Chapter Four: Suspicions Part Two:

October 31st1462 of the Vytali Calendar:

Greta was feeling good about her day. Though it was a Tuesday, and therefore a prelude to Wednesday, it was also a national holiday and by far her favourite, Sanctonoct. Derived from a Solitasian festival that the Vytali had adopted and then brought down to Sanus millennia ago, Sanctonoct was supposed to be a night where the people of the world gave offerings to the spirits that walked the earth on the night when the afterlife and Remnant intersected around the Autumn Equinox. Now it had mostly become an excuse to dress up, eat sweets and other nice food and throw parties but Greta certainly didn't regret the decline of the history's religious connotations.

She had spent most of the day lounging around in her room, waiting for the school to finish setting up the party that was going to be held in the main hall in the evening. When the school had been reopened, the event hadn't started out being that large – or so she had heard – but increased student participation, both in organizing and setting up the party and actually attending it, had led to more and more attention being given to the festivities.

Greta wasn't exactly comfortable at parties but she liked Sacrosanct and she knew enough people in the school now to know she would always have someone to talk to while she was there. The rest of Team GRAP had also been rather excited to attend, even Rapture who had been rather quiet for the past week.

Thinking of Rapture made Greta frown and lie back on her bed. Her faunus teammate had been rather quiet and distracted lately. The first few days had been worrying for Greta when she realised how uninvolved Rapture had become with the team, often leaving to go off campus and into the grounds during her free time. It wasn't until the weekend that Greta had realised that Rapture's behaviour had begun after the conversation about the red-girl who had been with the police during the mall attack.

"I shouldn't sit on this again," Greta thought, sighing. She lay back on her bed and rubbed at her face. She didn't feel enthusiastic about the prospect of interfering and possibly annoying Rapture but she also couldn't risk letting things get worse again. She had been putting the issue off though and she knew from experience that doing so only made it worse.

Groaning, Greta got up off of her bed and stood up straight, smoothing out her dress. She looked herself over in the mirror and fiddled with her hair a little. She felt a little more comfortable until she looked at her slightly nervous reflection and realised she was procrastinating again. Sighing in frustration, she slouched a little and then turned to the door. It was then, just as she reached for the doorknob, that the door suddenly opened.

Greta jumped back as Peter walked into the room, a relaxed smile on his face. He paused as he saw Greta standing in his way but simply waited, still looking content.

'Can I help?' Peter asked, his smile turning into a slightly sardonic smirk.

'Oh, uh, right, sorry,' Greta said as she moved out of the way. "You'd think he would teleport around me," she thought idly for a moment.

Peter walked into his room and up to his bed. He then knelt down, reached under it and pulled out a wooden case. It was made of dark wood that had been carved with a few patterns and symbols and held together with stainless steel bands. There was a latch on it but no visible lock and the box opened easily when Peter pressed down on a button attached to it.

'What's that?' Greta asked, her mission to find Rapture forgotten.

'This?' Peter asked as he turned to look at her. 'It's a present from my grandfather. He tucked it into my possessions when I was packing for Beacon. He said it was a present for getting into a Huntsman Academy and for leaving home.' Peter pulled up the lid of the box to reveal twelve wide bottles made of brown glass and capped with steel lids. 'Atlesian scotch,' Peter said cheerily, pulling one of the bottles out and showing it to her. The bottle had a label on the middle that showed a bear's head.

'Your grandfather gave you booze?' Greta said in a flat, disbelieving tone.

'Yes,' Peter replied flatly, pocketing the bottle in his coat. 'I've not actually tried any of it yet and my parents only ever let me sample champagne and wine but my grandfather insisted in the note he sent with the box that I should acquire a taste for it.'

'Your family let you drink?' Greta immediately followed up. She still had trouble registering some of the things Peter was telling her.

'They started giving me watered down wine when I was thirteen,' Peter replied offhandedly. 'It was supposedly necessary for social functions and they kept reducing the water content as I got older.'

'Uh, wow,' Greta mumbled. 'I, just…wow.' She paused for a moment as she tried to get her thoughts in order. 'So, uh, what are you doing with that? You're not taking that to the party are you? Cause I think the professors aren't going to like that.'

'Wha...no,' Peter said in response in a dismayed tone. 'It's Heiligenacht. I'm going to make an offering.'

'Hileganacht?' Greta asked, confused at what Peter had just said.

'Heiligenacht,' Peter corrected her. 'It's what we call Sanctonoct in Atlas. Back at home, it's common to give an offering to the gods before the parties begin. I didn't really have anything worth giving other than this though,' He then gave her a joking smile. 'Here's hoping that the gods like scotch.'

'Oh,' Greta replied. 'So will you be at the party tonight?'

'Of course,' Peter said. 'I haven't put that much effort into a costume this year but I'm definitely going to attend. Don't worry about the scotch by the way, I'm leaving the whole thing at the shrine.'

With that he shut the lid of the case and pushed it back under his bed. He then stood, patting the pocket he had put the bottle in as if he was making sure it was staying in there and then walked out of the door.

'I'll see you later at the party then,' he said as he stepped out of the room and turned down the corridor.

'Yeah, I'll see you later,' Greta replied, giving him a small wave as he left.

Sighing again, Greta realised she had been delaying again. Straightening, she walked out of the door and shut it behind her. She wasn't exactly sure where Rapture would be but there were a few places that she could guess her teammate was likely hanging around. Greta decided to start with the training grounds and then walked to the stairs that led down to the ground floor. Though she wasn't entirely sure how to start the inquiry off with Rapture, Greta had made her decision to at least make an effort to talk things over.


Rapture, snarled in exertion as she swung her fists hard at a large holographic Ursa. The simultaneous push against the Grimm's chest, reinforced by her Aura and made lethally dangerous by the extended claws of Long Claw, caved in the simulacrum's torso, causing the beast to finally collapse and shimmer out of existence. A buzzer went off, informing her that the simulation was complete.

Sighing, she slumped her shoulders and looked down at her hands. She then denied the simulator's offer to run a new round and stepped out of the ring. She had been on the training grounds for several hours, making the most of her day off to put some things straight in her mind.

