The Shadow of Grimm

by TenshiWarrior

Since the fall of Beacon, team RWBY had split apart. Ruby travels with what remains of team JNPR and former criminals Roman and Neo in order to find the truth and the whereabouts of his daughter, Destiny. During their travels however, they come across team CRMS, whose leader bares a face to which they all recognize. What could this mean exactly? (Sequel to The Child of Grimm)

10. Chapter 7: The Odd One Out

-Three Years Ago; Vales Apartment 3G-

Two days had gone by since Destiny had witnessed, what she could only describe was something out of a dream. She just couldn't find an explanation for it, like she really couldn't. It was one of those things that didn't need an explanation on what or how it could be, but it just needed to be witnessed. A girl that had her face, even her hairstyle. True the difference was her age difference and even her personality was different from her own. She just couldn't believe her own eyes, she even sweared that she was still imagining things.

Though getting back to her room was a snap which was surprising to her of course. Though Cristal had told her that she was only seen when her own eyes stayed open, so even if she was seen they wouldn't see her; it sure saved her on the questions.

Neo was just getting ready to leave for one of her day jobs, as she fixed up her outfit and activated her semblance putting on one of her many disguises. She turned to Destiny who wore a baggy shirt dress, while holding her medicine bag, "I don't mean to leave you here alone in this tiny apartment, but I really have to get going."

"It's okay Neo." Destiny reassured her, "I don't mind it."

Neo smiled and patted her on the head, "Okay, I left you lunch in the fridge that you can heat up whenever you get hungry, and do not set foot out of this apartment. I should be back by the afternoon, afterwards we can see your dad okay?"

Destiny nodded her head, but soon her attention was drawn slightly to her right when she heard something. She saw Cristal literally just looking around and picking up to look at things while Neo was still in the room.

Cristal was about to take another step forward when Destiny motioned her to stop. Cristal looked over to Destiny when she noticed her making hand signs that were incoherent. Cristal started to make the same signs she was doing, but she held in her laughter. Destiny was about to make even more signs, until her attention was drawn back to Neo when she said, "... And make sure you keep the door locked. Hey are you listening?"

"Huh?" Destiny said, before she said, "Oh, yeah! I'm okay, and I know, keep the door locked and don't open it unless if it's someone I know."

"Good. I'll see you later, alright?" Neo said, giving her a hug goodbye, as did Destiny.

With that, Neo went out the door waving her goodbye, Destiny did the same thing. As soon as the door closed shut her look alike named Cristal had finally spoke, "It's so nice to be out of that cramped room of yours, after being in there for like what two whole days. That's basically a whole weekend."

"You can't just do that Cristal!" Destiny said to the teen.

"Do what exactly?"

"Come out and start looking around while Neo was still here! What if she saw you?"

Cristal merely laughed at this, "Oh come on, that's all you're concerned about? It's like I told you before, I can't be seen or heard, as long as your eyes stay open. Do I really have to explain it to you again, for like the fifth time?"

"They might find it strange that there is just a random object floating in mid-air!" Destiny tried to explain, "It's like something out of a horror film! Things like that don't just happen!"

Cristal let out a sigh as she said to the little one, "You're over reacting there Princess. You'll never know how someone is going to react to floating objects."

"Just please be more careful when they're people around, especially if it's my dad or Neo." Destiny said to her, "The last thing I need is to come up with one crazy and believable excuse."

Cristal laughed again, "Right, emphasis on the believable part."

Destiny couldn't help but make a pout to her, and Cristal stuck her tongue at her in a teasing way. Finally she started to take a look around the small apartment, looking at the living area and dining area even the kitchen. "Hmmm…" Cristal said, scratching underneath her chin, "Your home isn't the fanciest of places, but I'll admit, it's not a half bad condo."

Destiny tilted her slightly, confused by the word, "Con-what now?"

Cristal turned to the little girl giving her a really look. "Condo. You know… It's another word for apartment. Your home." Cristal explained. Destiny nodded in understanding, getting the meaning of what Cristal had told her.

"Didn't they teach you anything about this in school?" Cristal said.

Destiny twiddled her thumbs at this, "I-Uh, I don't go to school."

"You don't?" Cristal said, honestly surprised at this.

Destiny shook her head to answer her question, "Dad says he doesn't have money to get me into a good school. But he and Neo teach me sometimes."

"Good to know." She said.

Cristal looked around her apartment again, picking up some objects examining before putting it back where she found them, "So, what do you usually do around here? Do you just sit around in this apartment?"

"Actually yeah." Destiny replied, earning a surprised look from the teen look alike, "I'm not supposed to leave here, not without my dad or Neo."

"Why is that?"

"Dad said that they're bad people, that would try to hurt me. He said that because of that, I'm his secret. And secrets are meant to be kept safe."

"Well he isn't wrong about there being bad people, though I don't think him being a thief counts him as a good person. That and it didn't stop you from following that little rabbit which made me."

"That's different though. He said he does it for the both of us. He may seem like a bad guy to other people but he's a really good person I swear. That and I was curious."

"Don't worry I'll take your word for it. After all I've got some of your memories and I was there remember?"

Destiny laughed nervously at this before rubbing the back of her neck. Cristal made her way over to the couch and took a seat, kicking up her feet on the coffee table that sat in front of it. "What do you besides sitting in this tiny old apartment? Like what do you usually do for fun?"

Destiny thought about it, before she went over to the shelves. She took out two video games, a single movie; her favorite coloring books and a giant book that had stories and fairytales and even books on jewelry; She placed it on the coffee table. "Everything here is what I mostly do to pass the time." Destiny said.

Cristal started to look through the pile, picking up the coloring books, "Really? You still use these?"

"What? I like to color." Destiny said, "And it's sort of a worry habit. When I get worried about something I start coloring."

"That must explain why you have about fifty of these." Cristal said looking over at the shelf to see at least ten more coloring books. She threw them on the coffee table, and looked through the pile some more. She picked up two video game cartridges. They both read Kung Fu Ninja Ultimate Slayer, though the second one had the number two on it.

"You like fighting games?" Cristal said, "You didn't strike me as one that likes this kind of stuff."

"It is fun, I'll admit to that." Destiny said, "Dad got it for me for Christmas."

Cristal said to her, "Hmm, you don't have a bad taste in when it comes to video games. Maybe later you can show me some combos."

She placed the video games back on the table before turning her attention to a book on jewelry; she saw that some of the pages were bookmarked. She turned to the pages that were bookmarked and saw that the pages were on bracelets. She noticed that the bookmark was of a folded paper.

"What's this?" She said reaching for it.

"Wa-wait!" Destiny stammered, her face turning red slightly, "Don't look! I'm not finished with it yet!"

Cristal didn't listen as she unfolded the paper; she soon saw it was concept art of a beaded bracelet. She was left impressed by it.

"You drew this yourself?" Cristal said, left impressed by it.

"It-it's not very good." Destiny said embarrassed.

She noticed the title of the bracelet at the right corner of the paper. "The Victory Bracelet?" She read.

"It's um…" Destiny stammered, "It's for Huntsmen and Huntresses. It's supposed to give them good luck in battles. It sounds kind of stupid, huh?"

"No, I actually think it's a good idea." Cristal said, Destiny's expression brightened at this, "This is a hobby of yours?"

"I guess you can call it that." Destiny replied, "I'm hoping I can sell these one day, to help out dad. But I'm still working out a few ideas."

"It's not bad Princess." Cristal said ruffling her hair a bit, "You've got talent."

Cristal folded up the paper and placed it back in the book before closing it. She looked and saw a movie that read, "'The Girl in the Tower'. "A movie based off a book." Cristal said.

"It's a really good film." Destiny said, before giving her a quizzical look "Wait, you know the book?"

"Of course." She replied, "You don't think we're made without knowing anything do you?"

Destiny became interested at this; She sat down on the couch next to Cristal, and crossed her legs pretzel style. "Wow, look who's curious." Cristal said.

"Of course I'm curious." Destiny said, "You didn't say that you actually knew things, when you were made."

"That's because you didn't ask before." Cristal said to her, "Though I don't know just about the stories, I know a lot of things about Remnant, some that have already been forgotten."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You know a lot of things?"

"Yep."

"Than can you prove it?"

