling brightly. "By building my second tower of villainy, I finally figured out how to make the energy in the air flow and how to absorb it. Then it became a great ball of fire that made my soul burn hotter."

"Please tell me you're not being literal."

"I might be." Yang stuck a finger in her mouth and made a popping sound when she pulled it out.

"This is going to be the berries all over again."

"Hey, those are also delicious."

"They're highly poisonous!"

"Blake." Yang's smile was gone. "What's wrong?"

Blake crossed her arms and turned away from Yang's monstrosity. "The White Fang were recruiting in the city. It's… why I took so long to get back."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Blake fell onto the bench with a loud thump. "We're pretty far from any of the Kingdoms, which is always where they did their best, but this was something else. Their members were half of the militia and the main Huntsman stopped being able to do anything all of a sudden, so now they're also the Hunters."

"That's… Well, it's good that someone's protecting it." Yang sat down beside her and threw an arm over her shoulders.

"They're digging themselves in, making the people dependent on them. If this goes on for too much longer, it'll be theirs."

"What'd you want to do about it? We could go in and take them out."

"No, that's… I... " Blake shook her head. "I spent some time writing up counter-propaganda and giving it to people. That should be enough for now."

"Is it really enough though?" Yang whispered. "I… I've always had sort of a drive to go out and do things, but it's never been as bad as it is right now. There has to be more that we could be doing than just running away from everything."

"Have you figured out how to disguise yourself?"

"I have a good idea about how to do it, but I'm been focusing more on making sure people can't find us." Yang shrugged.

"And building towers."

"And remaking our camp so that the energy around it is mine."

"And all of the exploded trees?"

"Figuring out if my Aura was coming back faster… It is… And not just because of this place."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Great." Blake sighed. "Anything else?"

"I did all of that with pebbles." Yang pointed over her shoulder at a pile of ash. "I'm pretty sure it'd punch through Auras too, but that's hard to test… Unless... Have you figured out how to be tougher yet?"

"It's hard. None of your explanations made any sense." It was Blake's turn to grimace. Her Aura felt more slippery than stable, which meant the 'just form a wall from it' method didn't work.

"It's the same thing with disguises, but going to see the cultists will probably let me see if my idea works."

"Cultists!" Blake sat straight up.

"Oh, right… The bad news. Some weird cultist sort of showed up at the camp with her Grimm in tow."

"Her Grimm?"

"Yeah, she had a Beowolf controlled somehow. Made it dance and everything."

"That sounds really creepy."

"It was!" Yang leaned over, resting her chin on Blake's shoulder. "But that wasn't the weirdest thing…"

Every sentence of explanation sounded worse and worse. Not only had Yang been discovered by some sort of crazy Grimm whisperer, she also said they'd think about talking again.

Blake held her eyes closed after Yang finished explaining, trying to allow Yang's fingers to make the stress go away. "So, you just said yes?"

"I didn't say anything like that. I just said that I'd be interested in talking to them about it, but needed to convince you." Yang crossed her arms and pouted like she'd just been denied her favorite food: a rare, toxic berry. "Besides, what else do we have to do, practice using our powers more? Once my disguise idea works, there's no point to sticking around."

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is this idea?"

Yang sheepishly grinned. "Going bright again and controlling what I look like when I come back down."

"That's a horrible idea. We spent so much time making sure no one knew where we were."

"I can always make them lose us again tomorrow."

"That's fair, but please don't try to explain it again. The first time gave me a headache trying to imagine it." Blake doubted she would ever really understand how Yang 'made everyone observing them see them travel along all possible paths to their destination', but she was fine with remaining ignorant.

"Actually…" Yang mimed stroking a beard. "If I take the idea and run with it, I might be able to find us a path to the Menagerie that doesn't involve crossing the ocean."

That… Blake could already feel her head throbbing.

"Please don't. We have a good plan: figure out a way to disguise you, then get on a boat. No need to include… whatever that idea is." Blake waved her hand in the air for emphasis. "I also don't think it should include walking into the obvious trap."

"Sure, it's probably a trap, but it also might not be. And I'm… not exactly the type of person who'd be able to figure that out."

"Yang…" Blake grabbed her hand and squeezed. "That's not tr-"

"No, it is. I know what I'm good at and what you're much better at. I'd trust your gut about whether or not we can trust someone over my own any day. You can figure that stuff out with your powers while I can I.D. Anathema or make them listen to us."

That was accurate, but still not how Blake wanted her to phrase it.

"Besides, if it is a trap, then I get to try and disguise myself while we fight off a horde of Hunters."

Blake chuckled. "I don't think Hunters can be a horde."

"They totally can! We just need, ten or more of 'em."

Blake considered them being that surrounded. "That might be a challenging fight."

"Yeah, and if it isn't a trap, then we might figure out how to control the Grimm!"

"Which would only make everyone want to kill us even more."

"If we can make the Grimm kill each other first, it'd be worth it."

"I doubt it would be that easy. If it was, someone else would've by now."

"You're forgetting something." Yang raised a hand to the sky and covered the sun with her palm. "We're probably two of the most powerful Anathema in the history of Remnant. Only Jonathan Argint might've been better and I think I can catch him."

"You might be able to."

Yang squeezed Blake's shoulder. "You'll figure it out eventually."

"I don't want to figure it out. I don't want to think about more death or destruction or hatred."

"You think I wanted to sit in the middle of that Grimm nest until I figured out out to make it more like hell instead? That place felt more wrong than…"

"The thought of Ruby and Cardin dating?"

"Ahh!" Yang shrieked. "Why would you make me imagine that?"

Blake chuckled and smiled at her. "Because of the look on your face."

Yang laughed through her teeth. "Real funny… So… Where did this disguise come from?"

"Uhh." Blake gulped. She was still disguised as the pretty monkey-girl with purple hair from town. "Just someone I met in town."

"Oh? And how exactly did you manage to steal her face, mhmmm?" Yang leaned in, pressing her very hot cheek against Blake's equally warm one.

"Nothing."

"Oh, was it a night club? Did you call her into a corner with you devilish charms and then plant a kiss on her?"

"N-No. She was just…"

"Was just?"

"I was spying on the White Fang at a bar and she thought I was cute."

"Aww." Yang hugged her. "You are cute, no matter which look you're using."

Blake looked away, but leaned into Yang. "Anyway, about this cult."

"They seem so obviously evil that they can't be real."

"That puts another check in the trap column."

"They offered not only a safe place to live and a goddess who accepts us for who we are, but also the ability to control the Grimm."

"Too good to be true…" Blake thought about it for a moment. "Then again, it might also let us kill two birds with one stone."

"Huh?"

"This mystery cult and the White Fang will probably know of each other, if they aren't directly working together."

"Uhh…"

"When you're in a position like that, you take whatever non-enemies you can get. If nothing else, the number of defensible locations outside of towns is so limited that they're probably aware of where the other group's camps are."

"I thought you didn't want to walk into the obvious trap." Yang nudged her in the side.

"I wanted to make sure it was worth springing."

"And?"

"With both of us interrogating? I think we can handle a bunch of problems at once."

Yang laughed. "It's sort of a funny, isn't it. We just need monsters to punch out the other monsters."

"I don't think you'd need to punch any of them that hard."

"I don't know, we need to get them into line. That takes an awfully hard punch." Yang started laughing maniacally.

"Really? That was terrible." Blake rolled her eyes.

"Come on. I haven't had the chance to have fun for… weeks!"

"Hehe. Okay, fine." Blake elbowed Yang and joined in. She needed a good laugh after the past week.