Ever since Greta had told her about the girl that she had apparently noticed at the mall weeks ago and that said girl was actually attending school, Rapture had been unable to get it out of her mind. Unfortunately, at the same time, she hadn't really been able to do anything about the girl actually being at the school. She couldn't just go up and ask a girl who had the authority to see sensitive police materials without documentation to tell her why she was there. With no feasible options available to her Rapture had stewed in her own speculations, disappointment and disgruntlement at the way things were going.

Leaving the ring, she looked around. Unsurprisingly, with the Vytal Festival so close, many students were making the most of the training facilities that Beacon offered them. Everything was busy as students from every year tried to make the most of whatever was available to them on their day off. Rapture had been forced to wait for one of the rings to open up when she first arrived and had probably made an enemy of a, presumably upper year, girl she had cut off when she went up and grabbed the first ring she had seen vacant before the girl could.

Flicking her wrists, she folded Long Claw back into the thick steel bands she wore like bracelets now that she no longer needed the weapon. She was done with her actual combat training and planned to get a more normal workout in before she returned to the dorm. She actually felt a lot better after having a real distraction from her unhelpfully circuitous thoughts. Schoolwork, reading and movies weren't doing a good enough job but pushing herself physically was doing a much better job in helping keep her mind busy.

As she idly looked around the training rings, she noticed a fight going in one of them that caught her interest. Other students who didn't have a ring available to them yet were already crowded around it as they watched an entire team engaged in a four-way fight. The fighting was fierce as the narrow stage they could move in restricted their movements and forced them to engage one another directly. All four combatants seemed familiar but it was only when Rapture got closer that she properly recognised the people in front of her. It was Team TEAL.

The entire team was battling one another with a speed and efficiency that was surprising. Rapture watched as Adelheid worked to manipulate several different glyphs that she used to bounce her body across the ring, hitting Lach and Elizabeth as she went. This was followed by her two opponents teaming up to aim energy waves from their respective semblances at the Schnee girl until one finally hit her and sent her flying into the ring's wall. Getting back up, Adelheid cast several more glyphs – which encircled the interior of the ring – and then fired a Dust shot from her wand. An ice Dust cartridge shot out, detonated against one of the glyphs and then spread and bounced around all of the other glyphs before converging on the ring's centre.

Lach and Elizabeth were both frozen in place. Their legs frozen to the ground and their arms incapacitated by the massive chunks of ice covering portions of their bodies. Both of them grimaced in anger and annoyance before they both glowed and released their semblances in a wave of power, shattering the ice.

Rapture was distracted from the battle when she saw a shape impact the shield. A second later Tom appeared in the spot, his semblance fading away. He then picked himself up, a determined look on his face, and threw himself back into the fight. His sword was already crackling with lightning Dust which he shot out at Elizabeth with a swing of his arm. His partner, occupied with dealing with Lach, took the bolt of electricity in her back and jolted forward, crying out in surprise and pain.

Grimacing in discomfort and anger, Elizabeth steadied herself and lashed out with a kick that hit Tom and sent him falling to the ground. Thankfully, Tom had crossed his arms to block the blow and quickly stood back up again. Adelheid ran back in, her sword extended out to strike whilst her Dust wand was held back to fire when she needed it. The Schnee girl clashed first with Lach, leaping at his guarded position and then jumped off of him, using the momentum to land a blow on Elizabeth. Her blow was blocked, which left Adelheid almost hanging in the air for a moment, a moment she used to thrust her wand forward and hit Elizabeth with another ice Dust round.

Elizabeth braced against the Dust but found her arms bound as the ice formed over them. Adelheid leapt back and landed on the edge of the ring only to stumble and then collapse, falling to the ground as if she had been struck. She took several more blows from an invisible opponent before Tom reappeared again, running away from her to avoid a retaliatory strike. The boy looked desperate and worried but was still looking around for opportunities.

Lach, meanwhile, ran at Elizabeth as she struggled to free her arms. He folded his cutlass into its pistol form and fired shots as he charged, keeping his weapon steady. Elizabeth planted her feet and grimaced, trying to block the shots with her ice encrusted arms, hoping to shatter it with Lach's attacks. She then dodged Lach's blade as he folded it back into place and swung it down at her. Stepping aside, Elizabeth then slammed her arms into Lach, using the ice that was incapacitating her as a club and successfully breaking it apart as she hit the boy with all of her strength.

As Adelheid righted herself and prepared to pick out a new target, her sword and wand held at the ready and Tom whipping his head back and forth, keeping an eye out for targets or attacks, Lach and Elizabeth squared off against one another, Lach's blade and arm already glowed with the barely restrained energy his semblance had generated, Elizabeth standing across from him, was leering with violent glee as the air around her shimmered from her own semblance's power. Her massive chain-axe was back in her hands and held ready to strike in turn.

Rapture did notice that Tom had suddenly begun to panic as a look of concern flashed onto his face. He tried to call out but the general noise of the training ground drowned him out. Lach and Elizabeth both jumped at one another, their weapons lashing out and colliding. Both fighters released their semblances at the same time and a large explosion shook the ring, the floor around it and a large portion of the colosseum that the training grounds were contained in.

Rapture fell to the ground as the floor shuddered beneath her and covered her eyes as the flash of released energy and light hurt her eyes. The force of the explosion had thankfully been contained by the shields that surrounded the ring but the energy field was visibly flickering and about to break down. Team TEAL were all still in the ring but they were splayed on the floor, every one of them stunned by what had happened.

'Attention,' a robotic voice said over the colosseum tannoy system. 'Due to sustained damage to the protective barrier, Combat Simulator Ring 17 has been designated "out of order." Please vacate the ring immediately. We apologise to those who wished to operate the facility and will inform the appropriate authorities so that the facility may be brought back into working order as soon as possible. Thank you and have a nice day.'

Loud groaning followed the announcement as most of the observers began to complain about no longer being able to take their turn. Rapture watched as Team TEAL picked themselves up off of the floor, Tom looking very sheepish as he realised so many people were glaring at him and his team. Adelheid didn't hesitate to begin chewing Lach and Elizabeth out as they all got off of the ring.

Rapture decided she had had enough of the training grounds now that the fight was over. Despite her urge to distract herself she could no longer muster the energy to continue working out. She turned away to head towards the door when she heard Tom's voice all out.

'Rapture,' he shouted cheerily. Rapture turned around to see the diminutive team leader jogging towards her, weaving around the students in his way. 'I almost didn't see you there.'

'Well I'm not normally easy to miss,' Rapture replied with a half-hearted smile. 'I saw you've been improving there.'