Cristal gasped dramatically at this while putting a hand over her heart, as if she was stabbed, "Can I prove it-Of course I can prove it to you. Just ask me anything." Destiny tried to think of something to ask Cristal as she tilted her head back and forth. Though no matter what she tried, she couldn't think of a question. "You can't think of one, can't you?" Cristal said.

"No offense, but what am I supposed to ask you?" Destiny said, "I have so many questions, but I don't know… I still find it hard to believe that you know things about Remnant."

"You doubt that I do?"

"Part of me does, honestly… But the other part of me does believe you."

Cristal sat there in silence for a few moments, "I got it. How about I ask you a question?"

"Ask me one?" Destiny asked curiously, "What good will that do?"

"Well…" Cristal started to reply, "... That way I can prove it to. By telling you something, only I could know."

Destiny thought about what she was saying and after some thinking she did make sense of it all. It would prove to her if Cristal did know what she say. She eventually answered, "Okay, what's your question?"

"Great!" Cristal said, before rubbing her chin again, "Hmm, let's see, what shall your question shall be…?"

Cristal looked upon the coffee table again, and saw the giant book that was simply titled, "The Tales of Remnant". Cristal smiled as she thought of a question for Destiny, "What's one of your favorite stories that your dad reads to you before bed?"

Destiny wondered as to what she meant by the question until she realized she was referring to the book on the coffee table. Cristal saw her reach for the book and put it on her lap and flipped through the pages until she stopped at a certain spot in the book. "This one." Destiny said pointing to the page tilting the book slightly to Cristal.

Cristal looked upon the cover page of the book. It was of an elder man, a Wizard by the look of it, and around him was a colored leaf, a snowflake, a sun, and a flower; the man in the picture had a happy look on his face as he had his own arms around him. The title had read-

"The Story of the Seasons." Cristal said with a smile, "This one is a classic."

Destiny smiled and nodded, "Ever since dad first read it to me I've been in love with this story. Every chance I get I ask him to read it to me. No matter how many times I hear it, it always makes me happy for the Wizard in the story."

"I'll say." The teen look alike agreed, "It is a pretty good tale to tell to children like you. But…"

Destiny looked at Cristal giving her a quizzical look, "But?"

Cristal smiled again, as she turned to the child, "But what if I were to tell you… The Story of the Seasons is real?"

Destiny's eyes widened slightly at this by her words. A fairytale, something like the Story of Seasons is real? It was just unbelievable. "Are…" Destiny stuttered, "Are you serious?"

Cristal nodded at this, at one point putting a finger to her lips, "Yeah. This is as real as you, your father and me. But it's a little secret, not everyone in Remnant knows about them. I mean, they used to, but not anymore."

"How come?"

"Because stories go as stories go throughout the centuries. They fade into legend and myth. Stories like the Efah for example."

"They're actually real? The Maidens, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall? They're all real?"

"Yeah, though they don't exactly look like the ladies in this story. They may seem different, but they're real. You've met one of them yourself, from what I saw through your treasured memories as I was in the process of being made."

Destiny was confused to what she was talking about until realized what she meant, "You mean… Miss Amber?"

Cristal nodded her head.

"You mean she's a…"

"Oh yeah."

Destiny's eyes brightened at this and she couldn't help but squee. That same beautiful lady she met from that time when she had gotten separated from her father in the storm, was actually one of the Maidens from the story. She found hard to believe but at the same time incredible that she met such a person! She was at a loss for words really.

"That's-WOW OH MY GOSH!" Destiny said, "That's amazing! I'd never thought I-I mean, I wished the story was real so I could meet one of them, but I didn't think-!"

Cristal chuckled at the way Destiny acted, "It's not everyday you get to meet someone from a fairytale."

"I can't believe it, they're actually real!" Destiny said jumping out of her seat from the couch; Cristal taking the book from her before she jumped from her seat; she laughed as she twirled around, "I met one of them! I actually met one of them! This is-This is unbelieveable! It's a real dream come true!"

"Well you better believe it, you've met one of them." Cristal said, "But I'll tell you something else about this little fairytale…"

Destiny stopped moving; she turned to Cristal seeing how as the teen got her attention. Cristal sat forward in her seat on the couch, putting the book to the side. "This is a little something that is so long forgotten, in fact, only a few selected people know about it, fewer than those who know about the Maidens existence really."

"Wha… What do you mean?" Destiny asked.

Cristal saw on the coffee table that there was a note pad, and a pen. She took the note pad and pen and started to draw. "What if I told you that there is a second story to the Maidens. That mentions… There is a fifth maiden?"

Destiny was left stunned at this. "A fifth maiden?" Destiny repeated, "But… They're only Four Maidens in the story, because they're only four seasons. How can their be a fifth one?"

"That's because this Maiden is not any of the seasons." Cristal said, "It's true that there can only be four seasons but her, in a way you can say she was an unexpected result. And like Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, she has her own title."

She soon placed the pen down, and showed Destiny the picture she drew. It was of the symbols of the seasons, but only one had the symbol what looked like a wolf that was of a silhouette image; of course it stood out from the rest of them since that definitely didn't represent any season.

"Is that… A wolf?" Destiny said.

"Yup." Cristal replied, "Do you know why they choose a wolf to represent the Fifth Maiden?"

Destiny shook her head.

"Wolves stay in packs, practically everyone knows that and I know you know it; they do this in order to survive in the world." Cristal told her, "But sometimes in some cases, a single wolf will go on it's own when it decides it's too good for its own pack. This symbol, when Maidens were still known represented her, because in a way, she is like that wolf who left."

"What does that mean?" Destiny asked.

Cristal placed the note pad on the table as she sat back in her seat. She looked around, before whispering to the young girl before her.

"... The Fifth Maiden… Is also known as, the Rogue Maiden."

---

(Opening Theme: Let's Just Live Performed by Casey Lee Williams)

-Present; Atlas, Schnee Mansion-

After the charity event had died down, everyone was sent home early, and everyone in the Schnee family had gone back to their home. It was late at night when they returned, and the twins had already fallen asleep, while Jaques had individually apologized to the people about how Weiss was, and he had his servants take them to their room, while Weiss went to her own room to have a little talk with her Father.

Weiss sat at her bed with her hands folded as Jacques paced around the room.

"Unbelievable!" Jacques said at one point stopping to turn to her, "Absolutely unbelievable! Do you have any idea what your stunt cost us!"

"I-" Weiss tried to say before getting cut off.

"And don't think I'm just talking about Lien here!" Jacques said, "Our reputation! Our… Our…"

Jacques stopped himself and just let out an annoyed grunt. Weiss took a deep breath before saying, "I want to leave."

Jacques turned to his daughter, "I beg your pardon?"

"I said I want to leave." Weiss said, "I don't want to stay here anymore. I don't want to stay in Atlas anymore!"

"Young lady, I don't give a damn about what you want!" Jacques said to her, "This isn't about you. This is about the Schnee family name and your apparent insistence on dragging it through the mud!"

Weiss felt offended by this and yelled, "Excuse me? I have done nothing but fight to uphold the honor of my family name! A name that you married into!"

Weiss let out a sudden gasp when she felt her head forcefully turn to the side because her father had slapped her. She brought her hand to her cheek and looked up at Jacques, having an incredulous look, while her father held a stern look to her. He spoke again, his voice calm but had an intimidation in his voice, "This behavior of yours is incredibly disappointing. You couldn't possibly understand the lengths I've gone through in order to keep this family where it is. You think running like sister is going to make you a stronger Schnee? You're wrong. Siding with her would only divide us."

"I'm not siding with anyone!" Weiss said to him, "I'm doing what I feel is right, and it does not include wasting my time here with these clueless people here in Atlas! The Schnee family legacy isn't yours to leave! It's mine, and I'll do it as a Huntress!"

Jacques rolled his eyes before saying, "No… You won't. You're not leaving Atlas. You're not to leave the manor grounds unless I specifically allow it. You are going to remain here, out of sight, and out of trouble, until you and I come to an agreement on your future."

Weiss eyes widened in disbelief at this, at what her father was saying. Hell she couldn't exactly believe it what he was even suggesting it. "What!?" Weiss exclaimed, "You can't be serious!"

Jacques said to her, "Your presupposition that can simply have whatever it is you want. It's a clear sign of our failure as parents. But from now on, I'll be giving you the full attention you require, starting by keeping you where I can see you."