'Thanks,' Tom said with an embarrassed smile. 'I guess that all the work is finally starting to pay off.'

'Yeah well don't drop it just yet,' Rapture said, still sounding unenthused. 'You can only get better from there.'

'Are you alright?' Tom suddenly asked, concern taking over his face.

'I'm fine, Tom,' Rapture replied. The moment she had finished speaking, though, Tom's look of concern turned into an irritated one.

'Really Rapture?' he said. 'You know, you've been in this slump for a while now. Everyone's noticed it.' He then paused, looking upset as his expression switched back to the concerned one he had worn before. 'Come on Rapture. Please, tell me what's eating at you.'

Rapture was surprised at the sudden display of assertiveness from the small boy in front of her. She knew he wasn't exactly a pushover but he had always been considerate and somewhat hesitant to actually order people around and the sudden way he had snapped at her threw her off balance.

'Sorry,' Rapture apologised. 'I've just been thinking about something for a while.'

'More like a week,' Tom quipped. 'What's been on your mind for so long?'

'It's not really anything important,' Rapture replied. 'Just a thing.'

Tom frowned and gave her a sceptical look. 'Do you want to go and get something before the party tonight?' he asked, suddenly looking and sounding nervous and embarrassed.

'Get something?' Rapture asked, confused and slightly embarrassed as well.

'You know like a drink,' Tom replied. 'I think it'll help take your mind off of that "thing."'

'Um, uh, sure,' Rapture stuttered and then sighed. 'Um, where would you like to go?'

'Well the cafeteria, to be honest,' Tom admitted sheepishly. 'I'm going to the party later so I can't really go off campus.'

'Oh,' Rapture replied. 'Alright then. Are we going now then?'

'Well I'm done here,' Tom said. 'Are you?'

'Yeah,' Rapture said in response. 'I'm done.'

'Right. Well let's go then,' Tom stammered for a moment, realising that she was in fact going to join him.

The two of them set out for the exit together, weaving through the crowd of students who were still arriving to use the facilities. The atmosphere still felt rather awkward but Rapture didn't realise that, for a while at least, she hadn't thought about the girl, the team she knew or the attack at the mall. She wasn't smiling or relaxed but the frown that had been present on her face for the past week was gone as well as she and the leader of Team TEAL walked out of the colosseum and in the direction of the cafeteria.


Like most of the school's other facilities, the Beacon cafeteria was almost full to capacity as students tried to find something to do. Without classes, all three attending years and even some of the fourth years were now interacting with one another all at once and with most of them planning to go to the party on campus as well, they weren't going down into the city either. This had the somewhat unfortunate effect of seeing the usual places students spent their time overflowing with people as everyone tried to use them like they normally would.

'So' Tom began as he and Rapture sat down at one of the tables. The rest of it was occupied but they had been lucky enough to find two spots across from one another from which they could talk. Both of them had coffee set in front of them, a drink that they had waited in line a long time to purchase.

'So?' Rapture asked in return, a deadpan expression on her face.

'So what's been on your mind all this time?' Tom asked. He had seemed rather awkward for most of the time they were in the cafeteria but had found his balance again now that he had begun talking.

Rapture opened her mouth to make some excuse and then paused. She sat there for a moment before shutting her mouth again and sitting back in her seat. She picked up her coffee and took another sip from it to try to delay talking but found she still couldn't find the words she was looking for.

'It's hard to explain,' she finally sighed.

'Take your time,' Tom replied. 'It's alright.'

Rapture sighed, slouched forward and put cupped her chin in her left hand which she rested on the table by her elbow. Frowning, she looked away from Tom and out into the cafeteria, her eyes following the table into the distance.

'Well it's about that team that fought the professor in combat class last week,' Rapture finally said after another short pause. 'You know Greta said there was a girl with them who she had seen at the mall?'

'Yeah,' Tom said, his expression seeming questioning.

'Well,' Rapture continued. 'I don't know why but I couldn't get that out of my mind. It's what Greta said about what that girl was doing there and the things with the police. I just can't stop, um, dwelling on it, I guess.'

'Well,' Tom tried to begin before pausing. 'I can't say I really understand what you're doing.' Tom admitted, looking slightly sheepish again. 'I mean, I understand what you're saying but… well.' His words died off as he visibly struggled of what to say.

'It's alright,' Rapture eventually said. 'I don't really need you to understand. It doesn't matter. I just haven't been able to think without it coming back up in my mind.'

'I guess you're very focused when you want to be,' Tom then said with an awkward smile and a small chuckle.

'More like single minded,' Rapture grunted back. 'I've seen Greta spacing out before and Aurora can get really stuck into things she's interested in but I've not usually had something stick in my head like that.'

'Is that why you were in the grounds today?' Tom asked, appearing concerned again.

'You saw that?' Rapture replied, looking a little embarrassed.

'You were there a while,' Tom returned. 'Also, like you said, you aren't easy to miss. You were tearing up the grounds when I came in with the others. It was a little frightening really.'

'Frightening,' Rapture said with a frown.

'Oh no, not like that,' Tom stuttered, putting his arms out in defence. 'It's just you were going at the equipment so hard. I hadn't seen you like that in a while. Not since the… well, the mall.'

'Really?' Rapture asked. She suddenly felt very worried and depressed as she realised she was likely acting the way she had when she was having issues with her team. She must have made an expression that gave her thoughts away as well because she noticed Tom trying to reach out to her.

'Are you alright?' he asked, likely knowing the answer.

'Was I really like that?' Rapture asked, her voice suddenly sounding quiet and weak.

'Well... I don't want to say you looked that, angry,' Tom replied hesitantly. 'You just looked like you were trying to distract yourself.'

Rapture sighed and slumped forward, pushing her drink aside and lowering her head into her crossed arms which lay on the table. She groaned in frustration as she tried to put her tumultuous thoughts and feelings back into order. She hadn't felt this confused in a long time. Even the time when she was angry with her team after the mall attack hadn't been this bad or directionless. At the very least, back then, she had been able to target her rage and frustration at Greta and the rest of the team.

'I'd ask if you were alright, you know,' Tom suddenly said, causing Rapture to look up from her arms at him. 'I know that's not probably going to get me anywhere, though. I'm just going to say you should probably drink your coffee before it gets cold. A drink might help, though I should have recommended tea or something. That's usually more relaxing.'