Weiss couldn't believe it! He was actually suggesting it! At this point she hated her father even more when he was just thinking about something like this.

"You can't just keep me from leaving!" Weiss yelled.

"I can." Jacques said, "And the staff here will make sure of it."

"Am I supposed to be your prisoner now!?"

"You are my daughter. You're a child, and children are grounded when they misbehave."

"This is only going to make things worse Father! People will start asking questions! They'll want to why the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company is suddenly nowhere to be found!"

"Which is why you're no longer the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

At this point her jaw had just dropped, at her Father's words. Now she sweared, he was talking crazy right now; she thought he was driven insane by it.

"Excuse me?" Weiss said.

"Clearly the trauma you've endured at Beacon was too much for you." Jacques stated, "Which is why you've generally revoked your claim to the company and its earnings and passed it onto your brother." Weiss tried to digest what she was hearing exactly. She didn't want to believe this was real, believe what she was hearing. She wanted to believe that it was all just a dream.

"It's time to wake up and face reality." Jacques said.

With that he took his leave; just as she saw him walk out of the door, she saw her younger brother Whitley, there, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation. She ran outside of her room, when she saw him leave. "WHITELY!" She yelled. He stopped in his tracks and turned to her.

"Yes sister?" Whitely said, "What is it?"

Weiss walked up to him, she crossed her arms "Did you know about this?"

"About what?" Whitely asked.

"You never liked Winter, and you never liked me." Weiss said, "But you've been nothing but supportive since the moment I came back!"

"If being kind to my sister is some sort of crime, then I suppose I'm guilty." Whitley said.

Weiss was left confused by this, until she put it all together; her eyes widened in realization, "You wanted this to happen."

As Whitley spoke again, his face went from innocent to threatening in an instant, "It's foolish not to do what father asks."

"I…" Weiss stuttered, "I can't believe you."

"Don't worry Weiss." Whitley said with a smile, "The Schnee family name is good hands."

Whitley turned and walked with his hands behind his back, down the large hallway while Weiss just stood there stunned. Weiss had run back to her room and ran to her bed. She fell face first and she had started to cry, burying her head in the sheets. All she wanted was for everything right now to be a dream; she wanted to wake up, and find herself back in Beacon with her team. She wanted to be back with Destiny, a girl that made her and the team happy. All she wanted was for things to go back to the way they were; but things couldn't go back. She knew that herself and it made her all the more upset.

She was focused on her thoughts she didn't notice that someone had entered in the room, and sat at her bed.

"I take it that things didn't go well with your father."

Weiss picked up her head, and she saw a familiar orange hair girl wearing black vest with a white and red collared shirt, and a dark gray skirt with black tights.

"Azure…?" Weiss said, somewhat shocked, "... You… Your here…?"

"I'm only here on business for my mother." Azure said to her, "She's kept busy with her work, and instead of coming down here herself, she sent me on official business."

Weiss didn't say anything she just buried her head back into the bedsheets. "I… Heard yelling from your father." Azure said, "And I heard your brother and you talking."

Weiss didn't say anything she continued to cry her eyes out.

"I think it's cruel for what your father decided." Azure said, "It doesn't give them the right to decide on what should be done."

Weiss picked up her head and turned to her.

"Your father and your brother-" Azure said before cutting herself off, "No, I don't think they deserve that title. They're as cruel as the ones talking about Vale, as if they deserved it. What's worse, people like Jacques, like Whitley only care about themselves. They don't care about others not even their own family."

Weiss sat herself up and wiped away her tears, taking note of a sneer in her words, "... I take it you have some people other than your mother back where you live?"

Azure eventually replied, "... I have sisters like you. Three of them. Each of us look out for one another, and we have each others backs. Our mothers business, is rough as one would say, but despite all that we protect each other, and that's how we survive. It seems like your younger sisters are looking out for you as well."

"Ye-yeah." Weiss said, "They've been like that ever since I got back."

"The way I see it they're the only ones you can count on now." Azure said, "They seem to look up to you. In times like this, you have to set an example for them. Maybe they'll even help you on what you should do on one question. Are you a Huntress… Or a puppet on strings?"

Weiss left almost surprised to hear something like that from this her. She had just met her a couple of hours ago at least and she was giving her advice on what she should do. It did help her to feel better, but she didn't understand why she would want to. Before Weiss could ask, a faint ringing from within the room. Azure went through her skirt pocket and took out her scroll that was colored in black, the ringing had gotten louder slightly. She read the caller ID.

"You'll have to excuse me, I need to take this." Azure said standing up from her seat, "It's nice talking to you again Weiss. Pleasant dreams."

With that Azure took her leave taking whatever the call was, shutting the door gently behind her. Weiss looked to the door, than down at her bracelet. Weiss didn't want to have this life anymore, she didn't want to be stuck in a dollhouse anymore. No longer would she live under her father's heel. With a determined look on her face she got up from her bed and went to shut the curtains, she moved the bed several feet from where it once stood as well as several other furniture. She soon picked up a box that had a snowflake on it, and she placed it on the coffee table that sat in her room.

She opened the box to reveal her weapon; her Myrtenaster and her Dust vials. Taking the weapon she held it up to her face holding it vertically.

---

-Oniyuri-

No one could actually believe their eyes to who they saw that had just saved Ruby. The famous Uncle and father to who they would mention every now and again in conversations around the campfire almost every night. And now here he was standing before them, in front of Ruby before she had taken a serious blow from Tyrian's tail.

Still holding onto his leverage, Cristal, Tyrian jumped back to where Diamond and Elise stood; Qrow turned around with his sword.

Diamond took a closer look at his weapon, specifically his logo, "Your logo, and that weapon… Your him, the famous Huntsman aren't you?"

"Ha, as I live and breath!" Tyrian said, his tail going around Cristal, lifting the unconscious girl higher above the ground, "Melody's famous father… Qrow Branwen." He bowed his head to him, "A true Huntsman has entered the fray." Melody went over to Ruby to help her up and picked up her Crescent Rose, while Neo picked Roman up off the ground. It wasn't long till Ruby and Melody noticed Qrow giving them a questioning look.

"Don't look at us." Melody said with a shrug.

"This guy is weird." Ruby added.

Qrow looked back to Tyrian, Diamond and Elise. "Look pal." He said, "I'm not sure who you or your friends are, but you three need to leave my niece alone, and let the girl go."

Tyrian chuckled, "Why friend our names are Tyrian, Diamond and Elise. And I'm afraid what you want is not possible."

Elise soon added, "Our task from the Mistress was to retrieve both Cristal and her. And we will not fail."

"As she said, that is what we must do." Tyrian said, "One does not upset the Queen."

The group gave a look of confusion at the term Queen. It sounded strange to them really.

"Your Queen?" Melody said.

"Salem." They suddenly heard Qrow say aloud, which had confused them all the more. "Salem?" The whole group said in unison.

"Who's Salem?" Ruby asked.

"I think we've had enough talk now, don't you?" Tyrian said to Qrow. Another clawed hand grew from Diamond's back and reached for Cristal; his tail uncurled and allowed the girl to fall into it's palm. The clawed hand gripped her tightly and Diamond took a step back.

Elise armed herself while Tyrian crouched like a predator would to a prey.

"You took the words right out of-"

Before Qrow could finish, both Tyrian and Elise charged at him suddenly, nearly catching him by surprise. Blades had begun to clash as they attacked one another and most of the attacks were dodged back and forth. Eventually Elise and Tyrian flew back from his attack. Elise charged at Qrow first swinging her axe; Qrow blocked her attack with his sword, though while he was distracted by her, Tyrian went to strike. He used his stinger to attack Qrow, though he was quick to dodge it. He kicked Tyrian and Elise back, but she charged again. Qrow manage to get the upperhand, and went to attack her with his sword.

Tyrian managed to get in front of her and blocked his attack. The impact from it caused the a building nearby to break, leaving him and Elise impressed; Qrow smirked, but Tyrian did as well as he laughed. With a click, he activated a bullet capacity, and started to fire, causing Qrow to jump back; Tyrian and Elise jumped back as well. Elise switched to her gun, and they started to circle Qrow as they fired on him. Qrow blocked their bullets but the group saw that he was struggling.