Rapture sighed and picked herself back up, ignoring the looks from the people nearby who had just watched her little display and were still commenting on it. Getting their attention like that annoyed her but she, once again, didn't feel invested enough to make anything of it. She picked up her coffee and took a sip and then bigger gulp.

'You sure this helps?' Rapture asked, still feeling unsure of what to do.

'Well I said tea normally does the job better,' Tom replied with a small smile. 'This was always my uncle's thing anyway. He would sit me down in his big lounge with a pot of tea and make me drink it with him if I was upset, or angry, or just looked like I had nothing better to do.' Tom looked away as he spoke, the smile on his face getting a little larger with every word.

'And that happened a lot?' Rapture said, surprised at the faraway expression Tom had just made. He didn't often look like this, at least when she was around.

'All the time,' Tom chuckled as he responded to her. 'I think I spent most of my time at home drinking tea with him.'

"Home?" Rapture thought, hanging on that word. 'So he raised you?'

'Oh, yeah,' Tom replied. 'My parents died when I was a baby and he decided to adopt me.'

'I… I'm sorry to hear that,' Rapture said. 'I didn't mean to bring it up.'

'Don't be sorry. I'm the one who brought it up.' Tom took another drink. 'I don't really remember and if I do start wondering what they were like I always have letters and pictures. Underhills are a very tightly knit lot and always make sure that the family have plenty to remember them by.' Rapture noticed that the boy's smile was looking a little bit more forced now as he continued. 'I will admit that it gets to me sometimes, but at least I know there's something I can look at to tell me who they were.'

'Oh, I, guess I see,' Rapture said. 'It's nice to know that you're good with that.'

'How about you?' Tom then asked. 'Uh, as long as I'm not intruding.'

'No, no,' Rapture responded. 'I've not really got much to talk about. I have a mum, a dad, they're both still together and worked to get me into this school. They try to write to me every now and then but the mail tend to lose or forget stuff that comes out of the ghettoes.'

'Well they must have worked hard then,' Tom said. 'I mean I don't really know that much about the capital but considering how expensive it is to get in here it must have been difficult.'

'Took me forever to notice,' Rapture continued. 'I mean I appreciated it but it wasn't until I was done with Signal that I really figured it out.'

Tom nodded in understanding. He sat back and leisurely took another sip from his drink. There was a long pause as Rapture realised she didn't know what to say next. Frowning in confusion, she picked up her coffee and began drinking it again.

'So,' Tom suddenly said. 'Have you talked to your team about this?'

'Huh,' Rapture grunted, shaken from her thoughts. It had been over a minute since either of them had spoken and she had managed to get lost in her thoughts for a few seconds. 'Um, none of them,' she admitted.

'So I'm the first,' he replied, sounding tired. He put his drink down, looking like he had finished with it.

'Well, yes,' Rapture said. She then paused for a moment. 'You think I should talk to them about this don't you?'

'Yes,' Tom responded in a flat tone. 'Yes, I do. If what you're going through has been going on for as long as it has, then its best you actually talk to them. You do have to live with them for the next four odd years after all.'

'You'd think they would have tried to ask me if its so important,' Rapture grumbled slightly.

'Well, it's difficult asking people stuff like this isn't it,' Tom then said. 'I mean would you really go up to Greta, or Peter, or Aurora if they were spending time by themselves like you were?'

'Well… I, um,' Rapture hesitantly stuttered. 'Probably not,' she finally admitted.

'Then the only person who can really work this out is you,' Tom continued. 'I know that sounds really cliché but it's true.'

'You're serious aren't you?' Rapture asked, trying to avoid the issue as long as she could.

'Yes,' Tom answered bluntly. His tone looked surprisingly stoic as he looked Rapture in the eye. 'You shouldn't sit on this. It's only going to hurt people.'

'Fine,' Rapture finally sighed out, slumping forward in her seat. 'I'll talk to her about this when I can. I don't really know what she could do about it though.'

'I just think telling her about this will help you,' Tom said. 'Trust me, everything we're doing her is what my uncle usually did. It helped me. It should be able to help you.'

'Alright,' Rapture finally acquiesced. 'I'll give it a go.' She then smirked as she remembered what happened the last time she tried to hide from her team. 'I guess doing this will keep them from fighting me to get us all to talk.'

'Yeah,' Tom replied, a chuckle escaping his lips. 'Just go up to them and tell them what's wrong. You'll feel better for it. I'm sure.'

'Thanks, Tom,' Rapture said. She then looked up at the clock that hung on the wall opposite her. 'Oh, looks like I'll have to get back to the dorm. I did decide to go to the party tonight and I need to get ready.'

'It's not a problem,' Tom waved off her concerns as he stood up. 'I'm going as well. I'll probably see you there as well.'

'See you tonight then,' Rapture said, a small smile on her face. She felt a little better, her thoughts slightly more stable and concrete.

The two of them walked out, their coffee cups empty and quickly binned as they walked out of the cafeteria. Rapture continued to chat with Tom as they walked up to their dorms, the both of them talking about the party, their plans for the Vytal Festival – which Tom, as a team leader, talked about the most – and whether or not they would visit the city to attend the celebrations tomorrow.

Rapture felt a lot better by the time she reached her dorm room. Giving a nod of farewell to Tom as they walked through their respective doors, Rapture entered the room to find empty.

"Great," Rapture thought as she looked around to she was, in fact, alone. "I guess I'll have to find her at the party."


The Beacon Sanctonoct Party was a surprisingly large and well attended event when it got underway. By the time the evening had come around, several hundred students had arrived, the music had started and the buffet table had been opened up to the attendees.

Greta sat at one of the tables that had been set up along the wall. She had been at the party for about an hour already, having gone ahead of the rest of her team. After spending much of the afternoon trying and failing to find Rapture, she had returned to the dorms to find Aurora getting ready. Her dark-skinned teammate had then told her Peter was also back from his visit to the school's shrines and was preparing in the bathroom as well. Questions about whether or not they had seen Rapture during the day unfortunately proved to be fruitless and Greta had finally given up and decided to go to party. With any luck she might run into Rapture there though it was unlikely, after all, Rapture never seemed the type to go to these events.