Rosario, Ren, Nora, and Scout went to go and assist him. Tyrian bent his back and licked his lips suddenly causing them to flinch slightly. He went to attack the four of them and after a few simple hits they flew back easily, towards the rest of the group. Tyrian went to run towards Ruby and Melody, but after Qrow made Elise stumble he quickly intervened.

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Qrow yelled to them before he engaged Tyrian and Elise again.

"He's not going to last long against them." Melody said, "We have to help him."

"What about Cristal?" Jaune said, "We still need to help her!"

"I'll take care of it." Rosario said.

The group seemed shocked at what Rosario said. "You're gonna take her on by yourself?" Nora said.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Ren asked.

"With all due respect, she's my partner." Rosario said, "And I won't just abandon her. Beside I think I have a good idea on how to take her out."

"You won't be fighting alone." Neo said taking Rosario by surprise, "I'll help you too."

"Don't you have to take care of him?" Rosario asked, gesturing to Roman.

Neo looked over at Roman, who was still unconscious and giving out raspy breaths. "He would've done the same if I were in this position." Neo said turning back to Rosario, "Besides, he'll forgive me for doing this."

Rosario grunted annoyingly and said, "I can't make any promises that one of my bullets might hit you."

"Fair enough." Neo said with a smirk.

Rosario turned to the rest, "Does anyone have any objections?"

The group gave an unsure look to Rosario and Neo but they had eventually they all shook their head. Ruby than spoke up, "Melody and I will help out Qrow, however we can."

"You sure you can still fight?" Melody asked with concern.

"Yeah, he didn't get me too bad." Ruby reassured her, removing her arm around Melody's shoulder; She handed her the Crescent Rose, and Scout handed Melody hers (She picked up her weapon earlier). Ruby turned to Jaune, "You think you'll be okay taking on Elise?"

Jaune replied, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Okay, Nora, Ren, Scout take care of Roman, get him somewhere safe." Ruby said.

The three of them nodded and went to do just that once Neo handed him over to them. The rest of them, went to do what they had to do. Rosario and Neo caught Diamond by surprise, Jaune got Elise's attention and they engaged. "Ruby, go high!" Melody said, as her hand blade formed a scythe. Ruby nodded and quickly went towards the towers and on the rooftop; she went to sniper position and watched as Melody went to engage in the fight with Qrow and Tyrian.

Ruby tried to get a shot but was having difficulty because of how fast they were moving. Melody jumped into the fight swinging her scythe at Tyrian, though he dodged her blade with ease as did her father. Though at one point in the fight, he was able to knock Melody off of her feet making her let go of her weapon as she landed on the ground. As he went to strike Qrow got in between them and Tyrian saw an opening; He wrapped his tail around his wrist and yanked hard, causing his weapon to fly to the wall just opposite where they stood. Melody stood up and was about to rush Tyrian though Qrow stopped her before she could.

Tyrian stood up slumping forward, and laughing, that is until a bullet passed right by him leaving him perplexed, making him turn to where the bullet landed. All he did was smile at this as his tail blocked the bullets Ruby fired from a distance.

Qrow looked at his fist and shrugged; he than threw a punch at Tyrian, catching him by surprise. He continued to throw punches across the face against Tyrian, until finally he kicked him and he lost his footing. He fell on his back, getting on one knee trying to recover. Qrow simply walked over to his weapon while Tyrian just sat their, and Ruby and Melody couldn't help as to wonder why Tyrian was just sitting.

As soon as Qrow touched the weapon, Tyrian went to strike; The Huntsman dodged quickly and activated his scythe mode, firing a round, making him fly back, balancing on the wooden beam.

Tyrian charged at Qrow once more.

---

Despite Diamond holding onto to Senka and Cristal she was able to fend herself against Rosario and Neo as they came to attack her. Neo threw her kicks and flipped back when she went to attacked with her bladed fans. Neo went at her arming the blade on her umbrella; she went at her, trying to land a hit on her, but she only gave a few mild cuts. Diamond folded up the man on her left hand and it formed a large blade; she started to rush at Neo, trying to hit her in the face. Neo moved with ease as she went at her with her blade.

While Diamond was left distracted, Rosario was up on the rooftops keeping low, eyeing Cristal and her downed Griffon. She looked around her surrounds and found some poles she could bounce off of.

"I'll have to help Senka first." Rosario said to herself. She armed the blade on her leg and quickly started to move while Diamond was kept busy. Rosario ran along the rooftops and with a leap she jumped and leaped off of the poles; she spun and the blade cut the clawed hand clean through. Diamond cried out in agony when the limb was cut off, and screamed when Neo's blade went right through her shoulder. Neo removed the blade swiftly and Diamond staggered backwards.

"YOU SON OF A-!" Diamond yelled before she was suddenly cut off, courtesy of Senka. He charged at her and rammed her with his head, making her fly, and the limb that still held onto to Cristal extended. Before Diamond landed on the ground her feet suddenly hovered and she touched the ground gently, courtesy of her Grimm Partner, Avira.

Diamond turned to Cristal before looking back to them, "Don't think, I'm going to let you do that the a second time…"

Just like that, another black clawed hand grew out of her back, but this time the hand went into a pillar nearby, making a new weapon. She swung at the both of them but they were able to dodge with ease; the impact from Diamonds new limb caused some of the buildings around them to shatter. Rosario, and Neo managed to gain some distance from her, before Diamond rushed at them again.

"You wouldn't happen to have a second plan of action do you?" Neo said.

"I'm working on it!" Rosario said to her, before they jumped out of the way again.

---

Elise and Jaune went at each other for awhile keeping up with a pattern. Blades clashed with each other, and they tried to attack each other but blades kept clashing. Jaune still couldn't believe who he was fighting, a girl with the same face as Pyrrha, and she even had the same movements as her despite her wielding an axe. Though her knew it wasn't her, no matter what it wasn't. She was a Shadow like Cristal was. He wouldn't let a face distract him from the fight.

Once more the blades clashed, and at one point, Elise had the axe blade close to Jaune's face, though he was able to block her with his shield.

"Why are you after Ruby and Cristal?!" Jaune said, "Why do you want them!?"

"If Cristal told you about the contract, than you know perfectly well that I can't answer that." Elise said to him, "It wouldn't matter if I told you regardless, either way you and your friends will end up dead."

"I won't let you do that!" Jaune exclaimed, before swing his sword to her. Elise lifted her hand and his sword suddenly stopped. Jaune struggled to move, but was quick to realize that she was using her polarity again. He soon felt himself lifted him up off the ground and he was thrown up onto the roof of a tower; Elise ran along the building wall and got onto tower's roof. Elise charged at Jaune with her axe blade. She had almost hit him, but he quickly rolled and countered, giving a cut on her cheek just under her mask.

Jaune rushed her with his shield and he caught her off guard, making her fall back. She regained her footing and fired a round at Jaune though her was able to block the blast with his shield. As they continued to fight, they didn't realize that that floor under them had started to weaken as they rushed at one another over and over again.

Everytime Jaune got close, Elise would stop his blade with her polarity and pushed him back, before rushing at him again. Finally they got some distance from one another, and that's when Jaune heard a loud cracking sound. He looked down and saw that under his feet he saw the floor had started to give, and any minute now it would fall apart. Jaune's eyes widened in horror, it wasn't long before he saw Elise charge at him again.

"NO WAIT!" He yelled to Elise, trying to stop her.

With one wrong step Elise suddenly through the floor when it gave out, and Jaune ended falling too. The both of them couldn't help but scream as they fell into darkness. From a distance Nora, and Ren recognized the screaming to be from Jaune.

"That was Jaune just now!" Nora said with worry.

"It sounds like he's in trouble!" Ren said, "We have to get to him."

Nora looked to Roman who groaned unconsciously from the pain of his wound, from the stinger that Tyrian used against him earlier, "But what about him? We said we would look after him." Ren was about to say something but him and Neo felt Scout's hands over them. She said to them with a reassured smile, "I'll take care of Roman. Go and help your friend."

Ren and Nora both looked at one another before they turned back to Scout and nodded. They stood up and ran to where they heard Jaune's scream. They soon got one of the towers where the roof had collapsed. Nora and Ren quickly jumped along the rooftops surrounding the area, till they got to what was left of the roof.

"JAUNE!" Nora yelled, "JAUNE WHERE ARE YOU!?"