Greta leaned back in her chair and took a sip from a cup of punch she had picked up from the buffet table. Her chosen costume for the party had been a witch outfit that primarily consisted of a long black dress with a wide-brimmed pointed hat, both of which she had picked up from discount bins at rather cheap clothing stores. She wore her regular t-shirt and trousers underneath the long dress and had grabbed one of the cleaning brooms from the dorm's utility closet before she came. She was sure the janitors wouldn't miss it for a few hours. Of course it wasn't a proper broomstick but that hadn't really mattered to her, it was available and, above all, free.

She was wondering if the effort was worth it now though as she hadn't really found much to do at the party, her teammates had all said they would be arriving later than her because of their own costumes and her witch getup was starting to get very uncomfortable now that the hall was full of people. Greta tugged at the hem of the dress to try to let some air in and was annoyed at the trickles of sweat that fell down the front of her neck and onto her hand when she did so.

'Are you alright?' someone asked, jolting Greta out of her thoughts. Greta turned around to see a boy walking towards her. The figure's height and voice immediately gave it away as Tom but Greta was impressed by the costume had put together.

Tom was wearing a green-ish jumpsuit that had thicker portions of cloth sewn onto the forearms, thighs, chest and crotch of the suit and then dyed the same colour. Tom's face was also painted green and he had long fake ears on his head that stuck out in a floppy fashion. His hands were covered by padded gloves that had several plastic claws attached to the end. The entire ensemble looked home-made, with a fair amount of attention and detail.

'Oh hi Tom,' Greta said in greeting. 'I'm fine, just kinda hot. What's your costume?'

'Like it?' Tom asked. 'I'm a gremlin.'

'Cool,' Greta remarked. 'Uh, it looks home-made. Did you make it yourself?'

Tom blushed and bashfully looked away. 'Yeah,' he eventually said. 'I've been working on it for a while now. Is yours a witch?'

'Really,' the voice of Aurora called out. Greta turned around to see her teammate had finally arrived as well. She was dressed in a dark outfit that drew the eye. Greta noticed Aurora had an amused expression that grew more pronounced as she looked the team leader up and down. 'Oh, not that kind I see.'

'Wait, what?' Greta asked, confused about Aurora was saying.

'I'm a Witch,' Aurora replied. She paused as she saw no comprehension from the others. 'You know? The humanoid Grimm.'

'Oh,' Greta said. She paused as what Aurora had said finally sank in. 'Oh, wow. That's a, uh… an interesting choice.'

Looking closer Greta saw Aurora was wearing a long, black, one-piece dress that covered the entirety of her body and was wrapped in an even longer, black cloak that dragged behind her for nearly a foot. Her hair had also been put up in pair of rings that were held in place by her headdress. To complete the eerie presentation, her face was also painted completely white with red lines drawn on the edge that ran up behind her ears.

'Thank, you,' Aurora replied, a smile appearing on her ghostly white face. 'It took a while to get the make-up right so I'm sorry I took so long.'

'Oh, wow,' a new voice said. 'This is certainly interesting.'

Greta turned to see Adelheid walking towards them. The Schnee heiress was dressed in an ornate dress with lace covering the white bustle that jutted out behind her at her waist and opened up at the front, the parting splitting at the knee to reveal white high-heeled shoes with silver lining around the rims at the ankles. The blouse and corset she wore over her torso and chest were a silvery white with icy blue lining and had a similar blue shawl over the top. She still wore her tiara but her hair was raised up in a higher ponytail that was supported by ribbed scrunchie. She was also walking with even more refined poise that seemed to make her glide through the crowd. It appeared Adelheid was trying her hardest not to appear like she was struggling with the heat of her outfit in the stuffy hall.

'I never thought I would see someone dress as a Grimm,' Adelheid said with a single eyebrow raised. 'Aren't you worried that people might find that inappropriate.'

'Well no-one's complained yet,' Aurora replied, raising her head a little higher. 'And who are you supposed to be?' she then asked, her tone still friendly.

'I am the queen of Atlas,' Adelheid said with a curtsey, a smile on her face and an imperious tone to her voice. 'I worked hard to have a copy of the outfit she wore at her coronation made for me.'

'So we have a gremlin, two different witches and a queen?' Tom asked. 'You know, I thought I was trying too hard when I put this together.'

'Well mine's not really that impressive,' Greta admitted. 'So,' she then began, changing the subject, 'do you know when the other's will be coming?'

'Rapture told me she'd be coming,' Tom piped up. 'I was actually going to ask if you'd seen her.'

'I tried to find her,' Greta said, 'but I didn't have any luck.'

'Yeah,' Aurora added. 'I do know Peter's coming but he still wasn't finished with his costume when I left.'

It was then that another figure stepped out of the crowd, several looks being drawn to it. It was a girl of average height wearing a red dress that ran down to the middle of her thighs. The dress was bright crimson but accentuated by golden lines along the collar and down its long sleeves. A slit ran up the dress from the hem to its waist, revealing a black under-dress underneath it. The slit was topped by a feathered clasp that held it together at the figure's waist. High-heeled shoes that had been varnished to a glassy sheen gracefully stepped over the floor and the figure, quite clearly a woman, wore her red hair down and covering one of her eyes.

'I… is that Elizabeth?' Tom asked, recognising his partner as she sent their group a superior smirk.

'What is she doing?' Adelheid then snapped, completely shocked as she stared at her teammate. 'That outfit… that's. it's...'

'I don't get it,' Greta said as Elizabeth walked over to them. 'Who is she supposed to be?'

'I'm Cinder Fall,' Elizabeth said as she finally stepped up to their table, 'and I have to say, I'm surprised how well this all came together.'

'That is completely inappropriate,' Adelheid seethed, glaring angrily at Elizabeth. 'What were you thinking?'

'This is Sanctonoct, right?' Elizabeth countered, frowning defensively. 'It's the night where we're connected with the afterlife and monsters. What's more monstrous than this? Besides, Aurora's dressed as Cinder's mistress.'

'Wow,' Aurora muttered. 'She picked my outfit up rather quickly.'

'True,' Adelheid conceded, still glaring at Elizabeth in anger. 'But, Cinder Fall? Don't you Valesians hate her more than anyone else?'

'Of course we hate her,' Elizabeth shot back. 'I hate her but don't see why deciding to dress up as her for a fancy dress party should be such a big deal.'

'I… I don't believe it,' Adelheid finally mumbled, slumping her shoulders and head in theatrical defeat. 'You know what? Fine, but don't blame me if anything bad happens because of this.'

'As if anything's going to happen because of a costume,' Elizabeth drawled sardonically, rolling her eyes.

'Hello everyone,' Peter's voice drifted over the group. 'Did I miss anythi… oh wow.' Peter's voice trailed off as he finally got a look at everyone's outfits and finally laid his eyes on Aurora and Elizabeth. 'Those are certainly…,' his voice trailed off and his expression looked uncertain as he tried to find the right word, 'interesting choices.'

Greta finally took a look at what Peter was wearing and was surprised to see him dressed in a dark suit with a stark, white shirt, a red cravat tucked into it and a long, high collared cloak over the top. His face, like Aurora's had been painted completely white and it looked like there were two slightly bulged points underneath his upper lip. Greta spent a couple of seconds trying to figure out what her partner was supposed to be until she finally realised.

'You're a vampire?' Greta asked tenuously, surprised at Peter's choice of costume.

'I know its rather simplistic but I'm not particularly good at these kinds of events,' Peter said, looking a little bashful. 'I personally prefer more formal affairs. The outfits I'm expected to wear are a bit more consistent there.'

'Well it seems everyone's nearly here,' Tom pointed out with a smile. 'I wonder when Lach and Rapture will arrive.'

'Oh I'm here now,' Lach's voice quickly added. Everyone turned to see him approach with a slightly flamboyant swagger.

At first Greta thought Lach had come in his usual clothes. He seemed to be wearing a pair of dark trousers with knee high boots, a striped t-shirt and a dusty overcoat over it all. The clothes he was wearing, with the exception of his coat and boots, seemed to be much cleaner and less sturdy. They were likely newly bought by him though the slight signs of wear gave away the fact that they had probably come from a discount or second-hand bin. Lach was wearing an eyepatch over his left eye and had a black tricorn hat on his head. At sword was strapped at his hip but everyone who looked at it – having spent their entire lives around weapons – could tell it was plastic and blunt. Lach's face wore an exuberant smile and a cup of punch was already in his hand.

'Sorry I kept ya all waitin' for so long,' Lach apologised as he walked up to the group. 'I had a couple of things to take care of.'

'Well now that you're here I guess that just means we have to wait for Rapture,' Tom said happily, looking to Greta for confirmation. Greta smiled and Tom's smile grew a little wider.

'Do you mind if we step outside when she arrives?' Adelheid asked, looking flushed and uncomfortable. 'It's getting unbearable in here.'

'Here, here,' Peter added. He looked flush as well and pulled at his collar for a second as if to air his outfit.

'Well I think we should all take a seat,' Aurora then said. She also looked uncomfortable as she took several deep breathes, her own cheeks red from the heat.

Agreeing with Aurora, the entire group grabbed chairs and all crowded around the table. Several left to get drinks but quickly returned. Greta heard them all chat amongst one another but she wasn't paying attention. The mention of Rapture had once again reminded her of what she had been waiting for. With all the elaborate costumes that her wealthier friends were showing off, she was surprised to see that Rapture hadn't shown up sooner. Then again, it was likely that the faunus girl was simply hiding, or trying to put off attending the party despite promising to take part.

'Guys,' Peter suddenly said, cutting through the various conversations, leaving Adelheid, who he had been chatting with, rather annoyed at the interruption. 'Someone's coming.'

Greta turned to see Rapture walking towards them through the crowd. She smiled for a moment, finally happy to see that her teammate had shown up and then felt worried. Now that Rapture was here she would get the opportunity to talk to her. Greta wasn't sure how that would go down and didn't want another fight. Hopefully the fact that they were in public, in a crowded space would keep things civil, if only for fear of making even worse impressions on people.

As Rapture got closer she saw that Rapture had a rather threadbare costume. She was dressed in casual clothes with slightly worn, blue jeans and a shirt that had been tattered in a few places with a stark white vest visible underneath. The bizarre part of the ensemble was the pale paint she had applied to her face.

'Rapture,' Tom called out, eliciting a small smile from the faunus girl. 'You finally made it.'

'Sorry I'm late,' Rapture said, embarrassed as she pulled up a chair. 'I didn't really have much of a costume in mind and I spent ages wondering if it was even worth dressing up.'

'What are you supposed to be?' Elizabeth asked, a confused expression on her face as she studied Rapture.

'Well,' Rapture replied bashfully, 'I'm supposed to be a zombie.'

'Did you use my make-up?' Aurora asked, suddenly looking very angry.

'No,' Rapture replied. 'I used Peter's.'

'What?!' Peter snapped, rising in his set and fixing Rapture with a glare.

'You use make up?' Lach asked, giving Peter a surprised and amused glance.

'That actually explains some things,' Tom muttered as everyone watched Peter flush red with anger and embarrassment.

'Since Rapture is now here,' Aurora then interrupted. 'Shall we all go outside? I think we all could use a somewhat cooler scene.'

'Sounds good to me,' Greta said. 'Come on everyone.'

She received several nods of agreement from the others and the group stood up to walk to one of the balconies attached to the ground floor of the hall. The grounds the hall was based on were higher than much of the rest of the campus and offered an elevated view of much of the school. Greta went over to the edge of the balcony and laid against it as she tried to recover from the stuffiness and the heat of the hall.

'Greta,' she then heard Rapture said. Turning to the face the faunus girl, Greta found her teammate standing by the balcony next to her, looking a little uncomfortable. 'I'd, uh, like to talk to you about something.'

'Uh, sure, go ahead,' Greta said, both confused and somewhat relieved. She had been worried about finding the best time to approach Rapture but thankfully the faunus girl had resolved that issue herself.

'I… well,' Rapture began, noticeably struggling to find whatever words she was looking for. 'Uh, I don't normally do this,' she mumbled in exasperation as she looked at the ground and tried to avoid looking Greta in the eye. 'Look, it's about how I've been acting for the past few days.'

'Yeah,' Greta said, prompting Rapture to continue.

'I've been thinking about what you said after combat classes last week,' Rapture finally admitted. 'It's been stuck in my head for days now and I really don't know why or what I could do about it. It's just there... and I know that I want to find out more but I don't know what I could do.'

'Well,' Greta began and then faltered. What was she supposed to say in this situation? What could she say?

'I, um…' she tried to start again but was still left confused and completely unknowing of what to say. 'Why?' she suddenly blurted out before she could stop herself. She shut her mouth but then saw Rapture was giving her a quizzical look, almost begging her to continue. 'Why do you want to do anything about it?'