"CAN YOU HEAR US!?" Ren yelled after.

Soon enough they saw a pair of hands with a sword and shield reached out of the hole of the roof, and pull himself up. It was revealed to be Jaune. "Guys help me up!" Jaune said as he was struggling to hang on. Ren and Nora ran over to him, and quickly pulled him up. "Are you okay?" Nora asked.

"What happened?" Ren asked soon after.

"I'm fine." Jaune replied, dusting himself off, "The roof gave out, while we were fighting. I managed to grab a hold of a wooden beam just in time."

Nora and Ren looked around the area and saw that Elise was missing. "What happened to that girl?" Ren asked.

Jaune looked back to where they were fighting, "I-I don't know. I think she fell in."

"Do you think she's alive…?" Nora asked worried, "If she's like Cristal… She won't have aura to protect herself from a fall like that…"

Jaune stuttered at his words slightly as he replied, "I'm not sure. I didn't see where she fell too." They soon heard booming sounds and the blades clashing in the distance. They knew it could be from the others. "We have to get back to them." Ren said, "They need us."

"But what about her?" Nora asked referring to Elise who maybe still within the partly collapsed building, "We can't leave her here…"

Jaune said as he took a deep breath, "We're going to have to come back for her later. Right now they need us. Let's help Rosario and Neo with Diamond." Ren and Nora nodded, and they quickly moved off the rooftops and towards where the booming sounds were.

---

Rosario and Neo continued to dodge and fire onto Diamond as she tried to hit them with her stone the fight soon came to a complete halt when they heard the sound of a scream and something break nearby. Diamond recognized the second scream belonging to Elise.

"What did your people do to her?!" Diamond said to Neo and Rosario to a glare.

Rosario and Neo stood in their place and said nothing at first. Diamonds hand suddenly changed into a Beowolf claw causing them to back up slightly. "If I find her dead… My sisters and I will torture the both of you until the two of you start begging us to put you out of your misery…" Diamond said going dangerously close to them.

"Whoa, whoa, hey listen." Neo said with a calm voice, "We're not sure what happened, to her okay? Our friend may be with her but we heard him scream too, so-"

"Don't play games with me." Diamond said.

"We're not okay? We're not." Rosario said to her before pointing out, "You know this is something I noticed with Cristal earlier, and the state that you put her in. You know you get so angry, you forget about the little things that are around you."

"Really?" Diamond said amusingly, "Like what?"

Neo shrugged, "I don't know… Like maybe the fact that you're just talking to illusions?"

Diamonds eyes widened slightly at this before she felt something impact her face, causing her mouth mask to fall off courtesy of Rosario who kicked her across the face; when she looked back, she saw that the supposed Rosario and Neo were; Diamond tried to fight back, but Rosario quickly apprehended her, and pinned her "NEO NOW!" Rosario yelled.

Neo riding on Senka's back flew towards, and used her hidden gun in her sleeve, and fired at the black claw hand holding Cristal. She fired several rounds onto the wrist of the claw hand, causing Diamond to cry out in agony, and the claw hand forced to drop Cristal. Neo jumped from Senka and caught Cristal before she could hit the ground.

"I'VE GOT HER! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Neo yelled. Rosario nodded before turning back to Diamond, "Pleasure doing business with you." She said. Diamond growled at her, though Rosario kicked her, across the face, keeping her on the ground. Rosario started to run as did Neo and Senka. Diamond quickly stood up but fell from the fall; her eye changed back to a blind eye, and her nose started to bleed. "Avira…" Diamond said through gritted teeth, "Take them out. Get Cristal back." Dimond stood up and quickly went through the alleyway of the old abandoned town.

From a distance, Rosario and Neo saw a Geist come out from Diamonds back; it went into a pile of rocks, creating a body, before it started to run towards them as they saw Diamond stagger away.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Rosario exclaimed as she ran with a slight limp, "SHE HAD A GEIST LIVING INSIDE HER!? THAT'S INSANE!"

"WELL SHE IS LIKE CRISTAL, WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING?!" Neo yelled.

"SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE A GEIST THAT'S FOR SURE!" Rosario yelled back.

The Geist now in a rock body charged at the two of; Senka quickly acted and charged at the Geist pinning him to the ground. They started to go at it each other, each of them taking hits at one another.

"Wow…" Rosario said stunned, "Two Grimms fighting each other. I never thought I'd see the day."

"No kidding…" Neo said.

Soon enough, Jaune, Ren and Nora came around the corner. "Guys!" Jaune said before noticing Cristal was with them, "You got her back!"

"Is she okay?" Nora asked.

Rosario nodded, "She's okay… Weak but okay."

"Where's the other one?" Neo said, "What's her name, Elise?"

Ren replied, "She fell into the building back there. We're not sure if she's alive."

"Let's get her back with the others." Jaune said, "They may need help."

Both Rosario and Neo nodded their heads and they quickly moved, taking Cristal with them; they moved back to where Ruby, and the others were.

---

-Meanwhile-

Elise slowly came too when she felt something hit her head. She found herself surrounded in a dark area with only the light from above providing the only source. Her memory came back to her when she realized that she fell inside the tower that she and Jaune were fighting. She tried to move but groaned slightly when she felt a sudden pain in her arm. She looked and saw that their was a sharp piece of wood wedged into her elbow. She sat herself up, taking note that her leg had been broken from the fall.

She reached for the shrapnel in the elbow, and bit on her sleeve as she groaned in agony when her fingers made contact. She removed it swiftly this and threw it to the side as her screams were muffled. She heard whispers from Orpheus asking her if she was alright.

"... I'll be fine." She said to Orpheus, "... I've survived worse. Find Diamond. Tell her I'm here and I need assistance."

Orpheus left her body and moved out of the building going to do what Elise told him to do. She sat against a pillar nearby holding her arm, as she felt sharp pains course her body. She shut her eyes and-

"Alright Jaune, now just like we practiced. Follow these instructions…"

She shot her eyes open when she heard a sudden voice echo throughout the room she was in, which left her perplexed. She looked around the room as the voice continued to speak; Her head hurt slightly.

"I've… Heard that voice before…"

She stood up, using the pillar behind her as leverage to help herself stand up. She looked around as she moved with a slight limp, while holding her leg firmly as she tried looking for the source. It wasn't long till she saw a faint glow just within the darkness. She moved towards it, and soon saw that it was from a scroll that had been cracked most likely from the impact. She went and picked up the scroll from the ground to get a closer look at the video. The girl had the same face as her, but she had red hair instead of black and her outfit was different from hers.

"Is this… Pyrrha…?"

Elise felt a throb in her head as the video continued; she shook off the pain. As the pain came and went, she saw images, images that were unclear. All she could make out was, she was in someone else's perspective, as the images came and went.

She groaned as she shook her head, as an attempt to get rid of the pain, "Damn it…! What the hell was-!?"

"Pyra! Pyra!"

Elise turned her attention back to the video, and there she saw a familiar child come into the video, jumping onto Pyrrha's back. Elise tilted her head slightly as she watched them both laugh.

"I found you Pyra!"

"You certainly did…"

Elise watched with curious eyes as she watched the two of them interact with each other. Though she couldn't but only find one thing that she found that was out of place, something, that she found… Strange…

"... Py… Ra…?"

Suddenly, a loud, painful ring echoed through her head, threatening to turn her brain to soup; not only that, her chest had started to hurt, when her head started to ring, as if someone was driving a blade right through. She let out a painful cry as she dropped the scroll and fell to her knees clutching her head, and the fabric of her shirt. Mixed images and voices started to echo all around her as the ringing was heard.

"*****? Do you have any spots left on your team?"

"*****, I know your having difficulty in class, but I want to help you!"

"... I'll always be here for you *****..."

"That one looks like a sheep! And that one looks like a little bunny!"

"... I see a Huntsman tap dancing through a meadow."

"What? No way, where do you see that ****?"

"You guys will always be my friends right? You'll never break apart right?"

"... *******... Thank you…"

The images kept appearing again and again, each one being different from the last, and the ringing sound only got louder and louder. Elise screamed from the pain, literally ripping off her mask and tossing it to the side. She dug her nails through her scalp, not caring if she got blood in her nails in the process. She fell to her side clutching her chest even harder. A faint glow began to emit from under where her other hand was. Tears had eventually started to roll down her cheeks, as she felt the pain increase.

"It burns…! It burns…! Someone, please…! Make it stop…! Make the voices go away! Make the pain stop! Help me, please!"

She let out another howl of pain, when the ringing sound was louder than before, completely unaware, that clouds had blocked out what light remained, and faint roars of thunder were heard in the distance. It wasn't long until rain started to pour from the sky.

---

As the sky began to rain like cats and dogs, the fight between Qrow and Tyrian continued despite the sudden change in the weather. Blades kept clashing against one another and sparks flew from the impact. Tyrian jumped under the unfinished rooftop and used the tail to fling himself upward, and fire at Qrow. Of course he was able to block the bullets, but he was almost caught off guard when Tyrian charged at him again.

Qrow soon spotted a weakened beam just nearby, and he thought of an idea. He pushed Tyrian off of him with a quick and quickly ran across; Tyrian leaped high into the air and prepared to strike, when Qrow stopped in his tracks. As expected his foot landed on the weakened beam, and he fell into the building. Qrow jumped, but Tyrian's tail wrapped around his ankle pulling him down with him. Ruby and Melody noticed this from where they stood, and they quickly moved from where they were and towards where Qrow, Melody picking her scythe back up on the way.

They stopped in their tracks at a sudden explosion from inside the building making the two young teens stopped in their tracks. Qrow soon came flying out, tucking and rolling, but he threw his sword and its blade dug into the ground. Qrow landed on it, his feet perched firmly. A red shimmer was indicated around his body, indicating that his aura had been damaged.

A faint glow was seen inside the building, as the dust lifted. Tyrian came dashing out of the building, his blades armed and he charged at Qrow. The Huntsman flipped off of his sword and went at Tyrian. Just before their blades could clash once more, both Ruby and Melody intervened.

The rest of the group made it back, to where they were before, and they saw what was happening. "RUBY, MELODY!" Jaune exclaimed. He was about to run over to them, but Ren stopped him from doing so. Diamond made it to where everyone else was and saw what was happening as well, while she still clutched her shoulder.

"Do you wish to be taken!?" Tyrian said to Ruby before turning to Melody, "And you, do you wish to die?!"

"No!" Ruby and Melody said at the same time. Ruby said to the Scorpion Fanus, "But I won't stand by and watch someone else get hurt!"

"And I don't plan on dying today, not while I've still got loved ones waiting for me back home!" Melody yelled.

Ruby, Melody and Qrow soon went after Tyrian, charging at him with weapons in hand. They swung their blades, but despite there being three of them, Tyrian managed to block all three of them. He kicked Qrow in the side making him fly back a few feet and he pushed Ruby and Melody off of him. He started to fire at the both of them, and they spun their scythes in hand blocking the bullets. Melody attacked first with her scythe swinging at him. All he did was laugh as he block her attacks and when he landed hits on her, he saw an opportunity when her aura broke.

He kicked the her right in the face before using his other foot to hit her in the arm when she went to block, ultimately breaking it; She cried out in agony as she fell on her side clutching her arm as she did.

"MELODY!" Ruby and Qrow yelled; Qrow quickly ran over to his daughter helping her to sit up, and making sure she was alright.

Ruby let out a growl and glared, and she went to charge at Tyrian with full force, their blades clashed with one another. His eyes turned purple, and went to attack her with his stinger, catching her by surprise; Qrow was quick to jump in front of Ruby and blocked his stinger with his sword.

"Ruby!? What did I tell you!?" Qrow yelled, "Get back!"

"This is my fight too!" Ruby said to her uncle, "He took Destiny, he's hurt Roman and Cristal, and now he's hurt Melody! I'll make him pay for it!"

Ruby went to attack Tyrian from behind, aiming for the legs, but he jumped over the blade easily; His attention was drawn to her, but he still blocked Qrow's sword.

"I know he did, but it's not that!" Qrow said, "It's-"

Ruby didn't listen and instead charged at Tyrian once more. With his eyes still purple he charged at Ruby, there blades clashed at each other once more. The group watched helplessly as the fight continued. "Damn it, we've gotta help them!" Jaune said.

Rosario soon registered the rain that was around them, but saw something off about it. She looked to the exit, but that's when she saw it. There was no rain on that side. She looked around and saw that in some parts there was literally no rain, even where they came from when they first entered Oniyuri. Just from this she knew something was off.

"Guys…?" Rosario said getting their attention, "... Do you see something off about this rain?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Jaune asked.

"There's literally another situation going on right now, and you're more worried about the rain?" Neo asked.

"No I mean, it's literally raining in the area where we're standing and the area where Jaune was before." Rosario said, "Don't you find that a little bit odd?"

Jaune, Nora, Ren and Neo looked around and saw that Rosario was right. They did find it strange. "Maybe… It's a sun-shower?" Jaune asked. They jumped suddenly when they heard lighting dangerously close to them. Even Tyrian, Qrow, and Ruby stopped what they were doing, when they heard the sound of lighting.

"Do sun-showers usually have lighting in them?" Nora asked.

A black mist flew to Diamond and went around her wrist; it whispered to her telling her what happened. Her eyes widened at what Orpheus told her.

"TYRIAN!" Diamond yelled, running to him, "TYRIAN, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"

Before anyone could say anything else, a large bolt of lightning suddenly struck one of the buildings in the distance; the blast caused everyone to fall over on the ground and the Earth shook. Most of the buildings in Oniyuri were torn down due to the blast. Everyone coughed from dust and smoke that surrounded the area.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Ruby exclaimed standing up.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Jaune yelled back.

"WHERE DID THAT LIGHTNING HIT!?" Scout yelled.

"Wait a minute…" Ren said, "Jaune… Didn't you say that was where you and Elise fought?"

The rain around them stopped falling, leaving various large puddles around the area which had surrounded them, the fountain now filled with water from the rain; the dark clouds around them still stayed. They soon heard footsteps coming to towards them. There from the mist they saw, a familiar girl walking towards them with a slight limp.

Diamond and Tyrian recognized the girl to be-

"Elise!" Diamond yelled, "Thank goodness your-!"

Diamond stopped herself when she realized that something was off. The smoke cleared, and Elise's hair was down letting hang loosely around her shoulders, and she had messy bangs. Her coat had been torn slightly at the bottom and around her sleeves; her gloves were in the the same condition. Her left leg had appeared to be surrounded entirely of water. She walked with half of her body slumping slightly and her body and clothes were covered in dirt. She picked up her head and saw that her face was covered; her right face around her eye was covered with water, and the left side of her face, was covered with sparks of lightning. The mask resembled that of a wolf.

"... Elise?" Diamond said, "Are you alright…?"

"What's wrong with you?" Tyrian said noticing that she seemed off.

Ruby tilted her head slightly when she looked closely at Elise. "Is she… unconscious?"

Qrow soon noticed this but caught wind when the puddles around her, started to ripple as her fingers uncurled. He soon realized what was going to happen.

"EVERYONE! GET BACK NOW!" Qrow yelled.

The minute Elise lifted her hand whips made entirely of water suddenly came out from the puddles and went towards the whole group, Tyrian and Diamond included. Immediately when this happened everyone quickly moved; many craters were made from where everyone had jumped out of the way. When Ruby, landed on the ground, Elise suddenly made a ring of water around her, and fired a bolt of electricity out of her left hand.

"RUBY!" Melody exclaimed, "MOVE!"

Ruby saw under her feet and saw the electricity, she couldn't help but stay frozen just stunned by what was happen. Qrow acted fast; he jumped and grabbed Ruby. They both landed on the ground, when their was just a sudden explosion of electricity, laced with water.

"ELISE!" Diamond yelled, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? WE NEED HER ALIVE REMEMBER?!"

Elise turned her attention over to her; from a puddle nearby, she used it to make another whip made of water, but used it to grab ahold of her. Diamond couldn't help but scream, as she swung her around, and threw her to Tyrian just as he was about to move in to attack. Elise used the water that was around her to create a bow made of ice, and she created an arrow made out of ice as well. She aimed it right at them, and their eyes widened in horror.

"She's going to kill them!?" Nora said.

"But their her comrades, why would she want to kill them!?" Ruby said.