Rapture glared angrily in response and Greta ended up biting her lower lip in panic. She was expecting Rapture to start snapping at her again, maybe start another fight and drag everyone else in again. It would be a repeat of the last fight with all the awkwardness, difficult soul-searching and false starts to apologies that had accompanied it.

'Do you want to know why?' Rapture suddenly said, startling Greta. She could only nod in return, giving Rapture the go ahead to continue.

'It's cause the attack got to me,' Rapture explained. She looked a little unsure of her answers as she spoke but she didn't stop. 'People died there, they died in front of me, in front of all of us and it was because of a faunus, a faunus from a group that claims to want to get back at society for what it does to my kind. Do you know how I felt after all of that got to sink in?' Greta could only shake her head as she listened to her teammate spill her guts to her.

'I think I'd only just got my head together when I said we needed to do something,' Rapture continued. 'Then suddenly you and everyone else were saying that we should ignore it and I got angry and well… you know the rest. I thought I'd gotten over it all and the you go and mention that older girl who was at the crime scene with the police. Now, well – I think I've only just figured it out – but I want to… something, anything about that attack and that girl is… a clue? A lead? I don't know but she's been in my head because of that.'

Greta felt almost overwhelmed by what Rapture had just told her. She turned away from her teammate a little to get her thoughts back in order and it was then that she noticed they had gained an audience. Peter and Adelheid, who had been having their own conversation when she leaned against the balcony, were giving them aside glances even as they pretended to continue their own talk. Aurora was looking back into the hall but Greta could tell she wasn't paying that view any attention. Her expression was one of worry and her eyes would dart at Rapture to see if she was going to carry on. Lach, Elizabeth and Tom weren't as subtle, looking at the two of them directly, Tom even wore a very concerned look on his face.

'Do you want to find somewhere to talk?' Greta asked, saying the first thing that came to mind. The nod she got from Rapture spurred both of them to go back into the hall and find a table in the corner where they could properly discuss the problem.


'I can't believe you talked me into this,' Zarina Ocula seethed as she stalked forward, hunched over as if she was trying to hide herself despite being in the middle of an avenue.

'Oh come on,' Selene Lupina said, grinning cheekily. 'It's a fancy dress party. Live a little.'

'I live plenty thank you,' Zarina shot back, fixing her leader with a glare. 'I was, however, happy observing Heiligenacht's prayers and then watching a movie. I did not need you dragging me to this party in this outfit.' She emphasised the end of her statement by spitting the words out.

Selene smirked before chuckling a little. She, herself, couldn't quite believe that she had managed to talk Zarina into going to the party, nor that she had managed to convince the girl to let her pick the costume. It was probably because Zarina hadn't really been paying attention to what she was saying at the time but a deal had been made and Team SWRZ took those very seriously.

Now Selene sauntered down the avenue dressed in a facsimile of knight's armour. It was made of plastic and aluminium and was feather-light compared to her actual equipment. The ensemble was painted silver with stripes of valorous blue and gold along the edges and on various other places the designer had decided made the whole thing look more heroic with a comically oversized plastic sword strapped to the back for good measure. Selene rather liked the look despite it being so cheesy. It was a simple image of what a warrior should be and she could see the appeal of being dressed in what people imagined a hero's outfit should be, even if the female variant she had bought came with a, supposedly, form fitting cuirass that made her breasts look like they were trying desperately to launch themselves off of her chest.

It also came with a large, striking, dark red cloak but that was currently being worn by Zarina. Selene had decided to spare the other girl's feelings and let her borrow it as they walked to the party but she had decided that her teammate wasn't going to keep it all night.

The two of them made their up to the main hall in a matter of minutes. The party had already been going on for a while and they could hear the sound of people and some relatively quiet and supposedly sinister music. Selene smiled as they walked through the door, Zarina still hunched over and looking nervous.

'Alright, Zarina,' she said, looking at her teammate with a wry expression, 'time to give me my cloak back.'

'What?!' Zarina almost shrieked, giving Selene an incredulous look.

'I need it for my outfit so give it to me,' Selene replied with a calm tone. 'I let you wear it here but we agreed to give it back later.'

'Bu… but,' Zarina stammered, blushing furiously. 'We're still outside.'

'No we're inside,' Selene countered. 'Come on, you'll be fine.' She then gave Zarina a stern look. 'Do I have to start pulling rank or would you rather I rip it off you?'

Zarina almost seemed to shake as she clung to the cloak a little longer. For several seconds neither said anything as Selene stared her teammate down.

'Fine,' Zarina finally spat out. 'Fucking, spoilt, bitch,' she then mumbled under her breath. Selene heard it but didn't say anything, just giving another amused smirk.

Zarina slipped off the cloak and then reluctantly handed it over to Selene who threw it on and then attached it to the clips on her cuirass. She had decided, several days before the party that Zarina would probably go as something related to magic and so had gotten her a sorceress outfit from the same high-end costume store that made her mock hero armour. Of course for fun she had picked out one of the more interesting options they had there.

It was primarily based around a black, clinging leotard with purple lining. Curved, aluminium shoulder pads were then placed on top whilst the waist had a deep red belt that held two armoured segments that ran from the waist to the upper thigh but didn't enclose that portion of the body entirely. There were spaced gaps at both the front and back so that the armour only covered the sides of Zarina's hips. Her legs were covered up to the knee by armoured graves that were attached on hinges at the ankle to a pair of stylised high-heels. All of the armour was sprayed black with a varnish texture on top to make it shine like glass or obsidian. Finally, over the chest was a steel plate brassiere that was filled with spaces carved to look like symbols and, in the end, made the thing look more like a threadbare, metal bikini top rather than any kind of cuirass. Dressed as she was, Zarina looked like a villainess from a bad Mistrali movie.

'I can't believe you made me do this,' Zarina seethed as she flushed red and crossed her arms to try to cover up without making it too obvious.

'Well you did let me pick your costume,' Selene said. 'So this is partly on you.'

'Go through all the hells, Selene,' Zarina spat out. 'You're giving me that cloak back when I decide to leave.'

She walked off into the room, probably to find a seat in a corner where she could keep herself out of sight. Selene simply began to chuckle in return as she watched her teammate walk off in a huff.

'Did I really just see that?' a new voice asked. Selene brightened as she turned around to see Wilhelm Augustine walk into the hall along with his brother Darius and Olivia Van Rot from Team GOLD.

Wilhelm and Darius were both dressed in suits of armour not that different from hers though Darius' had golden lining on the metal and plastic and Wilhelm had burgundy lining. Olivia, on the other hand, had something very different on. She was dressed in a white sheet that she had folded over to look like a toga. She had a golden belt around her waist and faux wicker sandals on her feet. On her head was a transparent plastic headband with a glass rod sticking out of that back that held up a golden plastic halo over her head. What was most surprising, however, was the large pair of white, feathered wings sticking out of her back.

'Olivia,' Selene said, almost stunned by what she was seeing. 'Are those…?'

'Yeah,' Olivia replied in a flat tone.

'Wow,' Selene said in response. 'Just, wow.'

Selene had rarely talked to the girl but her frequent talks with Geoffrey had eventually revealed an important secret about Olivia Van Rot. She was a faunus and the wings attached to her back, which she normally kept well hidden at the expense of her own comfort, were very real.

Selene's discovery of the girl's heritage in their first year hadn't improved their relationship, working or otherwise, back then. The faunus were animals, murderers and traitors, petty criminals at best and wholly untrustworthy. Back then everyone thought that Olivia was just another beast undeservedly given a place in Atlas because of one of the Schnee Dust Company charity scholarships. After team placements were done, things had apparently been tense in Team GOLD and though Selene didn't actually know the details, it had taken a lot for Olivia to prove to everyone that she wasn't going to do something that would ruin her team or betray the trust of Atlas.

Now Selene just regarded the girl as a colleague and one that could be relied upon to obey orders, like any well trained animal. They even talked to one another now though the conversations were short. It didn't really matter though. Things were cordial enough and if she did have to talk to Olivia they knew they could be civil with one another, even comradely at the right times. If there were any problems it wasn't like it was her responsibility to deal with them, that was strictly Geoffrey's area.

'Well then,' she then said, giving them all a wide smile. 'Gentlemen,' she nodded to Wilhelm and Darius, 'Olivia,' she then said after a lengthy pause where she regarded the bird girl closely. 'Let's go and have fun.'


'Okay,' Greta started as she and Rapture found a seat in one of the hall's corner alcoves.

'Okay?' Rapture repeated the word with a curious tone. 'You said you wanted to talk still.'

'I…,' Greta began. 'Well, I wanted to know why you were upset and I guess you told me. Just,' Greta paused, bracing for whatever reaction she got for to her question, 'why do you care so much about this. I thought you didn't care about faunus rights and everything like that.'

'It's not like that,' Rapture replied, glowering. 'Do you know where I grew up?' she asked. When Greta shook her head Rapture continued. 'I was born in the Hammerssen District. It's a faunus ghetto.' Greta nodded, prompting her to continue. 'My parents worked so hard, day in and day out to save up enough money to get me out of there and into Beacon because, well… the ghetto's run by gangs.'

'Right,' Greta said encouraging her teammate to continue.

'Well I've said what I think of the faunus rights movement before, right?' Rapture asked. 'The gangs always said shit like faunus needed to stick together so that they could get idiots to join up with them. It was always about getting as many people on board to help them fight all the others for the district. I grew up with all the gunfights, the brawls, the riots and everything but my family would just keep working hard no matter how many times some moron showed up to try to convince them or me to sign up with their groups.' She then sighed as she slumped forward and put her head in her hands.

'By the time I got here I thought I was over all of that,' Rapture then continued. 'Racial solidarity was a load of bull that people used to trick you into joining up with their gangs. My parents had always told me to ignore that and just concentrate on being myself. I had decided all I wanted to do was become a Huntress, to make people's lives better but really to make my parents' lives better. I wanted to get the money I'd need to take them out of the ghetto. Put them somewhere they deserved to be. I could ignore who I was, what I was and move on, even if other people,' she sneered as she said the last two words, 'couldn't.'

'Then the attack happened.' Rapture's looked unsettled as she recalled the shooting they had survived. 'People died, like, right in front of me. I'd seen people get hurt in the gang wars and I heard about people dying on the streets but I'd never actually seen it. It got to me,' Rapture hiccuped a little and there were tears on the edge of her eyes. 'I mean, these were ordinary people and the guy who killed them was a faunus who was doing it in the name of all of my kind. He painted a target on me that I had never seen before. Suddenly everything I'd tried to build up to make me forget that I was really different from the rest of you was gone. I just couldn't forget that I was a faunus and that one of my own… well, people did that.'

'You know,' Greta began in a tone she hoped was comforting. 'That had nothing to do with you. It's not your fault.'

'You don't think I don't know that?' Rapture suddenly snapped, tears still in her eyes. 'The Red Fang are indiscriminate killers who would have attacked anyone. It's just that… he had to pick that day.' once again, Rapture put her head in her hands and looked down at the table.

'I…,' she then stuttered. 'I… I wanted to… to get back at him. Get back at all of them.' Rapture was now speaking through gritted teeth. 'I think I've been wanting this all the time since it happened and now you gave me something to work with.' Rapture looked back up at Greta with a forlorn look. 'I just want to...' she trailed off as she looked past Greta.

'What?' Greta said, now confused.

'She's right there,' Rapture said, blinking several times to get rid of the tears.

'Huh?' Greta grunted. She span around in her seat and saw the girl, dressed in a white toga with feathered wings attached to her back chatting with several other students, a cup of punch in hands. 'Oh,' Greta said. 'You're right.'

'Yeah,' Rapture sighed, frustrated. 'I need something for this,' she then said.

'Something?' Greta asked. She was a little concerned about the way Rapture was acting. She hadn't seen her break down like this since the big fight.

'A clue,' Rapture said. 'Now I get why she's always in the back of my head. Why was she there? Why did she get access to criminal evidence? Why were the police letting her in so easily? Don't act like you haven't thought all of this.'

'Well, yeah,' Greta replied. 'I guess I have.'

'Then help me find out why,' Rapture then said. Greta blanched and almost recoiled in surprise at what Rapture said.

'I'm, sorry but… what?' Greta stuttered, unsure if she had heard her teammate correctly.

'Help me find out who they are and why they were investigating a Red Fang murder,' Rapture said. 'I need to find this out and I'm going to. Are you with me?'