Diamond and Tyrian attempted to move but a rope of water grabbed a hold of both of their ankles. "Elise, what are you doing?!" Tyrian said.

"It's us! Remember!?" Diamond said.

Elise pulled the arrow back, and at this point, Diamond and Tyrian shivered with fear.

"Holy crap, she's actually going to kill them!" Rosario said when it finally hit her.

"What do we do!? We can't just let this happen!" Jaune said.

Suddenly they heard a sudden flash and they saw that a certain someone was missing from Neo's arms. Soon they saw Cristal pick up her weapons and fired at Elise; it caused her to fall and land on her side. "DIAMOND! TYRIAN! MOVE! GET TO COVER, NOW!" Cristal yelled to them. Both of them didn't hesitate, they quickly moved behind one of the buildings; Cristal fired around Elise's feet creating a smoke cover. "EVERYONE GO!" Cristal yelled.

Everyone quickly did as they were told and got to cover. Cristal soon joined the rest of them, despite groaning slightly from the pain in her shoulder. She followed them behind a building and they took a moment to catch their breath there breath; Senka and Avira immediately went to their partner's side, Avira going back into Diamond's body. "Okay! I'm officially lost!" Rosario said, "What the hell is going on right now!?"

"I don't know okay!" Ruby said, "Everything is happening so fast! I don't know what's going on!"

"What on earth kind of a semblance is that!?" Nora said.

"She's a Rogue." Cristal said to the group, earning a look of confusion, "Well to be more specific, she's a Rogue Maiden."

Qrow's eyes widened slightly at this, "A Rogue Maiden? Her? Are you sure?"

Cristal nodded to the Huntsman, but the group was left confused at this. "A Rogue Maiden?" Melody said, "Excuse me, be what in the hell is a Rogue Maiden?!"

Cristal replied, "I'll be sure to go into detail about it later, but all you need to know right now, is that she's not in control of what she's doing right now."

"How do you know that?" Ren asked.

"She didn't block my bullets, nor did she listen to Diamond when she told her stop." Cristal said, "Trust me, if she was in control right now, she would've done either of those things from the start."

"Okay, but if she's not in control than who is?" Jaune said.

"That's a little hard to explain right now." Qrow said, "We just need to focus on taking her out."

"Your not saying we should kill her right?" Nora asked.

"No that's not what he's saying, but if we can knock her out, this should all stop." Cristal said.

"But you saw what she did just now!" Rosario said, "I don't know if that's a semblance, but she's too powerful right now! We won't get close to her!"

"I know." Cristal said, "Which is why we're going to need help."

Cristal of course referred to the other two that was nearby and currently trying to catch their breath from what had just happened. They soon realized what Cristal was talking about exactly. "Oh no… Absolutely not." Qrow said.

"Did everything just magically slip your mind about what had happened a few minutes ago?" Melody said, "That bastard poisoned Roman almost killing him, he put you in a severe condition and they're trying to kidnap you and my cousin! Not to mention, creepy scorpion man their broke my damn arm!"

"Haven't you heard the phrase, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Cristal said, "We've all seen how they fought, we need them to help us as much as we all hate to admit it.

"Cristal, how do you know they'll go with it?" Ruby said.

"I just know they will." Cristal said.

"You don't know these people kid." Qrow said, "Trust me, it's not a good idea."

"Look, just me talk to them." Cristal said, "Get them to have a temporary truce with us. I just need five minutes with them."

The whole group looked to one another, wondering if it was such a good idea in the first place. Well they knew it wasn't because of the fact they're their enemies and they had every reason not to trust one another. But seeing as how they're dealing with this, Rogue Maiden, they didn't have a lot of options. They eventually nodded their heads hesitantly and Cristal nodded back. She than made their way over to them; they soon noticed Cristal had approached them.

"Oh it's just you." Tyrian said, in a bored tone.

"That anyway to talk to someone that just saved your life?" Cristal said in a sarcastic tone.

"What do you want?" Diamond asked with a sneer.

"I know that she sent you here because your both professionals at what you do." Cristal said to the two of them; she turned her attention to Tyrian, "And as much as I hate to say this out loud, I know you like Cinder, specialize in finding and taking down the Maidens. Look, what I'm trying to say is… We need your help."

Diamond was shocked at this, and all Tyrian did was laugh, "So little Crissy wants our help! I just find that hilarious!"

"Hilarious or not, what Elise did before, she'll do again." Cristal said, "As of this moment she doesn't remember the both of you, and she will not hesitate to kill you both, and I may not be able to save either of you a second time."

Both of them looked at one another before turning back to Cristal.

Cristal said to Diamond, "I know she's your sister, and I know you care about what happens to her." She turned to Tyrian but one point whispering with her words, "And I know you won't admit it out loud, but you care about her too. I saw how you protected her from Nora when she was helpless to stop her attack. If you want the Elise you know back, than you have to help us. After this we can just go back to being enemies like nothing ever happened. Hell you can even try to catch Ruby and me, and bring us back to Salem to let her do what she wants with us, but for now… All I'm asking for is a temporary truce."

Both Tyrian and Diamond thought about what Cristal had said to them, but soon enough they had an answer for her. "Fine." Tyrian said with a shrug, "But speak of this truce to no one."

"Okay." Cristal said turning to Diamond, "And you…?"

Diamond soon replied, "... Just so we're clear, I'm only doing this for her… Not for you. If any of you try to kill her, or hurt her in any way than you've already have… I'll kill everyone one of you for it, regardless of what the Mistress had ordered."

"I'll take that as a yes." Cristal said.

She motioned them to come with her; they did and they quickly joined the group. "I'll be damned, she got them to agree on it." Qrow said.

"What can I say? She can be persuasive." Rosario said.

"They've agreed to a temporary truce, so as of right now, we're going to work off of each other as if we were all fighting an army of Grimm." Cristal said, "Our main objective is to take Elise out without killing her or severely hurting her in anyway, so we're going to be doing this the hard way, we lose our lives if we have too, if anyone has a problem with this than speak now."

Everyone just stood there in silence and said nothing. Cristal spoke up again, turning to Scout, "You wouldn't happen to have any sedatives we can use do you?"

"Y-yeah." Scout said stuttering slightly still by Roman's side. She pointed to her backpack she had set aside earlier, "There should be some in my second pouch."

Ruby quickly went over to the bag, and went through the second pouch, "Found it!" Ruby said holding up one of the needles. They all soon heard faint booming sounds, just nearby. "Sounds like she's looking for us." Ren said.

"Okay, here's how it's going to work." Cristal said, "Ruby, will get into sniper position, Senka and I will back her up just in case, while the rest of you provide a distraction. Tyrian, Neo and Qrow, will give an opening, once that's done Ruby will take a shot, and hopefully one dose will be enough to take her out."

"What happens if it doesn't?" Ruby asked.

"... Than we run like hell and try again." Cristal said.

Everyone nodded their heads, and the ones that were still able to fight armed themselves with their weapons. "Hey." Melody said to Ruby, "Try not to die."

"Don't worry I won't." Ruby said with a smile, "You just try to get some rest."

With that Ruby and the rest went to go forward with the plan. Elise broke down another building looking for her targets. Her eyes still were empty like there was an endless void as she searched and searched. It wasn't long before she felt something hit her head.

"Hey!"

She turned in a creepy like way and she saw Rosario, throwing a pebble up and down in the palm of her hand. "Tag, you're it!" Rosario said taunting her. Elise made more whips from water and started to attack Rosario. She quickly moved out of the way using her guns on her heels to rocket herself upward. Nora and Ren soon went to attack her, charging at her with weapons in hand.

(Song Starts: Time to Say Goodbye Performed By Casey Lee Williams)

There's a point where it tips

There's a point where it breaks

There's a point where it bends

And a point where we just can't take, anymore

They swung their weapons at her, but Elise suddenly moved like a puppet and dodged their attacks. From the puddles of water around she made another weapon. She created a sword of ice, and charged at them, swinging in a random direction trying to hit them. Rosario soon went charging at her, to assist Ren and Nora, though despite this Elise continued to avert them; her movements were similar to that of a doll. Soon she hit them all away and sent them flying onto the ground so powerful in fact they created a trail.

There's a line that we'll cross

And there's no return

There's a time and a place, no bridges left to burn

Anymore

Jaune and Diamond soon went into attack and swung his sword; She blocked their attacks and went to counter. She swung her sword at the two of them but they were quick to counter. Jaune blocked with his sword and Diamond blocked with her fans.

"Forgive me for this sister." Diamond said, before she hit her across the face. Though Elise barely flinched at this, and her eye moved in a creepy way. This caused both Diamond and Jaune to flinch. She attacked them again making them fall headfirst onto the floor.

We can't just wait, with lives at stake

Until they think we're ready

Our enemies are gathering

The storm is growing deadly

Electricity was produced from her left arm and she attempted to finish them both; Diamond quickly stopped her from doing so, by kicking her right in the face making her stumble backwards. Standing up on her feet she quickly started to throw punches at her, giving her now time to react, until Elise was able to push her back. She fired electricity from her arm and right when it was about hit her, Jaune got in front of her and blocked the electricity with his shield. Jaune went to attack her and swung his sword to her. Elise used the water underneath her feet to push herself back from Jaune's sword.

Elise than charged at Jaune, going after him with her ice sword once more. The blades clashed with one another until finally Elise's ice sword broke in two, and Jaune quickly shoulder charged Elise making her stumble backwards, almost landing on her back, but she bent forward regaining her footing.

"Doesn't she ever go down!?" Jaune said before going to charge at her again.

Now it's time to say goodbye

To the things we loved, and the innocence of youth

How the time seems to fly, from our carefree lives

And the solemn and the peace we always knew

This time Elise ducked when Jaune came to hit her with his sword. She grabbed his arm and shocked it causing him to scream and drop his weapon. The water around him grabbed a hold of Jaune and started to create a dome around his head. Before he knew it, he started to choke on the water. "JAUNE!" Ren and Nora exclaimed, and they charged at Elise again.

There's a day when we'll fight, and we're not gonna fall

There's a day when we'll stand

And a day when we won't crawl

Anymore

They tried to hit Elise, but the water blocked their attacks, she used the lighting to Ren flying away, before smacking Nora away with the whip made of water. Rosario and Diamond soon fired at Elise when she kicked at her and Diamond threw her fan, but the bullets managed to get caught with the water and the fan as well. She used a whip made of water, to send them both flying, she turned her attention back to Jaune. Before she could do anything she was caught by surprise when a tail wrapped around her wrist. Turn out it was none other than Tyrian, who had smile on his face.

He started to attack her, giving her no time to react in anyway; though he made sure his attacks weren't lethal as he hit her with his blades.

There's a moment in time, and there's no going back

When we're pushed too hard

And we won't hold our attack

Anymore

Elise was about fight back, but Qrow ended up attacking her from behind catching her by surprise. She tried to shock him in the leg but he hit her with the butt of his sword. Elise went to attack them but as soon as she hit them they shattered like glass leaving her befuddled. Neo suddenly appeared in front of her, kicking her right in the face, and Tyrian, Qrow, charged at Elise once more.

We can't just cling to childish things

As evil grows closer

Humanity's in jeopardy

This fight is far from over

They all went to attack her, while Elise moved in a doll like way, they tried to land a hit on her. Tyrian managed to flip over her and wrap his tail around her; before she could attack, Qrow pinned both of her arms, and Neo held her blade up to her neck to prevent her from moving.

"RUBY NOW!" Qrow yelled as they struggled to keep her still.

From up in the skies, Ruby and Cristal rode on Senka's back, and they heard Qrow yell to them. "GO FOR IT RUBY! YOU GET ONE SHOT!" Cristal said to her. Ruby nodded her head, and armed her Crescent Rose with the sedative. She aimed looked through her scope. She aimed for her neck, but had difficulty doing so, when she sent Neo flying towards one of the buildings behind them. She tried to shock Tyrian and Qrow but both teens saw that it didn't do anything, as the half of her mask, made from lighting suddenly disappeared.

"Damn it!" Ruby said, "I don't have a clear shot!"

Cristal cursed under her breath, wondering what should be done, when she saw Elise release herself from Qrow and Tyrian's grip. Cristal than soon thought of an idea when she looked at her own weapon. She quickly drew her sword, "HEY QROW!" Cristal yelled to the Huntsman, "USE THIS!"

She threw her sword that was still sheathed to him and Qrow caught it. He quickly unsheathed the sword and saw the trigger button on the handle. When he pressed it, it had activated its a whip mode. He shrugged at this and with a swift movement of his hand he the sword extended and managed to trap her, wrapping her arms.

"Now Ruby, you got an opening!" Cristal said.

Now it's time to say goodbye

To the things we love, in the innocence of youth

Oh how the time seems to fly, from our carefree lives

And the solemn and the peace we always knew

(Song Ends)

Ruby aimed for Elise's neck and took a shot at her. With the pull of the trigger, the needle in a split second had hit her neck, making Elise's eyes widen at the sudden pain. She felt a sudden drowsiness and the water, fell on the other half of her face as she finally passed out. Qrow retracted the whip, and she fell on her side.

"ELISE!" Diamond yelled, she quickly ran to her, as did Tyrian.

Diamond removed the needle from her neck and threw to the side. "Elise! Elise! Wake up!" Tyrian said as he shook her.

"Say something! Elise!" Diamond said.

"Don't worry." Cristal said Senka landing on the ground; Ruby and her jumped off of his back, "The sedative only knocked her out. She'll be okay."

Qrow looked over at Elise, before whispering to the group, "Okay, listen to me very carefully. We have to get her to-AAAAHHH!"

Qrow let out a scream suddenly when Tyrian's stinger went across Qrow's stomach which caught them by surprise. Their eyes widened in horror, when they saw that Tyrian's eyes were purple. Ruby quickly acted fast, she put the blade on his stinger and pulled the trigger, cutting off his stinger. He cried out in pain as he fell to his knees.

"TYRIAN!" Diamond exclaimed, going over to him and he helped him on his feet.

"GAH, YOU BITCH!" Tyrian yelled.

When Tyrian was about to attack her, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Rosario and Neo stood in front of them. Tyrian looked them and at his injuries, and looking at Elise.

"She'll forgive you." He whispered to himself before telling Diamond, "We need to leave." Diamond nodded, and she allowed Tyrian to go and pick up Elise. Once that was done and he made sure that they wouldn't attack, both him and Diamond quickly ran down the path ahead.

"Well that was some thank you." Melody said breaking the silence.

Cristal suddenly fell over on her side, passing out due to her wounds; a puddle of blood was soon seen staining her clothes and hair. "CRISTAL!" The whole group exclaimed. Qrow soon fell to his knees after feeling a sudden drowsiness. "DAD!" Melody exclaimed running to his side.

"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby yelled, "ARE YOU OKAY!?"

Qrow took deep breaths as he tried to prevent himself from passing out. He turned to his niece and daughter, "I'll be fine. He just grazed me…"

Scout soon ran to his side, "You're not okay, you've been poisoned! It's the same one that he used on Roman! I'm going to give you something that will-"

"Scout!" Rosario soon shouted over to her, "Scout! It's Cristal she's not waking up! I think she lost too much blood! You have to help her!"

Scout looked back and forth to and was struggling on what to do in this situation. "Oh God what do I do?" Scout said with a whisper, "What do I-?" She was soon cut off when she felt Qrow's hand on her shoulder; she turned her attention to him. "It's okay." Qrow said, "Go to your friend. She needs you more than I do."

Scout struggled to say something, but couldn't find any words to say; she turned to Melody and Ruby. "It's alright." Ruby said, "Go help Cristal."

"She needs you Scout." Melody said, "Don't worry, we won't get mad."

Scout gulped but had eventually nodded her head and soon ran to Cristal. As she instructed Rosario to turn Cristal over on her back, and Neo went to tend to Roman, everyone else went to Qrow. Of course they had questions for him, and a lot of them.

"Who in the world were they?" Nora asked.

"How did you get here?" Ren asked.

"Why are people after Ruby and Cristal?" Jaune asked.

"What the hell is a Rogue Maiden?" Melody asked, "And who is this Salem?"

Qrow took deep breaths as he worked through the pain. "Uncle Qrow…" Ruby said, "What's going on…?"

Finally Qrow picked up his head and asked them one question.

"... What's your favorite fairytale…?"

(Ending Theme: I'm Waiting for the Rain TV Size Performed By Maaya Sakamoto)